Once More Into The Breach @ Pygmalion

As we retreat indoors after this glorious and extended summer we head into basements for our musical fixes. The past few months are now immortalised by certain tunes that captured us in that moment, that place, that dancefloor which encapsulated our summer.

One artist that stood out in 2013 was Breach and he comes to Pygmalion for a set this Friday, the 11th of October. His track ‘Jack’ is being hailed as an anthem and can be found on numerous summer mixes. The man behind that moniker is English DJ/producer Ben Westbeech who now operates out of Amsterdam.

Westbeech was signed to Brownswood Recordings in 2007 by the label’s pioneering founder BBC radio 6 music’s broadcaster and DJ Gilles Peterson. Peterson’s mission in life is to ‘Search for the Perfect Beat’. We are all beneficiaries of this insatiable quest of his. Gilles is the compilation king and his ear is permanently rooted to the electro scene and with Westbeech he managed to unearth another gem. Westbeech has been in the finest musical hands since he released his debut album ‘Best Years of Your Life’ on the Brownswood label in ’07.

With Brownswood he explored his jazz, house and electro sensibilities with exciting results. He partnered with the Berlin DJ collective Jazzanova producing the cracking tune ‘I Can See’.

Since then he has explored some deeper house under the stage name Breach. The results of which will be on show this Friday as he takes to the decks. Deep, dark, dancefloor enthusiasts will revel in this one.

The Abstract & Bedlam crews combine to deliver another top booking.

Support on the night is from the Bedlam DJs & an Abstract favourite Colin Perkins, follow the link to check out his recent Radiomade Abstract set.

Picks for the 10th Instalment of EP

Electric Picnic makes its tenth appearance this weekend and it’s bigger than ever.

One weekend a year the Stradbally estate is transformed for the Electric Picnic festival and that pays Tomas Cosby’s bills for the rest of the year. The Picnic is a sell out in 2013 with 35,000 people reportedly descending on Stradbally over the weekend for a carnival that is much more than the sum of its big names. There are no controversial Killers in the line-up this year and the bill has the stamp of eclectic excellence that has brought EP from what was humble boutique beginnings in 2004 to its present position as the biggest festival in the country in 2013. Michael Franti put it succinctly saying that Electric Picnic managed to strike “the perfect balance of hedonism and social consciousness.”

Today FM cast a nostalgic glance over the last 9 years with some Electric Picnic history to whet the appetite. Yesterday, word came in that Cosby has signed on for 10 more years of the festival at Stradbally, which is good news for all.

Below I give some of my picks for the weekend; the clashes are difficult to navigate and the musical treats are endless so its in no way exhaustive but here is a selection to get you started or give the uninitiated a push in my direction.

Friday:

Friday morning the camp-site is scheduled to open at the earlier than usual time of 9am. This crazed hour is for the early birds, eager beavers and first settlers to lay claim to all important land for tented circles dictated along massive marquee lines. These will be the smug folk looking on from deck chairs with a can in hand as others haul their supplies by them tired having rushed in rush hour from work. They will laugh at your misfortune and the shrinking real estate for pegs as you seek out some remaining pastures but you’ll be grateful if these are your friends and they’ve reserved some tent space for you to join the circle.

Now that you’ve done your scouts’ duty for the year and quenched that tent-building thirst it’s time to venture into the arena.

Daithi – Body & Soul Stage: (19:00 – 19:30) – 

Giorgio Moroder – Electric Arena: (22:30 – 00:00)

Nile Rodgers is not the only one enjoying an Indian Summer off the back of Daft Punk’s new record. “Random Access Memories” is a homage to original disco sounds and none are more synonymous with the dancefloor than Giorgio Moroder. He was the sound of the future way back in the 70s past as he used the Moog synth to create a distinctive electronic beat that is now omnipresent in modern music. He produced records for Donna Summer and David Bowie and expect them to be dropped in to his set in the Electric Arena Tent. DJ-ing is new to him but it’ll nothing if not unique.

