Fan-Fucking-Tastic!

Stolen from Thrillpier

I feel very very guilty that I've only rediscovered Michaels music since he died!

David Bowie

Listening to Bowies Greatest Hits may be a reminder of how many great songs he has penned, but there really is one that stands out and makes you turn up the volume every time.

Legend!

Michael Jackson

When i was a kid my room was covered in Michael Jackson posters. I used to spend hours in my room trying to learn how to dance like him and was a pretty annoying little git at family parties as a result. I absolutely worshipped him and it really was my first taste of music and the influence that it can have on you.

Although i hadn't had much time for him recently, his death has had a real impact on me, as probably is the case for most people of our generation. You forget how much certain artists have influenced you until they pass away, and how much they ment to you all those years ago when you were so impressionable.

A very sad day for music

Michael Jackson
King of Pop
RIP

Speech Debelle

What im really love about Speech Debelles debut Speech Therapy is her gentle rhyming over an acoustic guitar which is present through most of the album. Theres something in her music that conveys so much emotion - full of frustration, loss and heartache, yet equally full of hope and delight.

Potentially my album of the year!

State Review Here

Built to Spill

For the last couple of days ive been trying to figure out where i first heard of Built to Spill. Finally it dawned on me that it was a pasionate and fanboy interview with the band from Darragh for Analogue Magazine. I remember reading it and feeling his passion for the band and the music, and thinking that they were a band that i definately had to check out.

Im currently listening to their 1999 album 'Keep it Like a Secret' and it really is brilliant. It wouldnt be my usual cup of tea but its a great change of pace.

I adore 'Else'!

Music That Inspires Me

Im currently listening to alot of new music that has just been released and also music that has been out a while but is new to me. All of this music inspires me in some way and makes me want to evolve my music to be as emotional and melodic. It never ceases to amaze me how much stunning music is out there and how inspiring it all can be.

Ive been listening to Plaid a lot recently and i have to thank Gardenhead for pointing me in that direction. Some of it reminds me a lot of Boards of Canada and thats definitely not a bad thing.



Adam kindly guided me towards Nathan Fake who im absolutely loving at the moment as well - beautiful stuff.



And finally im currently listening to is Yppahs 'They Know What Ghost Know album which is simply brilliant - One of my new favourite albums at the moment.



I dont pretend that this blog has any particular insight into any of the music posted about or that im in any way eloquent about how i write about it. I only know that this is music that affects me in a huge way and i hope that listening to these short samples affects you in a way that makes you want to find out more about them.

Enjoy

- oh, and i just realised that 'Yppah' backwards is 'Happy' - a perfect description of how his music makes me feel :)

The Beatles Rock!

"I would like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we've passed the audition"

The Avalanches

Revisiting an old friend today and she hasn't aged a bit
Beautiful album!









Offical Webpage
Myspace

Top 100 Best Irish Albums of All Time

Ronan over at Swear im not Paul has done a very brave thing and made a list of the Top 100 Best Irish Albums of All Time

Probably beat the Ticket too it by a week or so

The problem with lists like this is people focus too much on whats not on it instead of what is on it and should be celebrated. Im gonna take this opportunity to check out those albums on it that ive been meaning to get round to but has taken a great list like this to remind me

Thanks Ronan - but wheres Ritual? :)

Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bears new album Veckatimest has really grow on me over the last few weeks. Its so infectious

The stand out tracks in my opinion would 'Two Weeks' and 'While You Wait for the Others'

Sublime!

Theres a killer mashup of Two Weeks and Dead Prez goin round aswell. Class

Chinese Translation

Great song, even better video

Moby - Pale Horses

Spotted this over on Tims TenaciousT blog and really liking it.



Mobys new album 'Wait or Me' will b out June 30th and if Pale Horses is a fair representation of it he could be back to his best

Florence and the Machine

Florence and the Machines debut album Lungs looks like its gonna be a cracker. Released in july, if the promos anything to go by it could be one of the albums of the year.

Absolutely loving Cosmic Love (from the o2 ad) which, if i didnt know better, i would have thought was Marina and the Diamonds who im also a big fan of

DJ Shadow/DJ Hero

Forget Guitar Hero - here comes DJ Hero!

This sounds very interesting and with DJ Shadow on board from the beginning giving his advice and input it should be pretty cool.

He's even given permission for his image/likeness and some of his tracks to be used in the game.

Theres a really good interview with the man himself here

Super Extra Bonus Party

Super Extra Bonus Party kicked ass last night in the Roisin Dubh in Galway - Cant wait to have a good listen to their new Nighthorses album

Burial/Fourtet 12"

Favourite release of the year so far - its ace!

