Onwards, to the Horror Show.

Ravel Morrison: Talent vs. Responsibility

2012-02-03T16:01:00.001Z

Ravel Morrison we're told, is one of the most naturally gifted young footballers to emerge in England in years. He is also, we're informed, not without his troubles. Shown the door at Old Trafford by Sir Alex Ferguson, a man with a proven track record of dealing with difficult players, he's been snapped up by Championship leaders West Ham who have promised to get the 19 year old back on the right track. All parties seem to be in agreement that a move away from Manchester and the bad influences that surround Morrison is in his best interests.

First team football looms now for Morrison who was denied the opportunity with United, not down to any lack of skill but rather a fundamental lack of respect for the rules which go hand in hand with ability when it comes to promoting players through the youth ranks. Often late for or even absent from training, Morrison tested the nerve of his coaches who grew increasingly frustrated that a player of such natural talent was unwilling to put in the same effort that his team mates did. Couple this with his off field legal issues (including a 12 month referral order for witness intimidation) it left United little choice but to move him on, amazing talent or not.

Sam Allardyce at West Ham has stated Morrison will be given all the help he needs to avoid falling back in to his old ways, acknowledging his "troubles" are a concern but believing he can get the best out of the young midfielder. It seems there is no shortage of people queuing up to help Ravel, in fact the only glaring omission seems to be Ravel himself. I'm not familiar with the people who Ravel considers his friends in Manchester but with so many calling to attention their influence over him it's easy to make assumptions. To give Morrison the benefit of the doubt, he knows them better than anyone and maybe they aren't that bad. Or maybe Morrison just happens to be a bad judge of character. Or maybe Morrison is just as much of a scumbag as they. His arrogant attitude toward training and disrespectful nature towards the club who stood by him through his court appearances don't speak highly in favour of his character which is already under scrutiny due to his legal troubles.

It is interesting to see how far clubs will go to protect young players, especially those deemed to have the ability that Morrison does and at what point they decide to cut their losses. Will West Ham be able to get the best out of Ravel while keeping him out of trouble? Is that even possible? Morrison's attitude until now seems to have been let someone else sort his problems, but if he has aims to become an established Premier League/International footballer or aside from that, a decent human being, then he'll have to accept some of the responsibility.

Bring Back Des Lynam

2012-02-01T16:18:00.001Z

The following is a list of things I wish to be removed from football match presentations on television.

1. Half the screen being taken up by the channel's logo and red dot and a scrolling bar informing when next they'll be obscuring football matches. Just the time and score should be appearing, kept small but readable in the top left hand corner.

2. The addition of a graphic as they go to an ad break which attempts to surmise the match in a single line in pun form. Example: Arsenal recently made a comeback in a match against Aston Villa, coming from 2-0 down to win 3-2 which prompted ESPN to use the line "Arsenal go from Villains to Heroes" as they headed back to the studio. Aston Villa are nicknamed The Villains for those of you unaware so this statement made no sense whatsoever. Had Arsenal transformed themselves into Aston Villa for a portion of the match? No, of course they bloody didn't.

3. Retired football players being given pundit/commentary jobs simply because they are retired football players. Notable inclusions in this bunch include: Ruud Gullit, Alan Shearer, Robbie Savage, Martin Keown, John Barnes, Gareth Southgate, Peter Reid, Mike Summerbee, Lee Dixon, Mark Lawrenson, David Pleat and Steve McManaman. In fact extend this to current players popping in too (usually when their country hasn't qualified for whatever international competition is currently taking place), this means you Emmanuel Adebayor.

4. Adrian Chiles.

5. Junior presenters who don't sit with the pundits or do anything relevant but who stand beside a big screen for thirty seconds pre and post match updating the viewers on the fixtures/results. Why can't Chiles do this himself?

6. The obligatory "local" music for the opening credits when a tournament takes place from a non European location. Examples: The 2002 and 2010 World Cups.

7. ESPN's determination to break the important news of how much time will be added on at the end of each half seconds before it's announced to everyone else. That's some top investigative work there chaps, quite the scoop!

