Body and Soul Solstice Gathering this weekend

The first ever Body and Soul festival is gearing up to take off this weekend, with superb weather forecasted for the next few days.

The Body and Soul Solstice Gathering 2010 has essentially relocated the beating heart of the Stradbally based Electric Picnic extravaganza to Ballinlough Castle in Co. Meath for the weekend, with Four Tet, !!! (CHK CHK CHK), Jape, R.S.A.G and Tuung, among many, many others, set to provide a superb soundtrack to the festival.

The full line-up for the main stage is listed below, but, like its older Picnic-brother, the Body and Soul solstice festival features a veritable cornucopia of events, music and otherwise, including - I am led to believe - "acoustic jams, impromptu parties, wood-fired hot tubs, winding paths through delicious food stalls, holistic arts, a secluded soul kids garden, a masquerade ball with a moonlit orchestra, and bonfires under the stars".

The closing ceremony on Sunday will also feature a night-time extravaganza celebrating the theme of this year’s Summer Solstice: Phoenix Rising, and those present can expect Pyrotechnic/Pyro-Performance pieces around Sun Discs, fireworks and some other fire-fantastical elements.

A full line-up of events is available here.

Ballinlough Castle is nestled between the towns of Athboy and Clonmellon, Co. Meath. On the N52 (Kells to Mullingar Road) 3 miles south of Clonmellon and 4 miles west of Athboy.

Saturday's line-up/times:

12:15 - 2am - Gaudi
10:45-12:00am - Four Tet
9:15 - 10:15pm - Jape
8:00 - 8:45pm - Crystal Fighters
6:15 - 7:15pm - Voice of the Seven Thunders
4:30 - 5:30pm - Broken Records
3:00 - 3:45pm - Wiggle
2:00 - 2:30pm - Chequerboard
1:00 - 1:30pm - Patrick Kelleher & Cold Dead Hands
12 - 12:30pm - Jennifer Evans
11:00 - 11:30am - Imogen Gunner & the Imo band

Sunday:

1:00 -2am - RSAG
11:15-12:30am - !!! (Chk Chk Chk)
9:30 - 10:30pm - Blue King Brown
7:45 - 8:45pm - Tunng
5:40 - 7:15pm - Donal Dineen, Niwel Tsumbu & guests
4:25 - 5:10pm - Kormac's Big Band
3:15 - 3:55pm - The Egg
2:00 - 2:40pm - Katie Kim
1:00 - 1:30pm - Eoin Duignan
12 - 12:30pm - Colette
10:30-11:30am - Dr Alex Paterson

A limited number of tickets are still available and are available here. Gates open at 9am on Saturday. For more see here. Enjoy!

Currently on rotation

Currently on a loop on the headphones, in no particular order..

Jape - Ritual (see review in previous post re Choice Award)

David Kitt - The Nightsaver (superb new album from Kittser - sounds more like his Spilly Walker project than his previous output, some lovely quirky electro sounds running through it)

Villagers EP - Conor O'Brien's (formerly of the Immediate) new guise, the EP certainly lives up to all the hype..

Halfset - Another Way of Being There/Dramanalog (Listening to both of Halfset's albums, they're playing in the Belltable on Saurday, only a fool would miss it...)

Noel Gallagher - The Dreams We Have as Children (LIVE cd, free with yesterday's Sunday Times, recorded at the Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust - old songs, B-Sides, Beatles' tunes, two duets with Paul Weller - and an unbelievable version of Slide Away - listened to this walking into work this morning, helped lift my depression no end!)

Jape wins Choice Music Prize - On The Beat loses money

What a night! (Ow, my head)

Attended the Choice Music Awards last night in Vicar Street - and as has been well reported and discussed elsewhere, Jape (aka Richie Egan) was a hugely popular winner.

Interesting really, after the bregrudgery (replace with heated debate where necessary) about SEBP winning last year, but Richie is such a nice guy and his music is top class, so well done.

Interestingly - as my review of Ritual reveals below - when the album came out people were surprised at the direction Jape had gone, wayy more dancey etc, as The Monkey's In the Zoo.. was really a rather laid-back, lo-fi affair. There you have it.

Loads of the bands/pr/music industry/danny from the Script were at the after-show party but Richie's Da was the best craic - revealing to On the Beat that he had backed his son in the bookies to take home the prize! Nice if you can get it, I lost money on Halfset/Lisa Hannigan, thought I had it all sewn up!