Fake Dog Films - Kerbs

One of my favourite group of film makers at the moment are the lads at Fake Dog Films. They've got some great music videos and short films up on their page so go check them out.

My favourite at the moment is Episode 1 of 'A Dogs Life' which features one of my favourite childhood games (and teenage if im honest) Kerbs!

Its brilliant!

Moon and Moon

I love Bat for Lashes' Mercury nominated 'Fur and Gold' but I adored Moon and Moon' when i saw it on the culture show ages back and its inclusion on her knew album has cemented my love for the new record. Its stunningly beautiful - Go get it!

Crawdaddy with The Holy Roman Army

Ive been confirmed to support The Holy Roman Army for their album launch in Crawdaddy on May 15th with support on the night also coming from Storkboy Choons and Colours Move. Should be both a great night and a great album.

Really looking forward to it!

Ill be announcing more dates soon but if theres anyone out there looking for a support act id really appreciate it...

Frightened Rabbit - Academy 2

Frightened Rabbit were brilliant at the academy on Wednesday, they absolutely blew me away once again.

The night was rounded off nicely when lead singer Scott Hutchison played an acoustic version of 'Poke' as an encore from within the audience and incidently right in front of my nose - brilliant!

Nialler9s Top 50 Best Irish Music Acts Right Now

In answer to the Top 50 list published in the Ticket this week nialler has created his own Top 50 Best Irish Acts Right Now and im quite chuffed to be in there. I'm alot chuffed actually!

Theres also a nice piece in this months excellent Limerick Entertainment Guide, you can find it here

Live in Bar 8 (07/04/09)

Frightened Rabbit Acoustic

Really looking forward to Frightened Rabbit tonight/tomorrow/wednesday...
Big thanks to Ian at Thrill Pier for the tickets

Anyone know what a Giebelhouse is?

Absolutely baffled as to what this has to do with me...

"Because Ichiro! can hit HR’s whenever he wants, melt a box full of original Licorice Scottie Dogs into the shape of Giebelhouse, and force Ronan Carroll into making Tenaka a duo!"

Anyone?

Twitter

So i set up a twitter account to see what the deal is.
Ive tried to delete it but its impossible - its like a cult.
Addictive as hell.

Come join us... we've got sandwiches!

The Girl and the Royksopp

Some great tracks on Royksopps new album 'Junior' but the stand out track for me at the moment is 'The Girl with the Robot' featuring Robyn.

Just found out as well that 2009 will also see the release of a second Royksopp album 'Senior' which will be a more chilled affair.

Something tell me itll be better than u2s second album of 2009

Bar 8 Gig Postponed

My gig for Wed 25th March has been postponed due to the venue being double booked

Live Performance

Making final preparations for my live performance in Bar 8 tomorrow night. Should be fun if anyone's in Galway

Bar 8 - The Docks - 8pm - Free In

Debut Gig in Bar 8 Wed 25th

Limerickman in hiding Tenaka brings his special brand of Classic 50’s Folk Rock to Bar 8 on Wednesday 25th of March. His debut EP ‘Eponymously Titled’ has been met with critical acclaim, with both the Irish Independent and Nialler9.com labelling it ‘Superb’. 

If you like your Muriel Smiths, your Randy Belafonts or your Tom Mitchells Swinging Bands, then you might just like your Tenaka.

Support comes from the excellent Beatpoet with Brendan Finan later on decks. Show starts 8.30pm. Free in with this picture.

Podcasts

This week 'Aint Nobody' features as the very first track on the spanking new Irish Music Podcast over at nialler9.com - Thanks a million to Aoife and Niall  

http://www.nialler9.com/2009/03/13/new-nialler9-podcast-from-aoife-mc/  

'Open Up' also features on a podcast this week over at the brilliant PlaylistMix.com's landmark 50th Podcast. Go check it out  

http://playlistmix.com/podcast/playlist-mix-50/

State Magazine

The new issue of State magazine is available as a free download from their page. Its a great read so its an awful shame that its not being pressed anymore. I always loved putting aside time to chill out and read it cover to cover. Go get it

Incidently they've included a rather nice review for EPonymously titled:

'Superb opening salvo from Ronan Carroll, a Limerick man based in Galway, whose bedroom-recorded four-track EP of electronic pop pushes all the right buttons, filling the spaces with atmosphere, groove and bass. There's a bit of a Four Tet vibe to this. Best of all, its a free download from myspace.com/tenakadrifting.'

u2 360

U2s new album 'No Line on the Horizon' may be getting slated by most reviews but i have to admit im pretty impressed by the stage design for the world tour. Check out the animation. Sweet

Swipped from IndieLimerick

Limerick Events Guide

The wonderful, amazing, wise and inspired people at the Limerick Events Guide have given 'EPonymously Titled' a glowing 5/5 review. Nice one!

