A few weeks ago, On The Record readers were asked to give their opinions about ticket prices in Ireland. Well, you didn’t need much encouragement and responded in your droves here and here. In today’s issue of The Ticket, there’s a lengthy piece about this very subject, including various quotes taken from the blog. Big thanks from me to everyone who took the time to take part.

PS In light of the gigonomics feature, this piece from last week’s paper on Live Nation, MCD and the Irish live music business will be of interest to many of you.

Last call for any readers who want to contribute their thoughts on the musical highs and lows of 2007 to The Ticket’s review of the year. If you have anything you want to say about the year in music, you have until Monday to get your spoke in. Go here to read what has already been said.

Universal Music boss Doug Morris has become the latest record industry boss to unburden himself of his thoughts about the demise of the record industry.
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Getting a song placed on a hit TV show like Grey’s Anatomy can turn out to be a tipping point for an act (just ask Snow Patrol), while shows like The OC have played a significant role in the rise of acts like Death Cab for Cutie and The Shins.

Next week’s Soundtrack of Our Lives confab in Belfast will look how artists and songwriters are increasingly using TV shows, movies, computer games , DVDs, advertisements and various multimedia channels to promote their music.

Speakers will include Clare McKinney (business affairs at Domino Records), independent music publisher Annie Reed, Phil Bird (online music licensing company Ricall) and Oppenheimer’s Rocky O’Reilly (whose music has featured on Ugly Betty and in ad campaigns for Nike and Fuji)

The conference takes place next Monday (December 3) at the University of Ulster on York Street in Belfast at 5.30pm.

The year may be drawing to a close, but there are still some thrilling new Irish albums on the way.

On The Record has spent this week enthusing about Galwayman Adrian Crowley’s fourth album “Long Distance Swimmer” to anyone who will listen.

While it may be released very late in the year, it would be a huge shame if an album of such peerless quality gets lost in the post-Christmas rush.

“Long Distance Swimmer” is released on December 7 on Tin Angel Records.

Anyone surprised that Amy Winehouse has pulled her Dublin show tomorrow night?

Winehouse yanked her entire tour, with promoters citing “the rigours involved in touring and the intense emotional strain that Amy has been under in recent weeks”.

She was due to play Dublin’s RDS, a venue where a Kings Of Leon show ended early on Tuesday due to what promoters MCD termed a minor health sand safety issue.

One concert-goer commented to the On The Record blog that he saw “what looked like ’snow’ falling from the suspended lights in front of the stage”.

Kings Of Leon are the first act confirmed for next year’s Oxegen festival.

Just for Jim Dubh and Liz who were wondering what happened to my plan for a regular YouTube Tuesday. It will be back, I promise.

For now, here’s what happened when Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip auditioned for X Factor.

Yes, yes, you do have room in your head for one more new band before December comes along.
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The shortlist for the Choice Music Prize will be announced on Wednesday January 9th and the live event will take place in Vicar Street, Dublin on Wednesday February 27th.

The winning act will stagger home with a cheque for €10,000 (courtesy of the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO)) and a smashing piece of glassware (courtesy of industry body, Recorded Artists & Performers (RAAP)).

The shortlist is selected by a panel of 12 men and women, good and true, drawn from the ranks of those who write about and/or talk about music for a living. You’ll find out who they are when the shortlist is announced. And yes, they’re the ones to blame.

Declaration of interest: I’m one of the co-founders of this and am also the chairman of the judging panel.

The first Dublin RDS show on May 22 is sold out, the second show on Friday May 23 is also sold out and there are still - I think - tickets on sale for the THIRD show on Sunday May 25.

I knew there was a lot of Bruce fans in Ireland, but this many? Or are people buying tickets for all three shows? And, seeing as Bruce will be around on Saturday May 24, can we expect a fourth show?

UPDATE All three shows are now sold out.

When On The Record was known as Discotheque, I used to occasionally do a column (like this one) where I came up with a rake of TV show ideas. It was easy work because ideas for TV shows are always half man, half biscuit. I was forced to stop doing the columns when it became obvious that a bunch of researchers and producers in RTE were paying attention. I mean, how else can you explain how a 2004 idea for a show called Radio Sweethearts about a bunch of celebs running a radio station turned into Charity 252?

But it struck me last night, when I caught the end of Celebrity Painting & Decorating, that there is obviously still some mileage left in the no-brainer idea of shipping in some so-called celebrities to bulk out a format.

This show featured Linda Martin (unlike any Irish Times writer, she once won the Eurovision) and Kevin Sharkey (and, also unlike Irish Times writers, he’s an artist with a Donegal accent) putting up shelves, picking curtains and doing a spot of painting in two showhouses in some dreary looking estate somewhere in the country. They were accompanied by a very excited man wearing a tight jumper who oohed and aahed at all their ideas. Linda Martin’s reaction when she won would seem to indicate that she thought this was the best thing to happen to her since she got a metaphorical elbow in the ribs from Brendan O’Connor on You’re (Never Ever Ever Going To Be) A Star. She may even get another TV show out of it.

There’s probably a top-secret division out in Montrose charged with coming up with these ideas to keep the Irish celebrity class off the streets. Maybe they’ve already considered a couple of Celebrity Angelus slots (Twink stops making a cup of tea to stare moodily into the distance where Dave McSavage is weeding the garden). How about Celebrity Crimewatch (I’m sure some RTE producer could sweet-talk Keith Duffy into fronting this)? Or Celebrity Oireachtas Report (replace Micheál Lehane with some rugby player for a week and the ratings would soar)? Or Celebrity Prime Time Investigates (Graham Cruz and one of the fellows from Westlife - any of them - examine the sub-prime mortgage lending sector in Ireland)? Celebrity Ear To The Ground (Gerald Kean and Bill Cullen tackle the causes of mastitis and diarrhea in cattle)? Remember where you read it first.

