Film Review: The Fall

Good points:
The story is unique and compelling, great performances especially from the 11 year old Catinca Untaru. The set and cinematic shots are often incredible.

Bad points:
for some people the direction may appear a bit arty, as well it doesn't always spoon feed the audience the story so if your looking for something that you don't have to think about, your going to be lost.



Full Review:

Despite being a few years old now The Fall has only been released here in Ireland this month, and if your around Dublin and want to head over the Iffy to see it. your to late it's finished showing, but you'll get to enjoy the Horrorthon instead. (horrorthon has also ended.. so best of luck)

The Fall is really two stories. The first where a little girl in a hospital and comes across a friendly looking guy on a hospital bed, they become friends. The man in the bed (who appears to have been crippled in some way) begins telling her a story about a band adventurers including the trademark characters such as a bandit and an explosives expert, also including some less likely heroes such as Charles Darwin. In this story the reality of the hospitalised man is reflected very cleverly and in a way which greatly entertains his new friend. Knowing this, he makes a deal with her to continue the story in return for her help in getting him some pain medication...

The story progresses at a palatable pace with perfectly placed pieces of dialogue to make you laugh just as you thought you should cry.

if i was to rate it... 89%

Happy Music for Happy People

Ok, so I wrote this yesterday, and forgot to hit publish, better late than never I suppose.

Today's band made of indie awesome are...

The Pink Spiders



Glam punk, power pop, punk rock... I've no idea what to call this, but whatever it is, it's awesome. They've been around a while (long enough to make three albums), yet they've never made the trip over to this side of the world from what I can tell. Their first album was released on a nice indie label, their second on some evil big company one, and their third on another indie label. Finally, a band that managed to use the big bad lables to their advantage only to leave before bad things happen.

Their latest album was made before bassist Jon Decious and drummer Bob Ferrari jumped ship and made for greener, less pink pastures. Guitarist Matt Friction is still going around having replaced the others now, but at least this album has the original lineup.

That super awesome photo is by Jessica F who also has here own indie blog (if only ours looked as good as her's).

The Swedish Charts

"The"; definite article. "Sweden"; country in northern Europe known for it's impeccable music tastes. "Chart"; the worst way to rank musical success. So, here's a few of the more interesting picks from this weeks Swedish Album Chart.

2. "RallarsvÄng" by Lasse Stefanz



A "country-music inspired dansband". Yes, in Sweden they apparently like to dance to the jitterbug still. How indie is that! If you want to dance, then this is the stuff to do it to.

5. "10 År En SnÄll Mans BekÄnnelser" by Patrik Isaksson



I'm sure it would sound a lot different if I understood what he way saying, but from what I can tell he's got a lot of emotion and he's not afraid to let you know. I'll leave it to you to figure if that's a good or bad thing.

9. "A State Of Mind" by EMD

Every country has it's own boy band, and this is theirs. All three members have competed in a Swedish TV show called "Idol", one of those shows were people with telephones and too much time decide who has more musical ability, and from what I could tell none of them won. I suppose the only thing worse that being in a reality TV show is winning it.

Photography... The Lasse Stefanz tour bus was by Geir Arne Brevik and the one of Mr. Isaksson was by Bengt Nyman.

Indie Ear Bleeders

Some times an Indie band is so ground braking and unique that your ears literally bleed with joy at there insane chaotic greatness. This alternative music genre is an important part of indie, often helping to weed out people who assume indie music is some how bound by abstract pop music concepts like Cords, Rhythm and Talented Singers. The fine trail blazers i shall describe to you have avoided so many music paradigms that simply calling it 'music' is about as accurate as referring to Adolph Hitler as "That relatively good Austrian economist". Similarly these bands may use instruments to product sound but that is where the similarities with other musicians ends.

1) The Shaggs



Some time in 1968 a man called Austin Wiggin was approached by his wife who claimed that after a palm reading years earlier she had been told that their daughters would earn great success in a band. Austin of course a man of logic and reason understood that this would be pretty unlikely considering none of the girls played any instroments or had any interesting in music at all. So he had no choice but to take the girls out of school, buy them instroments and make them form and a band. this resuled is music history:
here is one of their song 'My Pal Foot Foot'



2) Wesley Willis



There are over 50 albums from this talented schizophrenic who pressed the auto cord button on a casio keyboard while he ranted about various topic from crime and violent confrontations to bus routs and McDonalds. just.. wow.. there is just too much to say about this guy so i'll let his "sound" do the talking. Here is one of my favourits Rock n' Roll McDonands, enjoy



