sum things

Last night I was down in Croke Park to watch Ireland play the mighty Cyprus. It started off very nicely with a Robbie Keane goal within four minutes and went downhill from there. Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty. Even with our esteemed Italian manager at the helm when you’ve no midfield you can’t be expected to play football. It’s like entering the Grand National and not putting a jockey on the horse. Anyway never mind the style, a win is after all, a win.

After the match I hooked up with the Blanch Massive, Rollers/Sparkers and Kittser for a few scoops and some interesting discussions. Rollers/Sparkers are still basking in the success of their recent album release ‘Hames’ whilst Kittser contends that his new album will be ready for release in January. Other conversation topics included Demis Roussos and tonights Analogue birthday bash (see below). We also spoke about the CD release that accompanied the latest issue of Analogue. I’m really digging the inclusion of the tune by Ugly Megan on it. If you can’t make it into town to pick up the CD, you can download it here.

It’s not often I’m quoted! Indeed, when I am quoted it’s usually to point out how stupid the thing I said actually was. I don’t mind that too much because I do the exact same thing to other people. Imagine my astonishment when I picked up the latest issue of Analogue magazine, turned to read the Editorial and read a quote from me. I was quite overwhelmed and flattered to think that anyone even listens to me. Even I don’t listen to me. Anyhow, if you read Irish music blogs you’re probably well aware that Analogue is celebrating its’ first year in print. They’ve come a long way in twelve months. I remember when they were only knee-high to the photocopier and hitting keys on their Fisher Price typewriters. Tempus fugit and they’ve matured into big boys and girls. You can join them tonight as they celebrate their first birthday. See them stand back to back and be astounded at how much they’ve grown.

They’re celebrating with a party in the Twisted Pepper on Middle Abbey Street. There’ll be live appearances by Spilly Walker, Patrick Kelleher and a debut appearance by Villagers (the new project by Conor O’Brien ex-Immediate). A DJ set by the various staff of the magazine will follow. There will then be a short break for the Share collection and I will read the parish notices. It's all true, except for that last bit.

I was reading the Irish Times the other day and there was a little maths section in the bottom corner of one page. Contained therein was a reference to an old friend of mine. Dr Carl Bracken won't help you with your rheumatoid arthritis but he's very good at sums and stuff like that. He was giving a talk in our old alma mater called The Maths of Juggling. Apparently jugglers had assumed that all the juggling patterns had been exhausted but then some clever clogs mathematicians applied a load of formulae and constructed new patterns that jugglers never knew existed. Carl, I should point out, is an exceptional juggler and also a magician. He's also great aul craic. I met him in the airport a couple of years ago on his way to central Africa to teach a load of kids maths and juggling. He was wearing a huge overcoat and had a suitcase full of juggling clubs. I'm no expert on these matters but I'm sure that's not the best preparation for such a journey.

I was on The Guardian website the other day when I came across these pictures of Randy's Records in Kingston Jamaica. Check them out.

Last but not least. MP3Hugger has sorted the second digital reissue on his Indiecater label and its from an Irish band called Sunbear. Sunbear released the album in 1994 and there were only 1,000 copies made. As part of Huggers one man mission to save us all from eternal damnation he's also finding the time to release long deleted classics such as this Sunbear album. As with all other Indiecater releases its available for download from the site and this release rings in on the cash till at a negligible €3.50. Nice!

tiny tunes

Although I promised never to set foot in Freebird Records again I somehow found myself strangely drawn to it yesterday. And thank goodness that I did because I chanced upon a seven inch piece of vinyl called 'Radio Riot' by the band Tiny Masters of Today. It turns out that the Tiny Masters are a brother and sister combo Ivan and Ada who hail from New York. They are respectively, 13 and 11 years old and make garage punk music with the help of some 'big' people. They're reminiscent of another band from the States (except that these guys are from Seattle) called Smoosh but only in that they're also two siblings who like to make garage punk music. Smoosh released a great seven inch vinyl single a while back called LA Pump and it rocked. What is it with all these kids rocking out when they should be at summer camp. It's great. Listen to Radio Riot by the Tiny Masters here

I also picked up the latest seven by Arcade Fire, it's another release from the Neon Bible album and I'm very fond of it. Arcade Fire (or their designer or whoever) have gone to the trouble of making very nice covers for their last three singles. I just thought I'd mention that in case it was overlooked.

I've been using the Facebook thingy a bit more these days to get a buzz going with mates. I'm really digging the 'ilike dedication' thingy where you can dedicate songs to other people you know on it. I've also been sucked into their music quiz. Mind you a loy of the questions are about bands like Weezer and All American Rejects, and to be honest i know fuck all about that kind of music. To be really honest, I think I'd like to keep it that way.

It was birthday today and my good lady wife bought me a new bike and brought me for dinner. It was great.