FatBoy Slim – Main Stage: (22:30 – 00:00)

One of the uncompromising greats returns to Electric Picnic having been part of that famous 2005 bill that launched the festival on a wave of critical acclaim. The clash with Giorgio Moroder is a toughie, this is the safe bet.

The question is can you dance like Christopher Walken?

Ben Klock – RBMA Wood Stage: (00:00 – 04:00)

The dancing is far from over on this powerhouse of a Friday. There is some heavy techno from Berlin producer to lose yourself into the wee hours and at some stage you’ll look around and realise the weekend is in full swing.

Some alternatives:

My Bloody Valentine – Main Stage: (21:00 – 22:00)  If you want rock over dance then check out MBV & their much lauded new album.

“Together Disco” – Trailer Park Stage: (00:00 – 04:00) For something a little less intense than Klock  and more of a festival bop head to the Trailer Park stage that is being run by Jerry Fish.

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Some direction

Saturday:

Cyril Hahn – Electric Arena: (17:30 – 18:30)

BBC Radio 6 Music’s Anne Mac has championed this Swiss producer’s remixes and for good reason.

Space Dimension Controller – Little Big Tent: (19:00 – 20:15)

Futuristic funk.

Hercules & Love Affair – Casa Bacardi: (20:00 – 21:30)

Casa Bacardi has evolved from humble tent beginnings into a veritable party Hacienda that has pumped great tunes into the ears of eager mojito drinkers for whole weekends. It will be rammed this year and you’ll find yourself here more often than not, some never leave, but try and make it coincide with this camp disco set.

Matthew E. White – Body & Soul Stage: (00:15 – 01:15)

This soulful giant comes from a music commune of sorts in Richmond, Virginia. I saw him in Whelan’s in January and it was special, his debut album “Big – Inner” (multiple puns there) is one of the best albums of the year and has survived sustained listening. The Body & Soul stage is made for this man and his full band. A must see.

Disclosure – Main Stage: (00:30 – 01:45)

You could say they’ve had a meteoric rise since they released “Settle” this year and that is emphasised by this headline slot on the main stage. This dance-pop album has captured a huge audience because it dips expertly into each genre and mixes that sound into vivacious, pulsating tunes that have resonated across dancefloors. The Lawrence brothers are certainly worth checking out but would they not have worked better in the Electric Arena?

Go deep into the forest.

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Get Motivated come Sunday

Sunday:

Dublin Gospel Choir – Main Stage: (13:00 – 14:00)

Go get your musical mass on and kick those hangovers for the final day – this is EP tradition.

David Byrne & St. Vincent – Electric Arena: (20:30 – 22:00)

One of the sets I’m most looking forward to. The ex-Talking Heads front man is music royalty at this stage but each of his collaborations have offered something new and interesting, this St. Vincent collaboration is funky and they also do Talking Heads’ numbers, what more could you ask for?

The Knife – Electric Arena: (22:30 – 00:00)

New album “Deep Cuts” is excellent. I’m excited to see these retro-electro heads, feast on ‘Heartbeats’.

 

Mano Le Tough – Little Big Tent: (23:00 – 00:00)

A Greystones native, Mano has been adopted by the Berlin scene and runs a monthly night called Passion Beat. His album “Changing Days” is rich and textured and one of the best house releases this year. It points to great things for this purveyor of ambient house.

 

(Very) Special guest/s – Body & Soul Stage: (01:30 – 02:30) – 

Off the back of a headline appearance on Friday night at Body & Soul James Murphy is rumoured for this “special guest” slot. This is further backed up by the fact that he has been announced for the Recession Session in the Sugar Club on Thursday night. This’ll be special in the natural amphitheatre stage; no better man to round off the weekend than ex-frontman of LCD Soundsystem. The band could be the soundtrack to EP and the noughties although his DJ sets tends to only tease the audience with intros of LCD hits before reverting to his newer productions.

EP site map

Benoit & Sergio DJ Pygmalion Saturday July 13th – Playlist

Benoit & Sergio: Berlin & Washington DC Duo

Former Teachers Learn From the Master

This Saturday July 13th Benoit & Sergio will take to the dark depths of Powerscourt Townhouse to bring some captivating House beats to Pygmalion’s cavernous nooks & crannies.

