Footage of Villagers first gig

Analogue was lucky enough to have Villagers play their debut gig at our first birthday bash on the 17th of October in the Twisted Pepper. It was a really stripped set performed by just Conor O’Brien (vocals, guitar) and drummer James Byrne. It was a pretty special gig and leaving afterwards, everyone felt like it was one of those gigs that people will still be talking about in years in to come. Here’s some footage of a song called ‘On a Sunlit Stage’.

Villagers also recently played in Whelans as a full band, check out the results below…

Music to my ears…

The latest in news in collaboration land is that New York disco legend Armand Van Helden has joined forces with London grime superstar Dizzee Rascal. Brap brap!! The duo have made a track entitled Bonkers, the release date of which is as yet unknown but which is eagerly awaited by many.

Dizzee, speaking to mixmag spoke of his duty as a musician in alleviating recession blues for his fans; “Even though it’s a bit of a f***ed up climate right now, I feel it’s my duty to make people be able to enjoy themselves through it.”

Via mixmag.net

Change has come

Why? Debut Unreleased Material at Secret Gig

Yesterday, at 3pm, Why? played a special secret gig in the Twisted Pepper on Abbey St. The gig was only announced the previous afternoon, and information was spread through email and word of mouth. Analogue was there to film the event exclusively- a video should be making its way online in the next few days.

The band played a pared-down acoustic set of five songs, some of which they had already played at their gig in the A.L.T., and one of which (Eskimo Snow) has yet to be released.

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Here’s the setlist:
1. Fall of Mr Fifths (delivered solo, in spoken word form)
2. Nashville
3. A Torpedo or Crohn’s
4. Fatalist Palmistry
5. Eskimo Snow

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After a brief interval, there was a live Q&A session, fielded by my lovely self. Topics covered included sampling, audience participation, cover versions and the best song ever written. Yoni’s answer to the latter question? ‘Happy Birthday’.

Keep your eyes on the Analogue website in the coming days for more exclusive content from the gig.

[Lest I forget, cheers to Eoin, Tom and Yan for helping this run as smoothly as it did]

Port O’Brien at Crawdaddy

“Um, I guess I’m going to play a song.” The fantastically named Zebedee Zaitz, guitarist of Port O’Brien, steps forward to the main microphone with a mixture of sheepishness and good-natured enthusiasm. “We’re having a little banjo trouble”, he explains. That’s a glossy way of putting it. He has bumped into Cambria Goodwin’s banjo whilst they were both tuning, and knocked the head off it. Literally. Surreal.

Cambria and singer Van Pierszalowski run backstage to try to reattach the headstock of the banjo to the neck by tension or sellotape, and Zeb plays two songs in the mould of Neil Young. They’re more than competent efforts, but it’s not really the start people might have been expecting. Eventually, Cambria re-emerges with an intact instrument, whispering “it’s not your fault” to Zeb as she passes him. Van follows, and with drummer Josh and red-haired bassist Ryan in tow, they get to it.

‘Don’t Take My Advice’, a slow-builder from All We Could Do Was Sing, served as Dublin’s first real introduction to Port O’Brien. They’ve been here before, supporting Tapes ‘n’ Tapes and Sons and Daughters (whom they described as “like Cassandra’s band from Wayne’s World”) in Tripod, but this is their first headline set. It’s also towards the end of a very long year of touring, and that seems to have taken its toll.

For one thing, Van’s idiosyncratic voice is close to collapse for much of the second half of the set. Some of their instruments, as mentioned, are not in the best of condition. They were robbed in Sheffield. And a lot of their set seems to be non-album material, a possible symptom of tour-sickness.

But they bring the fabled energy nonetheless. Songs like ‘Fisherman’s Son’ are imbued with a fresh energy for the live setting. Drums and bass become heavier, and everything is sped up a notch. It suits them, especially this late in a tour where vocal chords might not sustain a folkier vibe as well as would be ideal.

The true Port O’Brien moment, though, whether on record or live, is always the same. The box full of pots, pans and utensils is passed around the crowd, the drums start and fatigued voices prepare themselves for the first “WOAHHHHH” of ‘I Woke Up Today’. It’s a celebratory moment, and the only set-closer possible. There will be no encore, but that doesn’t matter. We’re all in it together on this Tuesday night, and we clatter our saucepans judiciously. Very few bands ever write a song this good, and there’s nothing for it but to enjoy it.

Why? Special Stripped Down Set

The Trinity Literary Society present a special Why? acoustic set followed by a q&a session in Twisted Pepper (Abbey St) at 3pm on Sunday, 2nd November. Don’t be late. Venez nombreux.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbDqN0qYbk4&feature=related]

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