The first single released earlier in the year ‘White Lightning’ opens Electric Soup and sets the tone for the remainder; an upgraded Crow Black Chicken introduce their album confidently with self-assured intonation and a bluesy swagger that wouldn’t sound out of place in decades past, albeit a sound that is unique to the Irish music scene right now.

Without re-hashing what others will surely have to say about this band, Christy O’Hanlon’s vocals could grate cheese; his range and devotion to the genre are applaudable and apparent on every track of this album. No more ZZ Top references, no more Rory Gallagher references; this is simply Crow Black Chicken.

The rhythmic grooves of ‘Skin Deep‘ are the second offering on this debut from Clonmel/Cork band. Minimalistic and meticulous in arrangement, the product is a song that dares you not to move and then asks “Come on baby?”. This is one of the sexiest songs an Irish band has produced in this writer’s opinion; Steve McGrath’s bass lines command a seduction that accompanied by three solos and a beautiful Wah filled bridge makes this track a regular crowd-pleaser at live shows.

A sturdy bass line opens ‘Pourin’ Down’, soon to be accompanied by drums and electric guitar in some Zeppelin-esque musical tri-force of effects laden, laid back rock and roll. Recorded in a small cottage in the Comeragh Mountains, the guys approached this record with a mind to capture the essence of Crow Black Chicken; disregarding the usual approach their decision to record everything live at the same time has given this album a beautifully nostalgic sound with the paramount, Philip McGee adding his own expertise to mixing and producing.

My favourite from the album was apparently very nearly not included on Electric Soup at all. A beautifully poignant moment only four tracks into the album, ‘Epitaph’. Christie’s vocals are exceptionally moving and it, “you know you’ll always be alone” it shows a facet of CBC that I had not encountered to date; an affecting tracks that progresses through various sub-genres of blues rock to find itself touching upon various themes and lyrical notions.

Crunchy guitars, domineering bass lines and solid drum beats give ‘Charlie’s Women’ the essence of an amazing blues song. John Lee Wee follows the same line with Gev barrets drums supplying a force to match Christie’s vocals. What was surprising on first listen was how the most simplistic ideas and riffs can be applied by the right people and just ascend to new heights of musical power.

The title track ‘Electric Soup’ is a fantastically intricate song which immediately sounds complicated and emanates that traditional blues. I’ve said it previously, if Crow Black Chicken existed in the eighties, they would have provided the soundtracks to the coolest movies; Patrick Swayze and Co. would probably have enchanted even more women with the help of Christy, Steve and Gev. The endearing words of Christy bring a smile to everyone’s face at the end; in a Helter Skelter ‘blisters on me fingers’ style:  “Fuck it, I hope that’s it now!”

‘Bijoue Creole’ has a certain New Orleans feel for it, an almost swing rhythm and staggered guitar offsets the albums tone so far but only the six minute duration of the song; yeah, six minutes, in fact most of the tracks on this album hit the five minute mark if not longer. Slide guitar mixes up the chorus while innovative picking featuring harmonics and changing tones lets this track move around freely, it has a little something for everyone.

Recently released ‘Murmuration’ is one of the heavier tracks on the album and the video is impressive to say the least. The song is an aggressive mix of heavy rock with sludgy blues and yet another track which deals with murder; like those that came before it, it holds a tempo which indicates a standard progression until it takes off. I can imagine this thundering through a stereo with the top down and the pedal to the floor, a cruising song if ever there was one.

‘Lie Awake’ returns to a more restrained tenderness shown on Epitaph with lyrics such as, “You’re a shadow in a doorway, You’re a whisper in a wind, Gonna Lie Awake…”. The effortlessness of such a dramatic change is endearing and it only serves to prove that Crow Black Chicken can move from aggressive hard rock to charming and often touching blues that remind this reviewer of some of Knopfler’s more affecting works. And with an almost immediate end to the sincere felt emotions, a scream opens ‘The Drop’ and a tripartite attack ensues, each member commands a power on this album of which the other seems to have no control over; a battle of instruments all equally as authoritative, their masters all as skilfully adept, the result is a dexterous offering of Crow Black Chickens magnum opus.

