Archive for the 'Music' Category

K8

Ooo-er, Bryan!

I get these Phoebe moments from time to time… like discovering that the expression isn’t ‘for all intensive purposes’ but actually ‘for all intents and purposes’.  It’s vital that if you want to show off your big lexicon you at least spell it right, so that was a swing and a miss for me for many years.

The latest boo-boo I discovered relates to Bryan Adams.

You know that song ‘Summer of ‘69′?  Of course you do.  I don’t know how many times I’ve heard this song but I have only just discovered that I was drastically wrong about the lyrics.

I always thought it was a very kinky song with pretty shocking lyrics… I wondered how he got away with it, but hey, there’s plenty of stuff out there that’s worse.  It was only when I picked up a kid and his dad in my taxi yesterday that I realised my mistake.  Turns out this kid loves Bryan Adams, and sang me the first few lines of the song which was highly inappropriate I thought, given that he was singing it in front of his dad… that was, until his dad applauded the effort.  I was disgusted.

Here’s how I thought the lyrics went:

“Got my first real sex-dream, boy I had a fine old time.  Played until my fingers bled… etc.”

Apparently I was wrong.  Very, very wrong.

K8

Observed stuff

My, but aren’t Irish men horny on Sundays?!  I made €32 on tips alone, just by flirting behind the wheel today, as opposed to €8 yesterday and €12 on Thursday.  What’s so special about Sundays?

KA-CHINGGG!!!

I heard a snippet of news on the radio that made me giggle:  Apparently when Bertie told his co-workers he was going to throw in the towel, they “wept openly”.  Grown men?  Politicians?  I don’t think so.  I think Bertie pre-empted it.  I think he ate an extra-hot vindaloo and washed it down with five pints of Guinness the night before, then stuffed his pockets with onions the next morning before work.  It was the gas that made them cry… the gas.  Either that, or politicians are damn good actors!  Oh wait… right, never mind.

I heard a most excellent song on the radio today… several times, in fact.  It’s a version of House of Pain’s ‘Jump!’, which is a song that sparks the dancing flames into almost everybody when they hear it.  It is possibly the no.1 best song that one could hear in a nightclub and I love it.  This version is in flagrante as Gaeilge.

You Oirish readers out there know exactly what I’m talking about.  It’s Des Bishop, fair play to him… he’s learned the language in 4.2 minutes and has now taken on the coolest song known to mankind.  Here’s a link to the song on Donncha O’Caoimh’s site, Holy Shmoly.  (Don’t listen to this video if you are over the age of 50.  You will hate it.  Especially you.)  I can’t find the radio version, but I’ll buy the single if it’s released because it’s a pretty darn excellent version.

Thing is though, everything the Irish try to coolify ends up being naff in some way.  I’m eternally proud of their efforts and of the language itself, but somehow there is nothing that will entice us to relinquish that final little bit of British rule… the English language.  This song might just be enough to entice our schoolkids into pricking up their ears regarding the old Gaeilge, but that’s because they’re Irish.

As for the rest of the world… they don’t know that ‘Léim’ means ‘jump’!  All they hear is: ‘LAME, LAME, LAME, LAME, LAME!’  *sigh*  Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the definition of irony.

On a different note, a good blogger buddy of mine has been censored.  Yes!  Censored!  Read all about it here: Brianf; the hate monger blog  (Oh my lord!  Somebody else is on to us!  Kill it!  Kill it!)  Seems as though Bush -the big bad rookie himself- has found some more bitches.

Propaghandi?

On another different but equally irking note,  I read this on Going Like Sixty’s site: Bloggers are being sued out there… read all about it!  I’m pretty sure that this sueing pillock is only after a domain name, but like I say… I’m naive.  The offending site is at Neurodiversity.  It makes for interesting reading.

Bloody hell… I only came on here to write about my extra tips!  Wine is excellent blog lubrication I find.

To finish up, I would like to quote a rather insightful spam I received today;

Humph. Someone has to force me to read this post. It’s too big and boring. Brevity is the sister of talent, remember that.

Thank you, Adriana Naked Lombard xxx, I shall remember this to the end of my…

 post.

There’s an arts group here in Wicklow that encourages local talent and gives a leg up to poets, artists and musicians alike.  Their ‘Space Inside’ magazine can be found free on various shop counters around Wicklow and advertises local theatre, exhibitions and various music shows with the odd book review thrown in.  The group also holds a ‘Live Night’ on the first Wednesday of every month down at the Sailing Club in Wicklow Town.  It comes with my badge of approval.  (Jefferson Davis, I’m still mulling over your email… I think this place would be well worth a visit on your travels!)

