Blue mondays don't phase me

So this monday was officially called blue monday, people were depressed, the stock market went tits up but I heard this band and officially stopped caring about blue monday bollocks and fixed my attention to rocking out. They are called Holy Ghost Toast who feature Emily Aoibheann from Janey Mac, Party Weirdo  and Jule and their song "Survival Guide to Slow Attack" has been stuck in my little brainbox ever since. I am literally waiting with bated breath for this album.

check em out at the link above.

that is all.

Let independence be yr guide

One thing in really excited about in 2008 is new releases by independent Irish bands and labels. Last year my band brian cullen's love bullets formed our own label CPR which was really fucking exciting (and expensive but thats another story) and releasing our record all by ourselves truly was a proud day for all concerned. Seeing it in all it's glory was a site to behold and we owe an eternal debt of gratitude to David Donohoe of Studiomime for inspiration and artwork all down the line.

2008 will see a new release from us called "Bring out yr dead" which is a big departure for "Ask for Directions" but hopefully will be as well received. Another release I'm excited about is the new Betamax Format E.P.,the title of which I still don't know. I am told by Darren Betamax that the EP will contain 4 tracks,two of which can be heard on their myspace. I'm a big fan of the track "Turnaround Bright Eyes" so check it out.This will be out in March.Huzzah!            

Onto my last point of order for this blog, the new giveamanakickrecord is out on Out on a Limb Records, another deaaaaadly independent Irish label. These guys are perhaps one of the deadliest bands I've ever seen live. The noise produced by just two guys is amazing and certainly gave dinosaur jnr a run for their money when I saw them support them. I'll give this album a review here when I get it tomorrow in road.till then dudes.

Seomra Spraoi Fundraiser

If y'all are free on Friday night why not head down to the Lower Deck, Portobello to support Seomra Spraoi.They are a non profit, non government funded organisation who aimed to provide a workspace for artists,musicians etc but were closed down by the gardai for some breech of health and safety regulations. To bring all this stuff up to code or find an alternative safe venue costs money and you can help by attending the Lower deck this Friday.

The night is being organised by Allen and his cohorts at the Ballroom of Romance.

 

Bands on the night are:

Estel

Party Weirdo

LArge Mound

Hounds

Entrance is 10 blips!

LPX- Seventeen Launch Night

Despite the bitter cold night, a good crowd turned up for the launch of (The) LPX new e.p. entitled "Seventeen". Support on the night came from Yeh Deadlies and my band Brian Cullen's Love Bullets. The Yeh Deadlies kicked off the night with some blistering melodic tunes which really warmed the heart. Expect big things from them this year on the release of their new E.P. of which details will follow in a few weeks. They were followed by Brian Cullen's Love Bullets who I can't really review cos I'm their guitar player but suffice to say the crowd were lovely and really know their wrestling.

On to (The) LPX who provided the crowd with a good mix of old and new stuff from the EP "Seventeen".The quality and sheer volume of noise made by LPX is pretty incredible and really blew the crowd away. The EP itself is a huge departure from Experiments in Dub and Hifi and I strongly recommend that you check it out. The title track is available on his myspace and is a mix of beats and beautiful melodies which would make the heart soar.Leigh is famous around Dublin for his fantastic "Electric Fix" club which he ran for 2 years before moving off to Engerland to finish his education. this club is sadly missed around Dublin as it gave new bands a chance to cut their teeth to a regular crowd.

The tracklist from the EP is as follows:

1. Seventeen

2. Jake's Lament

3. Dimentia in Space and Time

4. When the God's punish me

Jake's Lament also features in the Stephen Cadwell/Beatrice Ni Bhroin film "Ne me quitte pas" which I'm sure will be displayed on the internet soon. You can view Stephen's other films here at Blathanna Pictures or on youtube and you can see some of Beatrice's work here. More on "ne me quitte pas" later tho.