static in my attic

Well, well, well. There you are again. The wind has been whistling through this blog for the last week or so. Throughout that time I was thinking of interesting subjects and musical purchases to write about here. Unfortunately in the interim I've forgotten each and every one of those things. As such you can rest assured that this post will be filled with my usual fodder.

There's a recent compilation available from Souljazz Records that's just mighty fine. It's Volumes I & II of 'Dancehall - The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Music' and it charts the eighties Jamiacan dancehall scene. It features a whole host of classic tunes from the likes of Tenor Saw, Cutty Ranks and Sister Nancy. I bought them on double-vinyl lp but they're also available on CD. It turns out that they were released at the same time as an accompanying 200 page book by Beth Lesser. Both the music and the book have been released by Souljazz.

Things hot up on the Irish music scene as the Choice Music Prize looms large. The award is dished out for the best Irish album of the current year as chosen by a committee of 12 judges drawn from the music industry. Mere mention of the awards over on Jim's blog has already seen canvassing begin for the various artists. Amongst the names being bandied about are albums by Jape, Lisa Hannigan and Daniel O'Donnell. There's also some other interesting potential winners in the form of RSAG, Chequerboard and Fight Like Apes. The winner takes all in the form of €10,000 and a piece of glass. The losers get to bitch about what might have been.

I've noticed a load of blogs fall by the wayside recently. Blogging is now sooo 2007 that I'm embarassed to be keeping mine up. In truth my attentions have been diverted somewhat by my recent return to internet radio. The last three Monday nights I've been in my attic broadcasting to the world wide web (or a selection of users therein) whilst my family sleep soundly below. The experience has been very strange. I've been whispering into a mic in the late hours and its beginning to resemble snooker commentary in between the records. It's a great buzz though. As mentioned previously, you're welcome to join me and Monday or if you can't tune in live you can check out the archived shows.

I've not been to any gigs in the past week or so and although I've picked up a few seven inches there's none of them worth writing about. I am looking forward to a weekend in the country with some old chums. We're heading to Carlingford in Co. Louth so I expect that diesel-washing and sheep-smuggling will form a large part of the agenda, I also hope to check out the other activities on offer in the general area. I'll be joined by some old junglist colleagues and an expectant father. It will surely be a blast.

I've been remiss in failing to mention the Brilliant Trees rerelease on Indiecater. Kev is serving them up in quickfire succession and makes mention of another release before Christmas. Where does he find time to do the shopping?