8. Pitch side build up/analysis. Either get back in the studio and do it properly or make it worthwhile and do it front of a stand full of Turkish fans.

Hostile.

Put 'Em Under Pressure.

2011-12-26T17:32:00.003Z

I love this video.

I love the maniacal look on Packie Bonner's face as he takes that kick out and I love how Charlton just doesn't like Dunphy. I love how Dave O'Leary takes all Arsenal's penalties and how he's never taken a penalty in life. I love that riff.

I also love this video.

I love the cluelessness on the face of Frank Stapleton and Joe Kinnear ridiculously predicting an Irish win. I love how the players are so Irish (well, some of their Grannys are so Irish) that they didn't take off their caps until the match was just about to kick off, for fear of being burned in the New York sun. I love how crap the caps were too. I love the rendition of Amhran na bhFiann and the roar of the crowd.

I love the audacity of Ray Houghton's goal, sound-tracked by George Hamilton's passionate commentary and the look on Terry Phelan's face that says celebrating that goal with Houghton will be the most important thing he'll ever do in life. I love how when I watched the match live our celebrations of that goal woke a sleeping baby. I love Paul McGrath's epic one armed performance and his humbleness in the interview after.

2002 was decent too.

Stellar Sounds 48 (Christmas Special)

2011-12-24T18:04:00.000Z

The Aled Jones inspired collection featuring Adebisi Shank, Oceansize and Foxy Shazam.

Adebisi Shank - Walking in the Air

Oceansize - Walking in the Air

Foxy Shazam - Walking in the Air

A Trip to Chelmsford was also Quite Pleasant

2011-12-15T00:15:00.002Z

This blog has been lying in quasi-dormant state these past few weeks as I'm occupied with the complexities of international relocationing. After blasting my way through the red tape necessities (I own an Oyster Card now) and experiencing the sights and sounds of Barking, Plaistow and West Ham (West Ham seemed to be lacking in the things to look at and listen to department) my current goal is to find a place to call my own (on a semi permanent basis, the duration of which to be determined after a course of intense negotiation with a man possibly called Ray or Shanker or something) for which to lay my head and store my belongings. As someone who is technically homeless, the safety of my possessions is now a top priority.


The only thing to do in West Ham is leave.

At this rate however, the search for a flat will extend well in to the new year and by that time I'll be on to my second bindle. For now I reside in the mobility scooter capital of the world, Southend-on-Sea, home of that Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly guy. Whoever he is.


I think the short sleeve/glove combo is rather dashing.

More regular blog updates including new music posts will resume as soon as I'm an anonymous dot in London. Send music suggestions here. Remember: NO REVIEWS. Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly, you probably shouldn't send anything.

Stellar Sounds 47

2011-11-24T20:48:00.001Z

Featuring the brand new video from Caligula's Children.

Caligula's Children - Sexy Sister

Sexy Sister is released December 25th. That's Christmas Day for all you Christians out there and a Sunday for everyone else.

Stellar Sounds 46

2011-11-22T23:19:00.001Z

Featuring music from Lion's Paw, The End of the Ocean and Years of Rice and Salt.

Lion's Paw - Demo
&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://lionspaw.bandcamp.com/album/demo"&amp;amp;gt;Demo by Lion's Paw&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

The End of the Ocean - Pacific.Atlantic
&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://theendoftheocean.bandcamp.com/album/pacific-atlantic"&amp;amp;gt;Pacific·Atlantic by The End Of The Ocean&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

Years of Rice and Salt - Nothing of Cities
&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://futurerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-of-cities"&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;quot;Nothing of cities&amp;amp;amp;quot; by Years of Rice &amp;amp;amp;amp; Salt&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

The End of the Ocean and Years of Rice and Salt appear on the Futurerecordings label.

In Trap We Trust. Almost.

2011-11-13T17:47:00.001Z

As I write this, the Irish national football team are in the midst of their most successful run of form in years. Unlike however, days gone by when Ireland's top performances were highlighted by the heroics of one player (McGrath vs Italy at the '94 World Cup for example) or a moment of match winning skill (Bonner's save from Timofte or Keane's goal vs Germany), it is the stubborn determination of Giovanni Trapattoni which epitomises Irish football today.

