News: VINYL Festival - Royal Hospital Kilmainham (5th - 7th May)

Info: This coming May Bank Holiday Weekend sees a unique music culture event taking place at The Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin 8. There will be a star-studded list of personalities from the music world and the arts appearing over the weekend to discuss the timeless music medium which refuses to die. Despite the digital age of streaming, the oldest format of listening to recorded music is enjoying yet another revival well into the 21st century. Record sales increased again in 2017 according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) with a year on year growth of 26.8%, experiencing levels not seen since the release of Nirvana's Nevermind in 1991.

Amongst those discussing this beautiful medium over the weekend are Shane MacGowan, Chrissie Hynde, Snow Patrol (performance), Bob Geldof, actors Cillian Murphy and Martin Freeman, Tim Burgess, Billy Bragg, Huw Stephens and Gruff Rhys.

Exclusive exhibitions at VINYL will include James Lavelle’s 'Daydreaming With UNKLE', Vaughan Oliver’s 'Walking Backwards', Peter Boettcher’s ‘Photographing Kraftwerk', and Rory Gallagher’s vinyl collection as assembled by the guitarist’s brother, Donal.

Across the three days of VINYL there will also be a Tower Records pop-up store stocked with the back catalogues of our various attendees along with hard-to-source special editions and books, whilst long established Irish hi-fi store,Cloney Audio, will be onsite showcasing their specialist audiophile systems.

The first festival of its kind anywhere in the world, VINYL will present the people who made the records that would define not just a number of eras but also their respective cultures. It runs from Saturday, 5 May to Monday, 7 May and will take place in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin.

More additions to VINYL will be announced over the coming weeks, and tickets go on sale this Thursday, 29th of March at 9am via Ticketmaster.

Visit http://vinyl-dublin.com/ for more details.

International Playlist #019: Hannah Epperson, UNBLOOM, PD Liddle, Kraków Loves Adana & NEWMEN

UNBLOOM - Photo: Moses Monterroza

Info: On the latest international independent playlist here on REMY we have a decidedly German & Canadian flavour via Frankfurt's NEWMEN who first featured here towards the end of last year, and Hamburg-based favourites Kraków Loves Adana whose latest LP Songs After Blue is due for release in two weeks' time on the 6th of April. We also have a fantastic futuristic single from Canada's Hannah Epperson, and Onatario act UNBLOOM's new single 'Chance', plus a great single from London's PD Liddle. 

1. Hannah Epperson - 'We Will Host a Party (Amelia)'

Epperson creates quite a startling industrial and vivid futuristic dystopia that is laden with doom on 'We Will Host a Party (Amelia)', when she begins to sing it's like an image of a new flower trying to bloom through winter snow or on an ashen post-apocalyptic terrain. The strings are dramatic and equally foreboding, again, beauty in the quagmire, the electronic sounds and percussion come from many sources, chaos shouldn't sound this calming.

2. UNBLOOM - 'Chances'

Does lavish electro-pop come more enjoyable than this? Irish fans of St. Bishop will really enjoy UNBLOOM's 'Chances', the groovy hip-swinging dancefloor beats and shuddering synths are full-frontal. First listen your interest is more than piqued, second one and it's bang in your head and demanding more listens, uplifting glitch-pop at its finest.

3. PD Liddle - 'You Shouldn't Have Called'

It's funny because there was a time in the not so distant past where people (myself included) were a bit weary of acoustic guitar based song-writing, due to overload and sameness. Now it has turned on its head, it's a very, very difficult genre to reside in, hard to stand out in and rise above the somewhat generic ocean before you. PD Liddle's 'You Shouldn't Have Called' is gorgeous, his vocal approach and those background strings throw forth Nico's Chelsea Girl, and Tim Buckley's sel-titled debut, a vulnerable vocal tremor that draws you straight inside.

4. Kraków Loves Adana - 'The Day the Internet Died'

During the week Kraków Loves Adana decided to release two singles simultaneously ahead of the launch of their new album, 'Hamburg', an ode to their home city, and 'The Day The Internet Died' (above video). Deniz Cicek's vocal has been a companion of mine now for the last few months, and now feels like a friend, the deep musing tone of her voice triggers you to think about her words and listen beyond the music. The line "What we lack in empathy we'll make up with apathy" is a clever summation of the modern malaise. Are we really surrounded by unprecedented catastrophe and human tragedy? Or is it just reaching us more often as a result of our constant consumption via the online world? Whether it's the former or the latter, the end result is the same, desensitisation, we've become numb to shock and the plight of others.

5. NEWMEN - 'Delay'

NEWMEN's double A-Side release last November, 'Electric Eel / Humanin' was an exciting introduction for me to their music, it was a perfect 21st century reflection of 80's German electro-pop. 'Delay' takes a more passive demeanour, but is no less enjoyable. From that humming fuzz behind the music in the intro, to the gloriously shrieking synths at 1:19, guitar at 1:50, NEWMEN blur everything with noise, it's so well executed, and then the drop at 2:23. Like all of their singles, there's well-thought out intricacy, which makes them so listenable.

To listen to our last Spotify Independent International Playlist #018 head over here https://thebestofmusicandfilm.blogspot.ie/2018/02/playlist-kidsmoke-DYLYN-Nilufer-Yanya-Mamas-Gun-Bilk.html

Track: Jon Dots - Favourite Thing (Plant Food Remix)

Jon Dots - Favourite Thing (Plant Food Remix)

Info: Love Jon Dots, Love Plant Food, put the two together, bling soundz. Dublin electronic and hip-hop hauptmeister Plant Food has done a very lovely job of sticking contemporary pop act Jon Dots' 'Favourite Thing' into his beat-bullet to feed our ears full of aural nutrients. The remix sees Dots' vocals get bended and warped above and below the original's range, truth be told, much of his work is ripe for remixing, but only in the right hands. Listen to both of their catalogues below, be happy.

Jon Dots: https://jondots.bandcamp.com/

Plant Food: https://soundcloud.com/plantfoodmusic