3) Daniel Johnston



Mr Johnston is a lot more well known then most in his genre for a few reasons. Kurt Cobain wore a t-shirt with Daniels first album on it so people thought he must be ok, there's in fact a documentary about him The Devil and Daniel Johnston. and of course he's an absolute loon, so stories about him, including chasing a woman out of the window of her apartment because she had demons in her or something. Causing the plan himself and his dad were in to crash by taking the keys out of the ignition in mid air, because he thought he was Casper have made him an easy guy to have a conversation about.. here Livin' Life a song i very much enjoy:



At this point i must admit, that i have not only listened to these bands often, but on several occasions i enjoyed it, it really does take a particular mood for anyone to listen and enjoy this little branch of indie but if you find yourself wanting to hear something that's going to dull your senses for a while this can be better than drugs.

Music from upside-down land

Ok, so I'm a day late, but how and ever...

I'm not one to frequently listen to what most people would call "dance" music, but I'll make an exception for The Presets. Australia's best electronic duo, henceforth referred to as electoduo. It's something very different to the dance music you hear blasting from small hatchback cars as they do 50mph down the road. The Presets will be coming to Whelans next month and I may just swing by. Check out their myspace or if you're the type who likes indie music videos, have a gander at this.


You can't talk about Australia, without talking about New Zealand, and Liam Finn is by far one of the best New Zealand musicians out there at the moment. He's one of those lovely singer-songwriter guys, but he plays guitar, bass, even drums and loops them all together in some spectacular one-man band awesomeness. I saw him at this year's Oxegen festival, and he was certainly a sight to see live, as playing on Later with Jools Holland, on Letterman or at some live set...



If you've any other suggestions for awesome bands from the southern hemisphere or have ever been there and liked (or disliked) it give me a shout in comments...

Today's photos are from these lovely people... The one of The Presets is from Dani Lurie, who's never read The Da Vinci Code (neither have I). The one of Liam Finn is from someone known only as rchappo2002, who's still learning how to use his digital camera. Old fashioned is the more awesome indie way to go.

Indie Randomness

Sometimes, you have to leave it up to fate to pick the music... Fate in this case is Last.fm's "American indie" music station.

First up was Cat's Blues by Palace Music (otherwise known as Bonnie "Prince" Billy"). As with all his work, it's that kind of nice mellow indie folk sound, but Mr. Billy's voice has a certain distinctiveness... He's no Sun Kil Moon, but he's still worth a listen.



Next, What a Wonderful Man by My Morning Jacket. It's kind of good luck that these guys came up, since I'll be seeing them with Seasick Steve in a few weeks. Weird rock sound, lots of distorted guitars, hardly Alternative Country as Last.fm describes them, but nice anyway. I think it's kind of what Deadstring Brothers would sound like if they got with Rory Gallagher.

Together Somehow. by Lousy Robot. Defiantly as last.fm describes them... "Happy, danceable Post-punk Pop a la The Kinks and The Jam." Now, this is the kind of music that the clubs these days should be playing. If they did, I'm sure I'd dance a lot more.



King Of Spain, Part Two by Galaxie 500. A lot more shoegazy (it's a word now), kind of what I imagine Sigur Rós being if they spoke English, and were from America, but were still somehow Scandinavian.



Finally, after quickly skipping over Smoosh for reasons that become very apparent after about 5 seconds into their song, up comes That's When I Reach For My Revolver by Mission of Burma. Old school post punk from the 1970's. Nothing entirely special, not to say it wasn't good. Perhaps worthy of some more research, but you do have to be in a certain mood (or certain decade) to listen to that type of music.

Indie pictures du jour... Bonnie "Prince" Billy by Pieter Morlion, Belgium's finest Indie photographer. Lousy Robot by Jack Moffett from Albuquerque and Galaxie 500 vinyl by Matt Locke aka "Matlock" who runs an awesome blog.

And so concludes our 15 minutes foray into the world of random indieness. Hope you had fun.

A few things from America

In a world where the most popular albums tend to be so commercial it's a wonder that producing them doesn't devalue the worlds currency, it's nice to come across something that sounds different. And theses guys, Cage The Elephant, are certainly playing something different.



It's a kind of bluesy rock and that certain indie style from Britain (but before it got over used by people like The Kooks and Arctic Monkeys). They were even on Jools Holland and the singer was on Never Mind The Buzzcocks last week.

Also on the subject of Blues, Seasick Steve will be playing in Dublin on the 29th of October which should be a super awesome gig.



Former hobo, turned blues musician certainly knows how to rock. It's probably easier for you to check him out on Jools Holland, and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Today's photo of Cage The Elephant is from Rob Thomas. Who likes Brighton, and the sea side, and cycling. And that Seasick Steve on is from Rob Harris, who's picture on Flickr is of Disco Stu.