As played on Phantom 105.2, Saturday November 24, 10pm-midnight

Teenage Bad Girl “Cocotte” (Citizen)
Justice “Stress” (Ed Banger)
Vitalic “No Fun” (Different)
Micronauts “Distracted” (Citizen)
Model 500 “The Chase” (Network)
A Guy Called Gerald “Voodoo Ray” (Rham)
White Williams “Route To Palm” (Tigerbeat6)
Studio “Self Service” (Information)
Yeasayer “Sunrise” (We Are Free)
Santogold “Les Artistes” (Lizard King)
Professor Longhair “Big Chief” (Soul Jazz)
Ernie K Doe “Here Come The Girls” (Soul Jazz)
David Axelrod “Holy Thursday” (Capitol)
Hot Chip “I Became A Volunteer” (Virgin)
Silje Nes “Over All” (Fat Cat)
Burial “Etched Hardware” (Hyperdub)
Chequerboard “7 Today” (Lazybird)
Octopus Project “Queen” (Peek-A-Boo)
Adrian Crowley “Harmony Row” (Tin Angel)
Seasick Steve “Cut My Wings” (Bronzerat)
Bonnie Prince Billie “New Partner” (Domino)
Adrian Crowley “Bless Our Tiny Hearts” (Tin Angel)
Alela Diane “Tired Feet (Names)
Josh Ritter “The River” (Live track)
Bruce Springsteen “Darkness On The Edge Of Town” (Columbia)

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band opened their European tour in Madrid last night. The gig was quite extraordinary - I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a Springsteen show where the entire audience (all 15,000 of them) went so ballistic from the outset. Even the band seemed taken aback by what was going on.

The five song blast from “Darkness on the Edge of Town” to “The Promised Land” was simply breath-taking and proof that there’s no other band in the business like this lot. The new songs are already beginning to sprout wings (“Livin’ In The Future” and “Long Walk Home” were anthemic), but naturally it was “Badlands” and “Born To Run” which brought the house down.

Here’s the set list:

Radio Nowhere
No Surrender
Lonesome Day
Gypsy Biker
Magic
Reason to Believe
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Candy’s Room
She’s the One
Livin’ in the Future
The Promised Land
I’ll Work For Your Love
Tunnel of Love
Working on the Highway
Devil’s Arcade
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands

(Encore)

Girls in Their Summer Clothes
Thunder Road
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
American Land

UPDATE Full review of the show here.

Usually you stop digging, but there are exceptions. Like the dude at the centre of this tale

I posted earlier today about Nialler9’s account of what happened when he went do a bit of work at Tripod the other night. Readers might want to check back on Nialler’s post because one of the Nokia dudes has got in touch and he just doesn’t seem to know what to do with his shovel. Comments 19 on are particularly good.

Mmmm, I wonder if it’s time for Mulley to take an interest. And UnaRocks. And The Chancer. And Sinead. And Nadine. And Rick. I mean, Nokia Trends Lab DO want publicity….

The first news has emerged about Oxegen 2008. The big change is that it’s now a three day affair, running from July 11 to 13. Limited number of early bird tickets go on sale next Friday (at €197.50 a pop) and the first acts will be announced in February.

Interestingly, there’s still no sign of a messageboard on the site for the Oxegen community to chat to each other. Wonder what that’s about…..

Nialler was at the Go! Team’s gig in Tripod the other night. He was working with the excellent Super Extra Bonus Party doing the visuals. It was a Nokia Trends Lab hooley.

Now read what happened next. Here’s one excerpt which is going to look just fantastic in the PR file:

Twats in boiler suits hassling everyone coming in about Trends Lab with the greeting “Join our Experiment”. They may as well have said “Join our Mobile Phone Cult, mere mortals!”. Loads of cringeworthy footage between acts consisting of bands roped into talking about how great their Nokias are and how they use it interspersed with a call to text to win a phone at the gig. Does anyone in Nokia PR/Marketing understand how annoying this is for regular Joes and Janes? Do they honestly think that people are going to walk away from the gig going “Yeh, Nokia and the Go! Team, what a great partnership. Nokia kick ass!” WHAT THE FUCK?

Remember that Nialler and his mates are probably the target audience that the marketing people are telling Nokia that shows like this will reach.

Of course we have been here before (see number 5 here). Idiots from marketing departments just never learn, do they? It makes you wonder just what horrors are in store when Harvest Entertainment go to work. You thought record labels were bad? Wait till Nokia Trends Lab have their way.

By the by, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard comments about the heavy-handed and power-tripping Tripod lads and lasses either.

The end of the year is nigh, which can mean only one thing. Yes, it’s time to recall the musical highs and lows of 2007.

To do this, we need your help. As well as our writers trying to recall what rocked and what didn’t, we want to hear from you, the reader, for our review of the year. What albums made you smile? What gigs do you remember fondly?

Have your say in the comments field below.

The music industry continues to invent new business models. The latest group to attempt to replace the traditional record label are Harvest Entertainment, a collection of high-powered media players who aim to be the middlemen between bands and brands.
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David Barton and Kulpreet Singh believe that every struggling new band out there needs a Karmafan or two.