I’ve been meaning to drop down to one of these live nights, but somehow never got around to it until last night.  I was so glad I went, and will certainly be going again. It was fantastic, and this particular session drew a large crowd because of a promised performance by local singer heroine Robyn Kavanagh of ‘You’re a Star’ fame, so the atmosphere was electric.

robyn.jpg

 

The evening started with dimmed lights and poetry.  Various people stood up and read their pieces while the audience listened and basked in the atmosphere.  Heaven knows how the eight year old Robyn-devotees up at the front row stayed still for so long- perhaps it was a testiment to the quality of the poetry?

After a short break, a young lad named Neil Tierney sat down with his guitar and began to play the most capturing music, it was Jazz-Blues style, but what made it so unique was the rhythm he incorporated into the music by thumping the body of his guitar while demonstrating extremely complicated finger-styling at the same time.  It was seriously hypnotic, seeming as though there were seven musicians playing instead of just one - he held the audience in the palm of his hand and recieved an ovation at the end of his set.  I’d seriously recommend you keep an ear out for this chap- his music is a feast for the senses.

tierney.jpg

Suddenly the room filled to capacity and I knew it was Robyn’s turn.

I hadn’t heard her sing before, not having RTE at home, but I had heard rumours that she was a great singer with a strong chance of winning this ‘You’re a Star’ extravaganza.  I had also heard vicious rumours circulating regarding her ‘knacker’-like accent, and was curious to hear her speak. 

The strange thing about Ireland is the enigma that is the changing accent.  Once you’ve gotten used to the Cork accent for example (which is no mean feat), you could travel thirty miles up the road and find yourself listening to completely different intonations.  You have the sing-song style Kerry accent, which sounds worlds apart from your northern lilts, and Wicklow is just as unique. 

I found it hard at first to understand the Wicklow accent, it’s like somebody a long time ago told Wicklonians to choose two notes and see-saw each word around them… remember the ‘Pirates of Penzance’ song; ‘I am the very model of a model major general’?  Wicklonians sing their words much the same way.  Once you’ve become accustomed to it, it’s quite pleasant to listen to.

Robyn’s speaking voice is possibly the cream on top of this accent.  It’s pure and sweet and innocent and absolutely nothing like the accent of a traveller, and trust me, I speak from good authority here.  Those that choose to make fun of the way Robyn speaks truly haven’t a clue.

She launched into ‘Feeling Good’, and ‘Natural Woman’, and though her nervous voice faultered slightly on lower notes, the power behind her voice at the emotionally laden choruses was awesome.  The girl has the sort of voice that makes your breath catch, and the tiny hairs on the back of your neck stand up.  She smiled after the song and fidgeted nervously.

“I’m going to sing Summertime, now, so I am…” 

She smiled shyly while I wondered how on earth such a young innocent would pull off such a tough song.

Robyn did indeed pull this off in such a way that if you were to close your eyes, you could imaging Ella Fitzgerald herself, sitting on a stairwell nursing a bottle of Gin and singing with her tortured soul wide-open.  Robyn Kavanagh is a girl that sweats talent, and I’m starting to think that if she doesn’t win this ‘You’re a Star’, it’s because she’s far too good for it.  Kudos to her, I know she’ll go far.

K8

No L8 L8 for K8 the Gr8

You’ve read, I’m sure, plenty of material on this here Bloggysphere slating Pat the Plank and his Late Late show.  When I moved into this here house of no cable, let’s just say that the Late Late show wasn’t a sorely missed programme.

Tonight is different though.  Tonight, there will be a tribute song of epic proportions for our most loved singer Ronnie Drew and I am pretty sore about missing it.  Written by Robert Hunter of Grateful Dead fame with Bono, The Edge and Simon Carmody, the song will be performed by U2, Sinead O’Connor, Kila, Christy Moore, Andrea Corr, Moya Brennan, Shane McGowan, Bob Geldof, Damien Dempsey, Gavin Friday, Jerry Fish, Paul Brady, Paddy Casy, Mick Pyro from Republic of Loose, Mundy, Chris de Burgh, Ronan Keating, Jack L, Eleanor Shanley, Mary Black, Declan O’Rourke, Mary Coughlan, The Dubliners and The Chiftains!  I mean seriously… barring one or two lemons from this bunch, my cup overfloweth!

