Archive for April, 2008
Blasterbra Dropped From Road to V!
Monday, April 28th, 2008A right stink was kicked up by one lone dissenter on the official Road To V messageboard regarding the inclusion of Galway band Blasterbra in the final 14 of the festival competition.
Apparently as the band are Irish and non-resident in the UK, they were not eligible to participate, despite the previous inclusion of the new-defunct The Immediate. V representatives contacted Blasterbra in search of a loophole to ensure they retained their place in the final but efforts proved fruitless and Blasterbra were dropped.
Read the band’s MySpace blog for more…commiserations guys 
Floyd Soul & The Wolf win NSMA
Monday, April 28th, 2008Here’s to Floyd Soul and the Wolf’s howlin’ success! The Waterford pack romped home to victory in the Bank of Ireland National Student Music Awards final at The Village last night. Chosen in the first heat of the competition in Galway along with last night’s joint runners-up, DISCOnnect4, their raw, rocking style impressed judges no end. Also in second place were Dublin’s own Jerome’s Law, who stole whoops and cheers from The Village crowd with an enthusiastic live performance. Dirty 9s, Ladydoll and Philtre conceded good-natured defeat and left to pack up their gear and drown their sorrows. Performing popular songs from their Acheiving Vagueness album were the The Flaws, who polished off the night for The Village crowd.
The winning band receives a slew of prizes including extensive rehearsal and recording time, CD duplication, legal advice and a cash prize from IMRO, which means we may soon see an EP from the Waterford four. Also in the mix is an interview with HotPress and a photoshoot with fabulous Ian Oliver.
Blaster Road To V
Monday, April 21st, 2008Fourteen bands will be announced as semi-finalists of the Road To V competition this morning and Galway’s own Blasterbra are among the lucky few!
Over 2,000 acts applied for a chance to join the V 2008 festival line-up and will now compete in London and Liverpool to decide on a final pair who’ll feature on the line-up. Previous winners include The Young Knives and Bombay Bicycle Club, while this year’s headline acts of the festival itself feature Muse, Kings of Leon, The Chemical Brothers and The Progidy. Blasterbra compete in the Islington Academy in mid-May and will also be filmed on the night by sponsors Channel4, who continue to record the Road To V with a specialised show fronted by Carl Barat of Dirty Pretty Things, newly-announced as a competition judge alongside four other British industry luminaries.
Since I saw them battle the Galway corner of the National Student Music Awards, Blasterbra acquired a new drummer and spent the time rehearsing their undergarments off. They’ve a highly appealing sound drawing attention from many musical camps, holding snazzy tunes My Sweetheart The Punk and Quiet You under their belt. Now it looks as though progress has cemented a solid grounding for the trio, ready as they are to commit force and reckoning to their musical direction. Off you go to London guys, we’ll be rooting for you…have a blast!
NSMA ‘08 : Dublin
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008After a build-up of months, March 27 saw the last regional heat of the Bank Of Ireland National Student Music Awards as four hopefuls fought the final time. First up and athough they didn’t make it to the final stage, winners of sharpest act of the night were Funzo, a collective of like-minded musical souls who band together on an informal basis with frontman Liam McDermott to create a ska-tinged, upbeat medley of songs reflecting times and trials of alternative youth in modern Ireland. All of them attractively suited and booted for an expanded Rat (In-The-Kitchen) Pack aura of cheeky front. The sound is something else: with so many contributors, layers of instruments such as clarinet, sax, harmonica and keyboards mingled with more standard fare of rock-faithful guitar/bass/drums give depth and complexity to the flippancy belying Liam’s lyrics. All this based on the judges’ opinions: your roving reporter mistimed the event and arrived just after the Funzo set….*weep*
