there's many a slip twixt cup and lip

It seems like quite a while since I last had lots of seven inches to scrawl about. In the last couple of days I've picked up a few interesting bits and pieces and most of them are recent releases. Never one to stand on ceremony I'll get straight to some half-hearted reviews of the nice tunes I've bought.

I'd mentioned the Trensmat label before and its up for discussion again. I went to the website last week to see if I could get the Sonic Attack stuff they released a while back. Unfortunately they've none left but they directed me to some other sites where it was still available. I didn't bother following the links and gave up on getting them. Thankfully fate intervened yesterday when I went into Road Records. They had copies of the three seven inches and I plumped for two of them. As Meat Loaf might suggest, two out of three ain't bad. The first is Sonic Attack (Lords of Light) and it has Kinski covering 'Master of the Universe' and Bardo Bond doing a version of 'Lord of Light'. The second seven inch, Sonic Attack (Motorheads), has Mudhoney delivering their interpretation of 'Urban Guerilla' and Mugstar doing 'Born to Go'. Both seven inches are absolute blinders and this time the Trensmat Label has put them in some nice sleeves. Trensmat have some new releases in the pipeline that should be well worth checking. As they say themselves, every noise has a note.

All City served up a couple of unusual sevens when I went in today. The first comes courtesy of The Bombist Reggae Remixes label and it's another of their freaky remixes of popular tunes. It's the Muddy Skank Riddim of Estelle's 'American Boy'. It's as cheesy as a vintage stilton served up with some Christmas port. I love it. The flip side has a poxy reggae remix of the poxy tune 'Lollipop' by L'il Wayne. I don't love it.

I also picked up the latest Daptone seven inch in All City. It's the latest in a series of great releases on that label. This one is by Binky Griptite, it's called 'One time, you're mine' and its another slice of sweet soul music. It's in the same vein as all the great classics except that its new. Old school soul, old school production. It's a winner.

Writing of old school, I came across a Motown repressing of Stevie Wonder's classic tune 'For once in my life' on seven inch today. It's only pressed on one side so the b-side isn't very interesting. In fact I'd go as far to say that its non-existent. Which is handy because you don't have to turn it over, you can just listen to the a-side again.

The last two seven inches for review are most interesting. The first is a new seven inch from Kings of Leon called 'Use Somebody'. Not too interesting in itself but things pick up when you check the b-side. It features a tune called 'Knocked Up' that's been given the Lykke Li/Rodeo treatment to create a mash up of sorts. It's weird in that its really a duet. You'll just have to hear it to judge yourself. In the interim you can check this live version of 'Breaking it Up' by Lykke Li. She's a mad yoke.


Breaking it up – alternative live video. Filmed by: Christian Haag from Lykke Li on Vimeo.

Last but not least is a new picture disc seven inch from Ladyhawke. The a-side has a tune called 'My Delirium' but once again my interest is in the b-side. It's a Toddla T & Ross Orton remix that sounds like something from the Joker drum and bass label from circa 1997. It's a full on two-step beat with farty basslines. As each genre gets cannibalised it resurfaces a few years later in a similar form but with a different name. I should really hate this tune but there's some hook in it that has me liking it. Damn it.

You can hear all of the tunes mentioned above, this coming Monday night, if you go to www.powerfm.org and listen live. I'll be on between 11pm and 1am GMT on Monday 8th December. You're more than welcome to tune in. Bring a friend. In fact why wait for me, listen live to the station now.

in the midst of life we are in debt, etc.

There are three interesting Irish releases up for discussion in todays post as well as some views on the new digital radio service from RTE. Alongside both of these we'll look at some of the recent vinyl purchases from my good self.

First up is the latest release from D1 Records here in Dublin. I just happened to be in Road Records when a chap came in armed with some CD's and looking to have them stocked. I laughed a little as Dave kept calling him Roger when his name was in fact Robert. Robert Doyle to be precise. I kept earwigging as he and Dave hammered out minutiae of the deal and approached the CD's that he left with great interest. I picked up the CD to see that it was in fact the latest release from D1 Records. Peculiarly the tracks were titled in Irish. That's not altogether strange as I remember David Donohoe had a 12" release on D1 that also had an Irish title. I asked Dave to put it on the speakers and he obligingly did (because he's so nice) and it turns out that the track is not the usual techno from the D1 stable. Instead its a traditional release of some acoustic tunes that are sung through the medium of the Irish language. This was quite a departure from the usual fare on the D1 label so I'm now wondering if Robert Doyle is in fact related to label owner, Eamonn Doyle. Answers on a postcard please.

The second release is from the Trensmat Label and features not one but two new seven inches due for global consumption this coming January. This time the releases are by Expo'70 and Black to Comm. These are now available for pre-order and are, of course, limited edition lovely 7" vinyls in full colour picture sleeves. Check out their website for previous drone magic.

The third release come just in time for Christmas and is yet another release on the Indiecater label run by MP3Hugger. This time its a novel approach to the Christmas album. Kev has collected 17 original compositions that will provide a nice alternative to the usual shite that gets repackaged and rereleased at Christmas. Amongst the more well known featured artists are Nina Hynes and Jape but there's also a United Nations of Musicians making up the other 15 artists. Check out the website for more information.

I was interested to see that the DAB service from RTE has finally got going. Today saw the six new digital radio stations go live. Amongst the six stations is RTE Pulse which is a dedicated dance music station. I was interested to check out the full schedule and did so today. It's reads like a Who's Who of people I've never heard of before. That might be a good or a bad thing, i'm not sure yet. I thought that they'd have some of the more well known DJ's that the Irish clubber would be familiar with. Instead it looks like they've gone for the option of drafting in fresh faces. Some of the pictures of the DJ's are pretty funny. It's nice to know that some people are more contrived in their photos than I am. Check em.

Finally, I picked up an album of note by LA based sloppy beat maker Ras G & The Afrikan Space Program. It's more of the sloppy beat hip hop that I've slowly become accustomed to. Olan in All City Records is a fan of this kind of stuff and has released some of it in his 7X7 series, most notably the last seven inch by Mike Slott. You can check out the MySpace of Ras G and do some background reading on Mike Slott in his interview over on the Cheebah site.

i need one of these!

I'm finally sorting out the bits and pieces to start broadcasting again on powerfm.org . I've a VPN set up and I'm ready to roll. Except that is for one small thing. I'm looking around the room at all sorts of turntables but only one of them plugs into the back of a mixer. As such I need another turntable, preferably a Technics 1200/1210, as the final piece in the jigsaw. Does anyone know someone who's selling one? If you do I'd welcome your help. Nice one!

Happily Eva Naphta

Here's me aul mate Naphta being interviewed by Dave Fanning on 2FM. It's like a brief history of Irish Electronic and Dance music and I think he does a pretty decent job at covering most of the angles. Well done Naphta. Now go and buy his album. He's all coy about it in the interview. Bless him.

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.