So each week on the Dance Show we have one of our super-knowledgeable panel of residents join us with some hot tunes for you to get your hands on. We're going to share one of these with you online every week too, these are tunes you really do need to have in your life, but don't just take our word for it, here's Timmy from the Jet Project with this week's selection...

Awesome new tune on Catz n Dogz label Pets from Mateusz of Slam Dunk and Konrad...

2.Viadrina - Better (Arto Mwambe Remix) [PETS08] by Viadrina

 

Poly Styrene is dead.

You might not know who Poly Styrene is, but I’ll bet my bottom dollar that someone you know does. In the current musical climate, if you wanna form a band, you pick up an instrument, grab a few pals, and away you go. Simple as that. Boy or girl – it doesn’t really matter.

But around 30 years ago, things weren’t quite so simple. The importance of punk music on 20th century culture cannot be underestimated, and its breaking down of the barriers is pretty much directly responsible for the way youth culture operates today. Before punk, music was an exclusive thing, to be made by people who had the ‘chops’ to play their instruments like virtuosos, whilst the rest of us plebs just sit and watch, open mouthed. Whether our mouths are open in awe, or whether we’re yawning, is another matter entirely.

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We're all pretty excited about welcoming a genuine sporting superstar onto the show (for the first time?) this evening - Ireland and Ulster rugby's Andy Trimble. A fan of Northern Irish music (and a drummer who once performed alongside Niall from Panama Kings) Andy should make a superb co-presenter for our Rigsy!

But how to mark his presence, via our weekly Suggestion-aire?! Well here's what we've came up with - songs to get you hyped. What would you recommend as a great tune for Andy to turn up loud before a big game? What do you listen to ahead of a crucial event, sporting or otherwise? What gets you all riled up for that big job interview or school exam? Let us know via facebook or twitter or by texting 81771 during tonight's show. We'll read out as many as we can, play a few and get Andy's opinion on whether the tunes in question would work for him....

Here's team ATL's picks!!

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Rigsy (ATL presenter) 

 

Justice - Stress

An incredible piece of music - intense and confrontational. When I hear it, I genuinely feel a little....aggressive. We all rave about how music lifts our mood and makes us happy, but here's a track which has a slightly less desirable effect on the average listener. The controversial video (check it out at your peril) doesn't help, either. More I think about it, this probably isn't the best thing to listen to before a big meeting - you'll just end up smacking your would-be boss. But if one was a boxer....

Paul McClean (ATL producer) 

 

Elbow - One Day Like This

It starts like a lamb but goes out like a lion. Elbow are the masters of the singalong but not in a boorish, blokey 'lager, lager' fashion. There is usually an element of transcendence in the ordinary. You don't have to be beautiful, cool or special to be in Elbow's gang, you just need some belief, vaguely functioning vocal chords and a little soul. Heck, the good time doesn't even need to last long, just a couple of hours a year will do. Altogether then..

Amy McGarrigle (ATL content assistant) 

 

Broken Social Scene - KC Accidental 

Back in the day, when I was good and cycled to work everyday, this song was always the first to soundtrack my way to work. A fairly straight (mainly) instrumental song, it starts with a couple of plucked violin notes and a simple guitar riff. Then, as if it's saying '1,2,3, GO!' the drums kick in with a fast disco shuffle type beat. It all dies down again (a wee bit of free wheeling time downhill) before it kicks off again. It builds and breaks and builds and breaks, making it the perfect motivational sound track.

 

For this week's online chat - well it was about time we caught up with Mr. Iain Archer. Since he's last been on ATL, he's made a record with Gary Lightbody and Peter Buck and started work on his new solo record. Then there's the small matter of a gig at The Black Box this Sunday. So plenty to chat about!

What we didn't expect was to hear about his collaboration with a genuine popstar and some dubstep legends....

(Please note - spelling/grammar are authors own - chat is simply copied and pasted.....)

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Rigsy says: good afternoon sir. i just got my hair cut, i wish you could see it

Iain says: how did ya fair - were they kind?

Rigsy says: well, it takes a couple of days for it to kinda settle in.

it's a bit 'LOOK AT MY SHORT HAIR' at the moment

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More Than Conquerors continue their polite conquest of Scotland, trailing this time north to a city famous for it's jams - Dundee - and then south to sunny Edinburgh. Holiday snaps and all! We're spoilt!

