For Information Regarding the Movie / Screenings contact:

Janice Kearney / Twentieth Century Fox janice.kearney@fox.com or +353 (0)1 661 7171

“The Weary Kind (Theme From Crazy Heart)” received an ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINATION in the Best Original Song category. Co-written by T BONE BURNETT and RYAN BINGHAM, the two recently won the Golden Globe® Award in the Best Original Song – Motion Picture category. The song also received a nod from the BFCA Critics Choice awards, and Stephen Bruton & T Bone Burnett’s original score won the The LA Film Critics Association award. The music was also The Crazy Heart Original Motion Picture Soundtrack debuted strong on the Soundscan charts first week, coming in #5 Top Soundtracks and #6 Top Country Albums. The record also placed #5 on the Independent Record Label Chart and at #37 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart. Crazy Heart Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was coproduced by 10-time Grammy® Award winner Burnett and guitarist/songwriter Bruton, whom the film is dedicated to.

New West Records announces the release of Crazy Heart: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. A deluxe edition of the soundtrack featuring all 23 songs from the film, sequenced in their running order, will be in stores .. The releases are companions to the upcoming Fox Searchlight Pictures movie Crazy Heart, starring Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Robert Duvall. The soundtrack was co-produced by 10-time Grammy® Award winner T Bone Burnett who is also credited with the 2009 Album Of The Year and Record of the Year Raising Sand, the worldwide smash album from Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Burnett, who co-produced the soundtrack with guitarist/songwriter Stephen Bruton, earned past Grammy Awards for his work on the 8-times Platinum release, O Brother Where Art Thou? and Platinum soundtrack to the Johnny Cash biopic, Walk The Line. The film Crazy Heart, which will have a limited release December 16th and opens wider in January, is already garnering praise from the press including The Wrap who declared, “The Oscar race needs to make room for Jeff Bridges and T Bone Burnett.”

With Burnett also producing the film, the music plays a prominent role. Burnett co-composed the film’s score with Bruton and co-wrote many of its original songs, including the pivotal track written throughout the film by Jeff Bridges’ hard-living country singer, Bad Blake, “The Weary Kind (Theme From Crazy Heart),” written with acclaimed Texas singer/songwriter Ryan Bingham. The song is performed numerous times in the film by Bridges himself and a Bingham version premieres over the film’s trailer. At 28, Bingham has encountered more at this early stage in his life than many will in an entire lifetime. He writes from the genuine perspective of an old soul and has a growing fan base in the US and abroad. Most recently he toured with the legendary Flatlanders and performed at Farm Aid. Bingham makes his acting debut in the film and performs “I Don’t Know” co-written by Bruton and Burnett. Buddy Miller, Jay Bellerose and Greg Leisz were among the notable musicians called in to play on the original songs.

The film is dedicated to Bruton, a lifelong friend of Burnett who passed away earlier this year. In a long and distinguished career, Bruton excelled as a musician, songwriter and producer. He played guitar with Kris Kristofferson since the early 70s, had songs recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash among others, and released five records as a solo artist, the last three for New West. Just before passing, Bruton was working on Crazy Heart both musically and in a consultation role for Bridges. Bruton was able to see the completion of the project before his death.

On the soundtrack, the new original music sung by the films actors, is interwoven with songs by artists who’ve lived the movie’s story including Waylon Jennings (“Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way”) and Townes Van Zandt (“If I Needed You”). The soundtrack is rounded out with music from Buck Owens (“Hello Trouble”), The Louvin Brothers (“My Baby’s Gone”), Lightnin’ Hopkins (“Once A Gambler”) and Sam Phillips (“Reflecting Light”).

Tracklisting for the Deluxe Edition:

01. Hold On You - Jeff Bridges
02. Hello Trouble - Buck Owens
03. My Baby’s Gone - The Louvin Brothers
04. Somebody Else (Instrumental) - Stephen Bruton
05. Somebody Else - Jeff Bridges
06. I Don’t Know - Ryan Bingham
07. Wesley’s Piano - Tom Canning
08. Fallin’ & Flyin’ - Jeff Bridges
09. Searching (For Someone Like You) - Kitty Wells
10. I Don’t Know - Jeff Bridges
11. Once A Gambler - Lightnin’ Hopkins
12. Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way - Waylon Jennings
13. I Let The Freight Train Carry Me On - The Delmore Brothers
14. Color Of The Blues - George Jones
15. Joy - Lucinda Williams
16. Fallin’ & Flyin’ - Colin Farrell & Jeff Bridges
17. Gone, Gone, Gone - Colin Farrell
18. If I Needed You - Townes Van Zandt
19. Reflecting Light - Sam Phillips
20. Mal Hombre - Lydia Mendoza
21. Live Forever - Robert Duvall
22. Brand New Angel - Jeff Bridges
23. The Weary Kind (Theme From Crazy Heart) - Ryan Bingham

About Crazy Heart (From Fox Searchlight)

Four-time Academy Award ® nominee Jeff Bridges stars as the richly comic, semi-tragic romantic antihero Bad Blake in the debut feature film from writer-director Scott Cooper. Bad Blake is a broken-down, hard living country music singer who's had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet, Bad can’t help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean (Maggie Gyllenhall), a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician. As he struggles down the road of redemption, Bad learns the hard way just how tough life can be on one man’s crazy heart.

About T Bone Burnett:

T Bone Burnett is a 10-time Grammy Award winner, earning numerous statues in 2009 – including Album of the Year and Record of the Year – for his production work on Raising Sand, the worldwide smash album from Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. That same year, he was also awarded a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album for his work on B.B. King’s One Kind Favor. He previously earned five Grammys for his work on the 8-times Platinum release, O Brother Where Art Thou?, which also spawned two highly successful national concert tours: Down From The Mountain and The Great High Mountain. Further Grammys followed for his work on the platinum soundtrack to the Johnny Cash biopic, Walk The Line, and the platinum Tony Bennett / k.d. lang duets album, A Wonderful World. He was nominated for an Academy Award in 2004, along with Elvis Costello in the category of Best Original Song for “The Scarlet Tide” from the film, Cold Mountain. For his work on that film, Burnett also earned the BAFTA’s Anthony Asquith Award for Achievement in Film Music.

About Stephen Bruton:

Renowned, Texas musician, Stephen Bruton had a long and distinguished career as a musician, songwriter and producer. He released five records as a solo artist, the last three for the New West Records label. As a lead guitar player Bruton was in high demand among legendary contemporaries including Kris Kristofferson and Bonnie Raitt. He recorded with Delbert McClinton, T Bone Burnett, Elvis Costello, Carly Simon, The Wallflowers, Sonny Landreth, Peter Case, Ray Wylie Hubbard and a slew of others. He produced records for Alejandro Escovedo, Marcia Ball and Jimmie Dale Gilmore to name a few. Bruton's songs have been widely covered as well, by artists including Raitt, Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Buffett, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Martina McBride and Patty Loveless.

About Ryan Bingham:

Ryan Bingham is a Texas-bred singer/songwriter who spent part of his teen years on the bull-riding rodeo circuit, before taking up music. Bingham’s latest release Roadhouse Sun (Lost Highway/June 2009) is the follow up to the singer/songwriter’s critically acclaimed Lost Highway debut Mescalito (2007). Bingham received high-praise for both albums, including a major cover story in the Los Angeles Times ‘Calendar’ section. Bingham, and his band The Dead Horses, have appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Austin City Limits, and most recently performed on The Late Show with David Letterman on November 6, 2009.

TO VOTE FOR THE CORONAS IN THE BEST IRISH BAND CATEGORY, TEXT "VOTEBAND2" TO 085 7114444

TO VOTE FOR THE CORONAS IN BEST IRISH ALBUM CATEGORY, TEXT "VOTEALBUM2" TO 085 7114444

Recognised worldwide as Ireland’s definitive music awards it will celebrate its ten year anniversary this year. The event will be held at the RDS Dublin Friday 19th February 2010 in what promises to be the music highlight of the year. There are a limited number of tickets available from ticketmaster.ie

::: LIVE ::: Irish Dates
March 6th, 2010 - DUBLIN - Olympia Theatre
March 7th, 2010 - BELFAST - Mandella Hall
www.ticketmaster.ie

Birmingham’s emperors of rock’n’folk Ocean Colour Scene have announced that they will be releasing a new album, Saturday, on 1st February 2010, which will be preceded by a digital single, Magic Carpet Days on 25th January.

OCS, who will be celebrating their 21st anniversary next year, have clocked up an impressive eleven Top 20 singles and five Top 10 albums during their illustrious career. Saturday, their ninth studio album, was recorded over six weeks last summer at the iconic Rockfield studios in South Wales with producer Gavin Monaghan (Editors/ the Twang), and finds them as vibrantly tuneful as they’ve ever been.

From the opening bars of psych-folk opener ‘100 Floors Of Perception’ - written by Simon about the on-going financial crisis - to epic climax ‘Rockfield’ (think ‘Baba O’Riley’ meets ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’), it’s a reminder than when it comes to delivering classic rock hooks there is simply no one better. Denim-driven boogie ‘Old Pair Of Jeans’ (written by Bennett) will delight those hankering for the full-tilt mod-pop of ‘For Dancers Only’, while Harry Kidnap’ (written in tribute to John Weller) boasts shades of North Atlantic Drift stand-out ‘Make The Deal’. The single, ‘Magic Carpet Days’, meanwhile (key lyric: “The world won’t shake you/Knock you down and break you/I’ll steer you through these magic carpet days”) is a reminder that their belief in the Mod aesthetic of self-improvement remains as strong as ever.

OCS are renowned for their live performances, and stole the show at this year’s V, where they were named ‘Band Of The Festival’ by BBC Radio 2 and Absolute Radio.
In February and March 2010, the band will be undertaking a 24 date UK & Ireland tour.

Available on CD and as a digital download, the full tracklisting is as follows :

1. 100 Floors Of Perception
2. Mrs Maylie
3. Saturday
4. Just A Little Bit Of Love
5. Old Pair Of Jeans
6. Sing Children Sing
7. Harry Kidnap
8. Magic Carpet Days
9. The Word
10.Village Life
11.Postal
12.What’s Mine Is Yours
13. Fell In Love On The Street Again
14. Rockfield

Stevo Berube / Berube Communications info@berubecommunications.com or +353 (0)87 244 2695

CD Contents:
1 Tolerance
2 Bohemian Rhapsody
3 Alien Abduction Probe
4 Omen
5 In the Backyard
6 Eine Kleine Trinkmusik
7 Norfolk Girl
8 She's Just My Type
9 Underneath the Bed
10 Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
11 Won't Get Fooled Again
12 Ramblin' Man / Don't Cry For Me

::: LIVE ::: Whelan’s, Dublin, on January 30th

‘Alphabet of Hurricanes’, McRae’s first album for Cooking Vinyl, was written over a two year period during which he toured extensively across Europe, North America and the Far East. “Touring lost me my sense of home,” Tom explains. “Traveling constantly kept my feet itchy – being in motion is the best way to feel alive without actually engaging. I loved it.”

“After a while I just ran out of steam. I wound up in New York and started writing songs, trying to make sense of the last few years. Somehow I had to reconcile the self-destructive side of my nature and the desire to constantly smash things up with the need to feel settled in order to have a better grasp on song-writing and recording. If everything feels breathlessly exciting all the time it’s probably time to take a break from touring.”

McRae, whose debut album was nominated for the Mercury Prize and a Brit Award, recorded the album at his house in Bow, London. He bought a banjo, ukulele, mandolin, drums, violin, an old piano and “other junk from ebay”. Here he began fleshing out the songs he’d been writing on his travels. He dragged his band and a few friends into the studio for a couple of songs and the record began to take shape.

The title ‘Alphabet of Hurricanes’ comes from a song that actually started the writing process, but won’t see the light of day on the record of the same name. Each year hurricanes are named alphabetically and last year the world went through the alphabet twice, which had never happened before. Such was the huge increase in hurricanes the world over. The revenge of the natural world unveiling itself in one of its fiercest forms.

“There’s a line in that song,” expands Tom. “‘An alphabet of hurricanes can’t blow this drifter home,’ which sums up how I felt. The turbulence in my life seemed stuck on repeat, but then I realised if you stop fighting the wind and tides and work with them, you can call it sailing."

So, maybe this is the sound of an angry man coming to terms with the vagaries of the world, the imbalance that it causes both personally and globally and the beginning of his understanding of where he fits in

"Wandering Eye, Brighton, Clown, Money in the Bank – it’s hard to pick a highlight on an album that so consistently delivers." SINÉAD GLEESON -- Irish Times 'The Ticket' ****
“Sweet Heart Rodeo is pure quality; there is a sureness and maturity in the songwriting, and a lightness and poise in the delivery, that is utterly beguiling … Effortlessly magnificent.” – Clash 8/10
“Beautiful.” - Mojo ****
“Delicately adventurous. Young Girl leans towards a previously untapped rockist side, while a semi-freaky cover of Margo Guryan’s Love posits Landes as a muted banshee. She’s on plainer ground with Money In The Bank and Dance Area, feathery acoustic songs that shuffle and sway beautifully, though it’s the graceful cadence of Wandering Eye that steals the show.” – Uncut ****
“As close to graceful as anything I’ve heard in a long time … A gentle canter of mesmerising, summery-tinged tunes which are gilded with effortless vocals and understated melodies … If you’ve already got Cerys Matthews’ Cockahoop, you’ll love it..” - Artrocker
“Writing an album about your great-grandma’s adventures might sound riddled with pitfalls, but Brooklyn-based singer Dawn Landes has struck it lucky. Her great nan ran away with the rodeo, and this country-tinged tribute sounds as sweet as its title.” - Grazia

Landes first came to the UK & Ireland's attention with the release of her acclaimed second album (and her UK / Irish debut), Fireproof (2008). Q declared it to be “Understated and beautiful” (Q **** Recommended Album), whilst The Guardian called it “vivid girl-next-door indie pop in the spirit of Frente and Cat Powers.” Uncut said “Landes propels the whole project skywards with a voice that encapsulates the best qualities of Laura Veirs and Cat Powers. It’s pretty much essential stuff.”

Sweet Heart Rodeo was inspired by Landes great-grandmother’s beau, who ran away to join the rodeo during the Great Depression. A rodeo theme runs throughout the record as she compares the ups and downs of romance to the rigours of bull riding. “Each song is like its own bull,” the twenty-eight-year-old deadpans. “Each ride its own love-story … you know, trying to hang on to a wild thing isn’t always graceful.”

Recorded in Landes own studio (Saltlands in Brooklyn) with regular collaborator, drummer and all-rounder Ray Rizzo, guitarist Josh Kaufman and bassist Annie Nero, the album kicks off with the new single, “Young Girl”, which ponders gender stereotyping - competitive boys, jealous girls - over a reductive and distorted keyboard riff. The haunting ‘Money In The Bank’ marries down-home hippie wisdom ‘the night before you die, what are you gonna buy?’ to a glorious chorus bolstered by a wistful French horn. Landes even drums on an unlikely cover of Margo Guryan’s already unlikely ‘Love’, a 1968 collision of cool jazz and nascent psychedelia. Rizzo’s idiosyncratic harmonica style "kinda cloudy- the opposite of ethereal” boosts the quirky ‘Wandering Eye’, a rare song that combines sex and travel without causing offence, while ‘Little Miss Holiday’ imagines a conversation between Jodie Foster and the teenage hooker that inspired her character in Scorsese’s unhinged “Taxi Driver.” It’s tender rather than bleak. ‘Brighton’ is a tribute to a magical day in that great Southern (English) town, yet it could hardly sound more American, Appalachian even. “I hope I captured it in the song,” she says. Her Brighton though is more romantic than the resort us Britons know, already a fond memory. By the album’s conclusion, the wobbly wedding march of ‘All Dressed In White’, you’ll probably be thinking of giving love a try. Even if it does hurt when you fall off.

