Because it is my love…
Uploaded the new theme for KilkennyMusic.com. Have to drop the ole MP3 player back in later on (its getting late, 11:17pm now). With this design I took the theme mobileblogr.com is based on and ripped it a new one. A tweak or two left for myself but I’m on track with it.
Just need to get the damn gallery problem sorted out. Ideas, criticisms, critiques appreciated if you’re offering…
If you’re online, the ‘Over To You’ show is about to start on KCLR with the four of us from KilkennyMusic.com on it. Runs from 8pm to 9pm, you can get a live stream from KCLR96FM.com as well. I’m hoping to have a copy of the show on CD to stick up on the site over the next week or so.
In a change to plans for this week, we’re going to be pre-recording a KilkennyMusic.com show for KCLR tonight which airs tomorrow on KCLR 96FM (Kilkenny / Carlow) from 8pm to 9pm.
The four of us should be in the studio and we’ll be looking at upcoming gigs, plans for the few months ahead and we’ll be taking some music from bands who have appeared under the KilkennyMusic.com banner in the past year. We’ll also be looking ahead to the Irish Blog Awards which (for those who don’t already know) will be taking place this coming Saturday evening in the Alexander Hotel in Dublin.
Should be a laugh anyway. Was hoping for a live show but there you go!
If you’re in the South East (and as far as the midlands) I’ll be on KCLR 96FM tonight from 8pm to 9pm, likely covering a lot of music issues though the core content will be decided later. I’ll also be bringing a selection of music with me from the KilkennyMusic.com archives, think I’ve got four tracks. Looking forward to the show!
If you can’t get to the radio, KCLR are now streaming from KCLR96FM.com.
Yes, its pretty off topic, yes there are excessive capital letters in the title but I”m looking for help – does anyone, anywhere, have or know something with a piano who would be willing to part company with it? Someone who has been using the piano simply to prop up flowers, a few pictures, let the cat walk over it – whatever. If its been gathering dust in the sitting room or you’ve gotten out of playing one I want to know.
Why – easy, I want to buy it! Or if you’re giving it away then all the better. If its within reasonable travel distance from Kilkenny I can arrange to collect it. I’m not looking to go mad pricewise though, I’ve seen upright pianos knocking around eBay up to 200 euro so thats my limit right there.
I fell in love with the piano again (I played for a while YEARS ago) and its a promise to myself (not a New Years Resolution – a promise) for 2007 to start playing piano again so if you know of anyone at all who has a piano they’re looking to offload then please let me know. If it needs tuning thats not too bad, I don’t mind in tuning it myself (not that I’m a qualified piano tuner but I think I would do a good job) so long as the thing isn’t beyond playing!
Drop me an email, leave a comment or contact me through the blog.
Extending the blog count to around 11 or something, I’ve launched a blog for KilkennyMusic.com which will be used for band and gig news as well as tracking updates and developments from the site, hopefully encouraging an increased use of the site.
The blog itself while maintained primarily by myself should over time incorporate an additional three writers. At a meeting Wednesday night we outlined the structure for the management of the site which lightens my workload somewhat. As a result, we’ve also increased content areas for the year in order to boost the appeal of the magazine side of KilkennyMusic.com as much as the forums would be used, the artists profiles etc. These include demo and album reviews, technical articles written by our engineers, gig reviews etc.
The blog will then be used a promotional tool for some of the member only features of the site (e.g in the forums, highlight the ongoing debate over Scuba Dice appearing on You’re A Star and if users want to comment, forward comments through to the forum as opposed to blog entries). It might work, might not, but I’d still reckon its worth a shot – of course, your feedback is appreciated. Rather than repeating content from the main site into the blog and vice versa we’ll simply highlight the availability of new articles, take a snippet and again forward through to the main site.
I’m classing it as a music blog as we’ll be highlighting gigs, thoughts on gigs, band news etc while there will be a little more to is. Pseudo-music blog maybe….
note: I should also add that Scuba Dice are a sound bunch of lads and they deserve to be where they are. I was a judge for the 2006 Battle Of The Bands (ran over 4 months) and I had no problem in naming the lads as the 2006 winners of the competition. Best of luck to them as the show progresses….
update:I’ve added an MP3 player to the sidebar which features music drawn directly from KilkennyMusic.com. Music used on the site is permission based and we’re always extremely thankful of bands who contribute tracks to KilkennyMusic.com – cheers!
