Bloggy Prince Billy

Sorry for yet another bad pun in the title but I'm starting to get into the habit of it now and it's become a personal competition to try and insert the worst imaginable puns/gags into that little title space.
Got the new BPB album and it's great; really growing on me by the day. I've found his music comforting/intriguing/genius over the years and he's one of those artists who instantly chills me out and gives me that feeling of familiarity and, well, happiness I suppose. Even on the the darker tracks. Upcoming gigs are Times New Viking tomorrow night, supported by Giveamanakick, and Bon Iver is not too far away either. Obviously, Bonnie Prince Billy is playing as part of the Future Days festival so that's going to be incroyable.
On a personal note, I've just moved into a deadly little cottage near town with m'ladyfriend and so far it's going brilliantly. Nice to have a bit of space and even a garden-type area thingy. I was egging to play Guitar Hero at our recent house-warming but we couldn't get the bloody thing to work. Anyone know anything about PS3s? Let me know. I was primed to rock out too...
On the plus side, one of our guests was a bit of a headcase and developed a highly amusing drunken miaowing tic that he lapsed into every so often, so that kept me well entertained. In retrospect, he may have been in the midst of some form of mental breakdown but anyway..he's ok now.
See you in Andrews Lane Theatre tomorrow.

Man Yoo Nite Head

I'm a Man Utd fan so obviously after tonight's match I have whittled my finger tips down to 8 raw stumps (I don't chew my thumbs you iziot).
Anyway, woohoo.. Champo League in the bag.
On a seperate note, I was in Naas today at a meeting/work thingy and nearly got caught in the middle of an egg/waterbomb schoolkid fight, slap bang on the main street. It was myself and some wizened old ladies discussing the terrible misbehaviour of these young oiks milling around with their weapons-of-choice and I felt a sense of comraderie with the elderly dears. Time for some Horlicks and to eat the bunions off my feet.
And finally, No Age were class in Whelans the other night, as were Animal Collective and Atlas Sound the night before.
Animal Collective had a last minute gig organised after they had to cancel their Tripod jaunt and by all accounts there were many fans that were pissed off about the rescheduling at such short notice. To be fair, it was either gonna be no gig for anyone or a gig for some. Fuck begrudgery. Although I can say that coz i got to see them.
With No Age, it was cool to see some proper hardcore punky/rocky/metal in a tiny venue. Can't wait for Times New Viking next week, so if you're going, I'll see ya there.

Times New Vik....hello?hello?

I'll be attempting a second call to interview the fucking excellent Times New Viking tomorrow evening (they were asleep in their tour van last week when I called) and I'm quite tempted to buy a Fisher Price microphone and roar the questions down the phone at a tinnitus-inducing level, but with the sound of a wonderful question hidden beneath the layers of fuzz. Over the course of the interview, they will learn to like the fuzz and love the catchy questions beneath.
Unfortunately, this only works as a theory on this blog and if I were to actually do it, I would be a smart-arsed, self-satisfied wanker....grand so, I'm off to Smith's toyshop.

Mist-ical movie..(Christ that's a bad pun)

There has been a distinct lack of film blogging on this site and it really needs to be put right. I have been doing bits and pieces for Film Ireland mag for some time. When I originally did a few months work in their cramped but cosy little Filmbase offices a few years back, while I searched for gainful employment in the media world, I was lucky enough to get to alot of press screenings around the city to review for the mag's website.
This was, and is, my dream job.
There is a secret world (kind of) of journalists who get to flit from film to film, a few times a week, tucked away in the screening rooms of Dubln City. That is their job and it is a wonderful thing. After screenings, the hacks would gather together and yap about the film, what they'd seen recently and assorted film critic stuff that made me envious they actually got paid for it.
Someday I hope to do this job professionally (full time as opposed to freelance) but for the moment I try and keep up as best I can with the movie situation. I am still a major film head with a bag load of books and DVDs and can still proudly boast that my Masters dissertation was a study of Hollywood and the Vietnam War, specifically in The Deerhunter, Apocalypse Now and Taxi Driver.
Anyway, this post was prompted by the fact that I recently saw Frank Darabont's The Mist, a horror film based on a Stephen King novella and released at the end of last year in the States. It is an excellent, gory, character-based, well-acted, Stephen King-y (that feel of a Stephen King work that can't be explained any other way), sci-fi/horror film that proved to be a great throwback to B-movie 50s sci-fi like Them or even to Hitchcock's The Birds.
It's not out here yet, and I'm not sure when it will be, but I recommend that you seek it out somewhere (the Internet..)and enjoy a gripping, sometimes cheesy, often scary film with a great cast, clever but not over-developed characters, melodrama, scares, spiders, chilling overtones, allegoric undertones and above all......mist. It's not often a horror film has as much to offer and engage as The Mist, perhaps not since John Carpenter's classic The Thing. And a non-traditional ending, that makes perfect sense, made sure that the film bombed in the USA, unfortunately.
It's certainly not for everyone, but if you have ever enjoyed the films mentioned above, alongside maybe Starship Troopers, Deep Blue Sea (an absolute classic), Dawn of the Dead (both versions, but particularly the most recent one), Planet of the Apes or The Fog (ONLY the original), Slither and Tremors, then this is a movie for you.

