Friday, July 6, 2007

my favourite 4


I remember years ago there used to be a show at about 11pm on a Sunday night on one of the pirate radio stations in Dublin. It must have been either Sunshine 101 or Q102. It most definitely wasn't Radio Nova or NRG 103. I think it might have been Tony Fenton who hosted it. In any case, the show was called My Favourite Five and it was a chance for listeners to write in with their Top 5 tunes and they could feature on the next weeks show. They'd call you up and ask for the story behind each of the tunes and they'd play it on air before the tune. I remember the excitement when a mate got the chance to play his favourite 5. I only remember that he picked out 'Rainy night in Soho' by The Pogues as his favourite. An inspired choice, even now. I'm not sure why I'm banging on about this, it only came into my head as i sat down to write the post. Check out www.radiowaves.fm for more info on Irish radio past and present.

I picked up four new seven inch vinyl records in the last two days and they are (cue drum roll)......

Los Campesinos - You me! Dancing!. These guys hail from Cardiff in Wales. I don't know much about Cardiff but I do know that Los Campesinos lured me into their world with their brightly packaged vinyl that included some nice postcards. It's very urgent guitar based pop with the usual affected British accent. It is however, very cleverly structured and the girls doing the oohs and the xylophone serve to bring out its latent pop sensibilities. it's available on Wichita Records and they'll be playing in Whelans, here in Dublin, this coming October. Listen to it by clicking their name above and you'll land on their myspace.

The Go Team - Grip like a vice. This sounds like a soundclash between FatBoy Slim and a Trinidadian Steel Band. It's a bit of a funny one and I haven't made up my mind on it. You can listen to it on their Myspace and decide for yourself.

Arctic Monkeys - Fluorescent Adolescent. The latest instalment from the ongoing tale of everyones favourite scamps. It's their usual fare to be honest. It wouldn't have the urgency of some of their other tunes and seems to ramble on at a leisurely pace. It all goes a bit summery at the end, as if it was tailored that way for radio. As such it doesn't sound as well on the home stereo. Pity that.

Unkle - Burn My Shadow. This features former Cult frontman Ian Astbury on guitar and vocals and it isn't half bad. It sounds like he's doing a Tony Bennett impression but the tune itself is pretty rocking. It's just a bit of modern day prog rock to be honest. It's harmless aul stuff. You can listen to it on their MySpace here.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Matt
What with all this talk of The Indians and Radio Nova - you seem a bit nostalgic. It's probably the weather.
A good friend of mine from London came to visit me last year and loved Dublin, but he said he could never move here because there wasn't enough Vinyl. His girlfriend rolled her eyes - but do you concur? It would be fun if said friend moved here so can I convince him that he was wrong about the Dublin Vinyl shortage?

Matt Vinyl said...

I love a bit of nostalgia, so I do.

Dublin has nowhere near the selection of vinyl available in London but that's only in relation to old stuff. You'll get any new vinyl that you want here in Dublin as long as you're not in too much of a hurry to get your hands on it. That said most of the time it's released here on exactly the same date as in the UK.
However, a word of warning, if he likes getting his fingers dirty whilst digging through the crates he'd probably prefer London (or Paris or New York).