Ronnie is a smooth Irish folk singer with a unique honey-sweet gruff Orish voice whos beard is now a household name.  Born in Dublin in 1934, he spent a spell in Spain teaching English and learning flamenco guitar before returning home and forming the well known band ‘The Dubliners’ with Luke Kelly, Barney McKenna and Ciaran Bourke.

ronnie_drew.jpg 

Ronnie himself was originally to be part of this crew, but is unfortunately a very sick man.  Diagnosed with Throat Cancer in November 2006, he is fighting strong in typical stubborn Irish form;  He has appeared a few times on the Late Late and was interviewed on Ryan Confidential sadly missing his signature beard in 2007. He was due to perform his comeback ‘Legends of Irish Folk’ concert in June of the same year which was sadly thwarted by the death of his wife, Deirdre. 

Ronnie is truly a legend, and his music will live on for all time in the eyes of us Irish.  In Bono’s words:

“The idea was that we would all try to write a song for Ronnie to sing, but then it changed to writing a song about Ronnie himself. Ronnie is like the King of Ireland, and we are his subjects. This is a big fight for him. But like any fighter, it’s easier if there’s a crowd cheering.”

The Accidental Terrorist himself even claims that Ronnie turned up for many a session at his his dads grandmothers house in Monkstown. 

The song will be released on CD from the 29th of February with all proceeds going to The Irish Cancer Society at Ronnies Request.  Fair play to him, and long live the King.

Late Late Show.  RTE1 tonight. 9.30pm.  Turn on, tune in, and cop out.  Man I never thought I’d say those words…

Let’s hope the Plank doesn’t fuck it up!

250px-patkenny.jpg

Addendum in hindsight:

I’ve just found a link to the song’s download: HERE

I’m annoyed.  It’s really nothing new, just a standard Irish tune that happily garnishes itself in the usual cheezy dip.  I stopped downloading when I heard Shane McGowan sing “Awatch inyer win nerinall, Willer yer eyes in yer willer prin schwimmer…”.  I nearly puked with embarrassment.  *sigh*  Oh well.  I’ll buy the single anyway, it might grow on me.

I’m now happily back in the world of not missing television one little bit…

I fought African lions to find the perfect choir.  I practised the bongos for hours on end in the back of The Accidental Terrorist’s van.  I studied Coltrane until his notes bled out of my ears and paid Santana for guitar lessons with endless twisted sexual favours, but in the end, it was totally worth it. 

Here’s my CD.  Dave Fanning just phoned and told me he wanted me to have his babies, which was a nice compliment.   I hope they don’t overplay it too much on the radio.  I hate that.

hanging.jpg

buynow.jpg

*just kidding*

This is an Andre Image Stone.

image-stone.jpg

 ”I believe in looking reality straight in the eye and denying it.” Garrison Keillor (1942 - )

Thanks for the meme, daddyo!  I pass it to….  Haley! (The goddess of coffee and nose piercings) 

Here are your links, dollface!

This random article title is the name of your band

The last four words of the very last quote is the name of your album

The third picture on this page is your cover

Have fun :)

K8

The tag challenge

I’m finding myself with spare time suddenly but with nothing much to say.  Then I decided that it is very rare for a blogger to post a post and use all of their tags at once (Bloggers such as Brian F and Stupid Irish Daddy are disqualified for lack of imagination of course).  This is my challenge,  and I’m giving myself an award for it.  You can have one too if you can do it.

What is both strange and unusual is that marijuana is illegal.  This subject is taboo, but it’s just something to think about.  Once one partakes in the activity of having a spliff, one is immediately part of the chain.  One is working hand in hand with the drug-lord and his artillery, and my philosophy is that this is unfair burden on us stoners.  It’s a little known fact that weed is quite benign, that it’s worst effects are the munchies and diminished brain capacity, but we accept this, and we take responsibility for it quietly and with a few giggles thrown in. 

Working the daily job is not easy.  Neither is dealing with the family and it’s shortcomings.  My weakness is that I would like to sit back and be able to put up with the tripe on the box and find it humourarse.  Sometimes it’s nice to listen to music or glance at the uncategorised pleasures of this life and be inspired to write new poems and things.  Contrary to public rantings, weed does not generally make us want to take up smack or turn bi-polar.