To Halves and Halves not..

Just a quick note on Halves, Ireland's answer to Efterklang/Mogwai/Sigur Ros and the like. I did an interview with them for drop-d yesterday, before they headed off to The Indie Hour to do a radio slot with Aoife Mac. Lovely guys, can't praise them highly enough and their new album, Haunt Me When I'm Drowsy, is out on the 16th of this month.
It's an excellent 7 tracks so make sure to get a copy. Even the album cover is beautiful, in its meticulously handcrafted glory. They play Whelans on the 17th and I urge you to go along to see them as it is sure to be a wonderful looking gig, aswell as a wonderful sounding one. They've even landed a plum spot on the Transmission festival line-up this summer. Another of Ireland's young & gifted musicians! Keep your ears peeled for Halves (if you can keep ears peeled)

Anticon sampler

Here's an excellent track from Buck 65, Sole, Circus, 6.2 & Cosmic Lovefuck. It's from an Anticon sampler called Anticon Presents: Music for the Advancement of Hip Hop and it's a snazzy example of the kind of hiphop this delicious label have produced. Get your ears around it.

Sunshine

Does anybody get that 'holiday' air floating around today and yesterday?
It feels like we are all wrapping up on our last day at school and arranging that final game of football on the school grounds before we all split up for a few months....
Then I read Charlie Brooker's piece in d'Guardian from yesterday and he makes sure I spend some time ruminating on the subject of our lives as zombies and our lack of action/motivation regarding the surrounding world and the inherent problems of it. He also makes me acutely aware of my tongue being in my mouth. It's a really uncomfortable thing to suddenly be aware of your big, lolling tongue bouncing around in your gob and now I'm gonna spend the day with no mouth-comfort at all.
And there was me about to get all 'Ron Manager' on it. Small boys, jumpers for goalposts..
I'm gonna dig out a summer song and put it up here later on. Any suggestions?

Actually, I found one...

A few things that should be said..

*Adrian Chiles, the genial presenter of MOTD2, is the most comforting presence on television I have ever witnessed. He's even good on The One Show which is, essentially, a bag of shit.

*Rollie 'Cadence Weapon' Pemberton is 22 years old and was reviewing music for Pitchfork when he was 18. He's ridiculously talented. I am bitter.

*Pubs in the countryside {i.e. the really rural Ireland that you only see if you are a)From one of those places or b)In a relationship with someone from one of these places} are often full of people from the area, who have lived there for a long time, usually 25-30 years, who are slightly cracked and get the kind of drunk that makes you go 'Holy shit, have i ever been that drunk? How is this person not dead?' Bank holiday weekends only serve to heighten this. It's an amazing thing to witness.

*Working on bank holiday Monday is a bleak, bleak prospect.

*Zaytoon kebabs are incroyable

That is all.

Holy Roman Army w/Capt. Moonlight

New track up on their myspace - a collaboration with Kilkenny's Captain Moonlight.
Have a listen to it.
They play Anseo on Sunday night with the excellent Storkboy tunes providing support.

Phosphorescent - Wolves

I've been kicking myself for missing Phosphorescent, who did an early show in Whelans last week on the same night as Why?
Phosphorescent is Matthew Houck from Atlanta, Georgia and toward the end of last year, the album Pride was released - I have only recently stumbled across it. If you have heard it already, that's great but if not, then this is one of the standout tracks. The Will Oldham comparisons are fair, but Houck brings his own slant too, as he overdubs his voice and layers many instruments on the excellent album. Enjoy.