newnoise

Wow nearly three months since my last blog post. Apologies, I’ve been quite neglectful but things have been busy. I’m currently working towards recording a demo with my band. It’s taking up a lot of my time but it’s been a lot of fun.

So on that note and to get me back in to swing of things, I’ve compiled a list of top 5 drummers.
Feel free to comment, ridicule or ad your own top 5.

Top 5 drummers, gotta love an aul list:

1. Dave Grohl: Nirvana had huge problems with drummers until he arrived. Nevermind became a huge album with him on board. Even though Kurt wrote the tunes you could argue Dave Grohl brought them to life.
He did the same for Queens of the Stone Age, Songs for the Deaf is arguably their most successful album:

2. Travis Barker: Blink 182, realistically would anyone listen to them if it wasn’t for his drumming driving the tunes. Started as a pop punk band and now they’re a stadium band.

3. Seb Thomson: Trans Am! They’re awesome but reckon they wouldn’t have a live show if it wasn’t for their drummer:

4. Brian Chippendale. Lightning Bolt, serious heft! The reason anyone listens to Lightning Bolt:

5. Jimmy Chamberlin. Smashing Pumpkins – Jimmy Chaberlain = Fail!

As you are probably well aware of by now, DJ Mehdi passed away on Tuesday, he was just 34 years old. Allegedly the roof collapsed at his home in France during a party, he was fatally injured. So young and such a huge loss! Thoughts are with his family, friends and all at Ed Banger records.
Never had the chance to see him live but absolutely love his remixes. Here’s probably my favorite, his remix of Uffie’s Pop the Glock:

DJ Mehdi & Chromeo

‘Ephemeral’ created by Musea Murison and directed by Cormac O Conaire from Tenaka on Vimeo.

Check out Tenaka’s new EP Ephemeral! It features collaborations from the likes of Sacred Animals, Holy Roman Army, Sorcha Brennan, Daithi and Elaine Mai and was produced by Ian Maleney. It also features a music video (above) created by Musea Murison.

Hailing from Limerick, Tenaka’s ethereal beats remind me of early 90s chillout compilations, remember those Cafe del Mar records? I mean this as a compliment, I went through a phase as a young teen of only listening to Euphoria compilations, I think that’s why I love listening to the likes of Fourtet now. In short EPhemeral is a total gem, a gorgeous listen and quite different from anything I’ve heard in a while. You can catch him live at the Datadrip Collision EP launch at the Shebeen Chic this Friday, 16th September. Bantum is also playing and it’s free in.

You can download the whole thing for free over at Tenaka’s bandcamp

I was lucky enough to score an interview with Neurosis front man Scott Kelly ahead of their sold out show at the Button Factory back in July. Alas my recorder broke the following day and I lost the interview! There’s a happy ending though thanks to my lovely housemate who helped recover the file for me.

The only other artist I admire as much as Scott Kelly is probably Ian Curtis so getting the interview was a huge deal and man was I nervous! A bit is missing from the start of the interview but I had just asked him how their tour was going so far, all the best bits are there.

I didn’t have much time with him as he was due to sound check. A quiet but lovely chap, he had some really insightful things to say about life on the road.

Big thanks to Danielle, Cian and Timo at U Mack for arranging the interview.

Interview w Scott Kelly by NewNoise

Got a lovely mail from Nouveaunoise this morning, attached was a link to their latest EP ‘Sequence Consequence’. Judging by the traffic on Twitter this morning, many of my fellow bloggers are excited by it and I’m no different. I’ve always been quite the fan of Nouveaunoise and I’m trying to recall the last time I saw them live, I reckon it was at Grand Social last year during Hard Working Class Heroes 2010. So its been a while since we’ve heard anything from the duo, but its been worth the wait as ‘Sequence Consequence’ sees the pair at their strongest yet and I really can’t wait to see what they do with these tracks in a live setting. It’s difficult to pick a favorite from the EP but I think it’s a tie between ‘Rizzu’ and ‘Jah’ if you’re into Hudson Mohawke then you’ll eat this up. Shame they weren’t playing the Picnic at the weekend, they would have rocked it.

Check it:

Sequence Consequence by nouveaunoise

Last week 2XM set list was dedicated to Electric Picnic specials, just because we’re all that excited about the Picnic next weekend.

Really hope I get to go, fingers crossed I’ve better luck getting a ticket for that instead of Prince last month. On that note I really want to thank Benni and Gib (Logikparty) for their genorisity the day of the Prince gig. As you may or may not have heard my wallet was stolen the day of the Prince gig, they got away with €50 but more importantly my ticket for Prince, which was also in the wallet. It was the worst I felt in a long time as I really thought I would be missing out on the chance to see the man himself, live and in the flesh. Luckily everyone was so supportive, especially Benni and Gib who offered to buy me a new ticket. Total heroes! I think the whole experience made me appreciate the gig even more. Thanks to everyone who was so supportive on the day and extra special thanks to B+G.

So back to the Electric Picnic special, it features an interview with Jape and tunes from:

1. Boyz Noise: & Down

2. Mogwai: Batcat

3. Flying Lotus: GNG BNG

4. Warpaint: Bees

5. Jape: Hands of Fire

Jape interview

6. James Blake: I Only Know..

7. PJ Harvey: Who Will Love Me Now

8: Arcade Fire: Neighbourhood #3

9. Interpol: Evil

10. Adebisi Shank: Oyasumi

11. Underworld: Born Slippy

Big thanks to Richie Jape for the interview!

NewNoise EP special by NewNoise

This one features an interview with Darragh McGrath ex manager/booking agent for The Quad bar in Cork. Arguably one of the most important venues in Cork it gave young and upcoming bands/DJs a chance to showcase their talent and interests. The likes of And So I Watch You From Afar, Adebisi Shank, Altar of Plagues, Toby Kaar, BATS, I’ll Eat Your Face, Hands Up Who Wants to Die and Heathers are among those who played the Quad when they were just starting out.

It was a huge outlet for me when I first started DJing and booking gigs. I’ll never forget how supportive and encouraging the staff at the Quad were and I will seriously miss the place.

The Quad closed earlier this month, in this interview Darragh talks about his first gig at the Quad and his fondest memories of the venue.

You’ll find the interview about 20 minutes into the show:

NEWNOISE 16TH JULY done by NewNoise