DarrenByrne.com

Do you know who this is?

She was the love interest, Trillian, from Garth Jenning’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; she acted opposite Will Ferrell in the hillarious Elf; she played William’s sister in Almost Famous; her sister, Emily, is the star of the TV show Bones.

So, I was surprised to hear Zooey Deshanel deliver an album with the quality of Volume One with the band She & Him, a two piece with M. Ward. It’s soft pop set, with some nice easy listening tunes such as Sentimental Heart and Swing Low Sweet Chariot.

While one or two tracks sound like they may have been add-on’s to Ringo Star’s 90’s album, Vertical Man (which is not entirely a bad thing), much of the album, particularly I Thought I Saw Your Face Today, sounds as though Deschanel has communicated with the dead to channel Karen Carpenter, mixing the cheerful melody with heartbreaking vocals. Her voice is gripping.

At other times, She & Him fits nicely into the recent trend in favour of jazzier, 50’s and 60’s RnB grooves, á la the edgy Amy Winehouse or the softer Duffy. The duo are not going to ask us ‘what kind of fuckery is this‘ – they are ‘nicer’ than Winehouse and this in itself is quite refreshing. Their soulful cover of the old Smoky Robinson hit (there was a great cover by The Beatles), You Really Gotta Hold On Me, is beautiful and was the first track that I immediately went back to play again.

There is a strong Country and Western influence in Deschanel’s voice at times, which goes against her somewhat. It feels forced on tracks like Black Hole and Got Me, which makes me think she isn’t entirely behind every track on the album. The opposite can be said of Take It Back which is a haunting tune which could fit just as neatly on an Ute Lemper album, recalling the smoky cabaret scenes of wartime Europe.

This album is not going to tear up the charts, there’s too much variety in the tracks (is this a bad thing?), but with songs like Sentimental Heart and Take It Back, it may do very well on the download market.

Please check out the duo’s MySpace page, where you can hear a number of tracks from the album, Volume One.

I listened to Ken’s 49th Sound System Podcast over the weekend and I’m pleased to say Some Man Darren Byrne™ got another mention. I don’t think I’ll become famous for my mentions on Ross and Ken’s podcasts, but it’s sufficiently feeding my easily inflated ego all the same. The past two weeks podcasts, numbers 48 and 49, have seen Ken flying solo. Ross is apparently deeply engrossed in finishing his thesis. So, good luck to Ross and we look forward to your return.

So, Mr McGuire is left to hold the fort on his own and, while all the information is there and the strong song choices are there, he seems a little reluctant to let himself go and be a bit silly. Let yourself go a bit mad, Ken – we don’t mind.

The pair have great chemistry (nothing funny) and I look forward to the return of Ken’s compadre.

The 49th show featured:

• Myp Et Jeep – ‘Each Man For Himself’
• Jimmy Behan – ‘Box Of Broken Things’
• Aortal – ‘Failure’
• The Most Serene Republic – ‘Present Of Future End’

Next week’s 50th is quite the milestone and a big congratulations to the lads at Kilkenny Music for keeping a quality podcast running for so long. They also have their 20th One Take Session, the podcast of “an open music night showcasing some of the finest raw talent on the Irish music scene”. Be nice and drop them a line podcast@kilkennymusic.com.

Previous Podcast Posts:

The Sound System Podcast#46 from Kilkenny Music

Kilkenny Music

Really feeling like crap today – I’ll expand on it later…maybe.

In the meantime, this is a great song!

Thank you very much to Catherine in DublinBlog for posting about the Teachers Musical Society’s production of Little Shop of Horrors. On a whim, we decided to go see it last night, it’s opening night, in the O’Reilly Theatre at the Belvedere College.

It’s an amateur dramatics production, but the production values were very high. The set looked great and the plant was very funny without being silly, very animated and interacted well with the ‘other’ actors.

For those who don’t know, the show is about a florist in the crappy part of town and a plant that drinks blood. That’s it! Well, not quite. It has some of the strongest musical numbers from any show and great comic characters who sing out brilliant one liners such as “I know Seymour’s the greatest, But I’m dating a semi-sadist”.