Trapattoni arrived on the scene at a time when Ireland seemed to stop producing truly world class players. There is no Giles, Brady or Roy Keane in the ranks for the Italian to pick and if Given, Robbie Keane, Duff or Dunne were absent it would be a very average side. Trap realised this fact not long into his tenure, much to the chagrin of the Irish football fan who cried out that the manager was unfairly overlooking some of our more creative/exciting players (Reid, McCarthy, Coleman) in favour of the workmanlike performances of Whelan and Andrews. Trap's Ireland side would not be based on the skill of a couple of players but rather a team effort of discipline and football not entirely easy on the eye.

After the debacle in the play off against France, he stuck to his guns. There would be no change in philosophy and two years later, half way through a two legged tie with a place at the European Championships at stake, Ireland are as close to major tournament football as it gets. Bar complete self destruction against the Estonians, the Irish will be represented at the Euros for the first time in 24 years. Of course, luck has been our side in this campaign, especially in the last three matches (a miraculous no score draw in Moscow and the red cards for Armenia and Estonia have eased our passage) but without Trapattoni at the helm it is unlikely Ireland would be this close. It may not be the exciting football we wish for but it seems to work for us and perhaps the ends justify the means.

None of this.

Nothing justifies having Paul McShane in the squad though, sort it out Trap.

Stellar Sounds 45

2011-11-07T14:37:00.001Z

Featuring music from Phonema, What the Cat Dragged In and Diefenbaker

Phonema - October Artifacts
<a href="http://phonema.bandcamp.com/album/october-artifacts">October Artifacts by Phonema</a>

What the Cat Dragged In - The Abstract Nouns in My Concrete Metaphor
<a href="http://whatthecatdraggedin.bandcamp.com/album/the-abstract-nouns-in-my-concrete-metaphor">The Abstract Nouns In My Concrete Metaphor by What The Cat Dragged In</a>

Diefenbaker - Got the Enzyme/Radon
<a href="http://diefenbaker.bandcamp.com/album/got-the-enzyme-radon">Got the Enzyme/Radon by Diefenbaker</a>

My Sacrifice

2011-11-02T14:41:00.000Z

In just over a month from now I depart the shores of my birth for a new life in London. (Hey, employ me). Having pondered the move from various angles, weighed up the pros and cons and committed to the adventure I realise now that apart from obvious things I'll miss (family, friends and such) there are other major changes I'll have to endure. I've yet to see a 3in1 on offer anywhere in England for example.

Pawn Stars

The biggest change I expect however will be the drastic change in television. For the last seven years I've had my own Sky subscription meaning I could watch what I wanted, when I wanted, almost never having to compromise (the occasional forced episode of Eastenders aside). Post move I'll barely be able to afford a telly, never mind the channels so it's obvious the winds of change are blowing in my face. Fortunately I've realised that in the previous years I don't particularly care for a lot of what's presented on television. Two and a Half Men, the glut of reality/celebrity/"talent" crapfests and Glee dominate the airwaves and it's quite possible I'll never hear of any of these in the future, my only current exposure being advertisements for the above. It'll be the biggest relief to the culture part of my brain since I stopped reading The Sun.

Man v. Food

However, despite plans in place to catch TV offerings I really do want to see such as Manchester United matches (Sunday afternoons in local drinking establishments sipping on a Coke while avoiding rowdy West Ham supporters will be a real treat I expect) and peering through the windows of wealthier neighbours to check Lotto results it still means I'm going to miss out on the bulk of what made my daily viewing.

Holmes on....oh, it says it there.

Gone are the days where, while I browsed the Internet a repeat of Top Gear or Frasier played in the background. Flicking between Scuzz and Kerrang in repeated disappointment and settling on Sky Sports News will be a thing of the past. No longer will I able to spend five puzzled minutes watching one of the religious channels or an afternoon with programmes I never look out for, but always watch when I land on them. Man v. Food, Pawn Stars and Holmes on Homes, I may miss you the most.

I'll leave it to Creed to play this one out.....

