Sónar Headline Act Announced.

Orbital are the first act to be added to the bill for Sónar 09.

Considered as one of the most important and influential electronic acts of the 1990s, Orbital will take to the stage at Sónar as part of an international tour that will showcase no new music but rather will be packed full of all their greatest hits, some new audiovisuals and of course, their patented torch specs.

Sónar celebrates its 16th birthday this year and if you fancy heading along, you might want to snap up an Early Bird ticket before the 15th of February. A General Pass, granting you access to Sónar by Day on all 3 days and Sónar by Night on the19th and 20th, is on sale at the special advance price of €125 up until this date and will cost €140 thereafter.

For more info check out www.sonar.es

Jeremy Jay

“I’m living in Paris at the moment. I took up a flat here for the time being. I’ll be splitting my time between here and L.A. I’ve put on my list to go to all the 1970s disco clubs here. There’s a really cool one called Le Regine that I already went to. It has these prism-style mirrored ceilings that are amazing!”

Jeremy Jay, California native and K Records doyen, is a living anachronism. He’s from the Pacific coast of America, but he grew up in a Francophone household (his mother was French). It makes sense then that’d he’d divide his time between the centre of the Old World, lavish with art and… retro discos… and the most boisterous representative of the New World, slick and image-driven. What was it like, growing up like that?

“It only broadened my awareness that there was something other than MC Hammer. We were listening to Francois Hardy, Edith Piaf, Jacque Brel…”

Two worlds means two different sources of inspiration, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem for Jay, whose sound spans and transcends 1950s teen melodrama, 80s pop, anti-folk and the aforementioned French singers. But then, it’s not only music that can provide direction.

“Everything inspires me really. In my next video for a song called Lite Beam off of the Love Everlasting 12” single, there are neon lights from the Parisien Pharmacie lights. Anything can be inspiring.”

Jay’s last record, A Place Where We Could Go, emerged midway through 2008, produced by K Records founder Calvin Johnson. The reverb-soaked work with a monochrome cover photo was every bit the embodiment of French film noir. Even so, songs like the title track and ‘Heavenly Creatures’ had an approachable, human quality to them, and the album was one of the sleepers of the year. This April, however, Jay releases the follow-up, Slow Dance.

“Slow Dance is a winter-themed disc. Filled with romance in ‘Winter Wonder’, super-tuff R ‘n’ B in ‘Slow Dance’, hanging out with the pizza club gang in ‘In This Lonely Town’, lost love in Breaking the Ice and night escapades in ‘Where Could We Go Tonight?’ It’s about the possibilities of being human and also love and life. Very, very wintery. A lot of ice and snow. A Place Where We Could Go is more mid-tempo whereas Slow Dance is more up-tempo in general. ”

Jay is perpetually touring, and still remains pretty prolific in the studio, with a 12” single accompaniment to Slow Dance due to appear this year as well. Being on the road’s not a strain, however.

“I am constantly touring the world and recording. Last year I toured the USA, UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. I love travelling, so it fits in rather nicely. I love exploring and meeting cool people, seeing what people in the world are into and excited about.”

Slow Dance is out April 6th on K Records. Find Jeremy on MySpace.

Telepathe - So Fine

I’m completely addicted to Telepathe’s new album, Dance Mother. It’s such a simple album but it has me hooked.

[via egoeccentric]

fun fun fun

Ballet Shoes - Grand Pocket Orchestra from Luke Franklin on Vimeo.

The brand spanking new video for ‘Ballet Shoes’ by Grand Pocket Orchestra. The video was directed by the luke franklin. Good job Luke and all involved!

Gang Gang Dance - Princes

[Via Gorilla vs Bear]

Two DIY and one skinny Wolves’ gig later

Last weekend was quite eventful for me, I managed to see a load of Irish acts and one from LA. Not bad for a weekend in the middle of January. The common thread running through all of the gigs was the way that they were organised and where they took place; downstairs in a regular Northside pub, in a shed and in an art gallery.

