Beautiful Day

Dolores O'Riordan in the Hot Press Interview

Ireland's Hot Press has published a more extensive version of their exclusive interview with Dolores O'Riordan in their latest Christmas issue. We have full scans of the article, which includes a new photo, in the Zombieguide Magazines Gallery.

Hot Press writes that two years after Dolores called a temporary halt to The Cranberries, she is relaxed and cheery. She says, "As wonderful and great as being in the Cranberries was, we'd been together 14 years and things had gotten a bit predictable and boring. Having released and toured a Greatest Hits, it seemed a natural time in the band's life to take a break."

Now Dolores is gearing up for the release of her debut solo album, which she first told Hot Press about in summer 2002. When it finally releases in May/June 2006, it will be nearly four years in the making.

"I no longer feel the pressure of three people waiting on me. I'd have a baby, nurse him or her for three months and then have to break the bond because there was an album to record and a tour to go on.

"As soon as the band was finished, I'd thought, 'If I had another baby, I'll be able to enjoy this one for six months,' which is exactly what happened. We also moved house, so I got to live my life for a change," she muses.

She insists that she was more comfortable working on such a highly personal album alone, rather than having to label it as the work of four people. "I've been able to write songs in my own time and in my own way. There are lyrics on this album that I'd never have sung in a boys' band that happened to have a girl singer. This time I could go anywhere and say anything without having to worry about the lads being comfortable with it. There's just so much more freedom," she says.

Dolores plans to give the material an intimate world tour in 2006, possibly kicking off in America.

Teenage Kicks Reach Middle Age

The mighty Undertones might be middle-aged, but they are still getting their “teenage kicks” on the road with a return to our shores this month.

The band began from the humblest of beginnings from Derry in Northern Ireland in the whole punk/new wave boom of 1977-’78 with the talented O’Neill brothers -– John and Damian on guitars, Michael Bradley on bass, Billy Doherty the drums, and on vocals Feargal Sharkey. Their classic debut single “Teenage Kicks” was released originally on the Good Vibrations label.

The song allowed them to ride the wave of punk rock that landed them on Sire Records, the same label as The Ramones. After a successful run, Feargal Sharkey departed to pursue a solo career, and the O’Neill brothers formed the highly regarded and popular That Petrol Emotion.

Saw Doctors Set to Tour

Now it’s time to fall in love with Tuam’s favorite sons, the Saw Doctors, all over again. The Docs have been maintaining a breakneck schedule of late, with appearances at the Oxegen Festival, an Irish tour, and a stint in the recording studio working up some new songs.

They’ll be coming to America next month for a working holiday, touring our fine shores to the delight of their U.S. fans.

Joining the Saw Doctors for their August USA tour will be Nashville drummer Fran Breen, who formerly played with Lucinda Williams and Nanci Griffiths. Fran will team up with bassist Anthony Thistlethwaite, formerly of the Waterboys, to provide a powerhouse rhythm section for the band’s songwriting duo, Davy Carton on vocals and Leo Moran on guitar. Derek Murray on keyboards completes the five man lineup.

During the August U.S. tour, the Saw Doctors will promote their recent charity CD release New Year’s Day, a greatest hits collection featuring the band’s three Irish number ones, “N17,” “I Useta Lover” and “Hay Wrap.”

The live CD was rush released in Ireland in January to raise funds for the victims of the Asian tsunami disaster last Christmas. To date the Saw Doctors have contributed over $40,000 in sales of New Year’s Day to the Galway Sri Lanka Relief Fund. The money has been used to build houses and buy fishing boats in the Galle region of Sri Lanka.

The Docs will also be road testing tracks from their sixth studio album, which they just finished at Cuan Studios, Spiddal

in the west of Ireland. Shamtown Records will release the new disc, tentatively titled Last Summer in New York, later this year. Count on hearing the new single, “Your Guitar,” when the boys come calling.

I recently talked to guitarist Leo Moran about the new CD, their surge in popularity with the young pub crowds at either side of the Atlantic, and the fine art of writing anthems that go down so well at soccer matches. Here’s how it went.

Gallagher’s Greatest Collection

In the category of Irish rock gods, there is only one big gun.

Rory Gallagher’s spirit has been captured in a glorious two disc set entitled, fittingly enough, Big Guns. I know what you’re thinking — “I already bought the reissued albums when they were released a couple of years ago.”

I know I did (at least I bought the ones that the record company didn’t send me for free, let’s put it that way). Like me, you might have been slightly disappointed by the clarity of those searing guitar riffs; the original recording tapes sounded like they were preserved in bong water and mold, doing Gallagher’s memory a disservice.

On Big Guns, this national treasure gets treated with a digital upgrade that brings out the man’s mastery in the mix. Add an extensive biography enclosed within the collection in glossy book form, and you have a milestone collection.

Simply put, just as no Irish literature collection should be without Frank McCourt and James Joyce, no Irish music collection should be without this pair of Big Guns.

The Joyce analogy is not lost on Colm O’Brien, former guitarist for the Prodigals who now haunts the pubs of Boston with fiery Irish tinged rock that borrows from Rory’s bluesy spirit.

Snow Patrol 'Opens' Up On New Album

Snow Patrol has christened its new album "Eyes Open" and is planning to issue the set in April via Polydor in the United Kingdom and A&M/Interscope in North America.

The group is working again with producer Garret Lee, who was behind the boards for the 2003 breakthrough album "Final Straw." The set has sold 459,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and featured the single "Run," which reached No. 15 on Billboard's Modern Rock airplay chart.