The penultimate track, Flowers, sports one of my favourite solos from the album, laden in effects and conviction it leads nicely into ‘John The Revelator’. A song with as many years as there are cover versions and yet CBC‘s version is one of my favourite. I never particularly enjoyed the Nick Cave version and I admittedly probably The Blues Brothers version as they introduced the track to me. However, this version is indeed just as good and Christie’s intonation is nothing short of admirable. The guitar tone is solid and chunky while Gev adds a cadence that allows this track to transcend the gospel origins into a murky land of blues rock, cigarette smoke and whiskey haze.

Ending the album on such a well known track seems like a tip of the hat from Crow Black Chickens to their inspirations and it certainly concludes their debut confidently.

This album is one of the most impressive debuts this year and promises great things from a band who are already writing new material. Electric Soup is released June 1st nationwide and will be followed by a tour encompassing all towns and venues great and small.Check out their official website for gigs and free material or click here for their facebook.

Drop-d Rating: 9/10

In one word: Extraordinary.

Laura Sheeran is a multi-disciplinary artist who exudes talent across the spectrum, ranging from music to film and theatre.

The Galway born 24 year old has an already impressive CV: Featuring in recordings with Fovea Hex from the age of 15 marked the beginning of her professional music career.

Ambidextrous in her ability for natural instrumentation and electronic production alike, Sheeran’s new album What The World Knows delves effortlessly between both disciplines adding new depth to her work through texturing and skillful filtering.

From the outset the mood is unsettling; with opening lyrics, ‘I cried all day and I didn’t even get a kiss’, Sheeran makes no qualms of directly introducing themes of discomfort and tension. Whooshing ascending and descending melodies give a supernatural effect and from there on the tone is firmly set.

By the third track Forever Love you are reminded of her musicianship and ability to write beautifully provocative music. Gothic in nature, the timbre of her voice is spooky and through use of delicately applied effects and filters it strikes a dissonant chord. The sincerity in the recording cannot be denied.

The use of harmony is nothing short of impressive. Songs like Live Long and Hurricane use simple harmonies combined with gentle ornamentation and melancholic lyrics to great effect. Where The Devils Tongue uses more complex techniques and reaches sublime harmonious heights that sound akin to early religious music.

The fusion of such harmonious choral parts, with baroque style strings and electronic percussive synthesizers building to a unified crescendo is brilliantly executed.  It can be defined as baroque pop but as the saying goes, it is more than the sum of it’s parts.

One thing that is certain is that Sheeran is in full control of her audience and you are going on her journey, from the awkward intensity of the first track to the sheer beauty of the closing The Devils Tongue.

The word extraordinary refers not just to that which is not ordinary about the music, but to the supernatural quality of the album as a whole and the distinctive atmosphere it creates, separating her from her peers.

Drop-d Rating: 8/10

With a chance Facebook comment I was lucky enough to come across a review copy for this new comic. What a find, ehh gad! And here was me longing for the days when Facebook was a mere place for nerds who liked to throw sheep at one another or poke each other. Once I even threw an Obama at someone and the retort was a Hilary Clinton. I’d like to think I won.

This is a pretty fantastic comic. It is made up of 10 individual stories, most of which will have something for all tastes of comic fans. The, mostly Irish, comic is set to be released to much fanfare this week at the Kapow Comic Convention in London and will be available to buy in Dublin City Comics on Bolton Street, Dublin and from the Lightning Strike website. For anyone wanting a digital copy you’ll be able to get it from iTunes once it’s launched officially. The stories cover a wide range of tastes, from humour to horror, comedy, revenge, fantasy, superheroes and many more besides. We are presented stories of steampunk time travel (A Clockwork Universe), a rather funny gender changing Superhero (Hybrid), a nightmarish run-in with a clown (Nightmare Scenario), a bumbling heroic robot (Queller), a reality fixer (Reality Watch), and the story of a winged monkey (Monkey of Oz) amongst others.

