Mind Control In The Irish Music Scene

by Eddie Tue May 27, 2003 20:40

Sorry for the typos

by noeuro win Tue May 27, 2003 20:46

It was disappointing to see on the eurovision song contest, Micky joe harte's song was abit like the Father Ted's 'my lovely horse' song. The bloke from norways song, was also in the realms of 'my lovely horse'. The belgium technotraditional entry was very good, why couldn't Ireland have had the integrity and musical sense to choose someone who could sing in the irish language.

by dowtcha Tue May 27, 2003 22:33

look around and you'll find a vibrant music scene. Cork is about to explode, lots and lots happening. It's not all Louis Walsh y'know....check out Credit Union Records set up by Niall Connolly (www.niallconnolly.com)

by Michael McGroarty Tue May 27, 2003 22:41 attackus at attacknine dot com

I hate to use the term "electronica", but I'm wondering if anybody knows where to look for good Irish experimental electronic music. Thanks.

by Raymond McInerney Tue May 27, 2003 22:46

Get the run down of where bands and DJs play in Limerick by getting your free weekly edition of 'Limerick Events Guide' in most city pubs and some restaurants.

by Eddie Sheridan - www.cpu-records.com Tue May 27, 2003 23:10 eddiesheridan at o2 dot ie

I think you misunderstand my point. I was in cork this weekend with a band We played in connollys in leap and the half Moon at the back of the opera house and I know Cork is rocking. There are a lot of people working hard but my point was that their outlets were being taken away. co-incedently a sound tech was telling me there are less and less venues in Cork in which the young bands can play ( under 18's )This is surely like Manchester United giving up on their youth policy.
Another example of our government letting an industry die so Louis Walsh can just buy the charts

by Rob Cannon Tue May 27, 2003 23:38 robcannon_9599 at yahoo dot com

Ahem. The music industry has got far too much corporate welfare for far too long. Why should hard-working workers pay taxes to go to "professional" musicians? By talking of government support it is suggested that the State should interfere in cultural activities.

The main reason there aren't enough music venues, esp. non money-grubbing commercialised venues is quite simple - Irish planning laws. Irish planning laws have prevented competition in everything, e.g. not enough supermarkets, so rip-off convenience stores run by gombeen shopkeepers can make more money. In the 1980s (which I dimly remember) it was fine, because FF/FG/Labour had put half the country out of work or abroad with their economic mismanagement. There wasn't much demand for buildings. Now everything has been redeveloped, there is inward migration of over 60,000 per year (that's 1.2m extra people over 20 years - and most of them aren't asylum seekers), and there is not enough extra land being rezoned. Essentially the Irish middle classes (whose ideas are the foundation of the planning system) decided a long time ago that they liked the look of sprawling suburban housing estates, but not warehouses, or commercial buildings that looked in the slightest way shabby, and so hence no music venues.

by Padraig Wed May 28, 2003 00:33

"What ever happened to good music?
You know in the days when you could really feal it it was allmost sexual, sending shivers up your spine? This I believe was because songwriters were not restricted by the small music dictatorship that now exists! Lets hope that the future holds something better than the present and lets leave the past alone. The music buisness is incapable of bringing music to the future. as it sits just waiting to pounce on any third rate passing trend milking it to death once again putting money where the music is not! I only wish I was born before all the great Ideas were used. While I struggle to work around this. The most annoying thing is watching others succeed through stealing them. I could have been alot of things.I could have sold alot of records. I could have enjoyed it as well. I could have been alot of things one thing I know I am and allways will be..... I am the greatest!!!"

I am the greatest. by Dave Couse A House 1991

by Michael McGroarty Wed May 28, 2003 01:09 mcgroarty.1 at netzero dot net

Hey Eddie (and everyone else):

Sounds very similar to the state of radio (and the entire media for that matter) in the U.S. We're facing a major deregulation catastrophe very soon (June 2). Clear Channel, Viacom, etc.!!!

To what extent do you think U.S. domination is the culprit? Surely you feel the effects of our "top 4", which control 95% of commercial music.

Obviously I'm in America (my great-grandparents came from Donegal), so what are some good websites for Irish music. You mentioned the Limerick paper. I'll see if there's a website for that. I'd like to be able to sample mp3s.

