towers of dublin

The running theme for this week has been football. Last Saturday saw this years Ronty Cup being held in Dalymount Park. After last years famous victory in Bristol there was obviously going to be a backlash from this years visitors. The game was a war of attrition with no real highlights in normal time. The game went to penalties where Bristol ran out the winners. There was much celebration afterwards in the stadium bar where both the winners, losers and assembled crowd were entertained by Cian Loughnane and Cousin Elias. You can check out Cousin Elias in the Body & Soul area of the forthcoming Electric Picnic.

On Wednesday evening there was more football. This time it was a weekly kickaround organised by the proprietor of one of Dublins premier independent music stores, Dave afrom Road Records. He assembled quite a motley crew of renegades, blackguards and wastrels all willing to have a football buzz. Amongst the assembly were John and Vinnie from The Jimmy Cake who have a new album in all good record stores as you read this. It's called Spectre & Crown and its getting great reviews. I'm quite remiss in that I've yet to listen to it but I'll sort that out in the coming days.

Amongst this weeks purchases are: The latest seven inch cut from Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings called '100 days, 100 nights'. Its another rhythm and blues belter from the Daptone label and it also features on the Dap Kings recent album. Elsewhere I picked up the seven inch of Kraftwerks 'Tour de France' which also features the instrumental on the b-side. Myself and the kids have been body-popping all morning listening to it. On the vinyl album front I purchased some second-hand stuff that I'd had previously but let go. First up is the 'Strange Free World' album by Kitchens of Distinction. It's by far their best album and it featutes the likes of 'Railwayed' and 'Quick as Rainbows'. It evokes memories of their McGonagles gig here in Dublin years ago. Great stuff. The other album that I got was the limited edition version of 'U.F.Orb.' by The Orb. It's just brilliant. It was worth the price for the intro to 'Towers of Dub' by Victor Lewis Smith, one of Britains greatest comedic talents. My favourite story about Lewis Smith concerns the time he rang the UK's Monopolis and Mergers Commission and asked why there was only one such organisation. Other tracks on the album include 'Blue Room' and the title track 'U.F.Orb'.

Speaking of The Orb, some of you may remember a tune on the 1997 Orblivion album called 'S.A.L.T'. Its fairly memorable as it samples a David Thewliss monologue from the Mike Leigh's 1993 movie 'Naked'. For any Mike Leigh fans or anyone who hasn't seen this brilliant but slightly disturbing movie it gets a DVD release this coming Monday. It also gets the Matt Vinyl seal of approval. Check this interview with Thewliss and Leigh in The Guardian.

Finally, There's a revival-introductory meeting of DOCOMOMO on Tuesday 19th August 2008 at 6.30pm in RIAI rooms, 8 Merrion Square. For the uninitiated DOCOMOMO stands for documentation.conservation.modern.movement and it's the only body concerned with the preservation of 20th Century buildings. A number of architecturally signifiicant buildings are facing an unsure future, amongst them are Liberty Hall and the Bank of Ireland HQ. Anyone interested can attend and its hoped to resurrect the Irish chapter of DOCOMOMO...

The meeting will be an hour-long, and Shane O'Toole will present an overview history of DOCOMOMO and its relationship within/to Ireland thus far. The discussion will also involve original members such as Tallon, Rothery, Graby and others who now hope to pass the reins to the next generation. The meeting is an introductory one and the hopes are that DOCOMOMO will meet again in late October 2008. If this is your bag then get down to Merrion Square on Tuesday next.