That’s the name of the new service from the Dublin-based duo aimed at bands interested in seeing if Radiohead’s tip-jar approach to getting fans to pay for music might also work for them.

Karmafan’s free-to-use service allows people to make voluntary payments to bands if they like their music.

Fans can set up accounts with the service, top it up with a credit card or Paypal payment, and then spread the love among acts they like, provided the band in question are sporting a Karmafan button on their website, MySpace or blog.

Barton and Singh won’t take a cent from these micro-payments, believing that the idea of tips also applies to them.

“If an artist believes that Karmafan has helped them, then they can give something back.”

More information from Karmafan.

This’ll make some Ticket readers feel old: it’s 14 years since Rí-Rá opened. Ah, we remember that night well….

The club recently changed hands, but the music is still very much funk, soul, disco and indie.

Guest DJs for the club’s birthday bash this week include Ladytron at Strictly Handbag (Monday), Snow Patrol’s Nathan Connolly and Tom Simpson (Tuesday), DFA’s Tim Sweeney and Tim Goldsworthy (Friday, 30th ) and Ninja Tune stalwart Bonobo (Saturday, December 1st).

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band play Dublin’s RDS Arena on May 22nd next (and we reckon there might be a second show on the cards too)

Tickets go on sale next Wednesday at 9am through Ticketmaster and will be priced at €81.25-€91.25.

Bruce kicks off his European tour this Sunday in Madrid and plays a sold-out gig in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast on December 15th.

His album Magic was released on October 2nd and was number one in the Irish album charts for four weeks.

Music really does sound better like this
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My man Jermaine Dupri has got Jay-Z’s back over the “American Gangster” and iTunes schmoozle. Dupri notes in this blog that Jay-Z won’t be the last artist to believe that an album shouldn’t be pimped out track by track

I believe he’s starting a movement that’s necessary. More artists and producers are gonna take back control of how their art is sold because his strategy has paid off. Maybe Hova coulda sold another 100,000 to 200,000 units by playing it iTunes’ way, but he still had the number one album last week. He STILL sold 425,000 units. Even more, he’s proven you can still sell an album without those guys.

(Tip of the hat to Kieran Smith for uncovering this one)

David Brooks turns his eye towards the fragmentation of music culture, with a little help from E Street Band-er Steven Van Zandt.

The Telegraph discovers girls with guitars.

Are you a member of the Infringement Nation?

The Josh Ritter bandwagon reaches The Independent. Naturally, the piece is not as good as this (cough)

Good kids in Texas don’t grind.

Karen Miller, 53 years old, saw her first “freak dance” four years ago when she was chaperoning a high-school dance attended by her freshman daughter. One boy was up close to a girl’s back, bumping and grinding to the pounding beat of the music. “I thought, ‘That’s just dadgum nasty,’” Ms. Miller recalls. “It really had me sick to my stomach.”

Divatastic!

Read about the return - again - of Sengal’s Orchestra Baobab.

Or you can read about the return of Stax Records here.

And what really happened when a “teenage Marine” and a “hot blonde” fell in love.

To celebrate the fact that On The Record has finally entered the video age, here are some favourites from the vaults. Strap yourselves in….

We start with The Boss from 1975.

How about Marvin Gaye in Japan?

JB on the good foot in 1966!

And, finally, the mighty Miles at the Isle of Wight festival in 1970

Sean O’Rourke is my favourite radio broadcaster beause he’s one of the only RTE lads who always conducts tough interviews. The Morning Ireland team have a tendency to huff and puff (that interview last week with Albert Reynolds was a case in point), Mary Wilson is still dull (which is why Matt Cooper is doing so well) and stand-ins like Keelin Shanley and co only act tough when they have a soft target on the other end of the phoneline, but O’Rourke always asks the hard questions.

You rarely hear anyone get the better of him so, come on down Kevin Dawson, RTE’s commissioning editor for factual programmes. At least, he tried his best and he should get a pay rise for attempting to defend his bailiwick today.

Dawson was on the show today to talk about High Society, the show about the fact that everyone in the whole bloody country is going around snorting big fat lines of cocaine. The Sunday Tribune, for one, have been asking a ton of questions about Justine Delaney Wilson’s show, particularly her allegation that she had a taped interview with a minister from the last government admitting that he was partial to a few lines.

RTE told the Tribune:

There are no audio recordings of the politician. In the case of the politician, RTE television relied upon the extensive contemporaneous notes which fully record this individual’s testimony.

Today, O’Rourke played a tape from a Drivetime interview with Delaney-Wilson where she claimed that she had the minister on tape.

Then, Dawson got going. You can listen to the show here and enjoy a masterclass in how to wheedle out of answering the questions - and a masterclass from O’Rourke is how to keep ask the tough questions of the public service broadcaster who pay your wages.

She plays Belfast’s Waterfront Hall on April 28. Tickets are £39. No date (yet) in the dirty south but there seems to be a few blanks to be filled on this schedule.

(1) Wilco live are majestic. Nay-sayers, take a hike. People who saw them elsewhere on this tour and went “meh”, go back to your trainspotting. Those who think nothing will compare to their Whelan’s show back in the day, go back to your knitting. Last Thursday’s gig was the best live show I’ve seen in Zero Seven featuring an ungainly guitarist (that would be the peerless Nels Cline), the most energetic drummer outside of a Duracell ad (that would be Glenn Kotche) and a lead singer who is slowly morphing into Bob Dylan (and that would be Jeff Tweedy). “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart” was where things went all blurry for me.

