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Archive for July, 2010

The Music In My Head

Posted in Bands, Photography, tagged , , , , , , , on July 29, 2010| Leave a Comment »

This is Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba playing in the Button Factory back in May. These guys are from Mali which, as everyone knows (or at least as everyone should know), is the source of a whole load of amazing music. For those yet to discover the delights of West African music I would recommend Mark Hudson’s book, The Music In My Head, which is a highly entertaining account of an English music journalist’s adventures in West Africa after falling in love with the sounds of Senegal and Mali. It will make you want to pick up as much of the music as possible, but handily enough, there is an accompanying CD, which is a superb introduction. (more…)

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Built To Spill

Posted in Bands, Photography, tagged , , , , on July 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Now and again, as I am doing this project, I get to photograph an act I really like. I have ambivalent feelings about this – sometimes I’d prefer to be just enjoying the music without thinking about taking the photograph. Sometimes though, if things go well, it adds an extra level of enjoyment to the night. When a double-bill of Dinosaur Jr and Built To Spill was announced for a May Vicar Street date it was like someone had designed a gig especially for me. I have been a giant fan of Dinosaur Jr ever since I first saw them in McGonagles in Dublin way back in 1990 or so, and all their recent reunion shows of the last few years have been fantastic. Similarly, Built To Spill have blown me away on those rare occasions I’ve caught them, and albums like Perfect From Now On and Keep It Like A Secret are, for me, just perfect exemplars of what it is possible for a rock band to be. (more…)

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