This Washington duo, who are now based in Berlin, fuse atmospheric House with retro-electro-pop to make a potent new age mix that utilises a distinctly familiar vocal bassline to root their sound in a thriving Berlin House milieu.

Unsurprisingly, Benoit & Sergio have released part of their small output on the innovative D.F.A record label supported by none other than the now ‘invisible hand’ of electro music, James Murphy, who owns and runs D.F.A Records.

Recently Murphy himself kicked off Body & Soul with a funked-up set  in the Midnight Circus tent on the Friday night in Ballinlough Castle. He tantilisingly dropped in some L.C.D Soundsystem openings before slipping back to his not so stadium-filling, but no less dance inducing, tracks.

The premature end to L.C.D. Soundsystem, dictated by Murphy, sent reverberations through hipster hangouts as they feared that they were about to be confined to the pop-culture past and become  a ‘Retro’ category all of their own. However, their time wasn’t up. Hipsters have now managed to co-opt photography with Instagram and portable Vinyl players are stocked in Urban Outfitters, ala even more impractical Walkman, so who knows how far their reach can extend. The suave and slightly bedraggled looking Manhattan resident, Murphy, who was the pulse of modern ‘cool’, has managed to continue to produce superb music without all the hype that surrounded LCD and he seems happier for that; the incredible ‘Shut Up and Play the Hits’  documentary attests to the fact that he is more comfortable in the producing shadows.

Hipster Deity: James Murphy

If fame is a game then it’s one that Murphy wanted no part in; music, the making and influencing of it, remains his currency. After a myth building final concert, he slinked away from centre stage and donned the headphones and grasped the decks. His audience focus shrank, and indeed his audiences did too, as he looked to guide, direct and unearth those sounds that appealed to his finely tuned sonic senses. Benoit & Sergio are one of the many ones to watch in the D.F.A stable and they will undoubtedly thrive on the label. They cite Talking Heads, Paul Simon and Daft Punk as some of their influences and they’ve meshed that with some very fulsome beats. They have also indulged their literary vices as ex-teachers and scholars by including some T.S. Eliot lines as lyrics.

The pair play the Ibiza closing parties soon but the weather is so good here why not just catch them on Saturday in Pyg, the lane has been truly European in this weather; Vikings were even rumoured to be spotted last Friday.

Support by Thiago Black and Stevie Russell.

Doors: 10pm

Entry: €8/€10 on the door

Here’s a playlist:

Summer Begins in fine style with Camden Crawl & Beatyard

Check out this 12 minute jam. Easy listening to prepare you for the long weekend ahead!

Cian Nugent & The Cosmos play Against The Grain as part of the Camden Crawl Festival on Saturday night at 11pm.

This May Bank Holiday weekend kicks of a huge Summer’s music in Ireland. Be sure to wear your walking boots as your soles are gonna be wore thin on the city beat, that is if you intend on traversing further afield than Dame Street, which will be the nucleus of the festival.

The Crawl is sharing the weekend with Beatyard which is offering an eclectic mix of sounds in Bodytonic venues around the city. On Sunday, The Shaw flexes its finely tuned ‘Sunday Session’ muscles from 2pm with a tribute to the maestro Marvin Gaye – perfect sounds, perfect setting, perfect summer, “Lets Get It On”.

http://www.camdencrawldublin.com/

http://www.bodytonicmusic.com/events/festival/beatyard/

Electric Picnic 2013: Line-up Announcement

Latest additions to the line-up – 23rd of July

Giorgio Moroder (Chris Cox DJ set), MO, Billy Bragg, Young Wonder,  Jagwar Ma, Indians, Duckworth Lewis Method, Kodaline, Braids,Two Door Cinema Club, The Duckworth Lewis Method, Cyril Hahn, Summer Camp, Sam Smith.

 

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Electric Picnic announced 23 further additions to its line-up for what is being dubbed the “10th Birthday” celebration taking place in Stradbally on the last weekend in August.