As said above there are 10 individual stories and it would neither be fair nor very interesting to go through them all in depth but I will give you my personal highlights.

The comic opens with Brian Ború. Of course, historical themes and storylines in comics are nothing new but what makes this story stand out from the crowd is the veiled violence and the suspense of the story. The colours too are not what you’d normally expect from this genre but they really work really well here and give the panels that extra lift needed to jump off the page at you.

Canon Law is probably the best of the bunch. The artistry is really fantastic to say the least. It’s a dark brooding story of revenge and murder and I cannot wait to read more about the character.

Nightmare Scenario is another one that’ll have you coming back to read more. The simplicity of it is the best quality. A child is harrassed by nightmares of a clown and needs help in the dreamworld to get away from his nemises. It’s a really fantasic little story and hopefully the helper will be making more appearances as this story grows in future issues.

The final story, Reality Watch, finds us joining up with a, what I’ve coined (for want of a better term), a reality fixer who investigates instances when reality malfunctions. It’s his job to apprehend the ones behind the reality change and restore things to the status quo. The possibilities with this story are limitless and I’m really looking forward to the storylines that the writers come up with next.

There are other stories too, there’s a wonderfully cliche-rich Superhero caper called Company Man, filled with sexual innuendo and Batman-like words such as Fwaassh/Fwak-A-Tha/Vreeeee. And to top off the list of ten, Draculwing. A story of a warrior locked in battle with the lord of the underworld.

Draculwing though could do with changing the font of the text, I found it almost impossible to read. Monkey of Oz was a bit strange too. I don’t remember the story of Oz so a bit of backstory would have helped out a lot.

Overall then it’s really great to see so many talented Irish writers and artists coming together and putting out a comic that will have something for all tastes. A high standard has been set too, we can only hope that issue 2 will be just as good and that it’ll be picked up by comic fans upon release. Normally, the comic world is so full of trivial meaningless rivalaries that it can tend to turn in on itself, much like the Irish music scene…or just about any Irish scene (why do we hate each other so much) that it would be quite normal for each comic to go at it alone. What Lightening Strike has done in coming together to put this out is something we should all take note of and take inspiration from.

Lightning Strike has landed, Fwak-A-Tha.

Paradise Lost, no introduction needed. After all these years, and a career that has ebbed and flowed in every sense of the expression, the band are in a place of esteem now and one where they won’t rest on their laurels either. Since truly roaring back onto form with their self-titled album in 2005, the British death doom pioneers of gloom have enjoyed a renaissance of sorts with the subsequent records maintaining some solid ground and often hitting moments of wonder.

2012 arrives and the band has released album number (lucky) 13, Tragic Idol. The trajectory of the last near seven years or so isn’t going anywhere as Paradise Lost has delivered another slab of their distinctive melancholy.

Opening salvo Solitary One kicks off the record in stunning fashion with a hypnotic chorus that breaks away from moments of crushing riffing. Nick Holmes has one of those voices you’ll recognise from a million miles away and he lends his deep, coarse singing to many a memorable melody and chorus on Tragic Idol like the threatening and menacing Fear Of Impending Hell and the ominous climes of the title track.

While Paradise Lost, more often than not, feel most at home trudging through slower terrain, the reins are let loose on Theories From Another World as searing riffs cut through the album’s midway point while In This We Dwell lays down some slick lead guitar work to open before giving way to rumbling verses and Holmes bellowing overhead.

Last year, guitarist Gregor Mackintosh delved back into his love of death metal with Vallenfyre and peels off some captivating riffs here once again from start to finish, dripping with that all-important melancholy but often with equal measures of adrenaline. With no keyboards on this album, the guitars are charged with carrying more of the load than usual and do so just fine.