Groove Armada – Andy Cato and Tom Findlay - release their hotly awaited new studio album ‘Black Light’, February 22nd, which sees the masters of reinvention move in some thrilling new directions.

Written and produced by Andy Cato and Tom Findlay, their sixth studio album ranks among their best work to date.

“We needed a new challenge, explains Andy. “Bands like Friendly Fires, Klaxons, Passion Pit, and MGMT, they're the ones really leading the charge, making genuinely exciting, dance-informed music. That sound really pushed us back towards people like Bowie, Fleetwood Mac and Roxy Music."

Recorded in Tom’s studio in North London, the blistering 12-track album features intriguing and fascinating collaborations with Bryan Ferry, Will Young and Nick Littlemore (Empire Of The Sun/PNAU) to name a few.

Bryan Ferry supplies his first ever guest vocal to the softly intense ‘Shameless’. Having had ‘Love Is A Drug’ on repeat for much of the recording it seemed only right. While the yearning voice heard on the stirring house lullaby ‘History’ belongs to Will Young, a good friend of Andy’s.

With their fingers sitting permanently on the musical pulse Andy and Tom recruited lesser-known quantities but equally impactful in Nick Littlemore (Empire Of The Sun/PNAU), electro wonder kids Fenech Soler, livewire female vocalist SaintSaviour and Brooklynite Jess Larrabee.

Nick appears on the first song for the record ‘Warsaw’ – a juddering electro-rocker that became an online hit when it was offered as a free sneak preview in September. His vocals drive the delicate ‘Fall Silent’, the menacing ‘Not Forgotten’ and 80s-tinged popper ‘Cards To Your Heart’.

Another of Black Light's main contributors is SaintSaviour who fronted the ‘Black Light’ preview tour in October. The singer has lent her crystalline vocals to the album's first single ‘I Won't Kneel’ (Out November 23rd), as well as the second single ‘Paper Romance’ (Due February 15th), who she shares vocals with Ben from electro wonder-kids Fenech Soler.

SaintSaviour also appears on the driving, electro-‘Time and Space’ alongside Jess Larrabee. "We've never actually met Jess," says Andy, "We got really into her albums and started emailing tracks for her to add vocals. Her music usually has more of a White Stripes kind of vibe. She got really into the disco flavour and absolutely nailed it."

Larrabee lends her voice to the album's gorgeous mellow gem, Just For Tonight’ and provides some New York attitude to the spiky, rocked-up ‘Look Me In The Eye Sister’ - a track the Yeah Yeah Yeahs would kill for.

"It's amazing to make a record at this point in your career that you're viscerally excited about," says Tom. "Even people who've hated everything we've ever made before could absolutely love this record. I'm incredibly proud of it.”

Tracklisting & List Of Collaborators
Look Me In The Eye Sister Feat. Jess Larrabee
Fall Silent Feat. Nick Littlemore
Just For Tonight Feat. Jess Larrabee
Not Forgotten Feat. Nick Littlemore
I Wont Kneel Feat. SaintSaviour
Cards To Your Heart Feat. Nick Littlemore
Paper Romance Feat. Fenech Soler & SaintSaviour
Warsaw Feat. Nick Littlemore
Shameless Feat. Bryan Ferry
Time & Space Feat. SaintSaviour & Jess Larrabee
History Feat. Will Young

After an incredible 2008/09 so far, which has included a debut top 10 album, 2 full headline UK and European tours, European dates with Simple Plan, Radio 1 B listed singles, over 125,000 singles sold and a whole run of festivals, ELLIOT MINOR are now set to release their new single ‘Electric High’ and 2nd album ‘Solaris’.

‘Electric High’ signifies a more mature leap forward in every department for ELLIOT MINOR, from playing to song writing, production and ambition. Frontman and songwriter Alex Davies started writing the new material as soon as the band came off the road in December last year. The new songs pull from the band’s experiences of making and touring their first album.

The new single was recorded during the album sessions starting in April this year at Chapel Studios in Lincoln and at Mavehole Studios in York. Produced once again by Jim Wirt (Incubus, Hoobastank, Something Corporate) and mixed by the multi Grammy award winning Tom Lord-Alge (Manic Street Preachers, Taking Back Sunday, Weezer, The Rolling Stones), this second collaboration meant that the band and Jim knew what had worked before but gave them a lot of room to add new creative ideas and to push into bold new territory. Live wise, the band have played Oxygen, T in the Park, Leeds and Reading and Download last year. They also played main support to Simple Plan in Europe and Fall Out Boy in the UK, been to Japan three times doing their own headline shows, have toured as a headline act through Europe into Paris, Prague, Brussels and Amsterdam on every tour. On top of this, they have also taken the likes of You Me at Six, We are the Ocean, The Higher and Mission District as support.

TRACKLISTING

1) The Dancer
2) I Believe you need me to...
3) Electric High
4) Coming Home
5) Carry on
6) Better than the Courtroom
7) All Along
8) Solaris
9) Discover (Why the love hurts)
10) Shiver
11) Tethered
12) Sometimes You're Wrong

Plus Special Piano Tour of Europe includes Four Irish Dates:
10.11.09 - Cork - Cyprus Ave
11.11.09 - Dublin - The Village
12.11.09 - Galway - Roisin Dubh
13.11.09 - Sligo - Tobergal Lane

For Mark Eitzel’s new tour he will be performing special piano shows across Europe with the accompaniment of American Music Clubs arranger and keyboardist Marc Capelle.
Mark will sing American Music Club songs along side solo tracks.

‘Klamath’ (décor records) is the album that a lot of people have been asking Mark Eitzel to make for a very long time, just Mark’s amazing voice, an acoustic guitar and minimal instrumentation.

After a full year of touring Mark came back to San Francisco exhausted and called on some friends for an escape. They were living in Happy Camp, California - by the Klamath river, a small cabin in the middle of the woods and way off the grid in Northern California. Mark says about writing the album:

“I wandered around for a couple of weeks in this untouched forest and decided I would make a record that included the stillness - the vicious beauty - I heard there. I had not felt this way for a long time. I should have made another American Music Club record for the label - but didn’t hear drums and big electric guitars. Klamath is a simple record. I am a simple man. Or I wanna be. It's the kind of record i would want to listen to.”

The basic tracks were written and recorded in Klamath and finished off in San Francisco in the following three months with Eitzel producing and the likes of Franz Nicolay from the Hold Steady and Marc Capelle from American Music Club and Dave Douglas (who drums with Kelley Stoltz) guesting on the album. The pastoral – laid back, late night sparse feel to the album harkens back to Eitzel’s folk influences of Nick Drake and John Martyn and earlier work with AMC. The only electric guitar featured is in Eitzel’s tribute to local Columbus, Ohio (where Eitzel grew up) new wave hero Ronald Koal. After the instrumental lead in to the album ‘Buried Treasure’ Eitzel puts on his lyrical and melodic best.

‘Klamath’ is Mark’s first proper solo album of new material since 2001’s ‘Invisible Man’ on Matador. Just prior to AMC’s breakup in 1995, Eitzel began his solo career in earnest and since then he has released six albums including “60 Watt Siliver Lining”, “West” with REM’s Peter Buck, “Caught in a Trap...” with members of Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo and two albums of cover versions. In 2003, American Music Club got back together for one of the most anticipated and amazing reunions in ages. Their 2004 album, “Love Songs for Patriots”, received widespread critical acclaim as well as the follow up “The Golden Age”. In between these albums he released a collection of soundtrack material called ‘Candy Ass’. Eitzel is now working on a new record with Peter Buck, the next AMC album and a musical in London called Marine Parade co-written with Simon Stephens.

“Klamath” - Tracklisting
1. Buried Treasure
2. Like A River That’s Reaching the Sea
3. The Blood on My Hands
4. I Miss You
5. I Know There Is Someone Waiting
6. What Do You Got For Me
7. The White of Gold
8. I Live In This Place
9. Why I’m Bullsh!t
10. Remember
11. Antennas
12. Ronald Koal Was a Rock Star

Mark Eitzel is the singer and songwriter out of American Music Club. Mark has been making records since 1980. He has a full beard and is bald. Mark is one of the best songwriters in the world, Rolling Stone said this back in 1992 but it is still true. Mark Eitzel is sometimes his own worst enemy so it is fun to get them fighting each other, Mark Eitzel II normally loses out to Alpha Eitzel. Mark has also sung with the Toiling Midgets and with Peter Buck of REM. Mark hates long haul flights and loves writing rants about bad hotels on travel sites, someday we may collect these into a book. Mark Eitzel has released 8 solo albums, 9 albums with American Music Club and many other side projects, tour albums etc. I’m not sure Mark Eitzel is a very good lover, he is defiantly not a very good fighter. Mark Eitzel is currently working on his new solo album, another album with Mr Buck and after that a new American Music Club album. Mark lives in the city of San Francisco in the Mission District…the worlds best burritos come from here. Mark has lived in Ohio, NYC, Southampton and can often be found walking the streets of London. If you see Mark II stop and say hi and he may get you a drink but please don’t hassle Alpha Eitzel, we are not insured here for any public liability.

::: LIVE ::: New Years Eve Carnival Extravaganza ~ Vicar Street, Dublin

Supports...
Bone Idle Circus
The North Strand Kontra Band
Candice Gordon
& very special guest Carol Keogh
Ticket price 29.50 Euro

Upcoming Jerry Fish & the Mudbug Club Shows
Sat, Nov 21 - McHughs, Drogheda
Thu, Dec10 - The Olive Grove, Athlone
Sat, Dec19 - Roisin Dubh, Galway
Tue, Dec22 - Party with Imelda May in the 02, Dublin
Sun, Dec27 - The Late Lounge, Kildare
Mon, Dec28 - The Pavilion, Cork
Thu, Dec 31 - New Years Eve Party / Carnival Extravaganza!! Vicar Street, Dublin

::: LIVE :::
Thursday 5th November 2009 - THE VILLAGE, DUBLIN
Saturday 7th November 2009 - HEADFORT ARMS HOTEL, KELLS
Thursday 12th November 2009 - THE BACKROOM, NAVAN
Check website for more information.

"Beekeeper", the 3rd single to be released from the critically acclaimed album INVITATION TIME (Album of the Week - RTE Radio 1)
following "Eviction" and "Secret" is out now on LP Records and Available on iTunes & downloadmusic.ie

Idlewild has announced it will be releasing its seventh studio album, "Post-Electric Blues"

The album, which was available earlier this year as a limited edition via the bands website, will also feature two bonus tracks – Take Away The Night Time and Take Me Back In Time (demo). These tracks will be available to download once the album has been purchased. The release was be preceded by a digital single, Readers & Writers, which will feature an extra track, (The Night Will) Bring You Back To Life (demo)

'Post-Electric Blues' is an indie-rock album of Boss-like bombast, flecked with 70s synths and dashes of brass. It's an album that leaps from Fleetwood Mac epic folk/rock/pop peaks into joyous Loch-side sing-a-longs. It's the sound of a deft and defiant band(completed by Rod Jones on guitar, backing vocals, keyboards; Colin Newton on drums, percussion; Allan Stewart on guitar and Gareth Russell on bass), exploring soundscapes whilst finding hooks and generally, genuinely and quite clearly, having a fookin’ good time.

"Album opener 'Younger than America' was the first track we wrote for the album," says singer Roddy Woomble. "The idea for the lyrics came from a spate watching Westerns - simple stories of justice and courage set at the 'frontier'. It sounds the way it does because we're all big fans of Neil Young & Crazy horse. After we'd written the song I though the record might turn into a American sounding piece of classic rock, but it didn't turn out that way really, especially after writing 'Readers and Writers'. The record went in whatever direction it chose to.”

Lyrically, the punk-rock sloganeering of their earlier work has become a mixture of poignant observational small-world imagery and universal ponder-neering. This isn't all textural wilderness-gazing or woe is me Morrissey-like rambling. There are a few wry lyrics because "sometimes you need some daft lines in there," explains Roddy, "I don't that think it's possible to have a rock song where every line is perfect, I don't think that's the point of rock music."

Whilst the band were writing and recording the album, members of their fanclub-like online community saw and heard work-in-progress snippets: "The fans of the band were part of this album and were entitled to see the songs being written and to feel a part of them," beams Roddy. "They paid for them to be recorded after all. In today's musical world when everything has to be available and instant and people get bored quickly (far too quickly in my opinion) this album was our attempt to get with the times. I suppose the album title reflects this. We all really like and appreciate the fact the fans paid for us to make this album and that all their names are inside of it."

Written in Scotland and recorded in Wales (and Scotland), Post-Electric Blues is an album made to play live, as Roddy explains: "Most bands now make their living through concerts, and we're no exception, so records have to be tailored that way. With 'The Remote Part and 'Warnings...' we were writing songs that would sound good on the radio (and live, but the radio was more important - so we were told). There are a million new bands on the radio waves, or digital waves, now so it's more important to us how we will sound good through a PA system in a club and that we can play and sing it all!"

There can be no doubt that this year belongs to the Prodigy. They’re back, getting in the world’s face and doing what they do best: they’ve proved themselves as the last gang in town all over again, selling over a million copies of new album ‘Invaders Must Die’ and playing a string of devastating live shows across the world that turn any gig into a festival and any festival into an snarling, pogoing orgy of full on rave power. Three men standing completely at the top of their game.

So with the world at their feet, the bar has been set pretty high to make this three disc special edition of ‘Invaders Must Die’ a memorable end to a very special year…

Featuring heavyweight underground rhythm tracks from Liam Howlett’s now scarce and much talked about Lost Beats EP, new mixes from Liam Howlett, Yuksek and Bang Gang as well as collecting the cream of the album’s remixes to date including radical dancefloor reworkings from Josh Homme, Sub Focus, Chase & Status, Benga, Herve and Rusko, as well as live versions of tracks, videos and live footage plus a 48 page tour booklet.

The album will also include Invaders Must Die (Liam H Re-amped version) and as a mark of respect to their fans this track will be available to download for free from www.theprodigy.com from Wednesday 21st October for 7 days and will then get a full release on November 30th. Full details to follow …

This is a collection that shows off both a band at the peak of their live powers and a collection of some of the most vital contemporary music being made by anyone today.

