Cheebah and all that - Limerick, Ireland

Smoking

Fuzz One

"Fuzz one. A Bronx childhood" by Vincent Fedorchak-Testify Books. 2005
Therelies a magnificent screenplay between the hardback covers of this oral history by the graffiti artist Vincent Fedorchak, aka ‘Fuzz One’, aka ‘Vin’, aka‘Lord’. Here,the adventures of life lived in a bankrupt New york in the early 70s is vividly laid out by one of the original Bronx bombers. Jack kerouac with his head full of doomed french poetry and dexidrine may have typed ‘On the Road’ on a continuous roll of paper for a previous slice of Americana,but he never included a stash of saturated out of focus photographs in the finished manuscript.This touch by the author is essential in projecting the journey of a Bronx childhood. Fuzz ones invocative personal shots hug the books narrative like a rhythmic scratch on a looped funk break complementing the pace of the writing which is as edgy as his tales of tagging and running the streets.

Daedelus on the Block

the block conducted an interview with daedelus last friday night on the show and also dropped two exclusive tracks from his upcoming album on 'love to make music to' on the ninja tune label, check it here. daedelus plays the cornmarket this friday night from 9pm for free. support on the night comes from peter curtin from cheebah and the two john's of kerrynini (doobs and gough). here are a few snippets from the interview..

 

daedelus on being an inventor

 

"When I was really young before I discovered music I really wanted to be an inventor. I would take things apart like the record player and the television. I wasn't very talented though, I was good at smashing things but I couldn't put the pieces back together. My parents had some hope at first that I might become an engineer but they quickly learned that this wasn't going to happen.  Music became a way for me to compositional invent stuff." 

on james joyce

"James Joyce's power of description and imagery is so strong that I feel a kinship with him even if I couldn't possible match a thimbleful of his talent. He's writing is so layered with beautiful imagery and beautiful possibilities. I really like the idea that you can sit down with a recording or a book and eat it up once and after you have digested it you can dip back in again and it's a much richer and fuller experience. I try to make my records in that vein where you can listen to it again and again and hopefully you are going to go further down the rabbit hole along with me".

on the magic monome

Mine is pretty much a box with 256 buttons that light up which allows me to completely improvise my songs and to expand  them out into different ideas, be it my own music or other peoples music.  It's like having a multi dimensional piano. It's a fun machine!"

on his upcoming limerick gig

'it will be light and effervescent'

pc

Extra:

*Daedelus plays Club headbangbang in Tralee on Thursday night in the Greyhound and Whelans in Dublin on the Saturday. He will also give a lecture in UL on Friday.

** We will have regular updates on Thursday and Friday on the right sidebar.

*** A video for fairweather friend

Scary State

Following on from last years Mongrel article/pub chat round up of Mek, Sloosh, Ri-Ra and Brown, the article ‘Beats bodhrans and bloody mayhem’in the current issue of the State offers another tentative scratch at the historical itch that is the Scary Eire story. I spoke at length (as did fellow travellers Hazo, Cool C, and Moonlight) to the articles writer for the piece which in the end concentrated on the brief scene that was the groups 6 week residency in Barnstormers of Capel St Dublin.

Reading John Joe Woralls words I began to think this is certainly a story that with each years passing loses a little bit more detail and context.

Babylon

A signficant current release finally on dvd is the 1980 classic Reggae film Babylon by Francis Rosso. This dramatised tale based around the lead up to a London Reggae Soundclash between the Ital Lion Soundsystem and the Mighty Jah Shaka contains much more than the conflict and struggle that's strung around the films narrative. The youth live for the sound and the Dance, the Selectors vie for the latest dubplates and throughout all this the Police and National Front prowl the scene.
Highly evocative of the London of late 70s with its raw city landscapes paced by soundmen, the films nighttime deep blues and blocks of shadow are fundamental in hiking up the tension as the story of the character ‘Blue’ unfolds. The film is almost documentary in following the racist tribulations of Brinsley fordes Blue (Aswads singer in real life) and as a true representation of soundsystem culture in the era of intense police pressure and Conservative rule, this drama remains an important cultural reference. A review of Babylon by the esteemed commentator Stuart Home is in the latest issue of Woofah magazine (a fantastic publication on Reggae Dubstep and Grime), and it references the directors previous work on the politico/reggae heavy works by Horace Ove. This is well worth reading, as is the Dvd insert notes.
If the Cheebah Boathouse gigs were the first experience of soundsystem culture for any Limerick  readers out there I recommend you check Babylon on this Italian (Raro Video) reissue Dvd.

Paul Tarpey

Cheebah outdoors

all city jam

Great day, Easter weekend in Dublin at all city jam behind the Tivoli in Dublin. Good few Limerick heads in the place. There is a comprehensive set of photos up on the all-city page here and DJ Laz-e has a nice video collage here. Afterward the after party moved to the shop in Temple Bar and saw rainers rocking the punters till late in the night.
 

Shane