Joe Kavanagh's Music News

The nominees for the fifth annual Choice Music Prize were announced last week, as ten different acts battle it out to win Ireland's most prestigious musical award, which is chosen by a cross-section of the Irish music media. The list of acts and albums are as follows: And So I Watch You From Afar - And So I Watch You From Afar, Bell X1 - Blue Lights on the Runway, CODES - TreesDreamInAlgebra, Adrian Crowley - Season of the Sparks, Dark Room Notes - We Love You Dark Matter, Duckworth Lewis Method - Duckworth Lewis Method, Julie Feeney - Pages, Valerie Francis - Slow Dynamo, Laura Izibor - Let the Truth Be Told, The Swell Season - Strict Joy. As with all lists of this nature, arguments will occur as a result of those omitted from proceedings, with Jinx Lennon, Jerry Fish and David Kitt all failing to make the cut, despite each releasing their best work to date last year. If I had to stump for one of the remaining names, then it would have to be for And So I Watch You From Afar, whose audacious and innovative instrumental rock has them positioned as one of the most exciting bands on the island...

The BBC have admitted that they breached their own rules by providing U2 with an inordinate amount of coverage in the run up to the release of their album, No Line On The Horizon, in February of last year. The weeks preceeding the release saw U2 perform a special rooftop gig for the Beeb, participate in several interviews and even saw the publicly funded broadcaster adopt the slogan U2=BBC, in what was surely tantamount to an advertising drive. The station now concedes that all of the hoopla afforded U2 "undue prominence" and "gave an inappropriate impression of endorsement." Most acts could only dream of such a marketing campaign, but the fact that it was presented to them on a platter by a broadcaster that bangs on about its impartiality is somewhat troubling. It's not like U2 need the publicity, and even if they did, I'm sure that Bono can find some way of getting into the public eye under the guise of saving us all from ourselves...

Staying briefly with U2, rumors continue to circulate regarding the financial health of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, a musical scored by Bono and the Edge, which was due to open next month. Previews of the much-anticipated Broadway extravaganza were due to begin at New York's Hilton Theater, on February 25, but an announcement last week scrapped all upcoming dates, though producers swear that the show will open at some point this year. The troubled musical starring Evan Rachel-Wood and unknown actor Reeve Carney, will reportedly cost over $50 million to stage, and has repeatedly been rumored to be enduring difficulty securing sufficient financial backing. The most recent reports of its pecuniary problems come from actor Alan Cumming, who is scheduled to play the part of the Green Goblin. Revealing the growing sense of irritation among cast and crew alike, the Scottish actor told the New York Times: "We're just waiting. (The show hit) an iceberg of financial ruin (last year). (It's) a really weird, frustrating thing to be waiting." One can't help but speculate that given their knack for making moola, if Bono and the Edge really believed in this thing, they would make up any monetary shortfall. At this point there are probably better odds of the fictional Spiderman appearing in Manhattan before the year is out...

Speaking of bands crossing over into other mediums, a documentary chronicling the career of Blur is set to be released this week, telling the story of their rise from underground indie act to Britpop giants in the wake of their 1994 blockbuster album, Parklife. No Distance Left to Run offers a frank and revealing look at one of the UK's most successful acts of the past two decades, lifting the lid on the internal strife and drug abuse which ultimately saw the band part ways. Speaking of their heroin abuse during the recording of 1997 album Beetlebum, singer Damon Albarn claimed: "That whole period of a lot of people's lives was fairly muddied by heroin. It's in that place. A lot of stuff was at that time. I was going through hell at that time. I was having panic attacks." Albarn, who went on to score global superstardom with Gorillaz also divulged how he came to terms with Blur's demise, saying: "I went on a fantastic voyage of discovery. I spent a lot of time in Africa just getting to know people... and getting very, very stoned." Given his penchant for the herb, it amazes me that Damon Albarn has managed to stay so busy, what with the Gorillaz, writing Chinese operas and working with a host of other acts. In my doobie days, I could have a million things that urgently needed doing then take one puff on a jazz cigarette, turn to myself and say: "Shag it, I'll do it tomorrow"...

While we are on the subject of singers who can turn their hands to many projects, Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody has just announced that he will be taking time away from the northern Irish act, in order to collaborate with REM's Peter Buck and Belle & Sebastian drummer, Peter Coburn. The three musicians will apparently be spending the next few weeks squirreled away in Buck's Oregon home working on a country-inspired album, which they intend to release under the name, Tired Pony. As if all that weren't enough, Lightbody is also in the midst of collaborating with producer Jacknife Lee on an electronic project under the moniker Listen... Tanks, and the duo expect to release an album later this year...