Disc 1 - Audio CD - original album plus …

The Big Gundown (from Lost Beats EP)?
Wild West (from Lost Beats EP)
Omen - Live - Rock am Ring

Disc 2 - Audio CD

1. Invaders Must Die - new Liam Howlett mix
2. Invaders Must Die - Chase & Status Remix
3 Omen - Noisia Remix
4. Omen - Herve Remix
5. Warriors Dance - Future Funk Squad Remix
6. Warriors Dance - Benga Remix
7 .Warriors Dance - South Central Remix
8. Take Me To The Hospital - Rusko Remix
9. Take Me To The Hospital - Subfocus Remix
10. Take Me To The Hospital - Josh Homme & Liam H's Wreckage Mix
11. Take Me To The Hospital - Loser 's Middlesex A & E Remix
12. Invaders Must Die - Yuksek Remix
13 .Thunder - Bang Gang Remix

DVD Disc

1. Invaders Must Die - video. directed by Paul Dugdale
2. Omen - video. directed by Paul Dugdale
3. Warriors Dance - video. directed by Corin Hardy
4. Take Me To The Hospital - video. directed by Paul Dugdale
5. Worlds on Fire - live. directed by Paul Dugdale
6. Warrior's Dance - live. directed by Paul Dugdale
7. Run - live. directed by Paul Dugdale
8. Take Me To The Hospital - Big Day Out - Australia 2009. directed by Paul Dugdale

THERE IS NO LIMIT TO THE AMOUNT OF TIMES YOU CAN APPLY

Over the years there has been barely a handful of Irish bands whose dizzying ascent to the top of the music industry has been made in double-quick time. Bands like The Thrills and Cranberries are two examples of acts that had barely finished playing village halls and local pubs when they found themselves tripping the live fandango across huge stages in front of vast crowds. They, however, are as rare the proverbial hen's teeth, and even bands like U2 and the sickly sweet Corrs, earned their stripes, parading up and down the country, as they sharpened their skills waiting for that moment; when your luck finally meets up with your opportunity. And when you are a musician with any ambition, it is that "moment" that you strive for, although most never even get that close. As a small example of just how far the odds are against you becoming a working musician, consider the following statistics. In Ireland, experts vary about how many original bands exist in the country at any given time but estimates ordinarily fall somewhere in the region of 8,000 or more.

Each year, perhaps a half dozen of these will make the jump from obscurity to national renown, with perhaps only one of these going on to achieve anything on an international level. Considering Ireland's anemic national support for its homegrown acts, it is a wonder that even that many make it to solvency, but such adverse odds have done little to dissuade the tens of thousands of kids that dream everyday about being a rock star or even those bands that continue to carry amps up and down the stairs of gin mills and dives every weekend for years on end, in the dogged pursuit of that "moment". For Ireland's latest indie sensation, Ham Sandwich, that moment is now and few bands on the island have worked as hard to achieve it.

According to legend, Ham Sandwich's birth was positively biblical given the fact that Johnny Moore approached, Podge McNamee and, Niamh Farrell about the idea of forming their own group, while the trio were at a Good Friday party, in 2003. With Moore as the main songwriter and the other two as vocalists, they then set their sights on combing through the musicians they knew in hometown, Kells, County Meath, in an effort to shore up the lineup with likeminded individuals. Guitarist, Darcy, was recruited from the school he attended with Moore in the nearby town of Navan, which, curiously, is the same school that gave Ireland three of its most esteemed comedic talents, in the shape of Dylan Moran, Tommy Tiernan and Hector O'hEochag·in. With the addition of Ollie Murphy on drums, the band was complete and rehearsals began in earnest. After almost one year of intense jamming and absorbing a multitude of tastes, the band finally took its first steps into the public spotlight, becoming something of a local phenomenon, on the strength of their charged live performances and colorful personalities.

In early autumn of 2005, the national underground music scene got its first taste of the band with the release of their first single, the superb, Sad Songs, which called to mind acts such as Jesus & Mary Chain, Pavement and The Smiths. With McNamee and Farrell's vocals projecting a perfect balance of light and shade, the single served as an early signal that Ham Sandwich had potential to be a band of consequence. The next two years would only confirm this notion as the five-piece set about touring the highways and byways of Ireland, drumming up support wherever they went, with a show that is as energetic as it is unpredictable. In Farrell, the band has the ultra-cool female singer, who is unafraid to mix it up with her fellow band members, yet is not beyond projecting an air of cool detachment when the mood demands it, while in McNamee, the band has a bona fide space cadet (sometimes quite literally when he wears his astronaut costume). Bounding around the stage, exuding fun and mischief, and alternating between ringmaster and clown, his energy alone could probably power all their amps. Together, the pair are almost sound somewhat like The Sunday's Harriet Wheeler and Crash Test Dummies, Brad Roberts, might sound like if they ever played in a high-octane indie band, although it's doubtful then that they would retain a scintilla of the natural chemistry evident between Farrell and McNamee. Such a live show soon had the band selling out venues throughout the country, despite little or no promotion and winning them the title as Ireland's greatest cult band.

Two more singles followed, St Christopher and Click... Click... Boom!, the latter of which exploded the band onto the national consciousness, with it's Pixies-like collision of energy and substance. Suddenly Ham Sandwich found themselves opening for names such as Electric Six, Buzzcocks and My Morning Jacket, as their public profile grew and their singles began to receive airplay in prime time shows. They also made their first appearances on TV and as the year drew to a close, the band retired to a cottage in Cavan, to begin work on their debut album with producer, Karl Odlum. In fact, the view from the cottage was the same view that Irish writer, Jonathon Swift, was looking at when he was struck with the idea for his novel, Gulliver's Travels, adding just the right amount of solitude and mystique to proceedings.

On February 15, the band's labors attained a physical form, when their debut album, Carry The Meek, hit stores and promptly debuted at 23 in the Irish album charts, an extremely creditable result considering they released it on their own label, Route 109 Records, which is named after the bus route from Dublin to Kells. In case the band needed any more affirmation that they were on their way to the next level, they were also presented with the Meteor Music Hope For 2008 Award, on the same day as their album release. The interest is such that the band is already in talks with several labels with a view to getting the album out overseas and it will undoubtedly only be a matter of months before the band start gigging outside of Ireland on a regular basis. The years of dedication appear to be paying out, proving the adage that hard work always pays off in the end. McNamee recently alluded to this fact saying: "It's always been a slow rise. We've never forced our music on anyone." Now the people are coming to the music in their droves, leaving only one slightly downbeat note for the rest of us; we're going to have to find another band to call Ireland's greatest cult band, because Ham Sandwich has gone above ground and if they keep producing albums like that, they are there to stay.

By Joe Kavanagh (Irish Examiner - USA)

Ocean Colour Scene, who have clocked up an impressive eleven Top 20 singles and five Top 10 albums during their illustrious career, have announced that they will be giving away a free track ahead of the release of their forthcoming album, "Saturday". Taken from the album (due for release on Monday 1st February 2010), the free download, "Mrs Maylie", will be available for 2 weeks only from Monday 2nd November at
www.oceancolourscene.com

During their illustrious career, Ocean Colour Scene have clocked up an impressive eleven Top 20 singles and five Top 10 albums in the UK alone. They recorded their new album "Saturday" at legendary Rockfield studio (Oasis, The Stone Roses, and Black Sabbath), with esteemed producer Gavin Monaghan (Kings of Leon, Robert Plant ,The Editors, The Twang) at the helm, and is due for release on Monday 1st February. Earlier this year, the band previewed some of the new songs during its performances at the Oxegen, V and Belladrum Festivals. Commenting on the album, frontman Simon Fowler says, “During our six weeks at Rockfield we have recorded fourteen new songs so far, and it's shaping up to be our best collection since Marchin’ Already. Now we are looking forward to playing a whole new set early next year.” More details to follow ….

Hot on the heels of stuffing Dublin's Whelans with over 400 punters on the same night as the Ireland v Italy World Cup qualifier, Rising Dublin popsters The Gandhis have just released their debut album ‘You Are My Friend’ through 1969 Records. After raising a few eyebrows around the country with their memorable performance RTE TV's "Saturday Night With Miriam" show during the summer, the band now hit the road to play dates around the country.

::: LIVE :::
22 Oct 2009 - The Spirit Store - Dundalk, Louth
23 Oct 2009 - The Stables - Mullingar, Westmeath
25 Oct 2009 - Dublin Flea Market (Acoustic Gig Thingy) - Dublin
28 Oct 2009 - Dolans Warehouse - Limerick
31 Oct 2009 - The Lower Deck - Halloween Gig w/ Van Cleef - Dublin
17 Nov 2009 - Roisin Dubh - Galway
21 Nov 2009 - Whelans - Dublin
...check the myspace site for added gigs.

• Saturday 24th October 2009 - PUMPKIN FESTIVAL - VIRGINIA (SUPPORT TO BELL X1)
  
• Thursday 5th November 2009 - THE VILLAGE, DUBLIN Saturday 7th November 2009 - HEADFORT ARMS HOTEL, KELLS
  
• Thursday 12th November 2009 - THE BACKROOM, NAVAN

Check website for more dates to be added.

In March 2009, Meath based band "Little Palace" released their second studio album, titled "Invitation Time".

Two singles were subsequently released, the melodic and thought provoking "Eviction" with shared vocals from Ann-Louise Mulvany and Anthony Cregan, and the heart-felt ballad "Secret", featuring Colm Mac Con Iomaire of renowned Irish band the "Frames". Both singles received substantial airplay across national radio.

The release of the album was followed by a very successful Irish tour, taking in venues in Cork, Galway, Limerick, Louth and Meath.

"We really enjoyed being back on the road together" says drummer Ian Melady who incidentally also played with critically acclaimed indie band "Turn" "because we'd taken a break from playing live for a few years we were all fresh going in to it".

With main songwriter Michael Brunnock now resident in New York, recording and touring were never going to be easy. Bassist Anthony Cregan says "the logistics of getting us all in the same place were a bit of a nightmare, but the fact that we did it just shows how much we really wanted it to happen". And, happen it did! With sold out shows and rave reviews and even album of the week on RTE radio 1.
________________________________________

Little Palace went back into the studio in 2008 to record some songs written by Michael Brunnock. "They were good songs and we all felt that there was unfinished business, so why not!" says Michael. These recordings became "Invitation Time" the new album from the band.

Previously they had released two very successful E.Ps. The debut "Beekeeper" featuring the song "Gift" produced by "Dead Can Dance" main man Brendan Perry, and the follow up "Car" which were both accompanied by extensive touring of Ireland, several dates in the U.S and some shows in Paris, France.

Long term member and co-producer Martin Quinn says of the new record "This is some of the best work we've ever done and it all came together pretty easily!"

The new album features a re-working of the very popular song "Secret" with a fine piano performance by James Quinn, also a member of the band since day one, and additional strings played by Colm Mac Con Iomaire of the Frames.

Band Members

Ann-Louise Mulvany - Vocals
Michael Brunnock - Vocals/Guitars
Anthony Cregan - Vocals/Guitars/Bass
Martin Quinn - Vocals/Guitars/Bass/Keyboards/Producer
James Quinn - Piano/Keyboards
Ian Melady Drums/Percussion
David Butler - Manager

:: LIVE ::: WHELANS (Upstairs), Dublin - October 10th, 2009"Analogue Droids"Launch Gig

"Analogue Droids" is the 3rd single taken from Cowboy X's long awaited second album - "Meant To Be Machines" - out 2010 - and will be available on download.ie with 3 other tracks, Squirrel Chase Ball, Ed White's Glove, and Villain In Disguise, as the Analogue Droids EP. This is the first time Cowboy X have released an EP and the other 3 tracks, will not be on the forthcoming album.

Also the two previous singles Japanese Toy and Break Me (Featured as the theme to RTE2 "Raw Sessions") will for the first time be available on download.ie
_______________________________

John and David have been in several bands together since they were knee high to grass hopper. They failed miserably. Then one day, on a beach like the one in The Beach they both rescued Karen, a complete stranger, from a shark, crocodile and pigeon attack.

After many months of recuperation in hospital (and with a few plastic surgery operations thrown in for good measure) Karen was back on her feet and tracked down John and David to thank them for saving her life. They suggested many ways in which she could repay them...none of which will be mentioned at this time. Then they realised she could sing and her voice would work well on the music they had been writing. From then on, they were collectively known as Cowboy X and their music rang throughout the land.

COWBOY X:
Karen McCartney - Vocals/Guitar
John Hanley - Drums
David Grealy - Guitar
Wayne Gibson - Bass

The Indigo Girls launch their own imprint to release their first studio album in 3 years
The release will contain 2 CDs – a full band version and acoustic disc with a bonus track

It’s been two decades since the Indigo Girls launched their career with their independently released debut album, 1987’s Strange Fire. Now, after entertaining millions of fans with their 10 major-label studio albums (nine on Epic Records and one, 2006’s Despite Our Differences, on Hollywood Records), Emily Saliers and Amy Ray have come full circle with the independent release of their new 2-CD album, Poseidon And The Bitter Bug, on their new label IG Recordings, distributed through Vanguard Records.

The new album reunites the Grammy-winning duo with veteran producer, arranger and keyboardist Mitchell Froom (Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney, Los Lobos and others), who worked on the Indigo Girls’ acclaimed 2006 release, Despite Our Differences. Longtime bassist Clare Kenny, drummer Matt Chamberlin and engineer David Boucher make up the rest of the core band but the sound is pure Indigo Girls, with uplifting, effortless harmonies; honest, passionately involved lyrics and infectious melodies.

“Mitchell was able to build a bridge between Emily’s songs and my songs more successfully than anyone we’ve worked with“, says Ray, “he’s a musicians’ musician and has a very clear idea of what will work.” Adds Saliers, “He likes Amy’s music and he likes my music, which is not the easiest thing to find because we are so different and our songs are different.”

The album was recorded in Atlanta in a whirlwind three week session – they wanted to keep a sense of spontaneity and discovery to the process. And it’s the songwriting that shines on Poseidon, with the duo exploring new approaches to melody, harmonics and rhythm, especially on Saliers’ “Digging For Your Dream,” which she says is “as close to R&B as I’ve ever gotten,” and Ray’s “Sugar Tongue,” a fevered meditation on colonialism that finds her experimenting with her higher vocal range to capture an innocence not commonly displayed by the fiery rocker.

Says Saliers, “For a band like us, it might feel inauthentic if we tried to branch out in some crazy way musically. That's why Amy makes solo records, so she can do her own thing outside of what we do together. As a unit, we do what we do and Mitchell just happens to bring the best out of it. That's a good thing at this point in our career.”

One thing the Girls have done differently on Poseidon is include a second CD that features acoustic versions of all the songs, plus a bonus track, “Salty South.” It’s a chance for listeners to hear stripped down, organic versions of the songs – just the Girls in a room with a few mics – before the arrangements changed with the addition of the band.

With a Grammy, six Grammy nominations and a legacy of releases and tours behind them, the Indigo Girls have outlasted many of their peers and forged their own way in the music business. They’ve always thought independently, and have always balanced their commitment to music and performing with an unwavering commitment to social, political and environmental issues – Ray and Saliers don’t just talk the talk; they walk the walk. In 1991, Ray and Saliers co-founded the non-profit organization Honor the Earth to raise awareness and financial support for indigenous environmental justice, and over the years they have supported groups fighting for women’s rights, civil rights for same-sex couples, and the abolition of the death penalty as well as voter registration.

Now with their own imprint, the Girls have come full circle; they’ve weathered the ups and downs of the music industry and come out with their musical vision and enthusiasm intact.

