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Category: Music Review

  • Funeral Party: Live at Academy 2: Review

    The Academy 2: February 1st 2011

    Funeral Party are one of those bands I’ve been keeping an eye on lately. The LA band have a mix of Indie, punk dance and funk in their sound and I was curious to see how this would stand up live.

    The Academy 2, or The Basement as I call it, was sparsely populated as the band came to the stage to a modest reception. Singer Chad Elliot asks the audience to come closer to the stage after the first song and slowly the band start to convert the partisan crowd. By the time Funeral Party play ‘Car Wars’  the crowd are bopping. The mix of fantastic drumming and a pumping funky bass lines are hard to resist. Pity though, the vocals were so low in the mix.

    Frontman Chad was faced with a couple of ‘eagar’ fans, after challenging one to a drinking contest after the show, I think the lady in question though it was her lucky night. One drawback though of the audience being so close to the stage is poor auld Chad has a camera constantly stuck in his face. I mean 2 inches away.

    The band worked their way through the tracks from ‘The Golden Age of Knowhere’ with ‘Finale’ getting the biggest reaction of the night. They finished their set with ‘NYC moves to the sound of LA’, before coming back for an encore of ‘Just Because’. It’s a pity this was the end of the set, as Eliott really started letting go and climbing across the drumkit and hanging from beams on stage, which really seems to suits the vibe of this basement gig.

    Funeral Party have a great indie funk feel.  Highlights were the singles but with the album only out a week, it should give the band more opportunities to expand their fanbase in the next while. Pity there weren’t more people there to see this. I really enjoyed it.

    Special Thanks to MCD and Goldenplec (more…)

  • Eleanor McEvoy: Deliver Me/The Thought of You Review

    Deliver Me - Eleanor McEvoyEleanor McEvoy released her eighth album in 2010. ‘Deliver Me/The Thought of You’ is the new Double A single from ‘I’d Rather Go Blonde’.

    The track ‘Deliver me’, touches on the religious theme that McEvoy has previously touched on in ‘Precious Little’. A church organ with a gospel vibe makes this an instant toe tapper. The single mix from Ruadhri Cushnan (George Michael, Mumford & Sons) instantly gets to the lyrics and builds up beautifully before one minute has passed, making it spot on for radio.

    There really isn’t an A or a B track side here. ‘The Thought of You’, this time mixed by Ciaran Byrne, again shows McEvoy at her best. Catchy hooks, memorable chorus and oh so subtle effects on the backing vocals make this another gem.

    So why would someone release a double AA? It seems that some parts of the country seem to latch on to a certain type or style of song more than another. So why would you want to alienate that audience. Great move by McEvoy and with more great tracks on ‘I’d Rather Go Blonde’, the album still has lots of legs.

    www.eleanormcevoy.net

  • Acoustra: The Way It Used To Be EP

    AcoustraSeeing as it’s Monday, I thought I’d spread a little happiness and pass this on. Acoustra have decided to give away their  ‘The Way It Used To Be’ EP. Great, something for nothing, what’s it like though?

    What we find with ‘The Way We Used To Be’ is that Acoustra have updated the auld ballad. The country tinged track is a tale of woe of poor old Ireland. This won’t be for everyone but it’s exactly what you’ll hear on radio. While this track may ask ‘What happened to the country?’, it’s not downbeat and actually quite positive. The ‘What Happened to the Country?’ refrain is quite infectious and you’ll remember it long after the track has ended.

    Next up is the instrumental ‘Techno Trad’ which is exactly as described. Irish trad mixed with contemporary beats and sounds. I’m not one for the diddley eye die stuff (I can’t even spell it) but this is actually quite good. Nice and refreshing. ‘Gypsy Queen’ is another instrumental track led by an accordion, It’s recorded and mixed well and builds up well to the addition of a bass about the minute mark. I’d love to hear a heavier bass in it as per ‘Techno Trad’. ‘Analyse’ closes out the EP. A mid tempo track with good harmonies, good musicianship and great production.

    It’s not a bad EP at all, probably a tad too Oirish for me but when these guys have already raised over half a million euro for orphan children for the Irish Society of Azerbaijan, I’ll cut them some extra slack.

    Check out acoustramusic.com


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  • The Gandhis: You Are My Friend Review

    GandhisThe Gandhis are a quirky little band. They released their debut single ‘Zaza’ a couple of years ago which I reviewed for Musician.ie, a ska inspired infectious track and always seem maintain a ‘hard to pigeon hole’ status.

    The new single, ‘You Are My Friend’ shows off the unique sound the band have. It has a slight sixties throwback feel with melodic vocals and brass section giving a street carnival feel to it. The Gandhis have been clever with the production on this, they’ve avoided a saccharin coating which could have put this in the same vein as Take That’s ‘Up All Night’. Instead they’ve allowed a rawness to remain which places them on a level with Mumford and Sons or Noah and The Whale. Going by the amount of instruments used on this, a live show would be a huge amount of fun. Uplifting.

    They’ve chosen a cover as track 2 on the disc, Jackie Wilson’s ‘Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher’. Such a classic, this could go either way. It chooses the good route. The band remain faithful to the original, great musicianship, nice harmonies. This track shows a great lead vocal.

    This band seem just to go from strength to strength, two really good tracks.

    Check out www.thegandhismusic.com

    ‘You Are My Friend’ is released on March 4th