That’s all I’m saying because this is supposed to be a quickie.

tag-award.gif

Here’s my award.

Do you want it?  I’d offer it up for general grabs but seeing as memememe is one of my tags, I have to name names.

Me aul’ f’la

Irish Flirty Something

Scribbles by Hanulf

(You know you want it)

K8

Dun burn’ me a CD

I’ve just finished burning a new miscellaneous driving mix CD.  If anyone’s interested, here are my current favourite songs to listen to:

1. Lighthouse - The Waifs
Friends introduced me to this group when I was renting in Wicklow.  I love this album, it reminds me of chatting in the sun over a bottle of wine.

2. Run - Air
I don’t know.  This repetitive sound attracts me.  It’s nice driving music.

3. 50 Ways to Leave your Lover - Paul Simon
Because it’s just a great song. Full stop.

4. Somewhere over the rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
I don’t have cable, but every now and then there’s a hype that infects radio stations stemming from some ad or other on tv.  This is my latest favourite.  There is always the recent cover of ‘Let’s Dance’ done in a sexy young wan’s voice, but you just can’t beat David Bowie.  He has sinister tones in his music that can’t be reproduced.

5. Cradle to the Grave - 2Pac
I’ve never given this dude a chance.  I keep hearing about how he was a modern Shakespeare and a true genius, but I’m just not so keen on rap.  I’m willing to give this track a shot though.  If anyone has any better 2Pac songs, please let me know!

6. Bleeding me - Metallica
This song is just so dark, with a great riff in the middle you just can’t bate.  Also has nice memories paperclipped to it, also is good driving music.

7. White Man in Hammersmith Palace - The Clash
This song featured in one of John Peel’s top favourites, God rest him, so I thought I’d give it a listen, even if it is mod.

8. My first born for a song - BellX1
The piano riff in this tune is fascinating to me.  It makes me want to go out and discover Jazz.  The lyrics aren’t too shabby either.

9. Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles
Possibly my favourite Beatles song?

10. Tribute - Tenacious D
If you’ve ever heard this song, you’ll know why I included it.  It has a brilliant music video too…

11. You can call me Al - Paul Simon
Paul Simon gets two hits on my CD because he’s such a legend.

12. So much trouble in the world - Bob Marley
Bob is my rock.

13. Walking after you - Foo Fighters
One of their few slow tracks.  Completely beautiful lovesong.

14. Weather with you - Crowded House
Because it’s a classic, and because it holds nice memories for TAT.

15. Forgive them Father - Lauryn Hill
So she has her problems.  Who doesn’t?  The music on this album will always be in my CD collection.

16. Street Spirit - Radiohead
‘The Bends’ is my favourite album from Radiohead.  They lost the plot a little bit after that.  Street Spirit is a beautiful haunting tune that always makes someone say ‘Oh Cool! Haven’t heard this in ages!’ when they hear it.

17. Junkie Song - The Be Good Tanyas
This is a Canadian group which was again introduced to me by friends in Wicklow.  Soft voices, beautiful lyrics and atmospheric music.  They did a good version of ‘The lakes of Ponchartrain’ too.  Here’s their ‘It’s not happening’ video… they’re such happy little campers!

 I’m now going to put this music on full volume to exact revenge on my tacky neighbour who thinks ‘Cascada’ is music which should be played very loud on a sunny Sunday morning… and thinks that it is music at all for that matter.  I hope she hates Metallica.

K8

Even Flow of unwanted advice

I was waiting at a set of traffic lights yesterday, listening to a mix CD that I made last year when I was feeling in a grungy mood.  The volume was low, around 6 or 8 maybe, but the windows were down, and you know yourself about car stereo accoustics.

 A woman approached the driver’s side holding a very chubby child dressed entirely in pink with a vomit inducing sailor’s cap on its ugly little head.

“You should be ashamed of yourself, making your poor child listen to that awful thrash metal rubbish like that!” she said as my toddler bopped her head to the music and stared distainfully at the cabbage-patch doll that had invaded her moment.

“Look lady” I said… “I for one choose not to depress my child with crappy nursery rhymes about the French Rebellion and Black Death.  This is not awful thrash metal, this is Pearl Jam, which is real music about the real world.  So why don’t you go home, throw out your Westlife CDs, stop gleaning advice from Dr. Phil, and open your pampered little eyes to reality.  And next time you feel like giving me parenting advice, why don’t you adress a memo to my arse first.”