“I am overwhelmingly excited to be independent because it really is where the heart of music sits for me,” says Ray, “I don't have many regrets about the major-label life of the band because we certainly got a lot out of it. We were lucky enough to be on Epic when Pearl Jam and Rage Against The Machine were our label-mates and the company was developing bands with the intent of creating catalog artists. That has all changed, and it's just not worth being on a major. It hasn’t felt worth it for a long time. Beyond that, it never fed my soul the way an independent career can.”

“I feel a great sense of freedom in finally being rid of the major-label world,” Ray says. “It’s been a burden for a while for me. I felt an honesty and sincerity making Poseidon, because I fully believe in independence.” Saliers says, “It fees liberating and centering, even in the midst of change.”

Poseidon And The Bitter Bug is the work of career artists at the top of their artistic game, invigorated to be doing what they love best – writing and performing music. With these two CDs, the Indigo Girls give listeners an intimate look at their songwriting and how it’s affected by the recording process. Poseidon is a release that affirms their position not only as musical icons but as artists who continue to live up to the high standards they’ve set for themselves.

STEVE EARLE

www.steveearle.com ~ www.myspace.com/steveearlemusic ~www.newwestrecords.com

::: LIVE ::: Upcoming Irish Shows
Sept 26 - Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival, Longford - €41.70 ~ Tel: +353-87-281-7825 / www.johnnykeenan.com
Sept 27 - Belfast Open House Festival - £25.00 ~ Tel: +44 (0)28 90246609 / www.openhousefestival.com
Nov 09 - Galway, Town Hall - €40.00 ~ Tel: 091-569777 / www.tht.ie
Nov 10 - Galway, Town Hall - €40.00 ~ Tel: 091-569777 / www.tht.ie
Nov 11 - Cork, Opera House - €40.00 ~Tel: 021-4270022 / www.corkoperahouse.ie
Nov 13 - Ennis, Glor - €40.00 ~ Tel: 065-6843103 / www.glor.ie
Nov 14 - Castlebar, The Royal Theatre & Events Centre - €36.50 ~Tel: 0818 300000 / www.ticketmaster.ie
Nov 17 - Dublin, Olympia Theatre - €40/€36 ~ Tel: 0818 719300 / www.ticketmaster.ie

The album was produced by Earle at his home in Greenwich Village, at Sound Emporium and Room and Board in Nashville, TN and The Nest in Hollywood, CA. The track “Lungs,” was produced and mixed by the Dust Brothers’ John King and features Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine/The Nightwatchman on electric guitar. Earle’s wife, the acclaimed singer-songwriter Allison Moorer, is featured on backing vocals on “Loretta” and “To Live Is To Fly.” Three songs cut in Nashville, “White Freightliner Blues,” “Delta Momma Blues,” and “Don’t Take It Too Bad” feature a bluegrass band consisting of Dennis Crouch, Tim O’Brien, Darrel Scott and Shad Cobb.

Earle met Townes Van Zandt in 1972 at one of Earle’s performances at The Old Quarter in Houston, TX. Van Zandt was in the audience and playfully heckled Earle throughout the performance to play the song “Wabash Cannonball” Earle admitted that he didn’t know how to play the tune and Van Zandt replied incredibly “You call yourself a folksinger and you don’t know ‘Wabash Cannonball?’” Earle then silenced him by playing the Van Zandt song “Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold,” not an easy feat due to its quickly-paced mouthful of lyrics squeezed into just over two minutes of song. Their bond was immediately formed. On Townes, Earle and his son, singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle (named after Van Zandt) trade verses on the tune, a song the two of them have been playing together since Justin was a teenager.

The songs selected for Townes were the ones that meant the most to Earle and the ones he personally connected to (not including selections featured on previous Earle albums). Some of the selections chosen were songs that Earle has played his entire career (“Pancho and Lefty,” “Lungs,” “White Freightliner Blues”) and others he had to learn specifically for recording. He learned the song “(Quicksilver
Daydreams of) Maria” directly from Van Zandt, and taught himself “Marie” and “Rake” specifically for the album’s recording. Once a song he played during his live show, Earle relearned “Colorado Girl” in the original Open D tuning that Van Zandt played it in. Earle recorded the New York sessions solo and then added the other instruments later on in order to preserve the spirit of Van Zandt’s original solo
performances to the best of his recollection.

When speaking about Townes, Earle stated, “This may be one of the best records I’ve ever made. That hurts a singer-songwriter’s feelings. Then again, it’s some consolation that I cherry picked through the career of one of the best songwriters that ever lived.”

TRACKLISTING:

Pancho And Lefty
White Freight Liner Blues
Colorado Girl
Where I Lead Me
Lungs
No Place To Fall
Loretta
Brand New Companion
Rake
Delta Momma Blues
Marie
Don’t Take It Too Bad
Mr. Mudd And Mr. Gold
(Quicksilver Daydreams Of) Maria
To Live Is To Fly

Deluxe Limited Edition 2 x CD content – Acoustic version of the album. Fold out poster of the cover art. Expanded liner notes with lyrics.

“Soul music has always hit me harder than any other kind of music,’’ says the Boston-based Jesse, who has learned his lessons well. He puts a convincing new spin on the subject with his debut solo disc, “Bittersweet Batch,’’ which should please anyone with a love of this heartfelt style. Jesse adds a stunning vocal expressiveness and a unique ability to inject and dissect emotions. He delivers it all with a warmth that comes from analog recording and from cutting a lot of the songs live in the studio.

Jesse co-produced “Bittersweet Batch’’ (consisting of all-original tracks) with Jack Younger in the latter’s Basement 247 Studio. Younger has also produced for fellow Boston roots phenomenon Eli “Paperboy’’ Reed. The record is targeted for an April release on Munich Records.

Jesse’s love of soul is honest to the core. When you step into his home studio, for example, you may find him putting on a vinyl copy of “The Best Chess Vocal Groups,’’ including cuts on the seminal Chess Records by the Moonglows, Miracles, and Flamingos. And on the walls are paintings that he has created of faves like Jackie Wilson and James Brown. The paintings are exceptional. Jesse is a graduate of MassArt (Massachusetts College of Art and Design) and almost went into art as a profession over music.

“I’ve been painting longer than I’ve played music,’’ says Jesse. “I have studied art most of my life and have been doing both for a while, but I made my decision to focus on music.’’

Raised in the Boston suburb of Arlington, Jesse started at MassArt by studying illustration, but switched over to its Studio for Interrelated Media, where he studied performance, production, mixed-media, and composition. During college he was in the ten-piece band Decifunk, which played up and down the east coast and released an original record called “Open Your Eyes’’ on Squeezebox Records in 2001. That was followed by a stint in the group The Dirty Whites (“more like Black Sabbath meets Motown,’’ he says). They put out a five-song, self-released EP in 2006.

Then came his own group under the name Jesse Dee, which includes guitarist Matthew Joy, bassist Jim Larkin, and drummer Matt “Pie’’ Beaulieu. They’re all on the new album, as are such top-notch guests as guitarist Kevin Barry (Paula Cole, Dennis Brennan), and the soulful duo of Dwight & Nicole, not to mention an all-star horn section with Scott and John Aruda, and Paul Ahlstrand, who has played with Susan Tedeschi.

The new record has some “bittersweet’’ themes, hence the title “Bittersweet Batch,’’ but most songs reflect Jesse’s ultimately positive view of the world. The standout “Slow Down,’’ which is on his myspace page (www.myspace.com/jessedee), has an easy-loping swing groove and the message that “people try to stay with the pace but the fact is that life is not a race.’’ Other upbeat tunes are “Still Here’ and the buoyant “Alive & Kicking.’’

Jesse, who has opened for Al Green, is also a cofounder of Sea Monsters, a popular club band he started with singer Christian McNeill. It’s a true musician’s band and has featured guest appearances from other Boston roots acts such as Tim Gearan, Miss Tess, and Dennis Brennan.

Jesse still paints and freelances as a graphic designer. The painting sparks his music. “I sing when I paint,’’ he says. “I’ve composed songs while I paint a number of times.’’
But exploring and updating soul music is his true passion. “I’m just trying to get better – to write better songs, get better at performing them, and enjoy myself in the process,’’ he says.

-- Written by Steve Morse, a former staff writer for the Boston Globe

Nell Bryden, whose self-released debut single, What Does It Take, recently spent 7 weeks on the A-List at BBC Radio 2 in the UK, has announced that she will be releasing her debut album, What Does It Take, in Ireland Friday 9th October. The album will be preceded by a new digital download single, Second Time Around on Monday 5th October.

Bryden is fast becoming one of the most talked about and sought after new artists, building the buzz the old-fashioned way with word-of-mouth endorsements of her live shows. With four international tours (and 500 shows) in the last 12 months under her belt, including tours with KT Tunstall, and The Counting Crows, she is definitely one to watch.

Bryden has also travelled to Iraq twice this year to entertain US troops and boost morale. Award winning documentary maker Susan Cohn Rockefeller, of the Rockefeller dynasty in the USA, commissioned a team of filmmakers to go with Bryden on her second visit. A documentary on the tour is currently in production with a view to being released in the Autumn.

Named Best Unsigned Artist of 2008 on Hits Daily Double, Bryden’s debut single “Second Time Around” not only earned her the coveted BBC R2 A List, but also became Song of The Week on Ireland’s Today FM, and secured her a Top 40 place in the Official Irish Charts.

What Does It Take was recorded in New Orleans and New York, and produced by Grammy-winning producer David Kershenbaum (Tracy Chapman, Tori Amos, Joe Jackson) and Dave Trumfio (Wilco, The Handsome Family, Jesus & Mary Chain). The album was originally released in late 2008 and titled Second Time Around, but has subsequently been remixed. This new version also contains two new songs – ‘What Does It Take’ and ‘Not Like Loving You’, plus a re-recorded version of ‘Pavement’.

Critics praised the 2008 release, saying it was:

“An album of jazz torch singer style, and Patsy Cline heartache. Her vocal versatility is supported by consummate songwriting skills ... Think of a female Nick Lowe with a better voice” ~ UNCUT

“An eclectic collection, it takes in country blues, Dixieland Jazz and her warm, rich voice even shows a touch of the Roberta Flacks” ~ Q

Available on CD and as a digital download the full tracklisting is as follows:

1. What Does It Take
2. Not Like Loving You
3. Where The Pavement Ends
4. Helen’s Requiem
5. Goodbye
6. Only Life I Knew
7. Second Time Around
8. Meridian (I Love The Same)
9. Green Dress
10. Tonight
11. Late Night Call

Jinx Lennon, featuring Miss Paula Flynn, releases a new live DVD on October 9th, 25 songs recorded live at the Sugar Club in Dublin by Dara McClusky (Arts Lives). “Magic Rawness & Rage” is a recording of his live show featuring songs taken from all of his four albums. It captures the essence of his live performance, which can at times challenge us by mixing poetry and noise. A bit like modern Irish story telling accompanied by music from New York’s punk duo Suicide. This is the first time some of these songs have been recorded with Miss Paula Flynn.

To promote the DVD, Jinx and Paula will be playing some dates in October including two dates at the Sugar Club with some very special guests being lined up…more on that later.

October 2009 Irish Tour Dates
2 Oct - Letterkenny Arts Centre, Donegal
8 Oct - Sugar Club, Dublin with The Revelator Orchestra
9 Oct - The Glens Centre, Manorhamilton, Leitrim with Wasps V Humans
12 Oct - Roisin Dubh, Galway with Evil Uncle
15 Oct - The Roundy Bar, Cork City
16 Oct - Baker’s, Limerick City with Niall Quinn
17 Oct - Spirit Store, Dundalk, Co. Louth with Niall Quinn
23 Oct - Clarence Hotel, Sligo Live Festival, Sligo
25 Oct - Leonard Arms, Clones (Clones Film Festival)
30 Oct - The Static, Roscoe Lane, Liverpool Irish Festival, Liverpool with Captain Moonlight
12 Nov - Sugar Club, Dublin
13 Nov - De Barras, Clonakilty
27 Nov - The LV, Cork

Jinx Lennon is a punk / poet / performance artist whose repertoire contains elements of spoken word, electro, and noise. Story telling delivered with a rage and rawness that is beautifully complimented by Jinx's stage partner Miss Paula Flynn’s tender vocals.

Press Reviews:

I loved this album but if you are offended easily, avoid this Dundalk depth charge. ~ Irish Mail on Sunday – Danny McElhinney (4/5)

One of the most refreshingly fearless and relevant songwriters in Ireland. ~ The Irish News - David Roy

For me the best songwriter in the country at the moment is Jinx Lennon, and he matters. He matters to me. And we don‘t hear him because he's telling the truth. He's singing about this island we live in as it is, and he doesn’t get airplay. Why doesn’t he get airplay? …Because he's telling the truth. And why can’t people deal with that truth?... Because it's very raw, and he doesn’t sugar it up. ~ Christy Moore – in interview in the Sunday Tribune

There is no one – and I mean no one – in Ireland making music quite like Jinx Lennon…. hand-in-hand with the punk-poetry comes a soundscape that is immensely listenable ~ Clare People Interactive - Andrew Hamilton

One of Ireland's greatest living storytellers… Nobody can listen to Jinx Lennon and not be affected ~ Connected magazine *****

You see Jinx is a true diamond in the rough. While Trauma Themes Idiot Times mightn’t be everyone’s cup of tea, there’s no doubting that this performer is one of the most unique and daring artists to emerge from Ireland in quite some time ~ Hot Press / Edwin McFee 4/5

While there is no question that Jinx’s ubiquitous style is an acquired taste; with music this original and rousing on the menu, you’d be an absolute idiot to not at least try and relish its mouthwatering flavours ~ Limerick Independent - Alan Jacques

The worry for Jinx is that the populace, jaded from the endless drip of bad news stories from the front line of the Recession, will run a million miles from anyone banging on about life as it's really lived in this banana republic ~ Irish Independent – Nick Kelly

After a complete sell out in Dublin's Whelans back in April, Finley Quaye makes a triumphant return to the Capital to play the Village Venue on Dublin's Wexford Street.

In 1997 Finley Quaye released his debut album "Maverick A Strike", which included the hits "Sunday Shining" and "Even After All", sold over five million copies world wide. That same year Finley scooped 'Best Male Singer' at The Brit Awards and play every major festival in The UK and Europe. He was the opening act for Oasis in Slane the same year.

Finley is currently busy finishing his new album which will be released in 2010 and starts a major UK / Ireland Tour in September.
__________________________

Maverick, now there's an overused word. Restless Finley Quaye fits the bill perfectly with a multifaceted, multi ethnic catalogue of music that somehow mashes pure pop to the underground. He scored a solo record deal with Polydor Records 1994. He began working with Epic/Sony in 1996 and in 1997 he reached the UK Top 20 twice with 'Sunday Shining', and 'Even After All'.

‘Sunday Shining' was classic Finley with its bizarre cross section of influences of Tenor Saw, the Breeders and the Zombies mashed together.

His debut album Maverick A Strike is a masterpiece capturing the sunshine vibe of primetime Marley but placing it firmly in the concrete of mid nineties bohemian Britain and making it pure pop. Finley's following two albums are even more musically satisfying and challenging and were released on Epic, Vanguard (2000) and Much More Than Much Love (2004). Quaye is readying several albums. ‘Pound for Pound' and ‘The Best Of The Epic Years' on Sony/BMG are both out this year.

