Ballroom of Romance presents Joycut, Clockwork Noise, The Walpurgis Family and Pearse McGloughlin. Tonight in The Lower Deck in Portabello. Adm €10. Doors at 8.30. Free Mp3 compilation with admission. If a sexy women standing in front of a flag with a hula hoop doesn't get you there maybe the read more will.
Joycut:
Joycut hail from Bologna in Italy. Named in reference to Nick Drake and Rodge Waters lyrics they give Britrock/ post punk angst a uniquely Italian spin, adding urgency and energy to melancholy. Recently they have toured with The Editors, and having firmly established themselves at home they are venturing abroad to tour.
http://www.joycut.com/
Clockwork Noise:
The story of Clockwork Noise could well be the story of a ton of other Irish bands. It’s a tale of great enthusiasms, band members coming and going, lengthy breaks between releases and gigs and a lot of hanging around waiting for things to happen.
The members of Clockwork Noise will nod in recognition at that list. A debut album If I Wanted, I Could was released in 2005, but it’s taken until now for the next release, the very fine Yes and No and Everything Inbetween EP to appear. Band members have come and gone and some have even come back again. In between all of these minor dramas, they’ve supported The Kinetiks, Angel Pier, Heritage Centre and Story of Hair.
But Clockwork Noise stand out from the pack because their music is a cut above the usual indie-rock standard. As the new EP shows, they really do know a different way around the department where you’ll find sweeping vocals, hooky guitars, moody strings and tipsy electro beats. Tracks such as Egoeccentric (band member Rob Maguire contributes to the Irish music blog of the same name) hint at a band prepared to go all epic when the mood takes them. The clock is ticking.
-The Ticket, The Irish Times.
The Walpugis Family:
The Walpurgis Family is the two piece chamber pop group comprised of Jeroen Saegeman (guitar, vocals, Belgium) and Wil McDermott (bass, keys, vocals, Ireland), recieving additional hands from Ruan Lovebeach (drums). The Dublin based Family plays lovely quiet songs about moving to other countries, the shower, the kitchen, public transportation and even about a mysterious island. Some of this stuff is even autobiographical!
Pearse McGloughlin:
Pearse McGloughlin is a gifted song writer from Sligo, based in Dublin. In his own words:
"To date, Walkperson has served as the nom de guerre for my songs and the musicians who have played with me. I first played with a group called 'Socialite' in my hometown of Sligo. That was immense fun and I have very fond memories of it. Subsequently, I spent time in France and Montreal, learned French, got hooked on songwriting and recorded a short EP in cold Québec city. My next group was 'Thy Swan Army' in Galway. I took a lot from this band, recorded songs and played some really good gigs. People liked us. The group splintered eventually and members went to work on separate projects (Ghostwood Project, John Terrors) I next lived in London, played with more musicians and gigged the indie scene as Walkperson. Most of the songs I wrote during this period I've let go but there are several I've held on to, of which I'm still proud. Since coming back to Ireland I've recorded and released 'Desired Effect EP' with Andrew Deacon, Ales Bagart and James Yearn. My new solo album 'Busy Whisper' is out now. The songs are somewhere on the indie/folk rock/alternative spectrum but you can decide for yourself. I hope you like them"
"soft-focused, mellow tunes delivered with quietly assured authority" Jim Carroll, The Irish Times>
Friday 27 November 2009
Ballroom of Romance - Joycut, Clockwork Noise
Monday 16 November 2009
Two Door Cinema Club - I Can Talk
'I Can Talk' is the new single from Northern Irish trio Two Door Cinema Club, whose expertly formed indie floor fillers are establishing as one of this years bands to watch. The track is officially realeased on November 23rd.
Tuesday 10 November 2009
Cymbals Eat Guitars - Saturday 14 November Crawdaddy Dublin

Its a rare breed of band that can create sweeping soundscapes while retaining the essence of an indie-pop song but Cymbals Eat Guitars fuse together delay soaked guitars with electric piano, brass and xylophones to do just that. Receiving plaudits from NME and a recommendation from Pitchfork for their debut album 'Why are there Mountains?' the New York groups star is on the rise. The band have crossed the channel for a few solo shows after touring with Wilco and The Flaming Lips. First stop is Crawdaddy in Dublin this Saturday 14th followed by Auntie Annie's in Belfast on Sunday.
Tickets for Crawdaddy are €12 and are available from the usual outlets. Doors at 8.
'What's most admirable about this sophisticated self-released debut is Cymbals Eat Guitars' willingness to think big with gestures that shouldn't fly in the hands of a young band, instrumentally or thematically.' - Pitchfork.com
Wednesday 4 November 2009
the greatest electropop song of the last 10 years finally gets it's own video.
At the request of Tim Sinnot of Ranticular.com, I promise to attempt a full review of the new album by the end of tomorrow.
Hurrah!
Wednesday 28 October 2009
Acapella Storm
Ok I know it may seem like I'm posting a lot of videos but if you watch this video from the beginning to just after 2 minutes in and don't want to keep watching then I will eat my hat (and think that you have no taste in music).
Tuesday 27 October 2009
...and the curse of the X Factor is broken with one EPIC performance.
After the recent shambolic performances from so-called "musical legends" such as Whitney Houston and Robbie Williams these past couple of weeks on the X Factor, it was a genuinely pleasant surprise and downright relief to hear an astoundingly breathtaking performance courtesy of Tesco Soul favourite, Michael Buble on last Sunday's results show.
Buble completely OWNED the X Factor stage with a rousingly Bond-style arrangement of Julie London's classic tear jerker "Cry Me A River" and utterly wiped the floor with any of the young upstarts attempting the obligatory (and typically chronic) "Big Band" night...
Epic stuff.
Watch out for the classic comment from Dermot O' Leary at the end...
Thursday 22 October 2009
Clockwork Apple Present: Something To Do On Saturday

For those of you who haven't heard me going on about this, the lovely people at Clockwork Apple (they put on gigs you know) have put together a marvellous line up to entertain you this Saturday 24th upstairs in Whelans. Kicking the night off are Powered by Springs. Followed by Clockwork Noise(my band) who will be debuting a few new tracks which I'm rather excited about.
And then finally, fresh from their appearance at Electric Picnic and having just released their debut album 'With All Your Friends', 8 ball will be taking the stage with their brand of quirky electro indie, (I was going to put outlook is good or some other magic 8 ball related joke here but decided against it).
Doors at 8. Admission €10.
Hope to see you down there!
Wednesday 21 October 2009
Extremely Bizarre But Awesome Marina and the Diamonds Video.
Anybody know how they did the whole paper arms and legs thing? Amazing.
Sunday 11 October 2009
Stephen Gately: 1976 - 2009
He was always such a sweet person with an even sweeter voice...
...but more importantly, only he could have ever pulled off something like this:
Goodbye Stephen.