(2) Here’s a hint that everyone’s favourite fortnightly Katy French fanzine is about to start blogging. Here, does this mean they’ll be charging for the blogs? And will they let ALL the comments appear after each blog post? Can’t wait to read Olaf’s blog. Or Niall’s blog. He could call himself Nialler10. Chuckle.

(3) M.I.A. ain’t got love for Dublin. Then again, it must be a two-way thing because there’s just not enough people in Dublin willing to show their love for M.I.A. by shelling out fortysomething euro to stand in a tent in the middle of December and wave their hands in the air like they don’t care. No excuse given for the cancellation so anyone care to hazard a guess? And you can’t use “unforseen circumstances”, OK? That one’s already had a run out this season.

(4) Mo’ reasons why Dan is the man - You’re Only Massive support the Deacon at Whelan’s on December 2nd.

(5) Mulley is looking for new ideas for categories for the Irish Blog Awards. We think the idea of a Best Damien Mulley Row category is a zinger.

(6) American Gangster’s yarn about the rise and fall of Harlem drug dealer and kingpin Frank Lucas is well worth its two and a half hours. Denzel Washington is excellent, but Russell Crowe is sublime. And Jay-Z’s album of the same name is well worth checking out too.

(7) Are the Stereophonics the most joyless band who have ever existed? Watching them on Later with Jools Holland was the most horrific TV experience of the weekend. I mean, who pissed in their chips to make them that miserable? And they’re doing THREE shows in Ireland the week after next. Three shows! Holy what-the-hell-is-that-all-about Batman?

(8) And whose idea was it that Joe Duffy would make a good TV host? They should have given the gig to our fellow ireland.com blogger, the Pope.

(9) Want to know about jazz in Ireland? Read Cluas, the home of jazz in Ireland according to a couple of search engines. Eoghan O’Neill explains how you too can hoodwink technology.

(10) On The Record readers heart MT USA

(11) Maybe it’s time that we set up a Myth v Factpage like this beauty from radio, TV and advertising hoarding behemoth, Clear Channel

As played on Phantom 105.2, Saturday November 17, 10pm-midnight

Chateau Flight “Baroque” (Innervisions)
LCD Soundsystem “Hippie Priest Bum-Out” (DFA)
Villians “Thrilla” (White)
Bonde Do Role “Marina Gasolina (Fake Blood remix)” (Domino)
You’re Only Massive “Sugar Shake The Cool” (Decies)
Holy Hail “Big Guns” (Kanine)
Cadence Weapon “Black Hand” (Big Dada)
M.I.A. “Paper Planes (Instrumental)” (XL)
Foals “Balloons” (Transgressive)
Dead Kids “Fear & Fluoride” (Salvia)
The Devastations “Mistakes” (Beggars)
Young Galaxy “Lost In The Call” (Arts & Crafts)
Windmill “Ashmatic” (Melodic)
Duffy “Rockferry” (A&M)
Antony & The Johnsons “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” (Columbia)
Wilco “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart” (Nonesuch)
Silje Nes “Giant Disguise” (Fat Cat)
The Octopus Project “Snow Tip Cap Mountain” (Peek-A-Boo)
Burial “Ghost Hardware” (Hyperdub)
Amiina & Lee Hazlewood “Hilli (At The Top of the World)” (Ever)
The Antlers “When You Sleep” (MP3)
Jeff Buckley “Corpus Christi Carol” (Columbia)
Scala & Kolacny Brothers “Heartbeats” (Fratelli)
Daniel Johnson “Devil Town” (Eternal Yip Eye Music)
Nancy Elizabeth “Off With Your Axe” (Leaf)
Simone White “I Didn’t Have A Summer Romance” (Honest Jon’s)

Ryan Adams, Daniel Lanois, Fight Like Apes, Candie Payne, Seasick Steve, The Charlatans and Sinéad O’Connor are among the acts set to feature on the new season of RTÉ’s Other Voices.
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If Irish music fans think live venues are busy at the moment, there’s little sign of a let-up for early 2008.

In fact, a host of acts are already confirmed for the first three months of next year, including visits from Band of Horses, Steve Earle, Editors, Eels, Pharoah Sanders and Queens of the Stone Age, as well as tours endorsed by music magazines NME and Kerrang.

However, there’s no indication yet that any of the Big Three promoters intend to repeat their shows in tents in Dublin 8. Despite some successful outings from Arcade Fire, Bloc Party and Buena Vista Social Club, some promoters are nursing heavy losses due to their move to temporary accomodations because of renovation at the Point Depot.

December sees the Live at the Marquee season in the Phoenix Park with Kanye West, Duran Duran, Justice (supported by the excellent Teenagers), MIA and Cascada.

Long before Other Voices and No Disco flew the flag for music television in Ireland, there was MT USA.

Running from 1984 to 1987, the Sunday afternoon show took its cues from then broadcast newbie MTV.

Each episode featured presenter Vincent Hanley standing on various New York street corners introducing videos from such stars as ZZ Top, Cyndi Lauper, The Bangles, Men Without Hats and, in case you had forgotten, the legendary Dennis Deyoung.

A double-CD and DVD compilation featuring acts from the show’s heyday goes on release today.

The Balkan music invasion continues.

Following visits this year from Macedonia’s Kocani Orkestar (of Borat soundtrack fame) and Romania’s Fanfare Ciocarlia, December will see Serbia’s Boban Markovic Orkestar tour Ireland.

Catch Markovic and his 14-piece orchestra at Letterkenny’s Cultural Centre (December 5th), Sligo’s Model Arts (6th), Bray’s Mermaid Arts Centre (7th), Cork’s School of Music (8th), and Dublin’s Button Factory (9th).