Tenaka
EPonymously Titled 
5/5

Ain’t Nobody is the first song on Tenaka’s a.k.a Ronan Carroll’s recently released EP and from the first strum of the first chord and the first note of his great voice I wanted to hope into my car and take this record for a drive. Road music. Great road music is hard to find. This Eponymoulsy Titled EP does exactly what a good ep is mean to do, tease the fuck out of you and leave you wanting an album and a drive to the beach. It’s a gentle and infectious low fi fusion of acoustic electronica. Highly recommended.

Choice Awards 2009

Im headin off to the big smoke shortly for what should be a great night at Vicar Street. Id love to see either Jape or RSAG win it so best of luck lads

Heres a band i think should definately have been there tonight though

Ive a habit of keeping my head down so if you see me say hi - Im the guy with album art tatooed all over his face...

Im Still Broke

I had a vivid dream 2 nights ago that i won the lotto. Ya i know, everyone has that dream these days but the difference is i actually remembered the numbers! Only freaky if they were the right numbers... In the dream i had 5 numbers and the bonus but as with most dreasm it became muddled when i woke up but i remebered the numbers roughly

The numbers i won with in the dream were (vaguelly)

1 3 8 21 38 (33)

Heres the numbers from last night

1 3 9 12 36 (31)

Not spot on but close enough to annoy me...

Obsessions

Its fair to say ive been truelly bewitched by Marina and the Diamonds thanks to nialler. Her debut 7" contains Obsessions and the brilliant Mowglis Road but if you do a hype machine search youll find other tracks such as Seventeen, the Shampain Sleeper and some tasty remixes.

Heres the video for Obsessions

Nuts

I cracked the screen on my laptop a few weeks ago but ive commited to some live shows (using the laptop) and so i cant afford to send it away to be fixed. A cracked screen is fine, i can live (and perform) with that. What i cant live with is the fact that bit bit bit pixels are being eaten up by the crack, resulting in big black blotches. At the rate the pixels are being gobbled up there'll be no screen left for my first gig. Im using a monome for my live shows and intending of having it set up so i never once have to look at the laptop during the set. Good bloody thing!!

Daedelus on Monome

Frightened Rabbit

Frightened Rabbit play an acoustic set at the Academy 2 on Arpil 1st. Having caught them live for the first time at last years HWCHs i was blown away and im a devoted fan ever since. I wont be missing this one - i hope...

Dark was the Night

As mentioned 9 times already the charity compilation 'Dark was the Night' features an array of phenomenal artists such as Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver, Feist, Arcade Fire and Grizzly Bear. The sheer quality of this album is astounding and from the first listen youll be singing its praises.

My persoanl favourite is Bon Ivers - Brackett WI

http://www.darkwasthenight.com

Tracklisting

THIS DISC: 

1. "Knotty Pine" - Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
2. "Cello Song" - The Books featuring Joses Gonzalez
3. "Train Song" - Feist and Ben Gibbard
4. "Brackett, WI" - Bon Iver
5. "Deep Blue Sea" - Grizzly Bear
6. "So Far Around The Bend" - The National
7. "Tightrope" - Yeasayer
8. "Feeling Good" - My Brightest Diamond
9. "Dark Was The Night" - Kronos Quartet
10. "I Was Young When I Left Home" - Antony with Bryce Dessner
11. "Big Red Machine" - Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner
12. "Sleepless" - The Decemberists
13. "Die" - Iron & Wine
14. "Service Bell" - Grizzly Bear + Feist
15. "You Are The Blood" - Sufjan Stevens

THAT DISC: 

1. "Well-Alright" - Spoon
2. "Lenin" - Arcade Fire
3. "Mimizan" - Beirut
4. "El Caporal" - My Morning Jacket
5. "Inspiration Information" - Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
6. "With A Girl Like You" - Dave Sitek
7. "Blood Pt. 2" - Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
8. "Hey, Snow White" - The New Pornographers
9. "Gentle Hour" - Yo La Tengo
10. "Amazing Grace" - Cat Power
11. "Happiness" - Riceboy Sleeps
12. "Another Saturday" - Stuart Murdoch
13. "The Giant Of Illinois" - Andrew Bird
14. "Lua" - Conor Oberst with Gillian Welch
15. "When The Road Runs Out" - Blonde Redhead & Devastations
16. "Love Vs. Porn" - Kevin Drew

Spotify

Reading Guess Lists post on Spotify has reminded me to get off my arse and check it out and so far so wow. As mentioned in this post on 10 Reasons why Spotify Rocks the streaming speed is brilliant. Ive a relatively slow connection here atthe moment and youd think i was playing the tracks right off my harddrive.

