Download: Neil Young - Live at Malahide Castle

See who's listed on elbo.ws Hot Blogs today? That's right, good old Swear I'm Not Paul! How I got there, I have no idea.

Anyhow, I'm off on holiday on Sunday, so don't expect anything from me until the following Sunday. Don't fret though, Chris will be here to help. He'll try to keep you updated on stuff. Whatever he feels important. Which could be different from what I'd I think. So it'll be a good week for the blog. You've probably noticed some of Chris's posts already. His My Morning Jacket review is excellent. A brilliant addition to the swearimnotpaul team. (A team of two!)

But as a going away present, I have something very special. Remember that Neil Young show earlier this year? Oh yeah, you can download it here. For some reason I'm missing track one, can someone email it to me if they have it. Thanks.

Love And Only Love
I've Been Waiting For You
Mr. Soul
Spirit Road
Powderfinger
Hey Hey, My My
Too Far Gone
Oh, Lonesome Me
Mother Earth
The Needle And The Damage Done
Unknown Legend
Old Man
Get Back To The Country
[Band intros]
Words
Intro to...>
No Hidden Path
----
A Day In The Life

And get them all in a big .rar file:
Part 1
Part 2


Oh, and in case you didn't notice... I'm off on HOLIDAYS!

Album News: Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue album cover

My eyes, my eyes! Jenny Lewis has revealed the album cover for her upcoming album, Acid Tongue, of which you can find more info here:
http://swearimnotpaul.blogspot.com/2008/07/album-news-jenny-lewis-acid-tongue.html

Album News: Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - The Cardinals III/IV

Not really much to report here, but like I said before even a snippet of Ryan Adams news is enough to get me going. Pollstar has announced the title for the new Ryan Adams and the Cardinals album, due out later this year ("this fall" they say). It's called The Cardinals III/IV.

Whether that means it's parts three and four i.e. a double album, is unknown as of yet. It could be 3/4 of an album either, or else maybe it's only 3/4 of the Cardinals. It's hard to know with Ryan. Maybe it's all in three-four time. Or it could all be in F#m and G. Who knows?

Live: Neon Neon at TriPod

Mercury Music Prize nominees Neon Neon Major Major Major Major are to play Dublin venue Tripod on November 4th.

Mainman Gruff Rhys was in Super Furry Animals don't you know? They're Nialler's great white hope for the prize, while mine is Laura Marling. She put on a splendid show earlier this year, and I expect Neon Neon to do the same.

Tickets cost €24.50 to €28, and are on sale now at all the usual spots.

Live: Duplicate post Kid Sister at Crawdaddy cancelled

Might as well post the exact same message as last time, seeing as how she's just cancelled her rescheduled gig. Will we ever see her on Irish soil?

The girlfriend of A-Trak (that's Kanye's DJ) was due to play her first ever Irish show at Crawdaddy next month. Sadly this has been cancelled. Not postponed or anything, falt-out cancelled. This is a pity as Kid Sister looks to have a great career ahead of her, if single 'Pro Nails' is anything to go by.

Full refunds are available from all the usual outlets, wherever you got your ticket, ticketmaster and the like.

Her debut album Koko B. Ware is expected later this year. Hopefully after that she'll return to our shores.

Live: Counting Crows O2 Support announced

Press Release:

Following their critically acclaimed set at this year's Oxegen Festival and their blistering SOLD OUT performance at the intimate Ambassador Theatre, the Counting Crows will return to Ireland for two live concert dates in December.

MCD is proud to present Counting Crows at The O2, Dublin on Saturday 20 December and Odyssey Arena, Belfast on Sunday 21 December, 2008. Featuring very special guests The Hold Steady and Melee, this is the line-up of 2008 and these promise to be unforgettable shows.

Tickets for Dublin and Belfast will go on general sale on Friday 15 August at 9.00am from Ticketmaster and usual outlets nationwide. A pre-sale open only to members of the Counting Crows Fan Club will run from 9.00am, 13 August until 6.00pm, 14 August.

Me blabbering:

Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes. We can never get enough Hold Steady over here. But supporting Counting Crows? Should it not be the other way around? There's just not enough justice in the world. That's right Lemar, that's right.

Hold Steady are set to tour with Drive-By Truckers in the US. If only they came here, it would probably be the best gig ever.