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Dundee - Friday 15th

We arrived in Dundee, the city of roundabouts, to a mild day. After some confusion we got to the travel lodge and checked in. That would be a wee treat for after the gig, a proper bed and a steamin' hot shower.

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Maybe the reason tonight's guests ASIWYFA don't bother with lyrics is because we'll only go and mishear them or replace what they're singing with our own idea of what it should be. We've all done it - picked up a key line wrong or struggled to make out a singer and invented our own lyrics instead. That song by Stiff Little Fingers - he's singing 'return of the monster', right?

For this week's suggestion-aire then, we'd like to hear your own misheard lyrics. Or indeed, if you'd like to speak on behalf of a daft mate. Either way, hit us up on Facebook or Twitter or text us on 81771 during the show tonight (8-10pm). As always, we'll read out as many as we can. And remember - what's a glove, got to do, got to do with it?

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Rigsy - ATL Presenter 

 

'You don't have to admit you're....Paul McClean' - Paul McClean

It really was lovely of JT to reference our producer in his pop smash 'Rock Your Body'. Knowing we were doing this blog, I asked Justin there now on Facebook chat about the lyric and he explained:

'It's a funny story actually. Myself and Pablo were heading out for H'ween one year to the Limelight. He decided to go as Britney with me as Madonna. I must say, I was really taken by his outfit. He looked amazing! But of course, he ruined it every time he opened his mouth, with that rugged, manly voice of his. So I told him not to say a word. I said to him to just behave like Britney as much as possible, that I liked it. Don't talk, I said. "You don't have to admit you're Paul McClean". With hindsight, that was a pretty weird night.'

Paul McClean - ATL producer 

 

"Electro-stencil, De-railroad" - Manic Street Preachers.

Not one I claim for myself sadly, but my mate Chris is a cracker for these. He was a pure dance head back in the 90's and he had a tape of a mix by the Dust Brothers (later to become the Chemical Brothers) which had a remix of La Tristesse Durera by the Manics. He heard me playing the original one day and started happily singing along with his utter gubbins until I paused the song and politely asking him to repeat what I just heard.

"Its that tune 'Electro stencil de-railroad'". Belter.

Amy Mc Garrigle - ATL production assistant  

 

'Chicken steak, chicken steak!' - Caribou

One aspect of misheard lyrics, is the osmosis of it all. Team ATL were on their way to a festival last year, the car playlist is go, the sun is out (possibly, that I can't really recall) and the systematic destruction of a song by one of my favorite acts begins.

Caribou's new track 'Odessa' is on the speakers, I'm bopping along blissfully and then Rigsy (i think - for the purpose of this feature we'll blame Rigsy) declares that the chorus sounds like, 'chicken steak, chicken steak, chicken steak' instead of 'she can say, she can say, she can say'. Never, and I mean NEVER have I heard that song since without thinking of chicken steaks. I'm pretty sure the food theme continued into '1979' by the Smashing Pumpkins ('Oooooh....gravy, gravy') but thankfully far too many years were invested in every note of that band to even entertain the idea of any 'misheard' food themed lyric.

 'Mens Needs, Mens Needs, Apollo Creed, Rocky 3' - The Cribs

Phily Taggart - ATL Stunt Double

The only thing a man needs, according to The Cribs is 'Apollo Creed' and your copy of 'Rocky 3'. The Cribs chose to sing about Rocky 3 because of its triumph of the human spirit, former foes Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed come together in a beautiful union to battle that chocolate wielding, plane fearing Mr. T in a fight of good vs evil. That may be the case, or I may have mis-heard the track at the Oxegen festival and proceeded to sing it at soul crushingly loud volume for the next two days.

 

It's not often I'd get nervous about an interview, but when Liam Gallagher walked into the residents bar of a hotel in Belfast, I knocked over a glass of water and near tripped over my headphones lead. Thankfully he didn't seem to notice, as he grabbed my hand and instantly became exactly the type of aggressively friendly character I'd prepared for. He opens with an apology. 

'Andy Bell is messing about somewhere, he always tries to be late so he'll look cool. I don't need to bother with that.' Checking his watch, he boasts 'I'm always on time, me.'

He bounces about the room, explaining how he's still to come down following his experiences at Wembley Stadium - not for a gig (though 'stadiums will come again soon enough') but to enjoy Man City win the biggest match they've played in Liam's lifetime. He's surprisingly gracious when I explain I'm United. There's a good five minutes of him pacing about the room, asking me a load of questions about the hotel we're in and Belfast in general. I couldn't answer most of them and he gives me stick.

