Crude Magazine - Issue 5 by Shane Serrano

issuefive | crudemagazine.net

crudemagazine.net | issuefive

news Shell to Sea Nobituaries 05 Spirit Store Art CafĂŠ Project On Board: Keith Walsh My Tribute To John Hughes Photographer Jamin Keogh We Gotta Take the Power Back! Walter Mitty & the Realists Con Cremin The Decline and Fall of The Simpsons Empire Electric Picnic 09 Bullman Tattoo Studio Keep Rolling: Mike O'Neill Ruth Crean Niall Colgan Meet the locals: Damien Conway Circle of Life Capoeira BMX in the Sunny South East Tubes All-Ireland Skateboarding Championships Eagles of Death Metal Music Reviews Film Reviews Game Review Man and Men Tickle Your Fancy Crossword

6 9 10 11 12 16 18 22 24 26 28 30 32 37 38 42 44 47 55 56 60 62 66 72 74 75 77 78

Olivia is a 4th year student at the Limerick School of Art & Design. A mature student, she was previously a self-trained designer and had worked in newspaper design for 3 years before going to college as well as freelancing part-time for a number of years. While at college she has worked as a freelance designer and journalist and will be familiar to some as the contributing fashion and beauty editor of the Limerick Post newspaper. Among other recent projects she has worked on the editorial design of national social magazine RSVP, and was responsible for the significant changes implemented in the magazine's design in early 2009. Olivia runs her own communications business, Play Publicity, which she has operated on a part-time basis since starting the BA in Visual Communications. Her role then is best described as that of a communicator. Whether it's writing, PR or design, she is a problem solver and a natural communicator, be it visual, written or oral – Olivia is also a presenter for Limerick's new online TV channel at www.ilovelimerick.com.

"It was an honour to be entrusted with the first guest designer issue of [crude]. It's a big risk handing over an entire publication to an unknown designer. The brief was straight forward - the philospohy of this magazine is all in the name— crude—it's about raw talent. I had to respect the work in the previous four issues, and respect the [crude] reader who might enjoy a different feel to this issue, but ultimately they want to know it's [crude] they're holding and I had to bear that in mind. This is a very content-rich publication, there's great reading in it and I hope my design makes the reader's experience a pleasurable one." "The biggest decisions that had to be made were with the typography. [crude] readers are comfortable with a blunt, in-your-face, and unrefined aesthetic, as this mirrors the exciting lifestyles many of them have or aspire to. I wanted to use that tone of voice through the typography but at the same time present easy-to-read refined blocks of text. It was nice to have a little fun with the display fonts as I haven't done any work for an audience like this before." "The quality of photography throughout the magazine made my job a lot easier. Shane has very high standards for it and I've great admiraton for him. At times we had a lot of text to get into one or two pages but hopefully we've found a balance between text-heavy and photographic features so the rhythm of the magazine carries the reader along. This was a new challenge for me, I've definitely enjoyed the experience. Hope you enjoy issue five of [crude]!"

> [CONTRIBUTORS] WRITERS: Ciarán Ryan, Aaron Duff, Keefe Murphy, The Zeitghost, John Elliott, Olivia Chau, Stuart Nealon, Alan Morrissey, Mark Kelleher, Mark Keane, John Lillis, Paul Tarpey, Caitlin Ryan, Miriam Le Bon, Trevor Meehan, Jason O’Mahony, Andrew Hamilton, Nancy Serrano, Mark O’Connor, Leon Phelan. PHOTOGRAPHY & ART: Aaron Corr, Jamin Keogh, Conor O’Brien, Con Cremin, Mick Feehan, Eamonn McCarthy, Ruth Crean, James Skerritt, Darren Carlin, Shane Serrano, Paul Tarpey, Caitlin Ryan, Kevin Murphy, George Karbus, James Skerritt, Olivia O'Sullivan. ILLUSTRATIONS: Shane Serrano, Garry Carroll, David Crowley, Billy O’Reilly, Adrian Connolly.

To all our new readers, welcome to the world of [crude]. To all of our regular readers, welcome back! It all began as an idea. I never expected it to get this far! In fact when we were releasing the second issue Munster spread, someone said to me jokingly “at this rate, you’ll be national by issue five!” – well here we are! It hasn’t even been a year and we’ve gone national! We’ve pumped up our page count in order to let us pack in more and more content, and in fact, it’s not even enough! This is perhaps our most varied issue to date, with articles and interviews with artists, photographers, surfers, skateboarders, political issues and so much more. If you told me a year ago that I would be interviewing Jesse Hughes of Eagles Of Death Metal for my very own national magazine, I would have probably asked if you were taking your medication. This issue also sees our first guest designer, Olivia O’Sullivan do her thing… and don’t you just love what she’s done with the place! Enjoy the mag. Slán. Shane Serrano

Cover image: portrait by Con Cremin CONTACT: Email: crudemag@gmail.com Phone: +353 (0)86 3443657 Web: www.crudemagazine.net Also find us on bebo, myspace & facebook

[CRUDE] MAGAZINE Editor In Chief: Shane Serrano Music Reviews Editor: Ciarán Ryan News Editor: Aaron Duff Transcriptions: Olivia Chau Guest Designer: Olivia O’Sullivan Publisher: Crude Media Printed by: Walsh Colour Print Distribution: EM News Distribution

SUBMISSIONS WELCOME* If you’re in a band, or an artist, musician, designer, photographer, graffiti artist, tattoo artist etc, and want to get exposure, please don’t hesitate to get in touch! Or if you’re a budding journalist, or just a writer with something to get off your chest, drop us a line. [crude] would be more than happy to work with you. crudemag@gmail.com MUSIC REVIEWS SUBMISSIONS* Please get in touch with our music reviews editor for more info: reviews@crudemagazine.net *We welcome all submissions, but can assume no responsibility for their safe return, solicited or not.

[SMALL PRINT] [crude] does not take responsibility, or share the views expressed in this magazine by its contributors, writers & interviewees. All images, text and ideas are the ‘Intellectual Property’ of the contributors and are therefore protected by Ireland’s Designs and Patent Act and International Copyright Laws. Nothing in this magazine (including adverts) in whole or part, may be used without the express written permission of [crude] magazine, to include copying, duplicating, publishing (even on a website), reproducing, storing in a retrieval system or transmitting by any means what so ever. (p) & (c) copyright 2009 [crude] magazine. All Rights Reserved. issuefive | crudemagazine.net

now! k s u et et ws? L agazine.n e n y n m Got a s@crude w ne Limerick’s ROOTS FACTORY celebrates their second birthday on Bank Holiday Sunday October 25th with Reggae Pon Dolans with a great line up of live reggae and selectors of jah highest order! Kicking off at 3pm with a BBQ blazing and good vibrations right thru till the early hours. Ireland's biggest and best reggae act Intinn play live, Cork’s Revelation Sound System shall be installed on the day, Brother Culture on the mic, Roots Factory crew and many more will bring each of their unique styles to the Party. Put on some comfy shoes come down have a bite to eat and dance your socks off! Advance tickets available from Dolans pub@€12. €15 on the day. For more info visit www.dolans.ie or www.myspace.com/ rootsfactorylimerick or call 0861610098

GIVEAMANAKICK

Let us start off with some sad news. GIVEAMANAKICK are deadmeat! That’s right, Limrock’s finest GAMAK are shutting down. In the bands 7-year existence they have toured worldwide and played with some of their all-time favourite bands including, (Dinosaur Jr, The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s and Presidents of the USA to name a few) and have released 3 albums (We are the Way Forward being my favourite Irish album ever made!). Come join the lads on their final ever tour! 7th November Electric Avenue, Waterford 14th November, Cypress Avenue, Cork 20th November, Whelans, Dublin 21st November, The Stables, Westmeath 28th November, Roisín Dubh, Galway 18th December, Dolans Warehouse, Limerick

THE BUZZCOCKS

ADEBISI SHANK

ADEBISI SHANK are at it again! If being Ireland’s premier experimental instrumental trio wasn’t enough for the boys they’ve gone worldwide over the Summer with dates all over not just the UK but also Japan! Rereleasing a vinyl edition of their debut album and launching a limited edition 200 split tapes with fellow instrumentaler’s And So I Watch You From Afar, which have since been sold out! Along with supporting the great ‘Faith No More’ on their recent Irish date on their reunion tour. If you have not seen this band you have been living under a rock for the past 3 years! Check out their latest tour dates and a song from the now sold out tape at; www.myspace.com/adebisishank

Not to be outdone by fellow label mates Adebisi Shank, Wicklow’s ENEMIES graced Japans shores this Summer with a tour supporting post rock pioneers ‘Toe’. Reports back to me have mentioned, sold out shows, autographs being signed, free beer and hotel accommodation. Well done to Enemies who are now working on their debut album which is rumoured to be released in 2010, www.myspace.com/enemiestheband

On Thursday, 22nd of October punk pioneers, THE BUZZCOCKS, will be visiting The Pavilion in Cork to perform their first 2 classic albums ‘Another Music In A Different Kitchen’ and ‘Love Bites’ in their entirety along with other great hits. Buzzcocks’ first album, ‘Another Music in a Different Kitchen’, was released almost exactly thirty years ago. It is a major punk landmark and a great record to boot.

Cork’s HOORAY FOR HUMANS are currently in the studio to record their second album. They recently finished an Irish tour with Dublin’s Heathers last month and have now set their eyes on a UK tour this October. Be sure to check out all their album news and updates along with future Irish shows at www.myspace.com/hoorayforhumansband

As soon as it started, it ended, Limerick’s MY MOTHER’S SON have called it quits after their first gig in July, but they’re going out in style with a launch of their EP ‘The End is Fine’ in Baker Place, Limerick on September 21st. If you have gotten the chance to check these guys out, do it now! It’ll be the last chance you get!

Limerick’s punk-rock foursome THE DEMISE had a stellar Summer this year with dates all around the emerald isle including support slots in Dublin and Belfast to punk heavyweights Taking Back Sunday (they were handpicked by TBS). Expect their debut album in 2010 with some extensive touring to boot! issuefive | crudemagazine.net

Ireland’s fantastic KIDD BLUNT have called it a day as well. 11 plus years, Kidd Blunt have survived longer than any Irish hardcore band and have been influential in sparking the underground scene in South Dublin/ North Wicklow which spread across the country. Every Irish band has been directly or indirectly influenced by Kidd Blunt and it is a shame to see them go. I made it to their last ever gig, where it started for them, Kilcoole, and it was one of the most intense, sweaty, electrifying gigs I had the pleasure of being part of! RIP Kidd Blunt!

JUST WRITING MY NAME!

Limerick’s finest musicians including Walter Mitty And the Realists, Last Days Of Death Country, Windings, Supermodel Twins and Vertigo Smyth will be taking the stage in Dolan’s Warehouse on October 3rd to raise funds for GERARD MCDONNELL MEMORIAL FUND. Gerard was an Irish man who passed away on K2 while attempting to save the lives of two other injured climbers. It’s €10 at the door, and every single penny will go straight to the charity. For more info go to: www.memorialfund. org to find out more on Gerard’s story visit: www.explorersweb.com/ news.php?id=17919

The DUBLIN TATTOO CONVENTION 2009 will take place on the 6th, T 7th & 8th of November at the Ballsbridge Hotel, Dublin and will feature Tattoos, Piercing, Trade, Live music & DJ's. For a detailed look at all the artists at the convention go to www.dublintattooconvention.com

crudemagazine.net | issuefive

THE INFOMATICS

GERARD MCDONNELL

This October sees one of the hottest international festivals come to Crude Magazine’s hometown of Limerick! 23 graffiti artists from around Europe will be showing off their amazing skills for a one-day only event called JUST WRITING MY NAME! Hosted in Limerick by South Central LK, the Montana Cans sponsored event tours the globe in support of the world graffiti scene. Heading up the artists roster is Cantwo and Klark Kent. Both artists come directly from the Montana Writers Team and are ranked as the top two artists in Europe. Artists will also be traveling from Cork, Galway, Dublin, Belfast, London, Scotland, Slovakia, Poland and Germany. As well as a few local lads! Just Writing My Name will be happening on the Dock Road. The artists will have a 500m wall to enjoy, while around them will be some other events, such as: A modified car show courtesy of After Dark Cruisers, Hip-hop dance offs in front of a 40ft sound system while the finest of DJ's plays the funkiest of tunes. Skate demos courtesy of Tubes Board Sports, A tag stand for you to add your tag to the day as well as merchandise, food and drink. The day kicks off at 10am and will run right through till 8pm. Admission is free and all are welcome. The after party is being hosted by Trinity Rooms with guest musicians The Infomatics playing live. The Infomatics are Irelands No.1 Hip-hop act, having recently won RTE's 'Raw Sessions'. Getting the party started will be Limericks own The Fewer, The Better. It’s a date not to be missed.

JEAN-LOUIS COSTES

BLACK SUN is a new monthly weirdo music night that takes place in the Granary Theatre in Cork. This September 26th, Black Sun are delighted to present a rare opportunity to witness a unique performance from the infamous French experimental/performance-art legend Jean-Louis Costes, who has been plying his trade since the cassette underground of the mid-'80s. Due to the graphic nature of his live shows, this performance will be strictly over 18's. This is the debut performance of Costes in Ireland. A selection of Costes' short films will be screened during the night. Vegan cakes and records from distro's Bold Lump (Dublin) and Rimbaud Records (Cork) will also be available for purchase throughout the night. On November 7th, Black Sun welcomes with hairy open arms: Roll and Roll Jackie Stewart and Eric (Ju Suk Reet Meate) from Smegma. Both nights are not to be missed!

If you are involved in the world of design, illustration, advertising and publishing, then the date you must have marked in your calendars by now is OFFSET 2009. A week long creative festival culminating in a 3 day conference taking place in Dublin’s Liberty Hall Theatre from Friday 6thSunday 8th November November. Bringing together the world’s leading creatives, OFFSET are producing an event that will both showcase the best work being done today as well as engaging with the creative community at large for a week of celebration, debate and inspiration. Featuring guest speakers from across the world including Lella & Massimo Vignelli, Chip Kidd Kidd, Pentagram and many more, it truly is an event not to miss. For more info go to : www.iloveoffset.com

Bleep, click, pop, hiss - TWEAK is back again. Following on from its hugely successful inaugural festival last year, Tweak whirls back into action again this September all around Limerick city. The 6 day multi-media festive aims to promote understanding of the use of technology within our cultural, social and digital world and its contemporary approach to interactive art and live electronic music performance. Running from September 21st to 26th, the festival will host an international array of speakers, performers, designers, exhibitions, films, visual artists, and DJs, all from an eclectic range of backgrounds. Tweak’s primary focus is on interactive art and audience engagement, and installations and performances are chosen both upon their ability to connect with their environment and to include the viewer in this exchange.

On August 19th Dublin’s RAN released their debut mini album. The band creates large, emotional, shouty music in the vein of ‘melodic hardcore’, but it seems to be highly prominent post-rock and even some pop influences that sets the band apart from anything else within this genre, giving them a unique quality that grabs the attention of a much broader audience. You can catch them at www.myspace.com/ransongs. Definitely one’s to watch out for in the next few months!