The line-up is not yet complete, and we still expect a tranche of solid DJs to be added sometime in August, as was the case last year, but with today’s additions the Picnic is very much playing to its strengths. Some acts added will certainly help to sway those cash strapped regulars and encourage them to cease their waiting game and go for the weekend they know over the vast array of attractive alternatives that have sprung up this year for the spoiled Irish music punter. The highlight of the additions, for me, is the soulful Matthew E. White whose debut album ‘Big Inner’ is one of the finest of 2013 so far. He left a sold out Whelan’s crowd enraptured when he played there in January and he was apparently bed ridden with a flu that day and nearly had to cancel the show so imagine what he’ll be like in full health and with a stage big enough for his huge travelling band – he’ll soar, a perfect fit.

Then there’s also Robert Plant, John Grant, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Noah & The Whale and Little Green Cars and many more added to the eclectic bill.

Last night the 50th edition of This Is Banter was hosted by Irish Times music correspondent Jim Carroll and it brought together some music folks with heavily vested interests in the coming Summer melee: festival promoters. The panel was made up of Declan Forde, from Forbidden Fruit & POD, Avril Stanley, from Body & Soul, and Leagues O’Toole who is running the Harmonic shows in the Iveagh Gardens. Theirs is an unenviable game to be in at present with unprecedented competition sparking talk of metaphorical bloodbaths, disasters and the purging to come but all this is obviously being whispered in hushed tones “Off The Record” because on stage last night the panel belied the stress they are apparently under to give a calm, almost zen-like, performance to the social-media rounded-up crowd in a packed Twisted Pepper. At times they were so horizontal that print journalist Jim Carroll had to work hard to extract some semblance of fear out of them, obviously this calm bodes well for the sales of their respective shows but surely they must still be nervous as they identified that the break-even point for a festival is only ever crossed in the final flurry of ticket buying in the week preceding the actual event so with this in mind their relaxed manner was impressive especially in the face of the 2013 saturation in the market.

One thing became clear from the talk: there will be winners and losers this Summer, and as one guaranteed winner, Bruce Springsteen, quipped in an ‘Atlantic City’ lyric, “Don’t get caught on the wrong side of that line.” It’s going to be incredibly difficult for promoters not to get burned this Summer and with the amount of events competing for thinner slices of diminishing punter income huge sums are bound to be lost. But if the overtures from this lot are anything to go by it won’t be Forbidden Fruit, Body & Soul or the Iveagh Gardens shows that end up getting axed in 2014. This savvy bunch will be around next year and perhaps that’s because they understand and value the trappings that make the weekends special, trappings such as this lively and entertaining 50th edition of This Is Banter.

It has been muted by those in the know that the Picnic is selling well, it is a strong brand with a loyal following so this isn’t surprising. However, for a festival that usually sells its tickets at the last minute this change in consumer behaviour is welcome and could be attributed to the new policy of rewarding loyal fans with a ticket price of €149.50 for a weekend ticket. That is the discount for those that can prove they’ve been three times or more and it seems to have worked in attracting people to buy their tickets earlier than they have in previous years. Ticketmaster must also be applauded for being lenient with the criteria for proof as old festival lanyards and even hazy pictures of indecipherable campsites are sufficing; fair play to them! As the promoters eluded to last night, early ticket sales are vital for a festival to survive as it gets cash-flow going and things can get done. The opportunity to get these discounts ends on May 27th when ticket prices will go up to €189.50 and then on July 28th they’ll go up to their final price of €229.50.

Full list of acts added to the line-up:

Robert Plant, Ellie Goulding, Little Green Cars, The Beat, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Space Dimension Controller, John Grant, Miles Kane, Matthew E. White, Crystal Fighters, Gavin James, Dawes,Valerie June, Factory Floor, Lady Lamb The Beekeeper, Charli XCX, Cayucas, Lulu James, Night Beds, Chrome Sparks, Big Black Delta, Terri Hooley (Living off Good Cinematic Vibrations!)