'Straight From Country' a country album and also 'Pinnacle' which are both prepared for release in 2009.

He is currently living between London and Miami.

 THE LEMONHEADS, who have entered into a licensing agreement with Cooking Vinyl, released their long-awaited covers collection, VARSHONS, through the label back in June 2009.

It makes sense that the new album from The Lemonheads sounds like a mix tape slipped to you by a music-obsessed friend anxious to turn you on to something new. In fact, the idea for the band’s new covers record was inspired by Gibby Haynes, ringmaster of the Butthole Surfers, who for years has made mixes for his longtime friend Evan Dando. “Making a good mix is an art, and Gibby has it down,” says Dando. “I thought it would be fun to share these songs with other people like he shared them with me. So I picked the ‘greatest hits’ from his mixes and covered them, along with a few other songs I always wanted to play.”

VARSHONS was produced by Haynes and features Dando along with Vess Ruhtenburg (bass) and Devon Ashley (drums). The collection is filled with strange bedfellows - from G.G. Allin to Texas troubadour Townes Van Zandt and garage rockers The Green Fuz. The Lemonheads make each track their own, with help from actress Liv Tyler, singing back up on Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye,” and Kate Moss, who sings over the dance groove of Arling & Cameron’s “Dirty Robot,” which also features lead guitar by John Perry on loan from The Only Ones.

VARSHONS unearths a pair of psychedelic treasures with “Yesterlove” – a song recorded in 1969 by the group Sam Gopal featuring future Motorhead bassist Lemmy Kilmister – and “Dandelion Seeds” from July, record collector’s Registered Landmark Band. For “Layin’ Up With Linda,” the band filters Allin’s cold-blooded tale through the swaggering country-honk of The Stones’ “Dead Flowers.”

Filled with obscure nuggets, the tracks on VARSHONS cut a wide swath, jumping from early British psychedelic to Dutch electronica and like all good mix tapes, you never know what is coming next.

Full tracklisting as follows :

1. “I Just Can’t Take It Anymore” (Gram Parsons)
2. “Fragile” (Wire)
3. “Layin’ Up With Linda” (G.G. Allin)
4. “Waiting Around To Die” (Townes Van Zandt)
5. “Green Fuz” (Randy Alvey & Green Fuz)
6. “Yesterlove” (Sam Gopal)
7. “Dirty Robot” v/ Kate Moss (Arling & Cameron)
8. “Dandelion Seeds” (July)
9. “Mexico” (Fuckemos)
10. “Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye” f/ Liv Tyler (Leonard Cohen)
11. “Beautiful” (Linda Perry)
* Original artist in parenthesis

Upcoming SAVING J Live Dates:
14.08 - Party in the Park, Kilkenny (12 noon)
23.08 - The Bunker, Belfast
02.09 - An Brog, Cork
11.09 - Tower Records, Dublin - (5pm)
12.09 - Whelans, Dublin
15.09 - NUI, Galway SU (7PM)
17.09 - The Bailey, Enniscorthy
18.09 - The Purty Loft, Dun Laoghaire
19.09 - Heartbeat City, Kilkenny (3pm)
21.09 - DCU, Dublin
22.09 - NUI, Maynooth SU
24.09 - Baker Place, Limerick
25.09 - Langtons Theatre, Kilkenny
26.09 - Electric Avenue, Waterford
02.10 - Arts Theatre, Greystones
03.10 - O'Keefe's, Clonmel

More to be announced; check www.myspace.com/savingjmusic

Sean Redmond - Lead Vocals / guitar Paul Hindle - Drums / Backing vocals Liam Redmond - Lead Guitar Eamon Mc Evoy - Bass Guitar

Waterford's Declan de Barra releases 'A Fire to Scare the Sun', the much anticipated follow-up to his critically acclaimed debut album 'Song of A Thousand Birds' (2006). Already a hit on world and indie music charts across Europe & America, Kila Records has licensed 'A Fire to Scare the Sun' for Ireland and is set to release it on September 4th. Known as a musician's muscian, many of Ireland's top artists have namechecked Declan, now based in Dublin, as an essential element in contemporary Irish music crossing over the genre divide from punk, world music, folk, trad, jazz.

Earlier this year, Declan was selected, along with The Coronas, Wallis Bird, and Fight Like Apes, to represent Ireland at Eurosonic, the prestigious European Music Conference and Showcase Festival held in Groningen.

UPCOMING SHOWS:

2009

18 Jul - CANADA - Alberta - Fort Macleod - COUTH COUNTY FAIR 5.10pm Mainstage

also 10:30 am East Stage with Jen Paches, David Ross Macdonald, Scott Nolan

12 Sep - FRANCE - Paris - France Inter - Les point des artistes - Radio show with audience (5 songs)

14 Sep - FRANCE - Paris - Sunset

15 Sep - FRANCE - Paris - Sunset

16 Sep - FRANCE - Paris - Sunset

26 Sep - FRANCE - ORLEANS - Festival De Loire

Sep 30 - Spain Salamanca - - TBA

Oct 01 - Portugal - TBA

Oct 02 - Portugal - TBA

Oct 03 - Portugal - TBA

Oct 04 - Spain - TBA

Oct 05 - Spain - Don Benito - - TBA

Oct 06 - Spain -Madrid - TBA

Oct 07 - Spain -Barcelona - - TBA

New Album "Notes & Rhymes" Featuring the single "Love Can Move Mountains" is OUT NOW on W14 / Universal Music

The Proclaimers return with their eighth studio album Notes & Rhymes (W14/Universal) released in the UK & Ireland on 15th June. This was preceded by the single Love Can Move Mountains available as digital download from 8th June. Together with their band, Craig and Charlie hit the road with tour dates in UK, Ireland, and North America for the rest of the 2009, including Ireland's National Concert Hall in Dublin on August 18th, 2009.

Strikingly individual, twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid have over the years enjoyed huge success across the globe as the emotional honesty, political fire, wit and sing-along raucousness of their songs and their extensive touring has enlightened and entertained fans new and old. The Proclaimers have carved out a niche for themselves in the netherworld where pop, folk, new wave and punk collide. In the process they have enjoyed Gold and Platinum singles and albums in UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

After a rapid writing period in the second half of 2008, Craig and Charlie Reid headed back to the legendary Rockfield Studios in February with producer Steve Evans (Robert Plant, Siouxsie) to record a new album ‘Notes & Rhymes’ (W14/Universal) for release on 15th June. Craig and Charlie then went over to Austin, Texas to make their debut at SXSW where they performed a series of seven acoustic showcases, including a one-off Scottish extravaganza, sharing a bill with Glasvegas and Primal Scream.

2008 saw The Proclaimers bring a 129 date, yearlong World tour to a triumphant conclusion with 2 final shows July 19/20 in front of 15,000 fans at Edinburgh Castle and a big top at Bught Park, Inverness. Craig and Charlie then got down to writing new songs for the remainder of the year.

March 2008 had seen The Proclaimers tour across Europe before heading off to USA & Canada for a 2 month coast to coast tour. They followed that with a variety of shows from Muscat to Bermuda, alongside English seaside resort gigs and European festivals including their fourth Glastonbury appearance.

September 2007 had seen The Proclaimers release their seventh studio album ‘Life With You’ (W14/Universal) in the UK to fantastic critical acclaim and great commercial success. October then saw The Proclaimers kick off their biggest ever UK & Ireland tour, 44 dates to over 100,000 fans. In Scotland, they sold more gig tickets than any other single act in 2007. The summer saw them play at a number of festivals, including 2 exhilarating main stage performances at V Festivals.

Earlier in 2007 they topped the UK singles chart in March with a rousing new rendition of their classic anthem I'm Going to Be (500 Miles), a collaboration with comedians Peter Kay and Matt Lucas for Comic Relief, raising over a million pounds in the process. EMI relaunched their 2002 Best Of collection, re-entering the Album Charts at No 5 with sales soaring beyond platinum.

Friday 4th September sees the Irish release of solo artist/guitar slinger Chuck Prophet’s 9th studio album, “¡Let Freedom Ring!”

Chuck wrote these songs last summer in one long spurt in San Francisco with the window open wide during a rare heat wave. Dwight Twilley, Iggy, Thin Lizzy and the Knack were blaring out the Hi-fi. It is as anxious a time as any for the life, death, rebirth and future of the American Dream. A concept album emerged around this dream. The songs were immediate and called for guitars and more guitars and needed to be recorded somewhere raw and energizing. You see, to Chuck music is geography, so his trick is to wake up interested and inspired from what is around him.

The answer came, so Chuck reached out to some musicians and talked them into going down to Mexico City, The Biggest City in the World (pop. 25 million). Recorded at Estudio 19, a state-of-the-art studio (well, circa 1958 state-of-the-art anyway) with Greg Leisz (Beck, Wilco, Emmylou Harris) co-producing. Within three days of arriving swine flu broke out and the indignity of having to wear blue surgical masks just to fit in.

Over the course of the next eight days, the band set about recording ¡Let Freedom Ring!, enduring a poorly timed blackout, shakedowns by the Policia, and a 6.4 earthquake mid-take - Mexico City might only be 4 hours away by plane but it might as well have been on the other side of the moon. But whilst mayhem ensued, the band buckled down to the task in hand, all set up together in a tight little bamboo lined room with the amps cranked. Chuck played his Fender Squire, Kelly Stoltz on backing vocals, Rusty Miller (Jason Lyte’s band) played bass while Drummer Ernest "Boom" Carter turned his sticks into kindling. Carter played on Springsteen’s “Born To Run” - he promptly quit the E Street Band after they spent 6 months recording it. The results can be heard from the Clash inspired opener to the power pop of ‘Let Freedom Ring’ and the Eddie Cochran infused ‘Good Time Crowd’.

Prophet started his wild ride back in 1984, when Green on Red, the seminal purveyors of American Rock-Roots, plucked him out of Berkeley, CA and threw him in the van for an eight-year ride, and the recording of as many albums. Since then Prophet has recorded nine amazing solo albums and toured and recorded with the likes of Lucinda Williams, Aimee Mann, Cake and Jonathan Richman. Ryan Adams, Solomon Burke and Heart have recorded his songs, along with a host of others. Prophet has never been one to rest on his laurels and ride it out.

His last album, 2007’s “Soap and Water”, was heralded as “The best work of his career” (Q**** Recommended Album) and “His most satisfying album yet. The range of styles is impressive” (Uncut****). Mojo declared “His Richard Thompson-indebted Telecaster squalls have subsequently decorated a litany of credible solo albums of which the latest may well be the finest”, whilst Q also voted it one of the Best Roots Albums of 2007 in their end of year poll.

“¡Let Freedom Ring!” is a
vailable on CD and as a digital download, the full tracklisting is as follows :

1. Song Liston’s Blues
2. What Can A Mother Do
3. Where The Hell Is Henry?
4. Let Freedom Ring!
5. You and Me Baby (Holding On)
6. American Man
7. Barely Exist
8. Hot Talk
9. Love Won’t Keep Us Apart
10. Good Time Crowd
11. Leave The Window

Legendary Mott the Hoople front man and renowned solo artist, Ian Hunter, has signed to New West Records. Man Overboard is Mr. Hunter’s anticipated follow up to his critically acclaimed solo album, 2007’s Shrunken Heads (his first release after a 6 year gap).

With Mott the Hoople, Ian Hunter quickly established himself as an incredibly inventive songwriter with his gritty and thought provoking songs which paved the way for the original wave of punk rock. The 1972 David Bowie produced breakthrough album All The Young Dudes catapulted the band into the British Top 10 and the American Top 40. Additionally, the band was the first act to ever sell out a week of Broadway concerts in New York City. Ian Hunter’s autobiography, Diary Of A Rock and Roll Star, written during the band’s 1972 US Tour and published in 1974, was also acclaimed by Q Magazine as “the greatest music book ever written.” The original Mott The Hoople lineup of Ian Hunter, Mick Ralphs, Verden Allen, Dale Griffin and Overend Watts have announced five 40th anniversary reunion shows at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo in London on October 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th.

As a solo artist, Mr. Hunter has been responsible for instantly recognizable classics as “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” “Cleveland Rocks” (which went on to be the theme song for ABC’s hit series The Drew Carey Show), and many, many more. Both Ian Hunter and Mott the Hoople have been cited as major inspirations for numerous artists including The Clash, Kiss, R.E.M., Oasis, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Motley Crue, Blur and Primal Scream among others. Hunter’s influence on modern rock and roll music has been immeasurable, with over 150 different cover versions of his songs.

Man Overboard is Ian Hunter’s 13th solo album since his eponymous debut in 1975. Recorded in late 2008 in Pawling, NY, the 11-song set is a stunning follow up to the overwhelmingly critically acclaimed Shrunken Heads album. Man Overboard was produced by Andy York (veteran guitarist for John Mellencamp) and Ian Hunter and features a backing band of superstar talent comprised of Steve Holley on drums and percussion (Wings, Joe Cocker), Paul Page on bass (Dion), Jack Petruzzelli on electric guitar (Rufus Wainwright, Joan Osbourne), James Mastro on electric guitar (Patti Smith, John Cale), Andy Burton on piano and organ (The Db’s) and Producer Andy York on guitar and backing vocals. Many of the band members are returning from the Shrunken Heads sessions. Regarding Man Overboard, Ian Hunter stated, “When we did Shrunken Heads, I felt like we had a good thing going so I wanted to revisit the experience before anything changed, and that’s what we did."

Track List:
1. The Great Escape (4:28)
2. Arms And Legs (4:34)
3. Up And Running (3:47)
4. Man Overboard (5:16)
5. Babylon Blues (4:54)
6. Girl From The Office (4:35)
7. Flowers (3:32)
8. These Feelings (4:01)
9. Win It All (2:24)
10. Way With Words (4:15)
11. River Of Tears (5:32)

"Take Me To The Hospital"
The New Single From the Chart Topping Album "Invaders Must Die"
Irish Release: OUT NOW on Take Me To The Hospital / Cooking Vinyl
www.theprodigy.com / www.invadersmustdie.com / www.cookingvinyl.com

Having smashed it with their intensity and energy recently at Irish festivals LIVE AT THE MARQUEE (Cork), LIVE IN THE PARK (Co. Down), and SLANE CASTLE (with OASIS) and virtually every major festival over in the UK this year including headline performances at Glastonbury, Isle of Wight and Download to name a few, The Prodigy release the third single Take Me To The Hospital in Ireland on August 28th. Still riding high in the European charts, their album ‘Invaders Must Die’ is among the top five selling albums of 2009 and has reaffirmed the band’s status as true legends of both dance and rock.

Take Me To The Hospital is the exhilarating car crash sound of all three members … a sound so frenetic, unhinged and deeply bass driven it could only come from the minds of Liam, Keith and Maxim. Steeped in the history early 90s rave the Prodigy themselves pioneered but given a suitably awe inspiring 21st century reboot, this ain’t no retro banger … it’s a future classic.

Remixes include an apocalyptically gnarly remix from Queens Of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme collaborating with Liam himself. On the dancefloor side there are mixes from Adam F & Horx, Rusko, Losers and drum & bass demons Sub Focus, all making Take Me To The Hospital a total festival banger you’ll be hearing blasting out of late night legal high stalls all summer long.