Bet you didn’t think it would happen. Bet she didn’t think it would happen. And I really bet the promoters didn’t think it would happen. But all the tickets for Celine Dion’s show on May 30th in Croke Park next year are sold out. Yes, holy sellout Batman.

My Bloody Valentine have announced three shows in Britain for next year. They play London on June 20, Manchester on June 28 and Glasgow on July 2. Lots of space between those gigs to retune guitars and get new ear-plugs. No Irish gigs so the big question: Electric Picnic or Oxegen?

Ivor gets the credit for the first comment:

Can I be the first to “Meh” about the My Bloody Valentine gigs next year?

A week ago, I’d never heard of The Antlers. Now, I can’t get enough of them.
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(1) It seems that Cathal Mac Coille believes the Socialist Workers Party is responsible for yanking the bus service in north Dublin and leaving 60,000 people walking and fuming in the rain. Here, how will those strikers from Harristown get to their planned demo outside Dublin Bus HQ in O’Connell Street today if there are no buses?

(2) France has also gone strike-crazy in the transport sector. Must be the time of year.

(3) Our Lady Of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is very clean. Of course, that’s according to their own in-house survey.

(4) Enterprise Ireland are confident that Irish industries are going to make a mint from the London Olympics. Wonder does that include the pharmaceutical sector?

(5) If you’re renting a flat at 46 Mobhi Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 11, watch out for the yellow wires.

Tom - yes, Tom of the 209,568,814 friends - talks! Loving this quote:

Like most people do nowadays, we pay less and less attention to an artist’s friend count. It’s weird how people think that it means something. From our perspective, that just means a band was successful at marketing themselves.

The man from the FT has no love for Fiddy

One of the musical disappointments of the year for me was the demise of The Immediate. Here’s Barra Heavey’s take on how and why the band fell apart.

Is 360 the magic number? The New York Times rounds up the pros and cons and ties them all together with a nice, neat bow.

Radiohead say “that bollox from The Irish Times was right”. Well, sort of.

Christian rock gets the rapture again.

The writing may be on the wall for the record industry, but deals like this (scroll down for story) are still getting the nod from the executive washroom. Will a military brass band save the music industry? That would be a no.

As played on Phantom 105.2, Saturday November 10, 10pm-midnight

The Octopus Project “Trunk” (Peek-A-Boo)
Dan Deacon “Crystal Cat” (Carpark)
Holy Fuck “Lovely Allen” (Young Turks)
These Dancing Days “These Dancing Days” (Wichita)
Underworld “Rez” (JBO)
Hot Chip “Shake A Fist” (Virgin)
Prinzhorn Dance School “You Are The Space Invader (Optimo Espacio mix)” (DFA)
Jakobinarina “Nice Guys Don’t Play Good Music” (Regal)
Black Kids “Listen To Your Body Tonight” (Black Kids)
Voltage Union “All Who You Know” (Dance To The Radio)
The Royal We “French Legality” (Geographic)
Santogold “Les Artistes (Lizard King)
Matthew Dear “Don & Sherri (Hot Chip remix)” (Ghostly International)
Boban Markovic Orkestar “Rromano bijav” (Piranha)
Duffy “Rockferry” (A&M)
Cat Power “Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again” (Columbia)
Robert Wyatt “AWOL” (Domino)
Stina Nordenstam “I See You Again” (Atlantic)
Nancy Elizabeth “Hey Son” (Leaf)
New Buffalo “Cheer Me Up, Thank You” (Arts & Crafts)
Arthur & Yu “Come To View (Song For Neil Young)” (Hardly Art)
Valerie Project “Dungeon” (Twisted Nerve)
Silje Nes “Over All” (Fat Cat)
Johan Johansson “Joi & Karen” (4AD)
The Antlers “East River Berlin Wall” (Fall)
Chet Baker “My Ideal” (Capitol)
Sheila Chandra “Ever So Lonely/Eyes/Ocean” (Real World)

It may only seem like yesterday that thousands were tramping through the fields in Co Laois, yet tickets for Electric Picnic 2008 go on sale today.
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Four Irish acts will be going Dutch in January at Eurosonic, the best new music showcase in Europe.

2FM have selected Cathy Davey and Republic Of Loose for the long-running talent pow-wow held in Groningen in northern Holland, while Halves and Si Schroeder are also on the bill.

Eurosonic has become an important player in the European music business in recent years, thanks in no small part of the growing heft of the live sector.

Attracting festival bookers, promoters and radio stations, the festival is an ideal opportunity for bands who have their live chops together to shine and gain live and radio support from abroad.

Around 250 acts from 2,117 applicants will play at Eurosonic 2008. Expect to hear mention in the post-festical despatches of noisy Icelandic scamps Jakobinarina and Danish thrillers Who Made Who.

Eurosonic takes place from January 10th to 12th.

Our favourite indie jockette is hitting the road. Today FM’s Alison Curtis will be taking her excellent Last Splash radio show to Cork and Galway later this month.

The Leeside date is on November 21 with Nine Black Alps playing in Cyprus Avenue, followed by David Kitt, Calvin Harris and Hooray for Humans in The Savoy.

On November 24th, the Last Splash roadshow reaches Galway where David Kitt, Disconnect 4 and Donal Dineen play the Roisin Dubh, with Calvin Harris, Dark Room Notes and Dukes of Decent in Cuba.

The Last Splash airs Sundays at 8pm on Today FM.

Who said no-one buys CDs or vinyl anymore? The people behind the long-running Music, CD & Record fairs would beg to differ.

