La Roux – La Roux

It’s crazy to think that La Roux has only just released her album – it feels like she’s been around forever at this stage – I was listening to In For the Kill a year ago. She seems to have made the transition to mainstream pretty efficiently, if the sales and hype are anything to go by. There’s been a veritable invasion of female electro artists recently, with La Roux and Little Boots at the helm. I’m not complaining though, if pop music’s become this good.

Josh Gabriel

If you’re into dance or techno, chances are you’ve already heard of Josh Gabriel, and will probably be going to POD this evening. If not, here’s an introduction. Best known as half of the 90s superduo, Gabriel & Dresden, Josh Gabriel is responsible for much of the developments in modern electronic music software, pioneering remix techniques that evolved into Mixman, the forerunner of modern remixing and editing programs. Sounds technical? It is. Josh Gabriel has a pretty formidable reputation in DJ circles, largely due to his successful and long-running collaboration with Dave Dresden, as well as some impressive producing credits and his aforementioned inventive genius. His sound has evolved from his earlier leanings towards trance, with Gabriel now favouring carefully constructed techno. Currently promoting the release of his debut solo album, Eight, which celebrates his native Amsterdam, Josh Gabriel plays at POD as part of an extensive European tour.

Josh Gabriel plays at POD, Harcourt Street, Dublin 2. 26 June, 11pm (€15)

Oh my god.

Right. For a while, I’ve had my suspicions that writing negative reviews of things could backfire, but I was asked to write a review of Airbourne’s latest album for Trinity News and was actively encouraged to write a bad review (which was entirely justifiable, having listened to the album). However, what I hadn’t factored in was the terrifying levels of devotion that metal fans possess. Read the response to my review below, posted by a vitriolic pervert. I’m still shuddering, mainly because of the disgusting attitude that this guy evidently has towards women. Needless to say, my respect for the band remains at an all time low.

Subject: [trinitynews] Re: Review: Airbourne – Trinity News

Bombora< > wrote:

ha ha, very entertaining. (note hint of sarcasm). I think this lass, in her self-righteousness and typical, unoriginal cynicism, is missing the point.

Proof is in the pudding sweet heart.

Were you correct in assuming the rock’n’roll era had died, then I guess Airbourne would never have graced the cover of Metal Hammer magazine.

Would it be fair to assume you have never been to a show?

If so, then you will obviously not have been enthralled with the raw energy and antics of this band. Anyone who shows as much devotion to their music and performance as these guys deserves a little more credit than you offer.

Of course you wouldn’t entertain the idea of immersing yourself in such energy. How then could you hide in your self-imposed musical chastity once you had been moistened by the sweaty, primal performance of Airbourne.

Perhaps given your somewhat introverted nature you didn’t realise that there is more to a band than a 34.40 minutes album? Mindless it would be to assume that an album is what it’s about. If this were the case, bands would record album after album after album. And wouldn’t tour.

By condemning yourself to your cd rack and mundane loungeroom lifestyle, you should thus relinquish your right to expressing your half-opinions. As you have only experienced but one element of that which is Airbourne.

I like the cleche,”torture in Guantanemo bay,” you are possibly the first person I’ve ever heard to use that phrase. Very original. Originality is good, but if you are going to be unoriginal, at least be good at it. Airbourne are good at it, very good. You however, need some practice.

With devotion and good old-fashioned hard work, you too may be able to re-invigorate that which was once awesome!

Micachu & the Shapes

Micachu & the Shapes’s latest video for “Golden Phone”, from their album Jewellry which was released back in March. I do love this video, especially the brilliant red and white background, and their rather nice tshirts. What with those and the dress from the Metric video, I’m beginning to worry about how much influence music videos have over my wardrobe…

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

You’ve got to hand it to Phoenix, they’ve really outdone themselves with not only the album, but also with all the references to classical composers. They’ve managed to incorporate Mozart into the title and Liszt into their first single, “Lisztomania”. Apparently, the term was coined by a contemporary of the composer, to describe the screaming women present at Liszt’s nineteenth-century performances. Seriously. Actually, the album reminded me of the film Amadeus – “Lisztomania” in particular had that same sense of insouciant confidence that Tom Hulce brought to the role of Mozart.  Phoenix have been around for a while, but Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix really stands out, with its uptick guitars and polished songs. Impressive.

Metric – Sick Muse

I uploaded this partly because I like the song, but mostly because I REALLY want that dress that Emily Haines is wearing.