Indie Battle: Scandinavia

Scandinavia seems to have been an important part of the Indie scene for a long time. Each country producing important music as they joyfully hold hands and skip through the meadow that is Indie culture. Now the time has finally come to drop the namby-pamby hand-holding and fight for coveted "Super Indie Heavy Weight of Scandinavia 2008" title. This is and award so indie that no one knows who even won last years title. Let's welcome the contenders:
Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Denmark and the Indie wild card Aland.

Round 1: Finland vs. Aland


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The Finnish have more then just angry suicidal metal heads, they also have a very lively indie pop scene; many are Indie Pop bands documented on One Chord To Another. Thats not all, in case you're one of the many Indie Rock Folk, free Finnish music is at your fingertips here.
As for Aland... well as you may have guessed they don't have much to offer in the way of an "Indie Scene" but with a population of just 20,000 it also doesn't have much of any scene. Which, when combined with the fact that no one knows it exists makes it pretty damn indie indeed. So due to Finlands overly popular indie scene it hands the victory to Aland.

Round 2: Norway vs. Iceland

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Both very strong contenders here. Both with a strong indie scene, both rejecting EU membership in favour of fishing and of course neither with much imagination as far as flag design is concerned. With these countries sharing so much in common there is only one way to settle this. A hypothetical fight between the country's respective Indie heavyweights. Sigur Ros vs Kings of Convenience. While it could be assumed that the 4 Icelandic guys would kick the 2 lanky Norwegians around the ring pretty easily, these of course are 4 very pretentious, highest order arty-farty Icelandic guys and it's unlikely they know what a fight looks like. Victory Norway, likely to be the first and only guys to land a punch.

Round 3. Sweden vs Denmark

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This battle would be a hard one to watch. Denmark brutishly beaten in almost every department of indie from the merciless indie pop of Billie the Vision to the soulful Female vocals of Anna Ternheim. Sweden still looking for blood as they throw in the electro-synth duo The Knife. Denmark aren't out yet, they unleash their long time Indie heavy weight Kashmir. Sadly there isn't much they can do to change the Danish fortunes. Sweden walks away with the victory.

Join me next time for the FINAL where:

Sweden will take on Norway and people will once again forget not only where Aland is, but that it ever existed.

Be one step ahead

Always remember to stay one step ahead of everyone else, make sure you know when the next awesome indie album is coming out. If you get caught out, you can try and pretend but that doesn't always work. You most likely won't know what guest musicians are on the album, where and when it was recorded and all the other useful trivial that you need to know. If this happens your indie creds will be in danger.

Research is the best strategy. Avoid magazines, they tend to be generic and useless for our purposes. Read the bands website (or talk to them in real life if possible), check their posters, go to their gigs, ask other people about them (though not those whom might frown upon you for not already knowing).



This Friday will see the debut album "Never Leave Anywhere" from The Hedge Schools, and awesome Dublin band, and when I say band I mean singer-songwriter who assembles bands to go touring and spread the awesome. Pop over to their (his) myspace page and give the songs a listen. I have a feeling you'll like it.

Indie facts: Pat used to be the bassist for Dublin indie band Ten Speed Racer before they disbanded. The album was produced by Joe Chester, also of TSR and a solo artist in his own right.

Remember people, you your indie facts and beat the indie competition.

Indie Albums To Cycle To.

I've talked before about my love for cycling, it certainly being the most indie of all transport methods. There are sadly some down sides to cycling, namely the danger (at least in Dublin there is) constantly having to listen for cars, sirens and buses is actually a lot of work, so i generally try to dull out the sense completely with the help of some great cycle-friendly albums.

The Go Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike



This album is likly either to shave a good 10 mins off your trip or have you "cycle-dance" your way into a car, having experienced both potabilities while listening to this album the second option is preferable, that way is makes is more likely you'll get to hear the full album before you

Hawksley Workman - (Last Night We Were) The Delicious Wolves



This album is just great fun and thus makes cycling more fun. Sadly the cover doesn't really reflect the music very well but you know what they say, never judge a book by it's movie.
Jealous of your cigarette is particularly good fun, and here's the video for it:



I'm From Barcelona - Let Me Introduce My Friends



This album can turn your dull grey commute into a happy-clappy trip through the country. this does have some side effect, usually by the 3rd song you start to look at pedestrians with less disdain. Often thinking of them as the best friend you haven't met yet... this produces a dangerous feeling that can result in slowing down for or giving right of way to pedestrians.

