Bell X1 have announced that Brian Crosby will be leaving the band following their October 19 Flock tour finale at the Panorama Festival in the Lebanon.
Thirty lucky fans were treated to a special acoustic Bell X1 show in the intimate surroundings of Bewley's Cafe Theatre in Dublin on Sunday. **NOW UPDATED with photos!
Bell X1 at the RDS? It would have seemed unthinkable a few years back, but 2005 was a good year for the group – one in which they took steps to ensure that they will be remembered as more than just Damien Rice’s old playmates.
Things are really hotting up for Bell X1. The Great Defector went to number 1 in the airplay charts last week, while their number 1 album Blue Lights On The Runway is still flying high.
Their transition from traditional ‘indie’ beginnings to a more lavish, gothic sound suggests a development that, for my money, has never been backed up by a commensurate break-through in terms of songwriting. Or maybe I’ve been missing something...
In order to further understand the African AIDS crisis, Bell X1, ardent supporters of Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign, travelled to Tanzania for eight days this month.
What’s most striking about Tour De Flock is how unpopulist Bell X1 are. This is not a live album filled with huge, chest-beating anthems, but it works instead on a more intimate scale.
On the eve of the release of Tour De Flock, BellX1’s live album and DVD from Dublin’s Point Theatre, Paul Noonan, Brian Crosby and Dominic Phillips answer the weird and wonderful questions of hotpress readers, from the swimming habits of monkeys to ripping the gusset of your pants on stage.
Bell X1’s debut album displays a touching uncertainty. Apart from the robust vanguard of ‘Pinball Machine’ and the confident swish of ‘Man On Mir,’ Neither Am I has a preponderance of translucent ballads. Most of these, while genuinely lovely, are not as striking as they might be, due to the distant, dreamy production style.
When we catch up with Bell X1 frontman Paul Noonan on a fine August afternoon, he’s bracing himself for a grueller of an autumn schedule that will begin with a handful of festival appearances – including an Electric Picnic set – and culminate in full-on month-long European and US tours. Reading dispatches from the band’s recent blogs, it’s apparent that the landscape of modern touring is far from Beat Generation romance and way closer to a Ballardian landscape of endless petrol stations, motorways and ferry docks.
Backstage craziness with Bell X1. Gratuitous (prescription) drug-taking. Cucumbers down the pants (sort of). It’s all in a day’s work for über-buzzy indie rock newcomers Villagers.
Expectations for new material are, understandably, quite high, both from long term fans of the band and the ever-broadening circle of new admirers, Indeed, the days of Bell X1 filling medium size stages could well be numbered – as it is, tonight’s stage can barely hold the band’s enthusiasm and confidence.
Those of us who always suspected Bell X1 of the denatured blandness that typified the genre they skirt will find in ‘Bigger Than Me’ a large, layered soft pop track that is cheerfully mordant, with more than a hint of Liam O’Maonlai. In ‘Still Selling Shoes’ we get neatly itemised observations of the mundane roles enjoyed by now legendary or indeed notorious Irish performers. Not many would shoehorn (ahem) Rory Gallagher and Ronan Keating into a song, and fewer still could make it work.
With the release of their acclaimed third album Flock, which went straight to No.1 in Ireland, Bell X1 have staked their claim not just to greatness, but also to potential world domination – a possibility which is reinforced considerably by their powerful showing in the Hot Press Readers’ Poll. Here, in an emotional and revealing interview, the band’s photogenic frontman Paul Noonan discusses life, art, love, death... and music.
It was inflight double entendres all round as Bell X1 donned cabin crew attire for a special Hot Press photoshoot. When not showing an unhealthy interest in women’s clothes and fancy Raybans, they talked about their chart-topping new album Blue Lights On The Runway, their imminent breakthrough in the US and freezing their arses off on The Late Show with Dave Letterman
Full profiles on Faithless, Antony & The Johnsons, Slayer, The Who, Bell X1, Status Quo, The Flaming Lips, 50 Cent, Madness, Christy Moore, Elton John and Lionel Richie.
In between starting a family and touring the globe with Bell X1, David Geraghty has managed to find the time to squeeze out a second solo record, The Victory Dance. He talks about dealing with bat infestations, bestriding U2’s ‘Claw’ stage and tackling the fraught subject of 9/11 in song.