Theres talk that some music is being taken down due to legal reasons but from the start it seems a brilliantly executed concept with options for Free, Daily (99c) or monthly (€9.99) memberships and thanks to the lads at Guess List providing a link for a UK proxy all you need to do is go to spotify using the proxy, sign up some quick details (email etc) and install a 2mb file. Thats it, your ready to roll.

If you have a few mins free go check it out. You wont be sorry

http://www.spotify.com/en/

Elevator Fire

Really wish my apartment had an elevator... and arcade fire neighbours. Imagine getting into this lift every morning

'Know any Beatles?'

Bat for Lashes

Bat For Lashes brilliant album Fur and Gold has found its way back onto my mp3 player recently. Still sounds gorgeous

Halogen - Recycled Broadcast EP/Baked LP

Been listening to this ep for a while now and it really is top notch. Ive managed to get a sneak peak of his debut album 'Baked', due out in the next couple of months, and its sure to provide Halogen with the attention he deserves. As a teaser, get your hands on the Free EP

The Ambience Affair

Saw Jamie and Marc play the Roisin few weeks ago and was very impressed. The Fragile Things EP is great aswell - standout track being Vacant Hearts. Great video

"Vacant Hearts" - The Ambience Affair from Souljacker on Vimeo.

Jon Richards

Galway Bay Fm's Jon Richards has been nominated for a Meteor Award for 'Best Regional DJ' and rightly so. Heres the details

Jon Richards has been nominated for "Best Regional DJ" for the Meteor Ireland Music Awards.

You can vote by text and online once each day until midnight March 11th

To Vote by text: text the following voterdj5 to 085-711 44 44.

Online: log onto www.meteor.ie and click on the vote icon then click 
Best Regional DJ and then click on "Jon Richards" and follow instructions to 
register your vote

DJ Shadow/RSAG

Im currently getting ready for live shows so im spending alot of time looking into what can be done as a one man project both musically and visually . DJ Shadow rocks

And RSAG Rolls

Playlist Mix #47

Aint Nobody features on the current Playlist Mix from the excellent Playlist series. Check out the current Podcast as well as previous shows at

http://playlistmix.com/podcast/playlist-mix-47/

Egoeccentric Hangover Mixtape

I just did a Hangover mixtape for the lads at Egoeccentric featuring music from The Rolling Stones, Radiohead and Bat for Lashes. Download it for free here

http://egoeccentric.blogspot.com/2009/02/tenaka-picks-egoeccentic-hangover.html

Here We Go Magic

For me one of the standout tracks from this months Music Alliance Pact was 'Here We Go Magic's Tunnelvision. Brooklyns Luke Temple has crafted a sound one part Sufjan Stevens and one part Efterklang - to my ears anyway, and the results are quite beautiful.

How come Brooklyn is such a hotspot at the moment?

The videos pretty sweet aswell

Ratatat

I want to highlight some older 'new' music that lot of people will have heard of but others may not. For me Brooklyn band Ratatats 'LP3' album was one of the best of 2008 and one that i still cant get enough of today. Pure Joy!

http://www.myspace.com/ratatatmusic

Starfucker

Nialler9 posted this video a while back but its only recently that ive picked up the album and its stunning. If you need cheering up, these Starfuckers are gonna do it

This is currently my ringtone

www.myspace.com/starfuckerss  

Radio Play

The Far Side - Phantom fm. 
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2009/01/28/the-far-side-playlist-for-tuesday-january-27/

Introducing - BBC 6Music 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/tom_robinsons_introducing/tracklisting_20090119.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/tom_robinsons_introducing/tracklisting_20080714.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/trintro

An Taobh Tuathail - RTE RnaG
http://www.rte.ie/rnag/antaobhtuathail.html

Dan Hegarty - 2fm
http://www.rte.ie/2fm/danhegarty/1249945.html

Green and Live - Live95fm
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm? fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=62213395&blogID=466492366

Irish Nightlife - WLRFM
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=62949326&blogID=467558435