I hope these albums help you avoid the annoyances that come with cycles, like having to watch where your going, listen for on-coming traffic and of course not having a steady beat to dance to while on your bike.

The Indie Hangover Cure

So you were at a gig last night... You wake up and everything hurts. You've got the Indie Hangover!

The combination of alcohol (usually imported, therefore stronger than usual), dancing (all indie kids dance at some point during the night) and all the general merriment combine to make the worst feeling in the world the next day. So, when you wake up with that feeling that makes you want to hurl yourself on front of a truck filled with Amy Winehouse CD's, here's a few things that can help:

1. Sleep



Not The Big Sleep, but regular sleep. Sleep is the indie way. When not lounging around your favorite coffee shop, record store or book shop, or enjoying the latest film to come out of northern Sweden sleep is the distraction of choice. Coupled with some motilium beforehand, sleep is the most effective weapon in the indie arsenal against indie hangovers.

2. Music



Sun Kil Moon, Sigur Rós, Sparklehorse and the likes. Anything acoustic will do, or with nice jangly electric guitars. Nice music can take your mind off anything, including an incapacitating pain in your head and/or stomach.

3. Food



Ok, so you've managed to drag yourself out of bed and have a shower, but when then? Pop down to your kitchen or failing that your local café. If you can stomach it (and the motilium should have helped) some nice coffee, tea and breakfast. The nice ambiance of an indie coffee emporium should help awake those senses and get you ready for the day ahead.

Today's snaps belong to the following... The café one is from Danielle Blue, indie awesome photographer from Baltimore. The CD collection belongs to White Plains, NY resident Joe Mad. The photo of The Big Sleep is Jonathan Feinstein's who is an awesome band photographer (check his stuff on flickr).

How to Stay Indie During Election 2008

Even though it's miles away in far away land and the results are unlikely to effect me. On the 4th of November it's going to be hard to think about anything other than who will become the next president of Republic of Palau.

While some people on that very same day will be vainly hoping that The United Stupidity of America will finally elect someone who won't start a war. I'll be glued to my seat awaiting news of the Palau election. Now you must be asking yourself "why should I care about a country I've never heard of", well it's simple indie people are growing in numbers and a time will come when we (not unlike the Jews) we will require a country of our own, where we can freely and secretly practice our worship of indie music. So why have i chosen the republic of Palau? Here is your answer in convenient point form:



1) In 1994 it became independent of the USA (we're not sure yet if the USA noticed). Doing this is the closest any country can come to ditching it's 6 album deal with Columbia and setting up their own record label. also their flag seems to have a rare picture of Pac-Man sleeping.


2) There are only got about 20,000 people living there, so if about 15,000 of the most indie people in the world head on over there before the 4th, we can easily elect me as president of the worlds first Indie State. Also the people of Palau seem like a happy folk and probably wont mind to much.

3) We'll be learning from others mistakes by choosing Palau as our indie state. while the jews decided to go for a nice place in the sun, they neglected to do any research on who they share their boarders with. This resulted in a situation quite similar to what i would imagine happening if (due to a clerical error) a nerd found himself in a critical position in his high schools sports team. To clarify, Palau is very far away from Palestine.


4) If you aren't convinced yet then this sentence should seal the deal, when it comes to music "There are no intellectual property restrictions in Palau." i shall say nothing more about it.


So join the campaign and help The Republic of Palau make Seb Berkovich it's next benevolent leader

Paper Bag Records

When looking for awesome music, it's well know that sometimes it helps to stick to one label. In a somewhat related topic, most Canadian bands are quite awesome as well. So, when we find a Canadian indie label, we've struck indie gold.

Indie labels only sign cool bands, and Paper Bag Records are a fine example. Bands like Broken Social Scene, Tokyo Police Club and Stars have all graced the Paper Bag Records label, but the more obscure ones are usual where to find some awesome.



FemBots are a fine example of indie musicians, performing most of their songs on toys or powertools or whatever happens to be lying around. And they've been playing their toys and powertools for eight years... These guys make awesome music. Also, they're usually found playing as backing musicians for The Weakerthans.

So let's all thank Paper Bag Records, for keeping the indie awesome alive and well. If you need suggestions on how, I hear they like cookies.

Today's fine photo comes from Lenny Wu who "takes photos for enjoyment and being in photos as well."

Indie Fashion

So you listen to the music, go to the gigs and hang out with the cool indie people... But now you want the look. That certain style that makes you stand out from the populous masses.



While the masses are looking forward fashion-wise, indie looks back. Back to a simpler time, when music wasn't a breeding ground for commerciality. Thrift stores and charity shops are the corner stone of any shopping trip, here you can find awesome retro clothes. Ebay also has some good retro clothes for sale usually.

