Monthly Archives: April 2010

Funny How Time Slips Away


Today marks a day of celebration and commemoration for some of my favourite musical figures. The American singer-songwriters Amanda Palmer and Willie Nelson both celebrate their birthdays. Amanda turns 34 while the legend that is Willie is a sprightly 77! Eighteen years ago, the influential rock critic Lester Bangs overdosed on tranquilisers in New York city at the age of 33. A year later, 70-year-old bluesman Muddy Waters died in his sleep in Westmont, Illinois. And, in the last few hours, it has been announced that the Irish TV and radio presenter Gerry Ryan has died in his sleep at his home in Dublin, aged just 53. This song goes out to anybody who is celebrating a birth or commemorating the passing of a life on this day


Funny How Time Slips Away – Willie Nelson

The Man Who Knew Too Much


It was thirty years ago today that Alfred Hitchcock left this world and made his way up to the Great Director’s Chair in the sky. Over the course of the previous sixty years he had directed a half century of films and many of these are still considered amongst the best ever made. He was particularly successful in the thriller genre and this earned him the sobriquet of The Master of Suspense for his innovative use of this storytelling device. Many films and, especially, thrillers rely on some elements of surprise within the plot and Hitchcock used such moments in the final act of films such as Vertigo and Psycho. But it is his use of suspense for which he is renowned. In this well-known tale from Francois Truffaut’s interview with him, Hitchcock brilliantly illustrates the difference between surprise and suspense with this example. As he explains to the French director:

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Don’t Worry, Be Happy


The 36th season of Later with Jools Holland is in its third week and goes out this Tuesday and Friday on BBC Two. The recent appearances of two young English songwriters, Marina & the Diamonds and Kate Nash, continues when Laura Marling (pictured above, top left) appears this week. This year has seen her release her second, critically-acclaimed album, I Speak Because I Can, and has also seen her celebrate her twentieth birthday. When she was 17, she had to busk in the street outside the venue because she was refused entry to her own gig for being underage! She plays folk-tinged music in the vein of her friends and contemporary musicians, Noah & the Whale and Mumford & Sons. The Big To-Do is the title of the latest album from the Drive-By Truckers (bottom right), an alt-country band from the American South that includes three guitarists amongst its line-up. Damon Albarn’s other band, Gorillaz (top right), make their first appearance on Later to promote their recently-released third album, Plastic Beach. The vocals of Dante Terrell Smith-Bey also appear on that album and he’ll be making an appearance on the show, though he’s better known as Mos Def (bottom middle). The other two guests are the American vocalist Diane Birch (bottom left) and Bobby McFerrin (top middle), who’s best known for his hit that gives this post its title

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Papa Don’t Preach


Taking a break from his continued attempts to cover up and make excuses for sexual abuse within certain sections of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI has taken time off to address a conference given by Italian bishops that focuses on how Christians engage with new media and online communities. As you can imagine, the Pope’s a little worried about the power of the Internet. His address to the conference included this mouthful:

The dangers of homologation and control, of intellectual and moral relativism are also increasing, as already recognizable in the decline of critical spirit, in truth reduced to a game of opinions, in the many forms of degradation and humiliation of the intimacy of the person

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Just Like the Rain


Last night I saw Richard Hawley play the Pavilion in Cork city. After many weeks of dry and sunny weather, the rain-soaked Cork streets resembled the noirish atmosphere of one of the Sheffield singer-songwriter’s songs. It was a different scene altogether inside the venue. The gig was sold-out and the old-fashioned theatre with its high ceiling was roasting throughout the show. All around the venue, the walls were covered with copies of the above sign. A feature of many of the gigs I’ve attended over the years is that a section of the audience don’t actually go to listen to the music, even though they’ve most likely paid full price for their tickets. It was good to see the management of the venue taking some action to ensure a little less conversation from the audience and it certainly helped the opening act to get his songs heard. James Eliot Taylor kicked things off just after eight and took to the stage dressed like a professor of literature. This image wasn’t completely inappropriate as Mr Taylor’s short set of a half dozen songs was full of witty and evocative lyrics and his songs weren’t short on melody, either

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Sheffield Steel


Last night I received a text message from a local musician inviting me to his gig in Limerick tonight. I had to text him back to say I wouldn’t be able to make it as I’m off to Cork to see Richard Hawley play the Pavilion. “Richard who?” was his response, so I sent him back this message:

He’s a Mercury Prize nominated singer-songwriter from the Steel City in England. He’s released six acclaimed albums over the last decade and he’s also an excellent guitarist

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A Plug For Joe


Chicago singer-songwriter Joe Pug plays Dolan’s Warehouse in Limerick this Sunday as support to his fellow countryman, Josh Ritter. He’s been writing songs and touring for three years now and has also played support to Steve Earle and M. Ward. Pug (an abbreviation of his actual name, Pugliese) had been studying playwriting at the University of Carolina when he decided to drop out at the beginning of his final year to pursue a musical career. While working as a carpenter, Joe used ideas from a play he had been working on to form the basis of the songs on his first EP, Nation of Heat. Since then, he has recorded another EP, In the Meantime, and his debut album, Messenger. With his literary background, it’s not surprising that the structure and lyrics of his songs are quite impressive. He also has a strong and distinctive voice and should certainly warm up the crowd for Josh Ritter at Dolan’s

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