Set in Mushnik’s Flower Shop, it centres upon a love story blossoming (sorry!) between the hard-done-by Seymour, raised by the slave driving Mr Mushnik, and the battered blonde Audrey, beaten up both by life and by her Nitrous-Oxide-Addicted dentist boyfriend. To save the impoverished shop, Audrey encourages Seymour to show Mushnik his “strange and interesting new plant”. The plant, the Audrey Too, immediately begins attracting customers and profits begin to soar. The problem for Seymour is he is finding it hard to feed his rapidly growing genus-horribilis, as all it wants is blood, his blood. So, faced with losing his job and losing “Audrey one”, he finds other ways to feed the plant.

From the opening number, we are treated to some great R’n’B numbers, sung well by four members of the Teachers’ Musical Society, but it is only when Denise King (Audrey) sings that we hear some truly great voices. For me she steals the show. With the beautiful love duet Suddenly Seymour, Tom Flanagan (Seymour) matched her voice to send a shiver up my arm. Shay Byrne (not my father) voices the plant and apart from a few lip-synch (or is it tendril-synch?) issues, he is very good.

The show differs significantly to the movie I grew up with (the movie with Ellen Green and Rick Moranis), but this just lead to some pleasant surprises both in the storyline and the songs. The huge closing number is fantastic and a credit to all involved in the production. Well done and thank you for a great night out.

Little Shop of Horrors runs from now until Saturday 12th April. Tickets are available through TicketOffice.ie. As far as I’m aware, if you show up tonight there will still be tickets available, but you can call 087 7866864 to confirm.

A big congratulations to The Minutes, who, last night, picked up the Vodafone Bright New Sounds Award.

Let me first say that I make no apologies if this post seems like an indie band love fest. The five acts were all superb – they each justified their position in the top five of the initial 20.

My evening started off with a tour of the venue, Tripod on Harcourt Street, while the band, Chaplin, were in the midst of their sound check. Listening as they performed, it was clear that this would be a good night.

At the bar backstage, two hours before kick-off, I enjoyed pizza and a beer with the lads from Starturtle. If there was an award for nicest band of the night, these guys win hands down. Matt, Jonathan and Daragh are great guys. They each have a passion for the music but have their feet firmly stuck to the ground. That said, Jonathan, a teacher in Ballyfermot, looks more rock and roll than chalk and blackboard. And Daragh is no stranger to the classroom either – being that he is probably studying with his classmates as this post is published.

I spent much of my evening chatting with Phil of Norn Iron Music, the manager of Superfreakz. He’s a guy who loves the music and is behind his band completely. It was refreshing to see someone so fervently promoting something he believed in, without sounding like a pushy fool. I think Phil may have felt the disappointment of not winning, far more than than the band themselves.

The show kicked off at 9 o’clock with a three song set from Chaplin and they did not disappoint. The harmonies captured the small crowd’s attention immediately and their drum beats pumped the adrenalin of each and every one of us. Between acts, there was plenty of time to meet and chat with the bands while PJ Gallagher, the one true disappointment of the night, fell through his MC job on stage. He really seemed to be phoning it in.

Sitting with Chaplin after their performance, the lads were buzzing. For a band who say they rarely play Dublin and actually rarely get out of Wexford, these guys were serious professionals. They had the biggest equipment set up of the night, but the size of your equipment isn’t what matters – it’s what you do with it that counts and these guys delivered.

79Cortinaz were a different band entirely. While I didn’t get chatting with the band for long, their music speaks for itself. Picking up where the indie scene of the early nineties left off, the music is funky and energetic. While I could hear a lot of influences from bands past, 79Cortinaz sound was still very fresh.

Phil and I decided to inject a bit of life into the increasingly stoic crowd by cheering on The Minutes upfront, but we were just left looking like a couple of spares. The band, however, could have been playing to a packed Croke Park for the pace and energy they injected into their performance. While they weren’t my choice to win, they certainly deserved the award. Their sound is very ‘now’ and will sell well. I feel The Minutes will hit it big this year.

Up until I heard Superfreakz perform, I had pegged Chaplin as the winners, but Superfreakz got one of the best reactions of the night (maybe they had a lot of friends in the crowd?), and I really thought they were in with a chance of winning. I’m looking forward to hearing a full set from these lads soon.

The last band up were the lovely guys from Starturtle. As the lead singer said, he tries to go for the mysterious brooding look, but after about 8 seconds it falls away as he enjoys himself too much. And it’s clear they do enjoy themselves on stage. I mean this in a good way – their music was a hark back to eighties rock. I wanted to punch the air and rock out. Great sound and I hope to hear them again in a few weeks time.