Attracting serious collectors and casual browsers, the fairs have built up a fine rep over the last couple of years.

The 37th fair will be held at Filmbase in Dublin’s Temple Bar (opposite the Button Factory) on November 24th and 25th.

Over 45 dealers have already confirmed their attendance so if you’re in the market for U2 or Elvis rarities, this is definitely for you.

Ooooooooooh!
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It’s the day when the record industry get their revenge on Radiohead.

Sinead has already posted about this, based on a report in today’s Guardian, and there’s also a piece in The Times too.

Before we take a bite of this, some caveats. In fact, more caveats than even those which apply when considering last night’s 8-0 drubbing at Anfield.

No-one but Radiohead and their peeps can actually say how much cash they made or lost on the “In Rainbows” experiment. The surveys, the ComScore one which produced today’s stories and Record of the Day’s well reported What Price Did You Choose? one, are selective and only form part of the overall picture. They may be right but the real facts and figures are with the band and Courtyard Management and they ain’t sharing.

Anyway, the gist of the pieces is that two thirds of those who downloaded the album didn’t pay a penny for it. OK, they paid the 45p “credit card administration fee” (anyone from Visa want to confirm if this is excessive?), but their generosity didn’t go any further. The rest paid an average of £2.90 with the Yanks a bit more generous (you can attribute that to the tipping culture, I suppose).

Now, the spin is that this means that even fans of a band like Radiohead will not pay for music. They want it for free. The record labels are right after all.

Leaving aside the random thought that ComScore may have some record label clients, this take is to ignore the bigger picture. And the bigger picture is fascinating.

With hindsight, we should view this, purely and simply, as a marketing excercise. It was about establishing Radiohead as a cool, cutting-edge and innovative act. It was about priming the market-place for the CD release. It was about taking euro, pounds and dollars from the fan-base for those box-sets (interesting that no-one is willing to punt on the numbers here). It could even be viewed as experiment, by way of Freakonomics, in economics and morals.

When you apply a rough cost-benefit analysis to the “In Rainbows” download campaign, you’ll see what I mean

Cost of manufacturing CDs, warehousing and distribution? Nil

Cost of serving radio and press with advance CDs? Nil

Cost of PR and promotional activies to plug album? Nil. One press release did the trick

While there were costs involved in encoding and digital distribition, these costs would be nothing compared to savings made above. I’m sure the charge for the box-set more or less offset the costs involved in producing that artefact.

Add in the income which the band will earn from their deal with XL for the physical CD release, receipts from next year’s tour (you can bet they won’t be putting out a tip jar for that one), merchandise sales (big mark-up on those Fair Trade organic cotton tees) and publishing income and you can see why the band and their reps could afford to write-off the money from the downloads. Yet again, so many commentators are getting the wrong end of the story.

Radiohead and “In Rainbows” - the marketing stunt of the year

By the way, the album sucks. But that doesn’t matter, does it?

Went to the flicks last night - after all, I just knew Liverpool would win 8-0 (unfortunately, I’ve mislaid the betting slip) - mainly because I reckon In the Shadow of the Moon is not going to have a long run in the cinema. I mean, it’s a documentary full of old men talking about stuff from 40 years ago. It will be yanked from the screens to make way for something which will pull in punters who need popcorn and nachos to get them through a movie sitting.

It’s a huge pity because In the Shadow of the Moon is one of the most enthralling and thrilling cinematic experiences of the year. Sure, it will be out on DVD before you know it, but nothing compares to experiencing the innocent gung-ho right stuff of those astronauts on a big screen.

What you get to see of the Apollo missions is quite amazing. For the film, David Sington and Christopher Riley remastered footage from the NASA archives, added interviews with 10 of the two dozen lunar astronauts (Buzz Aldrin is good value, Mike Collins is the real star of the show and Neil Armstrong naturally said no) and threw in some TV coverage of the moon landing.

And no matter how often you see this footage, you will still go “wow”.

Steep ticket price for PJ’s forthcoming show at Dublin’s Olympia on December 19. She may be hawking a very good album, but is it worth €64.80 (€54.80 for the cheap seats), even if it’s just one of two European dates this year? At least, the Parisians are getting a taste of Irish ticket prices on this outing - €79.50, €63 and €52 to see her in the Grand Rex theatre on November 16.

Read this late last night when I finally got around to the sports supplement from yesterday’s paper after spending the day transcribing interview tapes. That’s the worst part of this job, believe you me.

Anway, it’s Mary Hannigan’s review of a BBC Northern Ireland sports show called Season Ticket which looked at a young Down footballer called Martin Clarke who now kicks the oval ball for Collingwood.

It sounds like a great story and a great TV show, chiefly because it’s a fantastic piece of writing. It nearly makes you want to watch some Aussie football. I said “nearly”.

Good news for some of you: tickets for next year’s Electric Picnic will go on sale this coming Friday. A limited number of early bird tickets will go on sale at 199 euro a pop. More tickets will go on sale once the line-up is announced next spring and they will inevitably be more expensive.

It’s a common ploy and one which means there’s money in the bank for the promoters before the line-up is announced. But it also means that people will decide to buy tickets for next summer’s festivals now and not go to shows in the next few months to make up for it. There may be an unprecedented amount of shows on at the moment, but the number of shows which are said to be struggling is also unprecedented. Some of the figures I heard over the weekend were simply staggering - expect our old friend “unforseen circumstances” to have a few more airings before Christmas.