Moving from multi-talented Irishmen to minimally-talented Irishmen, Boyzone 'singer' Ronan Keating, was in the news last week, after he regurgitated his story about meeting Radiohead's Thom Yorke some years back. Talking to the Guardian newspaper, Keating recounted meeting Yorke in 2008, when their paths crossed in the U2-owned Clarence Hotel in Dublin's city center, saying: "He (Yorke) was incredibly rude and I will never forgive him. I was a big Radiohead fan and I still really like the music. I went up and said hello and he just grunted and walked off. I thought, whatever, God love you." You can't be everyone's friend Ronan, particularly when you go around pretending to be all things to all people. I must confess however that much as I've tried to dislike Ronan Keating - and try I have - I just can't bring myself to do it. The man is like the Irish equivalent to Ned Flanders. Except Ned Flanders can sing better...

Okely dokely, what's next? Oh yeah, sticking with the whole obnoxious musician thing for a minute, Ringo Starr was in the news last week because he apparently wants all of his fans to help celebrate his 70th birthday on July 7. The former Beatles drummer intends to celebrate his milestone by playing a gig in New York's Radio City Music Hall, telling a reporter last week: "We have big plans to do an all star tour this summer. We'll be in New York on July 7 which is my birthday and we're going to celebrate. No matter what state you're in, at noon wherever you are I'd like you to gesture peace and love." Is this the same Ringo Starr that only recently used an obnoxious online video to inform his fans that he would be throwing all of their correspondence in the trashcan, without bothering to open it? I can think of a gesture that I would like to make on the day but it has nothing to do with peace and love. That is, of course if I were to remember his birthday, which I won't. Starr also disclosed that he is unable to come to grips with computer game, The Beatles: Rock Band, admitting: "I'm absolutely c**p at it. We tried it when they were putting it together and they'd bring all these geniuses out to play it. It's too frantic for me." I'm guessing that's about how his first few jam sessions went with the actual Beatles too...

Staying on the theme of people that over achieve despite a distinct dearth of talent, creepy Irish twins, Jonathon and Edward Grimes are reportedly set to enter the recording studio in the coming weeks to remake Ice Ice Baby, with famed 80s one-hit wonder merchant Vanilla Ice. Better known as Jedward, the Grimes boys became something of a phenomenon due to their appearances on Simon Cowell's X Factor and are now being managed by the equally eerie Louis Walsh, who told UK tabloid The Sun: "They are beyond excited about working with Vanilla Ice - I've never seen them so excited." If there's any justice, they'll enjoy as many hits as Vanilla Ice...

Former Eurythmics main man Dave Stewart is set to embark on a new career in the coming weeks, with the release of The Business Playground: Where Creativity and Commerce Collide, a book which he has written in conjunction with businessman Mark Simmons. Speaking of their venture last week, Simmons claimed: "He's had interaction with some incredibly well-known people - Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan and so on. So the book's theoretical but also with anecdotes from Dave's experiences. He's definitely a right brain character but has an instinct for business." I'm not sure that there is a definite correlation between knowing lots of famous people and possessing business acumen. If that were the case Mariah Carey would be running a Fortune 500 company...

Susan Boyle has been all over the newspapers recently for her record-breaking chart success, but the Scottish singing sensation is once again showing signs of her, how shall we say it, nutjoberiness, with reports that she created a scene in London's Heathrow Airport last week. The eccentric Boyle was reportedly in an airport VIP lounge when she took a mop from a cleaner and used it as a microphone, proceeded to polish guests' shoes before allegedly flouncing about shouting: "I've escaped, I've escaped." Alarmed staff asked her to calm down, and one witness told The Sun: "It was chaos. Susan was very restless and agitated from the minute she walked in and immediately started making a scene. She was singing and dancing around, shouting obscenities at full volume." If she thinks it's hard trying to escape from her handlers now, imagine how tough she's going to find it when she's cooped up in a little room with soft walls. Her handlers would be extremely wise to tread very carefully with their charge but Susan Boyle is making so many people so much money that there's little likelihood of that happening. Most people begin their life in the music world as rational, well-adjusted individuals and then gradually lose their sanity as their career progresses but this lady is already crazier than a box of flying squirrels. Maybe she'll actually be 100% sane by the end of all this. Then again, maybe not...

Paul McCartney's ex-wife, Heather Mills crashed her sports car while pulling out of her parking spot after finishing shooting for the upcoming series of Dancing On Ice. A source told a UK tabloid: "Heather came out of the ice rink carrying her skating leg and jumped into the car. She must have forgotten that she was parked in front of a post and just charged straight into it. She was pretty shocked as it was quite a bump. She got out of the car and saw the damage she's done and was livid. It was her birthday, so no doubt that made her extra angry." What the hell has she got to be angry about? It's not like her money paid for the car - which is a Lotus by the way. And what's with the "skating leg"? Is she like some kind of lower body version of Mr. Han from Enter The Dragon?