HARD WORKING CLASS HEROES is back with a bang this year. Taking place on October 16th /17th /18th,, this festival has being instrumental in breaking some of Ireland’s elite underground Irish bands. Some of the highlights this year include Super Extra Bonus Party, Adebisi Shank, Jogging, Spook of the 13th Lock, Heathers, Ham Sandwich, Deaf Animal Orchestra, Vox Populi, Kyon and C!ties.. For a list of the 100 + acts visit www.hwch.net

Limerick and Galway’s bastardised sons, Walter Mitty and the Realists have finally released their eagerly awaited long player ‘Green Light Go’ last August to sell out crowds in both their hometowns. Be sure to catch them at their next show near you and pick up a copy of the album! Also check out their video for their single ‘Red is the Number’. It’s quite good! www.myspace.com/waltermittyandtherealists

SIEGE OF LIMERICK returns in its second year! After last years heart stopping performances by Roper and Three Hour Ceasefire, the one day metal fest comes back bigger and better at Baker Place and will play host to UK headliners, Crowing Glory along with Northern Ireland’s Waylander, Misty Morning straight from Italy. Other Irish acts include For Ruin, Shardborne, Clurichaun, Soloway, Brigantia and so so so many more! One serious gig for one amazing price... free! That's right! So get on down to Limerick's Baker Place for Sunday October 25th.. Doors are at 12pm. See ye there… issuefive | crudemagazine.net

n a blustery Sunday in July I stood in the side of a road in Co. Mayo, hitchhiking my way to the Shell to Sea Solidarity Camp near Glengad. A couple from Bangor had just driven slightly out of their way to get me nearer to the camp, and I was hoping that with more lifts I could get there. Suddenly, a young woman pulled off the road next to me. After I told her where I was headed she offered to take me the rest of the way. As we drove along the coast of Broadhaven Bay, site of the dispute between Shell and members of the local community, I started to understand the nature of Shell to Sea’s campaign. I realised just how much of a community issue this was, but nonetheless, it is the type of community issue that demands the support from others outside the community. Before I knew it, we’d arrived. I expressed my gratitude for the lift, hopped out with my bags and opened the gate to the field that is the Rossport Solidarity Camp. Established in 2005 across the bay in Rossport, the solidarity camp had been started as a way for people from outside the local area to show their solidarity with the local people involved in the Shell to Sea campaign. Explaining every facet of the relationship between Shell to Sea, the Irish Government and Shell Oil is not a task that can be completed with justice to the issue at hand in such a short space. This being said, a brief background of the campaign will go a long way in explaining the importance of the solidarity camp. For nearly a decade, Shell to Sea has been operating a locally driven campaign on the Erris peninsula in Co. Mayo. They are operating out of opposition to Shell’s plan to build a raw gas pipeline, 92km in length, from the Corrib natural gas field off the Mayo coast, through Broadhaven Bay and then 9km onshore to a planned refinery. The pipeline would pump un-refined gas at extremely high pressure; such a pipeline project is virtually unprecedented and of questionable safety. Despite what the media often claims, Shell to Sea is not directly opposed to the development of the Corrib gas field. Instead, they are demanding that the project be re-designed to refine the gas at sea (hence the name) and that a deal is made to ensure that the Irish people see some monetary benefit from the natural gas resource. The two concerns of Shell to Sea are the health and safety of the local community and the fair distribution of natural resource benefits to the Irish people rather than only to the corporations pursuing the extraction of such resources. As it stands, the Irish government is offering Shell the staggeringly low tax rate of 25%, with the added bonus that 100% of the costs for the ‘development’ of the Corrib gas project can be written off. Therefore, the Irish people will see little monetary benefit from the sale of the resources that surely belong to them.

For these reasons, Shell to Sea has used a variety of tactics ranging from campaigning, negotiations and non-violent direct action to oppose the project as it stands. Throughout the campaign, many locals associated with Shell to Sea have been arrested, jailed, hassled and threatened by Shell personnel, Gardai and, anonymous masked men, as in the case of local fisherman Pat O’Donnell, whose fishing boat was boarded and sank. Therefore, the purpose of the Shell to Sea Solidarity Camp is to bring a show of support, both tactical and emotional to the locals involved with the campaign. The camp was originally established across the bay in Rossport, but was moved to its present location in Glangad, right next door to where Shell is planning to come to shore. Coming to visit the camp had been a goal of mine since moving to Ireland last year. I was eager to meet some of the people involved in the Shell to Sea campaign as well as the solidarity camp. During my brief stay, approximately fifteen other people were staying at the camp. The camp is organised on non-hierarchical principles, meaning that everyone shares in the decision making process as well as the day to day chores involved with the upkeep of the camp. This gives the camps a real feel of community and solidarity. The people at the camp are also closely connected to locals involved in the Shell to Sea campaign, as I was able to see when I attended a local Shell to Sea meeting with others from the camp. This was easily the most inspiring part of my visit. It was one thing to sit around a makeshift table in a tent, discussing the stints that various people had spent at the solidarity camp. It was another experience all together to sit in the Inver Community Hall with local Shell to Sea campaigners as they discussed their plans for continued resistance to Shell. These locals have been fighting against Shell for nearly a decade. They were on the Erris peninsula long before Shell, many of them farming or fishing. Their campaign is, at the root, aimed at preserving their right to make decisions about the issues most directly affecting them. In the process, they have just happened to come up against the largest corporation in the world, as well as the Irish government that is intent to sell Ireland’s resources out from under her people. The people of Erris need the solidarity of all of Ireland. I would encourage anyone with an interest in the campaign to investigate for themselves. The solidarity camp is there for a reason, to promote the local issues of the Erris peninsula and the Corrib gas field, so if you think you may support the Shell to Sea campaign, get yourself up to Mayo and show some solidarity!

For more info, please visit: http://www.corribsos.com http://www.rossportsolidaritycamp.110mb.com/index.html For general info on some of Shell’s dirty dealings, visit: http://royaldutchshellplc.com

"…the Irish government is offering Shell the staggeringly low tax rate of 25%, with the added bonus that 100% of the costs for the ‘development’ of the Corrib gas project can be written off…"

crudemagazine.net | issuefive

"His faded, browning Farah Fawcett duvet cover was as ever the centrepiece…"

> W

hat can be said about the great Michael O’Leary? Maverick? Possibly. Crass? Maybe. Prick? Most certainly. The big daddy of bargain basement travel polarised opinion throughout his turbulent and tumultuous career as the enfant terrible of aviation, piloting his company Ryanair to vertiginous altitudes while concurrently forging ahead with pioneering and equally stratospherically high prices for small tubes of green Pringles.

airline Southwest Airlines. Delirious from a long-haul flight – something O’Leary would develop a phobia for – the penny-pinching young tyro got confused, instead studied the workings of Southeast Airlines, a minute Texan based air firm used to ferry the rotting carcasses of expired farm animals. He returned to Ireland with this unique business model, and rigorously applied it to Ryanair, unaware of his grievous error. The company, literally, took off. Well, not literally.

Typically for a man who strove to cut costs at every corner, O’Leary led a life of modesty, never moving out of the same single bedroom in his parent’s house in Mullingar which after his passing was still adorned with posters for his beloved Arsenal 70-71 double winners, and a decaying, mould-bleached collage of the Bay City Rollers. His faded, browning Farah Fawcett duvet cover was as ever the centrepiece, tying the room together with a timeless sense of kitsch.

Now cock-of-the-walk, O’Leary, the freshly anointed Ryanair CEO, bid adieu to his parents and old bedroom and splashed out on digs in Crumlin run by his Aunt Josephine. (Although, that said, he left most of his board games and Warhammer figurines at home and would return every weekend.) With this pep in his step, O’Leary began to cultivate the overbearing and oily personality that he became known for in the public eye. His repeated scrapes with the media, bureaucrats and politicians became the stuff of legend along with his outrageous feats of publicity humping, such as the time he arrived at a press conference dressed as Joseph Goebbels to symbolise the ‘annexing’ of new routes to Vienna.

It was from these humble surroundings that O’Leary ran his multibillion euro travel operation for many years, not letting on to his beleaguered parents about his bedroom industry. They were often besieged with calls from angry Ryanair passengers decrying the shoddy customer service, from aviation authorities issuing writs, from environmental lobbyists lambasting the company’s ethical stance, and often found their quaint terrace home under picket from lowly paid baggage handlers. Michael routinely used the excuse that these people must have the wrong number/address and would quickly scurry back to his room after dinner. Of course the nucleus of this cottage industry was O’Leary’s fateful meeting with aging aeronautical eccentric Tony Ryan, whose floundering airline Ryanair had become mired in the owner’s batshit crazy schemes and inventions. Ryan, living in a hermetically sealed human-size hamster cage, eating nothing but Ricicles and drawing up blueprints for personal hot-air balloon transport devices, sent his gauche protégé over to the US to investigate the tight-fisted American

Quickly the public grew weary of O’Leary’s antics – fact that he never stopped appearing dressed as Joseph Goebbels also disturbed them. His bottom line scraping reached a nadir when passengers were asked to pay extra for any spirits or members of the undead who maybe loitering around their personage. The celebrated ‘Un-Recession’, which brought a sustained global boom and made everyone a mint, also put the kibosh on budget travel; many of Ryanair’s hugely expanded routes, Charleville-Mallow, Ennis-Bruff etc., faltered badly. O’Leary was seen to have flown too close to the sun, and died, in his Superman pyjamas, clutching a copy of Roald Dahl’s ‘Danny the Champion of the World’ on which he had scribbled out Danny and written ‘Michael’. His epitaph read ‘Exclusive low rates on Hertz car hire!’

issuefive | crudemagazine.net

he popular image of an early 20th century European art activist often depicts the individual proclaiming a firey manifesto for change while sending a cheering audience spilling coffee to the floor as the anti establishment rant propels the speaker across a café’s tables. This wild setting used to be the fondly remembered decadent bit in many a dramatised version of the birth of modernism. The actual origins of the image can be traced to the passionate behavior of the various artists and intellectuals who met in the cafés that operated at the time as Dadaist and Surrealist bases in Zurich, Paris, Berlin and Barcelona. Our own James Joyce would have been an expat customer some where there in his travels too.

Marliyn Lennon works in The Limerick School of Art & Design and knows her Cabaret Voltaire as being the 1917 café base of the Dadaist movement as well as being the adopted name of the cool 80s English electronic group. She also saw the Sarsfield bar in all its empty vernacular glory on the corner of Rutland Street and decided Limerick needed a place for Artists to start -in theory- standing on tables again. She then tracked down the Spirit Store’s current owner and said ‘I want this building’ and he said ‘why not’. The Sarsfield bar aka The Spirit Store has been closed in recent years and is currently surrounded by shells of property waiting for development. The Bars long-term previous owner was famous for a strict vetting of each punter who sought to gain admittance. He would serve a yea or nay on the anxious individual way before serving a drink thus regulating the space as a particular social environment. To say you got served there is still to this day “a mark of honour”, says the print designer for The Spirit Store project Paul Dowling - himself one such marked man. Paul remembers being told by the gatekeeper before he passed away that there were many offers on the bar and all were refused as he was against the space being ‘superpubbed’. The ethos always in The Spirit Store was one where measured conversation, cultural and otherwise, reigned in a very specific atmosphere and this is what the Sarsfield bar is remembered for most of all. For a town of its size, Limerick’s artistic social meeting spots are almost non-existent. Today’s Sky sport saturated bars and expensive coffee docks are just not conducive enough for a crudemagazine.net | issuefive

languid art hook up. This was one of the premises that motivated Marliyn and her team – including many current art school graduates – to act. Liaising with the current owner and Limerick organisations such as Shannon Development and Creative Limerick, a plan was carefully enacted resulting in the successful sorting out of all the legal logistics that allowed the space to be opened as a temporary art hub. So from August 16th to September 30th, The Spirit Store Art Café will be open, serving coffee and tea from morning to sunset every Tuesday to Sunday. There are 3 time slots each day, from lunch time, till evening, in which creatives from many different disciplines will give short presentations and invite debate afterwards. At least 60 diverse names are promised for these slots, discussing every thing from philosophy to pancakes via painting. Not all this time is booked at present and the café invites contributions from individuals and community groups who would like to share their practice or experience. The licence doesn’t allow for bands or dancing type behavior, but sometimes that’s ok in a spot too.

The passion of those Dadaists in framing their every day meeting space as the stage for their poetic impulses was primarily a reaction to the prevailing cultural norms that designated specific art for specific places. Today many of the current crop of young Limerick artists are as equally passionate in how and where their art is displayed as much as their peers were in rebelling against intellectual display constraints 100 years ago. The difference here is of course in that this generation now train themselves professionally for the challenge of displaying their Art socially and that means that they are more often on the phone to the council about health and safety than shouting manifestos on tables (which of course they are trained to do as well). The volunteers who have rebuilt the Sarsfield bar interior for the 2 months have previously legally reclaimed other disused and empty spaces around Limerick, always operating safely within secure time frames. This latest intervention will no doubt continue to impress their peers and Limerick audiences alike. The Spirit Store project is well organised with an engaging and diverse intellectual menu for a café. A non profit mission that will deservedly generate goodwill capital for all participants as well as for grounding the debate on how disused city spaces currently affect the social environment. The Spirit Store Art Cafe is located on the corner of Rutland Street across from the Hunt Museum in Limerick City. There is a web presence on Facebook with email also at spiritstore@gmail.com. Finally, in case Limerick holds any latent Dadaist cells we are obliged to point out that for legal reasons all artistic manifestos and intentions to move above table height while shouting must be emailed to The Spirit Store project in advance.

Let’s not forget that those Dadaists managed to get quite a lot done in those cafés as their legacy now informs much of the curriculum in Art Colleges worldwide. As for the legacy of the spaces and attitude by which the actual cafés became a part of the creative agenda? It could be said that their importance should equally merit a separate legacy of their own. And why not, for two months in Limerick The Spirit Store project would like to think so too.

rom the back streets and alleys of the creepy corners of Dublin suburbia, there has been an emerging talent with eighteen years life experience and yet only six of those have been spent on a magical plank of wood. Recently crowned the DC King Of Dublin, Keith Walsh has traveled the world over, making his name one to watch for the future. We caught up with Keith after the finals of the All-Ireland Skateboarding Championships to have a wee chat.

So Keith, how long have you been skating? I've been skating about 6 and half years. I just started because my friend started skating randomly outside my flat that I'm living in, then it just went from there. Just stuck with it. I remember yourself from back in the day, always skating the ramp n rail skate park, you were the kid who out of nowhere would just get some really good tricks. Was ramp n rail really where you started skating all the time? I started outside my block and then everyone was on about this skate park ramp n rail. I remember the first time I went there. My heart was pounding 90 because I had never been to a skate park before. And then when I went in, man… the smell of the wood and everything… was the best time ever! The park's gone now, but even if I roll up to a skate park today, my heart still pounds. I'm like "holy shit! I'm here! Let's go skate!" What do you think of all the new Irish skate parks? A couple of years ago we had none, and now we've loads… Yeah that's kinda weird… When you think of Ireland, all you think of is green grass and just fucking rain. So building outdoor skate parks is weird. If they put all the money and built one huge indoor skate park, it would be even better. But at least we have skate parks to skate now, there's no point in complaining.

Kickflip Photo: Serrano

You've been traveling a lot as of late and coming down South to skate more and more… are you not happy about the Dublin scene? No no, it's not that at all. It's good to travel, it's good to film, and it’s good to get tricks all over. Some of the spots up in Dublin are just blown out, so if you go to new spots, it's just better… issuefive | crudemagazine.net

> Ollie over Dublin's scary 14 stair hubba Photo: Feehan

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You've only been on a board 6 years and it’s taken you a lot of places… Yeah man, I went to Tampa twice. Stayed out at the Black Box skate park for three months, got some footage and photos over there. I've been to England, Germany… man, skateboarding had just taken me to places that I would have never been to otherwise. How'd you get on at the Tampa comps? First time I went over, I got 23rd out of like 130 skaters, and the 2nd time I went over and got like 40th out of 100 skaters… so I wasn't too bad! Tell me about the DC King Of Dublin comp, you're the proclaimed King Of Dublin, how did it go? It went good. The competition was mad hectic, and tricks were going down, so I just knew that I had to step it up. Cian Eades, as you know, rips everything. Joe Hill was just skating really good, and it was just such a good fuckin' skate like… it was unreal. And today was the All-Ireland skate championships, and you came second place, same as last year, how'd you feel about that? Not too bad man! Chillin'! Taking it one step at a time… How's your ankle? I saw you hurt it pretty bad during the competition… Yeah… I fucked it up on the gap back lip. Tweaked it, but still rolled it! But I had to take a little breather for a sec then kept going. Right now my ankle's still sore, and wrist it fucked as well! (laughs) Who's the next big name coming out of Ireland then? Fuckin' Cian Eades man! He's such a good skateboarder…

Who's been hooking you up, who are your sponsors? G1 Skate Supply, Red Bull, Bones, Thunder, Reell Jeans and DC Shoes… I haven't got a board sponsor at the moment. Shout outs and thank yous? Shout out to all my sponsors, to Cian Eades, to Gav Coughlan, to Graham, to Serrano… shout out to anyone I forgot! Backside Noseblunt Photo: Feehan

Last words? Holla at ya boy!

Photo: Serrano

What's next for Keith Walsh? Me and Cian Eades are making a skate video. Should be out pretty soon, just filming it at the moment. Also I'm getting a 12-page interview in Sidewalk Magazine. When I was out in the States, I skated just really really hard, skated the biggest rails… I have picture on the Hollywood High 16 stair! So just watch out for it!

