Month: September 2012

The Unusual History of Ether is the songwriting partnership of Irish singer-songwriter Rebecca Collins and Danish guitarist Mikkel Ploug. The two met several years ago when they played together at the Dublin Fringe Festival and immediately forged a musical connection. However, busy touring in Europe and the UK with their solo projects, it wasn’t until 2011 that they found the time to collaborate. After a few months of swapping musical ideas online, The Unusual History of Ether was formed and Rebecca relocated to Copenhagen.

Adding to the wide range of influences Rebecca and Mikkel bring to their writing style, bassist Jeppe Skovbakke (of I Got You On Tape) and drummer Jeppe Gram (Grammofunch) completed the band’s line-up during the recording of their first EP, “Part One”.

After several months of extensive live performance, The Unusual History of Ether returned to the studio in July to record their debut album, which is due out in early 2013. They will be touring Ireland, the UK and Denmark in support of the first single from the record in October and November 2012.

Upcoming Irish Dates

29^th Oct – Phil Grimes, Waterford

31^st Oct – The Workmans Club, Dublin

1^st Nov – Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge

2^nd Nov – Dolan’s Pub, Limerick

3^rd Nov – Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray

www.theunusualhistoryofether.com

A CD produced in Nashville featuring Irish and American artists was released this week to honour the significant contribution made by Irish combatants on both sides of the American Civil War. The CD, entitled The 1861 Project – Volume 2: From The Famine To The Front, features Maura O’Connell, Jerry Douglas, Connie Smith, Liam Merriman, David Olney, Ben Sands, Sierra Hull, and numerous others performing songs specially composed for the project

From The Famine To The Front is the second instalment of The 1861 Project, an ongoing series of groundbreaking releases from Nashville’s creative artists’ collective Cohesion Arts. The new CD graphically depicts the deeply moving stories of Irish immigrants during the American Civil War, through a collection of songs that draw on time-honoured Irish and American traditions to touch hearts on both sides of the Atlantic.

The CD’s producer and principal songwriter is Thomm Jutz, familiar to Irish audiences from his role as guitarist in Nanci Griffith’s band. His roots-music resume includes production and/or guitar credits with Griffith and Mary Gauthier, and Irish artists of the calibre of Liam Merriman, Tony McLaughlin and Neil White. The veteran musicians Jutz gathered around him to record Volume 2 inject Nashville heart and soul into this remarkable collection of Celtic-inspired songs, and bring real-life heroes from the past vividly into the present.

The 1861 Project, Volume 2: From The Famine To The Front brings history brilliantly and musically alive, reviving real people, real emotions, and issues that are still relevant. It is available through www.1861project.com, CDBaby, Topspin, and iTunes.

For further information see www.1861project.com

Burningboy, aka Terry Byrne, has just produced a new video for his track, “Rise (to Meet You)”. The track featured on Burningboy’s debut EP, The Dark Months, released earlier this year.

Featuring the coasts, mountains and forests of Ireland, the video took three months to shoot and was edited down from 50 hours of footage.

Burningboy is currently working on his debut album, due for release in 2013.

The Dark Months EP is now available on iTunes.

www.burningboymusic.com
www.facebook.com/burningboy.terrybyrne

The first 12 events have now been confirmed for Belfast Music Week 2012, which runs November 4-11. Northern Ireland’s finest artists will be performing in some of Belfast’s most loved venues including The Black Box, The Empire and the multi million pound refurbished Limelight Complex. There will also be a very special performance in the Palm House at Botanic Gardens.

At the heart of the programme is a showcase for the most promising acts from Northern Ireland. These have been chosen by Belfast music industry and media professionals. The artists will perform a free event at the Limelight on November 8, attended by more that 20 international music business executives. This is an exciting opportunity for our talent to shine.

The chosen acts are: David C Clements, LaFaro, Katharine Philippa, Rams Pocket Radio, A Plastic Rose,Wonder Villains, VerseChorusVerse, More Than Conquerors, Ryan Vail, Runaway GO, Pretty ChildBackfire, Tom McShane.

The first twelve confirmed music events for Belfast Music Week 2012 are;

Sun 4 – The Black Box The Shellac Collective with Duke Special, DJ78 and Greg. Vintage dance tunes on 78 rpm gramophones. Plus live music from the Wireless Mystery Theatre.

Sun 4 – Love And Death Love Music Hate Racism – hip hop night with Bee Mick See, Cull, Gerard i2 plus DJs Koncept and Monkphat. With special guests, Nathan Flutebox Lee and The Clinic. £4

Tues 6 – Oh Yeah Make Noise dance / recycling project with Radio 1’s Benjy B and DJ Ossie plus local acts. Entry free if you bring an electric / electronic piece of equipment for recycling.

Wed 7 – Group Space, Ulster Hall The Sofa Sessions. Art, poetry and music, compered by Tracy Dempsey

Wed 7 – Palm House, Botanic Gardens
Robyn G Shiels and guests in an actual Victorian Palm House.