For some reason I explain how this is the first interview our show has done with a band not from Ireland in almost a year, that we've made an exception for him. I tell him the music here is so good our show is pretty much 100% 'local' these days. He asks for names of bands, so I tell him about Cashier, ASIWYFA, Rams Pocket Radio and The Wondervillians. I point out he'll probably hate them all equally. He laughs.

Finally Andy weighs in and the three of us chat for a good twenty minutes. I'm constantly chasing Liams mouth with the mic - he literally doesn't sit still for more than a second. I think about the edit we have ahead of us - Liam swears a LOT. Like, every third or fourth word. We're going to need a fair few beeps.

I don't want to bomb straight in with questions about Oasis or Liam's relationship with Noel. It seems a little crude and, in my head, could jeopardize the entire interview. So we chat about the frist Beady Eye gigs. But funnily enough, Liam's off on a rant about his big brother within a minute, questioning why he got off 'scott free'. He then claims his paranoia surrounding the issue of who was to 'blame' for Oasis' demise was so bad he actually thought him being bottled off the stage on that first gig in Glasgow wasn't out of the question. Andy seems a little taken aback by this idea. He'll think about it for a while before stopping me mid-question, half way through the interview to clarify - 'going back to that whole thing abut the paranoia - can I just say, the fans were beyond cool.'

And so it continues, Liam being as good an interview as I'd assumed - winding himself up constantly and over selling just how much he believes in Beady Eye. The number of swears increases as we go on. It's pretty infectious, to the point I start to worry I've started dropping the odd F-bomb myself. And then, a quick picture and I'm off, buzzing, texting a couple of people who were as obsessed with Oasis as I was, back in the day.

You can hear the full interview on tomorrow night's show!

So each week on the Dance Show we have one of our super-knowledgeable panel of residents join us with some hot tunes for you to get your hands on. We're going to share on of these with you online every week too, these are tunes you really do need to have in your life, but don't just take our word for it, here's Phil with this week's selection...

Smash TV - World Wide Wet (Leena)

Big tech-house track from Smash TV aka Holger Zilske who has a great album out on Playhouse called 'Holz' and also produced Ellen Allien's 'Thrills' album.

More Than Conquerors take us on a voyage into the catacoombs of their tour van and delight us daily with their various antics. Here is MTC's adventures on day 4.

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Thursday 14th

Paisley = The Glasgow equivalent of Lisburn to Belfast. A little bit smaller and a little bit stranger... put it this way... I saw four people on the same street with purple hair.

We rolled in to the University of West Scotland's students union at around 5pm and started loading in and sound checking. We grabbed a bit of dinner which consisted of microwave pizzas and micro-chips... we're not complaining though.

The gig was superb and the venue was a little hotbox, it wasn't just the bands that were sweating the bit out.

It seems all the travelling's started to catch up with us and everyone's just praying for a good night sleep. We've booked a sneaky wee hotel in Dundee so our prayers shall be answered indeed.

We're ending this night with a chinese and Pineapple Express... it's not as if we haven't seen it twenty four times. One more time couldn't hurt right?

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This time around, it's time to chat to Paul Shevlin. Makes sense, what with ATL hammering his new single 'Backfire', even opening the show with it a couple of weeks back! Even though Paul didn't bother getting out of bed to chat with our Rigsy, he did win us over by turning down the opportunity to star in Eastenders or a film alongside Robert De Niro.....

*Mistakes are authors own - online chat simply copied and pasted for your pleasure!

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Time for our second installment (their third day) in the More Than Conqueror tour diary. What wacky antics are the guys getting up to today? Perhaps Jamie is tucking into some tasty colloquial dishes, Kris may be indulging in local architecture while the two Dannys play thumb wars in the back of the van. I guess we will never know... well until they tell us, just like they will now.

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Wednesday 13th

So we had a well deserved lie in this morning (that is in our opinion by  the way), Woke up around 11am...and of course...we watched Monsters inc. That's right...Monsters inc.

We hit the west end last night...'The Great Western Road' to be specific and  it was awesome. We met a Calfornian, an Irish-girl, a Mexican and a  Canadian outside a comedy club, they all go to a university in France. Strange right? So we threw out an invite off the cuff to our gig...they actually turned up. That's promotion at it's best.

We experienced something most touring bands never experience...FREE  FOOD. Twas incredible. Veggie burgers and Pizzas all round.