Available on the following formats:

CD Single
1. Take Me To The Hospital – 09 EQ
2. Take Me To The Hospital – Sub Focus Remix.

12” Single
A. Take Me To The Hospital – Sub Focus Remix.
B. Take Me To The Hospital – Rusko Remix.

Download
1. Take Me To The Hospital – 09 EQ
2. Take Me To The Hospital – Sub Focus Remix
3. Take Me To The Hospital – Josh Homme And Liam H's Wreckage Mix
4. Take Me To The Hospital – Rusko Remix
5. Take Me To The Hospital – Adam F and Horx Remix
6. Take Me To The Hospital – Losers Middlesex A & E Remix
7. Take Me To The Hospital – Instrumental ’09 EQ
8. Take Me To The Hospital – Album version

Having just rocked the Hotpress New Band Stage at Oxegen despite going head to head with Razorlight, Janes Addiction and the only good weather of the weekend, The Chapters have a busy summer ahead of them.

They will be playing live as part of Irish Rails 25th anniversary of the Dart Celebrations with an eclectic show on the Dart on July 23rd.

Following this, The Chapters will support Ocean Colour Scene at INDIEPENDENCE before making a guest appearance at Castlepalooza the same weekend.

September sees the boys celebrate the day that the black was first brewed as they play a special guest appearance at the Arthurs Day celebrations in Dublin.

Debut Single Videotapes received nationwide airplay with Today FM's Tony Fenton stating that The Chapters are "gonna be huge" - who are we to argue!

Trying to get Ahead is released on July 24th on 3ú Records and is available from all good download sites!

After the success of his first single "After All That's Happened", Dublin-based Wexford man Niall Colfer's glossy lo-fi debut album "Finds" was gently placed into the consciousness of the music loving public with an astonishing "word-of-mouth" efficiency. Upon a chance hearing of Niall's demos, 1969 Record's Daragh Bohan immediately seized upon the opportunity to release the album which went on to become one of the label's success stories of 2009. Recorded in Sun Studios & co-produced with Gareth Mannix, "Blind Eye" continues along the path paved by the ex-Salthouse frontman with breezy guitars, catchy choruses, and wistfully blissful lyrics. Perfect for a gorgeous summer day!

Niall’s songs come across as honest explorations of everyday feelings without the smaltz. He hits a characteristic groove in each song, which just continues on through, hooking you in. Together, the songs leave an impression of subtlety, individualism and toe-tapping rhythm, with lyrics that creep on up and get you thinking.

In addition to their long musical history with Maines (he was a member of Ely's band for years and produced Gilmore's Hightone Records debut), Gilmore points out a trait that further strengthens their bond: Maines' off-the-wall sense of humor is similar to theirs. His Dixie Chick connection apparently didn't hurt, either; daughter Natalie's bandmate Martie Maguire contributed some fiddle. A who's-who of Austin sidemen (and friends) also participated: Robbie Gjersoe on guitars; Glenn Fukunaga on bass; Rafael Gayol on drums; Bukka Allen on keyboards and accordion; Brian Standefer on cello; and Pat Manske on percussion. Maines played steel, mandolin, banjo and guitar, and contributed harmonies.

Perhaps all that involvement makes him an honorary Flatlander, too. But none of them takes the designation too seriously. As with each Flatlanders album or tour, no one knows about a next one; they're a product of fate, chance, inspiration, the gods ... and come around when they come around. They've each got successful solo careers to keep up as well.

But here they are, 37 years after they were prodded into recording together the first time, still collaborating-and still the best of friends. In his soft Texas drawl, Ely sums the philosophy behind their creativity: "We might as well write music and make songs up, because there's not anything that we'd rather be doing."

"Hills And Valleys" Tracklisting:

Homeland Refugee
Borderless Love
After The Storm
Wishing For A Rainbow
No Way I’ll Never Need you
Just About Time
Love’s Own Chains
Cry For Freedom
The Way We Are
Thank God For The Road
Free The Wind
Sowing On The Mountain

With new ball in hand, The Duckworth Lewis Method release their eponymous maiden album, July 3 – exquisitely timed to coincide with this summer’s Ashes tour.

Written by Duckworth (Thomas Walsh) and Lewis (Neil Hannon) the album was recorded and mixed in Dublin and mastered just down the road from Lord’s in Abbey Road Studios.

All the songs are either loosely or tightly connected to the beautiful game of cricket, there are no covers, extra covers or cover drives for that matter. These are all wonderfully crafted pop songs for cricket lovers and non-lovers equally to enjoy.

First delivery, ‘The Coin Toss’, spins wickedly into lead single ‘The Age Of Revolution’, released June 28.

From ‘Jiggery Pokery’, which tells the tale of the Gatting Ball and features guest cameos from Phill Jupitus, Alexander Armstrong and Matt Berry amongst others, through the Trescothian angst of ‘The Nightwatchman’, to the triple century of ‘Test Match Special’. This album really hits ‘The Sweet Spot’ (track4!) with a guest appearance from Cathy Davey.

With trademark melodies and glorious harmonies, the anthemic ‘Meeting Mr Miandad’ is yet another album highlight. It depicts Duckworth and Lewis' epic road trip to meet the legendary batsman Javed Miandad.

"The Duckworth Lewis Method is an album steeped in the love of cricket and pop. The resultant twelve songs are a cacophony of leather and willow turning through a cosmos of searing melodies and all round tunes,” says Duckworth in his post match interview.

The Minus 5, led by underground icon Scott McCaughey, will be releasing a new album Killingsworth in Ireland on Friday 3rd July 2009.

Killingsworth is an aptly named thoroughfare that borders northeast Portland's "Alberta Arts District", where the tracks were primarily conceived and executed. Scott's old buddy John Moen, who has been a Dharma Bum and a Maroon and a Jick, and is now a Decemberist, wove a noose out of papyrus, and helped lasso his current bandmates and other notables to flesh out the arrangements on a dismal and disturbing array of soon-to-be-classics. The effervescent smokin' drinkin' Little Sue and the four ultra-stylish priestesses once known as the Shee Bee Gees provided welcome feminine counterpoint to the song cycle's wanton depravity (it's not truly a song cycle, nor is it a Richard Strauss tone poem, but the caliber of the material deserves a modicum of pretension). Various members of M. Ward's combo, as well as the very great Norfolk & Western (some of them the same people), played crucial roles in delivering the goods. They were poorly remunerated. Noted novelist and Richmond Fontaine frontispiece Willy Vlautin provided a golden lyrical trampoline, and Timothy Bracy of Mendoza Line fame collaborated on the dance-floor-bound "Dark Hand of Contagion". As ever, Peter Buck (REM) put twelve strings or less to optimal use whenever cajoled. Ken Stringfellow sang on a Scandinavian ferry, fully clothed.

Thus begins a new chapter in the Minus 5 saga. Different than the rest, yet barking up the same monkey tree. And if you have any questions or comments about the music itself, Mr. McCaughey would be glad to elucidate all over you, to the best of his ability, which varies according to the situation.

Killingsworth is available on CD and as digital download, full track listing as follows :

01. Dark Hand of Contagion
02. The Long Hall
03. The Disembowlers
04. Th Lurking Barrister
05. It Won't Do You Any Good
06. Vintage Violet
07. Scott Walker’s Fault
08. Big Beat Up Moon
09. I Would Rather Sacrifice You
10. Ambulance Dancehall
11. Gash In The Cocoon
12. Smoke On, Jerry
13. Your Favourite Mess
14. Tonight You’re Buying Me A Drink, Bub

Back From The Dead was produced by CJ Vanston, who arranged and played keyboards on the band's Break Like The Wind album and was musical director for their 1992, 2000 and 2007 tours. As a film composer, he has produced music for Christopher Guest's movies "Waiting For Guffman," "Best In Show," "A Mighty Wind," and "For Your Consideration."

TRACKLISTING
01. Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight
02. Back From The Dead
03. (Funky) Sex Farm
04. Rock 'n' Roll Creation
05. Jazz Oddyssey I
06. Gimme Some Money
07. Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare
08. Heavy Duty
09. America
10. Jazz Oddyssey II
11. (Listen to the) Flower People (Reggae Stylee)
12. Hell Hole
13. Big Bottom
14. Celtic Blues
15. Jazz Oddyssey III
16. Warmer Than Hell
17. Stonehenge
18. Short And Sweet
19. Cup And Cakes
+ accompanying DVD giving a track by track rundown from Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls (60 mins)

::: LIVE :::

04 JuneSugar Club, Dublin
19 June Pavilion, Cork
27 June Spirit Store, Dundalk
30 October - The Picket, Liverpool

IN HIS OWN WORDS: An awful man Jinx stands at the outer edge of the periphery of the Hibernian music machine picking the dirt beneath the fingernails of fading septic tiger landscape while the larvae practise their new voices in their bedrooms in front of mirror contemplating visualization for the mid Atlantic voiced shiny ''discover me'' dream that will enable them to become new chrysalis transformation and escape. Jinx once lay horizontally in early am before school unconsciously soaking up the neo nuclear 4 minute warning sirens of the nearby factory 8 am work shift cattle round up, and the spooky echoes of metallic brewery noise and far off railway line vibrato ghosts. Now he pulls out these cranial archives into new shapes and TRAUMA THEMES of word and sound along with the rage built up from border town omnipresent soccer fascism environment and mundane assembly line worlds where hard chaw lads and doomed faced women walked along the conveyor belt towards cement block Invasion of Body snatchers / Stepford Wives package existence. JINX LENNON FREE STATE NOVA is an Irish wordsmith here to primarily uplift people and squash the unseen energy vampires in all myriad forms. Making room to weave some modicum of hope and dignity Jinx is the dying light in the red leech face of disgraced solicitor contrite and pleading now no longer poster boy for the gimme gimmes, but he brings the message that one must try their best to FORGIVE THE C***S and move upwards. These sounds are not just for those tired of listening to the empty heads, but also for the helicopter Icarus people who crash land back to earth in these IDIOT TIMES.

This album deals with isolation, the sort that transforms people and leads them into difficult situations, it also deals with themes of spiritual deadness and being aware of this fact in oneself before one turns into a lifeless Invasion of the Bodysnatchers / Stepford Wives type entity. It’s slightly darker than the other records I have made so far.

Jinx Lennon is a punk / poet / performance artist whose repertoire contains elements of spoken word, electro, social commentary with a rage and rawness that is complimented by Jinx's stage partner Miss Paula Flynn and her magnificent voice.

Tracklisting

1/ TRAUMA THEMES INTRO 2/ MY HEAD IS SLOWLY DISAPPEARING UP MY OWN ARZZZ 3/ EVERYONE'S GOT A MENTAL HOME I.T.H. 4/ PROTECT THYSELF AND HOME 5/ SPLATTERED EGGS
6/ THE MEN WHO SAVED THE FACE OF FOOTBALL 7/ FUNERAL FAYSIS 8/ TAXI MAN FACE 9/ THE FERRIS WHEEL AT DOWDALLSHILL 10/ FOLK MUSIC FOR THE MIDLANDS 11/ THE ORANGE CRANES OF GREENORE 12/ 40 F/GLAZED I CLUB 13/ BIG PROTEST DAY 14/ YOU C'ANT KEEP EVERYONE HAPPY 15/ AWKWARD AND REAL 16/ ASCEND! ICEHOUSE HILL

Reviews for TRAUMA THEMES IDIOT TIMES

IDIOTS BEWARE: JINX IS BACK - NICK KELLY, IRISH INDEPENDENT
This country has produced its fair share of singer/songwriters who can't see further than their own plectrum and sing about little else but their own reflection. But with Ireland in the midst of a collective nervous breakdown, it seems like it's high time someone tried to reflect in song what's really happening right here, right now.

I remember going to see the Fatima Mansions play in the early 1990s. Cathal Coughlan would often begin a song with a tragi-comic spoken-word intro that seemed to sum up the state of the nation at any given time. Part bar-room philosopher, part punk poet, Coughlan aimed both barrels at his carefully chosen targets, the often surreal imagery of his steaming streams of consciousness braided John Cooper Clarke with Bill Hicks.

Having long since exiled himself to France, I sometimes wonder what the contrarian Corkonian would make of the fine mess we've got ourselves into now. There seems to be precious few artists out there with the smarts or the willingness to take up the cudgels. You could argue that Damien Dempsey has had a go, especially with his broadsides against clerical sex abuse ('Industrial School') and the heroin epidemic that has large swathes of our cities in its grip ('Ghosts of Overdoses'). But there are still too many shades of green in his music for my liking.

You might also point to the title track of Paul Cleary's Crooked Town album, which castigated the cubs of the Celtic Tiger for their racist attitudes towards our immigrants. Yes, but that was eight years ago.
Do any of the modern day troubadours have the spirit of Cathal Coughlan coursing through their veins? They appear to be few and far between -- but I believe Jinx Lennon is one. I like the cut of his jib. He called one of his albums 30 Beacons Of Light For A Land Full Of Spite, Thugs, Drug Slugs And Energy Vampires, which I'm sure is a favourite on the playlists of 4FM.

The follow-up, Know Your Station Gouger Station!!! featured a photo of our hero laying prostrate by the side of an anonymous motorway. A star of the County Louth, Jinx distinguishes himself from his peers by refusing to sing in the mid-Atlantic twang that has become the industry standard.

Instead, Jinx's accent is unapologetically -- and unmistakably -- hewn from the sod of Dundalk. So much so that you half expect him to declare, a la Stan, 'I'm the gaa-ffer -- what I say goes' . . . an observation which I'm sure will earn me a clip round the ear next time I find myself anywhere near Termonfeckin. (But I plead diplomatic immunity: my dad's an Ardee man!)

Jinx's trademark get-up of snazzy suit and shades would make him look like a door-to-door Mormon or shady FBI spook if it wasn't for his habit of Tipp Ex-ing his sunglasses with his latest slogan -- which instead makes one think of Northern agit-pop masters That Petrol Emotion (who pulled a similar trick on the cover of their Babble album). More than the Petrols, though, Jinx seems closer to an Emerald version of New York troubadour-poet Hammell On Trial, with whom he has toured here.

Jinx's new album Trauma Themes, Idiot Times -- released yesterday on his own Septic Tiger label -- thrusts a steel-capped Doc Marten into the underbelly of 21st century Hibernia. From heartless taxi drivers watching passively as their passenger is knocked down, to the soullessness of the new-sprung ghost estates in the greater Dublin commuter belt, Jinx casts a withering eye on modern Irish life -- and decides that, yes, it's mostly rubbish.

Combining the soap box with the beat box, Jinx is part manic street preacher, part Mike 'Streets' Skinner. He defends the right of isolated old people to defend their homes from burglars; he decries the soccer hooligans of his home town. In 'Folk Music For The Midlands', he casts a cold eye on life in a part of the country that, Pure Mule apart, has been largely neglected by our songwriters and filmmakers (with good reason, says you). From the lonely old pensioner stuffing her mattress with wads of bank notes to the smug nouveau riche upstarts, Jinx paints a picture of a people full of fear and (self) loathing.
The factories in 'Ascend! Ice House Hill' belch out carcinogenic smoke and rats with brain tumours lie dead in the ditches; sinister gangs of alcoholic middle-aged men with perverted sexual tendencies lurk on the outskirts of town . . . Local women go missing, never to be seen again.

