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  • Sea Sessions Line Up Announced

    seasessionsI was delighted to be able to attend the launch of the Sea Sessions last night which will take place between June 24-26 in Bundoran, Co. Donegal. If last night’s vibe is anything to go by then it’s going to be a fantastic weekend. It was lovely to catch up with some people I haven’t seen in ages and to meet a few new people too.

    The Sea Sessions won Best Small Festival at the Irish Festival Awards 2010 and its great to see so many other things apart from music happening over the weekend, skating, bmxing, beach rugby and of course surfing. I was also delighted to hear that the Sea Sessions surfing event, Quiksilver Expressions 2011 has been upgraded to a ASP speciality surfing event, the first in Ireland or the UK. Fair play!

    So what music will we hear at the event? Acts so far confirmed include Ziggy Marley, BellX1, Go! Team, Grandmaster Flash, The Delays, Charles Bradley plus lots more to be announced..

    Plus the three days including camping will cost you less than €100.. good job guys!

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  • Brooke Fraser: Flags Review

    brooke-fraser-flagsWho is Brooke Fraser? She’s a New Zealander who has released three albums. Flags, her latest album is the first to get a full release here. I’ve been listening to this album for about two weeks and Fraser reminds me of a couple of different artists. She’s like a Sarah McLachlan with a dash of Tara McLean and perhaps Norah Jones.

    The album opens with current single, Something in the Water. It’s hardly surprising that this has been nominated for a Australian Performing Rights Association, Song of The Year award. It’s uptempo, bells and whistles, catchy and totally singalongable. The whole album is produced by Fraser also and she has done a great job. Everything sounds organic and is spaced beautifully, there’s different things happening all around the soundscape making this an aural feast. (more…)

  • Your Highness: Best. Quest. Ever.

    Your highnessThis deserves a mention, if for nothing else than the use of these words in the press release. ‘See them face all sorts of obstacles including a giant hand snake, well endowed minotaurs, Dwarf Queens, magic mother fuckers and wacked out wise wizards’. This looks like it could be a work of genius or a massive turd.

    James Franco and Danny McBride play brothers, one of which slays dragons and all that knightly stuff, the other is a lazy ass. When Zooey Deschanel’s character Belladonna is kidnapped, both brothers are called into action to save her from an evil wizard. Natalie Portman kicks ass too.

    In Cinemas from April 13th. Check out the official movie website

  • Lestrange: Aisha! (Shut Your Mouth) Review

    Aisha! CoverLestrange is Gareth McNamara from Co. Mayo. Aisha! (Shut Your Mouth) is his latest release and it’s quite interesting. McNamara’s acoustic punk rock style is refreshing and echos Billy Bragg, Ian Dury and The Clash.

    It’s hardly surprising that his music lyrically looks at social and political themes. Aisha looks at Islamaphobia and refers to how the media ‘Focus on the price of oil’ so its a good old style protest song.

    Is it any good? It’s not bad. McNamara uses an acoustic guitar and an electric on this track.  His vocals are good and he shows that he’s more than just a shouty punk rocker. Seeing as he does have a particular message to put out, I’d like to hear his vocals a little bit higher in the mix and the electric, a little lower and perhaps not completely mixed to the left. Mainly just to make sure all his lyrics are crystal clear.

    Not a bad effort at all.

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