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> Backside 50-50 Photo: serrano

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n a rainy/sick/hungover day, there’s nothing more I like to do than sit in my comfy clothes (which consist of a big hoody and some old, tatty pj bottoms) with a nice cup of tea, some goodies and watching a flick that I’ve seen a million times before but somehow always manages to cheer me up. So let me tell you about one of my favourite movies of all time. Andie, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks meets Blane, a boy who is from the right side of the tracks and thus begins a romance with Andie’s funny but quirky best friend, Duckie (who is also in love with her), giving his side comments of why it will all go wrong. Of course none of their friends approve and with very little in common except a mutual attraction, it all goes wrong. Resulting in Blane breaking Andie’s heart, but it all does work out in the end. This movie is called ‘Pretty in Pink’ and it’s one of many 80’s teenage romance films that I over indulge in. This movie made me fall in love with some of his other classics such as ‘The Breakfast Club’, ‘Sixteen Candles’, ‘Ferris Buellers Day Off’, ‘Uncle Buck’ and the lesser known ‘Some Kind Of Wonderful.’ The one thing that all these movies have in common is that they were all either written, directed or produced by a man called John Hughes. If you’ve never heard of or seen any of these particular movies, I’m sure you’ve heard of ‘Home Alone’, ‘Trains, Planes, and Automobiles’, ‘Beethoven’, and ‘101 Dalmations’; all John Hughes movies which everyone has grown up with and are for some people a secret guilty pleasure. He has a back

catalogue of nearly 40 movies, some of these also include The National Lampoon series. I wanted to write something about this great man, as he just passed away on August 6th of this year, and I felt that if you’ve never heard of him, now is a great time to have a John Hughes movie marathon. Born in Lansing, Michigan, Hughes lived in Chicago, Illinois where most of his movies were set. He took inspiration from his friends and collegue’s teenagers to write his many scripts. Lots of people who have starred in his movies have gone on to have successful careers.

Matthew Broderick, from ‘Ferris Buellers Day Off’ went on to, well, be Mr. Sarah Jessica Parker, but still he’s done some good movies and plays. Jon Cryer who played Duckie in ‘Pretty in Pink’, is now one of the stars of ‘Two and a Half Men’ along with Charlie Sheen, who made a brief albeit memorable appearance in ‘Ferris Buellers Day Off’ too. Micheal Keaton, best known as the original motion picture ‘Batman’, starred in Mr. Mom, Hughes’ second ever flick. I could go on and on but I’d be here all day and well you get the idea. I think most of John Hughes movies are great, especially all his films from 1984 to 1990, after 1990 they get

a bit corny. So to begin your voyage on your 80’s themed couch day, you have to start at the beginning and watch ‘Sixteen Candles’ starring Molly Ringwald (she’s in a lot of his films!) and see if you can spot a very young John and Joan Cusack. This being Mr. Hughes first teenage romance comedy, it sets the standard for most teenage rom-coms. ‘The Breakfast Club’ is his second teenage comedy venture and I think it’s great that this whole movie pretty much happens in one room of a school, with five very different students serving detention together for a whole day. Next on the list for me is ‘Weird Science’ and with two nerdy guys making their own magic woman, who makes all their wishes come true. Fourth is ‘Pretty in Pink’ (see above for my synopsis), 5th is ‘Ferris Buellers Day Off’ (gives you great ideas for ditching class for a day), 6th is ‘Some Kind of Wonderful’, this film is the least known but gives the great feel-good factor we need on our humdrum days. 7th is ‘Planes, Trains, and Automobiles’ with John Candy and Steve Martin; how could you not like it? Last but definitely not least is ‘Uncle Buck’, again John Candy and also a very young Macaulay Culkin. I really could talk all day about these great movies and the amazing John Hughes, but it’s better for your pop culture knowledge to go experience these fantastic films yourself. So go put on your comfiest clothes, get your goodies ready and sink into your couch then sit back and enjoy. What more could you ask out of a dull day, when even walking to the shop seems like a struggle. issuefive | crudemagazine.net

wenty six year old Jamin Keogh is an award winning photographer born and bred in Limerick City. His most recent and debut exhibition â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Buffalo Soldierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; launched in the Limerick Absolute Hotel and has been causing waves ever since with countless sales and now a permanent residency in the hotel. A passionate photographer from a young age, martial arts have also formed a big part of his life. Although he would pick photography over kickboxing, he couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t imagine life without the sport and training, and does so everyday, not because he wants to, but because he has to. Due to cracked ribs, he is currently not competing.

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A recent graduate of the Limerick Senior College photography course, he has had a lot of press in local newspapers and radio. His ‘Buffalo Soldier’ exhibit is a collection of works, years in the making. Rather humble and timid, Jamin was rather nervous about his first exhibition – a natural feeling for any young artist, but he put it down to “there is no point in hiding” and makes an interesting comparison to kickboxing; “you can train away for years, but you need to compete. You need to put yourself out there. I wasn’t sure how it was going to be received, but I did it and hoped for the best”. Jamin has since been invited to Turin in Italy for another exhibition. Although photography is a major part of his life, when I asked if this is what he would like to do for the rest of his days, he modestly replies “time will tell. I’d also like to be a Social Worker and I’d love to be able to combine the two”. A Limerick man at heart who loves his city, he wants to take some time away from home and move on to see the rest of the world and meet new people. “I love travelling and I don’t see the point in being in the one place for the rest of your life. Life is meant to be lived.” Jamin would like to thank everyone that helped him through out the years, everyone that has supported him. “Family and friends, you know who you are”.

www.jaminkeogh.com soon to be online.

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Jamin’s exhibition ‘Buffalo Soldier’ is currently on display at the Abolute Hotel, Limerick. For further information contact jaminkeogh@ hotmail.com.

Ireland’s first Climate Camp shuts down two peat-fired power plants

undreds took part in Climate Camp Ireland at Shannonbridge Co. Offaly, which was held under the shadow of the ESB peat-fired power station from August 15th – 23rd. The event was open to all with amazing workshops, fun by the camp fire, river swims, and actions to shut down some power stations… ahem! At least 22 Climate Camps are taking place around the world this year from New Zealand to Ecuador to take direct action against the root causes of climate change, have eco-workshops, live sustainably, and build a movement for climate and social justice. Climate Camps call on people to have the balls to take the power back and take peaceful direct action to create a more sustainable world. Climate Camps have taken place in Britain since 2006 (http://climatecamp.org.uk). The idea of the Irish Climate Camp began when some Irish activists took part in the UK Climate Camp at Kingsnorth in August 2008, which opposed the reopening of a coal mine there. Inspired by it all, they returned, began organising and got more folk involved. Some organisers were from Gluaiseacht, a group who organised Ecotopia (a European-wide environmental gathering) in Clare in 2002, (www.gluaiseacht.ie). After many meetings, online chats, and a million calls, Climate Camp Ireland ’09 was on! The organisation of the camp is based on principles of direct democracy, inclusion, co-operation and the full participation of all those who attend through morning meetings, sharing daily tasks like cooking and cutting firewood etc.

Why Shannonbridge? Near Ballinasloe lies the quiet town of Shannonbridge, beside the River Shannon. The locals were quite bewildered and amused with the Camp and the week’s events, with obvious mixed views on the message of closing the plant as some locals work there. (40 only mind you, for a plant that cost €240 million – was that efficient use of dosh or what? Did I mention it’s a heavily subsidised industry too… eeek). Many lively discussions were had between campers, locals, the friendly local Gardaí, and other town visitors. Climate Camp’s main aim was to highlight the unsustainability of the industrial burning of peat to produce electricity which is insane for 3 reasons: 1. It destroys the bogs which are an important carbon sink, bogs are precious habitats full of biodiversity and a place for flood waters to be stored. 2. Peat is even dirtier than coal as it releases even more C02 when burnt. To get nerdy… peat generates three times more emissions per megawatt produced than dirty coal. 3. The bogs are cool and are like moors that made Kate Bush write cool songs like ‘Wuthering Heights’. Leave ‘em off will ya! Sooooo… Burning peat is FECKIN SHITE, for you, for me, for future sprogs, for dandy butterflies on the bog, and our compadres in those far away lands we tend to forget about, who are already suffering droughts and floods due to climate change! 300,000 people are dieing annually from climate related catastrophes, yet our Governments aren’t taking action fast enough. So Climate Camp believes we must take the power back!

Sustainable Living The Camp was built and run as eco as possible, with compost toilets, reused materials, like old sinks and wood. Fianna Fáil's Garret Tubridy unknowingly contributed to the eco-conscious Camp as local election posters were reused as part of the men's urinals! There was wind power and solar panels providing power for projectors and laptops. Showers were heated by an efficient wood-burning stove, backed by a solar water heating system.

Lental Disorder Major shout out to the Lental Disorder possee wonderfully run by Tracey, and Gav, Aron and all the daily volunteers who dished out fab vegan food. We ate falafels, carrot and coconut salad, nachos, cous cous magicness, locally produced fruit and veg, and ranges of teas galore. Totally bitchin! They do many festivals during the summer, so get yer fill.

Workshops There was a savage line-up of workshops given by Irish and international speakers, experts and ordinary participants. There were workshops on community gardens, drumming, the Shell to Sea Campaign, Permaculture, Plane Stupid UK, Peak Oil, effective direct action campaigning, musical oil wells for kids, singing, the Tasmanian Forest Campaign, Transition Towns and cob oven building, to name a few. It was great for all ages.

Each day began with a gentle wakeup call at 8.30. I (MO’C) did 2 of these. The first was Michael Jackson’s ‘Man in the Mirror’. I feel Michael’s songs belong in the movement. Earth Song, Man in the Mirror, They don’t really care about us… The second morning I played Take That’s ‘I want you back’, but changed most of the choruses to ‘I want you up, you see I want you up for breakfast’. In all my years playing music, the round of applause I got for this song was one of the best ever. Having strolled around the tents and garybarlowing them awake, I got a simultaneous burst of applause from many tents. The earliest and best gig I’ve played in a while.

Direct Actions “Anyone who believes that all laws should always be obeyed would have made a fine slave catcher.” John J. Miller, And Hope to Die There has been a great history of struggle against injustice by direct action, be it the Land League, the anti-Apartheid movement, the suffragettes and more recently, groups like Greenpeace. So taking direct action is our moral obligation if the planet is to survive. Many imaginative actions took place over the week, from peaceful protests blockading the gates of the power plant, to filling in bog drainage trenches as a first step towards bog restoration. The main day of action was Saturday August 22nd. Bemused locals watched the parade and said nothing like this had ever happened in Shannonbridge before.

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Paraders from the camp dressed up as zombies and the dark forces of dangerous carbon emissions with a symbolic chimney stack. Campers held banners which said “Bogs are our rainforest” and ”Climate change costs lives”. There music and chanting galore. Kayakers unveiled a banner in the river saying 'Sponge Bog Stops Floods', as the parade reached the bridge timed nicely with cyclists returning from another direct action from the bog. Ten Garda cars, about 30 cops, and some special branch met the parade as it approached the power plant. Small scuffles broke out and some police were unnecessarily rough with people, but no one was arrested. Other climate campers took direct action on two nearby peat-fired power plants on the same day. One group hung a banner at the Edenderry power station which read “Climate Justice Now ”. Another group protested at Lough Ree power station in Lanesborough by chaining themselves to the gates, while others entered the plant, did a banner drop from the main building, which read “Give Peat a Chance”, and also stopped a conveyor belt feeding peat into the furnaces. The Lough Ree Power Plant was shut down for most of the day, so the direct action worked! Two of the activists were arrested, but were not charged. Climate Camp also effectively shutdown the Shannonbridge Power Plant beside the camp for the whole week, which authorities said was for maintenance reasons, but we think that it was too much of a coincidence. Our presence was enough to make ‘em flick the switch!

Challenges for the future So many have been inspired by Climate Camp Ireland that future events and plans are already underway to travel to Copenhagen in December 09 to take part in the actions planned at the international climate talks there. At the COP15 talks, a new agreement will be signed up to, to replace the old Kyoto treaty, which, let’s face it, the Western nations didn’t do a good job at honouring. The task at hand is clear. If the earth’s temperature rises by 2 degrees, we’re fucked. If it rises by 4 degrees, all life will probably die out. So, it’s a no brainer really! The next all-island Climate Camp Meeting will be held on September 29th in Dublin. See www. climatecamp.ie for more details. Thanks to all who supported the many fundraising gigs which took place around the country. Climate Camp was made possible because of you! Donations are always more than welcome online. Love, M Peace, N

Wake up call

s we live in a time of a bottomless pit of indie wank musical clones, it’s always refreshing to suddenly here something quite different. In fact so different that I can’t seem to label it under one precise genre. I try to describe it by mixing and naming a wide variety of styles and band names only to result in something which sounds like the bastard child of a mongrel gang bang. But this mixed breed freak I seem to be describing does no justice to the actual music of Ireland’s most exciting new act, Walter Mitty And The Realists. One thing I can say about them with up most certainty; I could dance all day and all night. issuefive | crudemagazine.net

> Leitrim brothers and guitarists Niall & Connor McTeigue, drifted down the Shannon to be greeted by Limerick rhythm section, Colin Bartley on bass and Paul O’Shaugnessy on drums. Together they formed a band with a varied array of musical backgrounds and a chart stopping musical factory spitting out funk punk hits left right and centre. They’ve played all around the globe with such bands as Dirty Pretty Things and The Proclaimers, such festival as Mantua, Knockanstockan, Great Friday and Burning Seamus. Last year they were invited to Toronto for Indie Week Canada, where they were crowned victors of the seven day festival, and landing them a management contract across the pond. crudemagazine.net | issuefive

After what seemed like a never ending wait, the debut album from WM&TR is finally here. ‘Green Light Go’ is the title of the eleven track long player which has been in the making for quite some time now. Recorded in the home studio of Fergal Lawler, drummer for The Cranberries, this record is by far, one to add to the collection. Featuring a host of guests including Belgian beat boxer Benoit, Tara & Anna from We Should Be Dead and of course

their celebrity friend Mr. Lawler, came out from behind the mixing desk to perform on, in fact, every song on the record! The nicest bunch of people you will ever meet, and one of the greatest bands you will ever hear. ‘Green Light Go’ is out now. Get it. Love it. Live it. www.waltermittyandtherealists.com

orn in London in 1975, Con Cremin moved to Ireland at the age of 6 and studied at the Crawford College of Art and Design in Cork City and graduated in 1997 with a BA in Fine Arts. Always drawing since a young age, Cremin has grown to be one of the most respected artists on the island, renowned for his stunning portrait work. His portrait work was selected to compete in the prestigious Davy Portrait Awards in 2008. Although he did not win, his work graced the cover the of the Davy Portrait Awards book that year, and now in more recent publications, our own cover of Crude Magazine.

For those who believe that portrait and landscape artists such as Cremin would spend their time listening to soothing classical tunes could not be more wrong. Cremin’s artistic background runs deep along side with his musical background as once guitarist for punk band The Poke, whose original line up consisted of members from Giveamanakick, Tooth and The Freebooters. A lot of the music he listens to while working is quite intense. Cremin insists that even if he’s listening to country, it has to be proper country or outlaw country. He has no interest in Garth Brooks or Billy Rae Cyrus. “The Nashville Scene is a joke, give me Hank Williams any day of the week”. When it comes to heavier music he isn’t interested in frilly guitar solos, he prefers to listen to something that is more direct and intense, with no frills. To him, he approaches painting in the same way. He is not trying to dress up what he paints or trying to pretend that something is better than what it is. It’s a painting and he has his reasons for doing it. www.myspace.com/concrem concrem@hotmail.com

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I can still remember the first time I saw an episode of The Simpsons. It was a wet, dreary Sunday evening, way back in ‘91 and for whatever reason I was in my uncle’s house, watching it with the family. The episode, I would later discover, was called “Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish,” the episode where Bart discovers a three eyed fish in Springfield River and includes the immortal campaign slogan “Only a moron wouldn’t cast his vote for Monty Burns!”