The doors of Bar Bloc opened at 9pm and the music began. The first  night of tour was a complete success. Our set went swimmingly and the people seemed to really enjoy it... always a plus.

Bed never seemed so good though. Zzzzz

 P.S The black stuff in Glasgow = BOOOOOKKKKEEEEE!!!!!!

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More from our friendly neighbourhood More Than Conquerors tomorrow.

 

It's that special time in our ATL Blog's life were we place our trust into one of our beautiful Northern Irish bands and let them loose with daily entries, sharing with us the highs, lows and B.O of touring life. This time around (previous tour blogs included Axis Of, ASIWYFA and Cutaways) we play host to young turks More Than Conquerors as they pinball around Scotland on their 5-date tour.

Here is MTC's first two entries of five. Be safe boys and remember to floss.

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Monday 11th April - The Boat That Nearly Killed Us

 

Tonight we left Belfast and headed for Liverpool via the 7 seas. The  last time we sailed on a boat we were being swirled through hurricane conditions. I can safely say that I was sure we were going to die…thankfully we didn’t. phew.                                                                       

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Tuesday 12th April

We arrived at the break of dawn and hit the road. We heard there was lots to see in a lovely sea side town called ‘Morecambe’ so we had a wee pitstop. Turns out there’s not. Apart from a massive shopping centre, 20p porta-loos and a pie shop. Needless to say we didn’t try any of pies…maybe on the way home  eh?

We arrived at Glasgow at around 2 O’clock and collapsed on the couches in the household of our good friend GK (AKA Glenn Kennedy). One of the greatest things about tour is seeing all those folks you don’t get to see the rest of the year. We’re taking full advantage of that.

Our first gig’s tomorrow night In Bar Bloc with a Scottish band called  ‘Pacific Theatre’…Should be a goodun’. This is our night off so we’re away to see how the stout here compares to that of our hometown…Nice n’ Sleazys here we come.

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Call back tomorrow for your next update in the gripping dramatic saga that is More Than Conquerors

Not been the best weekend for fans of sport in Northern Ireland, with Ulster losing out in the Heineken Cup and Rory McIlroy....well, let's not get into that. So today, we'd like to lift the mood of a nation. Or at least send positive vibes to a few sportsmen (they all listen to ATL religiously, you know....).

Very straightforward then - we want to know the happiest, most positive song you can think of - whatever it is you whack on to lift you out of a humpy mood. Get in touch via Facebook, Twitter or by texting 81771 when we go on air at 8pm. As always, we'll read out as many as we can and play a few as well, this making sure all our listeners are in the best form of there lives come 10pm....

Here's a couple of ATL picks to get you started!

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Rigsy - ATL Presenter

 

Primal  Scream - Movin on Up

A beautiful opening to one of the most positive, upbeat albums ever made. The gospel chior helps, as does the fact Bobby Gillespie, a grumpy enough character at the best of times, seems to be singing through an enormous, dopey grin. By the time everyone is roaring 'MY LIGHT SHINES ON!', you're good to go. Oh - and I want this played at my funeral.... though don't let it's positivity totally take over then, I still want people to be sad, like.

Paul Mc Clean - ATL Producer 

 

Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere

Liverpool FC beaten at home by Scunthorpe? Dog eaten by bears? No matter what fresh hell descends upon me, I know that the twinkling keyboards of Christine McVie will settle my troubled soul. Sure it is the sweet sentiment of the song, but more than that, its been the soundtrack to a lot of incredibly good things and it brings a little perspective when the world seems narrow, bleak and cruel. One of the finest love songs ever written and that, as Rafa would say, is fact.

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So each week on the Dance Show we have one of our super-knowledgeable panel of residents join us with some hot tunes for you to get your hands on. We're going to share one of these with you online every week too, these are tunes you really do need to have in your life, but don't just take our word for it, here's Big G with this week's selection...

His Majesty Andre - Spades (Cheap Thrills)

A brand new track that has quality French disco house all over it coming on like the best record that Crydamoure never released. Records like these were the reason I got into DJing and I'm glad they're back. Check everything this guy has done recently for more of the same and check the equally great Phantom's Revenge while you're at it. 

Is networking cool? Doesn't matter - it's necessary. 

 

On Monday's show, I trampled all over Patrick Kane's lovely review of the Desert Hearts (1'09 in) show in Belfast last weekend. My beef was pretty straight forward - not enough people were at the gig.

