Info: Every now and again the lovely folks over at www.orchestrate.ie ask me to showcase one of the new acts they are representing and I'm always happy to oblige. Here we have singer-songwriter Fiach Moriarty who has toured with established musicians Mary Black, Ray Davies and Declan O'Rourke. He has a new single out, 'Married to Music', in advance of the release of his second album in early 2014. 'Married to Music' is upbeat and the video brings us on a spin through Grafton Street and it's side streets, reminding us of how pleasant the area can be as it fills us with dread over Christmas. If you enjoyed Fiach's new track, check out more music and info below.
DJ Troublemaker & Killer Reese One aka King Fantastic
When I was a young lad I used to listen to a weird mix of rubbish and good music, but I always remember listening to a good bit of rap music back in the 90's, some of it a bit dodgy, like Cypress Hill and Coolio, and then, because I was Irish, it was mandatory to listen to House of Pain, but they had some great tunes and lyrics, and don't forget the Beastie Boys & Grandmaster Flash, still favourites. Admittedly it was a lot later on that I began to enjoy the late 80's and early 90's East Coast and West Coast hip-hop groups such as Public Enemy,the epic N.W.A. and a little bit of Warren G for da laydeez. As the 90's wore on though rap and hip-hop got shit, it became over-produced, there was no message, there was no intelligence to the rhyming or lyrics and all of a sudden every 'artist' and song melded into one and I lost interest, that's not to say there wasn't good groups out there, but it was pre-Internet and too hard to find something decent.
Lately though, there's a mini-revival going on, Kanye West has some talent I suppose, even if he's a total dick, (you might enjoy this French lady recently asking him who the fuck he is in Paris http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dplf7vSuhs ha, get's me every time, in your face Kanye!), there are also other rappers getting back to tackling politics such as Killer Mike from Atlanta, Georgia (check out his great song and video 'Reagan' here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lIqNjC1RKU) and a handful of others, but for me personally, the best of the new wave is King Fantastic. I came across their LP, Finger Snaps & Gun Claps three years ago and haven't stop listening to it since, it's immense, there isn't a wasted second on the album and it has everything, great lyrics, great beats, bass, brilliant humour and a great frontman in Killer Reese One.
King Fantastic, 'Hollyrock Jam Session'
Not only are King Fantastic, particularly DJ Troublemaker and Reese, a very talented bunch, they're also very decent to their fans, I've noticed this over a long while on Twitter where they constantly interact with fans and give them the time of day. Based on this, I decided I'd chance my arm and send them a set of ten questions in interview form, and lo and behold these two gentlemen responded within only a couple of days. So, below is the interview, and scattered around are some of my favourite tracks off Finger Snaps & Gun Claps. They also have a mixtape out at the moment, Call My Lawyer, which is equally great, you can listen to it here - http://kingfantastic.bandcamp.com/track/call-my-lawyer-mixtape
Interview via email by Remy Connolly
Massive thanks to both Killer Reece One & DJ Troublemaker for taking the time to respond to my questions, I couldn't agree more with their insights on modern rap. Here's another favourite track of mine to finish off, essential before heading out at the weekend, 'All Black Ying Yang (The Party Song)'
King Fantastic, 'All Black Ying Yang (The Party Song)'
Hands up who thought, 'What a wanker' or 'What a bigger wanker'. You would have been right, it's only a blog. Having said that, there's something to the title, but it should read more like 'How the Internet Can Send Nice Music To You, Unexpectedly.' My unexpected source was Instagram ('SEE, HE IS A WANKER, I KNEW IT, YES!'). Let he who is without sin look a gift horse in the mouth, as the old saying goes. Okay, so Instagram, like Twitter, and unlike Facebook, can be tailored to draw your interests to yourself, I follow people who share my like of amateur photography, red wine, craft beers and mostly music (vinyl *cough* wanker *cough*, okay, enough of the self-deprecation from me, specifically). As a result I get to find out about lots of great albums, mostly old ones which would be my main interest, but also some new music as well. Just today I was flicking through my feed and notice that one guy I follow from the U.S., because he has a relatively similar taste to me, is putting the finishing touches to his own album. On to Google and Soundcloud and I get to listen to a selection of 5 tracks, listened to the first one and thought, that's good, then let the other 4 play on and realise that this chap is not only a very talented guitar player, but also the music is really good. I like old folk music with a tinge of country like Bert Jansch, Tim Buckley, Dylan, for example, and in particular fast guitar-picking, so this young man was ticking all of these boxes for me, and I liked the way that a genre that is largely neglected by young people is his modus operandi.
So who is he? His name is Cody J. Martin (pictured), he hails from Ohio, and he's only 21, 'bloody hell' I thought, when I read that in his bio. He also comes across as a very humble person who is extremely grateful when he receives feedback on his music, indeed I sent him a little message saying I liked his music and he thanked me for spending time listening to his music, do you hear that Van Morrison??! Anyways, I'll throw up a few links to his music so you can make your own minds up.
Cody J. Martin - 'What's Already Gone' But before I do, to go back to the beginning, I don't think I'll ever get used to how technology has changed how we listen to music, before the internet you'd only get to hear artists who had 'made it big', or you had the smug friend who came back from America or the UK claiming they were the first person in Ireland to have Michael Jackson's new album on cassette (I actually know someone who did this, I'm married to her). Now everything is at our fingertips and it's wonderful, we really are so lucky. Cody has 4 gigs listed on his homepage over December and January, all in his hometown, a similar musician 15 years ago and I would never have heard the music, for that I'm very grateful. Now, at the risk of Cody thinking I'm an internet stalker, I'll desist with the platitudes and leave you with his music, I know he'd appreciate you listening to it. N.B. - My own personal favourites are 'Riverside', 'What's Already Gone' and 'All Roads Lead To War'. His new album, Somewhere You'd Rather Be, is released on the 25th of January, 2014. http://codyjmartin.bandcamp.com/ (with 2 free downloads) https://soundcloud.com/codyjmartin http://www.codyjmartinmusic.com/
