it's the taking part that counts

It's a pain in the hole when you get nominated for a prize and then don't win it. I now know how the Disney Corporaton feel after the recent Oscars. They have three songs nominated for the 'Best Song' category and then Banjo Hansard and his missus steal in and win it. OK. I was actually only nominated once for Best Music Blog at the recent Irish Blog Awards, and I should admit that I never actually harboured any hope of winning it, and that a lot of the time my blog is not strictly about music, and that I'm pretty shit at updating it, and that not that many people actually seem to comment on it, but besides these minor issues I checked on Sunday morning to see who won the damn award. I had that kind of anxious feeling that you might get as you check your Leaving Cert results. As with most results I approached them more in hope than expectation. This approach has worked thus far in my life and thankfully it remains the right approach once I'd found out that Nialler9 won the prize. The thing is, I don't even know what the prize was. In fact I'm very ignorant about what the awards are. Fuck it though, I'm ignorant about lots of things but that's never stopped me talking about them. Well done to the winners but they should remember that without losers like me there can't be any winners.

I made it out of the house this morning to pop into town to buy some hurleys for the kids. I managed to pick up some seven inches that were released in recent enough times. The first one that I got my hands on is a release by Welsh chanteuse and flavour of the moment, Duffy. I saw her on Jools Holland the other night and was blown away by her voice. She also seems like a nice down to earth girl which is a bonus for a pop starlet these days. The tune is called Mercy and was released last week. It features on her new album 'Rockferry' which happens to be on general release today. She's also playing in The Limelight in Belfast tonight but it's already sold out so don't bother trying to get a ticket.

Another tune that was released last week was 'Blind' by Hercules and Love Affair on DFA Records. It features a guest vocal by Antony (from Antony & The Johnsons) on the A-side whilst the B-side features a guest vocal by Kim Ann Foxman. I have to admit that I prefer the b-side, there's something a bit Shirley Bassey about the A-Side. Both tunes are however typical of the disco/dance genre that's available from the DFA stable. You'll either like them or loathe them.

'Find the Time' by Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. was released this morning on seven inch and is a short little number by the UK based Sam Duckworth. The b-side features a cover of a Jimmy Eat World tune called 'Praise Chorus'. I'm not really a lover of this type of music but for some reason as I'm sitting here in my kitchen looking out on a sunny Spring day it becomes a lot more listenable. If you'd like to get to sample the live delights of Sam and his band they'll be playing in Whelans on March 30th. I'm sure you'd be able to pick up a ticket in Road Records.

The final new tune that I picked up this morning is by Brooklyn band MGMT. These guys were on a 'Later with Jools Holland' recently and I have to say that it was one of my favourite 'Later's' for a long time. All the other bands in the studio seemed to enjoy them too. The lead singer looked like a contrived looking white Jimi Hendrix in his freaky get up but they rocked. Check out their appearance here. Their latest offering is a tune called Time to Pretend and it had its general release today. It's quite an anthemic offering that starts out with a quirky keyboard sound, drifts into the fuzzy guitar zone and then proceeds to zoom skywards. These guys are playing The Academy here in Dublin on March 8th and I reckon it should be a good one. I'm not going as I'll be at home minding the childer but you can teell me all about it when you get back.

As I write the postman has just arrived at the door with ten old seven inches that I ordered from TotalRecall in Germany. There are some wonderful gems in the package but I've just noticed that I've managed to order another copy of 3AM Eternal by The KLF. I now have three copies of it on seven inch. If you know anyone who wants a copy of it, send them here. The other tunes that arrived on seven inch are, in no particular order of quality:
Me, Myself & I - De La Soul
Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode
Thriller (Special Edit) - Michael Jackson
Rappers Delight - Sugarhill Gang
Kinky Afro - The Happy Mondays
The Only Rhyme That Bites - MC Tunes vs 808 State
Love Plus One - Haircut One Hundred
Jack Your Body - Steve Silk Hurley
Breakdance - Irene Cara
Temptation - Heaven 17
Help Yourself - Tom Jones
The Message II (Survival) - Grandmater Melle Mel & Duke Bootee

That'll keep me busy for a while.