Stellar Sounds 44

2011-10-29T21:37:00.000+01:00

Featuring music from Charlie Don't Surf, If We Are Machines and Skooma.

Charlie Don't Surf - Kvalitetsstoey
<a href="http://charliexdontxsurf.bandcamp.com/album/kvalitetsstoey">Kvalitetsstoey by Charlie Don't Surf</a>

If We Are Machines - If We Are Machines
<a href="http://ifwearemachines.bandcamp.com/album/self-titled">(Self Titled) by If We Are Machines</a>

Skooma - Skooma
<a href="http://skooma.bandcamp.com/album/skooma">Skooma by Skooma</a>

Stellar Sounds 43

2011-10-04T16:52:00.000+01:00

Featuring music from Giranice, Shelflife and Equals.

Giranice - Giranice
<a href="http://giranice.bandcamp.com/album/giranice">giranice by giranice</a>

Shelflife - Shelflife
<a href="http://shelflife1.bandcamp.com/album/shelflife">Shelflife by Shelflife</a>

Equals - Equals EP
<a href="http://equals.bandcamp.com/album/equals-ep">Equals EP by Equals</a>

Points of Interest

2011-09-28T18:09:00.000+01:00

I had originally intended to tweet this, but alas I couldn't squeeze down the characters so here it is in milliblog form. For times when I have shorter points to make check out my Twitter.

I haven't had an interest in the pop charts in years but only in the last few months have I found myself not knowing who the current flavours of the month are, most likely down to reading less of The Sun. It is a refreshing feeling but as a result of this whenever I do hear a new name I am clueless as to who or what it is. For example, it was recently explained to me that Nicki Minaj is a woman.

Previous information I had no desire to know which hogged space within my brain is slowly drifting out to be replaced by tidbits of trivia that I do find interesting. Did you know that to eliminate the culture of queue jumping in Beijing before the 2008 Olympics, Chinese officials introduced "Voluntary Wait in Line Day" on the 11th of every month?* The "Voluntary" part wasn't emphasised I imagine.

*Info supplied by Gary Finnegan in his book "Beijing for Beginners"

Stellar Sounds 42

2011-09-26T18:48:00.000+01:00

Featuring music from BlindPlace, Ten Past Seven and Rachael Boyd.

BlindPlace - Fest

Free BlindPlace downloads available from last.fm

Ten Past Seven - Black Box Recordings
<a href="http://tenpastseven.bandcamp.com/album/black-box-recordings">Black Box Recordings by TEN PAST SEVEN</a>

Rachael Boyd - Back in Your Box
<a href="http://elevenelevenlabel.bandcamp.com/album/back-in-your-box-ep">Back in your box ep by Rachael Boyd</a>

Lenin Owned Nine Rolls Royces

2011-09-21T18:05:00.000+01:00

A hacker who was ordered to repay the £6 million he stole from RBS has raised funds by selling his Lada.

You could sell every Lada ever made and not raise that much.

Read the full article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14989264

I am not a motorist but when I read the above article it seemed like the ideal moment for me to write about the worst automobile I've ever been a passenger in. A car even worse than Downey's, which itself was a decrepit little box that was notable for having Burzum blaring through the one working speaker on the tape deck while balancing precariously on two wheels.

The car in question was a Lada that belonged to my now deceased neighbour, a rather large fellow who struggled to position himself behind the wheel. No doubt his extra bulk added to the car's ailments, it was already on it's way to collecting it's pension by the time he acquired it and previous owners hadn't exactly kept it in showroom condition but the sound of an engine stubbornly refusing to start was of no concern to him, he was going to twiddle the key until it jumped into life.

A nicer Lada than the one in this story.

Myself and my father were his passengers that morning, our destination was the bog with the intention of stacking turf in order for it to be dried and then burned come winter. It is not a pleasant way to spend a day. It was made even more unpleasant by the mode of transportation we would be taking once the jewel of the Soviet Union's auto industry kicked into gear. To my despair it eventually did and off we trundled down the road. It hadn't taken long for my ten year old senses to pick up on the faults with the Lada, you don't need to be a mechanic to know that a car shouldn't smell like a mix of years old orange drink mixed with damp and driver frustration. When I started noticing the rust holes in places carpet should be and a lack of basic features such as door handles and seat belts I started to relish reaching our destination.

