Month: November 2010

RTÉ has announced a new selection process for next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Five music industry professionals have been enlisted to develop and mentor five separate song entries to compete in the Eurosong 2011, where the winner will be selected by a combination of public vote and regional juries.

Speaking about the decision RTÉ Eurovision Co-ordinator Julian Vignoles said: "Given our mixed results in recent years, we felt it was our duty to look again at our selection procedure to see what method could improve Ireland's chances of winning on the Eurovision stage. Ireland has a vibrant and successful music industry and we want to find the best performer to represent our country. This year we have decided to suspend the open call for entries and instead harness the skills and experience of professionals in the Irish music business to source the talent and the song that has the potential to be a Eurovision winner.

We are enlisting five people who each have proven success in different areas of the music industry so the public will have five strong entries to choose from in Eurosong 2011".

The five mentors are:
Caroline Downey-Desmond – Director MCD and event producer
Ronan Hardiman – composer (Lord of the Dance)
David Hayes – Musical Director and arranger (Tommy Fleming and Riverdance)
Willie Kavanagh – Chairman, EMI Music Ireland
Liam Lawton – composer and performer

Each of the mentors will source or commission the song and the performer, with all five entries to be performed for the first time on The Late Late Show Eurosong 2011 on February 11th. As was the case last year, the winning entry will be selected by a combination of public vote and regional jury.

The winner will go on to represent Ireland in the 56th Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Final in Düsseldorf, Germany, in May 2011. The ESC is consistently one of the most popular annual television events, both in Ireland and across Europe, with the final attracting an audience of 69 million last year.
 

Glen Hansard & Damien Dempsey are set to release ‘The Auld Triangle’ this Friday, 3rd December, to raise awareness and much needed funds for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, (SVP).

“We recorded this song to highlight and raise funds for the work of Society of St. Vincent de Paul  which includes offering help to the many households each day in Ireland who are having difficulty keeping the lights on. You can help…”    Damien Dempsey & Glen Hansard (Nov 2010)

The single will be available to buy in stores and to download from iTunes. The single features three tracks:
1. The Auld Triangle
2. Raglan Road
3. Not on Your Own Tonight (Part 2)

‘The Auld Triangle’ and ‘Raglan Road’ were recorded by Karl Odlum and mixed by John Reynolds in November 2010.  ‘Not On Your Own Tonight’ is taken from Dempsey’s album ‘To Hell Or Barbados’, (Expanded Edition).  The single features a brilliant illustration by Eyebrowy.  Everyone involved in the production of this single has donated their time and services.

Proceeds from the single sales will be donated to The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVP) to assist them in the valuable work that they do.

The SVP provide support to people in need in communities. This support is offered in a non-judgemental spirit of trust and confidentiality, and is always respectful of people's dignity. The SVP depend almost entirely on donations from the public to help them continue their vital work. By purchasing this single you are contributing to their annual appeal and offering hope to those who need it most.

For more information about the Society of the St. Vincent de Paul and how you can help please visit their website www.svp.ie/appeal
 

Steafán Hanvey and Duncan Maitland will share the stage for an intimate double headline show at The Focus Theatre, 6 Pembroke Place, Dublin 2 this coming Thursday, 2nd December.

TuneBreaker (www.tunebreaker.com) is a (global) new music award for unsigned, emerging and independent artists. The TuneBreaker Music Award is run by a small team of experienced music industry people and avid young music fans, all of them wanting to see a new industry of music growing organically from the bands and fans themselves.

The inaugural TuneBreaker Music Award commences December 2010 with the winner announced before New Year. This first award is only open to Artists and Bands from Great Britain & Ireland but anyone in the world can vote.

The winner of the organic TuneBreaker Music Award will receive a hand-crafted crystal trophy or “Tunie”, a cheque for £10,000 Pounds Sterling.