On Friday, I headed along to my first gig of the weekend in The Tap pub near Smithfield. My friend Aonghus is the “singer” in a noise band called Sex Bat (short for Sexual Battery). Aonghus has been in a plethora of noise, experimental and metal bands over the last few years but somehow I’ve never made it to any of his gigs. So I made an effort this time. The gig was in the basement and was a DIY jobby to celebrate some dudes birthday, Cian was his name I think. I didn’t know what to expect Sex Bat to be like. Noise is a pretty broad term afterall! I moved up to the front as they took to the stage - big mistake… Within 30 seconds of the gig starting, Aonghus’ flailing arms hard knocked a full pint out of my hand, all over me and those unlucky enough to nearby. Another 30 seconds later I got punched in the stomach as Aonghus screamed the most aggressive non-descript roars down the mic. The set went on like this for awhile as Aonghus launched himself into the crowd and sprawled out on the floor. The band jammed along all the while producing a dirty amalgamation of feedback heavy guitars, harmonics and sporadic drum bursts. Tommy from Estel visibly hammered also joined the jam, using a pint glass as a slide wave after wave of squealing distortion wailed from his direction. This was one of the most intense gigs I’ve been to in a long long while. Afterwards Aonghus explained that the aim of Sex Bat is “pure aggression” - I think they’ve got that down to a tee.

Photo by Maeve.

Saturday saw me standing in a creaky shed on South Circular Road soaking up the incredible sounds of Children Under Hoof. About 15 friends of the band gathered together for what was to be a trial run for a series of regular gigs in the Shed, aka the Box Social. The shed is usually used as a practice space but for the night, it was a particularly suiting venue. As the roof lifted with the wind, ghostly knocking noises were added to the mix while the band blazed their way through 5 lush ambient / experimental jams. Dead pan beats a la Neu!, synths galore, a variety of eccentric trinket sized instruments, sax, considered bass lines and yelpy washed-out vocals all contributed to create a somewhat epic soundscape throughout the whole set. I was enthralled for the whole thing and further convinced that Children Under Hoof at the vanguard of making interesting original music in Ireland. Luckily I had a WAV recorder with me on the night so you too can bask in the glow of the Children Under Hoof live experience.

Bonefire (live at the Box Social) mp3

Photo by Jamie, Skinny Wolves

Sunday is meant to be a day of rest and relaxation so it was fitting that LA’s Lucky Dragons were performing at the Joy Gallery. Fitting because of the positive and uplifting nature of the Lucky Dragons set. Support act Boys of Summer started proceeding with an extended drone wank that unfortunately had no climax. Some people seemed to appreciate it but it was completely lost on me. Next up was Sunken Foal, his album ‘Fallen Arches’ was one of the best Irish albums of 2008 so it was great to finally catch him live. I wasn’t sure how his sound would work live but being joined by his friend Rob really helped lead Foal Duncan Murphy find the right dynamic between the organic guitar sounds and the layers of synthetic beats / samples. Then came Lucky Dragons’ turn. Luke Fischbeck is the mysterious human being behind Lucky Dragons. Throughout the show, Fischbeck leads the audience through a collaborative experience of communication through sound. Contact mics on long cords were passed out into the audience and the only way sound could be generated is if people connect by holding hands. It was really cool to see complete strangers sitting on the floor connecting with each other to make music, albeit fairly trippy sounds. The whole experience was completely unique and even though I did personally contribute, I was left with a really positive feeling afterwards. It was like meditating or something. Even the three teenage girls who had talked incessantly through the other sets shut up for a few minutes. Apparently Lucky Dragons will be back later this year so if you get a chance, I totally recommend heading along.

Morning Ritual by Lucky Dragons from Jordan Dykstra on Vimeo.

Salem - Dirt

SALEM - DIRT from ACEPHALE on Vimeo.

myspace.com/jjhhmm

Röyksopp - What Else Is There?

What Else Is There? from Röyksopp on Vimeo.

the band formerely known as Dry County…

…are now known as Alias Empire. They also have a rake of new slightly more electronic tracks up on their myspace. For the last few months, the band have been holed up in a studio in the country recording new material so you can expect a new album later this year.

Animal Collective - My Girls video

Animal Collective “My Girls” from Chad von Nau on Vimeo.

The video is a perfection visual manifestation of how the song sounds. It’s one of my favourite tracks off the album, can’t wait to see them in March in Tripod… Expect a lot of gushing in the February issue of Analogue!

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