This post is part of our “Top Albums of The Decade” series. Follow the series to read about the best music to grace our ears in the 2000s. Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American (Dreamworks) There are 10 other tracks on Jimmy Eat World’s fourth effort besides “The Middle” but you’d be hard-pressed to find any average music fan who could name one. Which is a shame because the others are just as good –…
Ham Sandwich – Whelan’s, Dublin (7/11/09)
And to think that some people are still deluded enough to believe that U2 are Ireland’s premier live band. I don’t know if it’s sheer media saturation that’s perpetuated that myth, or just widespread ignorance, but it needs to be stamped out post-haste. Bono can take his impossibly huge stage monstrosities and stick them where the streets have no name; Ham Sandwich have claimed the crown so wrongly placed on Hewson’s overinflated noggin, and painted…
Al Byrne’s Radio Bile
So, apparently, the 16th MTV European Music Awards “went down” on Thursday. Did you notice? I didn’t – I was preoccupied with more relevant, pressing matters, like noticing that ooh, it’s getting quite cold this time of year, and hey, I need a shave. Of course, the fact that these two realisations came in quick succession meant that my addled brain became quite confused, and I ended up shaving my woolly fleece. Live and learn,…
Fionn Regan Back with New Album and Tour Dates
Just before you could say “whatever happened to that Fionn Regan guy?” out he pops from the woodwork, with a talk of a new album – The Shadow Of An Empire – and a selection of performances across the UK to showcase his fresh material. After his critically acclaimed debut, “The End of History”, was released way back in 2006 and nominated for both the Mercury Music Prize and the Choice Award, the Irishman (from…
New Video: Grizzly Bear – ‘Ready, Able’
Check out this rather disturbing new video for Grizzly Bear’s ‘Ready, Able’ below. The video, directed by Allison Schulnik, see’s some clay animation woodland character acting very strangely indeed. Make sure you check out some of Allison’s other work, extremely creative. ‘Ready, Able’ is an album track from the bands latest LP ‘Veckatimest’. No word as of yet whether the song will be released as a single. Watch this space for more details.
Ham Sandwich: Out of the Darkness
Hooray! I love when I get to talk about Irish indie heroes Ham Sandwich, as I’ve done before here, wherein I recount how their gig both melted my face, and rescultped it in a new, smiling, more handsome fashion. But now? Now I bring news of their new single, Out of the Darkness, which is available from here and here, and it’s streaming here. It’s the first song to be made available from their upcoming…
Songs of the decade: “99 Problems”
Jay-Z | “99 Problems” | 2004 The thing about Rick Rubin is that he’s concurrently the most and least talented producer of the Aughts. It’d be fascinating if he weren’t so sought after and considered a sultan of sorts. But since he is, it’s horribly irritating because you never know what the results are gonna be, whether he’s producing an entire album of sparse yet hard-hitting beats, masterminding a phenomenal comeback record, ruining Weezer or…
Bon Jovi: ‘The Circle’
Album name: The Circle Artist name: Bon Jovi Genre: Rock Released: November 2009 Label: Island ZME Rating: 7/10 Website: bonjovi.com There are two possible scenarios that come to mind when I try to picture a Bon Jovi songwriting session. Obviously, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora are there. They’re probably joined by their co-writer of choice – say, Desmond Child or Billy Falcone or whoever – and they’re brainstorming ideas for a spanking new set…
One size to fit ’em all: The Weezer Snuggie!
Weeze Snuggie
Sufjan Stevens’ 50 states project is ‘such a joke’
Sufjan Stevens once had a plan so ambitious, so preposterous, that it seemed like one of those ‘just crazy enough to work’ things – write a concept album about each of the 50 states. He started off with the midwest when he released the lush “Michigan” in 2003, before carrying on with the magnificent 2005 “Illinois”, which, among other gems in the tracklist, features “Chicago”, Sufjan’s best song to date by far! Something happen afterwards,…








