Tag Archives: Villagers

Festivals: Body and Soul 2012

  By seanear1ey | March 20, 2012 – 2:23 pm | Festivals, Music, The Culch
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Villagers you say? Oh and M83? Well it’s only the ruddy Body and Soul festival! That what? The Body&Soul festival. Keep up! Started 3 years ago the festival has bounded and leapt from strength to cliché. This year sees the Uber-cool Summer Solstice-based festival return with their best line-up to-date. Don’t take our word for it (we’ll shut our dirty lying mouths) but the good folks at Body& Soul are definitely to be trusted with a line-up announcement as good as this. Who couldn’t help but love ‘em? M83, Villagers, St. Vincent, Little Dragon and Tieranniesaur are amongst the fifteen acts announced today with more to come! With the inevitable vacuum left in Oxegen’s departure from the festival circuit for this year, it is definitely the year for the smaller festivals to grow their audiences and Body&Soul is definitely in for a bumper year. Tickets usually sell out fast to … There’s more →

You HAVE to hear: New Villagers track ‘Cecelia & Her Selfhood’

  By seanear1ey | October 4, 2011 – 8:37 pm | The Culch
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Ok. I say you have to hear, but you also have to SEE this gorgeous video. It’s been quiet lately on the Conor O’Brien front which presumably and hopefully means new material. This excites us to no end as we are very big Villagers fans here at Culch towers. The blurb accompanying the video gives nothing away however merely stating that O’Brien has finally committed to tape what’s long been a fan favourite of the live sets. Which sets one wondering if tracks like ‘In A New Found Land, You Are Free’ (immortalised on the Live at the Workmans’ LP) will also be committed to tape soon and end up on the sophmore effort? The full blurb; “It is with great pleasure that we present to you, the new video for ‘Cecelia & her Selfhood’. A long-standing live favourite in Villagers shows, ‘Cecelia’ has finally been committed to tape. Indeed, … There’s more →

Tuesday Blues? How about a virtual Villagers gig?

  By Lisa McInerney | August 9, 2011 – 7:00 pm | Gigs, Music, The Culch
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No, seriously. This is an entire Villagers set, recorded live at La Maroquinerie, Paris, on the 11th of April, 2011, and made available on YouTube courtesy of Le Hib00. There are better ways to spend a Tuesday evening, but, post-economic meltdown, you probably can’t afford any of them. In black and white. From Paris. You can taste the culchur, can’t you?  

The Big, Big Music Round-Up

  By Sinead Keogh | May 9, 2011 – 12:22 pm | The Culch
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Roll up, roll up, I’m emptying out my email inbox after weeks of willful neglect and there’s a plug in here for anyone who came asking. (Well, there isn’t really, there’s a plug in here for anyone who came asking and turned out to be good. Everyone else got a sort of withering look and a quick sticks visit to the ‘Archive’ button. X-Factor children and the mammies who don’t tell them to move on…*mutter*.) Things you need to know include the fact that Villagers headline show in Marlay Park on July 23rd isn’t yet sold out, and you’ll never guess where you can get tickets either? It’s only Ticketmaster. (Just one day I want to get a press release that says ‘tickets available on Thursday at 5pm under the Spire. The contact’s called Johnny. The password is ‘kidney bean’. Just once.) I only mention because new single The Pact … There’s more →

Culch.ie’s 5 Favourite Irish albums of 2010

  By Éilish Burke | December 21, 2010 – 12:30 pm | The Culch
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It has to be said, this past year was a good one for Irish music, but there were some clear stand out albums. In the spirit of wringing every last bit of value out of a collective piece of writing, here is (in no particular order) the round-up of Culch.ie’s music writers favourite home-grown albums of 2010. Villagers – Becoming a Jackal The debut album for Conor O’Brien’s Villagers was universally praised on its release mid-year and Culch has taken it to its heart too. Bryano calls it “an album which is equally charming and beguiling throughout” and Elaine proclaims it “a stunning album, which captivates from beginning to end”. Here’s the lovely The Meaning of the Ritual Cathy Davey – The Nameless Having scored major success with her breakthrough album Sound of Silversleeve in 2007, Davey came back this year with an album no less inventive. Landing straight at … There’s more →

Culch.ie CallingCards – Gigs – December 20 -26 2010

  By Will | December 19, 2010 – 11:55 pm | Gigs, Music, The Culch
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The Rubberbandits are playing the Pavilion in Cork on Tuesday 21 December. If they leave a horse outside it will have to be locked in the Hugenot Grounds across from the Pav for safety. Villagers are (is) adding a second date for Vicar St on Wednesday 22 December. This gig is in addition to a 7-date tour of Ireland in December that will take in Waterford, Kilkenny, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Belfast and Dublin. Villagers have already had a meteoric year with the release of their debut album, Becoming A Jackal (Domino), in May, which went straight to Number 1 in Ireland and the nomination for this year’s Mercury Music Prize Album Of The Year, not to mention the heaving tents at both Oxegen and Electric Picnic. The full dates are Tuesday 21 December Dublin, Vicar St (Sold-out) Wednesday 22 December Dublin, Vicar St Dark Room Notes formed in Galway in … There’s more →