It would take another few months until we received that magical cable box which quadrupled the number of channels on our TV in the house (“who thought one insulated cable could bring so much happiness?”) and with it followed an almost religious devotion to this animated show which was broadcast every Sunday evening at six o’clock – without fail for almost eighteen years. It’s now 2009. I’m a lot older and hairier. And despite the fact that it’s eighteen years since that fateful evening, I’m sitting in the front room of my friend’s house, watching an episode of The Simpsons; the one in Duff Gardens, to be precise. Since its initial US release in December 1989, The Simpsons has gone on to broadcast fourhundred-forty-one episodes over twenty-one seasons and has released one motion picture feature, an attraction in Universal Studios Florida and a merchandise empire of useless paraphernalia rivalled only by Krusty the Klown. It’s earned the producers twenty-four Prime Time Emmy Awards. There’s a Simpsons star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (right next to Laszlo Panaflex, oddly enough). The voice talent involved in the show now commands a staggering salary of over $250,000 per episode. Were it not for The Simpsons there would be no Fox News [sic]. I could continue spitting out facts and figures but I think you know where I’m going with this; as sitcoms go, it’s a pretty big deal. Considering that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the show’s first broadcast, it still has a great deal of work to do to catch up on the world’s longest running animation show, Sazaesan, which has been appearing on Japanese TV now for a monumental forty years. Can The Simpsons beat this record? I have no intention of answering this question. All I will say is that I sincerely hope I’m not watching new episodes

of The Simpsons in 2029. To be perfectly honest, I hope I’m not watching new episodes of The Simpsons in two years time. But let’s not launch into criticism just yet; after all, we’ve had a lot of laughs watching The Simpsons. I’ll never forget the first time I watched Homer Simpson plummet into Springfield Gorge on a skateboard. I was in hysterics for an hour solid. In the episode where Bart takes revenge on Homer for forgetting to pick him up after his soccer game by getting that Bigger Brother Tom, I thought my sides were going to split watching that city wide brawl. How’s about when they go to Australia? The list of brilliant episodes just keeps going. And the characters we’ve been introduced to – Homer Simpson, the last great philosopher of the 20th century. Lionel Hutz, lawyer and part time cobbler. Troy McClure – who you might remember him from such movies as “Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die” and “Gladys the Groovy Mule.” And who could forget Mr. McGreg, with a leg for an arm and an arm for a leg? Over the last nineteen years the emphasis of The Simpsons has shifted from stories of your average dysfunctional family to the antics of an entire community full of lovable characters that have entertained us, enriched us and gave us all something to talk about in class rooms and bars alike. For example: I’ll never forget that time I went to the RDS in Dublin for that event designed for Leaving Certificate students to check out different colleges – can’t remember the name of it. What I do remember, however, is the bus journey back, where my comrades and I kept ourselves entertained by going through the back catalogue of Simpsons musical numbers for the duration of the trip; much to the chagrin of our beleaguered companions who weren’t in the mood for it. Their loss, I suppose. Yet for all it’s accolades and awards, to say that The Simpsons has gone on to break innumerable records and succeeded in etching its name into the annals of television history is to forget a far more pertinent point which affects each and every one of us on a more personal level: The Simpsons has gone on to shape the sense of humour of an entire generation of people across the Western Hemisphere – both viewer and prospective writers alike. Because of the immense influence this show has had I feel it’s hard to imagine how some of our favourite shows could have existed were it not for The Simpsons. In order to come into its being Family Guy needed The Simpsons so that it had that yardstick by which to measure the levels of its own irreverent and random brand of humour. While one can only speculate whether Futurama would have gotten off the ground were it not for the success of Matt Groening’s brainchild, it’s probably safe to assume that it would have been a very different kind of humour had The Simpsons never existed. And its influence isn’t just limited to animated shows. Just think of some of the series which have come out of the States that haven’t either been influenced by, or a response to The Simpsons. The painfully short lived

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And it’s an awful shame to watch a program that had been so ingeniously funny go to the dogs. Plot and emphasis on a sustainable narrative were the first to go so that by season thirteen, it felt like you were watching three or four story lines crammed into twenty-two

minutes. Soon the characters themselves were to become the victim of lacklustre writing; as a friend of mine observed, Homer went from being a comedy hero to a piss-poor caricature of himself. In more recent episodes, I find the double act of Chief Wiggum and Lou has become cringe-worthy. Despite the harsh criticisms and noticeable decline in quality, is it fair to say that all hope is lost for the show? Season twentyone demonstrates an improvement in both the humour and plot departments, with ‘The Burns and the Bees’ displaying a fine balance between eclectic sketches and an environmental subplot that indicates a certain return to form. Unfortunately, it seems to me that after so many years, it’s just not possible to keep producing a quality program that can attain the same standards of comedy genius The Simpsons had at one time reached. So the only question that remains is: where to go from here? Have you ever seen Old Yeller? If you are still reading this, you’ll notice that we’re coming close to the conclusion. And in an article with such a provocative title as this one, you’ll notice that I haven’t dedicated an awful lot to documenting either the decline or fall of The Simpsons. There is, however, a far more important point which I would like to raise regarding this all important television program; after all, Dear Reader, the glass is half full. The best course of action is not to get bogged down in how irritating it has become to watch the episodes produced in the last eight years and instead, recall how much enjoyment you got from watching The Simpsons when it was untouchable. Relish in the fact that after all these years the show continues to be broadcast across three terrestrial channels which occasionally throw out a gem of an episode and remember: “It didn’t use to be this way, Smithers. Oh no. It didn’t use to be this way at all.”

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Arrested Development – one of the most original sitcoms released in the last ten years took some of the fundamental tropes in The Simpsons – the dysfunctional family and larger than life characters – and created a show which expanded these themes, bringing them into hilarious new territory. Hell, the only sitcom I can think of that doesn’t owe something to The Simpsons is Larry David’s masterpiece Curb Your Enthusiasm; a program that continues to redefine the possibilities of the sitcom format. Yet despite all the awards, reverence and fond memories, these points can in no way hide the bitter truth which so many fans of this venerable series have had to face up to; the last eight or so years were brutal.

Armed with nothing more than booze, a tent and novelty sunglasses (the three most important things to survive a festival) we leave Limerick just after 8 o’clock to make our way to Electric Picnic ‘09. Previous years have taught me that the earlier you make it to the picnic the more likely you are to beat the crowds. Unfortunately this year everybody else seems to have the same idea as us! After the long arduous trek from the bus stop to the entrance with booze and camping gear in tow we finally make it after a barrage of couples bickering, friends arguing, lost tickets and a slew of people unaware of the ‘no glass bottles’ rule at festivals! But we carry onward, finally getting our 240 euro wristband. We head over to ye olde faithful Jimmy Hendrix campsite to sent up camp, but there’s confusion, half of us are in one spot, the other half in another! Half of us trek over to find the others so everyone can be beside each other. As noon breaks all the camp is set up, everyone is in ‘high’ spirits and the first can of the festival is broken out to kick off the festivities. We’ve arrived! Even the muck and rain can’t dampen our spirits. But it was the mud that was blamed for the late opening to the main arena that afternoon while a couple of hundred people waited to get in. Unfortunately this meant that I missed Peter Broderick as did many others due to the schedule fuck up. After missing Peter Broderick I hang around the Crawdaddy to see what’s what and I’m subjected to one of the worst pieces of tripe I will see of the entire weekend, ‘The Temper Trap’. I’m getting worried, missed someone I wanted to see, saw that shite, Friday isn’t looking promising so far. I cut my losses with the Temper Trap and head over to see folk star ‘Jeffrey Lewis’. When I see Jeffrey Lewis I’m greeted with a sigh of relief with his acoustic

folk punk songs and he even injects some comedy into his set regaling us with bizarre short stories and other tall tales he made up. He finishes his set by telling the audience they can buy some merch from him after the show instead of at the merch stall because “those fuckers will rip you off”. Impressed by his DIY ethics I consider picking up a CD but I’m distracted when I see Peter Broderick in front of me. In awe, I consider going over to talk to him but I pussy out so a friend heads over and gets his autograph for me. I immediately regret not heading over! A few of us sit down outside on the grass and wait till Boy 8 Bit takes to the stage, I see the lead singer from the Temper Trap walking around, consider heading over to talk to him but decide against it, I really couldn’t have been arsed to be honest! We hear some thumping choons inside the Little Big Tent and that’s our queue to down our collective cans of beer, black rum, vodka and whiskey and head inside. Boy 8 bit was definitely the catalyst for the rest of the night, sparking a bit of energy and life into Electric Picnic. After his set is finished and an uproar from the crowd goes up, immediately Major Lazer takes to the stage. Major Lazer is Diplo and Switch’s bizarre Jamaican rap rave sideproject. Tonight Switch is nowhere to be seen so the duty falls to Diplo and an MC to get this crowd pumping. The screams and applause when they take to the stage is deafening and the tent goes crazy. I had to leave early to catch Efterklang but reports back included raised hands, zombie dancers and a stage invasion at the end! After Efterklang finished their chilling, ambient, lo-fi set I was in a relaxed mood. I head over to check out some shops, fuck all there, I half listen to ‘Time to Pretend’ by MGMT while I’m shopping, they sound as shit as ever so I head over to catch Dinosaur Jr on my own. Dino Jr would have been great if not for incessant noodling of guitars, tweaking of knobs and annoying drum rolls in between their songs. Their songs were played flawlessly live but in between songs they seemed non-chalet,

uncaring and unprofessional. I’m about to give up when I meet some of the gang and I stay put till the end. But they kept at the noodling and tweaking which infuriated me! For a band who have been touring for longer than I’ve been alive (I’m 20) you would think they would have their shit together! I’m hungry so I head off to pick up some food, ‘Pieminister’ catches my eye. I order something and they throw a pie, a shitload of mash, mint mushy peas, gravy, onions and cheese into a box and I shovel it down! If anyone reading this got a Pieminister while they were here then they will understand that words cannot describe how seriously amazing this meal was! While I was in the queue I caught some of newly reformed Orbital’s set on the main stage. Although the sound wasn’t great on the main stage all weekend there was something lacking from their performance that didn’t lift the crowd like it would have in the 1990’s. To cap off the first night I head off to the hippy Body and Soul Village and catch Kormac and his big band. Their set of 1920’s swing dance and jazz put under a club beat was great and even included a barbershop quartet, a VJ and a special performance from Messiah J and the Expert for one of their songs. But it’s been a long day and I’m looking forward to Saturday so I head back to the campsite to get some rest.

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‘wan more chooooon’ chant deafens the tent but the Explosions lads cheat us of it and leave the entire tent wanting more! We rush back over to the main stage to catch the last few songs of ‘Madness’, surely they’ll save at least one of the hits for the end right? Wrong! We’re subjected to a geriatric Sugs plugging 4 or 5 songs off the new record. When they finish the crowd dissipates with the audible ‘what a load of bollocks’ conversation passing me by in the queue for. . . . You guessed it, another pie! The last act for me of the night was visual artist ‘Chris Cunningham’ known for his ‘fucked up’ Aphex Twin videos and that one Playstation 2 ad, guys reading this will know the one I’m on about! Technical problems effected the start time of the show. No-one in attendance, myself included, really knew what to expect. What we were subjected to was the ultimate subliminal messaging, snuff video and Nazi propaganda with a hint of Star Wars, no joke! The images shown were raw, visceral and accompanied by equally troubled beats. He even wipped out his Rubber Johnny – the disturbing Cunningham short featuring a deformed basement-bound mutant child. After my melted brain began coming back to reality we went to a secret party in the Body and Soul Village. What I saw there was amazing; 5,000 people dancing and singing at a Ceili! This was my first and hopefully not last Ceili, it was amazing. Trudging through the shit and muck at 5 in the morning we mad it back to camp for some rest. In a few hours it would all kick off again!

The Sunday was an abysmal start, rain just kept pouring! Muck was ok but being wet and cold is not a pleasant feeling at a festival! But the rain kept pouring for hours! Luckily for everyone there was nothing of remote interest on for anyone and we sheltered in our tents. When the rain stopped everyone congregated outside and made a pact. Hypnotic Brass Ensemble at half two! Done! This was without a doubt one of the highlights of the weekend Hypnotic are the funkiest ensemble in the world that played hip-hop swagger and a whole load of soul in their nine-strong brass-led performance. The crowd loved Chicago’s finest ensemble, half way through their set the tent was at full capacity which called for some crowd surfing. Unfortunately for me I had to take the worst piss of my life while they were playing, I ran to do my work and came back to an acne ridden fat fucker of a security guard not letting anyone else into the tent. I watched from

outside in dismay wishing I could get back in. Then opportunity arose when security let their guard down and a flood of people ran into the tent to catch the end of the set. Justice! I head over to catch Switch, the absent half of Friday’s legendary Major Lazer performance. The set was great but I was too sober and worn out from the entire weekends festivities to get into it, along with the rest of the crowd. While everyone rushed over to catch ‘Florence and The Machine’ I started boozing on Southern Comfort cocktails. Occasionally catching an ‘Echo and the Bunnymen’ song. Afterwards Fionn Regan takes to the stage, a fan of his first album I start looking forward to his set but he appears with band in tow and knocks out some cock rocking hillbilly country blues bull shit and I leave before the second song finishes. I found his ‘new style’ hilarious, go rip off Bob Dylan somewhere else. I look at my timetable and I notice TBC on it and this mystery is playing right now, I scamper over to find out who it is, I’ve been hearing rumours of Dizzee Rascal all weekend! Turns out to be Dublin’s ‘The Jimmy Cake’ who entice the crowd with their own take

on psychedelic krautrock. Royksopp are next but the sound is absolutely awful for them and I live hoping to catch them some other time with a more pleasing sound. The last act of the night for me was ‘The Flaming Lips’ and there’s not a better festival closer than these guys. I have never experienced a band who have put so much effort into their live show; there was confetti cannons and balloons, giant balloons fired into the crowd, a huge half-circle visuals screen that the band passed through at the start, Wayne Coyne’s token bubble passing over the heads of the audience and trippy green lasers. The spectacle was great but the music was greater, playing all the hits from their back catalogue plus a few new songs from their forthcoming release in October. This was more of an experience than a gig! The end of the night consisted of drunken meandering, amazing Angus burgers and freaking out the squares man! We also heard that one of the main characters from The Wire, Carcetti, was camping up at the picnic all weekend! Roll on next year, but maybe keep all the muck for the Oxegen crowd!

After 12 hours of sleep, almost unheard of at a festival! I wake up feeling great and ready to take on another day. I head in to the arena around 11 to catch ambient instrumental one man, ‘Chequerboard’. I catch almost three quarters of his set before the hunger sets in. I need to find a greasy breakfast roll and a nice cuppa fast! Success! After one of the nicest breakfast rolls I’ve ever had we head over to the Electric Arena stage to catch Dublin’s ‘Cap pas Cap’. Once again there is a fuck up with the schedule and they start half an hour later. They play to a half empty tent at noon but towards the end of their set the crowds flock in. Realising there’s nothing of interest I want to see for another few hours I head back to the campsite to start drinking. Several hours later I emerge from the campsite and into the arena (de ja vu) with the rest of the gang. But in the drunken haze we get separated! Fuck! Guys are with the Guys, girls are with the girls! It’s like some bastardised teenage disco that’s following us around for the entire weekend. In my drunken stupour I manage to miss, ‘A Flock Of Seagulls’ and ‘Billy Bragg’, balls! I head over to see Lisa Hannigan and apparently started yelling out how shit she was, everyone around me agreed. I leave before she finishes her set and luckily meet back up with everyone. I get another pie, fuckin job it was! We’re about to head over

to catch ‘Bat For Lashes’ like everyone else at the festival only to hear that she was involved in some sort of accident and had to pull out. Not only that but ageing female funksters, ESG, one of the most anticipated acts for me of the entire weekend missed their flight over. Can’t anything go right for me today! I head over to catch the Klaxons, an albeit guilty pleasure of mine. It was awhile since Klaxons had played Ireland and when they walked out on stage the anxious faces on the members was visible but this anxiety was quashed when they played a no nonsense, all the hits plus a few new tunes (which weren’t bad), straight to the point set that sent the crowd into a raucous cacophony of applause and awe. Klaxons were blown away by the Irish cheers and revelled in every cheer from every person in the crowd. Instantly we all leg it down to the Crawdaddy stage for ‘Explosions in the Sky’ picking up some Southern Comfort cocktails en route. The Texan instrumental four piece grace the stage and the full capacity tent greets them with cheers and applause. This ambient foursome kicked off proceedings and the entire crowd was encapsulated by their melodic wizardry and uplifting and rousing songs. When they finish an immediate

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decade after Limerick’s most established tattoo studio opened it’s doors, the winds of change have rolled into town. For the past ten years Danny Bullman has established himself to be the best of the best, making a name for himself, and introducing a once closed-minded Limerick, to the world of tattoos. And putting Limerick city on the map

of the world tattoo scene. Now, it is the end of an era as Danny has left the city to see the world and work abroad, leaving the studio in the extremely capable hands of family and friends. The current staff of five are a team of individuals brought together from across the globe with more than 20 years collective experience. Having to step up their game since

the departure of the city’s ink godfather, they have to prove themselves to city that they really are that good. With change comes a new look. The shop has gone under an entire revamping, but keeping it within the concept of a traditional tattoo shop look. None of this modern clean cut boutique look, just straight up rock and roll.

Louise Riordan

I was into that kinda style. And growing up in New York you see a lot of pierced and tattooed people. Being a young impressionable kid, you’re amazed by it. You’d see people with cool crazy coloured hair. It’s great. But my first piercing… There’s two of them, I was 15 and I was way too young to be getting pierced, and now I’m very strict because of it, but my nipples were my first piercings.

