Winterpills

Big fan of the band, they're currently working on their third album which should be out this year. They recently performed a set for woxy.com featuring a couple of new songs. Brilliant set it is too, right click to download.

Track Listing:
Handkerchiefs
Broken Arm
Bee Sting (new/unreleased)
- interview -
Shameful
Gentleman Farmer (new/unreleased)

You can also download the excellent 'Broken Arm' here and one of guitarist Dennis Crommett's songs here as well. Head to their MySpace for more info.

Video for Broken Arm

Thundercrack: Best Of Irish #6 - The Mighty Stef

He's just released an excellent new ep entitled 'Death Threats' featuring four tracks. You'll find the video for the title track below. His album 'The Sins of Sainte Catherine' is also well worth checking out. Both can be purchased here. Comparisons can be made to Nick Cave and Tom Waits but he's got a great sound of his own. He's playing a number of nights in Whelan's in July, I'm looking forward to finally seeing him live, I've heard he's a great live act. Head over to his MySpace where you can download a few songs for free. I've also featured him on the playlist so you can download Poisonous Love here

Review: Bruce Springsteen RDS Dublin 25th May 2008

A great concert to end Springsteen's stay in Dublin. The setlist was excellent, with a rare outing for the double 'Wild, Innocent...' shot of Sandy and Rosalita. Bruce spoke about Danny for the first real time, giving a funny story about Danny getting thrown in jail. Atlantic City was absolutely fierce and Spirit In The Night was an absolute blast with the big screens perfectly capturing Bruce's crotch being felt by men and women alike. I don't think Reason To Believe is as strong as when I saw him in December. Then it was the highlight of the show. Now, the absence of the guitar intro really affects the song and doesn't give it the same explosion as before. It was still one of my favourite performances of the weekend but I think it could have been better.

The real story of the night, as before, was in the encores with Bruce pulling out all the stops to give Dublin a great finish. I don't think you could ask for a more crowd pleasing 7 song set. Rosie was a personal highlight and it was great to see them go beyond American Land for the first time. Ramrod and especially Glory Days brought the house down.

Personally, I was in the pit and found it to be both a lot fuller than the previous nights and also filled with people who weren't really interested in the music, they were there to say they were at 'the' event of the weekend. So 'Racing In The Street' fairly passed me by as people pushed past me on the way to the bar and guys right in front of me shouted to their mates about something random, in no way relevant to the gig, which was disappointing as when I could actually focus on the song, Bruce gave a great vocal performance. It's the luck of the draw who you're stuck next to at gigs like this and I was a bit unfortunate this time. Even after moving, there wasn't much relief. But it was still a great gig, with the encores being absolutely brilliant.

So, after the three nights I'd offer the opinion that Friday was the best show. I thought the setlist flowed perfectly and Bruce was on absolute top form. If I had to pick one song of the weekend, it would probably be Thunder Road on Thursday. That was special.

By my calculations (I'm open to correction), Springsteen played 43 different songs over the three nights. That's not a bad return for three concerts. It's interesting if you look over at brucespringsteen.net where they post Bruce's setlist after the show. From that, you can see how much Bruce deviates off the setlist as the show goes on. For instance, last night 'Out In The Street' was setlisted but 'Spirit In The Night' played. I'll take that trade. Also of interest, on Friday night, one of the highlights of the show, Trapped into Murder Incorporated was not on the setlist. Of course Backstreets and Meeting Across The River were setlisted for Friday but I guess you can't win them all.

All in all, it's been a great weekend of Springsteen concerts and I have one more to go next month here in Paris. He's so good that even though I've just seen him three nights, I'm already excited about the show. Not too many artists have that power.

(If you have any thoughts on the gigs, leave a comment, I'd be especially interested in anybody who had a differing experience in the pit last night as I'm sure there were areas where it was perfect. Just a pity I couldn't find any)

For those interested, I'll be posting an mp3 of Racing In The Street from the show in my playlist on Wednesday so check back here for that.

Setlist for last night

1. No Surrender
2. Radio Nowhere
3. The Ties That Bind
4. Spirit In The Night
5. Gypsy Biker
6. Atlantic City
7. Reason To Believe
8. 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
9. Growin' Up
10. Because The Night
11. She's The One
12. Livin' In The Future
13. Mary's Place
14. The Promised Land
15. Racing In The Street
16. The Rising
17. Last To Die
18. Long Walk Home
19. Badlands

20. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
21. Born To Run
22. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
23. Dancing In The Dark
24. American Land

25. Ramrod
26. Glory Days

On Tour : R.E.M.