It was only a short drive, no more than half an hour I recalled from previous trips but then the Communist Titan topped out at 25mph, rattling and creaking as if the wheels would drop off at any second. When we reached the motorway my slight worry became a real fear as we crawled along at the mercy of articulated lorries who I doubt even knew we existed, roaring past and blowing us across lanes. Only with the appearance of a road side potato stall (this story is very Irish, isn't it?) did we reach safety as the added weight of a bag of spuds in the boot meant the little engine that could with a lot of patience and encouragement no longer couldn't. Help was summoned and the car abandoned, we had fuel to secure. It reappeared on next door's driveway days later, the removal of the 4 kilos from the boot acting having given it the kiss of life.

It outlived it's owner if I recall correctly and then disappeared, never to be seen around these parts again.

Stellar Sounds 41

2011-09-07T18:54:00.000+01:00

Featuring music from Pan, Telepathy and Mike Cole (The Starfish).

Pan - Post Rock is Not Dead
&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://peterpan.bandcamp.com/album/post-rock-is-not-dead-2"&amp;amp;gt;Post Rock is Not Dead by Pan&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

Telepathy - Fracture
&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://telepathyband.bandcamp.com/album/fracture"&amp;amp;gt;Fracture by Telepathy&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

Mike Cole (The Starfish) - Take Me Away
Take Me Away by TheStarFish

The Football Ruiners.

2011-09-06T20:28:00.002+01:00

Why do TV channels insist on starting their football coverage 45 minutes before kick off? 15 minutes is more than sufficient to present team news, why do we need cringeworthy VT presentations too? These stupid video packages of highlights we've all seen before with flashy graphics and voice overs that wouldn't seem out of place on a 14 year old's YouTube video submission are as pointless as they are annoying. As Waylon Smithers once asked:

The people are already here, we don't... need to
keep hustling them like this, do we?

Then along comes the sponsors ad break bumper, always poorly made, repetitive and failing spectacularly to be as funny/patriotic as the creators think they are.

Not even going to acknowledge you Lawrenson

Sky Sports, ESPN, ITV and BBC all in competition with each other as to who can present the worst coverage, each with their own set of atrocious pundits. On Match of the Day it's the Hansen/Shearer combo, a couch where you'd find as much insightfulness as you would in a packet of Corn Flakes. Hansen offers up the same analysis he's been trotting out for the past 15 years and Shearer backs him up, repeating exactly what the scarred Scot has just said.

Over to ESPN and it's BBC cast off Ray Stubbs supported by the thick-as-shit Robbie Savage and the slightly mental Kevin Keegan while at ITV it's the smug for no reason Adrian Chiles posing the questions no one wants answers to to Gareth Southgate, who actually does have a job that he's ignoring to be on your televisions. Then as the match draws near ITV pulls it's ace out of it's sleeve. I imagine the conversation that decided how they would show the respective team line ups went like this:

Idiot #1: "We'll get the players to a photo shoot and take their pictures with a Polaroid camera, and then we'll have them sign it!"
Idiot #2: Yes! Brilliant, we'll play some crap music in the background too!"

Sky Sports gain and lose points for their commentators, the respectable Martin Tyler is joined by the dullest man alive, Alan Smith. Back in the studio, the loss of Richard Keys still hangs over them as whoever isn't working that day over at Sky Sports News is roped in to presenting duties, assisted by Jamie "One Suit" Redknapp.

Only RTE emerge with their reputation intact, sure they offer up the same ridiculous videos but they can't be matched on pundits as Giles, Brady and Dunphy all do a stellar job of telling it how it is while PR guru O'Herlihy gets them riled up. I would tell the other networks to take note of how RTE do it but when they inevitabley tried to copy it they'd ruin that too.

Best in the Business.

There are No Champions of the Music World

2011-09-06T03:16:00.001+01:00

There are many things in this world of ours that I don't like, those of you who follow me on Twitter will be well aware of my constant irritation with television adverts while it is no secret how much the YouTube homepage and Twitter's trending topics annoy me. For this blog post however I am going to share with you one of things that I loathe the most in this world: Battle of the Bands competitions.