While I’ve posted my personal thanks on the KilkennyMusic.com forums, I would also like to thank through the blog those of you who turned up at the KilkennyMusic.com Christmas Party on Saturday night. We had four great bands (The Happy Medium, Laminate, Waiting To Explode and Myp Et Jeep), loads of food and around 200 people there on the night.
The Sound System Podcast due before the weekend will feature three tracks from the One Take Sessions last Thursday night (featuring Kat Dempsey, Myp Et Jeep and Majella Murphy).
My thanks to sponsors and to Essaness Music (Kieran Street, Kilkenny) as well for donating a real nice guitar for the end-of-show raffle (which was drawn about 2:15am).
I’m quite pleased myself with how the Sessions are progressing, last Thursday (its free whenever when we put it on, every third Thursday) we had about 50 or 60 people in, not bad for only its third night. If you’re visiting Kilkenny any Thursday night, do drop in. We’re fully booked for January 4th and January 25th which should make for some great music. As far as I know there’s a track of mine up on MySpace as well if you’re interested 😉
Three gigs pour moi in The Point in the last two weeks. Paul Simon was fantastic, Bruce Springsteen (on his Seger Sessions tour) was out of this world – have never seen a stage performance quite like his and, last night Tool got their chance to impress and did they ever! 14 of us took off yesterday at 3pm, arrived at the gig around 6:30 and settled in for a drink (at extortionate prices). Still, in no way was I prepared for the quality of the gig. We were smack up the front (not the pit area) for the start of it but half way through the opening song walked right down the back of The Point to we could stand in sheer awe. Amazing visuals for each track and a full laser show complete with tracks old and new would be enough to convert anyone to a fan after last night.
Cracking gig!
Sure isn’t it always the way that you don’t get to a gig in The Point for ages and then along come three at once 🙂
Update:Simon has the Tool setlist from The Point
While I managed to sell two of the four tickets I had, it turned out at the last minute that I was actually able to make the Paul SImon gig in Dublin last night and what a gig! So many songs played like you’ve never heard them and hats off for the version of Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes and Mrs Robinson at the close of the night.
On holidays as kids or anytime heading away in the car there were always three acts that would frequent the ole tape player in the car (upgraded to CD in the mid 90s) – Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits), Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen. Made it a mission then to go and see each of these acts in concert at some stage before they give up touring or retire from the music scene and last night made it two out of three having been able to catch Mark Knopfler pull off the gig of a lifetime last summer (2005) in The Point. Next Friday makes the trifecta as I’ve got tickets for Bruce Springsteen as he tours the Pete Seger sessions. Roll on next Friday!
But if you ever get the chance to catch Paul Simon – DO IT! Anyone catch the gig at all last night?
Here’s the story, I’ve got 4 tickets for Paul Simon, sold out, in The Point on Wednesday November 8th. Turns out one of us going is stuck in Dundalk, one is now stuck elsewhere in Dublin on the night and one won’t go if the others can’t go so I’m not going to take up 4 seats by myself!!
Bottom line, I’m selling the tickets, face value (inc booking fee) so you’re looking at €350 for the four. I will also sell them in two sets of two tickets, at €175 for a pair. They’ll be posted by registered (insured) priority mail. Offer on the blog will close on Sunday as I’m going to list them on eBay after the weekend.
If you’re interested, or you know someone who is looking to go, then let me know. Love to see them get to a fan. Bloody missed him the weekend he played in Kilkenny for the Source festival and I’m gutted to give them up but there you go!
I’ve launched the blog for the One Take Sessions which start under KilkennyMusic.com on November 2nd in ID (formerly The Widows) on Parliament Street in Kilkenny and run every third Thursday night, commencing each night around 9:30pm.
One Take serves as an open night for solo performers and bands, though acts are able to reserve 20-minute timeslots prior to each session. The reason behind calling it ‘One Take’ is that each act is recorded and looked after by one of our engineers on the night and are then able to pick up a finalised copy of their performance for distribution within a week.
