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OXEGEN, MUSE & Snow Patrol Get The Ball Rolling

Muse and Snow Patrol are two of the headlining acts for this summer's OXEGEN music festival in Punchestown Co Kildare.

Also on the bill are Daft Punk, Arcade Fire, Scissor Sisters, Razorlight and My Chemical Romance, Bloc Party, Kings of Leon, Interpol, The Fratellis, The Kooks, Babyshambles, Klaxons and CSS.But wait there is more;James Morrison, Tori Amos, Amy Winehouse and The Goo Goo Dolls. And of course this is just the beginning as those sly shower in charge of PR will feed us more big names in drips to ensure OXEGEN will stay in the public mind( yeah like we could possibly forget).

Live Earth. Gore's Big Party

Live Earth, the brainchild of Al Gore, is drawing support from the cream of international talent. The event is intended to raise awareness of  global warming and is gearing up to be the biggest party on Earth in the words of  Pharrell Williams.

Gore’s ambitious plan is to stage a 24-hour musical extravaganza across seven continents, featuring as many as 150 of the world's top recording artists, introduced by an army of "celebrities and thought leaders"( actors, do-gooders). It will be hosted on tv, radio and the web on July 7th. Shanghai, Sydney, Johannesburg, London, Rio and Kyoto, New York and Washington will stage the concerts and one Band will play in Antarctica.( Snow Patrol get my vote purely for the irony of it). The intention is good and the line up is great but will it be a success or will the message get lost in the hype and glitz as celebrities clamber for media attention? We can but hope.
Live Earth Home Page 
For a full list of artists read on

Brit Pack

The Brits have come and gone, and it has to be said the show that was put on was quite the spectacle. The Scissors Sisters opening performance was one to behold and  even if you are not a fan (I am firmly in those ranks). And the state of British music is quite healthy if this anything to go by. The Artic Monkeys, Amy Winehouse, Fratellis and Muse all claimed prizes under the watchful gaze of the man-of-the-hour Russell Brand.
Want to know who won what? Read on….

Music in mouth but not in contract

BellX1 have parted company from Island records but are at pains to say it was not a bad break up.
Break ups are never easy but around Valentines Day they are even worse so lets hope the guys don’t mope around eating ice-cream for too long.
Here is what the boys had to say on it ( not much really).Say it ain't so!

Return Of Rage

Throw you fists to the skies and rejoice.

Rage Against The Machine are to play together again for a gig in the US at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. If you don't believe me just look HERE.

It does not mean a full reforming of the band and this is only a once off but if we all close our eyes and wish hard enough who knows.

The Meteor Has Landed

The Meteor awards have been delt out this year and by in large offered such a huge level of shock and awe to the keen music follower that people with weak hearts should not click to read more for fear heart attack! All in all a big night out for the big names of Irish music, That said its good to see people such as Royseven and Luan Parle getting a look in. There may be hope after all.
Here goes with the full list of winners

The Shins - Winch the Night Away

 The rather strange title of the new Shin's album is all down to singer and songwriter James Mercer's struggle to sleep at night due to the anticipation surrounding the album. The Shin's became almost overnight sensations in 2004, due in no small part to Natalie Portman telling Zach Braff that the Shins will "change your life" in the fan favourite Garden State.

Mercer was wrong to worry. Winch the Night Away, the groups third album is their best to date, and should launch the band into the big league. That is if there actually is any justice in this world. The band have considerably upped the ante, with a far more varied sound that shows their astounding talent.

Early single "Phantom Limb" is a hook filled pop song that shows the band at the peak of their song writing ability. One of the bands gifts is that you're never quiet sure what the hell the lyrics are about.  References to the "polymorphing opinion" on the quiet beautiful Spilt Needles' or "faced with the dodo's conundrum" on the superb 'Australia'.  Yet they retain a magical quality which enrapture the listener with their fairytale styling.

From the psychedelic 'Black Wave'  to the hip-hop styling of 'Sea Legs', this really is an album to behold. I know the year has only just dawned, but believe me when I say that not only is this the first true classic of 2007 it is also a serious contender for album of the year. It's doubtful that any other release of the coming year will be quiet so brilliant.

James Mercer had best get used to many sleepless nights, as he contemplates how the hell can he follow up musical perfection.

If we had a rating system then  Winch the Night Away would recieve 5/5, but only because I can hardly give it 10/5, or can I???

Craig Gallagher

Queens of the Stone Age - Lullabies to Paralyze

How does a band go about recording a follow up to the two finest rock albums of the past decade? Josh Homme's solution, has been a somewhat original one. Having devised an all star army, with three front men for Songs for the Dead, Homme proceeded to tear his team apart. Even going as far as sacking his faithful, if a little unhinged first mate Nick Oliveri.

Lullabies to Paralyze is basically a Homme solo album. From the bleak opening, Lullaby, sung with expected dark gravitas by Mark Lanegan (one of the departed front-men). From here the album takes a strange turn. A series of restrained, stripped down songs suggest that this is Homme's radio friendly album.

This evaporates about half way through this majestic and absorbing set. Someone's in the Wolf, a breathtakingly perverse hard rock track which paves the way for what follows. Homme also provides one of the most unusual and awe inspiring musical hybrids in existence, The Blood is Love, Led Zeppelin by way of David Bowie's Berlin period, has to be heard to be believed.

Throw in a couple of pulsating ballads like I Never Came, and Lullabies to Paralyze easily sits amongst the greatest Rock albums ever recorder. Josh Homme has done what few bands ever accomplish. One truly great album is common, two is rare, but three great albums is something rare indeed.

Craig Gallagher