R.S.A.G., PALKO, THE PEOPLE - Feb 19th - Bootleg @ The Pavilion
Bootleg
The Pavilion Thursday February 19th
featuring R.S.A.G.
Doors 9.30pm €6 before 10pm / €8 after. Please note new door times for this show.
Kilkenny act R.S.A.G. has been shortlisted for the Choice Music Prize 2008 for his groundbreaking debut album ORGANIC SAMPLER. The announcement was made at 3pm today on Today FM.
R.S.A.G. released debut double album ORGANIC SAMPLER in November. Irish music lovers rejoiced and the media tipped their collective hat to this mesmerizing and totally unique artist.
R.S.A.G. is Jeremy Hickey. He is a multi-instrumentalist who records, performs and produces all his own material. Live, R.S.A.G. plays drums / percussion and sings. The backing tracks are recorded in his studio. Visually, he has created a virtual band which is projected on a screen behind him.
Think of Joy Division, Talking Heads, Fela Kuti, New York rockers ESG with the visual impact of Gorillaz. But rather than the use of animation, he aspires to a sort of shadowplay; a show of silhouettes of himself, which he utilises on disc. This is so much more than just music, it is a friendly, full-sensory virus with no known cure.
Apart from many clubnight and organic underground appearances, 2008 has brought a main support to The Fall in the Spiegeltent tent. He also headlined the Body and Soul Arena at Electric Picnic '08 where he was joined on stage by fans Liam O'Maonlaigh and Ronan O'Snodaigh. Today FM's Donal Dineen invited R.S.A.G. to headline his sold out 'Small Hours' party at The Pavillion in Cork in December. The year was signed off with a live performance on 'Other Voices' alongside Elbow, Hugh Cornwell, Eric Bibb & many other prolific names, which will be screened on RTE this Spring.
So far, 2009's diary holds a nationwide Irish tour with a sprinkling of requested European dates beginning in March. Already a remix album of ORGANIC SAMPLER tracks is on the horizon with interest flooding in from both Irish and international producer / DJs. RTE 2 are currently recording a documentary on R.S.A.G. which will be screened later this year as part of a new series " The Raw Sessions". 2008 has been a fabulous year for R.S.A.G. Expect to hear and see a whole lot more of him in 2009.
A few years ago, Jeremy Hickey was merely the modest sticksman in Kilkenny band Blue Ghost (no, you won’t have heard of them). These days, if the rumours are to be believed, he’s one of the most innovative and astonishing Irish musicians around. The fact that he performs solo with a ‘virtual band’ projected onto a screen, Gorillaz-style, doesn’t harm his reputation as a trendsetter-of-sorts; but then again, neither does his debut solo offering under his Rarely Seen Above Ground pseudonym.
Comprised of two discs – the main album and a bonus disc containing mostly instrumental doodles – Organic Sampler is, quite simply, an extraordinary record. The depth of scope and enterprise is palpable on every track; from the powerful, bleak opener Counting Down to the trim groove of Talk Back Crawl Back and the lithe squall of The Climb, there’s a sense that Hickey is constantly striving to create something never heard by human ears before. While he doesn’t quite succeed on that front – his influences (primarily Joy Division and Talking Heads) are paraded audaciously, though never derivatively – there’s a magic about Organic Sampler that means every listen will unearth new surprises.
Which also means that there’s a wide range of styles on display here, to keep interest afloat: experimental, disordered jazz cabaret (Days Go By) and sinister voodoo-style fuzziness (The Climb) lay side-by-side with animated, hypnotic pop (It Over) and songs that recall a trippy tour of a morgue during the witching hour (Stick To Your Line). Such a mixed bag could easily turn up catastrophic results, but the whirlwind of solos and styles somehow works cohesively. It’s more than a little premature to call Hickey a visionary, but this is undoubtedly a wondrous debut album.
Location: Living in a candy jail Peppermint bars Peanut brittle bunk beds and marshmallow walls
Posts: 27,311
saw rsag recently the live show doesnt hold up to the album imo
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"Hear the birds? Sometimes I like to pretend that I'm deaf and I try to imagine what it's like not to be able to hear them. It's not that bad."
PALKO are a band for Cork, Ireland who's roots are deeply based in rock but influences span far wider to funk, soul, trad, jazz and many others. Currently recording their debut album with single releases planned for early 2009, Palko are a hard working tight unit comprised of the simple concoction of Guitar, Bass, Drums and Vocals, with a little room for keys and anything else that may creep itself in there.
R.S.A.G., PALKO, THE PEOPLE - Feb 19th - Bootleg @ The Pavilion
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