I doubt you will meet many people who don't like music as even folk who aren't actively interested in it will eventually hear something they can hum along to. Murph from Arrow in the Sky once mentioned to me his theory that even the man with no interest in music will still turn on the radio when driving home from the job he hates just because it's something to break the depressing silence. Now usually it'll be something from the current Top 20 that features on the radio, low on quality but guaranteed to be featured on the next "Now" compilation and in this case it serves him well, stopping the emotionally unstable man from driving off a cliff. This is the appeal of Pop music, it is music for people not particularly interested in music, it is for pre-teens, people who can't form their own opinions and those who can't bear the deafening silence. It fills a purpose.

His radio was broken.

This leaves everyone else with an interest in music, naturally all to varying degrees of course. Not every music lover is going to tattoo their favourite band on their back or try and kill themselves because they think Judas Priest told them to. Music appeals on many different levels and it is down to each individual person how they interpret and act on it. Some people enjoy the lyrical craft of a Bob Dylan for example, others may feed off the energy coming from Mayhem, while folk with mental deficiencies will enjoy the squeaky voices and unce unce unce of dance music. Music is possibly the most subjective topic today, it resonates with different people for different reasons and just because one person is a fan of Pink Floyd, it doesn't mean the next person will be. You may seek out the most technically gifted musicians while I may be impressed by the blingy showiness of Hip Hop (I'm not). You have your favourites, I have mine. Who is to say who is right?

Seal is a somewhat popular singer/songwriter.

This is where my gripe with Battle of the Bands comes in. If the winners are decided upon by a panel of judges then it is the decision of (usually) three people, each with their own individual tastes in music, the winning band hasn't won because they are the best in the competition (there is no best in music) they have won because they appealed to the tastes of the judges, it is a subjective choice based on their own preferences.

Now, if the decision is an audience choice then it is almost guaranteed to be won by the band who brought the most fans (friends) with them, the winning band isn't the best, they are the most popular in the room. Popularity it seems has become a synonym for "best" and while the winning band celebrates it's amazing prize (usually a few hours studio time) the rest are left wondering why they even entered in the first place.

Stellar Sounds 40

2011-08-31T19:28:00.000+01:00

Featuring music from They Say We're Sinking, Marvin and The Stalactites

They Say We're Sinking - Echoes of the Great War
<a href="http://tsws.bandcamp.com/album/echoes-of-the-great-war-ep">Echoes of the Great War EP by They Say We're Sinking</a>
Marvin - Hangover the Top
<a href="http://marvin.bandcamp.com/album/hangover-the-top">Hangover The Top by Marvin</a>

The Stalactites - Dark Matters
<a href="http://thestalactites.bandcamp.com/album/dark-matters">Dark Matters by The Stalactites</a>

These Films will Clean up at the Noscars

2011-08-28T19:38:00.000+01:00

The loss we all suffered when the Nigerian Movie channel started charging a subscription fee on Sky has finally become bearable. You can watch top Nollywood films on Youtube for free! Feel free to enjoy them from an artistic, cultural or more likely, a insincere, cynical, mocking point of view.

If big budgets, special effects, stellar acting performances, competent film making skills and an understandable script are things you look for in a film watching experience then you are reading the wrong blog post. Nollywood films offer a streamlined film making style, where expenditure is kept to a minimum and the man looking after the lighting is also holding what appears to be a boom mic but which is actually a Talkboy with some sponge crudely wrapped around it.

Every film has a sequel (and often a whole trilogy is extracted from the merest crumb of a story) so for those watching the question isn't "Who Done It?" it's "Why are they still doing it?". Two classic Nollywood films linked for your viewing pleasure.

Money Never Sleeps

Money Never Sleeps 2

Stellar Sounds 39

2011-08-26T21:02:00.000+01:00

Featuring the brand new release from Overhead, The Albatross.