Tragic Idol is the sound of Paradise Lost maintaining a solid trajectory this far into their careers. The days of Icon and Draconian Times are long gone and not coming back but Halifax’s gloomiest sons still sound as relevant as ever.

Drop-d Rating: 8/10

Paradise Lost

From the opening track on the album A Season For Love by Cormac O’Caoimh, There’s Gold Somewhere I found myself instantly relaxing while listening to the beautiful melodies created by the sounds of the guitar and keyboards that are present. This set the tone for the entire album and I have seldom found myself so in tune with an album on first listen.

Working with the talents of Art O’Laoire on keyboards and also of Eoghan Regan on electric guitar with O’Caoimh himself on acoustic guitar it is an album that seems effortless but is in fact sublime with its hypnotic melodies. The lyrical themes of the songs include hope, love and nostalgia and there is an ever present theme of nature across most of the songs. This is especially so with And The Rain Falls where the song is a comparison between nature and humanity.

Stand out lyrics include “There’s a place for listening to your mind” from 100,000 and “Crimson coloured wishes felt like all the shooting stars I must have missed” from Remember When We Didn’t Kiss. This would actually be my favourite song on the album and its central theme is about a relationship which either didn’t start or from the start didn’t work. Another stand out lyric for me is “See you tangled up inside” from Counting The Raindrops.

The one song I found myself singing along to for almost the first listen was the very catchy Heart Attack with its chorus “There’s a crack on your path, there’s no way back” rolling off my tongue very easily. In fact from that first listen I felt there was a familiarity with the entire album and O’Caoimh’s vocals sounded like I had been listening to them forever even though I can’t think of an album it is extremely like which means O’Caoimh is talented and knows how to write songs which speak to the subconscious and have a comfortable place in the psyche.

On the whole this is a well balanced album which would appeal to folk and acoustic fans alike. Similar artists include David Kitt and Gemma Hayes. Personally for A Season of Love I suggest sit back relax and forget your troubles for a while and let it take you on a journey of relaxation, a journey I am sure you won’t regret.

Drop-d Rating: 8/10

The album A Season of Love is out now and Cormac O Caoimh can be seen in concert in June at the following venues:
June 7th – Foleys, Limerick – Limerick Songwriters
June 10th – The Mercantile, Dublin – The Sunday Roast

The first track “Bottle Rockets” is a fantastic intro to the album.The track starts off with looping chords, simmering down to a concoction of dulcet tones towards the middle of the track, then going all “tutti (together)” towards the end, producing a professionally compiled performance.

“Opportunities Suck”, the third track on the album features a fairly happy melody along with the trademark”WOO” halfway, bringing a nice punk sound, which ties nicely to the track’s title. The lead-guitar orientated melody will reside in your head all day.

“Mechanical Paradise” is probably the best track on the album, with its complex melodies and rhythm bleeding out an effective synth track towards the end. The track is both well done, and equally well performed. It features simple, yet highly effective repetition of chords towards the middle, then exploding into a fantastic guitar shred falling towards a quieter instrumentation gradually building up to an impressive climax. Very enjoyable.

The only thing that bugged me about this album was the final track, “It’s Not A Racial Thing”, which starts off with a futuristic sound, but then changes with guitars leading the battalion, and suddenly a huge ballistic melody at high speed, shredding galore. It was very well executed, but felt slightly skitzophrenic as if the track didn’t belong on the album.

As a whole, “We Advocate The Piracy Of This Record” is a well organized concoction of quirky melodies, loops and synth, building an impressive example of post-rock. The final track may feel like it doesn’t belong with the others, but nevertheless, a fantastic album altogether. You can find the album, as well as download it for FREE off Bandcamp (link below).

Drop-d Rating: 8/10

It Was All A Bit Black And White – Bandcamp Page

Cork based electronic pop duo, Young Wonder, have certainly been attracting a lot of interest lately. Now that they’ve started playing live gigs, that interest is only going to go up.