Desert Hearts have made two classic albums - genuinely incredible collections that would both feature high in my top fifty albums of all time ('local' or otherwise), should I ever make one. Stand out tracks like 'No More Art', 'Seapunk', 'Ocean' and 'Florida Keys' were nicely beefed at the show in question, with DH mainstays Charlie and Roisin now backed up by Leaky and Stu from General Fiasco. But it seemed only myself and a few others really cared. There was about sixty people at the show, in total. Ridiculous.

Bands like And So I Watch You From Afar and (more recently) A Plastic Rose helped boost their initial following by hosting their own elaborate festivals, spreading positivity to a bunch of people, some of whom had never heard a note of their music but would happily return for a proper 'headline' show a few weeks down the line. Don't get me wrong - both bands have the tunes to back up their charm - we wouldn't have bought it otherwise. They're both superb and only getting what they always deserved

But back to Desert Hearts. They don't play that game - they never did. They're lovely people, but maybe not the most sociable when it comes to drowning themselves in the local 'scene'. They've never hosted a festival, schmoozed media types, or gone crazy with the support bill. They just spend their time making incredible music. Yet Desert Hearts first headline show in ages, the return of the decade if you like (and I'm being serious) falls a little flat and goes pretty much unnoticed. People missed out, big time. Hence the slight rage.

Hard to know how to end this piece. I guess the point is, if you're in a band but don't play 'that' game, you need to find someone who does, quick smart.

More importantly, if you're in a band....if you like music....if you have a set of ears on your head....go and listen to Desert Hearts.

 

For this week's online chat, our Rigsy got straight to business with Alan Haslam from Yes Cadets. After multiple plays and big love from ATL a year and a bit ago, things seemed to go quiet, so we needed to know just what the band had been up to, where they've been playing and how they've ended up having a track remixed by Fyfe from Guillemots.....

*As always, spelling and grammar errors are author's own, chat simply copied and pasted directly!

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So each week on the Dance Show we have one of our super-knowledgeable panel of residents join us with some hot tunes for you to get your hands on. We're going to share one of these with you online every week too, these are tunes you really do need to have in your life, but don't just take our word for it, here's Nik with this week's selection...

This track is off the new Jacques Greene single 'Another Girl' on and is on the flip along with a Braiden mix of 'Holding On'. It's a heavy chunk of beautiful Detroit electronica taking the original and giving it a UR makeover. Like the original the kick stays away from the more common 4/4 and instead favors a tasty off beat rhythm that gives the track a hypnotic bounce to sit snugly with the tight hats and crunchy snares. The garage vocal is dropped and the swirling synths rise, fall, build and harmonize throughout the track creating a futuristic melody of urban technofunk (for want of a better term). The other 2 tracks are of equal quality as is any Jacques Greene' release but this is the one that will be molesting my earlobes over the following months.

So each week on the Dance Show we have one of our super-knowledgeable panel of residents join us with some hot tunes for you to get your hands on. We're going to share one of these with you online every week too, these are tunes you really do need to have in your life, but don't just take our word for it, here's Suzi with this week's selection...

Cesaria Evora - Angola (Carl Craig Mix)

From 2003, this is one of the finest remixes from the Detroit master which combines stripped back beats underpinning a wonderful tribalesque vocal. A classic remix and one that NEVER leaves my record box..

ATL is collectively buzzing about getting to see Primal Scream perform their sublime masterpiece 'Screamadelica' in Belfast, as part of Belsonic 2011. It got us to thinking about just how great it would have been to watch the band twenty years ago, when they were first touring the record, having discovered dance music and created a hybrid collection of tunes that sounded like nothing else at the time. Primal Scream in 1991 - we can only imagine the level of awesome.

So this week's topic for conversation - band's at their peak, whether you got to see them at the time or not. Maybe you weren't even born! But yes - we'd like the name of the act and a year via facebook, twitter, email or by texting 81771 during the show. All in exhange for a radio shout-out, of course.

Here's a couple of picks to get you started....

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This time last year, it felt like every field in the country was threatening to host a music festival in the summer of 2010. Too much of a good thing I thought, surely it's going to be harder for specific events to stand out and seem special? Then myself and Amy went to Pigstock and concluded - at least they don't need to worry.

First of all, the location is swell. Yes, you'll need sat-nav or non-melty directions - it's a little off the beaten track. Enough so you feel you can...misbehave a little. But not so much that you feel miles from home. Perfect.

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