Right Royal Knees-Up

It's not often that a monarch visits our shores, much less that two should show up and spend an evening on the very same security tightened street. While Queen Elizabeth tried out her cúpla focal in Dublin Castle; Sufjan Stevens - the Prince of pageantry and epic song, held court just opposite in the Olympia.

With Stevens it's always a three for one deal; sweet rambling monologues, tensely built orchestration and of course his penchant for symbolic costume thrown in for good measure. Seeing Seven Swans hit its climax as the whole band revealed, out of the darkness, their enormous pairs of wings gracefully spread; set a precedent for the unexpected. Quipping that doses of philosophy, theosophy, anatomy and even some botany would feature; Stevens immersed himself and the audience in his latest album The Age of Adz. The style of which can only be described as slow electronica bursting in to jubilant chants of brass while, oddly enough, utilising some Kanye-esque vocoder. Most certainly a far cry from Come On Feel The Illinoise's strings and banjos. 

The royal theme was coincidentally upheld (not least by Prince Harry's face slapped on an amp) when he mused over the album's inspiration; his late friend, artist Royal Robertson, whose Yellow Submarine-like work provided the visual accompaniment on screen throughout. By way of some explanation it was noted that Royal's own obsessions were primarily outer space, the apocalypse and hot chicks. Resplendently resembling some sort of neon soldiers, with faces luminously painted, they played symphonies lasting fifteen minutes or more that took the audience down to hushed tender tones and back to sheer exuberance with choruses delivered with (actual) confetti. The joyous atmosphere was spurred on by backing singers dancing in synchronicity for the shows duration (à la futuristic Jane Fonda), so it was to rapturous applause that Sufjan himself took a dance break and joined in; shape-shifting without hesitation while explaining his new found love for movement and expression. Knowing that Stevens had suffered near fatal illness in the last year explains the euphoria that surrounds him, letting loose is most definitely the order of the day.

Bold beltings of brass, synths and even a little recorder, meant that the intimate Olympia showcased within touching distance what Stevens longs for the audience to experience. It also allowed one backing singer to make light work of climbing to the rafters. Does Stevens make you wish you were in a psychedelic orchestral-synth combo? Yes. Does he make you wish you had the guts to just dance for the hell of it? Yes. He also proudly proves that confetti, silly string and enormous balloons aren't just for kids' parties; they're for spectacular Wednesday evenings at the Olympia too.

This review was also published in theindiesight.com

Cover Me

Inspired by Una Mullally's article in last week's Irish Times, a perusal of the decent recent album covers is in order. Given that the art of the LP cover is dying quite a death, let's hear it for the good 'uns.

The Manics' Journal For Plague Lovers is a sister piece to 1994's The Holy Bible in cover art and content. Its cover strikes as much of a chord as the heretofore lost Richey Edwards lyrics do in their unveiling throughout. Also sourcing Jenny Saville's art as they did in 1994, sees them put as much effort in to the visual as the audio experience.

Sweden's finest; Peter Bjorn and John's newest release - which by the by, offers the best jangling power pop and use of cowbell you'll hear all year - continues their nice little trio theme. Actually I could stick most of their covers in, and so I shall: tough.

This one is best examined up close, but the repetitious placement of words to make the objects they spell, is one to swoon over. I lust after it in a proper giant wall size.

And because three is the magic number and PBJ are upping the ante of album covers; here's 2006's Writer's Block. The detail of this is best appreciated when the fold out sleeve is revealed, they do like a theme.

Admired for its clumpy and purposely one-dimensional execution; Sufjan proudly displays Illinois' most famous sons. The unusual cover introduces an album of far flung and diverse tales with the dial set to 'sweepingly epic'. Kudos to whoever drew Al Capone, he looks like he belongs in an out-of-print primary school book. I'm pressing the imaginary 'like' button for that alone.

And finally, for the wonderfully random, Wilco come out on top. A parable for our times.

Although it's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot that you'd want proudly displayed on a t-shirt.

Here's hoping for a return to the consideration of an album's visual impact - if the good music buying folk are given something to invest in, they might just want to buy the whole package instead of download/ pilfer/ burn.

Get Up & Go!

The Go! Team, The Academy, Dublin, March 5 2011

Two drummers, three singers, guitar, bass, harmonica and a whole lot of energy are all you need to rock like the theme to a 70s car chase on a Saturday night. In a concise set that showcased new release Rolling Blackouts' infectious fist pumping tunes; all in attendance were suitably revved up for their beat and retro sampled charms. With instrumentals like Junior Kickstart getting as rapturous a reaction as the sing-a-longs, The Go! Team knew they had the crowd in the palm of their hands and so gave it a good shaking, just because they damn well could.

The Go! Team Ladyflash

They came here to rock the microphone, indeed they did.

Rollin' & Scratchin'

GrandMaster Flash, The Village, Dublin.

Considered a pioneer of DJing and rightfully credited as the transformer of the turntable in to an actual instrument; these are achievements that GrandMaster Flash was never going to let us forget. With footage of him explaining the invention and evolution of his now ubiquitous techniques displayed on screen as he took to the stage to the strains of Queen's Flash blaring; hype is something he can afford considering he's adept at living up to it.

Following an accomplished opening from (I think) a Dublin DJ and vocalist; GrandMaster Flash upheld his innovative reputation with ease but enjoyed reminding the crowd whose presence they were in; the subtle message of "You're In The Room With A DJ Legend!!! Tell Your Friends Now!" constantly pulsated across the screen. Given the relentless floor-fillers mixed and the sheer electricity of his presence; those in The Village that night willingly indulged his amusing ego-boost antics.

Generously dishing out an eclectic variety of old and new mixed to perfection, his creativity couldn't fail to impress. Combining the best of 90s and 00s hip hop and rap, with old school standards from rock, pop and back to hip hop's 70s roots; everything from Jay Z to Bowie, Tupac to Blondie, Queen to Snoop Dogg and what felt like hundreds more snippets and samples of hooks, beats and riffs from crowd-pleasing favourites duly got a spin.

And all that was before he drove the crowd in to a frenzy with his best known Furious Five collaboration 1982's The Message; of which he only played a third (just enough for some chanting) before ploughing ahead to the next sample. So far, so swimmingly. Even the break down of his Mac in the last quarter of the set  failed to deter Flash or the audience. While waiting for the reboot, The Village were invited to shout their levels of appreciation for the gig, even the old standard of dividing the room in to three to out-scream each other saw the crowd happily oblige. With the computer back on track and the clock approaching 2.30am, all that was left to do was sign off with the thumping White Lines, bidding adieu and extending friendship invites to all, animatedly listing every social media site he's on.

The palpable elation of the audience reveling in the music, seeing them being 'taken back' in an instant by a scratch or a sample while injecting a dose of the contemporary, reveals the longevity of the master himself and of the style he inaugurated 30 years ago. It's evident that the music's evolution is something he has fervently accepted and amenably participated in, consistently and laudably creating hybrids of the old and new. "I don't care who's better, who's worse, my contribution is first, first is forever and that's the way it goes down in the history books". Lest we forget it.

Surely Brassy

 Peter Bjorn & John - purveyors of wondrous brass.

There's no song that can't be improved by a dirty dollop of it.

Flash Player

The social problems of 80's New York sound so damn cool...

Grandmaster Flash, The Village Feb 18th!

North American Fun

Friday nights: best spent in a dance frenzy induced by copious doses of LCD Soundsystem. Yeah yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah - yeah. Tripod 19th November 2010, a band always acclaimed and never bettered.