Age: 27 Where are you from? Born in Cork, moved to New York when I was 3, spent most of my life there and when I was 19, I moved to Limerick. How does it feel to be the only girl on the team? I’ve never viewed myself as being a girly girl. I’ve always been one of the lads. I’m pretty vulger! Sometimes I can go a little bit lower than the guys can go! But

no, it’s nice, I like it. They’re great guys to work with. They’re a lot of fun and each person has their own special personality. I really enjoy the personal relationship that I have with each guy. They come to me for advice sometimes and they’re just good guys to hang out with. It’s a lot of fun. First adventurous piercing? When I was about 12 I used to pierce my ears in the classroom when I was bored! Definitley not recommend! But I knew then that

First tattoo? A really dodgy tribal tattoo on my lower back. I have it covered up now, but you can still see it. When I got that done I was also 15. I lied about my age and so I can always cop on to people when they are lying about their age now! Was it a big shock to go from a very free way of life and expression in New York to hitting Limerick? It was a huge shock! I came over and I was a young gutter street punk from New York and I got a lot of scumbags calling me a hippy! It wasn’t a huge change but over a few years, I noticed that I started to dress more conservatively to a

– resident piercer

limit. I found it was really difficult and was really hard. I remember when I first came to Ireland, I was one of the very few tattooed women here. It was interesting because I had that kinda ‘wow’ factor and I was accepted into a lot of social circles. Made me feel really welcome and people really liked me. I think now after coming back to Limerick after a while being in Cork, I see so many heavely tattooed women with amazing tattoos and great style. I think it’s an amazing transformation from the way it was when I first came here. For some reason I think that Limerick has a heavy tattooed population now. Thank yous: Thanks to Mike for helping me out at the start. Thanks to Seany Bullman for taking me on; one of the most respected men and he’s great for letting me come here. He’s just a great guy. Don of course because I wouldn’t be here it if wasn’t for him. And of course my family, my parents, brother and sisters, for accepting me and my lifestyle! issuefive | crudemagazine.net

Don Hordeijk

Age: 31

Where are you from? Holland How long have tattooing? About 15 years…

you

been

What age did you start tattooing? I was 16 when I started. How did you end up in Limerick? Jesus, long story man… It all started out when I had two studios in Holland. My friends were in an apprenticeship with me. They

– resident tattoo artist

studied with me for 5 years and after that I basically gave them the keys to the shop and I went traveling for 8 years and ended up in Limerick. I could have picked Rome or Limerick! So I ended up here and since then I never left. You’re happy here? Yeah man, absolutely. What would be your favourite style to tattoo? My favourite style would be traditional Japanese. I would do most things, I’d be all round. There’s certain stuff I wouldn’t do, but I do most of stuff. When did you first arrive to Limerick? Oh Jesus… It was like 6 years ago.

I’ll see you back here in half an hour?’ Just like the TV show! Eh, no, you can see me next week! Do you like the TV shows? In the beginning I had no clue. I was a bit iffy about it, but I actually got really into it. What was it like coming from a very large tattoo culture to Limerick? I’ve learnt a lot of new stuff here and you can learn from everybody. Doesn’t matter if they’ve been tattooing for 5 years or 20 years. It’s always good to be in different cultures and different countries, you pick up everything you can

and get the best out of everybody. And you’re doing it for yourself cos you see someone doing a certain technique and you say ‘oh I like that, I’m going to use that’. That’s why I think travelling is very important for people, it gives you more of an understanding. What’s the future hold for Don? More travelling! But I’ll be here in the shop for the next couple of years. Thank yous: I want to thank the shop and everybody who works in the studio for looking after me.

Bullman tattoo studio

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Was there really a tattoo scene back then? It’s getting more popular. People are watching TV shows and stuff like that, so they are getting the right ideas of what’s out there and basically asking the right questions. People come in and want a sleeve done and say ‘So

Tommy Ryan bio-mechanical. More organic stuff than anything else. I love that stuff. I don’t get much of an opportunity to do it in Limerick. Everyone says when they start off tattooing, old school is their thing. I like doing old school, but it’s not my thing. I wouldn’t be doing it for the rest of my life.

Age: 33 Where are you from? The Island Field, Limerick, born and bred.

When did you get your first tattoo? 15. A spider done with a needle and a bottle of indian ink.

Age: 29 Where are you from? I’m from Vienna, Austria and I’ve been here for the past three years. When did you start tattooing? I started tattooing and did my two-year apprenticeship in Vienna in Tripple X aka ‘Rattle Snake Tattoos’, as its known now. It was a very hard apprenticeship; getting no money and having to do

How long have you been tattooing now? Realistically I’m tattooing 2 years, with friends and stuff, but I’m full time tattooing customers, 4 months. Favourite style? Guy Atchinson would be my style,

Why did you get into it? Some would say that you started late in life… You never know what you want when you’re younger. You want the sun, moon and stars and then when you get older you realise you don’t. I came from Australia and I had nothing and Danny gave me a job here as manager. Then Fred and Sean took me on then as an apprentice. I’ve been here since… listening to Danny’s crap! Now you have a job you can do anywhere you want… Yeah, it’s what I love doing. It took

– resident tattoo artist

me a while to get into it, but it’s what I love doing. I’ve always had an interest in tattoos, but I never saw myself as a tattooist. I only started drawing 4 years ago when I came in here. I didn’t know art or anything before that. Did you find it a struggle or did it come easy to you? It was a struggle. Nothing’s easy, but there’s nothing you can’t learn. Same goes for anyone. Everyone talks about my age… Nah! Age is nothing. Anyone can do it. Anyone can draw. All you have to do is sit down and practice. It’s all practice. Thank yous: Thanks to Amy for getting me up off my arse. Thanks to Don and thanks to Danny and Sean for giving me the job and giving me the opportunity.

Bullman tattoo studio

everything. Being the first into the shop and the last to leave. Being responsible for everthing…

What brought you to Limerick? I met Danny Bullman in Rattle Snake when I was doing my apprenticeship and we got along great. He wrote to me asking to call over to Ireland. I wasn’t sure in the beginning. Didn’t like the idea of the steering wheel on the other side and all this stuff! But I came over, and there’s always

Ulrich Hueber

– resident tattoo artist

great craic in the shop and it was good fun. That’s one of the main reasons why I stayed here, and I could learn a lot from Danny.

How long have you been tattooing? 5 years. I was tattooing in Vienna for one and a half years, and then I was tattooing around Europe for one year after that. I have a big mobile camper van which is a mobile tattoo studio with solar panels on the roof. I used to drive around Europe and tattoo people. I Loved doing that, then Danny got me over and I was here for a little bit and it was fun. Now I’ve got an Irish girlfriend, so I’m stuck here now!

Favourite style? My favourite style is definitely realistic black and grey stuff. I do lots of very realistic animal portraits, and I’m getting better and better. A good tattooist has to be able to do everything ya know? Paul is very good with tribals, Don is very good at traditional and I would say I’m good at black and grey and shadow work, but in the end you have to do everything. Thank yous: Thanks to opportunity.

Danny

for

the

Do you like it here? Limerick has a very bad reputation with everything that’s gone but I’ve met the best people in my whole life in Limerick. I love Limerick, it’s great fun. Nightlife and stuff is really frustrating, they don’t leave me into some places because of my tattoos. The nightlife is pretty poor if you come from a big city. In Dublin you have great gigs and stuff, but with Limerick, I like working here. I would never swap working here with any other shop in the world at the moment. I’m very happy and Danny was always a great mentor. issuefive | crudemagazine.net

Bullman tattoo studio

Where are you from? Shannon Co. Clare How long have you been tattooing? I’ve been tattooing customers over 6 months, but tattooing a year before that with very trusting friends and family!

Who were you an apprentice to? I was an appentice for two people: Danny Bullman and Don. I learned a lot from the two of them. I learned black and grey from Danny and for my line work, getting my lines clean and straight, I learned that from Don. Same with colours, I learned a hell of a lot from Don. Two brilliant people to learn from because Danny has 20 years experience and probably one of the best tattooists in Ireland. Don has 15 years experience and in my opinion is one of the best tattooists in the county, without a doubt. Did you see this as the thing to do, since tattooing runs in the Bullman family? I always knew I was going to be into tattooing. I’ve known from an early age that I wanted to be a tattooist, because all I was interested in was drawing and art. And what better way to make a living than tattooing. I’m not really into the whole painting scene or anything like that so I said I’ll give tattooing a shot. Do you see your future here in the shop? I really want to go to the States and tattoo over there. I think it

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– resident tattoo artist/ piercer

would make me a better artist. There are such good artists over there. I don’t want to just stick to the one shop and stay in the same place where my art is going to stay the same. I want to do other things and check out other shops. See what they are about and learn some stuff from artists from around there. Your work station is filled with religious artifacts… Yeah a bit too religious really. It’s nots that I’m very religious, I just find the religious icons cool. I really like the Madonnas. She’s just beautiful, she’s my favourite religious icon. I have her tattooed on my arm as well, and I plan on getting The Lady of Guadalupe on my ribs. What are your own strengths and favourites styles? I love doing free hand tribal. I love just taking a pen and just drawing straight onto the skin. I love doing black and grey, like skulls, demonic stuff and the old school stuff. I’m kinda getting into coloured stuff now, but I really prefer black and grey. Even on myself. Do you think being a good tattoo artist is in Bullman blood? Does it come easy to you? I’m not going to bullshit ya, I find it very easy yeah. It’s something I feel I was born to do. I think I’m a good tattooist already and I’m only tattooing 6 months. There is no other job I would rather do. It’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was 5 or 6 years old.

Thank yous: Thanks to Danny for giving me the opportunity. Thanks to Don for teaching me so much. Thanks to Tommy for being a wanker! Thanks to Uli for showing me some stuff as well. Thanks to Seanie for teaching me how to pierce and thanks to Ciara for putting up with me for the last year.

Age: 27

Paul Bullman

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Why do you think skateboarding is more popular than rollerblading in Ireland? skateboarding is just bigger... You’ve got all the tony hawk’s games and more and then you’ve only got 2 rollerblading games. no one really looks into rollerblading in ireland and to what’s going on. all the main companies are based in america and england, but now ireland’s rollerblading scene is starting to get really big. Cork’s gotten really big and dublin’s got stupid with rollerbladers! It’s really good like. It’s slowly coming back.

Name, age and where you’re from… my name’s mike o’ neil, I’m 19 and I’m from london. Born and raised in London? no, I was born in tipperary, grew up there til I was 9, then went to england when I was nearly 10. stayed there for a few years, got into skating at skate parks and came back to Ireland. lived in dublin for the first 2 months, then tipperary for about 6 months and then down in limerick since august of last year. And how long have you been skating then? two and a half years. Have you entered any comps? Yeah, I won Kings of Concrete last year at the all-Ireland finals. Sponsors? i’m sponsored by a company called SDSF. it’s my mates company based in england but it’s branched off to america now, they’ve got their own skate shop in California. they’ve got their own little skate park out the back and they have a big competition every year called the sdsf open.

Any plans for the future with rollerblading? all my friends tell me I should try and get better and go bigger and try and get bigger sponsors but to be honest with all the sponsors and that… it’s all about the money and I don’t like that. I do it for the fun of it. I go out skating and anyone who straps wheels to their feet is asking for trouble anyway. they’re asking to get hurt. Going pro and that, to be honest, fair enough, if it happens then, whayhey! But if it doesn’t, I’m not going to let it get to me. I want to keep it fun. tricks used to all be about flips and big tricks but now it’s all about technical spins and grinds and that. it’s getting kinda stupid with the stuff that’s coming out. there’s lads doing 900s into grinds no bother and they’re landing them and just to look at it, you can’t see yourself doing it. I like the idea of just doing it for the laugh and not getting payed for it. If I ever need parts and that, I just have to get in touch with SDSF and they gimme the parts i need. That’s it. Any thank yous and shout outs? Yeah my mate ross who got me into skating. I knew him from BmXing and I used to go down to the skate park and see him, and he left me on his skates and it went from there. my mum, cos she bought most of my skates for me. my ex-girlfriend aoife who’s constantly supported me through it. and then probably most of my mates, cos they just supported me with my skating.

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ecession recession recession. Oh what a lovely time this has turned out to be. The people of Ireland went cash crazy during the Celtic tiger boom after the dreaded food stamps era of the 80’s that now it seems, we’re back at square one again. An unexpected slap in the face from a very empty wallet, and we weren’t prepared one bit for it. While a two syllabled Asian homosexual prances around our TV screens giving us his latest hot tips as to how to beat the credit crunch with “affordable” fashion garments and accessories, he still manages to spend over a week’s wages. Leaving us all, a little pissed off. We want more… for less! Perhaps it’s time to pay attention to the famous 3 R’s of our greener futures. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Yes, this applies to clothes too!

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Dublin born Ruth Crean has been giving clothes a second chance at life. For the past couple of years Ruth has been revamping and restyling tired garments and second hand items for herself, as something to pass the time away. When asked about her quirky, fun and colourful style she quickly realised there was a demand for something like this in people lives. As we’re living in a time where everyone is conscious about their money, we must look at other ways of doing things. Ruth began Nice Day Designs, where she makes custom made cards and hand crafts, as well as taking customers item and restyling them in their own individual funky way. Ever since she began selling at

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market stalls in Limerick City, the popularity has been immense, and Ruth’s garments are in demand more than ever. From shops up and down the country eagerly seeking to stock her items, invitations to take part in fashion shows and even RTÉ calling her up to give her a feature interview on Nationwide… one could say things are looking very promising. A print making graduate of the Limerick School of Art and Design, Ruth has no background in the fashion industry what so ever. This has of course worked to Ruth’s advantage. As she doesn’t know what are the rights and wrongs in fashion law, it means she has been able to break all the rules and rewrite her own.

With help from her boyfriend John Elliott and good friend Una Hussey, Ruth has been able to take Nice Day Design from strength to strength and encourages everyone to do as she does; look in your closet to see what can be saved or visit a charity shop to imagine the possibilities. And why spend the hard earned bucks on brand new cloned clothes from multinational chain stores, when you can support a local business, purchase a unique item of clothing and still have some euros left over for a few pints. Sorted. www.nicedaydesigns.com www.nicedaydesigns.etsy.com www.nicedaydesigns-ruth.blogspot.com

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words Photography by Shane Serrano crudemagazine.net | issuefive

adies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to hairdresser and DJ, Niall Colgan. He is a man who does not like boundaries. He sees them, he breaks them. He follows no one’s advice, but follows his heart with every decision he makes. This sounds like the rookie moves of any stubborn entrepreneur, but for Colgan, his gut decisions have taken him further than he could imagine, and yet not as far as he would like.

Born in Dublin, Colgan moved to Limerick at a young age. Although he still supports the Dubs at any available opportunity, he considers himself a Limerick man at heart, and refers to the place as ‘Ireland's best kept secret’. At the age of 12 he began getting his first DJing gigs. “My next door neighbour worked on the Radio 2 show and I used to get picked up every night and I used to go with my little box of records… I had spent every penny I had on records!” recalls Colgan. “For the first 6 or 7 months I used to go help set up gear and after that I would get 20 minutes or so on the turntable.

One night my neighbour couldn’t do it and I was told that I could do it. By the time I was 14, I was doing all the nightclubs!” Son of one of the founding fathers of the University of Limerick, Colgan’s interests of academia and the arts began to clash with those of his father, and at the age of 15 moved out of home into a basement flat with friends. He continued DJing two nights a week and became a glass boy in a nearby pub. Enough work to keep him self sufficient to cover his weekly rent of £17.50!

