Autumn Winter Gigs 2008

Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Whelans, Tuesday Sep 7
Shearwater, Whelans, Friday Sep 19
Bon Iver, Tripod, Tuesday Oct 7
Spirtitualised, Vicar Street, Sunday Oct 19
Holy Fuck, The Academy, Monday Oct 20
Lambchop, Tripod, Saturday Nov 1
Mercury Rev, Vicar Street, Sunday, Nov 2
Okkervil River, The Academy, Friday, Nov 7
Goldfrapp, Tripod, Friday, Nov 7
Fleet Foxes, Vicar Street, Friday Nov 7
The Jimmy Cake. Vicar Street, Friday, 21 November

Best of 2008 to July

3 Five star bonafide truly great albums destined to be regarded as absolute classics by a lot of folk in the years to come

Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago

7 flirting with future classic status

Elbow, the Seldom Seen Kid
The Jimmy Cake, Spectre & Crown
Sigur Rós : Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Goldfrapp, Seventh Tree
Portishead, Third
Jape, Ritual
Erykah Badu, New Amerykah, Pt 1: 4th World War


5 consistently excellent albums

Lykke Li, Youth Novels
Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dig Lazarus! Dig!
Laura Marling, Alas I Cannot Swim
Martha Wainwright, I Know You’re Married But I’ve Got Feelings Too


2 Quality albums

Cat Power, Jukebox
The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely

7 intermittently excellent efforts

Santogold, Santogold
Hercules and Love Affair, Hercules and Love Affair
Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles
Beck, Modern Guilt
The Dodos, Visiter
Gemma Hayes, The Hollow of the Morning
My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges

7 good, solid but not amazing albums

Coldplay, Viva La Vida
R.E.M., Accelerate
Foals, Antidotes
The Breeders, Mountain Battles
Tapes’n’Tapes, Walk it Off
The Roots, Rising Down,
Vetiver, A Thing of the Past

Electric Picnic Line Up Final Verdict

An almost final verdict on the Electric Picnic line-up - can’t see them adding too many acts in the next month or so.

The line up features as has always been the case, less hugely well known successful artists than Oxegen but a lot of acts that have released brilliant albums over the last year or so including rock royalty Sigur Ros, Wilco, Elbow, the Breeders and Tindersticks.

Some of the best electronic artists out there in Modeselktor and Crystal Castles, and lets not forget Underworld. Great dance oriented acts in Cut Copy, Santogold and Hercules and Love Affair. Backed up by lesser known quality electronic/dance in Digitalism, the Presets, and Midnight Juggernauts.

Plus Goldfrapp whose new album is amazing. And the legendary My Bloody Valentine.

Some of the best DJ’s in the world with A-trak, Diplo, and David Holmes.

One of the best hip hop acts bar none in the Roots.

A strong selection of Irish talent with Jape, Gemma Hayes, Cathy Davey, Lisa Hannigan, and Adrian Crowley.

Some very fine acts in the singer songwriter folk/alt country range with the Dodos, Bright Eye’s Conor Oberst, Stephanie Dosen, Juana Molina, Louise Rhodes and Terry Callier.

Franz Ferdinand, Foals and Gomez filling out the supply of decent guitar bands.

Plus you’ve got the Balanescu Quartet, Tinariwen, and the Congoes so its not all indie rock/dance.

All in all there’s over 40 acts I’d like to see playing at the Electric Picnic.....*

Sigur Ros
My Bloody Valentine
Wilco
Goldfrapp
Elbow
The Breeders
The Dodos
Cut Copy
Laura Marling
Santogold
Gemma Hayes
Modeselektor
Franz Ferdinand
Hercules and Love Affair
Jape
Stephanie Dosen
The Roots
Underworld
Dan Deacon
Crystal Castles
Tindersticks
David Kitt
Balanescu Quartet
Juana Molina
Martina Topley Bird
Cathy Davey
Foals
Conor Oberst
Lisa Hannigan
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks
Tinariwen
Joan as Policewoman
James Yorkston
David Holmes
Terry Callier
Louise Rhodes
New Young Pony Club
A-Trak
The Congos
Diplo
Adrian Crowley
Midnight Juggernauts
Booka Shade
Pivot
The Presets
Digitalism
The Herbaliser
Nitin Sawhney
Gomez
CSS
Duffy
Kila
Rachel Unthank & The Winter Set
Josh Ritter
Autamata
Vivienne Long


*updated July 21

Fair enough it is too dear this year but I really can’t knock the line-up.

Oxegen

As Oxegen looms I’m wishing I had the stomach to take all those puking, mud throwing, food dropping teenagers that it attracts. And for the same strange, music nerd urge that motivates all these posts, I feel the urge to deconstruct the Oxegen and Electric Picnic line ups!

This year’s Oxegen line-up is definitely the best one I can remember.

MCD obviously have a huge amount of money and the Oxegen approach says ‘forget about the scummy environment and feel the line up.’ The line up excels in bringing together some of the best mainstream rock bands in the world - REM, the Verve, the Raconteurs, Kings of Leon, Band of Horses, the National, Interpol, Manic Street Preachers.

Two of the best new bands out there in the fantastic Vampire Weekend and Yeasayer and a few other next big/current big things with White Denim, Black Kids, MGMT. Plus Battles and Cat Power adding a bit of extra ‘alternative music scene’ quality.

Its got a decent representation of dancey stuff - Justice, Hot Chip, Aphex Twin and Chemical Brothers, Go Team!

Some of the best of Irish talent in there with Glen Hansard’s Swell Season and Bell XI

All in all you’ve got about 30 quality acts in there with...

Vampire Weekend
The National
My Morning Jacket
Kings of Leon
The Raconteurs
REM
Yeasayer
Band of Horses
Cat Power
Editors
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
The Verve
Interpol
Bell XI
The Go! Team
White Denim
Black Kids
Aphex Twin
Hot Chip
Delays
Battles
Justice
The Zutons
Manic Street Preachers
The Charlatans
The Ting Tings
Richard Hawley
Chemical Brothers
Roisin Murphy
MGMT
Deus
Holy Fuck
Rage Against the Machine

BUT the Electric Picnic lineup is much, much better than pretty much everyone I’ve talked seems to think it is. More on that in he next post.