Music In Mouth is a more unified, distinctive and cohesive record that showcases the band’s multiple directions, adding further conviction to the depths of epic balladeering on ‘Eve, The Apple Of My Eye’, the quirky pop of ‘Next To You’ or the manic rock of ‘White Water Song
From the legendary names of Van Morrison and Rory Gallagher, through local heroes like Rudi and Stump, to 21st Century Irish stars like Bell X1 and Snow Patrol, this album is definitely worthy of its name. An impressive trip through five decades of Irish Musical History indeed.
Hot Press visited BellX1 in their city-centre studio, where the group are working on the follow-up to Music In Mouth. “There’s been a lot less fuck-acting this time around,” they tell John Walshe. Photo: Liam Sweeney
You have to hand it to The Frames. Even Bruce and U2 baulk at starting new campaigns outdoors in front of 17,000 people – although Glen Hansard might claim that this is a farewell to Set List arms rather than the unveiling of Burn The Maps.
Sadly an apt title. Bolton makes all the right noises here but somehow comes up with nothing to really stick in the memory. Everything – the songs, the singing, the playing – is alright yet lacks anything to make it stand out. Strangely, it’s a problem that also afflicts the RDS bound Bell X1. For all their position as the people’s champions, this is a very ordinary kind of record I’m afraid, especially let down by a weak vocal.
Fans of Bell X1, Damien Rice and Mundy may well be familiar with Cooke’s unique brand of shimmering rock. Like his one-time gigging buddies, Cooke does a neat line in understated emotive acoustic rock, and this EP is gilded with intimacy and introspection.
Some people reckon we’ve enough male singer-songwriters on our hands on this wee isle, but thankfully both Eoin Coughlan and Bill Coleman break the mould. The former takes a bluesy/beachy route (accompanied by Damien Dempsey for this tune) while the latter employs a whole band to produce something not dissimilar to Bell X1. Move along Mr Rice– there’s some fresh talent to be heard.
I advise Bell X1 to hold onto him, because this boy can cut it on his own. While the jazzy piano shuffle of the song owes much to ‘My First Born For A Song’, its bleary guitar solo and ghostly backing vocals makes it closer to Cathy Davey. Geraghty’s voice is like a more rough-edged version of bandmate Paul Noonan’s – something that suits this song well. He even pulls off a finale reminiscent of The Divine Comedy at their most flamboyant.
Personally speaking, the death of the wonderful Elliott Smith was a major blow his year. I found out about his suicide through Ollie Cole, who had e-mailed me with a very succinct, “Elliott Smith is dead. He was my king”, on the day of his death.
The diet coke ad would love this: “Let’s hear it for the band member who starts a solo project!” That said, we’ve heard Geraghty’s sweet voice occasionally take centre stage in his day job as Bell X1 guitarist (most notably ‘Trampoline’), but this is 100% his own thang: he’s written, performed and produced it, and his mother should shed a tear of pride. Coming across like a blues/country version of Jack Johnson, it’s brimful of ideas which are combined seamlessly. Bodes well for the album.
RTÉ is doing its bit for Irish music with the 2FM 2moro 2our. Patrick Freyne went along to the live launch to catch a glimpse of the hit bands of the future.
It's the small venue with the big heart - and the lavish backstage perks. Anna Legge takes us on a tour of Leitrim's Glens Centre, a space beloved of Damien Dempsey among others.
Hotpress.com is delighted to bring you this pre-release goo at the artwork for Bell X1’s Blue Lights On The Runway album, which makes it into the shops here on February 20.
BellX1 have given one of the tracks from their Flock album to Oxfam as a free download to publicise the charity’s ‘Generation Why’ arms control initiative.
Malahide’s DIRECTOR may not be any kind of tabloid headline generators, but with an accomplished second album produced by Pumpkins and Placebo veteran Brad Wood in the bag, they’re confident enough to let the music make the fuss.
Louis Walsh is one of the star signings as Bubble Hits today rolls out its dedicated Irish service, which will be available to digital viewers throughout the country.
A special exhibition focussing on musical inspirations as been lined up for The Music Show, which takes place at the RDS in Dublin this weekend, Saturday October 4 and Sunday October 5.