Michael.

by Sean Wed May 28, 2003 09:11

Some info on independent Irish music and some new up and coming bands and solo artists.
Worth a look.

ttp://www.slr.ie

http://www.slr.ie/links.shtml

by Mr Ed Wed May 28, 2003 10:58

Inishowen Community Radio are a wholly community owned and controlled radio station in Donegal. There are no play lists and no necessity to 'bung' presenters to get your music played. Their website is still under construction but contact details are there.

by mr music Wed May 28, 2003 12:07

covers dublin & cork (great for advertising events & free)

http://www.spraci.net/menu.php

Says it all
http://www.thingsyouremissing.com/

One of the best
http://www.thumped.com/

Eddie, I can understand your concerns, Ireland really is white washed with the corporate pop but this has been the case for many decades now. I don't see it entirely as some kind of sinister conspiracy or "ethnic cleansing" (be very careful of using such emotive words in the wrong context) or attempt to take away the little peoples voice (elements of this do exist for particular reasons of course).
As i said, this process has been ongoing and is not new. In saying that there are reasons for much of the (lack of) range of music, and homogeniety is a key aspect of this. This is evidant in most forms of industry as it means less cost and a larger audience caught up in the same dribble believeing there to be a difference (Freire's idea of possessive consciousness)-more profits.
Much of what you say in your 'facts' section I would agree with, including that "A complete disaster on an industry that if it had four legs and ran around a race track would get all the subsidies it needed and be tax free also". Well worded!

But what you fail to state is that the Irish music scene is absolutley bursting at the seams, are being funded by the likes of the Arts Council (til the cutbacks this year) and other agencies, along with private sponsers. And what many of these musicians despise most is the act of "signing" or whoreing themselves to some corporate suit wanting to use them as the next best thing before getting rid of them as quick as that hot snot.

speaking about the area and people I know, many of the people/groups/djs do not aspire to signing and work fulltime jobs to keep their music alive and in their control. And they don't mind. This IS an exciting time for Irish music, but if much of what is on offer at the moment is drag-netted into that corporate world then we lose the talent, artistic expression and in many instances outright rage against the machine (excuse the bad pun) that exists with independance.

When you say "that their outlets were being taken away" you are right, but is the point of this experience not to create more?

I can see why controlling free expression as a means of controlling much of the disenting voices in society would be an issue in any socially engineered state, but this has never been and never will be achieved while like-minded, intelligent, resisting and progessives people keep meeting on sites like this, the ones above or all those free parties that are popping up all over the country at this time of year!

by Simpson Eh? Wed May 28, 2003 16:09

thumped.com

by Irish American Wed May 28, 2003 19:04

I thought that group broke up ten years ago.

by Click Here Wed May 28, 2003 19:32

Following on from Irish American's above comment, from where in the world did you derive "plastic lesbians"??

I take exception to that comment, my typo-riddled boy. Do you write for THE SUN 'newspaper'?

(By the way, if she's plastic, believe me, she's no lesbian.)

by Eddie Wed May 28, 2003 20:31

I was referring to the band tatu and their fake lesbianism and to r kelly who is up on peadophile charges both of which are in the charts.

by anton Thu May 29, 2003 16:58

Eddie, why does the world need any more supergroups? Supergroups and the whole idea of stardom have done terrible damage to music in Ireland.For every superstar there's half a million people out there who are musically disempowered ,just as for every billionaire in the world there are thousands of beggars. Music should be for everybody its too important to be left to the superstars.
I fully support your campaign for freedom of the airwaves but please remember -music doesn't come from a radio or a cd ,it comes from the work of musicians. Pirate radios do good work promoting musicians who would never get a look in if it was left to the establishment media but don't forget these supergroups are very much part of that establishment.

by Eddie - www.cpu-records.com Thu May 29, 2003 22:36 eddiesheridan at o2 dot ie

Anton I fully agree with your comments.
I would be more concerned with the unsigned bands and how they are looked after than the superstars and their record labels with deep pockets.
I did mention the amount of unpaid work done by musicians and thats what I have a gripe against.
bands doing support acts on big gigs in the likes of the olympia getting 50 euro between 4 of them is a disgrace.
A minimum of 500 euro should be paid by pubs and clubs for a bands performance.
With the cost of backline and transport there is not a lot left but its a start.
It would certainly help what is a vibrant scene to carry on.

by RizzlonTheRaver Fri May 30, 2003 01:19

To Quote
'Sure why would I promote a rock band when I can get places with a boy band in one year that would take me five years with the like of the new Beatles- you know limos and all that'
Sad

by cookiemonster Mon Mar 22, 2004 01:52

only good electronic experimental band are a band called low plains drifter, google em and a bit of shit pops up about them http://www.google.ie/search?q=%22Low+Plains+Drifter%22&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&meta=cr%3DcountryIE

by mick Mon Mar 22, 2004 11:01

Frontendsynthetics - http://www.frontendsynthetics.com

the fear - http://www.thefear.ie

compactrisc - http://www.compactrisc.net

u:mack - http://www.groov.ie/ultramack

D1 - http://www.d1recordings.com/

Bassbin - http://www.bassbin.com/

spitroast - http://www.spitroastproductions.com/

cfour - http://www.cfourrecords.com/

http://www.psychonavigation.com/


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