A typical wardrobe of an indie guy (I can't say much for indie girls, since I'm not a girl nor have I taken notes on their wardrobe), will consist of some or all of the following:

• Shirts. Short or long sleeved.
• T-Shirts. Band shirts, or shirts with a witty statement or interesting picture.
• Trousers. Jeans (Drainpipes and Flares), Chords and the likes.
• Shoes. Converse are a must have but any shoe will do.
• Overware (I'm not sure what else to call it). Leather or Tweed jackets, hoodies, anything really.
• Hats. Any kind of hat will do. The more interesting and unique the better.

The main thing is to be eclectic. Also, wearing clothes for instances in which their were not intended is a plus (like wearing Bowling shirts at gigs) or having clothes that have some sort of interesting story attached, like how it once belonged to an American, who gave it to you at a music festival in return for some beer and a nice story.

Most indie guys will have beards and lots of hair. Younger indie guys will tend to have no beards, and hair that can be misconstrued as "emo hair", but there is a subtle difference, the difference being that it usually isn't dyed.

Today's photo is from Chromewavesdotorg, though who the person in the picture is I've no idea. If anyone does know, tell me in comments. He seems to have something on his mind...

Misery loves Indie Music

Sure, people say that misery loves company, but it appears that once it's gets itself a little company it has a tendency to make a great Indie album. But as we all know misery in music often means that a someone got dumped... so here are some great albums that would never have been possible if it wasn't for the evil of some particular women.

Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress

Shortly after recording "Fold your hands child, you walk like a peasant" the Belle left Belle and Sebastian. Isabel Campbell who had had a long and complicated relationship with Stuart Murdoch had finally decided to launch what would become a dreadful solo career, while the rest of the band where pretty happy about Isabel's departure poor ol' Stuart wasn't so much and it seemed to take him 2 albums to even start getting over her this was the first.



While some of the songs where written before Isabel left, once "If She Wants Me" kicks of we know where this album is going. here's a little bit of it:

If you think to yourself ?What should I do now?? Then take the baton, girl, you better run with it There is no point in standing in the past cause it's over and done with

The Reindeer Section - Son of Evil Reindeer

Once upon a time Snow Patrol where on jeepster records and where ready to release their new album, sadly jeepster didn't have enough money to put it out, so Gary Lightbody decided to get 28 or so of his closest friends together to release an album under the name The Reindeer Section. some time before they're second release "Son of Evil Reindeer" Gary Lightbody had the worst relationship ever, and thank god for that, it products a wonderful album.



Every song on the album is fantastic, and if one day your suffering from the brake-up blues i suggest to listen to this, this guy had it worse than you. here's a taste:

I can't call you a friend 'Cause when you left me here You left me here to die Don't worry I won't call you again 'Cause when I take a hint I take it pretty hard And when you broke my heart you broke it into shards of glass

The Wedding Present - Seamonsters

This album is certainly the greatest thing ever to come out of a broken relationship. There was once a band called The Lost Pandas, Singer David Gedge and Dummer Janet Rigby where (probably) a happy couple for about 7 years... Enter Lost Pandas guitarist Michael Duane. it became a classic rock and roll betrayal, Janet and Michael ran off into the sunset while David and bass player Keith set up The Wedding Present and made an incredibly sad album



Seriously, this album is so good you can choose any song and easy find a spark of lyrical genius!
This is one i really like.

Oh you don't have to tell me where you've been
It's bad enough I know you were with him
What made you want to take him there?
What made you think I wouldn't care?
And did you walk from the town into the heather
To where we used to lie down when we were together

To finish, i would like to say thank you to all the women who made these men so depressed and bi proxy these albums so great!

Indie Gigs

Indie gigs are the most important aspect of indie life. When indie boys and girls gather, awesome happens.

But when none of your bands are in town, usually because of their extended tour schedule in Scandinavia, it's time to go pick one at random. Indie bands will tend to play in the same venues when they come to town, so it's as simple as looking at the upcoming gig listings!

This method helped fill a terrifying void in my upcoming gigs in the next month. A quick look at the gig listings for Whelans and you're away! With such awesome indie bands as Blitzen Trapper, Ebo, Lite and This Will Destroy You playing all in the next two weeks...



Blitzen Trapper, the awesome Electro Indie Folk sextet are coming to Dublin this Thursday, and you can guess where I'll be.

And today's photo is from Christian Reed who helps runs some sort of awesome indie website called Concert Co-op.com with gig listings and photos and the likes.