There’s already a fear amongst many industry observers that the live business is set to go through a property-style meltdown in the coming months. For all this talk of new festivals next summer (I’ve heard talk of at least two new Electric Picnic-styled events planned for ‘08), there is the stark reality that the live calender is already chockablock and that the audience for new events is just not there. I think next summer will be the one where we’ll see a lot more flops and a lot more people deciding to head to real boutiue events, those small, less-than-5,000-capacity festivals which have little to do with the Oxegens of this world.

(1) Democracy is a bad idea. Everything was going grand at Leviathan’s Naomi Klein love-in until they asked for questions from the audience. Really, it would have been far more interesting to let her and Maccer keep talking. And it was good to see that she’d done her homework beforehand on the inequalities of the Irish health system.

(2) Twenty Major is a hoot. No, seriously. His performance at the Leviathan panel discussion, squashed as he was between Eurovision pin-up John Waters and some silly billy from the Green Party, was a masterclass in one-liners and common sense. We know that Irons Bars will have no trouble when he appears on The Late, Late Show in January to hawk his book.

(3) Tiocfaidh ár lá? These days, it’s more like “tiocfaidh ár ski slopes”.

(4) I’ve said it before and sure, I’ll say it again: Adele is going to be everywhere in 2008. “Hometown Glory” is a glorious tune. Get in now before the pack, people.

(5) Being able to pause live TV rocks. Yep, we finally goodbye to the video age at On The Record HQ.

(6) If you still have some respect for the Green Party, have a listen to Cathal Mac Coille’s interview with Eamonn Ryan from today’s Morning Ireland. Ryan may have thought he’d come on to get in a plug for the roll-out of some new electricity meter, but Mac Coille had other ideas. The minister spent the interview avoiding giving straight answers to hard questions and using the exact same get-of-out-jail cards as Willie O’Dea used last night on The Week In Politics. Having that ministerial Prius under his bum really changes things. Here, anyone still have any love for Ciaran Cuffe?

(7) There are some texters who just don’t appreciate the mighty Roscoe Holcomb on the radio of a Saturday night.

(8) The biggest cheer at last night’s Animal Collective gig came when it was announced that Panda Bear was going to play a few songs from the album of the year, “Person Pitch”.

(9) Mulley really is the Brother Mouzone of the Irish interweb. Just ask the lads at Ace Internet Marketing.

(10) Are you a musician who is still signed to EMI? Yes, I know a fair few of you read this inbetween writing b-sides and album tracks. Well, your new boss reckons you have to work harder. Something tells me that Guy Hands didn’t really think this whole record label thing through before he got out his cheque-book.

(11) Westlife to play Croke Park on June 1, 2008. Will this do the business? I know they can sell out Point shows at the drop of a hat, but that’s surely the same punters going every night. Lucifer will have to come up with a very special scam for this one. Westlife’s last gig ever, perhaps?

(12) The best soundtrack for this time of year remains that Irresistible Force remix of Coldcut’s “Autumn Leaves“. Ideal music for kicking leaves. Hear it here.

As played on Phantom 105.2, Saturday October 27, 10pm-midnight

Bob Dylan “Subterranean Homesick Blues” (CBS)
These New Puritans “Colours” (Angular)
Tiger Force “Beat This” (Marquis Cha Cha)
Tokyo Police Force “Citizens of Tomorrow” (Paper Bag)
Health “Triceratops” (Lovepump United)
Can “Moonshake” (Spoon)
!!! “Yadnus” (Warp)
Jape “Christopher & Anthony” (V2)
Les Savy Fav “The Lowest Bitter” (French Kiss)
Hooray For Humans “‘06 Forever” (Out On A Limb)
Blitzen Trapper “Devil’s A Go-Go” (Sub Pop)
Deerhunter “Strange Lights (Kranky)
Secret Machines “Better Bring Your Friends” (Reprise)
Carmel “More More More” (London)
Eight Minutes “Here’s Some Dances” (Numero)
The Supremes “My World Is Empty Without You” (Tamla Motown)
Voice Of The Seven Woods “Valley of the Rocks” (Twisted Nerve)
Adele “Hometown Glory” (Pacemaker)
Cat Power/Karen Elson “Je t’aime moi non plus” (Barclay)
Kraftwerk “The Model” (EMI)
Giorgio Moroder “The Apartment” (Polydor)
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan/Eddie Vedder “The Face Of Love” (Columbia)
Mark Hollis “The Gift” (Polydor)
Vic Chesnutt “Wallace Stevens” (Constellation)
Michael Nyman “To The Edges of the Earth” (Virgin)
Roscoe Holcomb “Man Of Constant Sorrow” Smithsonian Folkways)
Fairport Convention “Farewell Farewell” (Island)
Coldcut “Autumn Leaves (Irresistible Force Remix)” (BMG)

A new dawn, a new day, a new set of chancers. Something tells me we’re going to be spending a lot of time here in the coming weeks and months.

Can I be the first to say “The Chancer - not as good as it used to be”?

Watching The National playing to a full house at Dublin’s Olympia last night (their second sell-out show in the city in the space of 72 hours), it’s hard to believe that someone somewhere originally thought they might just about fill The Village. That was the venue, after all, which they were supposed to play initially on the Irish leg of this tour.

Even before the release of “Boxer”, the dogs and cats on the streets could have told you that the band who put on one of the best Irish shows of 2005 had already hit a tipping point and were capable of filling bigger rooms. It seems that even live promoters still don’t know about the power of word of mouth.