Irish Beats - Beat10210fm
http://www.irishbeats.net

The Pulse - Radio Kerry

Hot Press Pick of the Fortnight

"Tenaka is the trading name of Ronan Carroll who comes from the Limerick/Galway region. He brings us a brand of electronica that keeps well away from the guitar band and singer-songwriter territories that are becoming quite over-crowded. The mesmeric ‘Aint Nobody’ has his disembodied vocal to win you over as well as cute ambient beats, modulated guitars and a touch of Radiohead. ‘Someday’ has a snappier beat but is no less hypnotic. The vocals don’t arrive until after a chilled mood has been well settled, and it oozes even more charm thereafter. The comparatively up-tempo instrumental ‘Open Up’ has a beguiling riff and builds magnificently. Tenaka s doing something that steers well clear of the obvious and he deserves attention for that alone, as well as the inventive quality of his work."

MAP Irish Artist of the Month

http://www.nialler9.com/2009/02/15/map-february-09/

Tenaka is Ronan Carroll, a one-man band who creates melodic and sinewy slices of electronic pop from his bedroom but which suggest an imagination far beyond the physical. Alaskan is the soundtrack to dipping your toes into a lake before dive-bombing into its sunshine-infested yet chilly waters. The song features on EPonymously Titled, a free EP available from his MySpace. No excuses, download it now.

Asleep on the Compost Heap

http://onavery.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-if-you-could-see-both-forest-and.html

Some nice sounds from Ireland:

I thought a Tenaka was a type of shape-shifting raccoon ghost with huge testicles from Japan. I was wrong. It turns out that's a Tanuki. A Tenaka is a Limerick man (who may or may not have huge testicles) who lives in Galway and makes understated pastoral electronica in his spare time. Think the clockwork rhythms of Plaid, the folky sensibilities of Fridge, and some hushed singing. If Greg from Masterchef heard it he might say "emotive bedroom electronica DOESN'T GET BETTER THAN THIS".

Galway Independent

http://www.galwayindependent.com/entertainment/entertainment/picks-of-week-%11-4th-february-2009/

Pick of the Week

Tenaka - 'Eponymously Titled' 
Ronan Carroll's take on lo-fi electronic pop is far from perfect, in fact it's sometimes out of tune, but that's not the point… sorry that is the point. It's perfectly imperfect, it's human. And 'Someday' is quite possibly one of the most beautifully broken pieces of music I've heard in eons. Music you want to tell your friends about

TenaciousT Review

http://tenacioustimothy.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/tenaka/

Tenaka

Oh there is a storm brewing in the west and what a sublime storm it is!

Tenaka is Ronan Carroll, a Galway based Limerick muscian who happens to be a Biomedical Engineer- not sure what part of the body he engineers for but he knows a thing or two about ears and what is good going into them.

He has created a 4 track ep called EPonymously Titled that you can download for free from his MySpace and they really are some great ambient tunes.   Not only do they grab your attention but his writing to go along with them really puts you into the right frame of mind…

Tenaka awoke to hear the storm hissing and battering at the window.
He stretched and glanced at the fire - it had faded to glowing coals.
He had slept in the lady’s arms, taking comfort in the bugs, haven and
crawl, as she slept in the chair, her breathing deep. Tenaka rose to his
feet, slowly making his way from the room. The corridor was icy, the
wooden boards creaking under his boots. He moved to the tribes fire,
adding fresh wood and gently blowing the flames to life. He felt revitalized
as it flared from the first child through to the pause of the fourth.

Tenaka removed the red dagger from its sheth and stirred the broth with
the blade, scanning the room for ingredients. As he poured the broth into
a bowl, he cut the stitches from his cheek, emotions firing behind paper
eyes. Quietly he stowed his gear in the canvas pack, fastened his cloak
and pushed gently through the doorway.

The storm was inviting.

Just to make it even better there is some great artwork and the humorously entitled play all ‘Sure why not, it only takes 928 seconds and twas free.wpl’.

Of the tunes themselves- these aren’t the lull you off to sleep ambient tunes but the type that peak your interest and where your foot starts tapping on its own accord.  Ain’t Nobody and Someday have some soft vocals to go along with the synths and building rythms, Open Up has more complex rythms with a more driving pace and Alaskan is more sampled with kids and kids toys and some gorgeous synth strings.  Of them all I wish Alaskan was longer but you can always stick it on repeat!

He is not currently touring but hopefully soon- for the moment get the tunesand let their blissfullness wash over you.

The Ticket, Irish Times

http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2009/01/23/changes-at-the-ticket/

"Limerickman in Galway Ronan Carroll’s “’EPonymously Titled EP is chockablock with dashing slow-mo electronic pop"