Delta Spirit - The Academy 2, 27 March 2009

Only about 15 people at the gig last night, probably due in part to Animal Collective playing across town but the band still put on a really good show. I thought there'd be more people at it but they seemed to be happy playing in Dublin for the first time and appreciated those who did come out. I really like their album and they're excellent live as well. The Academy 2 has fairly rubbish acoustics and it would have been an even better gig if it was in Whelans or somewhere similar but the songs still got through. A really good band who hopefully will be back again and a few more people will get out to see them. I'd certainly recommend people to go.


Delta Spirit - People C'mon

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band - Slowly (Oh So Slowly)

Much better news for fans of Bright Eyes than the Killers attempting to make him sound like the Killers, is Conor's new album which is due out soon. This is the first track I've heard from it and it's really good. Looking forward to the album.

The Killers Cover Bright Eyes - Four Winds

Four Winds turned into a dance hit? It's on the Spaceman single/EP. A really strange idea and one that doesn't really work

Bruce Springsteen - Rehearsal Show

Springsteen is gearing up for the start of his world tour next week and did two rehearsal shows this week to prepare. This is the start of the show from the first night

The Felice Brothers - Run Chicken Run

The Felice Brothers released a great album last year and they're following it up with Yonder Is The Clock which is out next month. This is the first track I've heard of it and it sounds really good. Should be a good one.


The Felice Brothers - Run Chicken Run

Metric - Gimme Sympathy

They have a new album due out early next month. Should be a good one if this track is anything to go by.

Neil Young - Cough Up The Box

Big Neil Young fan but really not sure about this song. It's off his new album Fork In The Road which is out next month.

Springsteen on The Daily Show

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Bruce Springsteen - Interview
comedycentral.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Important Things w/ Demetri Martin Political Humor

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Bruce Springsteen - Working on a Dream
comedycentral.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Important Things w/ Demetri Martin Political Humor

Modest Mouse - Satellite Skin

Josh Ritter - The River

Interview




Performance

Doug Burr - Should've Known

I missed the release of his newest album, which apparently came out last December but I'm definitely going to track it down. I really liked his last album On Promenade, especially this song , and the video below, so my hopes are high for The Shawl which has been getting some really good reviews.

Handsome Furs - Thy Will Be Done

From their brilliant new album Face Control




and the video for I'm Confused, the first single off the album.

Jeffrey Lewis & Laura Marling cover Eminem

Andy Wagner - Drivers Seat

Another new release from Rock Proper who released the Jay Bennett album I featured a while ago. This is a similar type of music and is again free to download. It's an interesting approach to release these albums without charge and I think it's an idea worth trying. These guys are getting an audience that may not have heard their music otherwise. They just want to get their music out to as many people as possible and that's an admirable aim. There's so much music these days that sometimes it takes something a bit more radical like giving your music away for free to get noticed.

The album itself isn't going to change the world but it's certainly a good strong album. I've listened to it a few times and will definitely keep an eye out for more stuff from Andy. Have a listen to the track below and if you like it head here to download the other 5 songs. It's a record label worth supporting, they put out some good music and it's free so you really can't lose.

Andy Wagner - Live In A Dream

Dark Was The Night

The recent Dark Was The Night album was really good, especially the first disc. And these two songs were amongst the best on the record.

Yeasayer - Tightrope




The National - So Far Around The Bend

The Dead Weather - Hang You Up From The Heavens

Yep, Jack White's got another new band. And it's another supergroup. And he's the drummer. The lineup is The Kills' Alison Mosshart as the lead vocalist/frontwoman, Jack White on drums and vocals, Raconteur Jack Lawrence plays bass, and Queens Of The Stone Age's Dean Fertita's on guitar. This is the first single off their album that's due out this summer. Cool song, Jack always puts out great stuff so I'm looking forward to the album.

Buddy & Julie Miller - Ellis County

Haven't heard the new album from Buddy & Julie Miller but I've been listening to this song a lot over the past few days so I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of it. Really interested to hear the song that Robert Plant guests on. Never really listened to the duo before but I really like this song, it's definitely worth a listen.


Buddy & Julie Miller - Ellis County

SXSW 2009 Preview Part 2

Christian Kiefer - In Hindsight (featuring Bill Callahan)

Frank Turner - Long Live The Queen

Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs - Gettin' High For Jesus

Horse Feathers - Curs In The Weeds

J. Tillman - Steel On Steel

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Seven-Mile Island

Gary Louris and Mark Olson - Turn Your Pretty Name Around

The Chesterfield Kings - Up And Down

The Cocktail Slippers - Give It To Me

The Handsome Family - Weightless Again

The Whispertown 2000 - Done With Love

Wintersleep - Weighty Ghost

Ben Weaver - Daytrotter Session

Great singer/songwriter, his last album The Ax In The Oak was really great. He recorded a Daytrotter session the other day and it's worth a listen. He did three songs from The Ax and one from the first album I heard of his, Stories Under Nails. Download the session here

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - Buriedfed

I've written about this guy a few times before and his excellent self-titled debut album. Haven't seen this video before and its such a good song that it's worth highlighting again.

Wilco - Monday

Wilco have a live dvd coming out next month called Ashes of American Flags. Should be great and this is the first full song that I've seen from it. Always loved this song, great performance.

Neil Young - Light A Candle

Another DIY video from Neil's upcoming album Fork In The Road. Have a look here. It's apparently the quietest song on the record and was a regular on the last tour.

SXSW Preview Part 1

Every year the music industry heads to Texas for SXSW in the hope of discovering the next big thing. The festival can be a real springboard for bands, Bon Iver & Fleet Foxes were the big successes of the festival last year. Every year the organisers also put up a bunch of mp3s by some of the bands playing. There's probably around 2,000 musical acts, some brilliant, some rubbish and most I've never heard of. But I've put together a few of the ones I have heard of who have mp3s available and who I think are definitely worth a listen. I'll put up a part 2 in a few days.

Micah Dalton - Down, Down, Put It Down

Alela Diane - White As Diamonds

Girls - Lust For Life

Earlimart - Face Down In The Right Town

The Ettes - Crown Of Age

Danny Schmidt - This Too Shall Pass

Slow Club - Slow Club

Winterpills - Beesting

Lucero - What Else Would You Have Me Be

Tegan & Sara - Dancing In The Dark

M Ward - To Save Me

New Bonnie "Prince" Billy - I Am Goodbye

From his fantastic new album Beware

Review: The Gaslight Anthem - The Academy 4 March 2009

It's only March but already the best gig I've seen this year and will definitely be up on any end of year lists. They exploded out of the blocks with an opening that not many bands could match including opener 'Great Expectations', and the simply huge 'The 59 Sound'. Over the course of the 80mins or so they played all(?) of The 59 Sound album and a few choice songs from their debut 'Sink Or Swim' and the ep 'Senor & The Queen.' 'Patient & The Ferris Wheel', 'Old White Lincoln', 'We Came To Dance' and 'Boomboxes and Dictionaries' were just a few of my favourites but really I could have picked most of the setlist as a highlight.

Having watched their performance on Letterman (see below) I wasn't too sure about their live prowess but last night they were really on form. It was the last night of their tour and they really seemed to be enjoying themselves with frontman Brian Fallon beaming throughout. One thing that really came across was the passion they have for their songs and performing and that's not all that common with a lot of artists these days.

The sound was great (as it always seems to be in the Academy) and the crowd were definitely up for it. The pace barely slackened throughout the whole show and it really was a great performance. Definitely one of the best bands around at the moment.


The 59 Sound - Live on Letterman


And a couple of covers that Brian Fallon has done solo

The Weight


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