MY SPACEBOOKITTER

I couldn’t fall asleep until a ridiculous hour last night, and for some reason ended up wandering around the deserted social network graveyard that is my MySpace account. I never use it anymore, but it was fun reading back through the messages (once I’d spent a good ten minutes cracking the password).

MISCELLANEOUS

Hi folks. Sorry I’ve been a bit rubbish at posting lately. House-hunting, work, and life in general have been getting in the way. I’m working on finishing my ‘Albums of the Noughties’ series and that should be up over the next week or so. In the meantime, I’ve been to some gigs over the last few weeks that I’ve enjoyed.

U:MACK GIGS THIS WEEKEND

Haven’t seen much mention of these gigs, but they’re worth checking out if you’re at a loose end this Bank Holiday weekend:

Elec-dub-hip-step production whizzkid Hudson Mohawke plays the U:Mack-curated Warp Records @ Static gig at The Button Factory on Sunday. Support from Rustie, Africa Hitech, Harmonic 313 and DJ N>E>D. Tickets €20, doors 8pm till late.

Richie Egan and Niall Byrne (no, not that one, the one from the Redneck Manifesto)’s new project VisionAir will play a FREE gig in The Button Factory on Saturday night, with support from Logikparty. U:Mack DJs also on the decks. Did I mention it was free?

INTERPOL: CRIME PAYS

I’ve loved Interpol for years, so it was a big thrill to not only speak to Paul Banks, but for him to be pretty sound, too. When I called him, his phone rang out twice and I was prepared for a long evening of to-ing and fro-ing and waiting around, as I have for plenty of self-important rock stars in the past. To my surprise, he called me back less than 10 minutes later, all apologies, and said that he was double-booked and forgot about the interview (but did it, nonetheless). It was only a few weeks afterwards that his PR told me that he was apparently having a tattoo done at the time…

Originally published in The Irish Times, September 29th 2010

FOR SOMEONE with a reputation for being . . . solemn, let’s say, Paul Banks sure sounds happy. Not only does he return several missed calls with sincere apologies – itself a rarity in RockStarLand – but the Interpol frontman sounds as close to upbeat as one can be, when blessed with his even, sonorous speaking voice.

THE FUTURE OF ‘PHYSICAL’ MUSIC?

I got this in the post today. Interesting. I wonder if this sort of thing is the way forward for people who want a physical accompaniment to their digital album? Is it a gimmick? Can you imagine lining up your lanyard collection on a shelf, or hanging them up on a hook to have a browse?

I BLOODY LOVE THIS SONG…

This album would get an honorable mention on the Album of the Noughties list, for sure.

PS – Anyone know how to make these YouTube videos smaller?

ALBUMS OF THE NOUGHTIES: #10 – 6

Numbers #20 – 15 here, and #14 – 11 here.

Here are numbers 10 – 6…

THE GREEN-WHITE-&-ORANGE ESCAPE

I was hmmm-ing and hawww-ing about making a return to Brighton for The Great Escape next year. I’ve been for the past 4 years and it’s always a great weekend, but I’d been contemplating spending my money on a long-overdue trip to Glastonbury instead. However, I just got an email in my inbox that might change my mind.

HWCH 2010: THE VERDICT

Well done to the organisers and bands of HWCH this year, it was a great 3 days. Making it a Thursday-Friday-Saturday affair was possibly their best-ever move. In previous years, Sundays were always a bit of a damp squib because people didn’t bother to turn up – so it was good to end on the high of a Saturday night.

MISCELLANEOUS

The new issue of the mighty AU magazine is out now. I interviewed Cee Lo Green and Timber Timbre in this issue, and you can pick it up (for free) around Dublin – and in cities around the country, for that matter.

Hard Working Class Heroes kicked off last night, and was really good fun.