Speaking of the Drive-By Truckers, you can a watch a video from their European Tour (no Ireland alas) here:
http://www.stv.no/content/webitem/330/video/2/

Album Review: The Final Verdict: My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges

Possibly one of the biggest controversies regarding music in 2008 is whether or not Evil Urges is a success or a complete failure. I will start off by saying that My Morning Jacket is one of my favorite bands. They put on phenomenal live shows night in and night out. Their energy is unmatched and it remains all throughout each show. This should be no secret considering this band is known for their live performances, including sets that usually go over 2 hours. However, when I purchased and first listened to my copy of their latest album Evil Urges I realized that maybe this band could be on the verge of a downward spiral.

I cannot begin to express how disappointed I was after finishing my listen with this record. Words like terrible, awful, horrible, and trash came flowing from my mouth one after the other. I was in complete awe. Was this the band I’d fallen in love with years ago? Why does Jim James feel it’s necessary to do his best Prince impression? Where is the rock and roll this band bleeds on stage? I realized that I was not the only one with these types of questions. Message boards got bombarded with people bashing the album left and right. These negative views included people who have been following the band since the beginning. There were also people out there defending the band and this album. Although I respected their point of view, I couldn’t agree with it. In my eyes, My Morning Jacket attempted to do something new and failed….at least that’s how I felt for a couple weeks.

After the band played at Bonnaroo I heard nothing but great things about their performance as expected. They played for a good 3 hours and played all of Evil Urges. Friends that were at the show told me how great all the songs from the new album sounded when performed live. They insisted that I give it more play time before dismissing it. I decided to take their advice and give it a few more listens.

I put it on with the frame of mind that I now know what to expect and there will be no surprises. With this frame of mind, I found that I really started to enjoy the first track 'Evil Urges.' Ok, so maybe I didn’t give this a fair shot after all is what I thought to myself after the first track. As soon as, 'Touch Me, I’m Going to Scream, Pt 1' came on I was instantly hooked. Man, that guitar riff is so great and even though Jim is rocking an almost absurb falsetto at times, the song is so catchy that it doesn’t even bother me. It’s by far my favorite track on the album. Speaking of absurd falsettos, next comes 'Highly Suspicious' I’m not sure this song is ever going to gel with me. I just can’t get into it. As good as some of the guitar riffs/solos are in the song, the chorus is just plain bad. I’m sure it’s probably a fun song live, but it just doesn’t work with the album and it should’ve been left off.

The first 3 tracks seem to be the most controversial so I won’t bore everyone with going through every single track. Let’s just say after giving this a lot of listens this summer that Evil Urges has become one of my favorite albums of the year. The only track I don’t like is 'Highly Suspicious' as mentioned above. To call this album a grower is a complete understatement. It took numerous listens to realize how enjoyable it really is. I really suggest not giving up on this album so easily if you’ve chosen to do so. You’re missing out on a true gem by a band that continues to challenge themselves. It just takes a little extra work on the listener’s part to appreciate what this band has accomplished.

The Final Verdict: Success

Listen: The Verve - Forth clips

While not a leak, rapidshare download or any such thingymabob, this is as much as you'll get to hear of The Verve's new album Forth, due out in two weeks. Here's a 30 second clip of each track:

Live: Counting Crows at the O2

It was rumoured that it would happen, but now we finally have a date. Well those of us with other halves do, some of you singletons on the other hand, don't. Okay, okay I'm rubbing it in a bit to much. Singleton! Ah I'm just happy cause love is in the air!

Credit to Jim at Off the Record for announcing this (well actually it was one of his readers, TS Ed). Counting Crows will play the O2 Point Depot (it insists upon itself to be called that) on Saturday 20th of December. O2 Priority pre-sale tickets go on sale next Wednesday.

I can't remember whether I've mentioned this yet, I know I've said it in real life to a few people. But you know the way the Luas Red Line is being extended to the Point? What the hell is it going to be called now? The O2 Red Line? Sure now they can't use the snappy advertising: "Straight to the Point". It would have sold itself!

Watch: Sigur Ros live at the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art)

You guys have got to watch this. It's a 44 minute live video of Sigur Ros playing at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, NY last night. A great venue which I visited to see the paintings a few years back. There's a great photo of me on my Bebo page standing in front of a Jackson Pollock. It's easy to dismiss Pollock as child's play, but when you see the art, it's oh so good. Just like Sigur Rós!