New On Tour album. Download it from here.
http://www.mediafire.com/?m1dyfges1xt

Track listing and dates of performances are below

On Tour: REM

01. Living Well's The Best Revenge
02. 1,000,000
03. Welcome To The Occupation
04. Drive
05. Leaving New York
06. Pretty Persuasion
07. Animal
08. Supernatural Superserious
09. She Just Wants To Be
10. Radio Free Europe
11. Pop Song 89
12. Maps and Legends
13. Man On The Moon


01. 24/03/2008
02. 14/05/1982
03. 19/11/1995
04. 16/07/2005
05. 16/07/2005
06. 1981
07. 20/09/2003
08. 2008 BBC studios
09. 30/09/2003
10. 1981
11. 21/11/1995
12. 30/09/2003
13. 16/07/2005

Review: Bruce Springsteen RDS Dublin 23rd May 2008

So much of your enjoyment of concerts depends on where you're standing or sitting and the sort of people that are around you. Last night, I was in the pit surrounded by a good group of people. Maybe that's why I thought it was a better show than Thursday. But I also think it was just a better show.

Night is a fantastic opener and the pace didn't let up at all until a magnificent performance of 'Magic'. Trapped was brilliant but Murder Incorporated was incredible with Bruce and Steve taking the dueling guitars they did during Gypsy Biker on Thursday to a new level. Prove It All Night was great again, with Nils taking a fantastic solo at the end. Mary's Place was even more enjoyable than the night before and Girls In Their Summer Clothes was brilliantly played as well. The encores are a show in themselves and it was something special last night. To start with Jungleland was amazing, Clarence nailing his solo. Glory Days was great fun "Is it sexy time? Is it Guinness Time?" "No, it's Boss Time" American Land was brilliant again.

Bruce was enjoying himself even more I thought. At times he was visibly out of breath but after all the running he was doing, I wasn't surprised. Funniest moment of the night came during Dancing when he got a little girl up on the ramp to dance with him but she got scared and ran back to her parents. He then picked a man up from the audience for a quick Courtney Cox impression. That song was also one of my favourites. If I had to pick one highlight, it was probably Jungleland, with Mary's Place being a close second purely for Bruce's infectious enthusiasm and how much he clearly loves playing that song. Nine songs different from the first night, I'm sure it'll be different again on Sunday. Setlist below. Again picture taken from backstreets.com. Download On Tour: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Vol. 1 here and Vol. 2 here.

Setlist:
Night
Radio Nowhere
No Surrender
Lonesome Day
The Promised Land
Magic
Trapped
Murder Incorporated
Darlington County
Prove It All Night
She's the One
Livin' in the Future
Mary's Place
Girls in Their Summer Clothes
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
* * *
Jungleland
Born to Run
Glory Days
Dancing in the Dark
American Land

Review: Bruce Springsteen: RDS Dublin 22nd May 2008

Opening night of Bruce's 3 night stand in the RDS. Excellent show with some real high points. It was my 4th time seeing Bruce and the band this tour and finally got a few of the songs I've been waiting to hear. Thunder Road, Prove It All Night, Candy's Room, Tenth Avenue Freeze Out are among my favourite songs so to hear them live for the first time was fantastic.

And the rest of the set was great too. It's a big change from the arena shows that I saw last time, the crowd being one of the major differences. I didn't think much of the crowd, although that may just have been where I was standing. People didn't seem as interested in his newer stuff and at times, it seemed people were waiting to hear the hits which never works at a Bruce concert. It'll be interesting to see if there's a difference tonight.

In terms of Bruce and the band, they were full of energy and played excellently for the full 2 hours 40 minutes. Bruce was moving across the stage throughout the night, even did his infamous knee-slide. Not bad for 58. The band were as strong as usual with Max playing as fierce as I've ever seen at the end of Badlands. Mary's Place and Waitin On A Sunny Day were both really good stadium songs although I felt that one of them was enough, rather than being played back to back. American Land was special last night too for the finale. Overall, looking at the past setlists, I got the feeling that Bruce was doing a relatively standard Magic tour setlist last night as he hadn't played Dublin on the tour before. I'd imagine tonight and Sunday are going to be far more open shows in terms of what he'll play. He seemed to be having a great time the whole concert. Here's hoping he saved some energy for tonight. Here's last night's setlist and a couple of videos. I'll be there for the next two nights so check back for reviews the day after.(Photo taken from backstreets.com) Download On Tour: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Vol. 1 here and Vol. 2 here.