Prices:

Stradbally, Friday August 30th-Sunday 1st September 2013.

3 or more Picnics discount: €149.50

1 Picnic: €169.50

None: €189.50

After the discounts end a weekend ticket goes up to €229.50.

 

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Original Post Published: 25th April

Today the line-up for Electric Picnic 2013 was finally announced ending months of rumours and conjecture. This is the 10^th installment of the boutique festival which has ensconced itself in the rolling lawns of Thomas Cosby’s Stradbally Estate; this is its home. Home, they say, is where the heart is and for the loyal Picnic contingent the September bank holiday weekend has become a pilgrimage of sorts, an annual musical sojourn, so today’s announcement brought relief as speculation of a hiatus had been rife.

This year loyal fans of the festival will be rewarded by the organisers, that is if you can prove to the infamous gatekeepers of the music industry, Ticketmaster, that you have made the pilgrimage thrice or more. Here is where things get tricky for the eager punter. What will serve as proof? An email, Bank Statement or receipt on a Ticketmaster account? Once you go beyond these standard methods things get tenuous. “I bought it off a mate”, perfectly reasonable – but how do you prove it? What will they accept as evidence? Will knowing to turn left at the Heath to avoid the traffic on the way down – a highly useful bit of local knowledge – will that suffice? Say an ability to navigate the forest blindfolded or find the rave with ear plugs in? Or an 8 second clip of that earthshattering 2005 Arcade Fire set uploaded from your Youtube account? Maybe a doctor’s cert for hypothermia dated from September 2009 when you decided it was a good idea to head straight from a midnight jaquzzi session in Body & Soul to catch the end of Sea Sick Steve’s set on the Salty-dog stage and nearly froze to death? Perhaps a time-lapse video of the tented festival below, shot from the heights of the ferris wheel with Massive Attack’s Hymn of the Big Wheel emanating from off in the distance? Or the ability to produce a sufficient number of mouldy wristbands, that must be grounds for getting the discount? There are definitely some diehards from 2004 out there that have accumulated nine wristbands on their arms and have shielded them from their bosses all these years in anticipation of such a pay-day and this is their year. I guess you did tell us it’d be worth it. But for the ordinary folk who can hardly remember how they got in, let alone where they kept the receipt for the ticket, it will be more difficult. We can all speculate as to what will serve as proof that one has been the festival three times or more but the final call will be left in the hands of Ticketmaster and it is up to them to decide the merits of each case. If they are smart they will see this as a face-saving opportunity. If they give leeway on the “burden of proof” and take a hit on the price they receive for each ticket it will go a long way towards assuaging the anger of punters who’ve had to endure hidden fees on tickets bought over the years. The aptly named Ticketmaster have used their monopolistic position in the Irish music market to charge extra fees for years and the sums collected from each music fan undoubtedly add up to a vast multiple of the discount but a gesture like this would be a welcome one.

In the build-up to today’s announcement we’ve all imagined ourselves as bookers unencumbered by concerns such as budgets, competing festivals and entitled agents and we’ve emerged with that line-up that you and your friends crave, your perfect weekend free from any tough decisions or clashes. However, those fantasies are over and reality has struck as Daft Punk remain committed to only touring their new album at a farming festival in the outback of Australia and we’re left to ponder some concrete news about the line-up. For me, it’s great news. The Picnic is yet to let me down. The headliners are Bjork, Fatboy Slim and The Artic Monkeys. After that comes Electric Picnic’s strong suit, the eclectic mix of mid-level acts on an unabated upward trajectory: Eels, Disclosure, Hurts, Warpaint, Soak, The Walkmen, Baauer, Chvrches. Then you have the old guard solo acts who furnished some of our favourite bands: David Byrne & St Vincent (Talking Heads) and Johnny Marr (Smiths). Some quality bands: Franz Ferdinand, Ocean Colour Scene and Noah & the Whale and some newbies: Styrpes (The Cavan youngsters gaining real touring experience) and the intriguing Parquet Courts. And as with any first announcement there’ll be Many, many more……what needs to be brought in, in my humble, is some quality house and electronic acts. Today saw James Murphy release a press statement saying LCD Soundsystem would not be reuniting anytime soon but a solo appearance from the hipster guru would be welcome, also Joe Goddard’s side project 2 Bears would be perfect fit again in the Bacardi Tent (it’s hardly a tent anymore its a veritable Hacienda). There is great home grown talent on the electro scene to choose from, such as MMoths & Mano le Tough (with full new album Changing Days released recently), that will be added during the summer. You’re also guaranteed those unheard of gems that are unearthed at SxSW that surprise us every year. So we eagerly await the ad-ons, but for the moment we’ll buy our tickets off the strength of what has been released, content in the knowledge that we’ll close out one of Ireland’s best summers of music in a familiar part of the countryside.