As for the general public at large, Jinx doesn't much like what he sees "all through the offices and restaurants": "You're not even 23, and you've already got the sourball, blank, puppet, stupid, quarry-stone grey, taxi man face."

As chat-up lines go, I'd say it needs a bit of work. To be fair, there are moments where Jinx puts down the loud-hailer and tries a little tenderness, usually with 'Miss Paula Flynn' (she who sang that silky cover of Bowie's 'Let's Dance' on a TV ad) in tow to soften those Louth vowels. 'The Ferris Wheel at Dowdallshill' is positively romantic.

The worry for Jinx is that the populace, jaded from the endless drip of bad news stories from the front line of the Recession, will run a million miles from anyone banging on about life as it's really lived in this banana republic.

Somehow, though, I can't quite see Jinx queuing up for the next round of X Factor auditions. Jinx Lennon – Trauma Themes Idiot Times – (Septic Tiger)

IRISH TIMES /THE TICKET
Trauma Themes Idiot Times Septic Tiger Records
It’s impossible to decide whether Jinx Lennon is a poet, a chancer or simply a daft scoundrel. He’s
certainly a character, one endearingly out of step with the mainstream. Think John Cooper Clarke atop a beer-crate soapbox on a dreary Friday night in Dundalk. Nevertheless, the Louthman revels in eccentricity, and his latest album brandishes more of his unique social commentary. Vocalist Miss Paula Flynn provides the occasional melodic flourish, but Lennon’s lyrical deftness, combining comedy and tragedy in one fell swoop, means that the mostly jazz-poptinged soundtrack is ultimately trifling. Regardless, Jinx is a true individual, and there will always be a place for him – or at least
someone like him – in Irish music. www.jinxlennon.com
LAUREN MURPHY

TRAUMA THEMES IDIOT TIMES: ALAN JACQUES - LIMERICK INDEPENDENT
If the Louth noisemaker’s last album ‘Know Your Station Gouger Nation’ was a ‘King Lear’-like ‘madness before the storm’ epiphany with dark swirling clouds casting an ominous shadow over modern Ireland, then this time round Jinx uses that very same psychosis as a means of self-preservation as he dances rabidly on the Celtic Tiger’s mangy and reeking pelt.
With rapid economic growth in Ireland during the nineties and noughties we were happy to sell our souls for sunshine holidays, houses with two cars in the driveway, nights on the beer, golf club membership, lapdances and IKEA furniture.

Dundalk legend Jinx Lennon, a revolutionary musical figure compared by actor Keith Allen as “a cross between Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer, and Ian Paisley” tolled the death knell for our boom times with intelligent and witty lyrics spat out at a bullet pace in a thick and deadly border-town brogue.

Now that the party’s well and truly over, Lennon is back with a new album ‘Trauma Themes Idiot Times’ examining our spiritual deadness and how we have turned into an Island of ‘Invasion of the Bodysnatchers’/’Stepford Wives’ type entities. However, this is no bleak winge-fest of a record but an uplifting call to arms for every Irish man, woman and child to redeem themselves of that ‘gimme gimme’ mentality and dig deep within their souls to find true hope and purpose.

In his own words this unique and inspiring artist explains, “These sounds are not just for those tired of listening to the empty heads, but also for the helicopter Icarus people who crash land back to earth in these Idiot Times”.

‘Trauma Themes’ is a much darker record than ‘Know Your Station Gouger Nation’. Throughout the album Jinx comes across like a bacon and cabbage-chomping version of Patrick Bateman, the well-groomed serial killer from Bret Easton Ellis’s ‘American Psycho’ novel. There is a claustrophobic atmosphere to most of the songs here as we are lured into the murky and unhinged corners of a mind tormented and suffocated by loneliness and frustration brought on by the apathetic nature of the world around it.

“I am institutionalised behind walls/ my house is like a purgatory box/ I use a machine of plastic, steel and glass to take me to nasty places I haven’t seen before/ without leaving my room,” Jinx earnestly confesses on ‘My Head Is Slowly Disappearing Up My Own Arzzzz’.

A visionary and poetic lyricist, Lennon walks that fine line between madness and genius as he delivers lunatic bursts of exhilarating social commentary filled with rawness and rage. But he needn’t worry about his own sanity as it soon becomes evident on ‘Everyone’s Got A Mental Home Inside Their Heads’ that he does not hold the exclusive rights on crazy.

“There’s no need to walk round town like you are a SIM Card in a new range of phobias/ Cos no matter what you do or where you go/ There is one thing that quickly becomes apparent and that is/ Everyone’s got a mental home inside their heads,” he assures us adamantly.

A man who believes in standing up for his rights, Jinx Lennon is a formidable foe that is not to be crossed. A true maverick, this punk-poet messiah has a distinct style and forceful energy that would slay you as fast as look at you with its provocative out of step beats, incendiary one-chord riffs and hot-headed bullhorn rants. He has the ghosts of Muhammad Ali, Che Guevara and Ian Dury riding in his corner so God help you if you tried to break into his Pearse Park bachelor pad. He stoutheartedly opines on ‘Protect Thyself And Home’ that everyone should be entitled to protect themselves in their own house.
“If someone breaks into your house to murder you/ You should be entitled to stick a knife in their eye and say/ Listen if one of us is going to die/ It’s not going to be me,” he proclaims with a serene calmness that would give you goosebumps.

Thankfully Miss Paula Flynn is on hand on tracks such as the poignant ‘The Ferris Wheel At Dowdallshill’ and ‘The Orange Cranes of Greenore’ to help subdue the murderous fury that streams out of Jinx’s every pore. And while her soft and sultry tones add a wonderful sense of creepiness to ‘Trauma Themes’ it quickly becomes apparent that there is no containing this barking headbanger.

He takes a swipe at nonchalant protesters on ‘Big Protest Day’ with his insightful glimpse into the psyche of people who turn out to support trendy causes just to be part of the crowd. “What is this protest about anyway? / Oh cluster bombs/ Well isn’t that nice/ And maybe later on we can get to the sales before the shops all close.”

On ‘The Men Who Saved The Face Of Football’, one of the album’s 16 highlights, it’s boorish and pea-brained football hooligans that feel the crappy end of Jinx’s stick.

While elsewhere the Mark E Smith-tinged ‘Taxi Man Face’ lets fly at the indifference of today’s society and how our selfish wants zap our lust for life. “You had a red face eager beaver/ Now you are no longer a believer/ Now you are full of rust/ You don’t believe you are going to the road to damnation/ But you must,” Jinx warns in a chipper tone like a man just gagging for the opportunity to gun down these mopish sheep.
Jinx Lennon jumps from genre to genre — electro, folk, chant, rap, and poetry — at breakneck pace. ‘Trauma Themes Idiot Times’ is a record that steadfastly refuses to be pigeonholed and while there is no question that Jinx’s ubiquitous style is an acquired taste; with music this original and rousing on the menu, you’d be an absolute idiot to not at least try and relish its mouthwatering flavours.
(5/5)

ANALOGUE MAGAZINE TRAUMA THEMES IDIOT TIMES BY KARL MC DONALD
One of Ireland’s less grumpy musical poets Mumblin’ Deaf Ro once talked about disrupting the small set of perspectives that music deals in, by writing from new perspectives. The idea was that breaking up the cosy relationship between the self-regarding “I” and the imaginary female “you” would help little-respected song lyrics move forward, and be a little more like literature. On his fourth album, Jinx Lennon goes a way towards fulfilling that mission. Over beats that are sometimes surprisingly catchy, he writes songs about the Other side of modern life - not so much angry complaints, which are plentiful and pouring out of everyone from Green Day to Lily Allen, but “awkward and real” criticisms. Rather than shouting nihilistically, Lennon seems to simply shine a light on things-as-they-are and say “see for yourself”. It works.

Some of the “trauma themes”: The fact that a football team is not a satisfactory replacement for actually living a worthwhile life, in ‘The Men Who Saved The Face of Football’. A study of the “don’t get involved” phenomenon of the unconcerned modern world in the particularly Fall-like ‘Taxi Man Face’. Sticking a knife in the eye of a house invader in ‘Protect Thyself And Thy Home’. Anything is potential subject matter.
It’s also a little refreshing just to hear the voice of the towns - a guy who speaks in a fairly thick Louth accent and makes no apology for it. There is no secondarity about it, no effort to squeeze through some sort of US/UK/urbane mould. Who else would bother with ‘Folk Music For The Midlands’, as Lennon does on the tenth track of this album? Where else are you going to hear about places like Oriel Park, Dowdallshill, Delvin Co. Westmeath or the De La Salle school from Ravensdale Forest? Or “mormons on bikes and in pairs” or even “some bollocks from Jonesboro I did an electronics course with”?

I suppose part of Jinx Lennon’s project is to make poetry out of those places and those people. There’s nothing that says they’re not worthy, and Lennon follows in a proud line of Irish poets and writers from Patrick Kavanagh through to John McGahern and Patrick McCabe by writing about them. That’s the way to get to “modern Ireland”, you see. You can’t just work in generalisations. You have to dig a little, notice things outside Dublin 2. Jinx Lennon, as much as anyone else, is writing the story of this country. Romantic Ireland is long gone and all but forgotten. What’s there now is a “tape recorder/answering machine/type voice”, a blankness with “rusted Pope’s medals” and memories of Italia 90 keeping people linked to a time long ago, but little else to permeate the bullshit of housing estates and “selfish stupid automatons”.

It’s not just a gloomy State of the Nation address though. It’s also incredibly funny, in a very dark way. And its songs, some of which come complete with potentially shout-along choruses, are eminently listenable. Which is convenient, because it’s almost important that people listen to this record, so that they can have the proverbial “one good look at themselves” in Jinx’s nicely polished looking glass.

JOHN MEAGHER IRISH INDEPENDENT
TRAUMA THEMES IDIOT TIMES
The punk-poet from Dundalk is one of the country's singular talents. Once you've heard Jinx Lennon's acerbic, witty words, you're unlikely to confuse him with anyone else. His spoken-word 'songs' can pack quite a punch. He has made his name dissecting the ills of modern society, and there's no let up on this 16-track album as he offers his unflinching take on malevolent nightclub bouncers and football hooligans.

I would recommend seeing this man in action -- this album certainly suggests the live experience is not to be missed -- but as an album, this will have very limited appeal once heard, absorbed and appreciated. Maybe that's just me. **

CONNECTED MAGAZINE
Jinx Lennon Trauma Themes For
Idiot Times *****
A punk poet in the vein of John Cooper Clarke, Jinx Lennon's one of Ireland's greatest living storytellers – a comedian, a preacher, a troubadour and a rebel but, overall, a Celtic Tiger philosopher. Track two, 'My Head Is Slowly Disappearing Up My Own Arzzz' sets the tone wonderfully. 'Protect Thyself And Home' argues that everyone has the right to 'stick a knife into the eye' of burglars. Nobody can listen to Jinx Lennon and not be affected. Instantly he becomes your best friend, your blood-brother, your cooler cousin; giving priceless advice in this f**ked up world

CLARE PEOPLE
Trauma Themes Idiot Times
Jinx Lennon -Trauma Themes Idiot Times
8/10
There is no one – and I mean no one – in Ireland making music quite like Jinx Lennon. With the release of his latest album the Louth poet come punk-songster it finally stretched his legs, ready to take flight.
And if ever their was an artist who possessed the ability to diagnose a nation in the middle of a nervous breakdown it’s Lennon.

The tone is set early with the deliciously self deprecating ‘My Head Is Slowly Disappearing Up My Own Arzzz’. What follows is 16 songs of anger and pain, fantasy and joy – no holds barred, no ideas left unchallenged, no feeling left unhurt.

But the key is that hand-in-hand with the punk-poetry comes a soundscape that is immensely listenable. Much of the credit for this must go to the increasing prominence of Miss Paula Flynn - you remember, the girl who sand ‘Lets Dance’ on the Ballygowan advert.

True, this album is still unlikely to get too many spins at your local club but you can easily listen to Trauma Themes Idiot Times without feeling like you’ve been through a soul destroying sermon.
Andrew Hamilton

SUNDAY BUSINESS POST
Jinx Lennon Trauma Themes Idiot Times
Louthmouth is back. Jinx Lennon, the soi-disant punk poet from Dundalk, has returned with a fourth album which, as ever, casts him as a sort of border version of John Cooper-Clarke, only with even rougher edges and less polish.

To a backdrop of simple, no frills garage rock, Lennon belts his yarns of Louth life out in a pleasingly unsanitised Dundalk accent, even if you find yourself thinking once or twice that Steve Staunton has wandered into the studio. But there’s a surprising amount of anger here – Protect Thyself And Home advocates murdering anyone who breaks into your house, Taxi Man Face ridicules an ageing cab driver ‘‘full of rust’’ in ‘‘a soft dull place’’, and Big Protest Day is a broadside at barricade-manning marchers who don’t even know what they’re railing against. The rough-and-ready nature of much of the music is a big problem: the bellowed, wordless chorus of Everyone’s Got a Mental Home Inside their Head sounds totally silly, and The Ferris Wheel at Dowdallshill is simply a hastily-strummed mess. You can imagine a lot of this stuff being much more effective in a live setting, so it’s no surprise that Lennon is renowned for being a fine on-stage performer – another thing he has in common with Cooper-Clarke, whose records have never matched the glory of his gigs. *** J O’B

::: Upcoming Irish Dates :::
LIVE AT THE MARQUEE -- June 18th, 2009 ~ Docklands, Cork ~ Info on www.aikenpromotions.com
LIVE IN THE PARK - June 19th, 2009 ~ Donard Park, Newcastle Co. Down ~ Info on www.planetlovemusic.com
SLANE CASTLE - Supporting OASIS -- June 20th, 2009 ~ Slane, Co. Meath ~ Info on www.mcd.ie

Back at the top of their game with the release of their 5th album ‘Invaders Must Die’ (which went straight in at No. 1 and is already one of the best selling album this year), The Prodigy get ready to release the all out monster ‘Warriors Dance’.

One of the many highlights of the album, ‘Warriors Dance’ is old skool Prodigy – a grizzly mix of 91’ hardcore warehouse rave and ecstatic diva vocals only catapulted confidently into the modern age. The perfect reminder that yes, there have been a fair few pretenders attempting to emulate them in recent years, but quite simply … no one does or could ever sound like The Prodigy.

The band are about to embark on a sold out arena tour, taking in two Wembley Arenas and have just announced a third date at 02 Academy Brixton on April 18th. This will be an all night affair with support from Dizzee Rascal, Kissy Sellout and Chase And Status. Tickets are priced at £35 and go on sale Thursday 26th March.

With the deal signed, there was no holding back a band that have been together since they met in college. Brilliant up and coming Irish producer Ciaran Bradshaw took the band through Beechpark & Suite studios to produce a fantastic album of brilliant song writing.

Debut single VIDEOTAPES was released as a digital only release charting at No: 15 on the iTunes Top 100 and No: 2 on the iTunes Rock chart making the track the highest ranking Irish track that week. The Single also charted at No: 41 in the main Irish charts, an incredible feat for a download only debut single.

