In The Name Of Willie Clancy-A Film By Myles O Reilly And Donal Dineen.

For anyone interested in Irish traditional music, the Willie Clancy Summer School which is hosted in the village of Milltown Malbay in West Clare each July has to be one of the most intriguing festivals.
Willie Clancy was an Irish uilleann piper born in Islandbawn near Milltown Malbay in 1918, his influence is widely renowned particulary for such recorded work as 'The Minstrel From Clare' released in 1967.
After Willie Clancy died in 1973, a group of his friends hosted the first summer school dedicated to his memory, it has been an annual event ever since.
Last year filmmaker Myles O Reilly and broadcaster Donal Dineen documented their visit to the summer school on it's 40th anniversary the result is a wonderful short film entitled 'In The Name Of Willie Clancy'.



More film work by Myles O Reilly can be viewed on his excellent website called Arbutus Yarns.
This year's festival will run from Sat 6th July 2013 to Sunday 14th July.

Sallie Ford And The Sound Outside-Untamed Beast.

                                                                    

Untamed Heart is the second long player release from Sallie Ford And The Sound Outside, a four piece based in Portland Oregon. Sallie Ford provides vocals and guitar duties alongside Jeff Munger (Guitar),Tyler Tornfelt (Bass, Piano, Organ) and Ford Tennis (Drums) for this fine union.

Their sound is immediately likeable with their blend of rockabilly and  boogie, often delivered with no shortage of angst. Standout features on Untamed Heart are songs like 'Bad Boys', with it's surf guitar inspired riff, rolling behind Ford's punky vocals. 'Rockability' is another track delivered with a 100 mile an hour verosity that will make it very difficult for you not to love this band.

My personal favourite has to be 'Devil' as it was the first track that made me sit up and notice what a refreshing stripped down sound they have. Here they are playing that track at the Bing Lounge last February....

You will find 'Untamed Beast' available through Partisan Records.

                                                             
                

Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill, Tiny Desk Concert.

There can be no praise high enough for the music choices that can be explored on the NPR website.
Much to my delight was the addition of this session filmed for it's Tiny Desk concert series recently.
Martin Hayes, arguably one of Ireland's greatest living traditional musicians along with his long term
musical partner, guitarist Dennis Cahill stepped in to display their fine work last month.
Admittedly traditional Irish music can sometimes border into stereo typical kitch, but with these two extraordinary players, the record is set straight every time with each performance.
This set list includes

The Mountain Lark/Tom Doherty's Reel,
P. Joe's Reel/The Obama Reel,
O'Carolan's Farewell To Music.

Beach House - Forever Still.

Baltimore favourites Beach House have recently released this wonderful short film entitled 'Forever Still'. It contains 4 songs from their fourth studio album 'Bloom' released last year on the Bella Union record label.
Filmed entirely around El Paso and Tornillo, Texas where the album was recorded it's theme begins at sunset and ends at sunrise.  Irish fans will be pleased to know that Beachouse have just announced a Dublin date to their current tour, they play The Iveagh Gardens on Saturday 20th of July next. Certainly this will be one of the best gigs of the summer guaranteed.

Hamell On Trial-Jinx Lennon-Theme Tune Boy Live @ Bourke's Bar Limerick. 21/2/2013



Jinx Lennon Live @ Bourke's Bar

Last Thursday night for less than the price of a cinema ticket Seoda Shows hosted  a triple bill of live music at Bourke's Bar Limerick that could banish any winter blues  away into oblivion.

Limerick's own Theme Tune Boy and formally from the group The Hitchers kicked off proceedings, setting the tone for a hard core acoustic session for the evening.
Later Dundalk man Jinx Lennon, brought his own unique blend of dark humour and uplifting loops and manic guitar strumming to the stage. Jinx is an extraordinary  performer that I have seen many times play live and ironically the first time I saw him play was again when he played support to Hamell On Trial in Limerick back in 2001.
For those of you who have not seen Jinx Lennon play live, you do not know what you are missing, the songs are a mix of social comment and observations delivered sometimes with hilarious and often outlandish lyrics.
Going to a Jinx Lennon gig is always a revelation and chances are you will  be humoured, uplifted and gobsmacked all in one by the energy he exudes onstage with songs like this one which was on the set list on Thursday night.



Jinx also has a great website that is well worth checking out, get the link here for the latest news for live dates and releases.