Already our call for House & Electro has been answered, and an old stalwart rap group have been added too! Keep them coming!

Wu Tang Clan, My Bloody Valentine, Mano Le Tough, Hudson Mowhawke, Mount Kimbie, The Knife, Blondes, MS MR, Peace, Merchandise, The 1975, Luke Sital-Singh, Palma Violets.

Prices:

Stradbally, Friday August 30th-Sunday 1st September 2013.

3 or more discount: €149.50

1 Picnic: €169.50

None: €189.50

After the discount ends a weekend ticket goes up to €229.50.

The Arctic Monkey’s headline Sunday and a one day ticket is €85. The weekend comes with all the  delightful trappings that make the weekend: Mindfield Spoken Word, Body & Soul, Comedy Tent, Salty Dog, Trenchtown, Trailer Park, Bacardi etc

Summer Festivals – Longitude 2013

Longitude Line-up

The festival bar has been set, and set high.

Longitude’s Dublin debut is perfectly timed and perfectly primed to strike fear into competing festival bookers. This will surely inspire a flurry of promotional activity around the other marquee names as they compete for the limited numbers of festival goers on this island. Nobody can attend everything so choices will have to be made, there will of course be some over lap. So far the power-brokers of old – Electric Picnic and Oxygen – have remained muted, seemingly caught in a bizarre rumour filled limbo. Oxygen may return this year after having a much needed sabbatical. Electric Picnic has lost some of its momentum of late, there was even talk that it wouldn’t go ahead this year but that has been dismissed. However, promotional activity has been nearly non-existent, the decision not to release early bird tickets this year has meant little to no build-up for the Stradbally event. Still it can count on its die hard contingent who will be in celebratory mood for the 10th edition and they will see dwindling numbers as a positive of sorts, even if promoters disagree.

Boutique off-shoots like Body & Soul are small and should still attract growing numbers. Forbidden Fruit stands in direct competition with Longitude as an urban non-camping festival. Other camping options such as Indiependence and Castlepalooza have benefited from Oxygen’s absence but they’ll have a tougher year in 2013.

The Summer schedule is already filled with big single slots. New promoters Harmonic have been plugging their Iveagh Garden’s triumvirate of shows with acts such as Grizzly Bear, Tallest Man on Earth and Beach House. The National have been named for the Marquee in Cork and tickets went on sale this morning. Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen initially announced three shows in Cork, Belfast and Limerick. These sold out immediately as the “ageing rockers” cohort were eager to see one of the best performers ever take to the stage and continue to defy the limitations of being a sexagenarian, no matter what exorbitant prices are being charged. In lieu of the take-up, his promoters Aiken put on two more dates in Nowlan Park in Kilkenny to round off the Irish leg of his “Wrecking Ball Tour”. So there are the individual shows and now, with the weekenders joining the fray, it promises to be a bumper Summer for music fans.

Back to Longitude. It’s a sibling of the UK festival Latitude, which has been running annually since 2006, this is the first time the event is being held in Ireland and the event is run by promoters MCD. It is being billed as “more than just a music festival” but with this line-up the music will do the selling of tickets.  Whatever the “more” is will be announced shortly. Early Bird tickets are available from Monday March 4th at €130 for a weekend pass and €45 for a day pass. These prices will go up on April 7th to €150 for the weekend and €55 for a day pass. The festival is being held in Marley Park from Friday the 19th of July to Sunday the 21st.