Thirty lucky fans were treated to a special acoustic Bell X1 show in the intimate surroundings of Bewley's Cafe Theatre in Dublin last weekend. And HP's Ruth Medjber was there to catch all the action on camera...
The organisers of Oxegen '08 have revealed that the three day festival is now completely sold out. Plus, they've announced the day by day line-up so far...
Home-recording buff, culinary wizard and fully paid-up member of the local indie cognoscenti – welcome to the cultured residence of turn singer Ollie Cole.
The Stables in Mullingar has become an essential stopover on the Irish rock touring circuit. Here, the venue's booking man, David McLynn tells Jackie Hayden about the current state of rock in the Midlands.
Tasmanian native Matt Lunson has overcome the challenges of establishing himself in a new country (not to mention his past in an Australian punk band called Hasselhoff!) to become one of the Irish music scene’s most accomplished solo artists.
Irish labels, bands and artists often face an uphill struggle to garner recognition, even on their home turf. Which is why hotpress and HMV have undertaken their own combined initiative, to coincide with the announcement of the shortlist for the first Choice Irish music prize. As a product of this initiative, all ten albums will be specially stocked and displayed in HMV stores all over Ireland on the run-in to the announcement of the winning album later this month. Here, we take a look at the list – and reflect on those that have been omitted.
Rollerskate Skinny frontman Ken Griffin is back with an ace new band, Favourite Sons. And, would you believe it, they’re the toast of New York’s rock scene. Even Jack White’s a convert.
Over the past number of years, Today FM has consistently supported Irish music, playlisting records by local artists and doing in-studio sessions on a regular basis. in the process the station has played an important part in the increasingly impressive chart and sales achievements of irish acts.
Coldplay, White Stripes, Strokes, Queens, Garbage, Oasis, JJ72, Franz... With a whole slew of major albums in the pipeline, it looks like ‘05 will be the wrong year to kick that addiction to noise.
Having drummed his way round the world with Therapy?, Graham Hopkins is now upfront singing with his own band Halite. But as Paul Nolan finds out, he’s no indie Phil Collins
Dundalk's Spirit Store will celebrate 10 years of world class gigs with a special evening of music on Thursday, October 29 featuring some of the acts who have graced its stage over the past decade.
Many Irish radio fans reckon that the 2fm evening schedule is at its most exciting for years – from 6 pm, when a revitalised Dave Fanning comes on, right through to Hotpress columnist Cormac Battle signing off at 2am. One of the linchpins of that stretch is Dubliner Rick O’Shea. To celebrate his tenth year in radio we sent Jackie Hayden to ask O’Shea a few leading questions and to check out the great man’s credentials with his colleagues.
This year’s Heineken Green Energy festival has something for every music lover. Whether anthemic stadium rock (Snow Patrol) is your thing or you enjoy boisterous pop (Kaiser Chiefs), it’s a festival packed with sonic treats.
There’s more to Electric Picnic than rock and roll. One of the non-musical highlights this year will be a political gabfest, hosted by none other than RTÉ presenter of the moment Ryan Tubridy...
This follow-up to his 2005 debut Wax & Seal was recorded on his ingenious Living Room Tour, during which he played at private homes throughout Ireland.
The fourth series of RTÉ Two's highly-acclaimed Other Voices, presented by John Kelly, was recorded over an extraordinary eight days during the madcap run-up to Christmas, in the thoroughly invigorating coastal environs of Dingle. Hot Press reporter Craig Fitzsimons was there to soak up the phantasmagoria, as some of the hottest talent from Ireland and abroad descended on the tranquil Kerry town to make heavenly music.
The Frames and BellX1 stormed the palisades of Groningen recently as part of the Eurosonic Festival. John Walshe was there to see it happen and to revisit the spot where the great Mic Christopher met with his tragic accident. Plus: the latest news and reaction to the Frames’ new record deal
In time for our birthday issue, The Edge talks exclusively to Peter Murphy about 30 years of Ireland's premier music mag, and reveals that they're working on a "project" rather than a new album.
From A to Z, Paul Nolan and Ronan Fitzgerald introduce all the runners and riders for Punchestown – throwing in a baker’s dozen of acts who are not to be missed * along the way
Dublin favourites Turn recently took to the highway for an Irish tour. Tanya Sweeney joined them for a trip to Limerick and an insight into what makes Ollie Cole and company tick.