Niall’s creative mind was always ticking and wanted to be involved in the fashion industry one way or another. Despite his keen interest in wanting to go to art college, he didn’t want to finish school. With the advice of a guidance councillor, he was asked why not try hairdressing. The following morning he was taken to the Hugh Campbell Hair Studio, and the rest is history. Niall has since, been hairdressing for the past 25 years, 20 of those spent with the Hugh Campbell Hair Group where he has learnt everything he knows. Now, standing at the mature age of 40, Colgan felt he and his most recent employers were moving separate directions and in February of this year, was confronted with a sink or swim situation. Despite being offered several new job opportunities in Ireland and New York, Colgan believed this was his time, and made the bold move of setting up his own business in times of an international economic crisis. In June 2009, Niall Colgan Hairdressing opened its doors on the banks of the majestic river Shannon with an impressive staff of 18. A slick state of the art studio with guest DJs in all the time and champagne served for customers… how could this not make anyone love their job. “This is only my first salon and already I have to look at expansion in a couple of years time and when better to start but in a recession. They say a successful business in a recession will never close and If you are confident in your product then that’s what it’s all about. I have confidence in my product and my staff. I wanted to open a hairdressers salon rather than a hairdressing salon. A place where hairdressers can come and express themselves, a place where they want to come to work everyday and be part of a progressive team”. Apart from being daring as an entrepreneur, Colgan has also been daring, pushing the boundaries as a hairdresser in Ireland. A few years ago a hair group launched a collection called ‘Deconstruction’. It was where you took the hair and broke the rules, texturised it and whacked into it. Colgan found that a lot of people lost sight of what it was to give a beautiful haircut, spending all their time weakening hair with all kinds of texturising and slicing, when hair itself is a beautiful natural texture. Working with that kind of technique and straightening irons made hairdressing the art of damage issuefive | crudemagazine.net

“I know where I want to be as a hairdresser and this is Everest. At the moment I feel like I’m at base camp. Maybe Niall Colgan Hairdressing has allowed me to move on to the 2nd camp, but I’m still nowhere near where I actually want to be. I will continue to strive to improve my team and grow together and you never know what will happen in a couple of years time”.

limitation r a t h e r than the art of hairdressing. He was finding clients coming into him going “My hair is absolutely fucked! There is nothing I can do with it!” and he was having to cut it all off and start again. And at that moment in time he decided that he would work with the natural movement in hair. Bring colour back to having shine and condition and have stronger lines. In spring of last year, Niall launched a collection of images entitled ‘Structure’. "Working off the inspirations of architecture, we wanted to show people that beautiful hair doesn’t have to be texturised. The ‘Structure’ collection was born out of going back to natural beautiful hair." The collection was launched in Limerick’s Dolan’s Warehouse to a full house, with hair models onstage. Niall got up and talked to the curious audience for over 30 minutes and showed them a video presentation where they used imagery of architecture and related copy lines. No one expected what they saw. He believes some people were there to see him fall flat on his face.

When one speaks to Niall Colgan, one can’t help but get sucked in by the passion and intensity that he has for his job. In fact, apologies, I believe ‘job’ is perhaps not the right term in this situation. ‘Job’ can in most cases denote someone doing something for the simple reason of money. By the strong look in his eyes, you can immediately tell, this isn’t his job, this is his life. He believes with every bone in his body in what he does, and after a few words with him, you will too. www.niallcolganhairdressing.ie // 061 582240

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Colgan has since, been working on a new collection, “hair collections work in a natural progression. Since we started encouraging the natural texture of our clients hair and allowing it to dictate instead of us, we have moved on, letting their hair be more natural. And now what we are doing is working with more movable hair, but still working with strong lines and showing off the natural texture of hair. The collection will be called “Flow”.

Hi Damien just heard you're back in the water after being out with a knee injury, are you recovered? Ya just been back in the water for the last 2 weeks but it's summer and there’s hardly any swell around. So what have you been up to lately without any surf? Well I have just been chilling around Lahinch and having more than the occasional beer with all my mates. Tell us how you started surfing Well I started surfing at the age of twelve just with one of my friends from school.

Meet Damien, a surfer born and raised in Lahinch County Clare who has come to be one of Ireland's best surfers. Making a name for himself in competition surfing home and abroad, while pushing the limits in free surfing charging waves around the country, Damien is definitely a surfer to look out for. Only eighteen and sponsered by Nike, Tubes Surf Shop, Beachbeat and Ripcurl, we decided to catch up with Damien to talk about surfing, music and ladyboys.

Who would be your local surf crew? Hugo Galloway, Danny boy (who’s out injured because he broke his knee cap surfing) Johnny Smith, Ollie O Flaherty, Liam Grant, John Buckley, Richie, Ruben O’Brien and Crazy Cian. You’re pretty well known for doing well in surf comps around Ireland and abroad, do you think surfing with these guys helps push you in the competitive scene? At the start definitely but now I feel I have to go abroad to push my surfing or meet up with some of the best guys in Ireland like Ferg, Cian, Liam Joyce and Aaron Reid. Any good travel stories? Ya. When I went to Bali when I was 14 I went with two friends Richie and Colin. One night coming home from the nightclub we all needed to pee so as we were on a motorbike drove down the lane and what looked like a ladyboy walked up behind Richie and started to feel him up. An hour later walking home Richie realizes that the chick that felt him up and ran and jumped on her bike actually stole his wallet. Nice. How does Ireland compare to all the places you have surfed around the world? I think it has just as good waves but it's just way more inconsistent than the rest. Top five songs to get up pumped for a surf? System of a down-fuck the system… Kanye West-good morning… Tool-the pot… NWA-straight out of Compton… Rage-guerilla radio

Photo: skerritt

Meet the locals: Damien Conway

Photo: Karbus

Was the surf scene in Lahinch as big back then as it is now? Well back then there were only a few people surfing. Then in the last four years it's started to boom but it seems to be slowing down recently I think.

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Photo: Karbus

Buying a few boards would be a good thingâ&#x20AC;Ś I see that you snap them quiet a bit, how do you keep doing that? Well just surfing heavy slabs can kill a lot of boards.

I heard about the ten grand for the first person to get footage of them doing a kickflip do you think you could do it? Nah that would be pretty insane I am still just trying indy grab airs and reverses it'll be a long time before I start trying kickflips.

What you going doing for the winter? Hopefully travel a lot. I am going to start towing in this winter as well with John Mac and try getting a lot of coverage for my sponsors.

Alright Damien thanks a lot, any shout outs before you go? Ya just to Ollie he is a big man and to all the Lahinch boys yewwwwww.

Photo: skerritt

What would you do with the ten grand if you won it? Buy a few boards probably, go on a boat trip with my mates, buy a car and throw a good house party.

You used skate before you surfed, do you think coming from skating is how you progressed in surfing so much? I reckon it helps your balance a lot.

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> E

very day on our little planet, a group of inviduals come together to make music for the first time and a new band comes into the world. Some we know about, most we have never heard of. Some will make music that will change our lives, others will make music to cover our ears. Either way, they do it for themselves, for the love of doing it and to pursue their passions with no regrets. Crude talks to three Irish bands in the various stages of their careers. The young guns, Ocean Over Head, as they begin their journey with the release of their debut EP. The veterans, Hope Is Noise, as they go from strength to strength with the release of their highly anticipated second album. And the departed, Giveamanakick, as they decide to pack it in after a succesful seven years, and announce their final tour.

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rought together at the end of 2006, when all else failed. Kieran Sims (guitar/vocals), Conor Tobin (drums) and Lucas Keane (bass/ vocals) have been in many a band in their local scene, but when they found themselves doing nothing with their previous projects (SKB & Pen15) they decided to join forces, and this little experiment has been paying off quite well for them. “I was listening to The Ataris one day and missed being in a band, so I text Conor and asked if he wanted to start a band, and it went from there” recalls Sims. “I orginally wanted to play bass and get James Nestor (ex-Not Important) in on guitar duties, but just when I was going to ask him he got asked to join The Demise!” Sims and Tobin hit the practice room never the less, but wanted to hear the new songs with some bass and asked their good friend and Tobin’s ex-bandmate, Lucas Keane, to pop in for practice one day. Within a few minutes he had picked up on all the songs, and the line up was complete, although Sims’ dreams of strumming four strings in a band were shattered, the band known as Ocean Over Head was now born.

In their own words they describe the band as “pop punk at its finest”. Although they are no strangers to the stage, they do admit that they feel more comfortable with this band as they believe themselves to be more experienced and mature. And with this valuable knowledge under their belts they have hit the ground running, picking up an endorsement deal with Artus Clothing and releasing their debut EP, ‘The City Belongs To Me Again’. Recorded between Red Door Production studios and the home studio of Owen Lewis (REM, Flogging Molly, Courtney Love, Snow Patrol), this powerful five track EP is filled with songs about religion, abusive relationships, alcohol depedency and paying your friend €8.53 to sleep with you. Mastered by John Nacilero in New York’s Nada Recording Studio - an infamous studio which has played host to such bands as Brand New and The Ataris. It seems that all the right cards are in place for these young pups and now it’s all up to them to make it happen. Expect great things. visit www.oceanoverhead.com

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Photo: Serrano

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> Photo: Serrano

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ovember Friday the 13th will see the boldly named eight-legged Corkonian rock and roll monster, Hope Is Noise, release their second album, ‘Under Friendly Fire’. What for most, a second album release may seem like the stepping stones of a young band making their way up the musical ladder, this album is in fact released on Friday the 13th for a very important reason. It marks 13 years of sharing the stage with one another. And in a time where divorce seems to be the growing trend, one can only wonder how a four-way relationship has gotten this far. They of course have never always been Hope Is Noise. After years growing up together on the same street and in the same schools, they have hit the stages of the people’s republic under the names of Terranauts, and The New Messiahs. Even at one point had an American singer fronting the band. When he decided to return state side this left the band with two choices; call it a day, or make it as a four piece. Fortunately for them they deciding to stick together, scrap the songs, start all over again with a whole new set and a whole new sound, and indeed a whole new band name. But where did the name Hope Is Noise come from? Singer and guitarist Dan Breen explains: “I had my drink spiked one night, and I sent a barrage of texts to my ex-girlfriend and ended one with “All hope is noise! All hope is noise!” To this day I have no idea why I wrote that!”.

They openly admit that there is no guarantee that they will make a third album, and for this reason they are taking the second album very seriously. They know that they are not young pretty things, so they make music that they want to play, because they don’t care if people like it or not. They are relaxed, happy, and comfortable with themselves. They have laid a lot of ground work and they have played every part of Ireland that you could possibly play. These four men in their early thirties, stand and as one of the oldest bands in the Cork music scene, and state that they only have one regret in the jounery so far; not getting their shit together sooner! www.myspace.com/hopeisnoise

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In life, everything is about the right things happening at the right time. For Hope Is Noise that is exactly what happened. Spending the best part of a decade attempting to get acceptance from their local scene, they were suddenly smacked in the face with legions of loyal fans, and invitations to tour extensively their home country of Ireland and even over across the pond, state side. “We spent the first 6 or 7 years being naïve and not really looking to the business side of things and not really worrying about PR. But we feel that we’ve have gotten to a stage now where we’re learning a lot very fast and in saying that we are realistic. We are not clinging to the dreams of going big, but if that day comes, we’ll give it 100%” . Recalls bassist Patrick Gillen. “One of the biggest things we’ve learnt, was don’t give up just because you’re not making any money. Just do it for the fucking sheer buzz of it and the people you meet. We want to leave a legacy. We may not have conquered the world but it doesn’t bother us”.

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t’s a sad realisation when one comes to terms with the fact that no one or nothing lasts forever. Like everything else, life and music are both on a journey together hand in hand, but all journeys have a beginning, and an end. Ireland’s finest noise merchants giveamanakick have decided to call it a day after an extremely successful seven years. I spoke to the standing half of the dynamic duo, Steveamanakick, to have a chat over some herbal tea as to what led them to the decision they’ve made. Born from the ashes of two of Limerick’s great metal acts, Tooth and Calzino Fiasco, Stephen Ryan and Keith Lawler came together to be the fathers of what was to be one of the most important bands to come out of stab city since The Cranberries. What began as a small solo project under the humourous name of Giveamanakick, it quickly became a noisy little two piece who eagerly tried to get on gigs with anyone and everyone that would have them. Still trying to find and define their own sound, they hit Mark O’Connor’s infamous Balls Of Iron studios to record what became their debut album ‘Is it ok to be loud Jesus?’. “We never knew what we sounded like before we recorded our first album, and it was only after the first album, it gave us the freedom to realise what we could achieve having only two people”. Good friends of the band Richard Bourke and Albert Twomey decided to start a new label to release the band's first record. Out On A Limb Records was born, and later went on to release such quality Irish albums by Ten Past Seven, Rest, Waiting Room, Hooray For Humans and most recently Crayonsmith. With their debut long player release, things got a little more serious, which led to the band buying its first van, naming it Fergus, and touring across every creepy strange corner this island has to offer. This was the beginning of a constant flow of going from strength to strength for Giveamanakick, as the high profile gigs rolled in with major support slots and festival appearances. After two years of exhausting touring, it was time to hit the studio once again. Learning from their experiences on the road and still getting to know who or what they really were, they became a machine gun of a band, with little or no breaks, firing out songs with no mercy. A technique which they wanted to project onto their next record. On their way to record their second long player, they had a rather horrific crash where Fergus lost his life. Fortunately neither steveamanakick

nor giveamanakeith were injured, but were left in shock and waiting 8 hours in torrential rain to get towed away. They finally arrived at the studio at 5am, and at 10am began recording and mixing for 7 days straight. This record was later called “We Are The Way Forward” and is what many consider to be one of the most important Irish albums of recent times. “It took us a while to realise why that album sounds the way it does… we were completely in shock. And then there we were, waking up a week later back home, asking what the hell just happened?! And we had a shiny new album… it was brilliant!” The bold and confidently titled second album was the breaking success for the powerhouse duo as they continued to shatter any and all assumptions of the limitations that a two piece rock and roll band could achieve through music and on stage. It wasn’t long before mass media attention copped on, and real rock and roll was given hope once again on Irish radio. More tours, high profile gigs and international invitations followed to the likes of Germany, Canada, New York and the United Kingdom. A third album release, legions of fans, thousands of albums sold, and the opportunity to tour and play with their favourite bands of all time including Deftones, Ministry, Dinosaur Jr., Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Rocket From The Crypt, The Undertones, Liars and so many more… Sounds like a dream come true to so many, which is why a bewildered audience has been left with the question on the tip of their tonques… why has giveamanaquit? Why now? “We made this decision quite a while ago, but we wanted to do an acoustic tour first. Now we’ve done that. We’ve done what we wanted to do, how much more can we do? We did 3 albums, toured everywhere we wanted to, played with probably over a thousand bands… we’re done I think. This is it. We did everything we set out to do… the boxes are ticked. We’ve given most of our twenties to giveamanakick and I’m really happy we did. Are we both into it as much as we used to be? Definitely. But we could see it fading a little if we kept at it, and there was no way we were gonna let giveamanakick fizzle out.” “We’re not saying that we’re not going play together again, not as giveamanakick anyway. But never say never. We may play again in years to come, strictly for nostalgia, but not to record a new album. I think Keith’s going to take a break. As for me, I’m never not going to do music. I’m a musician. There might be things that might distract me, but I’m always gonna be a musician, and to deny that would be a falsity.” So there it is ladies and gentlemen. To quote The Flaming Lips “Do you realise that everyone you know, someday will die. And instead of saying all of your goodbyes, let them know you realise that life goes fast. It's hard to make the good things last”. Six last tour dates have been announced. Take advantage of the last chances you will ever get to see the mighty giveamanakick. 7th November, Electric Avenue, Waterford 14th November, Cypress Avenue, Cork 20th November, Whelans, Dublin 21st November, The Stables, Westmeath 28th November, Roisín Dubh, Galway 18th December, Dolans Warehouse, Limerick

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Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s everywhere! But what is it and where did it come from?

Perhaps being the youngest martial art to exist on our planet, it is also the most unique. Every person who practices Capoeira is given a name. A nickname as such, usually given to you by the master or instructor. And these names of course are in Portuguese. The origins of the nick name tradition is also a little vague. It is believed that the names were given so as to had your identity. But this also doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t quite make sense as in a lot of cases your Capoeira name could be more popular than your actual name. Unlike other martial arts, studying capoeira does not only involve learning the moves and skills, but to advance to the highest levels, a European must adopt Afro-Brazilian culture, learn to speak perfect Portuguese and be proficient in all the movements as well as musical instruments. The common misconception with Capoeira is that it is a non-physical martial art. This is in fact not true. There are physical contact competitions, but unlike other martial arts there is not a quite a points system, but is more judged on how you play the game. To watch Capoeirista experts do their thing is an amazing sight. All movements just flow like a dance, with some very impressive movements. A lot of moves can be very reminiscent to those most popularly known through break dancing. The connection between the two cannot be proven with any hard facts, apart from the one common factor: African culture. In Ireland there are currently over 400 active members practicing Capoeira, with their numbers growing with every year. Many schools, such as this one in Limerick under the guidance of Mestre Piau, meet weekly to practice an ancient mystery. They come from all parts of the globe, all walks of life, all ages, men and women. Get in touch. Get involved. www.candeiascapoeira.ie capoeiralimerick@hotmail.com crudemagazine.net | issuefive

words

& Photography by Shane Serrano

The ancient Brazilian martial art known as Capoeira has been slowly taking over the world, and over the past decade, taking over Ireland. The origins and history of the Afro-Brazilian art form are not quite defined and up for debate, as a lot of documentation was destroyed towards the end of the 18th century. But what is popular belief, is that groups of slaves from the region of Africa now known as Angola, developed a way to practice fighting techniques for escape, but all the while, giving the appearance to slave owners that they were in fact, just dancing. In 1888 the Golden Law was enforced by the Brazilian government, officially banning the practice of Capoeira with sever punishment for those caught. It was nevertheless practiced by the poorer population during work-free hours and riots were common due to police intervention. It took almost four decades for Brazil to learn to admire Capoeira as a sport and national past time. Ever since, Capoeira has caught on as wild fire to the world, and curiously Capoeira can now be found in Angola, the place of itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s birth.