parish notes volume 2

I should mention my trip to last weekends Farmleigh Affair which was held as usual in Farmeigh in the Phoenix Park. I ventured over for the two days and had a thoroughly ripping time. There were a few showers on the first day and the only act that I can remember was Carmen Souza from Cape Verde. She was doing her best to get the crowd into a singalong but had very limited success. I tried to help her out but it was just me and Carmen against the rest of the crowd. Bad buzzers. Sunday saw much better weather, a bigger crowd an increase in the alcohol intake. Everything came up roses. I missed the first two acts, so the first entertainment of the day came from Lo Cor de la Plana, a bunch of dudes from Marseille. They belted out a few tunes a capella, accompanied by what looked like fun-size bodhráns. It was great craic for about 15 minutes and then I got bored. Next up was Iarla O Lionaird who I've seen with the Afro Celt Sound System many years ago. This set was completely different and I had a bit of a snooze during it perhaps due to the imbibement of much wine. Finishing the whole affair was Grupo Fantasma. They managed to get quite a crowd of people into their groove. Good buzz.

Elsewhere, the Analogue magazine launch takes place this Friday the 8th of August in the bar in Crawdaddy. There will apparently be special guest DJ's and a live set from Storkboy Choons.

The annual Ronty Cup 2008 takes place in Dalymount Park on Saturday 9th August. Kick-Off is at 3pm. This event celebrates the life of an old friend who passed away a few years back and it sees his mates from Bristol play his mates from Dublin. With any luck we'll retain the trophy on home soil. When I say we, in truth my efforts will most likely be limited to about five minutes on the pitch. Still for an old boy like me I reckon thats pretty good. Come down for a gander if you're in the Phibsboro area.

Then on Sunday August 10th 2008 at 4pm in the Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield there's The Best Of The West. This event in The Lighthouse intends to showcase a number of award-winning Short Films from the Galway Film Fleadh. Amongst these shorts is one by me aul mucker and longtime whisker grower, Luke Mc Manus. It's called 'Danger High Voltage' and it managed to claim first prize in the Best First Irish Short Film category. The whole thing sounds like a great buzz and will also give the uninitiated amongst you a chance to check out the new Lighthouse. I've been down and I think its great.

I have to mention the Sea Sessions that takes place in Bundoran during September. It looks like its going to be a good buzz. A mixture of music and surfing in a part of the world i know well. The line up includes Belle & Sebastian, Kittser, Asian Dub Foundation and a host of other heads. I haven't been up that way in about 7 years so I think its time that Donegal rolled out the red carpet for the imminent arrival of Matt Vinyl. O'Donnell Abú.

this sporting life

I've mentioned a couple of times that I was in Bristol at the weekend. I was there was for the second instalment of the Ciarán Buckley Challenge Cup. The first was held last year in Dalymount Park, Phibsboro and this years gracious hosts were Keynsham Town FC which is located just outside Bristol.

Ciarán Buckley (aka Ronty aka Big Daddy Fox) was a friend who passed away in 2006. His departure left a big hole in many peoples hearts and it was felt that there should be some form of regular testament to a bloke who brought much joy to the world. What more fitting tribute than for his friends in the UK and Ireland to hold an annual football match in his memory?

Our trip to Bristol this year saw us in AC Milan mode. We were not seeking revenge for last years crushing defeat on home soil. Nothing could have been further from the truth. In true diplomatic fashion we were merely there to demonstrate that we had overcome our failings from the previous meeting. We now wished to demonstrate this by knocking in a hatful against them. Happily it actually turned out something like this but not before they had made a good account of themselves in the first half. The final score was Bristol 3 Ireland 6. It looks like this might suggest that they were playing the Irish national side but this was not the case. They were playing a bunch of 30-something blokes some of whom are long past their sell-by date (I include myself in this grouping). I had forgotten that there was so much joy in winning something. My last sporting success of note was as 2nd Year Discus champion back in 1987. I failed to keep the title in the following year. I put this down to peaking too early.

The searing heat and my shoddy ball control meant that i was about as useful as a one-legged man in an arse-kicking competition. Thankfully my team-mates were somewhat more useful than me on the pitch. Kudos also goes to the opposition who will no doubt be chomping at the bit in next years game. They'll most likely be looking to take the cup back to dear old blighty. Only a bunch of aging footballers stand between them and fulfillment of their quest. Tune in next year for the result.