My good friend Barry made an ass of himself his morning, all for The Irish Society for Autism. He has a Facebook page set up here if you’d like to donate some money to the cause. All inspired by the Wimax people singing on the Luas a couple of weeks ago.
Good job Barry! It’s nice to see social media and networking working for positive means.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW0aj_enlBU&feature=player_embedded]
I better get this out of the way. Yes, TJ is German. Yes he makes electronic music. Yes he looks like a drummer in a metal band. No, he doesn’t sound like Kraftwerk.
TJ has been living in Ireland since 2000 and ‘Love letters from Cyberspace’ is his 12th album. It seems that TJ is influenced by 80’s electronic acts and has a definite euro feel to it but there’s nothing wrong with that.
The tracks are musically melodic and well produced for the genre. Overall the lyrics seems quite confessional and a little sad even. As the album title suggests ‘Love Letters from Cyberspace’ these seem like unwritten letters to a (ex)lover. Interesting concept.
The lyrics don’t take away from the music though, TJ good a good job but I’d love to hear what female vocals, an octave higher would sound like. The album veers towards the trance side of electronica at times and could quite easily go into soundtrack mode.
Its a good well paced album. Key Tracks: The melodic poppy ‘You’ve Come This Far’ and the pleaful of ‘Please Love Me’ and reminiscent ‘Nothing’.
This was written for MusicReviewUnsigned
Got an email just now about this, sounds really interesting!
Hilltown New Music Festival takes place on Saturday 31st July and Sunday 1st of August 2010
The international of contemporary music, sonic and visual installations and film screenings is back with its 2010 edition, taking place around the medieval castle keep in the grounds of Hilltown House, Castlepollard, Co.Westmeath.
Featured artists this year include: Barbara Lüneburg (DE), Jennifer Walshe (IRL), Danny McCarthy (IRL), Roberto Oliveira (ESP), Aideen Barry (IRL), Linda OKeeffe (IRL), John Lato (USA), Francis Heery (IRL), Jonathan Nangle (IRL), Piaras Hoban (IRL), Anthony Kelly (IRL), David Stalling (DE/IRL), Claire Fitch (UK/IRL), Bryan Quigley (IRL), Gordon Delap (IRL), Rory Walsh (IRL), Victor Lazzarini (BRA/IRL), Cormac Crawley (IRL), David Bremner (UK/IRL), Hilary Mullaney (IRL), Robyn Farah (ZA/NI).
Irish sound artist Linda O’Keeffe will perform a live concert on Saturday to mark the launch of her new CD,Metamorphosis and Praxis, released on Farpoint Recordings.
For further information and programme details visit www.hilltown.ie
Jody Has A Hitlist have come a long way in their relatively short existence with a Meteor nomination for ‘Most Promising New Artist 2010’ and numerous UK tours. Their three track EP ‘Boy Caught Envy’ is available from http://jodyhasahitlist.bandcamp.com/
The lead track ‘Boy Caught Envy’ shows the band developing and maturing their sound, not sounding as poppy as their previous releases. Its an uptempo track with a nice intro build up. Production is spot on for the genre and features a nice breakdown in the middle of the track. This gives the track a little more room to breathe and the inclusion of layers of vocal harmonies. Good musicianship, manic drumming!
‘See You Around’ immediately catches your attention. It’s melodic, great vocals, great structure good danceable tempo. Why isn’t this on the radio already? It should be, full stop. These guys know their sound and know what their potential audience want. Excellent.
The piano led ‘Remember The Forever’ shows Jody Has A Hitlist in what seems like a more thoughtful mood. The uptempo cleverly builds up and the addition of a second vocalist’s refrain adds to the track. Again, JHAH know their sound and are bloody good at what they do. If they have the legs to out run their competitors, the future will be bright.
http://www.myspace.com/jodyhasahitlist
This was written for MusicReviewUnsigned