The Jesus and Mary Chain - Hate Rock 'n' Roll

Here's a gem of an album from one of my favourite bands, The Jesus and Mary Chain. The Mary Chain are one of the most underated British bands of all time and their influence can be heard today in artists like Glasvegas, A Place To Bury Strangers, The Dandy Warhols and The Horrors to name a few. Hate Rock 'n' Roll is compilation of B-sides and outtakes that was unleashed in 1995. It features a great alternative mix of 'Teenage Lust' complete with suggestive female moans. Enjoy.
Hate Rock 'n' Roll:
I Hate Rock n' Roll
Snakedriver
Something I Can't Have
Bleed Me
33 1/3
Lost Star
Penetration
New York City
Taking It Away
I'm in With the Out Crowd
Little Stars
Teenage Lust (Desdemoana Mix)
Perfect Crime

The Crystal Method

Ahh, so that's what happens when one seals a derelict flat in South London and leaves 90,000 litres of liquid cooper sulphate to crystalise in it for a year. This piece of neon wonderment entitled 'Seizure' by Roger Hiorns is one of the four nominations shortlisted for this year's Turner Prize. The other nominees are Enrico David, Lucy Skaer and Richard Wright.

The Turner Prize is a contemporary art award that was set up in 1984 to celebrate new developments in contemporary art.
The prize is awarded each year to a British artist under fifty for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work in the twelve months preceding. Past winners include Tracy Emin and Damien Hirst and the award has been presented by Madonna, Denis Hopper and Nick Cave among others.
Have a look at this years nominations yourself on the Guardian's Meet the artists page

Swine Flu........My Bollocks

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Snoutbreak '09 - The Last 100 Days
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis First 100 Days

Does anyone else think this whole Swine Flu thing has been grotesquely over hyped? I mean it does echo the SARS and Avian Flu pandemics we were all suppose to die horrible deaths from. Obviously it has killed people in Mexico and the US ( A Mexican child who arrived in the US on 4th April) but the Mexican deaths have been hyped up by mainstream media outlets as a good old sense of panic does wonders for the ratings/readerships. In a country with the population of Mexico a few hundred people dying of even regular influenza is not uncommon especially since many people in Mexico cannot afford health care and it is not provided by the state. That's not to say these people are expendable and the situation they are forced to live in(even pre-swine flu) isn't wrong/unjust it is simply a fact.

Reading the Herald AM on the way to college on Monday I was informed that "SWINE FLU MAY KILL 160m PEOPLE" that is one article from one shitty paper, but most other publications went with the same doomsday approach in their coverage. It's really no suprise that the fine jounalists/broadcasters at the British equivalent of FOX, SKY news have been busy forecasting the apocalypse since the story broke.

And is it any wonder that as soon as stocks and share are worth fuck all,we are told(at an international level) we need to buy anti-viral drugs/vaccines from our friends at GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and the likes?

A word of advice, don't panic just yet.

Nid and Sancy - Talk To The Machine

You could be forgiven for thinking that Belgian dance is all about commercial trance / house and 2manyDJ's, think again.I found this album in the bargain bin section of Tower Records in Dublin a few months ago, and having never heard tell of Nid and Sancy I was quite suprised. There're a two piece from Ghent, Belgium and they are fabulous.

The album Talk To The Machine is full of big beats working themselves continuously to an even bigger climax. A big thumbs up for Nid & Sancy.

Talk To The Machine

69 record machine
no fuck all
be yourself tonight
jambalaya
out of town
anorak nervosa
misunderstood
plug & slide
so where’s your acid, brothers
ender

Rockness 2009 !!!!!!!!!!!

Nessy better like MDMA, straight vodk and chain smoking because I booked my ticket for the Rockness Festival in Iverness. As the name suggests it's on the shores of Loch Ness in Scotland from the 12th-14th June. The venue looks really cool from the pics on the site. In my humble opinion this year's line-up is excellent - Placebo - Flaming Lips - Orbital - Super Furry Animals - The Wave Machines - The Prodigy - Basement Jaxx - Sneaky Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem (Special Disco Set) - DJ Medhi - Busy P - DJ Feadz - Zane Lowe (DJ Set) 

The festival area is spread across 4 stages, a Cinema, Silent disco, 24 Hour café and Fully licensed themed bars. As with most Boutique festivals there's a wide range of organic/vegan/vegetarian food outlets and luxury camping on offer. It looks like Scotland's answer to Bestival with a Sunday Best Arena featuring Rod da Bank and friends plus the Go North X-posure stage.