Ed Hamell- Live @ Bourke's Bar

At 10.30pm it was time for New Yorker Ed Hamell aka Hamell On Trial to take the stage.Armed with a beat up  Gibson guitar dating back to 1937, heavily amplified, he almost shook this small venue down.

Drawing on songs from his canon of albums, notably his best collections in my opinion like 'Coochtown'  and 'Tough Love' he also had plenty of stories and jokes in between, clearly illustrating his ability as an all round entertainer. His banter was as  fast and furious as his guitar playing, it was obvious he was enjoying every minute of the night as much as everyone there to see him was.
 Recently signed to New West Records, Hamell's latest recording is titled 'The Happiest Man In The World' an 8 track mini-album, he is also currently working on a one man show called 'Eddie's Bar' which will get a run later in the year in the U.S.
He promises a return visit to Ireland  and the U.K again in May, something certainly to look forward to.

Here is an interview and session  he did last month for BBC Radio 6 while visiting the U.K....

                                              

Many thanks to Shane Serrano for allowing me to share this clip that he filmed  at Bourke's Bar on the night..

Johnny Marr - Upstarts.

February 25th next sees the  release of 'The Messenger,' the first solo outing by Johnny Marr,  one of the most dynamic guitarists to ever come out of Britain. The man who first gave us some of  the most memorable riffs during the 1980's as a member of  The Smiths has had over the later years a very varied career.  Credits include his work as sideman or collaborator to a host of adventures with Modest Mouse, The Cribs, Electronica and The The to name but a few.            

The Observer newspaper has described this album as 'a shimmering debut' while the Guardian notes that the songs are like 'epic romantic soundscapes'.

Recorded between Berlin and Manchester 'The Messenger' was mastered at Abbey Road by Frank Artwright who recently collaborated with Marr on the  remastering work of 'Complete', the ultimate box set of all The Smiths albums.

Extensive touring begins next month which includes a Dublin date set for The Academy on March 27th, this is the single release entitled 'Upstarts'.

                               

Ballake Sissoko - At Peace.

                                  

Ballake Sissoko

Amid the recent political turmoil that has attempted to stagnate Malian society and culture, comes a beautifully dreamy album by Ballake Sissako called 'For Peace'.

French cellist Vincent Segal who collaborated with Sissako two years ago on an album called 'Chamber Music' takes on the role of producer for this album, however he does play on a handful of tracks here too.
A master of the complex native African string instrument the kora, Ballake Sissako blends his playing elegantly with the accompaniment of 12 string guitar, cello and balafon (a wooden percussion instrument).
This track entitled 'N'tomikorobougou' is one of the stand out pieces of this collection, recorded in the courtyard of his home in Bamako, Mali's capital in January 2011.
'At Peace' is available now on Six Degrees Records.

Valerie June.



Valerie June

Without question when you stumble across a musical discovery as good as this one, you automatically want to share it with the world and this is no exception.

Hailing from a small town called Humboldt, Tennessee that sits between Memphis and Nashville, it seemed only natural that Valerie June should be influenced by a whole melting pot of roots music.
Her stunning fusion of soul-jazz, blues and gospel is compellingly arresting and it is no surprise that her love for old records comes through in her singing and her string playing.
Valerie June's debut album 'Pushing Against A Stone' is on it's way for release along with an extensive U.K tour beginning on February 12th.
There is an Irish date too thankfully, on May 3rd she will play The Sugar Club in Dublin which will be a date to mark in the diaries.
This is one of her stand out songs entitled 'Workin' Woman Blues'...

Ratking.



Ratking.

It's always a pleasure to discover something new and exciting in music and I will be posting more in the future about what new music is inspiring me these days.

There is so much out there of course and the choices are incredibly vast,  although I must admit that this group impressed me greatly with what they have on offer.

New York foursome Ratking are something to look out for this year as their hardcore underground sound is beginning to turn heads.
This young hip hop group consists of Patrick ‘Wiki’ Morales a lyrisist with Puerto Rican and Irish blood and 2 producers who go by the names of Sporting Life and Ramon.. Hak completes this union which currently have an EP on release called Wiki 93 available on the cutting edge XL label.
This is 'WikiSpeaks' from the 7 track collection that seeps dedication and heart from 4 kids who are a voice for the urban nation and in particular for their native Harlem.

                                                                        

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds- Jubilee Street Video.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds reveal their latest video, "Jubilee Street," the second track taken from the band's fifteenth studio album 'Push The Sky Away,' to be released February 18th on Bad Seed Ltd.