Wed 7 – The Empire Music Hall. An Evening Session with Paddy Casey, Katie and The Carnival. Free admission but you must apply in advance from www.facebook/giftedlive

Wed 7 – The Black Box David Browne-Murray – CD launch of ‘Lift and Drag’
8pm, £5

Wed 7 – McHugh’s Basement Soak, Rachel Austin and friends. £5

Thurs 8 – Limelight Complex Belfast Music Week Showcase 2012
David C Clements, LaFaro, Katharine Philippa, Rams Pocket Radio, A Plastic Rose, Wonder Villains,
VerseChorusVerse, More Than Conquerors, Ryan Vail, Runaway GO, Pretty Child Backfire, Tom McShane.
Free admission.

Thurs 8 – The Empire Music Hall
Mick Flannery, Heathers, Desert Hearts, Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club, The Virginmarys, Daithi.
Moulettes. Plus special recorded performances by Our Krypton Son, The Mighty Stef, Empty Lungs.
8.30pm, £10

Sun 11 – Oh Yeah
Terri Hooley party with musical friends to celebrate the unveiling of the plaque that Belfast City Council will unveil in his honour. Free admission.

Sun 11 – The Empire
The Grand Ole Opry at The Empire, with Wookalily, The White Mansions, Elaine McConaghie and friends. £6

Further events are due to be announced in the coming weeks with tickets available NOW by visiting
www.belfastmusic.org

Belfast Music Week is organised by Belfast City Council and this year is being co-ordinated by the Oh Yeah music centre.

Belfast City Council’s Belfast Music Week is co-ordinated by the Oh Yeah Music Centre and supported by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Tourism Ireland.

Tickets are available now at www.belfastmusic.org

For further information please contact; Jeff Robinson PR / +44(0)787 4862334 / jeff@nulljeffrobinsonpr.com

Villagers have just announced that their new album, {Awayland}, will be released on 11th January 2013.  {Awayland}, which will be released on Domino, is the follow up to the Mercury-nominated and Ivor Novello Award winning debut, Becoming a Jackal.  

Engineered, produced and mixed at Attica Audio in Donegal by Conor J. O’Brien and Villagers’ guitarist Tommy McLaughlin, the album will be released on CD, LP and digital. There will also be a special limited 10” x 10” fabric cover hardback book with silver foil print, containing the album on CD with an exclusive DVD featuring five intimate live performances by Villagers recorded in Ireland ; these will be signed and only available through Dom Mart. To pre-order the album, click here http://www.dominorecordco.com/uk/albums/21-09-12/awayland/.

Tracklisting

My Lighthouse
Earthly Pleasure
The Waves
Judgement Call
Nothing Arrived
The Bell
{Awayland}
Passing a Message
Grateful Song
In a Newfound Land You Are Free
Rhythm Composer

The trailer for {Awayland} can be viewed here:

The first single to be taken from {Awayland} is The Waves which will be released on 22nd October 2012. The accompanying video, directed by Alden Volney, can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/villagerstv.  
 
Upcoming Irish Dates:

OCTOBER
Thurs 11 – Set Theatre, Kilkenny

NOVEMBER
Sun 11 – Black Box, Belfast
Tues 13 – Whelans, Dublin

www.wearevillagers.com
www.facebook.com/villagers

Sirkus Sirkuz is the new solo project from Decky Hedrock (The Japanese Popstars) and he releases his “Trilogy EP” on the 5th November with US based 9G Records.  The release comprises of three separate singles respectively titled “Plastic Explosive”, “Little Rodent” and “Telefunk” – which include some huge remixes from Elektropusher, Galactus, Dolly Devereaux, We Take Polaroids, McLennan, Alexander Technique, Kik Katz and Superstringz – making a total of 12 tracks spanning across the whole Trilogy release.

The title tracks are all very different from each other, with “Plastic Explosive” weighing in as a high octane acid techno rollercoaster ride, whilst “Little Rodent”, a Deadmau5 inspired track is the composite of the EPs, with its deep and evolving dancefloor house groove and epic strings. Rounding off the three tracks is “Telefunk”, which has the essence of electro meets tech house growing and exploding into a frenzied finish.

Sirkus Sirkuz has already set tongues wagging across the globe with the debut release called “Rapier EP” with DJ Mag (Spain) describing it as “Delicately Devastating” and DMC World Magazine crediting him as “One of the UK’s most exciting new producers”.

The Trilogy EP is a heavy release package that reaches across different genres of music and gaining early support from the likes of Felix Da Housecat, Turbo Turbo, Attaque and Medicine 8.

You can listen to the entire release right here: http://soundcloud.com/9grecords/sets/sirkus-sirkuz-trilogy-promo/s-jvL3H

It will be available online from all the usual music stores on the 5th November on 9G Records.