While Jim Carroll may have had some good points to make about the organisation of the event and the motives behind it, the organisation on the night was flawless. Every one of the bands were happy with how things were run and all said how positive an experience it was for them. It raised their profile, it gave them some great experience and it was great to play at a large venue and event. Personally, I think Vodafone did a great job on this one. I hope they learn from mistakes and aren’t afraid to run another Bright New Sounds next year.

I’m a fan of Jack L. I’m a huge fan. I’m an addict for his music. I was introduced to his very unique sound by my girlfriend about nine years ago, and while my tastes in music have varied and changed over the last decade, I can’t help but still call Jack L my favourite artist.

His early offerings are translated versions of the work of Jacques Brel, the French musician, poet, actor, artiste and madman. One of Jack’s strongest hits is his take on Brel’s Jacky.

While Jack’s later albums have veered away from Brel somewhat, there’s still an unmistakable thread running through his work which lets us know that his inspiration comes from Brel, Scott Walker, Nick Cave, Tom Waits.

Jack Lukeman is a Kildare man who began his working career as a mechanic before heading off to Germany with where he hooked up with The Black Romantics. After releasing his first album, Wax, with them, he went solo to make the incredible Metropolis Blue, the album which made his name. Blue includes tracks such as the seminal Georgie Boy, Ode to Ed Wood (see video), Bedsprings and Rooftop Lullaby.

For the past seven years, whenever he’s played in Dublin, we’ve immediately bought tickets. When he did his Chez Jack L show in Spirit/HQ on we went no less than 6 times. Earlier this year, he played a show in the National Concert Hall and two weeks ago he was in Vicar Street. I’ve yet to be disappointed by one of his shows. His voice is haunting, from the deep and frightening baritones to the sweet angelic falsettoes, he’s a master of his craft.

One of my favourite songs of all time is Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. I’m not actually a fan of Cohen’s version. I enjoy Jeff Buckley’s. I love Rufus Wainright’s version. And Jack’s version is truly brilliant……

Jack L’s Website: http://www.jacklukeman.com/

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/jacklukeman

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Lukeman

Following on from Mulley’s post and Anthony’s follow up, I wondered what I am an ambassador for. I’m not sure if I’d call it being an ambassador but I certainly rant about much of the following:

Musicals

Too many guys today are afraid to either admit to enjoying musicals, or afraid to let themselves like musicals. I’m not! I love them and have done so for many many years. A love of musicals is one of the first things my girlfriend and I had in common. Probably the earliest musical I fell in love with was, rather unusually, Little Shop of Horrors. I think I empathised with the beleaguered Seymour desperately hoping for a way to get out of Skid Row……or maybe I just loved the songs. From Rocky Horror to Jesus Christ Superstar, from Blood Brothers to Rent, no other medium can constantly give me shivers of joy as much as when I fall into the worlds created by songs and good storytelling. But am I an ambassador for Musicals? I think so. I’m an ambassador for being proud of enjoying them. I try to introduce people to shows with varying successes.

Movies

I had a brief twitter with Mulley a few nights ago about Grosse Pointe Blank. Whenever someone asks me my favourite movie, I always try to break it down, wondering what’s the most cinematic, most uplifting, most technically impressive, most thought provoking. But if I’m truly honest, my favourite movie must be Grosse Pointe Blank. I laugh out loud everytime I watch it. I love the world and the characters that inhabit it. The music is fantastic and the dialogue is brilliantly witty. Everyone should see this movie, John Cusack’s Best, and while it won’t be to everyone’s taste, I can’t imagine anyone walking away from it saying they didn’t enjoy it.

Music

When we first moved to Dublin, 7½ years ago, we went out a lot. For some reason we always had a lot of disposable money (possibly due to the cheap hole we were living in). Whenever possible, we would go to gigs and we would make special efforts to see Jack L and Juliet Turner. Jack’s voice should be declared a national treasure and Turner’s quirky sense of humour added so much to the already astounding music at her concerts. Over the years we have converted a good few people to fans of the pair. At one of Juliet Turner’s gigs about five years ago, an odd act, called Duke Special, was her support. His stage presense and eclectic tunes made us immediate fans. While we shouted his praise for years, it’s bittersweet to see him have so much success now. It’s hard not being part of a group of devoted fans, when the group is in the hundreds of thousands. That said, I’m delighted for him and his band – they deserve every bit of success the get. (I’m putting together a post on Jack L which will be up later or tomorrow)

People

There’s a group of people which I would like to consider myself an ambassador for and that is the bullied, especially kids. No child (and no person) deserves to be victimised and abused. It’s a subject that is close to my heart and while I would be an ambassador, a megaphone for the persecuted, I have not yet found my voice. But I will.