Selected tracks from each night then go forth to the Sound System Podcast, whose second show should hit the net this coming weekend (pending a final mixdown on Saturday).
If there’s any bloggers out there who happen to play a bit of music and are interested in getting up on the stage then by all means let me know!
Note: You can subscribe via Feedburner to the One Take Sessions RSS feed and yes, James, the OPML file (see also previous post) has been updated to include this latest publication 🙂
If I may be so bold, I’d like to suggest some listening for your in office / late night workings… The Animatrix Soundtrack (not an affiliate link).
Had a listen to it in work today and its currently playing out through the headphones (got myself a handy pair of technics headphones for mixing) and its one damn fine soundtrack. Perfect music to live, work or sleep by, especially with my ever increasing late night working habits.
If I may make another musical suggestion I suppose I should say that The Happy Medium (the royal we as a band) have released a new demo of ‘Fairground Attraction’ which I originally penned many a year ago. The song has been transported right through its acoustic phase, indie phase and now into its rightful position as a quite upbeat funky tune. The track itself is available for download on MySpace and if you’re going to take a listen to it, I wouldn’t mind a bit of feedback all the same. Free music? Yes please!
It was rumoured around the colleges… rumoured around the offices…. and now it seems official – AllOfMP3.com are breaking the law – hiding behind Russian copyright laws just doesn’t seem to do it any more.
The breakdown? Well, it seems that whatever about the kind of music they sell, they just don’t have a license to sell it, full stop! The British industry’s (music) trade association, BPI, is planning to attack the site through the UK courst, while leaving members and online customers out of the equation.
The site has been through a rough patch of late, experiencing some major down time leaving users wondering where their online credit had disappeared to. Now, I haven’t had the chance to use it myself but have been known to use another Russian website on the odd time over the last few years and can’t fault their service. At some stage you start believing that its a legitimate distribution channel, with the low prices in keeping with its host nation, but with legal proceedings already underway in Russia against AllOfMP3.com, it might not be long before its days are well and truely up.
Came across this one for the Friday evening, good going if you fancy keeping track of the latest Creative Commons-released music?
So here I was gearing up a lovely music tech piece and I read Keith’s post, kudos to Mr. Bohanna for also unearthing this gem.
For the first time ever a music artist has launched an entire album exclusively on a mobile phone. Majella, has preloaded her new album “Brave New World” on the Sony Ericsson Z530i available exclusively from O2 Ireland. The album, which includes three live acoustic tracks will not go on general digital release until July 2006. Speaking in Dublin today, Pat Hughes, Sony Ericsson, said, “As a world first, both Sony Ericsson and O2 are delighted to play a role in launching Majella Murphy’s album exclusively via mobile phone. This marks an exciting time for the collaboration of music and mobile phones. Partnering with mobile technology provides a vital opportunity for gifted artists such as Majella to connect with audiences in new and more immediate ways”.
Its been a busy year to date for Ms. Murphy, launching her website (ColdFusion based) back in February, coupled with appearances in the Olympia and at the IRMAs. Plus, she’s from Kilkenny (my lovely hometown) – yet not featured on KilkennyMusic.com, will have to have words there.
Personally, I think its a fantastic move in the right direction for both mobile technology and Irish music. Its great to see artists and creative minds branching out and making the most of the technology thats available, in particular mobile services. Beats the hell out of a tacky free DVD.
If you’re up for a listen, her current single is also available to download directly from MajellaMurphy.com and is well worth the listen.
Update (Tuesday) – To announce this release Majella will be in studio with Pat Kenny (RTE Radio 1) this morning (10am-12noon) talking about recording “Brave New World” her deal with Sony Ericsson and O2.
Had to post this up, on one hand in case I lose the link, on the other hand that it should be shared with everyone! If this gets released as a single you know it’ll be huge. It’s a SMIL clip direct from RTE of Pat Shortt’s recent interview on the Late Late Show which includes the ‘Jumbo Breakfast Roll‘ performance.
Click here for Pat Shortt’s Jumbo Breakfast Roll or why not get the MP3 version?