"We've experimented a lot more with sounds and odd instruments we've never used and pushed ourselves as far as we can but the essence of what we are is still the same," frontman Gary Lightbody said in a recent chat with fans on Snow Patrol's Web site. "Essentially it's based around melody."

Lightbody added that while in the studio, the group has been listening to such acts as Cocteau Twins, Kate Bush ("for strange vocal melodies") and composer Gyorgy Ligeti ("for strange arrangements"). He is particularly high on the track "Chasing Cars," which he calls "the purest love song I've written. No tinges of darkness or misery -- just totally uplifting."

Asked by a fan if the group has been affected by the commercial success of "Final Straw," Lightbody replied, "We were doing it for nearly 10 years without success so I guess it's not very important to us. [But] we'd love it if lots of people heard this though, as I know it's our best stuff."

No live performances are on tap for the time being, but Lightbody and Snow Patrol turntablist Tom Simpson are confirmed for a DJ set on Dec. 31 at Edinburgh's Gig. DJ sets will also be provided by producer Jacknife Lee and Belle & Sebastian's Richard Colburn.

From Billboard

The Thrills use California as inspiration for new album

Irish rockers The Thrills have returned to California to get some inspiration as they prepare to record their third album.

The band are currently in a Dublin studio working on demos for their third album, though they recently returned to the US West Coast, a massive inspiration for the songs which made up their acclaimed 2003 debut 'So Much for the City'.

Frontman Conor Deasy told Rolling Stone, "After complaining and yearning, we finally got off the road a few months ago. But after a couple weeks, everyone was getting restless and itchy again. Touring changes you: You're always wondering what's going on somewhere else."

Three of the group - Deasy, keyboardist Kevin Horan and bassist Padraic McMahon - decided to go on a bit of a road trip.

"There were a few things Kev wanted to do for a while: He really wanted to go to Big Sur again, and he wanted to see Hearst Castle," said Deasy. "Padraic wanted to see Joshua Tree, because he is the biggest Gram Parsons fan in the band. So it was like, 'Fuck it! Let's make it happen.'"

New songs the band are working on include 'Should Have Known Better', 'There's Someone New In Your Life', 'Teenager', 'Second Guessing' and 'Music Won't Change the World'. The follow-up to 2004's 'Let's Bottle Bohemia' is expected sometime in 2006.

Deasy said of the new songs: "With this record we made ourselves a promise to write the best songs we can. And it doesn't matter if it seems like it's a step into the unknown. I just hope, by not being self-conscious about it, the songs have naturally become quite unique. This has seemed like a progression for us."

From NME

Stiff Little Fingers led a mini-revolution in Ulster

Belfast punk band Stiff Little Fingers led a mini-revolution in Ulster music during the darkest days of the Troubles. Edwin McFee looks back at the origins of SLF and the role John Peel played

Picture the scene. It's 1977 and the musical landscape has been crushed under the might of a Doc Marten boot. Punk rules the airwaves and rock dinosaurs like Yes and Pink Floyd have apparently vanished. All that is left is the sneering, vitriolic Johnny Rotten and his Sex Pistols, raven-haired pioneers Siouxsie Sioux and her Banshees and the late, great Joe Strummer with his Clash.

Other than Rory Gallagher, few bands play in Belfast. It's the dark days of the 1970s; the Troubles are at their peak. But the Clash are different. They make the trip over the Irish Sea for a gig in the Ulster Hall and it turns out to be a night that changes lives.

MacGowan annoys Pogues bandmates

The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan infuriated band members by taking an impromptu holiday to Morocco when he should have been rehearsing with them.

MacGowan suddenly reappeared in London, just in time to record a new version of the Christmas track Fairytale Of New York with singer Katie Melua for UK chatshow Tonight With Jonathan Ross.

A source says: "Shane is a free spirit. He thought he'd rather be exploring Africa than rehearsing."

From Ireland online

Saw Doctors New Year’s Eve gig at the Black Box

  The Saw Doctors will end their critically acclaimed UK tour and album release with a return home to play New Year’s Eve at the Black Box.

Special guest at the New Year’s show will be Noelie McDonnell and his band who are currently touring with the band in the UK.

New band member, Salthill musician Kevin Duffy replaces veteran keyboard player Derek Murray, who has stepped down from touring due to recurring asthma problems, worsened by playing in smoky UK and US venues.

The new single from the album, The Cure is out next Monday 12 December.

Further information from www.sawdoctors.com

From The Galway Independent

Bob Geldof Live Review

It must have been humbling for a man used to delivering rabble-rousing speeches to hundreds of thousands of people to have to ask the audience at the back of Perth Concert Hall to congregate at the front of the stage because "I don't like performing to empty seats".

The show got off to a lively start with the merry Irish jig, Great Song of Indifference. Alas, it was followed by a descent into a rather dull, if passable, Celtic version of Blood on the Tracks-era Dylan. The low point saw Geldof rather curtly shouting down a girl in the front row desperate to hear Boomtown Rats material (and yes, the word "fookin'" was liberally employed).

She was vindicated though, as the closing salvo of shiny pop gems such as I Don't Like Mondays, Joey's on the Street Again and Mary of the 4th Form brought the five-piece band alive and caused the entire seated audience to spontaneously rise to their feet for the first time in the evening.

It served as a clear signal that, in the fans' eyes at least, Geldof's post-Live Aid material does not bear up well in comparison with the songs which gave him his very first modicums of acclaim. Rolling out the hits was the only thing that saved this performance from mediocrity, although it also served as a reminder that there is a talented singer-songwriter lurking within the driving force behind all things Live Aid and Live8.

From The Scotsman