Actually, I didn’t say that.  The lights turned green just as her last words had escaped and her face had returned to its ‘dog licking piss off a nettle’ composure, so I buggered off.  I thought of that reply 10 minutes further on down the road, by which time the moment had passed and I didn’t fancy wasting precious diesel looking for her.  I absolutely hate it when that happens.

Good God though, some people can be so bloody dramatic.

Dario has inspired me to write about the wonderful musical instrument that is the guitar.

There is something intriguing about watching a person playing… whether it’s a complicated tune like ‘Classical Gas’, or something as simple as Oasis’ ‘Wonderwall’, you think to yourself… I’d give my right arm to be able to do that, metaphorically speaking.  So you pick up this wonderful wooden structure, and pluck a string.  You might even pick out the opening riff to Nirvana’s ‘Come as you are’, and will be so excited you’ll want to show everybody. 

guitarcat.JPG

The big mistake that people make with learning the guitar is that they want to learn how to play ‘Hotel California’ straight away, but they soon find out that there’s a lot of crawling to be done before they can undertake the fun stuff.  If you skip the basics, you’ll get bored, and give up.  This is truly a crying shame.  It looks increadibly easy, and it is, all you have to do is stick with it, and practice.  You’ll be amazed at what you can do.

I have a musical background which helps a lot, but isn’t totally necessary.  I played the piano and the violin to 6th grade, and toyed with the cello and the viola a bit in school.  I don’t have a specific talent for music, but I understand it, and can figure out how a musical instrument works pretty quickly.  I can read music, but have never needed that skill when playing the guitar, as guitar ‘tabs’ have a different appearance to sheet music. 

If you can carry a tune, and if you can listen to a piece of music and listen specifically to the bass-line chords of the music, you can play the guitar.  It’s as simple as that.  Then all you have to do is learn the basic chords.  There are many websites that will teach you the chords you need.

The next thing you’ll need to do is put up with a lot of pain.  There are basically two types of guitar string.  You have your steel string which produces an amazing sound, and you have your nylon string which is more mellow.  When you’re learning the guitar, start with nylon strings.  They hurt a lot less.  The tips of your fingers are repetitively pressing hard on thin strings, and if you use steel strings, it’ll feel like you’re cutting your fingers with cheese wire.  The more you practice pressing on the strings, the tougher your fingertips will get.  You won’t notice the pain at first, your fingertips will go numb… they may even bleed a little bit.  When you finish a long guitar practice session, the feeling will suddenly rush back into your fingers and you’ll be in serious pain.  You may even find blisters forming.  This is a good thing.  When your fingers heal up enough, you’ll be able to play again, and you’ll notice that each time you do this, it will hurt less and less.  When callouses appear on your fingertips and you can stab them with a needle and not puncture the skin, you’ll be a guitar player my son.

Once you’ve figured out the basic chords, understand how chords relate to each other, and can read guitar tabs, it’s time to learn some songs.  This is how I do it:

1. Think of a song.  Don’t make it complicated.  Make it a song that you know the lyrics to.

2. Listen to the song.  Loop it over and over so that you get used to the way the music changes.  Get to know the bass chords, and try to coordinate your right hand with the beat of the music.  Learning how to strum can be just as hard as learning the chords themselves.

3. Find the tabs of the song on a tab downloader, such as this one, or this one, and try to play along to the music as you’re listening to it.  Before long, you’ll be able to turn off the music, and play on your own.  This is an amazing feeling. 

Sometimes, you’ll come across a tab sheet that someone has made, and you’ll see a note at the top that says something like… ‘to be played on the third fret’.  This means that if you play on the strings as they are, it won’t be in the same key as the real music.  What you need to do here is go out and buy yourself a capo.  This brilliant invention means that you can change the key of the music as you like, by placing the capo on different frets.  It also comes in very handy if you want to sing while playing, but find you can’t, because your voice doesn’t stretch that high or low.  The capo lets you change the key so that you can sing at a pitch that suits you.

I take my hat off to anyone who wants to learn the guitar, but if there’s any more advice I can give, it’s that practice is the hardest part, and therefore the most important.  Stick with it.  Don’t give up.  You’ll thank yourself when someone hands you a guitar at a party, says ‘Sing us a song there… go on!’ and watches in awe as you play.  They’re all thinking ‘I’d give my right arm to be able to do that!’