Full details of the Terms and the TuneBreaker Live Chart™, can be found on www.tunebreaker.com
 

99 (Featuring Bo Starks) the new single from Republic of Loose' fourth album, Bounce At The Devil, is out now. Recorded in Baltimore, Maryland and Dublin, Bounce at the Devil represents an evolution in sound for Loose with more of a dance feel than previous albums.
 
The band have just signed an international distribution deal with ADA Global. Bounce At The Devil will be released internationally in 2011 with the back catalogue to follow in all territories. The Loose will be supporting the release with several dates and festival appearances around Europe and North America in 2011.
 
Catch the Loose live:
December 11th The Forum, Waterford
December 17th The Academy, Dublin
December 26th West County, Ennis
December 28th The Set Theatre, Kilkenny
 
 

Album number three by THE MIGHTY STEF contains nine new songs of sin and redemption where hope and hopelessness walk hand in hand down the wet streets of Manhattans Lower East Side to the dingy graveyards of Berlin where the record was conceived, written and recorded.

Fast Forward Northern Ireland have just announced a masterclass in production and mastering with two leading UK producers as part of their ongoing music skills programme. The masterclass, which will take place in Belfast on Friday, 10th December, will be free to attend but places are limited.  

FFWD is a new programme designed to help accelerate the development of Northern Ireland’s rapidly evolving music industry. The programme focuses on developing international markets for artists and businesses and also on developing specialist skills and knowledge within the Northern Ireland sector.

Key market development initiatives include the support of Northern Ireland artists and businesses attending major international events in the music industry calendar – South by Southwest (Austin, Texas), MIDEM (Cannes, France) and the Amsterdam Dance Event.

The FFWD skills programme also features a series of free admission seminars and masterclasses on hot music industry topics. The first of these – on the commercial placement of music in films, TV, computer games and advertisements attracted nearly 100 attendees.

Date: Friday 10th December 2010
Time: 10.30 – 4.30
Location: Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queens University Belfast.

This full day event features 2 key sessions presented by leading UK professionals:

• Matt Colton of Air Studios Mastering – has ‘mastered’ recordings for artists as diverse as Kylie Minogue, Aphex Twin, Go Team, George Michael and Depeche Mode.
• George Shilling – whose hugely varied production and engineering CV includes Primal Scream, Paul Van Dyk, Texas, Coldcut, Porcupine Tree and Blur.

These two extended Masterclasses will be followed by a Q&A.
Places at this free of charge event will be limited and we would expect strong demand.
The event is in association with SARC at QUB, The Music Producers Guild and JAMES.

To register for the free Masterclass please visit – www.ffwdni.com

The Contemporary Music Centre is delighted to announce a new platform for performance on the downstairs floor of its building in Fishamble Street. This platform, for performance space, is intended to support the active and vibrant new music sector by facilitating performances of new works as well as showcasing works in progress and allowing experimentation across the many new music genres.
 
To mark the opening of this new platform for performance the Contemporary Music Centre is launching the latest CD from Concorde, entitled Reflections, 6pm – 7:30pm on 8 Dec 2010. Reflections is an enhanced content CD and is released on the Navona Label. Bernard Clarke, RTÉ lyric fm Broadcaster, Presenter of Nova will officially launch the CD.
 
For the CD launch Concorde will perform live Stephen Gardner’s Klezmeria as well as a new work written especially for the occasion by Jane O’Leary. Judith Ring’s electronic work within an egg of space will also be played.
   
The Contemporary Music Centre’s platform for performance aims to have monthly events across 2011. The performance space also includes a selection of panels from the Centre’s multi-media Art of Sound exhibition. These exhibition panels come complete with audio-guide narrated by Eamon Lawlor, RTÉ lyric fm. The striking composer photos included on the panels are by Eugene Langan, photographer. This exhibition is open for members of the public to visit, 11am – 4pm, Monday to Friday. Admission is free and no booking is required.
 
The Contemporary Music Centre is Ireland's national archive, resource centre and promotional body for new music, supporting the work of Irish composers from the Republic and Northern Ireland. The Centre is supported by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
 
www.cmc.ie