Setlist:
Glósoli
Sé Lest
Við spilum endalaust
Sæglópur
Icelandic National Anthem
Inní mér syngur vitleysingur
Hoppípolla
Gobbledigook

Watch it here:
http://current.com/items/89173668_sigur_r_s_moma

EDIT: Thanks to an Anonymous commenter for correcting my silly mistake.

Album News: The Killers - Day and Age

What a horrible album title, but whether you like it or not, that's what we're stuck with. The name Day and Age is taken from the song 'Neon Tiger' (not Neon Neon, Neon Bible, or the wondeful Neon Golden).

Speaking of 'Neon Tiger', you can watch a live video of it here:


And also, another song from the album, 'Spaceman':


Expect these songs to be more honed and polished when you finally hear them on the album later this year. And also expect to hear them at Marley Park in a few weeks' time.

Source of the album name:
http://www.thekillersfansite.com/

Watch: Ben Folds - 'Hiroshima'

Yay! Now we have an actual official cover for the album, as well as a video for first single 'Hiroshima'. The album itself comes out September 30th. Can't wait.

Live: Dysart Festival Official Announcement

It's sad that this did not take off properly. It was a great idea, and Jools and Katherine would have been wonderful. A major pity.

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
From www.dysartfestival.com

Change of Venue

It is with great disappointment that Dysart Festival will no longer take place as scheduled at Dysart Castle.

The Festival will go ahead on the 9th and 10th of August but at a new location in the heart of Kilkenny City, The Kilford Arms Hotel and its grounds on John Street. The event will take place across three areas of the Hotel including: Club 51, the largest nightclub in Kilkenny; O'Faolains Bar with its 16th Century Church interior; and the Main Stage outdoors in the grounds of the Hotel.

The only two headliners no longer performing at the Festival are Katherine Jenkins and Jools Holland, and ticket prices have been now been halved to €40 per day. Current holders of one-day tickets, either Early Bird or General Admission, can now either bring a friend for either day or attend both days.

General admission tickets for the event will now be €40.

All ticketholders who do not attend the event can avail of a full refund after the event on Friday 15th of August at point of purchase. Those who purchased by credit or debit card and do not attend will receive a refund automatically on that date.

We extend our apologies to all those who bought tickets and to all the artists, sponsors and partners involved.

The lineup for the event is now as follows:

Saturday

Doors Open: 2pm

Main Stage:
The Blind Boys of Alabama
Gemma Hayes
Clive Barnes
Ham Sandwich
Hoarsebox
Dirty Epics
Luan Parle

Inside:
Laughter Lounge Comedy Afternoon

DJs:
Cleveland Mike
Sean B Doyle
Sen-C
Emma White

Sunday

Doors Open: 1.30pm

Main Stage:
The Republic of Loose
John Martyn
Cathy Davey
Dali
Prison Love
Myp Et Jeep
Tucan

Inside:
All Ireland Hurling Semi Final
Laughter Lounge Comedy Afternoon

DJs:
The Orb
Nuno Dos Santos
Slippery People
(Bugged Out!-The Warehouse Project)

Live: Orchestra Baobob at Vicar Street

You've never heard of them? Shame on you. How about Fela Kuti, or Yossou N'Dour. He's more than just that 7 Seconds song, how dare you.

Anyhow, if you like yourself some fine African/World music, you really have to check out Senegal's Orchestra Baobob, who come to Vicar Street on October 18th. Tickets are on sale at €30 and are on sale tomorrow. Thanks to Jim Carroll for the announcement.

I first heard of these guys from a documentary about Dave Matthews and Trey Anastasio visiting Senegal. It's brilliant, if you can find a copy, check it out. But as a tease, here's a video of them performing 'Bul Ma Miin' with Dave and Trey:

Album Recommendation: Sleepy Sun - Embrace

Psychedelic rock albums have been practically non-existent for 2008, sans the excellent Black Mountain album, which still gets a few spins from me each week. I happened to be browsing through the iTunes store and came across a San Francisco band called Sleepy Sun. All it took was listening to a few samples for me to know this record was going to be exactly what I was looking for. Drowned out vocals, guitar-driven, percussion-filled, and just a complete spacey sound.