Tickets cost £130 (3 day regular camping) or £160 (VIP camping) and day tickets are available too. For more info check out rockness.co.uk

Anti-Prohibition March May 9th

Come one, come all anti cannabis prohibition march May 9th in Dublin and Cork. Join in the deomonstration if you like a toke, even if you don't and think cannabis users should be afforded a little civil liberty, the more the merrier.  The fact of the matter is cannabis is not a dangerous drug when compared to those socially acceptable drugs that it seems humanity can't live without - tabacco,alcohol and lest we forget the biggest money maker of them all prescription drugs. The main problem with cannabis is that it is illegal - in that this has created a highly lucrative black market where a drive for profit has resulted in the quality of the product being on a downward spiral(laced with wallpaper paste,sand,glass and other such nicities) - Apart from this, Gardai rescources are being wasted policing cannabis use - it is a social issue not a criminal one - the government could make some well needed tax money instead of the proceeds going to some dealers house in Spain - the quality of cannabis could be regulated - people could be educated about cannabis use - and it's medicinal benefits could be utilised fully.

If you fancy blowing your spliff smoke straight into a garda's face and that of Mr.Cowen - see you there

ttp://cannabisireland.net/ 

An Accurate Representation Of The Irish!

This hilarious clip is courtesy of that tv show that was on years ago, Are You Afraid Of The Dark? In this episode The Tale of Jake & Leprechaun - the kid at the start who tells the story does us Paddies proud with an Irish accent never since rivaled, even by everbodies favourite scientologist maniac Tom Cruise(Far and Away).You can watch the whole episode on youtube, there's also a dwarf called Sean O' Shaney - A fine honest Irishman's name - 

Depeche Mode - (Re)mixtape Vol. 1

Looking through my Depeche Mode collection I realised that they have literally hundreds of remixes so I've made a compilation of some of my favourites - Depeche Mode - (Re)mixtape Volume 1

• Oh Well (Black Light Odyessey Dub Mix)
• It's No Good (Hardfloor Remix)
• Halo (Goldfrapp Remix)
• Enjoy The Silence (Timo Maas Extended Mix)
• Lie To Me (The Pleasure Of Her Private Shame Mix by LFO)
• It's No Good (Speedy J Drum n Bass Mix)
• Painkiller (Kill The Pain DJ Shadow Mix)
• Wrong (DIM vs Boize Noize Mix)
• Everything Counts (Absolut Mix)
• I Feel You (Throb Mix)
• People Are People (Adrian Sherwood Mix)
• Wrold In My Eyes (Oil Tank Mix)
• Personal Jesus (Pump Mix)
• Useless (Kruder and Dorfmeister Remix)
• Stripped (Tricky Perversion)
• Dream On (Pink Noise Club Mix)
• Barrel Of A Gun (3 Phase Mix)

The Sugarhill Gang

Long before the bastardisation of hip-hop a la 50c, Eminem and Jay-Z to name a few there was The Sugarhill Gang. The Gang were not concerned with larking on about misogynistic/homophobic mind numbing shit(50c's claim to fame), and tended to focus their attention on making some sweet sounding funk influenced hip-hop jams. Their single 'Rappers Delight' is arguably the first hip-hop single/record ever released. It just so happens that they are playing Electric Picnic this year - Sugarhill Gang - Greatest Hits

Magazine - Seondhand Daylight

The post-punk era was a high-water mark in music, and bands like Magazine, Pere Ubu, PiL and Monochrome Set remain even cooler for never having achieved the widespread popular recognition that has been poured onto important "movements" in music, before or since. With Magazine, there's still this joy of discovery to be had. And what makes them simply one of the greatest rock bands of all time is that Howard Devoto's psychosexual angst has a humour and poetry that transcends that of any other lyricist in rock's darker streams(Besides Alan Vega) - take a few lines from the the track Permafrost "I will drug you and fuck you on the permafrost" - fucking excellent.

While Magazine's music still seems timeless, chunky riffs built around scratchy guitars, swirling keyboards and a solid backbeat. Devoto, McGeoch, Formula, Adamson... their Secondhand Daylight is music that is extremely dark and yet strangely uplifting. 

and the good news is they reformed last year minus John McGeoch who died in 2004. At the moment it looks like a pretty small tour so far, dates in London's Forum, Benicassim and Electric Picnic have all been confirmed.

Secondhand Daylight