TORI AMOS: SONIC SELFIES

Originally published in The Irish Times, May 7th 2014

SAY WHAT YOU like about Tori Amos, but you can’t accuse her of coasting through life. Having established herself as both an enormously successful and exceptionally diverse alternative songwriter in the 1990s with albums like Boys for Pele and even dance remixes like Professional Widow, the warm, slightly eccentric musician’s more recent projects may have flown under the mainstream radar. They include a Christmas-themed album (2009’s Midwinter Graces), a classical album released via Deutsche Grammophon (2011’s Night of Hunters) and composing for a musical stage adaptation of 19^th century fairytale The Light Princess last year. But make no bones about it: she has been a busy woman.

JOHN GRANT: ELECTRIC DREAMS

Originally published in The Irish Times, March 1st 2013.

THERE ARE confessional songwriters, and then there is John Grant. The Michigan-born, Colorado-raised musician had been celebrated as a lyricist throughout his tenure with The Czars, the band he fronted for ten years until their split in 2004. Yet it was the release of his astounding solo debut Queen of Denmark in 2010 that his propensity for pouring his heart and soul – metaphorical warts and all – brought his music to a wider audience.

THE KILLERS: STONE COLD & ON THE LOOSE

Originally published in The Irish Times, September 14th 2012.

TO DESCRIBE Brandon Flowers as “your run-of-the-mill rock star” would not be entirely truthful. Sitting across from The Killers frontman and his wild-haired bandmate Dave Keunig, it’s impossible to suss what Flowers is really thinking. It seems clear that he’s not a fan of interviews; he constantly glances towards the dressing room door (plotting an escape route, perhaps?), answers most questions curtly and seems generally guarded and somewhat reserved. He looks younger than his 31 years, his voice retaining the twang of his Nevada upbringing, his laugh more of a nervous, high-pitched titter. While the leaders of most rock bands naturally ooze charisma, Flowers’ cagey private persona seems at odds with the man who, an hour later, takes to the stage at Electric Picnic to deliver a supremely selfassured headline set.

THE WEDDING PRESENT: STILL GIFT

Originally published in The Irish Times, November 2nd 2012.

IT’S NOT THAT David Gedge is tired, but being the sole member of an iconic 1980s guitar band for almost three decades does tend to wear one down. As frontman of The Wedding Present, the band that Gedge formed in 1985, he has been almost exclusively responsible for its input (there have been numerous line-up changes over the years) and output (that’d be the nine albums released since 1987’s George Best, not including his releases under the Cinerama banner).

Not that he’s complaining, mind. Now 52 and in full retention of the Leeds brogue that decades of touring worldwide has failed to erode, Gedge is fully accepting of his fate.

WILCO: FUZZY LOGIC

Originally published in The Irish Times, May 25th 2012.

“First of all, I’d like to know what other band in the world gets called ‘dadrock’? What other band is there? I don’t know why Wilco’s the only band that gets called that. It seems absurd to me. I think it’s fuckin’ ridiculous.”

ELECTRIC PICNIC 2012: THE REVIEWS

Originally published in The Irish Times, September 3rd 2012.

FRIDAY

GRANDADDY
Electric Arena
4/5

Where do you start after a six-year absence? If you’re Grandaddy, you start with the hits. The Californian indie-rock quintet have made Electric Picnic one of the stops on their month-long reunion lap, but rather than forcing new material on an expectant audience, this was a complete exercise in crowd-pleasing.

Opening with El Camino’s in the West, Jason Lytle and Co may not say a whole lot to the crowd, but with tunes like a Now It’s On, AM 180 and The Crystal Lake in your canon, why waste time with niceties?

Aaron Burtch amusingly puffs away on a cigarette hands-free as he drums, and Lytle swigs from a bottle of wine between songs; they’re having fun and it’s like they’ve never been away. How about you stick around a little longer, guys?

RUFUS IS A HITMAN

Originally published in The Irish Times, April 20th 2012.

 

THE FIRST THING you think of is Freud. Then, noticing the relaxed posture, Elizabeth Taylor’s Cleopatra, or perhaps a painting by some Renaissance artist. It’s not quite clear whether Rufus Wainwright is waiting to be psycho-analysed or pampered, but stretched out on a sofa in a room of a trendy London hotel, the singer/songwriter certainly looks comfortable.

“He felt like he was coming down with something yesterday, so he did most of his interviews lying down,” his publicist explains. And today? “Oh no, he feels fine today. He’s just relaxing.”

ONE DIRECTION: THIS WAY UP

Originally published in The Irish Times, January 20th 2012.

LIAM PAYNE looks confused, possibly even a little disappointed. “Yeah, there were none outside today,” he tells me, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t think they know we’re in here.” Screaming girls. They have become a fixture in Payne’s life, as well as the lives of the four young men he spends most of his time with these days.

NOEL GALLAGHER: HIGH FLYER

***This was one of my favourite interviews ever, simply because Noel Gallagher is as witty and sharp as you expect him to be. I had a limited word count for this article so had to leave some good stuff out – but I’ll publish the full transcript soon.***

Originally published in The Irish Times, October 14th 2011

I’M SITTING across a picnic bench from Noel Gallagher at his rehearsal space in sunny east London, sort of wishing I hadn’t just asked a particular question about his former band. While Gallagher’s past in Oasis is inescapable when it comes to talking about his fledgling solo career, the accusations that have been levelled against him by their former (now current Beady Eye) guitarist Andy Bell are considerable. Less than a week before we meet, Bell publicly accused Gallagher of lying on multiple counts about the reasons for Oasis’s split in 2009.

Gallagher’s reaction to those charges? He pauses, weighing up the question, jaw momentarily tensed and brow fleetingly furrowed. “Well,” he says with an offhand shrug, “Andy’s entitled to Liam’s opinion, isn’t he?” Gallagher’s deadpan wit is famous, but amid the zingers are serious observations. For starters, there’s the important matter of his solo endeavour, which begins with the release of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. 

ELECTRIC PICNIC 2011: THE REVIEWS

Unfortunately, many of my reviews on IrishTimes.com and in Monday’s newspaper were published under the wrong name, so here are the ones that I wrote over the course of last weekend.

My highlight was a gorgeous set by John Grant and the delicious chickpea and spinach stew I had from the tiny Dux & Co. stand. It was ALMOST worth the 20-minute-long queue.