Of course, when it comes to promotion, word of mouth is the one thing you just can’t manage which might account for why mistakes like this are still made. Despite some attempts to try to manage the process (depite what Rick Rubin might think or hope), getting you or me to recommend a band or a brand to a trusted friend cannot be forced. And more than radio play, newspaper inches, blog praise or TV exposure, word of mouth is the most successful marketing and promotion channel of all.

I would wager that most of those who saw the band over the last few nights knew all about that show in Whelan’s in November 2005 even though they probably were not there. I mean, they physically couldn’t have been in attendance because the venue just couldn’t have held them all. Yet the rep which that gig gained led people to their last album “Alligator” and a beautiful friendship was born which is all to the benefit of new album “Boxer” and these shows the band are playing. I’m sure those who count the band’s merch take at the end of every live show know all about it.

Last night’s show was a smasher, an occasion when absolutely everything was right. The venue, the sound, the audience and the band combined to take proceedings up a notch at every possible turn. Every song, every note, seemed perfect for the occasion. Matt Berninger may be an unlikely frontman, but there is passion and magnetism galore in his brittle shyness. When he jumped into the audience at the end of the show, you really did fear he’d bolt for the door and not come back for the encore. A magical night out.

(And happy birthday to The National fan and On The Record regular Pedro!)

UPDATE 1 Support act St Vincent rocked.

UPDATE 2 Ian also felt the ground move beneath his feet last night

Irish acts Duke Special, Jape and Juno Falls are amongst those who may be affected by the closure of record label V2 by new owners Universal Music.
(more…)

While this week’s main story indicates more doom and gloom ahead for the record business, live music’s likely lads continue to make out like bandits.

Many of those who earn their corn from performing or selling music will therefore be interested in what’s up for discussion at the Live Music Business Summit to be held in Belfast’s Spring & Airbrake next Wednesday.

A bunch of seasoned music business observers, including Feargal Sharkey (the ex-Undertone who is now chairman of the UK’s Live Music Forum), Glasgowbury festival promoter Paddy Glasgow, Alan Simms who runs clubs Shine and Stiff Kitten and record-label boss James Cassidy, will be discussing the current lie of the land.

There will also be live performances from local acts In Case Of Fire, General Fiasco, Defcon and Cashier No 9.

Admission to the event is free and further information can be obtained from the Northern Irish Music Commission or on 048-90923488

It seems people in the radio business read On The Record.

A few weeks ago, we carried a story about Bob Dylan and his Theme Time Radio show and wondered why no Irish radio station had given Bob and his people a call.

Well, Dublin station Phantom FM have just added Dylan’s hugely idiosyncratic show to their line-up.

Dylan’s Theme Time Radio will be broadcast on Sundays on the station, which has just celebrated its first legal year on the airwaves and took the gong for local music-driven station of the year at the recent PPI radio awards.

The increasing importance of the live music industry is certainly the music business tale of the year.

However in Ireland and elsewhere, the huge growth in the number of live shows has not been accompanied by a similar rise in sold-out shows.

On the contrary, many shows are struggling to sell tickets and some promoters have been over-ambitious in their expectations for certain acts.

We’re currently seeking the views of readers on the state of the live music nation. From high ticket prices to the sheer quantity of shows, have your say here.

Big-potatoes venue owner Harry Crosbie, who has had an unexpected starring role in On The Record of late, has clarified some of his recent comments about who will be running his various Dublin rooms.

Speaking to Hot Press, Harry confirms that he’s done a deal with Live Nation.

Live Nation have a management contract to run The Point. They’ll also be running the new theatre that we’re building in Hanover Quay. That’ll all come under Mike Adamson’s (Live Nation Ireland boss) brief. And the same will apply to Vicar St.

But…

The acts for Vicar Street will be booked by Aiken Promotions. That’s the same as it always was.

Conspiracy theorists, it seems, will have to find something else to fume about.

Owen Pallett and his magic fiddle returns. Many will rejoice. Final Fantasy plays Vicar Street, Dublin on December 11. Ticket info to follow. Juicy support act on the cards too, we hear.

Going to see Animal Collective in Dublin on Sunday night? Don’t miss Islaja, the Finnish folkie who’s supporting. I saw her at Eurosonic earlier this year and she was truly mesmerising.

On The Record’s favourite Decie electro-hoppers You’re Only Massive have come up with a great idea for their show in the sunny south-east next week. DISCO-NNECT is a Waterford city tour leading to a You’re Only Massive gig in Waterford on Saturday November 10th. As they say themselves:

DISCO-NNECT tells you stories both fake and real, cheerleads you along, teaches you some easy moves, encourages you to run riot, gives you a drink or two along the way and helps get you in the mood for the gig in Philly Grimes. DISCO-NNECT first came to life at Conflux Festival in Brooklyn, New York in September, and then went on to be nominated for the Jayne Snow Award for Risk Taking and Innovation at the Dublin Fringe Festival. In an age of Big Brother and reality TV, it is important to note Youre Only Massive are on your side and won’t make you do anything you don’t want to. An mp3 player is desirable but not totally necessary.

Cliff Richard! Radiohead! Togeher! At least in the headline!

Hey, Cliff could have been juxtaposed with Trent Reznor. The Nine Inch Nails man talks about the future of the music industry. CNET News listens.

More Reznor. Here, he oinks with Saul Williams about the state of the world and how much they paid for the Radiohead album. See, it all comes back to that grand old duke of Yorke.

Facebook appears set to have a poke at the music industry. Interesting, isn’t it, how everyone else can still spot value in music bar the traditional players. Yeah, Guy, that means you too.

The top 105.2 songs of