Gig Review - Bold Things Live @ Whelans

Bold Things, 'And I Was A Boy From School', Hot Chip cover, Whelans

Leaving cert. students were having nightmares, the workers were asleep in their beds, but all of the cool cats were in Whelan's instead. 

It was a great pleasure to witness Dundalk band, Bold Things', first ever Irish gig last night Upstairs in Whelans. While the quartet of Ian Patterson on lead guitar, Gavin Murray (vocals, drums & guitar), Jim O'Donoghue (lead singer, guitar) and bassist / video producer (see below) Ronan McGeough have played a number of gigs in their adopted city of London, this was the first of three nights which sees them hit Toales in their hometown tonight (beside Gerry Adams' constituency office as pointed out by Jim), and Dolans in Limerick on Saturday. The band have spent a considerable amount of time lately recording in anticipation of their debut E.P. which they hope to have completed and subsequently released in the very near future.

It's almost 6 months since the band put together their first video for 'Love The Bomb', and with each track they put down, they appear to be going from strength to strength with regard to their song-writing and diversity. As such, it was great to hear two of my personal favourites last night, 'Hearts Ajar' and the sublime and haunting 'Swallows End' live. It was very apparent before taking the stage that the band were excited for their first gig on Irish soil and this translated into the performance, it's never disappointing to see an act that genuinely enjoy performing, not just for themselves, but for their audience also. Indeed, at one point when the band thanked everyone for coming to the show one punter saw fit to shout out, 'I've never heard of you, but I really like your songs', while this individual was bang on the money, I would imagine he is also curled up in a ball on a couch somewhere as I type this, and I only say so because he looked like Shaun Ryder.

My only complaint for the entire evening was that I attracted the token weirdo (I thought those days were well behind me), an inebriated individual who appeared from nowhere, and not only told me once that he loved the 'Thump, thump, thump' of one of the songs, but 6 times. In summary, a great night, great performance and while it's completely irrelevant from a musical perspective, in my opinion, it's always nice when the members of any band are very decent sods, which the guys from Bold Things are. Two things I'm looking forward to now are their next performance in Dublin and a debut album, success beckons for Bold Things and it will be well deserved.

Side note: Apologies for the poor sound quality in the first video, I recorded it on a Nikon SLR and I would have been better off using my iPhone in terms of the quality, lesson learnt! 





Like, follow & listen:

Website: http://boldthings.com/

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/bold-things

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bold-Things/462605317156304?fref=ts

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHlQgfK5PMO0HYsoBS0QQkw

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BoldThings

10 Best Albums of 2014 So Far

As always when I do these lists I reiterate it's merely my personal opinion. Below are the Top 10 albums in my view since the start of the year, I've cheated a little bit with Childish Gambino's Because The Internet which was released on the 10th of December at the end of last year but think it definitely deserves a shout out. It's struck me since the start of the year that the quality of albums is far greater than last year and I think I would have struggled to get 10 for the whole 12 months of 2013. There's also a lot more to come in the second half of the year that should be of interest, starting with Jack White's Lazaretto which is out next week, a new Basement Jaxx album in August and who knows what else. Anyway, without further ado, and in order......

1) Beck - Morning Phase

In one sentence: Ethereal, melancholic and completely beautiful, history may regard it as his masterpiece.

Best tracks: Morning, Blue Moon, Wave, Turn Away (and all of the other ones)

2) Todd Terje - It's Album Time

In one sentence: An album by a man who understands pop, electronica, synths, 80's music, and effortlessly puts them together until, by the end, you here a loud CLICK! in your brain, not to mention Bryan Ferry's cover of 'Johnny & Mary'

Best tracks: Intro, Strandbar, Delorean Dynamite, Inspector Norse

3) Pharrell - G I R L

In one sentence: Pure, unadulterated pop, a world where Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, the Bee Gee's and Prince meet and inject themselves into your inner groove.

Best tracks: Marilyn Monroe, Hunter, Happy, Gust of Wind.

4) Tycho - Awake

In one sentence: An album to lose yourself in, exhilarating and wonderful.

Best tracks: Awake, Montana, L, Spectre

5) Mac DeMarco - Salad Days

In one sentence: A rare anti-hero, and the music reflects that, a complete album but no post is complete without a link to this beauty that got me hooked on him, and I can't even remember how I came across it, oh well! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bfTTeZOrs4

Key tracks: Salad Days, Blue Boy, Goodbye Weekend, Passing Out Pieces (wow!)

6) Childish Gambino - Because The Internet

In one sentence: Stylish, contemporary rap with a hint of brilliance and a dark side

Best tracks: Life The Biggest Troll, Crawl, The Worst Guys, 3005.


7) The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream

In one sentence: A welcome relief from the myriad of different sub-genres that are everywhere at the moment, and back to a few guys sitting around writing folk-rock.

Best tracks: Under The Pressure, Red Eyes, Suffering, Burning

8) Sharon Van Etten - Are We There

In one sentence: She's the real deal, this New Jersey girl has been a stand out and authentic songwriter over the last 6 years, and should probably be higher in this list

Best tracks: Afraid of Nothing, Our Love, Break Me, Everytime The Sun Comes Up 

9) Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots

In one sentence: Blur fans will be delighted after the damp squib that was 2012's Dr.Dee, back to basics at its best, as Damon deals with our detachment from life as a result of our obsession with smart phones and social media (I don't know what he could possibly mean?)

Best tracks: Everyday Robots, Mr. Tembo, Lonely Press Play, The History Of A Cheating Heart

10) East India Youth - Total Strife Forever

East India Youth, 'Glitter Recession'

In one sentence: He's only 23.

Best tracks: Glitter Recession, Total Strife Forever, Dripping Down, Heaven How Long

And that's a wrap, I would greatly appreciated other album recommendations in the comments section below or on Facebook.

Sinéad O'Connor Announces New Album

Sinead with John Grant, 'GMF', Sat. Night Show, March, 2014

Info: Sinéad O'Connor has announced the release of a new album, I'm Not Bossy, I'm The Boss, which will be available from 8th of August. One of the most spine-tingling live performances I ever seen was recently with Sinéad on stage with John Grant and Conor O'Brien from Villagers at Grant's concert in The Olympia back in March, and I can confirm she still has an incredible presence and amazing vocals. When I was a small lad I remember Sinéad bursting onto the scene with her cover of Prince's 'Nothing Compares 2 U' and that unforgettably painful video which went with it, she is undoubtedly one of our most divisive but gifted talents of the last few decades.

I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss is the follow up to Sinead’s critically acclaimed album How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? which was released in 2011.

I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss features twelve brand new songs which showcase the very best of Sinéad and what makes her so special, passionate and direct yet with an overarching fragile beauty Sinéad’s voice and lyrics are as powerful as they are tender.

Newly signed to Nettwerk Records, I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss is her 10th studio album in a career spanning over twenty five years. Sinéad is a rare thing in popular music, an absolutely unique artist.

From her first breakthrough hit, 1987’s ‘Mandinka’ and the multi-platinum global success of 1990’s I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got and its unforgettable number one ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’, right through to her brand new record Sinead has constantly surprised and delighted.