Overhead, The Albatross - Mr. Dog
&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://overheadthealbatross.bandcamp.com/album/mr-dog"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Mr. Dog by Overhead, The Albatross&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;
Overhead, The Albatross appear on the Eleven Eleven label.

Stellar Sounds 38 (blog post #100)

2011-08-24T21:59:00.001+01:00

Featuring music from Damascus, King Melodies and We Arrive Alive.

Damascus - Salutations, Distant Satellite
&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://damascusnj.bandcamp.com/album/salutations-distant-satellite"&amp;amp;gt;Salutations, Distant Satellite! by Damascus&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

King Melodies - You Will Win EP
&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://rambergetrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/you-will-win-ep"&amp;amp;gt;You Will Win EP by King Melodies&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

King Melodies appear on Ramberget Records

We Arrive Alive - Walls
&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://wearrivealive.bandcamp.com/album/walls"&amp;amp;gt;Walls by We Arrive Alive&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

A Brief History of SuperKidd Promotions: Part 2

2011-08-22T15:52:00.000+01:00

Read part 1 here.

Opportunity arose for a second gig not long after the first and it was to become a staple of SuperKidd Promotions - the almost never tedious All Ages gig. Over the next few years we would promote over a dozen of these little head wreckers to varying degrees of success but it is the first all ager that will always be the best in every way (except musically). Several young fellows took to the stage that day with neither them nor us knowing they would become regular features at our shows over the next four years while others took to the stage who we would never hear from again but who we still laugh at to this day. (For those of you wondering, we laugh at Diabolicult, you've never experienced true joy until you've see an old man confused by seeing three teenage metal heads applying their corpse paint around a small mirror.)

It was Decipher who stole the show however (run close by the performance of Diabolicult's keyboardist who upon being told he wouldn't be able to play due to technical difficulties took it upon himself to mosh his little heart out. In hindsight it may have have been an easier blow to take for the lad had he not already put his make up on) and it wasn't long before we were releasing their debut EP on our own label - Sounds IndiGO Records.

I'd be repeating myself if I went on to recall memories from every gig as most worked out the same way but we thoroughly enjoyed our time, even the times people were threatening to sue us or asking us to fight them outside The Stables. Our posters may not always have been entirely accurate and we had to spend to a distressingly large amount of time shooing away old men from the All Ages Gigs but we're proud to have been associated with all the acts who played one of our gigs. Well, most of them.

First All Ages Gig

Decipher

From left to right: Finn (the young one), Keith (the one we knew), Paulie (the one we didn't know), Andy (the foreign one) and Gerard (the one we always forgot but who later became the handsome one).

Folk we'd like to thank (in no particular order)
Mocky at No Ego Promo and Frank at The Stables, Grace Miller & Mark Bennett for taking smashing photos, Brian Prior and Tivo for filling in on Sound Engineering duty on the odd occasion when Frank had something better to do, Ronan and Kevin Coughlan for crushing the sternums of young people at that first all ages gig, Amy Quirke for doing the door in a much more organised way than we ever did, Brogan Gallagher for posters, Keith McLoughlin, Mike Cole, Jen Something, Conor Heary, Kiera Glennon for fashion advice, Mia Daly at the Advertiser and Olga Aughey at the Examiner, all the bands/acts who came down to play for us (except the ones who were arseholes) and Paulie Martin, Finn O'Donohoe and Gerard Kiernan for taking the reins at SuperKidd Promotions now that we've been bumped upstairs.

Alumni 2007-2011

A

A Kamikaze Disaster
Adrian Connolly
Almost There
Anderson Mesa
Angry Bear Men
Arthur Johnson
Autofly
Awake Young Soldiers

B
Bebop & Rocksteady
Blank
Blue Syndrome
BriBry
Bruno Perry

C
Cascarino
Cavanagh
Chaka
Colour System Failure
Comatosed Olivia

Conor McCauley

Crimson
Critic Eyes
Cutting Off Kids

D
Damien Anderson
Daragh Cummins
Darragh J. Glennon
Deborah Jane
Decipher
Diabolicult
Dillon DeBois
Dillon and The Deadbeats