Comprised of vocalist Rachel Koeman (21) and producer Ian Ring (22), Young Wonder are an energetic and extremely unique sounding act. With big, blissful beats and sweet, soulful lyrics, their debut eight-track self-titled EP is a joy to behold.

Released only a few weeks ago, tracks from it have already been played on BBC Radio 1 and 2FM. Scouts from major record labels are already showing interest, including Sony, Universal and Columbia…. and with good reason.

The whole EP is impressively well put together and their sound is extremely tight. The music is infectious and bouncy and you’ll have one hell of a hard time getting it out of your head. In fact, the EP should probably come with a warning, because I’ve been doing nothing but listening to it for the past three days straight!

Of the eight tracks, Flesh and Tumbling Backward are the ones that make the most impact. Nodding heads and tapping fingers are a given for both of these and Rachel Koeman’s intoxicating vocals are nothing short of exquisite. I could listen to this EP for hours on end and not get tired of it.

Many critics have tried and failed not only to categorise the music being produced by Young Wonder but to compare them to any other artist out there. Their sound is empowering and enjoyable, but it’s also downright indefinable. They are truly unique and no matter what I say, you won’t get an accurate representation of their music unless you listen to it.

Fresh from playing The Pavilion and Dublin’s Camden Crawl, Young Wonder have already begun work on their second record. Expect big things from them in the very near future.

Last month, Arsiesys released the first two tracks from their upcoming EP, which is due for release some time this year.

Titled Why do you wake up so soon? and Why do you leave me so soon? respectively, the tracks are very easy listening and would suit those of you with tendencies toward rock and metal who also enjoy some lighter tones.

Arsiesys itself isn’t so much a band as a musical project started in 2010 by the founding member of Exilym, Guillaume Apoc Dessery. Exilym, launched by Apoc Dessery in 2003, was also a musical project but led to the formation of a fully-fledged ambient post-rock band in 2010. Arsiesys, like Exilym, is also on the Swarm of Nails record label and boasts ethereal sounds and ambient melodies.

The two tracks that have been released so far are intense and moving. Purely instrumental, the music gradually and continuously builds up to a cacophony of emotion right before an ambient descent towards silence once more.

This really is ambient post-rock at its best and the main themes of the forthcoming EP centre around pessimism, destruction and a post-apocalyptic existence.

Look up Arsiesys on bandcamp if you’re a fan of Parahelia, Exilym or Sigur Ros.

With the dust settled I figure now is a good time to give a decent overview of Anime Dublin, which took place a few weeks ago in the Central Hotel.  This may or may not bore you, and we only have one way to find out!

I’m happy to overall surmise that the concept, that of a targeted, hectic, one day event akin to a convention flash mob, is a very workable one and a very successful one.  I don’t think I heard any complaints all day or in the aftermath.  Personally, I think it’s a really good idea we’ve hit upon.  Rent out three rooms (or more, depending on the venue’s layout) – one dedicated to general events, one to panels, and one to gaming.  Open at 10/11am and run events right through the day until 7/8pm where there’s a half hour break to set up a pub quiz or club night scenario and party on into the night!

What we learned from this is that it has to be carefully staffed.  The requirements aren’t huge but if it’s not tightly run, it will unravel faster than you can attempt to stitch it back together.  Especially the issue of having a pub setting after 8pm and under 18s still being about.  The best course would be either to host it in a previously closed off area, or if that’s not possible clear out the room and ID everyone at the door.  It sounds a bit harsh but for health and safety and all that, it needs to be done.

I also think it’s of paramount importance that the venue is centrally located.  By central, I mean within a ten minute walk off O’Connell Street.  The ease of access this provides solves a lot of logistical issues and of course goes down very well with attendees.  Another offshoot is the huge range of eateries and shops in the immediate area.  For Anime Dublin, we got discounts from Ukiyo’s Restaurant and Murphy’s Ice Cream and both remarked on their increased afternoon business.  Definitely something we’ll be doing again.