The comparisons to Black Mountain are going to be imminent, however this seems to be a much deeper album. This band's vocals are a lot more enjoyable and everything just seems to flow so well together. One thing that I absolutely love is the addition of harmonica.

Embrace is 8 tracks long so you're not going to find any filler. There are a few lengthy tracks(longest track 9:23), but you never feel to the point where you get bored with any track. A huge selling point to me is that the entire thing clocks in right around 47 min. One of the major flaws regarding a lot of psychedelic rock records these days is that they're drawn out for an unnecessary amount of time. Right from the first chord, this album pulls you in and doesn't let go. It appears as though it's only available on iTunes right now, but should be in stores later this month. Highly recommended, especially with headphones. At a price of 7.92, this album is a steal. Below is their myspace link to get an idea of their sound:

http://www.myspace.com/sleepysun

Track list:

1. New Age
2. Lord
3. Red/Black
4. Sleepy Son
5. Golden Artifact
6. White Dove
7. Snow Goddess
8. Duet With the Northern Sky

RIYL: Black Mountain, The Besnard Lakes

Album News: U2 - No Line on the Horizon

Okay, okay, No Line on the Horizon is just a rumoured title. There's nothing concrete yet. But any U2 news has to be worth mentioning right?

Some inside source says an album release date of November 18th, so the 14th in Ireland. I'm like The Sun now, "an inside source" "a friend of the star" and all that waffle they use to make up lies.

Speaking to Le Journal de Montreal, Daniel Lanois said "It's going to be different in several ways, but I think it's similar from one point of view, namely that it's going to push the known limits in the sound arena, the way Achtung Baby did in the past."

He also told RTE Radio "We're just finishing the vocals. Bono's in great form, singing fantastic. I think we can safely say it's one of the great, innovative records from U2."

Other producer Brian Eno called 'Moment of Surrender' "the best thing he's ever done with U2". High praise indeed.

Possible tracks:
'The Cedars of Lebanon'
'Moment of Surrender'
'No Line On The Horizon'
'Love is All We Have Left'
'One Bird'
'For Your Love'
'If I Could Have My Love Again'

as well as four How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb off-cuts:
'North Star'
'You Can't Give Away Your Heart'
'Lead Me In The Way I Should Go'
'Mercy'

Loads of rumours and stories on here:
http://www.atu2.com/newalbum/

Expect some official news soon.

Live: MGMT at the Ambassador second date

After a succesful first date, there should always be a second date. It helps you to get to know the person better, and allows you to settle in a bit better - gives you time to be yourself. With a first date, you're often trying to impress and pretending to be someone you're not. So to allow you to see the real MGMT (and by "you" I mean everyone who didn't get a ticket for the now sold-out November 3rd gig), they've announced a second date on November 4th.

Tickets are on sale this Friday and will probably sell out pretty quick. Priced €24.50 from all the usual spots.

Support comes from Violens, who UnaRocks has been hyping up:
http://unarocks.blogspot.com/2008/08/violens.html

Album News: Kings of Leon - Only By The Night tracklisting

Exclusive news from NME: the tracklisting for the upcoming Kings of Leon album, which I've mentioned countless times at this stage, and even provided a download or two.

The album comes out September 19th in Ireland, and is sure to please the thousands of fans who camp out at Oxegen every year just to get a glimpse of them.

The first single will be 'Sex on Fire', which precedes the album release by a week.

'Closer'
'Crawl'
'Sex On Fire'
'Use Somebody'
'Manhattan'
'Revelry'
'Seventeen'
'Notion'
'I Want You'
'Be Somebody'
'Cold Desert'

Live Review: Radiohead - Verizon Wireless Music Center, Indianapolis, IN, 3rd August 2008

This is my first post on the blog and I appreciate the opportunity to do so. I saw my first Radiohead show last night and it more than met expectations. One of the best live shows I've ever seen. "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" was the highlight for me. Their performance last night cemented in my eyes why they are considered one of the best bands in the world. They had not played in Indy since 1995 and I have a feeling after the crowd response last night, we won't have to wait another 14 years before they come back. I was 4 rows back and below are some pictures I took. Some of them are cut off, but you can click them for a full view.

I also want to take the time to mention how fantastic Grizzly Bear was as an opener. Every member of that band is extremely talented, especially vocally. Some of the harmonies they produced were incredible. "Knife" was an obvious highlight from them, but they also played some new songs which leads me to believe their next record may be the one to put them over the top. Don't miss this tour when they come near you.