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The Waterford BMX scene first started roughly twelve years ago. Back then the scene was much bigger than it is today which also meant it was much better, but as the years past the scene began to die off. It left only a number of riders including Ray Farrell, Isaac Quinn, Simon Tobin, Alan Power, Ben Hayes, David O'Brien and myself Leon Phelan. Today BMX has become much stronger and many many BMXers from Ireland have come to think that Waterford produces some very talented BMXers, such as my older brother Jason Phelan, who has made a name for himself internationally and is on some of the biggest sponsors in BMX today, such as: Wethepeople, Nike 6.0 and Rockstar Energy Drink. Even the smaller kids are coming up! Look out for a kid called Conor Winters in the future, he seems to have bundles of talent! Anyway that's about it. The guys in Waterford are a bunch of chilled out lads who just want to have fun. Always up for a good laugh and love meeting new riders from all over the country. So come down and ride with us anytime!

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hat a shite old Summer we’ve been having. We needed something to boost our spirits and have a reason to celebrate before we head back to our sad reality of school, college and jobs. The Tubes All-Ireland Skateboarding Championships, now in its second consecutive year, was the date marked on everyone’s calendar. But of course, as I mentioned before, we’ve been having quite the crap Summer indeed. So the entire event was weather depending. Fortunately God, Allah and every other divine spirit you can think of was smiling down on us. This year ran differently than the last. Qualifying heats were held up and down the country in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Wexford, filtering the select best that this country has to offer. Just under 40 skaters across the under and over 16’s categories were through to the grand final at Limerick’s Mount Kennett Skate Park. The park itself was looking different from last year as the city’s best graffiti artists were granted permission by the city council to spice it up a bit.

All-Ireland Skateboarding Championships Tubes 2nd annual

Andy Jolly of Tubes Board Sports ran the entire event, along with a rake of sponsors and a host of skate shops around the country. Jolly explains: “The aim was simple; an event by skaters, for skaters. Although the main focus was on the skate comp, we would be giving them something that hopefully would be a common, good and shared experience, by the skate, music and graffiti communities, and the industries that support these creative endeavors”. The crowds flooded in from all over to view the happenings and an all round feeling of good vibes filled the air. The best trick contest went down first at the eight stair. The sheer amount of tricks that were landed was amazing. We all knew we were in for a good day. The wee man from up north, Mini Brown, ollied late shuv over the handrail. The three young guns of the moment, Keith Walsh, Gav Coughlan and Cian Eades, were the hot favourites for this year’s competition, and it was obvious they were to take the gold, silver and bronze. The only question was, who!? As a result of the amount of tricks landed in the best trick comp, I don’t believe the winners were appointed for one trick… but for everything they did! Keith got himself the third spot, with his backside 360s, nollie boardslide down the handrail, 360 flip and nollie backside 360. Gav Coughlan landed in second place with kickflip backside 5-0 down the hubba and a mighty laserflip. The hands down winner of the best trick was Limerick local, Cian Eades. Not sure if he won for his nollie backside heelflip, switch flip, hardflip, frontside bigspin, nollie bigspin heelflip, nollie backside kickflip, nollie hardflip or even his insane triple kickflip?! He won. No doubt. The overall winners in the Under 16’s final, were Dublin boyos Charlie and Timmy Nolan snapping up 3rd and 2nd place, but once again, another Limerick local, Roy O’Halloran, took the gold. The grand finale of the day was the Over 16’s final, which saw the likes of Joe Hill from Derry cruising with style, flow and consistency. Limerick mad man John O’Connor scaring parents and children alike by dropping off the railings into the corner bowl. He has the swellbow to prove it! Dublin legend, and oldest skater in the event, Al Collins proved he’s still in the game. And no matter how tough things can get, he always had a smile on his face. Ollies over the driveway to 5-0s down the rail led to some serious knee scrapage. But yet continued the comp with the piece of flesh dangling in the air with every trick! Not for the faint hearted. Of course as I mentioned earlier, it was far too obvious that Keith, Gav and Cian were to take the top three spots and so they did.

Keith Walsh’s ollie the gap to back lip led to some ankle damage, but still got in there at second place. Cian was defending his title of All-Ireland champion from last year, but the competition was ridiculously tough. As said to me by Graham McPherson of G1 Skate Supply; “I would not have liked to have been judging this competition”. Cian alas was knocked off his throne by Dublin’s very own Gav Coughlan. Everything seemed so easy to him it was beyond ridiculous. What won it for him in my eyes was his ollie over the driveway to front feeble. It came out of nowhere. Within a couple of hours of the comp finishing up, the clouds rolled in, and the heavens poured. It seemed like it was actually waiting for us to finish up! No worries though, we did what we came here to do, and with great success I might add! For those who were old enough (or looked it!) popped over to Baker Place for the Crude Magazine All-Ireland Skate Championships after party! Drinks were drank and spilt, and brain cells were damaged and killed off. But hey, we had fuckin’ fun doing it. I’m counting the days till next year… Let’s finish off this article with the wise words of Andy Jolly from Tubes Board Sports: “Limerick gets a lot shit thrown at it, but what many don’t realise is that flowers grow from shit … and Limerick is in bloom.” Wise words Andy. Wise words. Thank you to everyone who made this possible: Tubes Board Sports, Tom Shortt, MC Jay Red, DJs The Optimist and Leon, the judges: Bruce “The Ox” Kelliher, Jer Evans, Eoghan “Hardflip” Griffin, Serrano at Crude Magazine, Baker Place. All the skate shops: Wreckless, Olliewood, Unit 13, Pure, G1 Skate Supply. All the sponsors, Boarderco, Fokai, Dwindle Distribution, Cliché, Fivarz, És, Oakley, Rukos, Volcom, Etnies, Emerica, DVS, Globe, Almost, Jart, Quiksilver, Axe Distribution, The Hub Design & Print, BDS Clothing, Ripall Distribution, Rockstar Energy Drink, Vans, Independent Trucks… Thank you!

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Gav Coughlan - ollie over to front feeble

> Over 16s winners Under 16s winners

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Joe Hill - switch frontside flip

> THE JESSE HUGHES INTERVIEW Californiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eagles Of Death Metal have risen over the past decade to be one of the most exciting acts of our time, with their no-bullshit, straight up, catchy and ever so danceable rock and roll music. The unhinged mastermind behind it all is Boots Electric, The Devll himself, Mr. Jesse Hughes. We caught up with Jesse one drizzly August evening before their Limerick show to have a chat about Bono, selling out and why he once called Barack Obama a communist.

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That's in Cork… But it told us to come here! (laughs) Nah I'm just kidding! I like towns where people don't normally play because that's where people who love rock and roll live. Like in Hollywood, most people who go to Hollywood shows don't live in Hollywood. They come from all the other towns around it. So why not just go to all the other towns. Probably makes a hotter rock show and a hornier rock show. Hoooorrrny! How much maintenance goes into your mustache? Four hours a day!(laughs) Nah, see, my mustache is for real so, i just let it grow me. So in the beginning it was the mustache? I just woke up one morning and I had a mustache, boots, leather gloves, and a cape hanging on my door. It was really trippy, it was like the devil left it for me. Ever since then, I just got horny. You posted something on your myspace about U2, and how their new single called "Sexy Boots" sounds a little like EODM, and in their video there's a lot of good looking girls with mustaches and sunglasses. Even in an interview, The Edge says that EODM are an influences of his, how does that make you feel to have U2 call you an influence? That's the coolest feeling in the world, I love U2, fuck yeah. 'In God's Country' is not only one of the best recorded songs, but one of the best songs ever written. I love that fuckin' song. I totally understand it. What's the difference between Jesus Christ and Bono? Jesus Christ doesn't think he's Bono. So with that in mind, you still love U2, do you respect Bono or do you think he's an ass? I think that jokes funny only because he tries to do the right thing all the time. And people who try to do the right thing all the time, they get called goody goody. And I'm very politically involved, but I make it a rule never to mix my politics with my music. Rock and roll ain't where thats for. Bono is the only dude who can actually do that shit and make it seem reasonable to me. I actually listen to what he has to say, and I respect him

greatly. So it's really cool... when he gets horny! What's it like working with Josh Homme? Well, we just got a job in McDonalds together, and working with him is so awesome because on the fryer, he is so fast! (laughs) I'm just kidding... No, it's the greatest joy in the world because he's my best friend. You're a republican, what are his political views? He's a conservative just like me. Well, I don't know if he's just like me. I mean we totally differ on a lot of things. He hated George Bush, I loved George Bush. What are your views together with Obama? He's the president of the United fucking States. Truly elected by the people, and nobody's gonna talk shit about my president. Not on my watch. Didn't you once call Obama a communist? I did, when he was running for office. And now that he's in office you respect him? Now that he's in office, I respect the office. You'll let him do his job… I'm not gonna get in the way, and I'm not gonna be an American who comes to come a foreign country and shit on him. That ain't me. I can't do that. You used to write for political papers back in the day before your musical career, do you still write? Yeah I have this one paper called 'Fuck Assholes In The But', and then I have another political magazine called 'People Who Suck Are Mean'! (laughs) Can you tell me about recording or writing process with the new album, 'Heart on'? I write everything at home and then I bring it to Josh. It's always Joshua and I who record the records. But Joey does play drums on a lot of songs. Now that I have taken Joey from Queens Of The Stone Age, and successfully broken the back of the band, Joey's mine! And I will never give him up! And you can quote me!! Nah I'm just kidding! (laughs) What's so great about LA, what am I missing? Because to me it just seems like a lot of highways, and storage spaces… Here's the trip. The track 'I Wanna Be In LA', it's weird, because I hate LA, I live in Palm Springs. LA sucks. LA is a place where a lot people aren't from, go, to be famous. So you've got the most self centered bunch of pricks ever, running around. But at night, LA empties out of people. You can lay on Hollywood Boulevard and you have a better chance of getting aids from a monkey than getting hit by a car! Then all of a sudden the spirits of the past, California-style, come to life, and that's when I love LA. I went to LA to find the best examples of friendship and loyalty. I mean that's trippy dude! I mean you go to fucking Utah to find examples of loyalty! You go to church! You don't go to fucking Hollywood! So it's trippy... When did you know you wanted to play music for a living, because you came to music quite late in life? When my uncle was molesting me… Oh… Nah I'm just kidding! (laughs) that was fucking awesome! (laughs) I got you so good! Anyways… I got divorced. and my whole life went upside down. And I got all freaked out and my best friend Joshua came to check me out, make sure I was OK. I showed him a couple of songs, I'd only been playing guitar for four months, and here I am talking to you. That's exactly how it happened. I don't really know how else to explain it. With EODM music on commercials, films, video games etc… What does the term selling-out mean to you? That's what happens when you start your career when you talk about how the man sucks, and bringing down corporations and turn on, tune it and drop out, and peace and love and fuck war, and fuck corporations maaaan! And then you fucking sell your song to a car company. That's selling out! That's just bull shit! I actually had a press conference where

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How did it come about that Eagles Of Death Metal would play Limerick of all places? The Blarney Stone.

> Photo: aaron corr

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I was in LA not so long ago and I was shown a Denny's menu, and there was an EODM endorsed meal? Fuck yes! You're right! It was a delightful pancake! How does a rock and roll pancake endorsement work exactly?! They came to me baby! They came to me! It was crazy. I love people man, I really do, and something about that seems to appeal to the corporations! (laughs) And as long as I have no moral opposition to the company, I'm ok with it. That's the only thing I judge anyone on. If it was like a corporation that likes to kill babies after the fetus, then i'm not gonna let 'em use my fucking song. If Adolf hitler wants to use a couple of songs to revive the old Nazi party, it's not gonna get one from me. Whats you're favourite tattoo, where is it and who did it? My favourite tattoo is on… I'm afraid to hear what's next! (laughs) My favourite tattoo is right next to Britney Spears vagina. On her thigh, and it's two little old boots with little lighting bolts… Nah! That's my dream tattoo, I totally wanna see that… fuck, I love Britney Spears! She's awesome… Anyways! My favourite tattoo right now is my new raven, on the inside of my right arm. Got it done in Paris by Easy Sasha. And my favourite tattoo artist ever is Kat Von D.

"Axl Rose brought us on tour…and he fired us that [first] night on stage by calling us The Pigeons Of Shit Metal"

You also have a 'Pigeons Of Shit Metal' tattoo. So, for those who don't know, can you tell me the story… Axl Rose brought us on tour for the GnR tour. I don't say Guns n Roses because the 'UNS' and the 'OSES' is with Slash and Duff and Izzy, and those guys make up Guns n Roses as much anyone else does. Any how… we made one day of the tour and he fired us that night on stage by calling us 'The Pigeons Of Shit Metal'. And that's again, if Adolf Hitler wrote me a letter saying 'You Suck', I'd hang that shit up! It would be like winning the Nobel Peace Prize. So Axl Rose not liking me, was rad! So I wanna make peace with Axl by making The Pigeons Of Shit Metal record with him. I want him to produce it and perform on it! And when can we expect that? Eh, 6 months! (laughs) What's your ideal venue? One that's sold out. I like The Paradiso in Amsterdam, that's a fucking beautiful place. That would be my ideal venue. That or the Henry Fonda theatre in Hollywood. Do you drink? No. Why? Because it's a lot of work for a shitty high. Not doing alcohol makes me feel like I might get to go to heaven! Do you do drugs? Yep. Why? Because they're fun. Wouldn't the whole image with EODM, in the music videos and everything be alcohol related? No it’s about drugs, or losing your mind, or being possessed by the spirit of rock and roll i.e. the devil, and that possession that can take place through a variety of means. The transducer, if you will, of most possession in rock and roll is through a stimulant or something that fucks with your head. It doesn't have to be alcohol. Alcohol is the one that makes you knock someone up that you wouldn't even look at twice if you were sober, or wake up with something missing from your body and no recollection of how it happened. That’s not a cool fucking fun time for me. Oh and by the way, puking and vomiting for an entire day afterwards. Laaaaammmeee! No thank you. I would rather snort one line and go full tilt boogie with a porno hard on, and be able to stay awake for 94 fucking hours and get dooooowwwnnn! What's up!

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Photo: aaron corr

someone asked me: "Dude is it true that you've sold out to corporations and sold your songs to Nike and shit like that" and my response was one word "DUUUHHH!". This ain't a fuckin' bible study. That's the new radio right now.