E
Educators (Barret/Martin)
Enemies
Ever This Day

F
Fingersmith
Fraction Kids
Free Fall Angel

G
Geeks in Glasses

H
Hanshake
Hiatus

I
Icon on Fire
Inside Story

J
Jen Something
Jody Has A Hitlist
Joe Kelly & Band

K
Keith McLoughlin
King's Rivern

L
Lazy Idle Schemers

M
Makewait
Mark Conway
Mike Cole
Mr Lightweight
Mrs Colombo
Murph

N
Neodrach
Neon Tetras

O
Ocean Over Head
Open Door Policy
Oracle
Overhead, The Albatross

P
P45
Paper Tank
Pariah
Paulie Martin
Pedro for President

R
Realisation
Red Cub
Richard Nagle
Ricotta
Rory Hughes

S
Sarah & Joey
Scuba Dice
Sean Byrne
Simon Semperski
Stay Okay
Storyboard

T
The Chaos Emerald
The Demise
The Dropout Syndrome
The Frescoes
The Last Partizan
Trevor the Sailor
Tunde Esho
Twenty Twelve
Two Man Gang
Two Way Mirror

V
Venture Now

W
Wasted Case
Weirdz

Comedy
Mark Hynes
Conor Kenny

Are Doomed to Repeat It.

2011-08-22T15:45:00.000+01:00

August 22nd......

Thieving bastards.

A Brief History of SuperKidd Promotions: Part 1

2011-08-21T21:52:00.000+01:00

In March or possibly April 2007 I was sitting in Whelans in Dublin with noted musician and close friend Darragh J. Glennon when he pitched the idea of the two of us organising a gig in our hometown, Mullingar. Thinking of great plans was a regular feature in our conversations and usually such ideas were quickly forgotten and never pursued. These amazing ideas later took on the moniker of "Dragon's Den ideas" for obvious reasons, but the programme hadn't started yet so there was no such phrase available to us at the time. I bet the guy who coined that phrase is a millionaire now. This felt like a prime example of one of those times. In fact, Darragh's previous suggestion was that we should have a pint of Guinness each as Whelans was apparently famous for the black stuff. We did and it only cemented my thought that Darragh was having an off night on the ideas front. Never the less that night the name SuperKidd Promotions was chosen for our fledgling venture, in truth I never really cared for it but again I didn't think we'd ever use it so it stuck.

However, the idea lingered on. Perhaps the abundance of talented musicians in town at the time (Mullingar could claim a much more favourable ratio of talented folk versus people who tuck their tracksuit into their socks at the time) spurred us on as it became a regular feature in our chats. A date for the gig was even booked, August 4th, a date which seemed far enough away that it didn't seem a big deal but close enough that we could mention to everyone that we were now gig promoters. You can read the Westmeath Examiners article (and by that I mean the piece I wrote and sent in to them) about the gig here. The bit about Autofly releasing their EP wasn't entirely true, bit of a miscommunication on my behalf, but being jolly nice chaps they threw together a single at the last minute to give away so I didn't look a complete liar.

1st Gig Poster

About three weeks before the big night we realised we better get our arses in gear and sort out a line up which looking back proved surprisingly easy considering we'd never done it before, we even ended up turning down one band as we had no space left on the bill. They didn't take too kindly to it, so much so that they unfriended us on MySpace which hit us hard because we only had about seven friends at the time. We were chuffed when Autofly, The Chaos Emerald, Makewait and Critic Eyes all agreed to play, no doubt their heads turned by our offers of free sandwiches. The venue (The Stables) was hired (complete with sound engineer Frank, a man who would go on to suffer through some of the shoddiest sound checks ever attempted), relatives were cajoled in to attending (and supplying promised sandwiches) and I bought myself a fancy new blazer and two neckties (a black one and a pink one) so I'd look professional whilst showcasing my mad MC'ing skills. I later told those in attendance they were the worst crowd ever, which ended my onstage career before it began. Luckily the bands more than covered for my failings and I like to think a good night was had by all. It was one of those rare occasions when one of our ideas had moved past idea stage and gone on to the doing stage. It was also one of the even rarer times when the doing stage didn't end disastrously.

Part 2 coming soon.