The performances on the night were superb, notably Halfset (brilliant visuals), Mick Flannery (his second song, Wait Here, was jaw-droppingly good) and Fight Like Apes who basically went absolutely mental, particularly at the end of Battlestations, replete with cartwheels, epuipment damage and May Kay lobbing her Nord stand at Pockets. Fun.

Excellent, super-charged performance by Jeremy Hickey too (aka RSAG), Stick to your Line was super, although he went a bit mad at the end. Rescued it nicely though.

Messiah J put in a bit of a mixed performance, although Jean is Planning An Escape was top class.

All in all a great night, already looking forward to next year. See below for my review of Jape's Ritual, printed on its release in the Limerick Leader last year.

Ritual – Jape

I RECENTLY overheard two prominent Irish musicians having a conversation in a men’s toilet, both unaware I was eavesdropping. They were discussing Jape - aka Dubliner Richie Egan - with one having been to the Olympia the previous night to see him. The conversation went along the lines of "I’m not sure about his new stuff, it’s very dancey".

They were correct.

I have been a fan of Egan’s since I heard ‘Floating’, long before Jack White and the Raconteurs jumped on the bandwagon and started performing it at their shows. However, debut album The Monkeys In The Zoo Have More Fun Than Me, other than the pounding Floating, was simply too subdued after such a powerful opening.

This time around and following the interest generated by the Jape is Grape EP, Egan has taken a new and wonderful direction. I Was A Man, with its infectious guitar riff, is every bit as memorable as Floating, while Replays will have you in thrall at its falsetto harmonies and synth-heavy, catchy chorus.

Graveyard is a striking paean to sneaking a bit of fun in a graveyard with a former flame, while Streetwise is at the pinnacle of any electro-dance track released this year. Egan lays his soul bare on the beautiful and epic Nothing Lasts Forever - still refusing to let the tempo drop.

The only time that threatens to happen on the album is the quirky Phil Lynott - a sustained note in the verses seems like it will grate with the listener, but surprisingly does not. It is a moving dedication to the former Lizzy front man, clearly an influence on Egan who hails from the same area.

He recollects a half covered moon and a cover version of a Lizzy song, apparently this song wrote itself in ten minutes - "someday I’ll be a dead man who played the bass from Crumlin, like Phil Lynott".

A superb album. I for one am delighted Egan decided to go a bit more "dancey", despite the misgivings of others.

5/5

It's simply not all bad.. Meteor Award Nominations

I'm going to say something that many might find distasteful, or even outrageous.. The nominees for this year's Meteor Awards are actually (gasp, shock horror).. really not that bad.

In fact, they are the best list of nominations I have seen the corporate event go with in years and years - ever, probably..

Now I hold no sway to the fact that I was actually asked to be a member of the voting panel of judges* - as probably every other media hack in the country was, I'm not blowing any trumpets here, believe me - but if you look at the list, well, let's say the evidence speaks for itself.

Fight like Apes and the Loose are nominated in the best Irish band category (ok, so are the Script, Snow Patrol and The Blizzards - but two out of five ain't bad)

Can you believe it? Jape (Richie Egan), David Holmes, and Mick Flannery are all nominated in best Irish male. (Even the others, Damo Dempsey and Duke Special aren't too bad)

But wait, it get's better.. Lisa Hannigan (a shoo in), Gemma Hayes and chanteuse Camille O'Sullivan are all nominated for best Irish female..

I'll skip best Irish pop act (bet the house on the god awful The Script) and run straight to Irish album of the year. Consider the evidence:

FLA.. and the mystery of the Gold Medallion

Lisa H - Sea Sew

Messiah J and the Expert - From the Word Go

and (The Script and Snow Patrol - again, three out of five ain't bad)

Absolutely three of the best Irish albums of last year (and all due to play in Limerick in the next weeks and months, more on that soon)

(The lovely Lisa H on stage in the Belltable last year, gigs to come in the city soon, but I'm not allowed tell yet)

Not as bad as you would expect from a brash, industry driven event like the Meteor's. I'm hoping to go along for the craic (once I convince the LL that it is in their interest to let me go) so stay tuned for a report..

Wait, there's more!! Bon Iver in best International male, and Elbow for Best Band!

*The fact that I voted for the final two (and Lisa H, Jape and FLA) convinces me that my vote actually was hugely important, more so than any other media hack. So there.