Places

We moved to Greystones almost three years ago and immediately fell in love with the town. It’s more a home to me than anywhere else I’ve lived. And I am happy to rave about the place. It’s beatiful and quiet, but within easy reach of Dublin; it has great community spirit, as illustrated by Gingerpixel; it can grow outwards without losing any of its inner charm. That last point may be argued by some of the older residents, and while I can understan their viewpoint, the growth of Greystones own subburbs can only bring more amenities and oportunities to the town. Without growth comes stagnation. The people, for the most part, are very friendly, something which I have struggled to find elsewhere along Ireland’s east coast. It’s a great town and I would invite people to visit, to stay a while, to move here – they won’t be disappointed.

Vodafone’s Bright New Sounds gig is on Thursday night. As Jim Carroll points out, Vodafone’s New Sounds website doesn’t make it very clear what the Bright New Sounds promotion is for exactly, but the less cynical among us can infer that it’s to encourage new, young acts and to give a footing to bands who would otherwise struggle to be heard in the mainstream.

Bright New Sounds was launched at the start of February and was open to acts of all genres. Interested acts had to upload their tracks to www.brightnewsounds.ie, where the best 20 submissions, as decided by a panel, were made available for Irish Vodafone customers to download. The top five most downloaded acts would then be invited to perform in Dublin’s Tripod April 3, where one will be declared Vodafone’s Bright New Sound of 2008.

The winning act will get a prize package from Vodafone and Universal Music. They’ll record their new single in Windmill Lane, which will then be released as part of their recording deal with Universal Music, they will receive a professional photo shoot and launch gig with supporting promotional activity – including extensive coverage in the pages of Hot Press.

Now, it’s clear from Jim Carroll’s post that this is not all it’s cracked up to be, but from a layman’s p.o.v., I’m just looking forward to hearing the acts on Thursday. Having already listened to many of the tracks, including Chaplin’s The Story Goes, Christine Deady’s Don’t Rescue Me and The Kinetiks’ Shuffle Your Feet, it should be a good show.

Even if the Vodafone event is nothing more than an overblown marketing stunt, anything that raises the profile of some overlooked acts must be a good thing. Viva la Indie Music!

[youtube:http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WJm9tLsRLXw]

Update: The five finalists have been announced!

I finished work today, went through my usually OCD infused routine. I placed my mouse in it’s holder, I put away all my pens and stapler in their drawer, I made sure my four inboxes were neat and uniform, I adjusted and switched off my monitor (Power of One and all that jazz), I put on my coat and set up my iPod. Today’s playlist consisted of Ken and Ross‘s Podcast 46, which I missed last week. So I finally leave my office and happily wander along listening to the lads manic conversations and excellent music choices.

After a while I find myself grinning stupidly and getting odd looks, as the lads give a big shout out to me and my ‘fledgling bloggery’. So, thank you both for making me that weirdo people see laughing out loud as he wanders along the street.

Ken, you may be right about me podcasting – I’ll definitely give it a go at some stage. Although, I sincerely hope I get an invite down for Podcast#50!!!

The 46th Podcast, in the meantime, featured

• Saints Of Descent – ‘One Word’
• Brigantia – ‘Ride To The Sabbath’
• Acrojunk – ‘Man Or Machine’
• The Lions Mane – ‘The Dragons Breath’

There was also some cryptic reference to DeviousTheatre‘s two new productions. Ken and Ross are clever guys. They pretend to stumble and fall there way through talking about the auditions for Trainspotting in June and another project in August, but it just forces us listeners to check out DeviousTheatre‘s website for more info. You kooky guys! Marketing at its best.

And I think it’s important to back up Ross on this one – the local newspapers are stealing his work. Check out Ross’s photography at Oss237.com, just “don’t steal his shit“. If you want to support his artistic reputation, drop a comment on his blog post.