Since 1977 Hot Press has looked at music, books, film, culture and politics. This bumper birthday issue looks back at the best bits of the last 30 years.
Hotpress.com brings you our exclusive first photos from Oxegen '08. Our man Graham Keogh was up front to catch all the action for headliners Kings Of Leon, along with Interpol, Cat Power and Friendy Fire.
He began working in music as a drummer, but Dave Pennefather's greatest success has been as MD of Universal Music. Hot Press looks back over the life and times of a man with a larger than life reputation.
His career was almost over before it began. But hard work - and a surprise hit - have turned Edmund 'Mundy' Enright into one of Ireland's most widely adored stars. Here he reflects on some of the high points of what has been an amazing journey, during the course of which he has rubbed shoulders with some of the greats.
Republic Of Loose are that rarest of beasts – an Irish rock band who can get their groove on. Ahead of the release of their new album, they talk about standing out from the crowd.
It's been over four intriguing years since Damien Rice's extraordinary debut album O was launched. That record went on to become a huge underground international hit, selling in excess of 2 million copies. Now his long-awaited follow-up – the similarly simply titled 9 – is finally ready to hit the shops. So how did Rice so successfully capture the collective imagination? And will the latest instalment in the Rice musical biography propel him to even greater heights? Hot Press talks exclusively to some of the key players in his remarkable rise and rise.
Hot Press favourite Julie Feeney - whose superb 13 Songs took the inaugural Chioice Award earlier this year - and Humanzi have been picked by RTÉ 2fm to be Ireland's main representatives at the annual Eurosonic Festival.
This was not the usual high energy experience that we’ve come to expect from Turn’s Dublin appearances. Which, in a funny way, made it all the more special...
It may not be an ornate and highly charming church in Dingle, but something about the truly titanic line-up of the Other Voices launch, reduces the expansive Vicar St. venue to a kind of wonderfully intimate backbar.
As a debut, Everything, Something, Anything is for the most part a passable listen. However, like many first albums, there’s a feeling of unfulfilled potential about it.
Other Voices, the RTE series featuring acclaimed bands playing in an intimate venue in Dingle, Kerry, will kick off its fourth year with a series of recordings in December.
What on paper could have a some sort of post-modern Raggle TaggleFest 2002, turned out to be one of the most moving celebrations of friendship and music this city has ever seen
Has an award ceremony in Ireland ever created such an optimistic buzz, or such a feverish sense of righteousness among the music community as the Choice Music Prize?
Watching so many acts in sequence, the audience may have discerned a hierarchy. Those on the cusp of mainstream success played with a cocky disregard for the actual event.
They say every dog has its day – well the time has come for a group of lucky pups who are about to unleash their talents on the big apple. Sundogs, darlings of many a Garage Gig, are heading west for a series of NY dates, stopping off in such prestigious venues as Arlene’s Grocery and the new Sin É to showcase their talents to various industry glitterati…
Mick Flannery is just one of the top artists featured singing a track on Seachtain na Gaeilge’s Irish language compilation Ceol ’09, due for release next month. Jackie Hayden talks to him about the experience.
As the country’s largest music festival, Oxegen is a crucial shop window for Irish acts. From main-stage headliners Snow Patrol through new kids on the block The Script. Here are some of our favourite Irish picks.
After the rip-roaring success of last year's event, Music Ireland '07 has been extended to a three-day event, incorporating a dedicated student day on Friday October 5. Aimed primarily at second-level schools, the day is set to be one of the most educational and entertaining school tours in the country. For those wishing to follow a career in music, the show is a real treat.
Taken from the Bell X1 man's solo album Kill Your Darlings and directed by Andrea Demers as part of the Fall 2007 semester Hot Press/NYU Tisch School Of Arts music video project.
Taking place tonight in the Dublin Point, the Meteor Ireland Music Awards will feature performances by Paddy Casey, Bell X1 and The Thrills among others
Think you've got them all right? Or maybe you fancy a sneaky peak (you're only cheating yourself you know!). Either way, you've got the questions – we've got the answers....
RTE2 have plenty of live music action to keep us placated for the next few weeks - here's the line up of bands and when to catch them. For more about the Other Voices series, click on the link at the very bottom.