The Promised Land
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
Out in the Street
Gypsy Biker
Magic
Reason to Believe
Candy's Room
Prove It All Night
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Because the Night
She's the One
Livin' in the Future
Mary's Place
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
The River
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
* * *
Thunder Road
Born to Run
Bobby Jean
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
American Land

Prove It All Night



Born To Run

Thundercrack Playlist #14

Number 14. Enjoy. I'm off to see Springsteen for three nights in Dublin. I'll post my reviews the day after.


http://www.mediafire.com/?nqgselz3fhh


1. Wolf Parade - Language City

They've released this song through their MySpace recently. Absolutely brilliant album, it's been well worth the wait since the last one. It's coming out next month, 17th June. This is a great taster.


http://www.myspace.com/wolfparade




2. The Federals - Automatic Breakdown

Garage rock band from the UK, this is a really catchy song. I've been singing this chorus for the last few days. Were recently Steve Lamacq's demo of the week for one of their other songs. Keep an eye out for them.


http://www.myspace.com/thefederals
http://www.thefederals.co.uk



3. David Karsten Daniels - Martha Ann

Hailing from Seattle, this track comes off his recently released album 'Of Flying'. He's released some good stuff over the years, like this track. Got a great voice.


http://www.davidkarstendaniels.com/
http://www.myspace.com/davidkarstendaniels



4. Joan As Police Woman - To Be Loved

Loved her first album, this is off her upcoming album due out 9th June. Has a few European dates announced, including one in Paris and another in Dublin.


http://www.joanaspolicewoman.com/

http://www.myspace.com/joanaspolicewoman




5. Black Mountain - Tyrants

Love this band, loved the last album which this is taken from. Saw them live last night and wasn't overly impressed(I'll get a review up soon) but this song killed. Epic.

http://www.blackmountainarmy.com/
http://www.myspace.com/blackmountain

6. Old Lost John - Come Saturday

Swedish guy, good track, he has an album out which you can get at his website.

http://www.oldlostjohn.com/
http://www.myspace.com/oldlostjohn





7. Wakey!Wakey! - Fall Apart

One of the bands to watch in the coming while. Can download a covers album for free on their website. Some interesting choices.


http://www.myspace.com/wakeywakeymusic
http://www.wakeywakeymusic.com/





8. Tom Waits - Tom Traubert's Blues (Live)

From 2006, I left in a cool story Tom told before the song. His tour is definitely going to be one of the big music stories this year.


http://www.tomwaits.com/





9. Killa Kela - All Killa No Filla

My knowledge of beatboxers is virtually none but I like this track. Seems to be one of the big names and well respected. His cd got good reviews when it came out. Worth a look


http://www.killakela.com/
http://www.myspace.com/killakela




10. The Nomads - Ain't No King Of Rnr Tonight

Another Swedish band, these guys have been going for years. Not heard much of them up until now, this is a cool song. If you like your rock songs to be under 3 minutes, you'll probably like this song.


http://www.myspace.com/the_nomads



11. The Fatima Mansions - You Won't Get Me Home

Irish band this week is Fatima Mansions, led by the legendary Cathal Coughlan. Were around at the turn of the 90s for a few years. Made some good records, this is off their debut album 'Against Nature'. Might have to search around for that one. This website is a good place to start.


http://www.xs4all.nl/~vonb/cathalcoughlan/
http://www.cathalcoughlan.com/

The Hold Steady - New Song Streaming

Single off the new album is up on their MySpace. Anticipation for the new album grows even more.

Jeffrey Foucault

I've been listening to Jeffrey a lot recently, in particular his debut album 'Miles From The Lightning'. It was released back in 2001 and ranks in my top ten albums of all time. He's gone on from there to have a more polished sound but still retain his main strengths, mainly his voice and his lyrics. He's released three albums on his own as well as one album in collaboration with Kris Delmhorst and Peter Mulvey called 'Redbird' which is another fantastic album.
I saw him live a couple of years ago in a pub in Dublin and he was great. Highly recommended singer/songwriter. Few things to listen to below, three fantastic songs.

Secretariat (from Miles From The Lightning)
4 & 20 Blues (from Stripping Cane)
Americans In Corduroy (from Ghost Repeater)
Interview on Acoustic Cafe


Check out his official site and his MySpace for more info and some more mp3s.