Culchie Calling Cards - Gigs - November 15 - 21 2010

GIGS Cork legends (sometimes for their music) Republic of Loose continue their four month live residency at the Academy, Dublin - one Friday each month from September through to December on Friday November 19th. These shows will be the band’s only Dublin gigs of 2010. After returning from the States to open for U2 in Croke Park on their 360 tour in 2009, they spent the latter half of the year writing new material for their fourth album. In May 2010 Republic of Loose flew to Baltimore in the US to begin work on their forthcoming album. Recorded in Wrightway Studios with Steve Wright who had just finished working on the new UNKLE album, the fourth Republic of Loose album is scheduled for an early October release with the lead single pencilled in for September 17th. The album marks a new direction for the Loose with Mik Pyro describing the … There’s more

Culch.ie Calling Cards - Gigs - November 1 - 7 2010

GIGS Champ is the second full length album from Toronto’s Tokyo Police Club. They first hit their stride back in 2006 when, straight out of high school, their hyperactive mini-album A Lesson in Crime came from nowhere to prove one of the year’s most refreshing releases. The surprise success of A Lesson in Crime led to relentless touring through the entirety of 2006/07, with appearances anywhere and everywhere, taking in festivals from Coachella to Glastonbury, two TV appearances Letterman and, bizarrely, an appearance on an episode of Desperate Housewives. They are gearing up again to play The Academy, Dublin on Friday 5 November. Following a one-off MTV show with Arcade Fire in Spain, The Temper Trap head across the Atlantic for headline shows in the US and a prestigious three-date support slot with The Pixies in Mexico, before returning to Australia to end a second whirlwind year on their homeland … There’s more

Culchie Calling Cards - Gigs - October 25 - October 31

For the first time in his career Greg Dulli, The Twilight Singers frontman, will embark on a solo tour which will see him make stops in five different countries for a total of 29 shows. Its approved by American rock magazine Spin. His Irish dates are Whelan’s Dublin on Wednesday 27 October, Spring and Airbrake Belfast on Thursday 28 October, Roisin Dubh Galway on Friday 29 October and Cyprus Avenue Cork on Saturday 30 October. These shows will also mark the debut of several brand new songs from the forthcoming Twilight Singers album scheduled for release on Sub Pop Records next year. The last release from the group was five years ago. Following a one-off MTV show with Arcade Fire in Spain, The Temper Trap head across the Atlantic for headline shows in the US and a prestigious three-date support slot with The Pixies in Mexico, before returning to Australia … There’s more

Interview and (oh yea) a FREE album: Bill Coleman

Late last week we ran a competition to give away CDs of Bill Coleman’s excellent new album ‘You Can’t Buy Back Your Life’ with unique, hand made artwork (and congrats to our lucky winners!). But what we omitted to properly plug was the fact that Coleman is giving away the digital download of the album for free on his website. Yes, that’s FREE kids. And it’s an 11 track album. And it’s damn good stuff. Actually if you’re a lazy sort, you don’t even have to go to his website. You can just enter your email address into the handy little widget box thing-a-me-jig below and you’ll get sent a download link instantly. Nice. To make up for our (okay my) incompetence here’s a lovely interview with the man hisself. He’s a nice chap isn’t he? Culch: So, Bill, how is the promotion for the new album going? Has there … There’s more

Culchie Calling Cards - Gigs - October 18 - 24 2010

One Night Only (terrible name for a band if you think of the posters) take their second album on tour stopping off, visiting the Academy 2 in Dublin on Wednesday 20th October. The first single from this album “Say You Don’t Want It” (embedded below) features an actress called “Emma Watson” that you might know from a few movies. By the way, is it just me or does the lead singer look like he’s channelling the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? No Age perform live at Whelan’s, Dublin on Sunday 10 October with Male Bonding, Silje Nes and Mice Parade. No Age’s album “Everything in Between”, release date Friday 24 September was recorded in Los Angeles from the end of 2009 and into 2010 by the duo of Dean Spunt and Randy Randall. They emerged from former band Wives in 2005, to become No Age, part of the … There’s more

Competition Closed: Bill Coleman, New Album, Unique Artwork

Bill Coleman is a Cork musician determined to do things for himself. A prolific writer he’s self-releasing his second album “You Can’t buy Back Your Life” today and we’ve got 3 copies to give away to you lucky Culch readers! Coleman decided to forgo the traditional label route and produce a limited edition run of 2,000 CDs with handmade artwork. The result is that each CD is completely unique. Check out the nifty video below which will give you a taste of Coleman’s musical style and which compresses the artwork creation process into 3-and-a-bit minutes. Bill also talks about the project here. Given this level of focus about his artwork, it’s no surprise to learn he is equally determined to do-it-himself when it comes to the music. Recorded in a home studio, the sound is a mixture of handclappy indie pop and slower, more heartfelt songs. Comparisons with Damien Rice … There’s more

Satire? And Some Music

I really like the song, but I’m not sure about the video. Worth watching though. Bill Coleman is a Cork singer/songwriter. His new single, Welcome to the Breakdown, is all about getting laid off and spending the ill-gotten-gains recording and making music. Worse things he could be doing, I guess. The video features “Brian Cowen, man boobs, the invention of NAMA, a strangely Star Wars-y like Banker creature, a new Super Hero for the Times We Live In and builders arse (blink and you’ll miss it). Oh, and there’s ninjas. And a dust up – along the lines of the gunfight at the OK Corral, only the offensive weapons are hurleys and sliothars. Those poor ninjas didn’t stand a chance…“ While I like his new song, I was far more drawn to his other YouTube tracks. I particularly like I Want You To Know and The Pull of The Pint. … There’s more