You want the lyrics… here’s they are…
Well I wake up in the morning and I jump straight out of bed
Grab a hold of that luminous jacket and shake that fuzzy head
I don’t have time for a fancy breakfast or put muesli in a bowl
I just head to the stat oil garage for the jumbo breakfast Roll
Two eggs two rasher two sausage two Bacon Two puddins one Black and white
All placed like a tower on top of each other and then wrapped up good and tight
If you¹re having some tea the milks over there and you’ll find sugar in the bowl
Says she Do you want some sauce on that says I, I do in my roll
Well whether you¹re a chippie or a sparkie or a brikie or a team just tarring the road.
Or a shower of lads coming home from the razz with a crowd or on your own
If you’re working up a ladder or peeling pigs bladder or find yourself digging in a hole
There’s no sight better than melting butter, from a jumbo breakfast roll
Two eggs two rasher two sausage two Bacon Two puddins one Black and white
All placed like a tower on top of each other and then wrapped up good and tight
If you¹re having some tea the milks over there and you’ll find sugar in the bowl
Says she Do you want some sauce on that says I, I do in my roll
Well just the other day after me roll and tea, in me gut I got an awful ache
I went to me Doctor he said that’s an artery blocker you have every morning at break
So to change my lifestyle he has me walking five miles and seeing a dietician called Noel
But I can’t get from my head the sight of two runny eggs on my Jumbo breakfast roll
Two eggs two rasher two sausage two Bacon Two puddins one Black and white
All placed like a tower on top of each other and then wraped up good and tight
If you¹re having some tea the milks over there and you’ll find sugar in the bowl
Says she Do you want some sauce on that says I, I do in my roll
Well the years have passed on and my life has changed and now I am a different man
I have lost three stone, I’m doing a line with a girl and we are both Vegetarian
My cholesterol is low and my heart is good to go, but in the morning I’d sell my soul
To sit in any stat oil fore court and devour a Jumbo breakfast roll
Two eggs two rasher two sausage two Bacon Two puddins one Black and white
All placed like a tower on top of each other and then wraped up good and tight
If you’re having some tea the milks over there and you¹ll find sugar in the bowl
Says she Do you want some sauce on that says I, I do in my roll
Finish!
If you’ve got any corrections or want to add any suggestions just leave a comment below to contact me!
Note – Thanks to Deirdre, Ray and Diane for their little notes to fix up the word or two I was missing…
I’m not too picky about the music that I listen to. But I hate most modern pop crap that fills our airwaves and would much rather pick up some of my older bands, early 90s stuff, late 80s stuff – the hard to find gems that you used to get in the back of the Book Centre or downstairs in Sherwoods or your other now non-existant music store.
So wasn’t I pleased to read this morning that Universal are digitising their back catalog of out of print albums, many of which had only been available on vinyl or just out of print for years. For the next 3 years or so, Universal are going to start reissuing around 10,000 out of print albums and they”ll likely partner with iTunes and the rest of the online music stores for distribution.
Why? Because you don’t need shelves to stack CDs on the Internet! Bring it on….
Nice to be on the slightly more relaxed side of the music tonight as we take to the stage in Cleere’s in Kilkenny without KilkennyMusic.com running the show. Gig kicks off in about 3 hours time so its high time to get dressed and set for tonight. I’ll leave some feedback on it tomorrow I guess….
Update:
What a gig, nice to see everyone there, packed house in Cleere’s and people already singing the words back up to us on stage. Cheers to Ilya K for the performance and having us in on the night as well, great show all round!
Thats how the tagline goes anyway. Friend and colleague (great being able to call the two!), John Butler, has this week launched his new blog John Butler Live and covers a great post on holophonics.
For those of you unaware of the term I would suggest a read of this post armed with a set of working headphones for the sheer experience of surreal 3D sound. Not only does it move left to right, it goes up your right arm, down your left side, around your feet…. I was quite literally blown away by it to be honest. Well worth checking out!
Last week it was the turn of Itchy Trigger Finger (which was a great gig) and this weekend its the turn of myself (The Happy Medium). We’re on, live, in Cleere’s on Parliament Street in Kilkenny with Ilya K from Waterford. Doors open at 9.30pm with tickets €5 on the door. Should be a great night, looking forward to it myself, as always!