Setlist:

01. 15 Step
02. Bodysnatchers
03. There There
04. All I Need
05. Pyramid Song
06. Nude
07. Weird Fishes / Arpeggi
08. The Gloaming
09. Climbing Up the Walls
10. Faust Arp
11. Videotape
12. Morning Bell
13. Idioteque
14. Reckoner
15. Everything in Its Right Place
16. Just
17. How to Disappear Completely

Encore 1

18. You and Whose Army?
19. Bangers 'n' Mash
20. Exit Music (For a Film)
21. Jigsaw Falling Into Place
22. Karma Police

Encore 2

23. House of Cards
24. The National Anthem
25. Street Spirit


Photos: (Click to enlarge)

Download: Keane 'Spiralling'

"S-P-I-R-A-L", remember him? The Irish DJ who was on Big Brother a few years back. What a legend that man was. DJ Spiral, if you're out there, send us an email, we'd love to do an interview, see what you've been up to!

Anyhow, from today for one week only, Keane are offering a free download on their homepage of 'Spiralling', taken from upcoming album Perfect Symmetry due out October 10th in Ireland.

Tom Chaplin (the hobbit-like singer) said of the song "a train of thought about human endeavour, built on an outrageous groove".

He is also claimed to have said "That Spiral guy, the DJ, Big Brother I think he was in, yeah him, he's my favourite DJ. Better than Moby." Or not.

Download the single here:
http://www.keanemusic.com

EDIT: Thanks to Agent for pointing out my August/October mistake.

Download: Lisa Hannigan - 'Lille'

Our own Today FM played the world exclusive of Lisa Hannigan's new song yesterday, it's taken from her new record Sea Sew, due out September 12th.

The singing in parts reminds me of Jonsi from Sigur Ros. And you can actually actually make out what the lyrics are. It's a lovely, floaty tune, and not as aggressive as some of her work with Damien Rice.

She's playing plenty of Irish shows before heading Stateside to support Jason Mraz (Mister A to Z) on his US tour.
4 Aug 2008 - The Thatch, Tullamore
7 Aug 2008 - Garter Lane Theatre, Waterford
8 Aug 2008 - The Belltable , Limerick
9 Aug 2008 - The Parade Tower, Kilkenny Castle
12 Aug 2008 - The Backstage Theatre, Longford
14 Aug 2008 - O’Keeffe’s, Clonmel
18 Aug 2008 - Whelans, Dublin (sold Out)
24 Aug 2008 - Dun Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures, Dun Laoghaire
30 Aug 2008 - Electric Picnic, Stradbally

This recording is taklen from Today FM and cuts off before the song ends. B from Positive Boredom will relate to me on this one, that every song that's played in a supermarket is interrupted by talking in the middle "This week's special offers are...". Is this in order to save money, as they won't have to pay the full rights for the songs because they're not playing them all, or just to annoy the staff and stop them from singing along?

And without further drivel from me, here it is (you just skipped down and read none of the text, right?).
Lisa Hannigan - Lille (on Today FM)

Download: Wilco - One Wing live at Lollapalooza

Not really much to say here, apart from OMFG!!! NEW WILCO MATERIAL!!!

Well, I shouldn't be that excited, as this is a "work in progress", but a new song was played at the Lollapalooza Festival (no Dysart Festival, eh?) last night.

Download and listen in all it's slow-building magnificence here:
Wilco - 'One Wing'

Download: Adam Ficek - Roses Kings Castles demos

Adam who? The drummer from Babyshambles, that's who. Because I'm originally a Carlovian, I'll always have a certain liking for Babyshambles and Pete Doherty. Pete called the now-renamed Music Factory "one of his favourite venues", and the last show Babyshambles played there was the only show on the tour where the band actually turned up early!

While everyone knows about Pete's antics, the rest of the band are a pretty talented bunch. This is evidenced by drummer Adam Ficek's upcoming solo career. The album is called Roses, Kings, Castles, and will be available on September 22nd.

As for now, you can download ten unreleased demos from the official website, and also stream six preview tracks from the album proper.
http://www.roseskingscastles.com/music.htm

And here's the wonderful 'Folk Song', just to get you started:
Roses, Kings, Castles - Folk Song