Despite the initial chart success, it is on stage where The Chapters really come into their own, having sold out their Dublin return at the Academy 2 on April 30th, they now embark on a nationwide tour in support of their debut album. The tour includes;

June 1st -- Greystones Theatre, Greystones
June 6th -- De Barras, Clonakilty
June 14th -- Cyprus Avenue, Cork
June 18th -- Whelans, Dublin
June 19th -- The Stables, Mullingar
June 26th -- Electric Avenue, Waterford (w/Floyd Soul & The Wolf)
August 1st -- Castlepalooza Festival, Tullamore
August 2nd -- INDIE-PENDENCE Festival, Mitchelstown

Many more live dates and Instores to be confirmed!

What the Press said:

“The Chapters find themselves nicely positioned somewhere between Smog & Talking Heads, a rug cutting piece of funk punk” 4/5 – Kevin Courtney, The Irish Times

“The next big thing in 2009” - Claire Connellan – 98 FM

“Sh*t Hot” – Sinister Pete – Phantom FM

“Something of a best kept secret, they could be your new favourite band, just give them a try” – Gareth Maher – Totally Dublin

“….one of the best things to come out of Ireland in years…great songs that set the bar higher then its been in a long time … they have what it takes for the long haul…” – Niall Stokes – Hotpress

The Chapters debut album Perfect Stranger is one of the best Irish albums to be released this year. You only need to listen to it to believe!

::: LIVE ::: 2009 Irish Tour
May 4 Dublin, Whelan's (upstairs)
May 5 Galway, Roisin Dubh
May 6 Cork, Cyprus Avenue
May 7 Belfast, Errigle Inn
May 8 Roscrea, Leap Castle

“FOLKSONG” - THE NEW 2 DISC SET FEATURING A LIVE DVD RECORDED IN CALIFORNIA AT THE MAVERICK SALOON AND AN AUDIO CD FEATURING FOUR NEWLY RECORDED SONGS INCLUDING “ WHEN THE LILACS ARE IN BLOOM” AND “NEVER FAR FROM MY HEART” IS NOW AVAILABLE.

Coming up in spring 2009, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion will release two new projects including Sarah Lee Guthrie & Family's "Daddy's Shoes" and "Folksong," a live HD DVD capturing their unforgettable Valentine's Day 2008 show at Tales from The Tavern at The Maverick Saloon in Santa Ynez, California.

Sarah Lee Guthrie & Family's "Daddy's Shoes" invites four generations of Guthries and Seegers to sing, play and clap along to 13 newly recorded children songs. "Daddy's Shoes" features previously unreleased Woody Guthrie lyrics set to three new songs, two traditional children songs and nine original compositions written by Sarah Lee Guthrie and her husband Johnny Irion. Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Tao Rodriguez Seeger, Johnny Irion and seven grandkids contribute guitar, ukulele, banjo, autoharp and vocals amidst Sarah Lee's beautiful voice. Carrying on the Guthrie tradition of timeless family friendly songs, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Family's "Daddy's Shoes" is a playful and charming set of down-home, country-folk tunes fit for an assortment of family occasions.

"Folksong" is a 2 disc set featuring a HD DVD film of Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion's Valentine's Day set at the Maverick Saloon and an accompanying audio-only CD of the 13 songs performed that special evening. "Folksong" includes four new compositions and highlights the duos' caressing harmonies, high-lonesome folk melodies and unadorned American roots music.

American “Rockgrass” raconteurs, Hayseed Dixie, are releasing a retrospective of their 9 year, 7 album career,
titled: Golden Shower of Hits: The Very Best of Hayseed Dixie

For Information / Interview requests / Promotional Copies contact Stevo Berube
Berube Communications: info@berubecommunications.com or phone 087-244-2695

Blending together exceptional musical skill with extreme irreverence and brash humor, Hayseed Dixie have performed over 1,000 live shows in 21 different countries since forming in the Appalachian Mountains of the Southeastern United States in the Fall of 2000.

Since the release of their first album, “A Hillbilly Tribute To AC/DC,” in April of 2001, critics and audiences alike have been extremely divided on Hayseed Dixie, either absolutely loving the band or absolutely hating them. And that suits the band just fine. As singer Barley Scotch says regarding record reviews, “I don’t give a damn about the opinions of people who don’t have to pay for their records. But either way, we play music that we like to play while we’re drinking beer – we do it for ourselves and all the other beer drinkers around the world. And since we’ve sold over 600,000 albums worldwide, that tells me there are a lot of beer drinkers out there.”

Golden Shower of Hits collects 18 of the most popular songs from the band’s previous 7 studio albums, featuring classic original songs such as the tender love ballad, “I’m Keeping Your Poop (In a Jar)” along with their rockgrass reinterpretations of songs from acts as diverse as AC/DC, Motorhead, Black Sabbath, Green Day and Scissor Sisters.

Whether simplemindedly dismissed as a novelty or wisely heralded as musical pioneers, this album is a testament to Hayseed Dixie’s perseverance and endurance for nearly a decade as they continue to do what they love: get stark-raving plastered and rock out in their own unique and inimitable way.

From the fertile valley of Deer Lick Holler, deep in the heart of Appalachia, comes a sound that is old yet new. In an area completely isolated from outside cultural and musical influence, this band of acoustic musicians grew up playing the traditional music of their forefathers. Then, as fate would have it, one crisp fall afternoon a stranger passed through the holler. Well, he almost passed through.

Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for appreciators of great music worldwide, the stranger crashed his muscle car into a stately old oak tree at Devil's Elbow curve. Sadly, the stranger expired, but his legacy lives on. In the back seat of his car the boys found a box of old vinyl records as they went through his belongings looking for some identification. The name of the band on the records was AC/DC, and though all they had on which to listen to them was an old Edison Victrola that only played at 78 R.P.M., the boys all agreed that it was mighty fine country music - a bit different, but mighty fine just the same.

In memory of the stranger who had perished, the boys set about learning these new songs, injecting elements of their own traditional mountain style. And thus, from these unlikely beginnings, an entirely new musical and cultural synthesis was set in motion. Rockgrass was born. As if the Creator Himself had uttered, "Let there be Rockgrass!"

HAYSEED DIXIE are … Barley Scotch - singer, fiddle, guitar / Dale Reno – mandolin / Don Wayne Reno – banjo

STEVE EARLE
"Townes"
Irish Release on May 15, 2009 on New West Records

www.steveearle.com ~ www.myspace.com/steveearlemusic ~ www.newwestrecords.com

15-SONG SET COMPRISED OF SONGS WRITTEN BY THE LEGENDARY SINGER-SONGWRITER,
::: TOWNES VAN ZANDT :::

Features Guest Appearances by TOM MORELLO (Rage Against The Machine, The Nightwatchmen), ALLISON MOORER, and appearing on a Steve Earle Record for the first time, JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE

Steve Earle is set to release Townes, his highly anticipated follow up to the Grammy Award winning album Washington Square Serenade, on May 12th via New West Records. The 15-song set is comprised of songs written by Earle’s friend and mentor, the late singersongwriter, Townes Van Zandt. Townes will also be available as a deluxe two-CD set, as well as double Limited Edition 180 gram vinyl.

The album was produced by Earle at his home in Greenwich Village, at Sound Emporium and Room and Board in Nashville, TN and The Nest in Hollywood, CA. The track “Lungs,” was produced and mixed by the Dust Brothers’ John King and features Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine/The Nightwatchman on electric guitar. Earle’s wife, the acclaimed singer-songwriter Allison Moorer, is featured on backing vocals on “Loretta” and “To Live Is To Fly.” Three songs cut in Nashville, “White Freightliner Blues,” “Delta Momma Blues,” and “Don’t Take It Too Bad” feature a bluegrass band consisting of Dennis Crouch, Tim O’Brien, Darrel Scott and Shad Cobb.

Earle met Townes Van Zandt in 1972 at one of Earle’s performances at The Old Quarter in Houston, TX. Van Zandt was in the audience and playfully heckled Earle throughout the performance to play the song “Wabash Cannonball” Earle admitted that he didn’t know how to play the tune and Van Zandt replied incredibly “You call yourself a folksinger and you don’t know ‘Wabash Cannonball?’” Earle then silenced him by playing the Van Zandt song “Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold,” not an easy feat due to its quickly-paced mouthful of lyrics squeezed into just over two minutes of song. Their bond was immediately formed. On Townes, Earle and his son, singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle (named after Van Zandt) trade verses on the tune, a song the two of them have been playing together since Justin was a teenager.

The songs selected for Townes were the ones that meant the most to Earle and the ones he personally connected to (not including selections featured on previous Earle albums). Some of the selections chosen were songs that Earle has played his entire career (“Pancho and Lefty,” “Lungs,” “White Freightliner Blues”) and others he had to learn specifically for recording. He learned the song “(Quicksilver
Daydreams of) Maria” directly from Van Zandt, and taught himself “Marie” and “Rake” specifically for the album’s recording. Once a song he played during his live show, Earle relearned “Colorado Girl” in the original Open D tuning that Van Zandt played it in. Earle recorded the New York sessions solo and then added the other instruments later on in order to preserve the spirit of Van Zandt’s original solo
performances to the best of his recollection.

When speaking about Townes, Earle stated, “This may be one of the best records I’ve ever made. That hurts a singer-songwriter’s feelings. Then again, it’s some consolation that I cherry picked through the career of one of the best songwriters that ever lived.”

Since leaving The Cranberries, who sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, O’Riordan has been splitting her time between Dublin and Ontario, Canada. Her interests in life extend far beyond her musical abilities; she is a devoted wife and mother to four beautiful children, and is also a gifted visual artist.

As the M.I.S. recording and songwriting process has evolved, so has the live show. It has developed from simply "pushing buttons" to incorporating a live drummer, bassist and DJ. In the past year, M.I.S. has brought the band to rock stages from Central Park Summer Stage in New York City all the way out to Japan, and the group will be performing at this years prestigious Coachella Music Festival in California in April.

In the past, Lara has attended Coachella as a fan but performing for the first time has special meaning. “For me, it is part of the Mount Olympus of rock,” he explains. “This includes feats like getting covered in Rolling Stone, Spin, Q and playing Coachella, Reading and Glastonbury. Yet another dream to cross off!”

Full tracklisting as follows :

01. Cumbria
02. Alocatel
03. Yo Digo Baila
04. White Stripes
05. Hiedra Venenosa
06. Te Quiero Mucho
07. Jalale
08. Comité Culificador Part 1
09. Comité Culificador Part 2
10. Karate Kid 2
11. Reventon
12. Sinfonia Agridulce
13. Alocatel (Ad Rock remix)
14. Chiflideur

 The Broken Family Band has announced it will be releasing its seventh album, Please And Thank You in Ireland on Friday 24th April, which includes the single Salivating.

Mixed by veteran producer George Shilling, Please and Thank You is, according to singer and lyricist Steve Adams, an album loosely centred around the uncontroversial yet indeterminate idea of “being nice to people”. From its stomping opener ‘Please Yourself’, a sceptical look at hipsters (with ‘cocaine in your moustache’) offended by his cheap guitar with nods, lyrically and musically (and not accidentally) to Elvis Costello’s classic masturbation anthem ‘Pump It Up’, to its conclusion, a gentle ode to burying the hatchet, country-tinged ‘Old Wounds’ (the only trace of their folksy origins), it covers a lot of ground. The gentle ‘Mimi’ is about a beautiful girl who worked in an 'adult' shop, according to its writer, while the drably titled ‘St Albans’, effectively a short story about a man who went to the wrong place to have sex with an Eastern European girl set to an ominous melody, started out as the more exotic ‘St Petersburg’, a title that was deemed to be “unrealistic”. ‘Borrowed Time’, with its anachronistic plea to “keep on choogling, even when we’re tired”, neatly captures the band’s split personality while ‘Cinema Vs House’, a witty dissection of the eternal dating seesaw, starts sweetly and ends up as a rock juggernaut. Eight years in, The Broken Family Band have gradually shed the accordionists, the cute girl singers, the banjo players, even the American drawl, and reduced themselves to the unchanged core of Adams, bassist Gavin Johnson, guitarist Jay Williams and drummer Micky Roman. And they’ve made their best album so far.



Available on CD and as a digital download, the full track listing is as follows :

1. Please Yourself
2. Salivating
3. St. Albans
4. You Did A Bad Thing
5. Cinema vs House
6. Borrowed Time
7. Mimi
8. Don’t Bury Us
9. Stay Friendly
10. Son Of The Man
11. The Girls In This Town
12. Old Wounds

THE BROKEN FAMILY BAND is … Steve Adams (vocals/guitar) / Gavin Johnson (bass) / Jay Williams (guitar) / Micky Roman (drums)

Music and misfits always come together. An after-hours gig in a warehouse in Dublin introduced Catherine Dowling to Gerry Horan. Some years later they formed alphastates. In the hands of music composer Gerry Horan, Dowling expressed the dark comedy of the Human Condition. "Pop is a perfect avenue for human tragedy". Shy of performances and people, they hung in the background. She sang her twisted off-kilter melodies over his guitar and electro noise assaults. Other talented misfits joined the melting pot. It started simple and their only goal was to write beautiful songs.

Champagne Glass was the first single taken from their very beautiful second album "Human Nature", the follow up to their critically acclaimed "Made from Sand". "Human Nature" will be released to the public on the 24th April 2007. Already making its way to the dance floors in New York, Champagne Glass is a pop song draped in house beats but smiling through the eyes of disco. Featuring two remixes by acclaimed production duo "Arveene and Misk" and mastered by Nilesh Patel, the face behind the mastering of Daft Punk's Homework, Champagne Glass is a hook-laden pop sparkler that won't leave your head once inside.

Having toured with Cat Power, Mercury Rev, Deus, Zero 7, Sinead O'Connor, The Beta Band to name but a few, alphastates have had their music appear on both Irish and International film productions. They've played Oxegen numerous times as well as the Electric Picnic together with an a number of high profile festivals across Europe. Currently put the closing stages to the contract with their US record label, "HUMAN NATURE" is to see a release date Stateside at the end of 2009.

With music that is beautifully pop yet ethereally alternative, alphastates have the potential to leave a massive imprint.

::: LIVE ::: Friday April 3rd, 2009 - Vicar Street - Dublin

The Presidents of the United States of America has announced it will be releasing three digital EPs next year. Each EP will feature two songs, plus a brand new video. Each lead track is taken from the band’s latest album, These Are The Good Times People (Released Backin March 2008).

Full digital EP tracklistings and release dates below:

Monday 26th January – Ladybug EP
1. Ladybug
2. Rooftops In Spain
3. Ladybug video

Monday 23rd February – More Bad Times EP
1. Bad Times
2. Ballad of the Unstoppable Female (The Anna Nicole Smith Story)
3. Bad Times video

Monday 30th March – Rot In The Sun EP
1. Rot In The Sun
2. Scrappy Puppy
3. Rot In The Sun video


Since the Seattle-based trio first burst into the public eye in 1995 with its twice Grammy-nominated eponymous debut – on the strength of radio smashes like “Lump” and “Peaches” – the band has been serving out its trademark joy-pop to crowds worldwide ever since. Their latest offering, These Are The Good Times People is an inventive, uplifting and often brilliant rock & roll album. Recorded with Northwest legends The Fastbacks’ and Young Fresh Fellows own Kurt Bloch (Robyn Hit