Culch.ie’s Albums of 2010

  By Éilish Burke | December 15, 2010 – 12:30 pm | Featured Post, Music, The Culch
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Every newspaper, magazine and website worth its weight in salt is currently counting down their top picks of 2010. And the music writers here at Culch.ie have decided to hop on this list-making bandwagon; sure if it’s good enough for Santy, it’s good enough for us. Forthwith, each writer gives us their top three choices of the year: Sweary’s Picks 1 – Been Listening – Johnny Flynn Yeah, like you’re surprised. Mr. Flynn’s second album, Been Listening is a triumph from start (the breezily addictive Kentucky Pill) to gentle crescendo (touching yarn The Prizefighter And The Heiress). Reconquering ground covered by debut A Larum, there’s nothing pretentiously risky in Been Listening; it’s the sound of an artist who’s confident about where he is, and good God, is this ever “nu-folk” at its best. Mournful without being mawkish, charming without being twee, it’s earthy and evocative and rousing, all melodies your … There’s more →

Culchie Calling Cards – Gigs – December 13 – 19

  By Will | December 12, 2010 – 11:01 pm | Gigs, Music, The Culch
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UPDATED : See below Villagers are (is) adding a second date for Vicar St on Wednesday 22 December. This gig is in addition to a 7-date tour of Ireland in December that will take in Waterford, Kilkenny, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Belfast and Dublin. Villagers have already had a meteoric year with the release of their debut album, Becoming A Jackal (Domino), in May, which went straight to Number 1 in Ireland and the nomination for this year’s Mercury Music Prize Album Of The Year, not to mention the heaving tents at both Oxegen and Electric Picnic. The full dates are Monday 13 December Waterford, The Forum Tuesday 14 December Kilkenny, Set Theatre Wednesday 15 December Cork, Savoy Theatre Friday 17 December Limerick, St Johns Church Saturday 18 December Galway, Black Box Sunday 19 December Belfast, Limelight Tuesday 21 December Dublin, Vicar St (Sold-out) Wednesday 22 December Dublin, Vicar St David … There’s more →

Culchie Calling Cards – Gigs – November 8 – 14 2010

  By Will | November 7, 2010 – 11:59 pm | The Culch
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GIGS Darwin Deez self titled début album was a Top 5 hit in the UK indie charts on its release earlier this year. Their Red Bull Music Academy performance at this years Oxegen festival was one of the (lets face it, many) highlights of the weekend. Darwin Deez plays a series of Irish dates in Galway, Cork and Dublin. Sunday 7 November – The Roisin Dublin, Galway Monday 8 November – Cypress Avenue, Cork Tuesday 9 November – The Academy 2, Dublin Simple Minds Frontman Jim Kerr brings his new solo project LostBoy! Aka (yes, that is the name, complete with the !) to Dublin on Saturday 13 November for an intimate show at the Academy 2. Tickets. The album the tour promotes was produced by Jez Coad who also playedg guitars and keyboards, and features Charlie Jones on bass while drums are driven by Mel Gaynor (Simple Minds‘ drummer … There’s more →

The Nominations are in – Mercury Prize 2010

  By Bryano | July 27, 2010 – 9:25 am | Featured Post, Music, The Culch
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It’s that time of year again as last week saw 12 of the finest releases of the last year selected for the Mercury Prize short-list. Launched in 1992 the Mercury Prize remains one of the few awards to still hold some merit in these X-Factor driven times and once you’re a UK or Irish artist and actually bother to apply (it’s £195.50 if you fancy your chances…) then you’re in with a shout. The eventual winner will receive £20,000 but more importantly a shed load of press coverage which should see a healthy jump in album sales in the coming months (cue dollar signs in Record Label executive’s eyes). There have been some outstanding albums this year so this was always going to be an interesting set of nominees in terms of wild cards and exclusions and perhaps the most notable name on the list, certainly to us on the … There’s more →

Album Review: Villagers – Becoming A Jackal

  By Bryano | June 3, 2010 – 9:00 am | The Culch
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Please let me introduce you to the latest addition to the Culchie Clan. It’s Bryano, and music is very much his thing. Make him welcome to the Culch.ie fold. Here’s his first post, a review of The Villagers’ Becoming a Jackal. – Darren Arise Sir Conor O’Brien, the prodigal son and the newly anointed saviour of the Irish music scene. This may seem like worthless hyperbole but such is the level of praise that O’Brien’s solo endeavour AKA Villagers has attracted in recent months that such a statement is in fact closer to truth than fiction. When the ashes of O’Brien’s previous band, The Immediate, had settled in 2007 many lamented that we had seen the death of potentially one of the greatest bands to have emerged from these shores in quite some time. The Immediate were indeed a band brimming with talent from every pore; on stage they each … There’s more →

Music News: Itteh Bitteh Hipster Kitteh’s Weekly Roundup

  By johnmfinn | May 24, 2010 – 11:30 am | Featured Post, Music, The Culch
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New Releases M.I.A will release her new album ‘/\/\/\Y/\’ in Ireland on the 9th of July, and no that’s not some weird glitch on Culch.ie the album is actually titled ‘/\/\/\Y/\’. In another seemingly random amalgamation of letters and symbols XXXO will be the first single. http://www.miauk.com/ Thought you had heard the last of Oasis? Not by a long shot. They are releasing a new singles collection on the 11th of June. ‘Time Flies… 1994-2009’ features all of the band’s singles. Unfortunately Oasis “will not be available for interviews” as they split up last year. http://www.oasisinet.com/ I consider Neil Hannon to be the anti-Bono, in that he is witty and a good songwriter and he doesn’t have his head shoved up his own arse and I don’t hate him. If you also don’t hate him you may be happy to know that The Divine Comedy will release new album ‘Bang … There’s more →