Longitude have brought their headliners bill to the table first, so let the jostling for position begin. Those that are planning on staying at home this Summer have music and even the prospect of sun (predicted by some apparently infallible sage weatherman from New Zealand) to look forward to.   Whatever about the sun, the music gods will shine on 53.2775° N, 6.2697° W in July.

Tallest Man on Earth – Gig Review October 24th 2012 – Vicar Street

Emerging from a wilderness to enrich the audience

When Kristian Matsson appears on the stage in Vicar Street he looks bedraggled.  Wearing only a sleeveless tank top it is as if he has emerged from the hinterland that he draws upon in his songs.  Matsson ironically stands at 5 foot 5 inches tall but to his audience he is known as ‘The Tallest Man On Earth’.  His height matters little as his vocals soar.  The Swedish singer-songwriter released his first EP in 2006 and since then he has steadily collected fans around the world due to his captivating stage presence. This is his fourth visit to Ireland.

Matsson has released three albums and two EPs.  After his first full length album called Shallow Grave he was lumbered with the tag ‘the new Bob Dylan’ by lazy reviewers; such clichéd labelling has stunted many burgeoning songwriters.  However Matsson managed to find his own voice amidst the cumbersome comparisons and his stature has continued to grow.  His second album The Wild Hunt vastly improved on his first effort.  On this album he explored the folk tradition and put his own lyrical roots down.  Yes, he borrows but they all do; that’s what makes it a tradition.  He has taken the great expanse of the American West, the plains and its open promise of freedom, and transposed them onto lands he is familiar with: the barren Scandinavian landscape.  He sings of birds, fjords, streams, glaciers, canyons, highways, forests, mountains, hills and valleys.  The passing seasons decorate his verses and we can feel the changing light as Fall is ushered in.  A passion permeates this record as he imbues his stories of people with a sincerity conveyed by his raw and powerful voice.  He uses his musings on a wilderness unknown to his audience in order evoke grand feelings for what are universal themes of love, loss and place.

This tour is to promote his latest album There’s No Leaving Now released earlier this year.  He opened with a track from that album ‘To Just Grow Away’.   Next he brought the audience right into the gig with “Love is All”.  This stokes the audience into fervour.  It is an emotive ballad on love and the loss of it, “Love is all, from what I’ve heard, but my heart’s learned to kill”.  One might posit that Matsson committed these words to paper in order to let go of these feelings.  If that is the case then the irony is that due to its popularity he will forever have to sing this song to his audiences.  Like many in his repertoire, this song’s upbeat tempo belies the lyrics that accompany it.  The chorus utilises the entirety of his nasal vocal range, “Oh, I could rise / From the harness of our goals / Here come the tears / But like always, I let them go / Just let them go.”  Matsson revels in singing and sharing in past despairs – as he comes to the front of the stage, he urges the audience to sing along and with each pluck of his guitar he dips his scrawny shoulders; the hook in each chorus line is mesmerizing, “Uh oh..oh..oh.”

Matsson effusively praises a boisterous Dublin crowd.  He started playing in Ireland – as many do – in Whelans.  The next year he moved to Vicar Street playing there in June 2011.  Now it seems his visits are annual as the crowd returns to the same venue this time bringing their mates and packing out the house.  In between songs he repeatedly mumbles his adoration to an audience that have adopted the Swede.  He bemoans the tough rigours of touring and acknowledges what keeps him going, “I don’t like to do interviews and shit like that.  I want to write and sing songs for you.  It’s the crowd that keep me going and now I’m in fucking Dublin!”  He evens lets slip that he’d written a song that day inspired by his support act Crooked Fingers.  The crowd urged him to play it.  But sense prevailed as he admitted to the song being in its infancy. In giving his excuses he touches on the solitary nature of his craft,  “The songs need practice” he explained, “I need to sit in a corner alone and fiddle with my guitar in order to make them work, make them ready for the stage and you guys.  But you’ll hear it soon.”

