Cheebah and all that - Limerick, Ireland

The games you play

The Games you play. Sound by Wax Tailor directed by Tenas from Tenas on Vimeo. Voice who rocked Limerick earlier this month is on a new track "The Games You play" with Parisien producer Wax tailor. I'm trying this platform, if it doesn't work for you try youtube link here.

Stand on up

Unusual and Electric vs Jay Stoner "Stand On Up" was recently picked as a record of the week on Namones show on BBC radio 6. U and E is the label run by DJ Adam who will be returning to Mickeys and Trinity Rooms this summer. Paul Tarpey has done a video up for 'stand on up'

Sting

Cheebah-an audio visual graffiti piece, is a short video by Paul Tarpey. It is the first in a series of occasional visual stings for this space.

Paul Tarpey

DJ Yoda

DJ Yoda at Budrising- Trinity Rooms Feb 15th
The canyon separating the two significant Hip Hop related events in Limerick last week was deep and wide. Depth, the Belltables statement on Wednesdays Rap involved event. Wide, Fridays expansive audio visual Dj performance by English Dj Yoda in The Trinity Rooms. I missed the Belltable and am now like many others following the unfolding media coverage on the event, which has now the stylings of a type of performance in itself.
Yoda's rep for his Beer company sponsored Limerick visit rested on the dynamic Electric picnic set that he played at last summer. Those I knew in tonight's crowd  mentioned  this as their main reason for showing up, that and clips of his Djing on you tube had created a definite interest .My own interest was to check out his dramatic video set up and how this interacted with the Dj set he would be performing (classic Hip Hop electro stylings and ‘hits from the 80s’).Yodas well rehearsed set allows him to manipulate funky snippets from hip hop videos and trash culture against a corresponding mash up sound track. Technically it’s a sophisticated development of the Vjamm system that first allowed Djs to cut visuals in with music in a Club introduced by Coldcut 10 years ago and it historically follows on from the coloured glass placed in front of lamps projected for Pink Floyd at The UFO club 30 years ago.
The amount of Audio Visual content was staggering, but only if taken as individual snippets and this wasn't Yodas intention. As it stood it was more akin to flipping a TV remote and continuously landing on beat, with all the rhythmic fun that tends to generate .Combine a total club affect and the package undeniably got one senses working overtime. I walked in while pharoah monach's record exhorted the crowd to ‘Get the f**k up’ !! This public service announcement used footage of Will Farrell and appeared to be twisted into a visual interpretation of ‘Triumph of the Will’ directed by Pat Shortt! I deduced that this was a good thing as did those waving phones in the direction of Farrells goofy features. A ‘stupid Fresh’ balance of humourous and branded old skool visuals allowed one to get hyped or stop for a laugh while dancing. I'm convinced one guy made the sign of the cross when a sequence of Biggie Smalls filled the screen, certainly the look of rapture on his face confirmed Yoda was pressing the right buttons for a particular Limerick rap fan.
Keeping the floor mashed up and busy alienated a couple of heads who didn’t see the real hip hop agenda being delivered amongst all the Michael Jackson cut ups and actually wondered was it Yoda at all! (it was). A point, the careful Hip hop agenda that someone like Dj Shadow who has previously done this with similar technology in Dublin was never meant to be on the cards here. Yoda has no individual product to place and in a successful commercial Nightclub the Djs job is to get everybody up for getting down so if something had to be sacrificed for this the raw beats are normally the first to go .Mash ups are the current tasty snack that everybody likes and the main floor tonight certainly wanted that sugar rush.
I didn’t expect to experience Yodas visit to Limerick as a traditional hip hop gig and was surprised that crews had a few gripes. Surely a beer company has yet to promote some underground business, as its ethos is to appeal to as many customers as possible. Their sponsored artists delivery surely would reflect that and anyway Yoda has been doing that 80s thing for years and if he has amped it up circus style and it suits certain tours that’s his choice.
The facts are that now that Hiphop is niches and fragmented expressions (which makes for variety as the Belltable event showed), one persons definition of the game may not be the definitive one so an open mind is required. The enhanced environment of the Electric Picnic may have created a expectation that could not be feasibly delivered for the heads who did get some of their designated flavour with A2df in the house.

Paul Tarpey

DJ Dusk's Rootdown Soundclash

Limerick's Brian Cross (B+) has the world premier of his new film 'DJ Dusk's Rootdown Soundclash' in Dublin this Sunday in the sugarclub as part of the thisiswanted weekend. It features Cut Chemist and Madlib amongst others, the latter is of course also on his way to Baile Atha Cliath this weekend. The trailer for the film is below

Still got an SSIA?

From the acclaimed creators of McLibel, comes this new release dealing with oil. They have an innovative funding structure in place, which looks to try and replace big corporate funders. The trailer above is an early release. Find out more about how the film is progressing here.

Shane

Brasilintime Premier this week in LA

Limerick's Brian Cross has his latest work Brasilintime debuting  in Los Angeles this Tuesday. Full details here.

Shane

Now hear this

• Jamalski interviewed by Eagsúil the arts and culture show on West Limerick 102. Talking about bombs on the pentagon, hanging out with the McCourts and drinking whiskey in Limerick. Quite a tour de force. Interestingly it was only on Sunday morning as he departed the Pery Hotel that Jamalski got the call from his mother in New York to tell him that she had been doing some roots research and discovered that his ancestors were from Mayo. I think if the 'Sons of Mayo' of Rabbitte and Kenny stay together, they should call him in next time, he could drop some mean lyrics for their party political broadcasts.

• Following Jamalski, the last month has seen two big gigs with J-Live and Poets of Rhythm. Over at Digital Sole, they actually featured both artists in their monthly mix. Worth a listen. They are also inviting other DJs to contribute mixes.

• Roots the reggae night is on hold until after the summer but while it generated a lot of good nights over the last 12 months i think most will look back fondly at the visits of Brother Culture.  This recording shows Culture in great voice back in 1986! with the Jahrevelation Music from a dance in Brixton.

• Around the same time back in Limerick breakdancers abounded and Barry Warner was releasing records. He has set up a myspace page to archive some of this and this video caught our eye. Featuring the man like Evil Grin scratching  and cold rocking the party

What's Happenin' Barry Warner TV show 1988

Shane

Poets of Rhythm

Poets rocked it at Dolans on Friday last. Run by Funkshun and Strutt this was a great success. Footage shot by Paul Tarpey

 

Shane

Dancing at the Crossroads

Following on from giving us  Muhammad Ali, Che, 1995 and Pressure Drop Soundsystem, County Clare now provides the backdrop for one of the most original breaking pieces I have ever seen on film. Shot by claire mcgrath. Ideal 'Discover Ireland 'commercial? ...

Shane