Live: Kasabian at the O2

A few years back Kasabian would've never played the Point, but these days they're getting to be massive. They went down a treat for Arthur's Day last night, and will return to Dublin to play the O2 on Friday November 27th.

Tickets are €33.60 and go on sale next Friday (referendum day!).

Watch 'Empire' live:

Stream: John Mayer - Who Says

'Who Says' is the first single from John Mayer's upcoming Battle Studies, and it's quite catchy. The guitar part reminds me of 'Stop this Train'. You can stream the single in full (complete with watermark) on John's own website. The album itself is due on November 17th.

Stream:
http://www.johnmayer.com/whosays/

Album News: Oliver Cole - What Will You Do? EP

Former Turn frontman Oliver Cole (also known as Ollie) releases his new EP next Friday, the 2nd of October, in advance of his solo album We Albatri which will come out sometime next year. If you've seen Ollie live, you'll have heard the excellent "albatri" story, and if you haven't heard him live, I recommend you go see him somewhere around the country.

Gigs already confirmed are as follows:
1 Oct 2009 21:00
Odessa Club Ep launch Dublin, Dublin
2 Oct 2009 20:00
Upstairs Roisin Dubh Galway, Galway
8 Oct 2009 20:00
Cyprus avenue Cork, Cork
16 Oct 2009 20:00
Button Factory hwch festival Dublin, Dublin

Live: 2UIBestow October Sessions

2UIBestow Sessions are back nice and early for October. This time they take place on October 1st, so you can have a pre-referendum tipple while enjoying some excellent home-grown artists. The gig takes place in Boyle's in Slane, and starts at 9 p.m.

Lineup:
Paula Flynn
Stephen James Smith
Hogan
Johnny Murphy (no relation)

Paula Flynn is fantastic, you should definitely check her out:

Live: Damien Rice in Iceland

Not album news or much more actually, but Damien is doing four recording sessions in Iceland where he'll be performing some new material as well as some old tunes. Maybe a live album or a DVD is due. Here's the official release from Damien Rice himself...

"Damien Rice travels to Iceland early November to record and film new material in front of an Icelandic audience.

The recording and filming session will take place in Reykjavík, in a undisclosed space which aims to create an intimate setting for Damien to perform his new material in front of live audience. He will also be playing some material from earlier albums as well as answering questions from the audience.


There will be four exclusive recording sessions, over two days (4th & 5th November), and only 90 tickets will be available for each session."

Blogs What I Like: TwoWayMonologues

Back when TwoWayMonologues was a fully-fledged review website (with fancy features and all), I used to write reviews for them (most of them behind the deadline, as Dan will tell you). They've since redesigned and relaunched as a wonderful Canadian music blog, alongside the interesting Minilogues - a tremendous idea where bands are filmed performing in unconventional locations.

Check them both out here:
http://www.twowaymonologues.com/
http://minilogues.com/

And here's a minilogue of the Schomberg Fair:

Live: CODES at the Academy

CODES have a number of upcoming dates around the country to support their excellent TreesDreamInAlgebra album (which I reviewed at the weekend). They'll be playing the Academy on Saturday to launch the album and tickets for that are €13.

Full Dates:
Friday 25 The Clarence, Sligo
Saturday 26 The Academy, Dublin **Album Launch**
Friday 2 The Set Theatre, Langtons, Kilkenny
Saturday 3 The Forum, Waterford
Sunday 4 Cyprus Avenue, Cork

Live: Kelly Clarkson at the Olympia Theatre

Kelly Clarkson will be bringing her All I Ever Wanted Tour to Europe next year, starting in Ireland on the 25th of February 2010. She'll be playing the Olympia Theatre in Dublin.

Tickets go on sale this Friday and are priced €44.20.

Watch Kelly Clarkson - 'Since U Been Gone' live:

Album News: Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago

I usually don't like October-November, there's hardly any new albums released in the run-up to Christmas (except compilations), and thus hardly any album news. But then, there's always Year End Lists and then new albums for next year.

One of these 2010 albums is Shearwater's latest, The Golden Archipelago. Shearwater leader Jonathan Meiburg had this to say about the record, due in February or March: “There are a lot more BIG-sounding drums on this record, and overall I’d say it’s woolier and spookier than Rook but also more extroverted. It sounds more like a band playing than some of our previous albums, I think, and it’s a bit more messy and exuberant.”

Some of the working song titles include “Meridian,” “Missing Islands,” “Landscape at Speed,” “Woolgathering,” and “Hidden Lakes.”

I cannot wait.

Stream: David Gray - Draw the Line

David Gray's new album Draw the Line was released in Ireland last Friday, and if you haven't gotten the chance to listen to it yet, you can now. It's pretty gorgeous, with some especially nice tracks like 'Kathleen'.

Stream here:
http://www.spinner.com/new-releases#/6

Download: Justin Townes Earle - Pickathon Roots Music Festival Bootleg

Thank heavens for Llama, the Live Music Archive. They always have splendid bootlegs on there. None more splendid than a new Justin Townes Earle show from the 11th Annual Pickathon Roots Music Festival in Oregon on August 1st 2009. Justin does a nice Q&A as well as playing some new tunes. And by new I mean brand spanking new unreleased ones.

Sample:
Justin Townes Earle - 'Creep'
Justin Townes Earle - 'Yuma'

Download:
Full Show in mp3/Ogg/FLAC

Album News: New Moon Soundtrack

Yes, it is New Moon day over here. It's going to be the movie event of the year, much like the way Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol was the book event of the year. So the soundtrack is sure to sell bucketloads. Especially when you see that there's some damn good artists on there - ones the cool kids like - not just Team Edward or Team Jacob fans. The soundtrack is out October 20th, with the movie exactly a month later.

Hopefully Thom's and Ben's videos will be left on youtube for a little longer than the latest New Moon trailer tends to last.

New Moon Tracklist:
01. Death Cab for Cutie - Meet Me on the Equinox
02. Band of Skulls - Friends
03. Thom Yorke - Hearing Damage
04. Lykke Li - Possibility
05. The Killers - A White Demon Love Song
06. Anya Marina - Satellite Heart
07. Muse - I Belong to You (New Moon)
08. Bon Iver & St. Vincent - Roslyn
09. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Done All Wrong
10. Hurricane Bells - Monsters
11. Sea Wolf - The Violet Hour
12. Ok Go - Shooting the Moon
13. Grizzly Bear - Slow Life
14. Editors - No Sound But the Wind
15. Alexandre Desplat - New Moon (The Meadow)

Watch Death Cab for Cutie 'Meet Me on the Equinox':

Stream: Bob Dylan - Christmas album again

Quick before they're taken down, here's the clips from Bob Dylan's upcoming Christmas in the Heart.

Stream:

Watch: Thom Yorke - Hollow Earth

Allegedly a new Thom Yorke song (not this one) is going to be on the New Moon soundtrack. I'm not quite sure what to make of that information.

Anyhow, Thom Yorke has teamed up with Bansky for this new solo song, and it's brilliant.

Watch Thom Yorke - 'Hollow Earth':


TEAM EDWARD!