I’m already looking forward to listening to Podcast #47, which can be subscribed to on iTunes here or on the Kilkenny Music Website. Give it a go. It’s a lot of fun and there’s some great music.

I finally got around to listening to one of Ken McGuire and Ross Costigan’s Podcasts at Kilkenny Music. It’s numero 44 and they discuss their experience at last weeks Blog Awards, in which I get a mention, so woohoo for me, and the (then upcoming) Creative Camp.

I was really impressed – it’s a damn professional thing they’ve got going there. I didn’t expect that. Truthfully I didn’t know what to expect, but between the music and the chatter, they’ve converted me to being a Kilkenny Music Podcast subscriber.

Ross, I believe this is what you were looking for:

Very cool!!!

Also, the music on the Podcast was excellent. I particularly like the second track, Jill Deering’s Dreams.

So, thanks lads for…eh……well, being entertaining and I’m looking forward to listening to this evening’s 45th Podcast. Best of luck with it.

Notes:

Ken’s Personal Blog

Ken’s Staff at Kilkenny Music Blog

Ross’s Personal Blog

Ross’s Staff at Kilkenny Music Blog

Three years ago, I was struggling monetarily, paying a ridiculous monthly rent in a city centre apartment; I was in the midst of a career in hospitality, working ungodly hours for low pay and little thanks. I had very few real friends and rarely socialised, but none of that matters when you’re in love.

That was the backdrop of my life when I saw Blood Brothers at the Gaiety Theatre for the first time. It was an unforgettable experience and the show immediately became one of my favourite musicals, but certainly my favourite staged drama.

Three years later, my circumstances have changed significantly. Importantly, I’m still in love with the same amazing girl, and I am still in awe of an astounding musical and a story that amazes time and time again.

Last night, I returned to the Gaiety to, once more, hear Rebecca Storm as Mrs. Johnston, the impoverished, put-upon, too-old-for-her age, Liverpudlian single mum. Put in an impossible position, she finds herself handing one of her newborn twin boys over to her infertile employer, who yearns for a child of her own. Thus begins the slippery slope towards tragedy. But, before we reach any degree of despair, we are provided with a first act of hilarity with clever lyrics, funny tunes, slapstick performances and, of course, grown men and women pretending to be kids (“It really doesn’t matter, The whole thing’s just a game”.)

We meet Mickey, Eddie and Linda, two firm friends (twins, separated at birth, unbeknownst to them) and their female compatriot, a girl who would eventually fall in love with both men. Mickey (played by a ridiculously talented Sean Jones) was raised by Storm’s Mrs Johnston, along with her seven other children, and grows up on the breadline with neighbour Linda, while Edward ‘Eddie’ Lyons was raised by the neurotic and uptight, upper class Mrs Lyons, never wanting for anything except a normal life with his friends.

As we follow the trio’s journey from childhood, through adolescence and onward to young adulthood, we, the audience, are happy to join in their games and cheer with them and sing along, but there is always a shadow lurking at the corner of our eyes, in the form of the narrator, played by a very natural (undoubtedly due to his many years in the role) Keith Burns. He reminds us of the superstitious warning once uttered by Mrs Lyons to Mrs Johnston that if either twin should discover the other twin exists, they shall both immediately die. In an example of foreshadowing similar to the ‘star crossed lovers’ destiny in Romeo and Juliet, we all know what is coming, but we are praying it won’t.

The second act dispenses with much of the frivolity and we see the real reason this musical has been such a long running success. The woes of adulthood weighing on the lives of Mickey and Linda are played out with a painful ring of honesty on stage. As we see them try to cope with recession, unemployment and depression we are drawn in completely. So much so, that the ultimate finale, which I know all too well, still came as a shock.

The music, the story, the performances in Blood Brothers resonated for me, as I saw the potential my life had to become like Mickey in the play, had I not escaped the small mindedness of small town Ireland….well, there but for the grace of some random deity go I. And I was not the only person with whom this story struck a chord. There were a number of teary eyes in the house throughout the show, not least from the lady sitting beside us, who began blubbery as the overture began.

It is rare today to find something that can stir so many emotions, leaving you feeling sad and uplifted in unison. Please, please, please, if you have never seen Blood Brothers, go see it now. It runs in the Gaiety until Saturday 15th March. If you have already seen it, then I’m sure it needs no recommendation from me. You’ve already bought your return ticket.

Update: apparently tickets are extremely limited.