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  • 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

  • Interview with David McAlmont

    David McAlmont taken from MyspaceDavid McAlmont releases a new Live CD and DVD, Live From Leicester Square, next week. David took some time out of his schedule to answer a few questions.

    Where are you and how are you today?

    I’m in London. I’m stressed because a lot is going on. A new single ‘Isn’t It a Pity’ is released today, a new Live album/DVD is released next week and then we’re off on a short 10 date tour to promote them, so there’s a lot to do and think about.

    You are about to start a tour of the UK, what can people expect? Have you thought of an Irish visit?

    The tour is a celebration of my favourite songs of the last 18 years of songwriting and recording, so that’s what the audiences can look forward to. We will make it to Ireland later in the year, closer to the autumn I hope. Incidentally we were in County Sligo earlier this month writing new material and plan to do that twice again this year.

    Throughout your career you’ve always collaborated with other artists. On ‘Glare’ with Michael Nyman you chose from his compositions to write lyrics for. How long did it take, how easy/hard was it?

    The Nyman collaboration was reasonably long. I met him n Facebook in 2008 and we first discussed working together then. At first we were going to do something quite arty, based on a painting, ‘The Raft of the Medusa’ by Theodore Gericault, but I became fascinated by the artist’s methods and decided to adapt his approach to creating new material. I used Michael’s pieces as canvases and painted contemporary news stories on them, which was a reflection of Gericault’s approach. It was difficult at first because I made the mistake of thinking that I had to change what I did naturally to collaborate, but all the music I wrote sounded dull. Then I thought if Michael had wanted me to do something different he would have said to and so I reverted to my soul/pop approach which worked brilliantly. (more…)

  • City Arts presents Blas Film Club

    BLASI love hearing about people who have the get up and go to do something new and refreshing. Liking this idea a lot, will have to check it out.

    Here’s the blurb:

    City Arts is proud to announce the launch of Blas, a film club with a twist on Tuesday, 15th February 2011 at 7pm. Meaning taste in both Irish and Welsh, the aim of Blas is to raise awareness of the underrated and overlooked genre of minority language film, placing special emphasis on films in the Celtic languages and connecting them with each other through common themes of Escape and Change.

    No stranger to our native tongue, City Arts have played host to many Irish-language and bilingual events in the past, including Gaeltacht na bhFéartháilte, Duanaire mo Muintire as part of the Imram Irish-language literary festival and Tríd an gCoill.

    Involving both short and feature-length films from across the Celtic nations, including a rare film in Canadian Gaelic, Blas also plays host to talks with a selection of Ireland’s talented directors, screenwriters and actors. The event is finished off with music and refreshments, all taking place in the stylish City Arts building on Bachelor’s Walk.

    Blas is a bilingual night of film and music curated by Scott De Buitléir and hosted by City Arts; presenting the Celtic languages in an urban and contemporary setting. Blas will take place from 7pm until 9:30pm on the third Tuesday of each month; admission is €5 while a year’s membership is €50.

    Blas is part-funded by the Dublin Bus Community Support Programme.

    For More info: blas@cityarts.ie

  • 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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