Matsson trawled through the new album interspersing it with his back catalogue; it was at times difficult to differentiate the new material from the old but nobody minded.   For a few tunes he pulled up his chair at the piano before jumping impatiently back to the front of the stage with his guitar as if he’d missed it.  He wrapped up his set with ‘The King of Spain’.  In the lyrics he tips his hat to Dylan, “And I wear my boots of Spanish leather” clearly an acknowledgement of Dylan’s eponymous track.  It is obvious that he now carries such comparisons with ease, “Still I am not from Barcelona/ I am not even from Madrid. / I am a native of the North folk/ And that can mess up any kid.”  He sings this with his distinctive rasp fully confident in his own delivery, this is after all his own hit, and he cajoles the audience into following him on the caustic chorus line, “I wannnnna beeeeeeee the King….of….Spain!!!!!”  His voice is urgent; provoking feelings in the audience, moving them.  The Tallest Man On Earth is comfortable being part of a folk continuum, which he simply wishes to enrich.  Then comes ‘Revelation Blues’ which is the single off the new album and after he leaves the stage empty with just a mike, a stool and his piano.

The inevitable encore is greeted with a cacophony of yelps from the impatient crowd.  Matsson sings the title track off The Wild-Hunt before sitting at the piano once more for a cover of Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’.  The Swede’s art is envisioned and made far from the claustrophobic cities which he plays every night on tour but as he leaves and returns to his wild imagination his audiences are left contemplating the powerful echoes of ‘The Dreamer’.

Tallest on Vicar Street Stage

Setlist:

To Just Grow Away
Love is All
1904
I Won’t Be Found
The Gardener
Criminals
Lost My Shape (David Bazan cover)
There’s No Leaving Now
The Sparrow and the Medicine
Burden of Tomorrow
Leading Me Now
Wind and Walls
Like the Wheel
Where Do My Bluebird Fly
King of Spain
Revelation Blues
—
The Wild Hunt
Graceland (Paul Simon cover)
The Dreamer

Matthew E White * Big Inner – If Only Sunday Mass Was This Good

Bearded Prophet with a Soul

Hectic weekend?  Why not let Matthew E White take you down easy with his chilled country-soul with a twist.  White mixes familiar southern drawl vocals with a gospel-funk backing band to give us what’s best from the American South, an eclectic melting pot of strings, percussion, brass and jazz.

Last year they released the album ‘Big Inner’.  The title of this wonderful debut sounds like ‘beginner’ when said aloud but this collective are far from novice musicians.  They all have lots of experience under different guises but as a collaboration they’re new.  The seven tracks warm the listener to White’s spirituality as the album is steeped in religiosity.  White’s verses celebrate the good that’s all around us in the everyday.  He firmly believes it’s these simple things, that we often overlook, that give us the greatest comfort in a world where religion can only offer temporary but not permanent answers – at some stage we’ve to find our own answers.  And in the mean time, we’ve got a great album to listen to!

White is endowed with a fulsome beard and that is important when masquerading as a preacher.  Is it just me or do we seem to listen closer to men with beards?  Especially, when they unfurl lyrics with this sort of ease and allow a backing choir to let the choruses linger.

‘One of These Days’ is the opening track and it sets the tone.  White sings of one day having to face his maker but that day isn’t today and for the moment he just wants to lay next to the one who gives him ‘joy like a fountain deep in his soul’. Here the horns traverse his lyrics with a symmetry that is carried throughout the whole album.  Next is ‘Big Love’ and White has got lots of this to give as the piano guides this cinematic tune.  A line from ‘Steady Pace’ epitomises this record and White’s group of music makers, ‘As long as we are moving at a steady pace, baby/ We can take our time’.

White is no lone preacher, he is joined on stage by his house band Spacebomb, a choir and some horns and they’re having a good time.  On Sunday they play Whelans and for a dozen euros I recommend you let this soft soul set wash over you at a steady pace – if only mass was this good, we’d all go.

Lisa O’Neil opens the evening with her arresting yet beautiful vocals.