Anime Dublin reminded me how lucky Eirtakon is to be hosted in The Helix, where the staff are incredibly attentive and eager to work with us.  Those Helix guys, they see the value in helping to pull off a successful weekend.  I like to think they’ve reaped a good reward by going that extra mile with us.  I don’t think the Central Hotel could be more different – pretty much everything we did rubbed them up the wrong way, and they eventually forced us to close down about an hour early (not a disaster but disappointing).  As far as I’m concerned it wasn’t for lack of prior information as to what an anime convention entails, they just really didn’t like us.  I don’t think cosplayers and happy people fit in well with the prestige of the Central Hotel regardless of the business we brought them.

A shame, really.  The Library Bar is a fantastic corner of Dublin.  If you’re ever in the area I thoroughly recommend popping in for a coffee and soak up the atmosphere.  For Anime Dublin, next year will be onto pastures more spacious.

During one of the panels someone in the audience pointed us towards SciFi.ie – check it out!  It’s a simple calendar of events covering most of the nerd spectrum in Ireland, from the big anime cons to small evening board game meet ups.  If you’ve ever wanted to get more involved in any of these groups this is a pretty good place to start.  Includes plenty of links and seems to be updated often.  I hope this continues.

So what has Eirtakon been up to the past few weeks?!  Well, not too much.  It’s all been Anime Dublin and a few of us have been taking it easy in the weeks after.  This month I have some new poster and flyer designs to finish off and we’ve started the ball rolling on new artwork for 2012.  MCM Expo in London is happening at the end of May so we have a few things to prepare for then.  There’s plenty of madcap ideas being thrown about for events and with a bit more brainstorming I’m sure we’ll have plenty to announce over the summer.

May is a bit of a quiet time for anime.  Nobody wants to clash with MCM Expo and students are booked solid with exams, so not much tends to happen.  Given the busy schedule we’ve all been keeping the past few months it’s a bit of a welcome break!  That’s all from me for now, I’ll see you all again in June and in the meantime, keep an eye on the various news feeds online for all the latest news and info!

Until next time,
Mark

Storm Corrosion has been in the making, in some shape or form, for over a decade. It’s a collaborative album of long time musical cohorts and friends, Steven Wilson and Mikael Akerfeldt. The Porcupine Tree and Opeth architects have worked together in various forms for many years, first starting in 2001 when Wilson produced Opeth’s seminal masterpiece Blackwater Park. However, Storm Corrosion is the first time the two have worked together on a project that is solely the two of them. Needless to say, expectations are in the clouds.

Described by the two as the concluding part of an accidental trilogy, bearing an aesthetical and spiritual bond with Opeth’s last album Heritage and Wilson’s second solo effort Grace for Drowning, the latter slightly more so, this self-titled album both surprises and pleases. The album doesn’t contain anything that could be called a riff and lacks a great deal of drums, save for the manic passages of jazzy soloing on Hag, however the album is littered with gentle, spectral flourishes of percussion, which add another layer to the record.

Storm Corrosion is all about the vocals. While the textured ambience of the guitars is utterly complementary to the overall aesthetic of the album, Wilson and Akerfeldt’s to and fro with their distinctive voices steal the show. Opener Drag Ropes sets a mesmerising scene with the two’s vocals weaving delicately through each other, all accentuated by the lush, and at times despairing, atmosphere. In fact there are several moments on the album that portray a dichotomy in the album’s tone, being at some points desperately melancholic, only to crawl lovingly into more peaceful terrain.

Last song Ljudet Innan bears proof. It’s simply dripping with a melancholic, yet oddly warm, air. The sparse atmosphere is met by the soothing croons of Wilson, changing the mood to that of a more inviting one, all eventually bringing the album to a hypnotic, paced and altogether relaxed close.

This is the sound of two artists doing exactly what they want to do and it’s a heartening instance to witness, but one can’t help but feel that this record is just the opening salvo of something potentially much grander.

Drop-d Rating: 8/10

Storm Corrosion