Music reviews Anti-Flag-The People Or The Gun (SideOneDummy) 8/10

Black Moth Super Rainbow: Eating Us (Memphis Industries) 3/10

Au Revoir Simone: Still Night, Still Light (Moshi Moshi Records) 7/10

Au Revoir Simone is a girlish trio Brooklyn based electro-pop band armed with an impressive array of synthesizers. Their third album, Still Night, Still Light, demonstrates a marked progression of style from their first two records. They use simplistic melodies, littered with vocal harmonies, synthetic beats and drones. ‘Knights of Wands’ uses very high-pitched notes with clashing sounding drum beats and brands au Revoir Simone as just that little bit more than your average electro pop band. They offer more melodically and lyrically and feel like a proper band as opposed to just being three hot girls with synthesizers. It is a light, bright album with a hint of melancholy. Discussing love affairs, expressing individuality and realization of the self are all themes dealt with on the album. ‘only You can Make You happy’ chronicles the reality of happiness as an internal construct amidst staccato, jagged tones before delving into a romantic melody with almost a sea like motion and the only lyrics echoing the title amongst a myriad of instrumental voices. Au Revoir Simone has succeeded in creating an electro-pop album with actual lyrical and emotional substance. Miriam Le Bon www.myspace.com/aurevoirsimone

This is BMSR’s first full-length offering since their 2007 breakthrough album Dandelion Gum which garnered the band much attention and praise. Various solo offshoots and sideprojects have even sprouted up in the interim, such as tobacco and Power Pill Fist, which bolstered the hype and buzz surrounding the band. But to these ears Eating Us feels like a conscious attempt to capitalise on this momentum, that ultimately falls flat. Unfortunately nothing has really changed musically since Dandelion Gum, other than a slightly biggerbudget production. To older fans, this will come off as more of the same, only much worse. Influences like Air, Stereolab and The Flaming Lips still abound, but are now suffocated by mainstream aspirations. This record has been disconcertingly touted as the ‘first fully hi-fi BMSR record’, but that isn’t necessarily a good thing. It’s as though in attempting to increase their public visibility they’ve lost everything that made Dandelion Gum so distinctive. Gone is the hallucinatory aura, gone is the lo-fi stickiness, gone is the intriguing weirdness, gone are the wobbly off-kilter rhythms and gone is the disturbingly surreal edge to the omniscient vocordered vocals. Whereas Dandelion Gum flirted with elements of pop, folk, electronica and psychedelia, Eating Us suffers from a distinct lack of variety and diversity. It feels downright regular, and dare I say, entirely forgettable by comparison. It’s a massive set-back for a band who once showed so much potential. Keefe Murphy www.blackmothsuperrainbow.com

For me this whole post rock game is a dead horse, well and truly flogged. Exciting and inspiring at its height a few years ago, right now it’s as dull as dishwater save for the continued brilliance of some of the genres leading lights such as Mogwai and Mono. Kent-based quintet, Codes In the clouds would obviously argue differently, and case in point - Paper Canyon - the album they’ve recorded, looks to pretend post rock never happened. Sure, its tight, dynamic, well played and well recorded but, hell, it just lacks originality and there’s far too much post rock by numbers on here. Eerie intro? check! Quiet, quiet, slow, slow, quick, quick loooooouuuuuuddddddddd? check! Build a bit of atmosphere? Check! Fire in a bit of piano? Check! Stamp on your pedals and crank the amps up? check! You bored reading yet? Imagine how I felt listening!! ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz. ould someone tell me when rock could music lost its danger? When it tried to be too clever for its own good? hey post rock – yeah you! Feck you and the children you have borne. Trevor Meehan www.myspace.com/codesintheclouds

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the beauty of punk is not only in its delivering of messages that, ultimately, land hard and harsh, but also in the almost physical affect it has on the senses, the body, and the brain; each thundering jolt knocking the listener over, delivering with a menace not seen in any other genre of music. Describing themselves as “Political activist punks,” Anti-Flag’s latest offering The People Or The Gun stands as a hard-hitting, visceral and altogether frightening diatribe against America’s current political state. And how it does hit hard. Very hard. From the off, it’s quite impossible not to draw parallels with fellow punkgodfathers Rancid; Opener Sodom, Gomorrah, Washington D.C (sheep in shepherd’s clothing) is a frenetic opening infiltration, packed with archetypal lightning-paced thrashings of noisy brat-punk and political jousts and jibes. the music is brash , whilst vocalist Justin Sane’s venomous snarl and vitriolic lyrics streaming with anger towards a jilted america, cast sword after sword to the state of the country and its crises. The album has its down-points, naturally enough - repetition is disappointingly evident throughout, and the political attacks, though agreeable, are, perhaps, a bit much at times. But credit to Anti-Flag - in a musical age that has somewhat forgotten punk, they’re offering an impressive voice in a time where people need to be heard. tthrow away the ear-plugs for a bit and fling the TV out the window, chuck this on and make a toast to punk and its brutality. Mark Kelleher www.myspace.com/antiflag

Codes In The Clouds: Paper Canyon (Erased Tapes) 7/10 for ability/ 0/10 for originality

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The Low Anthem: Oh My God, Charlie Darwin (Bella Union) 7/10

Land Lovers - Immovable Feet (Charm School Records) 7/10

Funeral Suits: Eye Spy (Self-Released) 8/10

Eye Spy is the second EP from Dublin based band Funeral Suits. Indie-punk, edgy and tight, Funeral Suits are destined for great things. ‘Start of the End’, begins melancholic and stark and descends into a mock trash electro metal type beat with an industrial sounding edge. ‘helsinki’ fashions a repetitive guitar riff that will be buzzing around your heads for day and strong vocals, this track could very well be the next big track on the indie scene. ‘Dani is Karl’ features a harder sound, distorted vocals and crashing cymbals demonstrating that Funeral Suits are more than just your generic indie band. ‘acidhappy’ sounds like the perfect accompaniment to renewing faith in humanity, even if it is doused in acid. It has a lively walking melody and hazy guitar melodies accompanied by echoed, layered vocals, sounds like the song that’s always stuck in your head but never vocalized. n incredibly lively and original EP from an Funeral Suits and another great band on the Irish music scene. Miriam Le Bon www.myspace.com/funeralsuits

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Three years after stealing the hearts of the nation – not to mention a Choice Music Award - with her debut album 13 Songs, Galway songstress Julie Feeney is back with a record packed with innovation, creativity and beauty. For this album Feeney took control of a full orchestra - mounding woodwinds, brass, strings, vibraphone and glockenspiel to her will – first composing, then conducting and finally taking the orchestral track and writing her own songs over it. So not only is Feeney a supremely talented musician, she is also a gifted songwriter and Pages is an album of jaw dropping beauty. the album opens with a couplet of love songs - ‘Love Is A Tricky Thing’ and ‘Impossibly Beautiful’ - setting the tone for the record high bar of honest, open song writing. Yet here, just as the album threatens to veer into the world of sentiment, Feeney changes tack with songs like ‘Grace’ and ‘Valentines Song’ bringing a new, darker and musically more challenging edge to the album. This is a mature, creative and challenging record and should be Julie Feeney right back on centre stage. a joy to listen to. Andrew Hamilton www.juliefeeney.com

Mini-albums are funny ol’ things. If it’s fairly mediocre, one is thankful that the procession of actually listening to one isn’t prolonged. however, such is the case with Land Lovers’ latest release, it can distinctly frustrating when you’re offered a glimpse of something special, only for it to fade out as quickly as it began. Land Lovers, the brain-child of Dubliner Padraig cooney, cite themselves as being totally original, and state that they are often guided by people who join their group on facebook. So, a mini-album, total originality and led by randomers on the world’s fastestincreasing cyber-network… an oddity, indeed. However, after a few moments of listening to opening track ‘cloudy Girl,’ everything’s alright. cooney’s lyrics are instantly endearing, stating that “She’s about as entertaining as the average weather.” They may cite themselves as being original, and I’m sure they are, but this listener was instantly reminded of The American Analog Set and The Postal Service (not An Post, obviously). the succeeding tracks follow similar lines; title track ‘Immovable Feet’ is a wonderful sing-along marriage of quirkiness and melodic guitar, with a smidgen of piano and violin thrown in for good measure, whilst stand-out track ‘Paul Treacy Probably Knows’ is a three and a half minute continuous moment of hilarity. Land Lovers are a funny old bunch. hey’re odd, but should be commended they’re for offering something refreshingly different to Ireland’s present music scene. Mark Kelleher www.myspace.com/landlovers

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Julie Feeney: Pages (Mittens) 9/10

Bella Union clearly believe in the old adage“if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. A while back they signed Fleet Foxes, a group steeped in American folk, country, multiple harmonies, Springsteen’s Nebraska and a sound that evokes images of a redwood forest in the heartlands of the U.S.- cue critical acclaim and copious album sales. hey, if it worked for them… It doesn’t take a genius to work out that The Low Anthem are also quite fond of strumming away in their log cabin, thus it’s no surprise to find that Oh My God, Charlie Darwin ticks many of the boxes previously visited by their label mates. and while for the most part this results in some achingly beautiful music, something about the third release by these Rhode Island natives doesn’t sit quite right. There appears to be two different bands at work here, with neither sure what the other is doing on this record. When the Low anthem turn their hand to gentle appalachian folk it’s nothing short of stunning, as evidenced on the likes of ‘charlie Darwin’ and ‘to the Ghosts Who Write History Books’. But thrown in amongst these gems are some bar room rockers which stand out like a sore thumb. While variation is always welcome there are occasions when it sounds forced, ‘ and the appearance of ‘home I’ll never Be’ and ‘Champion Angel’ are two such examples. Indeed, the placement of ‘Home…’ right after ‘The Horizon Is A Beltway’- surely the exact same songproves that sorting out the track listing immediately after recording should not be an afterthought. Despite these reservations The Low nthem are obviously a very talented anthem group and should go on to bigger and better things. Once they work out what type of group they actually want to be, that is. Alan Morrissey www.lowanthem.com

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Music reviews My Latest Novel - Deaths And Entrances (Bella Union) 9/10

Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band - Outer South (Merge Records) 6/10

Mos Def: The Ecstatic (Downtown) 6/10

People need to stop hailing this as a return to form for one Dante Smith, because it’s not. true, it is his best since his debut Black On Both Sides, but the other two albums inbetween were absolute cock anyway, so its not like this is some standing-ovation inducing achievement. here, it’s a case of.... rhymes – yes, beats – no. The production is a big mug of wackjuice, despite roping in Madlib, oh no and chad hugo on the boards. Turkish psych-queen Selda Bagcan is ruthlessly jacked on the opening track, ‘Supermagic’, which is just a boring, unimaginative move, and like so last year. The Def one’s flow is still in check and the boy is capable of crafting space for syllables in the tightest of places, but its like the intensity factor is switched to energy-saver mode. Where’s the urgency gone, Mos? that social consciousness that once offered a glimpse of the vital return of intelligence to hip-hop? Alas it has been diluted with too many hollywood cocktails. Still though, there’s a couple of neck snappers - the lead single “Quiet Dog” is one of the flyest singles to emerge in years, and you shouldn’t even own a pair of hands unless they’re clapping along to its frenetic rhythm. “Twilite Speedball” is on some less-rowdy Simon Says shit, but it ends with Mos singing “having a good time everyday” which he undoubtedly is since he started calling over to Jack Black’s gaff and attending BBQs with Bruce Willis. John Lillis www.myspace.com/mosdef

When conor oberst, under the moniker of Bright Eyes, arrived onto the harsh frontiers of the American mainstream with 2004’s I’m Wide awake, It’s Morning, he was instantly hailed as the new boy-genius of contemporary alternative music. With a string of equally impressive previous albums, the nebraskan, backed by the tender beauty of special-guest vocalist and country legend, Emmylou harris, had finally arrived, after much championing in the american underground. that album, to his credit, was faultless. Since then, however, he has, well, fell rather flat. 2007’s Cassadaga was always going to be a let-down following what had come before it, and 2008’s self-titled album, though criticallyacclaimed, failed to reach the vertigoinducing heights he had previously reached with Bright Eyes. So then, backed this time around by the Mystic Valley Band, what has Oberst sprung upon us this time? Well, more of the same, unfortunately. Catchy folk-rock still permeates throughout, but the mystique, the brimming beauty, the unique craft, seems to have gone up in smoke, leaving an admirable record, yet, by Oberst’s standards, a relatively disappointing one. There are, however, a few memorable moments in between; his tough poetry, perhaps his music’s must redeeming feature, hits hard on ‘t ‘‘to to a to allll the Lights In the Windows,’ whilst ‘c ‘‘cabbage cabbage abbage town’ and ‘Ten Women’ briefly return to the genius of old that now seems to have run out. Us music fans are a fickle old bunch, at times too hasty, more often than not too expectant. But when something of true perfection arrives on your lap, its hard to not to expect it to stay there forever. conor conor o oberst’s berst’s latest foray is a fine effort, but there’s still something missing. a att least that’s how it feels. Mark Kelleher www.myspace.com/conoroberst

While [crude] would generally be aghast at the idea of indulging in sweeping geographic stereotypes, Phoenix’s fourth album Wolfgang amadeus Phoenix could possibly only come from a French band; drenched in Gallic chic, it mixes punchy guitar pop tunes with smatterings of French Touch, and while frontman Thomas Mars’ distinctive vocal can sometimes veer towards the laissez-faire, the ten tracks on offer here are as tight as cyclist shorts in the tour de France. Top it off with four blokes with a predilection for dapper dressing and smart haircuts, and a hollywood squeeze in the ranks (Mars is shacked up with Sofia Coppola), and Phoenix would be serious tabloid fodder if they hailed from the British Isles. Tellingly, while they decamped to Berlin for predecessor It’s Never Been Like that, this is very much a hometown recording for the Parisians, with Cassius’ Philippe Zdar co-producing the album; the production is ultra-slick, but the record never feels false for it. From the off, its catchy, hook-laden, danceable indie music that could soundtrack a blissful summer or a Saturday night, but keep an eye out for the health warning signs; this ain’t exactly a happy-go-lucky record. Mars’ lyrics are dripping in malaise and conflict, spouting on barnstorming opener ‘Lisztomania’ that “Darling, I’m down and lonely”, while the seemingly chirpy ‘Lasso’ contains couplets such as “Forever is a long, long time ago/When you lost your way”. Party on, Thomas. Meanwhile, lead-single ‘1901’, has the potential to be the band’s biggest hit since ‘t ‘‘too ttoo oo Young’, while at the centre of the album lies ‘Love Like A Sunset Part I’ and ‘Love Like A Sunset Part II’, largely instrumental companion pieces that gloriously fuse everything from house music to krautrock. While ol’ Mozart himself may not have necessarily endorsed them, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is the quartet’s most complete work to date. Ciarán Ryan www.wearephoenix.com

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the opening few moments of an album can often define it in its entirety. Deaths And Entrances, My Latest novel’s second release, begins with wavy grains of atmospherics that sound like they could have been invented in the late-hours of a Sonic Youth jamming session. Formed in 2005, the Glaswegian five-piece have fused harsh rock soundscapes with the eeriness and isolated usage of the violin, xylophone and multi-part vocals, to concoct a music of rarefied sensuality brimming with emotion. refreshingly any reliance on Americanised vocals - that ever populating blight sewn into the foundations of almost all music genres - is non-existent here. Chris Deveney’s voice, though distinctly monotone, blends magnificently with the lush pourings of dreamy guitar. opener ‘all In all In all Is all,’ as touched upon earlier, starts the album off an a awe-inspiring footing, which, much to the listener’s delight, carries on throughout. the theme of war creeps in here and there, its unsettling repercussions prodded at to the background of a music that, at times, aptly borders on cataclysmic. ‘I Declare A Ceasefire’ proffers an idealistic vision of surrender during battlement, with Deveney declaring “Please put down your guns/lower your weapons/oh, I declare a change of heart.” The impact of the sentiment, a view of an idealised world, is engrossing. It stands as the record’s finest track. In recent times My Latest Novel has supported the likes of Smog, British Sea Power and the Pixies; all groups who, in their own right, have stood one feels that given above the rest. one time, My Latest Novel will do the this is an album of rare very same. this and electrified beauty and should be discovered by all. Mark Kelleher www.myspace.com/mylatestnovel

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (V2) 8/10

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editor’s pick 69

> Legion Of Two: Riffs (Planet Mu) 9/10

instrumental, it sustains an incredibly visceral narrative that conjures lurid cinematic impressions throughout. Alan O’Boyle’s production is expertly mixed and mastered to develop such a spacious, determined landscape, but the tracks themselves are loose and capricious, underlying the duo’s extensive work in improvisational performances. c complete omplete in nature, it’s an album that trudges forwards as opposed to flows, rarely surpassing the 65 bpm mark. But it’s an essential laggard motion, allowing the sounds the breadth to sustain their gargantuan impact on unsuspecting air particles. Realistically, it’s a work that will isolate as many people as it will enthral, but that’s one of its defiant achievements. heavy eavy shit to bury murdered bodies in your garden to. John Lillis www.legionoftwo.com

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Mike Paradinas has always been someone to keep an ear on the Irish underground, releasing work from Boxcutter, Sunken Foal and of course Decal on his shit-kicking label Planet Mu. Which is good, because Legion wo deserve to get some serious of two plaudits thrown their way for their debut sludgefest, Riffs. And that’s not riffs in the typical melodic guitar sense - this is riffs in the grinding, brownnote stylings akin to Sleep and Oxbow - but with the heaviest drums in town, supplied by the Dublin improv stalwart and long-time Decal collaborator, Dave Lacey. this his is certainly not a Decal album though – instead it’s a much darker and vast entity in it’s own right, like a doomladen soundtrack to an ultra-violent torture movie recorded and shot in a cavernous industrial warehouse. In fact, for an album that’s relatively crudemagazine.net | issuefive

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Music reviews Subway: Subway II (Soul Jazz) 8/10

Speech Debelle: Speech Therapy (Ninja Tune/Big Dada) 7/10

St. Vincent Actor (4AD) 8/10

Simian Mobile Disco: Temporary Pleasure (Wichita) 5/10

When I first heard this album, I felt like I’d swallowed four Smirnoff Ices too many and was slap-bang in the middle of crowded dancefloor in a commercial nightclub infected with wankered students. Which is not a good look for reclusive old John. had a second listen and felt the same, so in effort to avoid having to listen to it anymore, I cunningly suggested to my girlfriend that she should have a bash at reviewing albums, handed her the cd and told her get typing. But she’s much sharper than me, and threw it back, saying “I’m not listening to THAT!”. Plan foiled. So I had another listen, and this time I found it easier to hold back the gawks. Simian Mobile Disco had critics with their hands down their pants with the electro-house sound that they delivered on their debut album Attack Decay Sustain Release. But I didn’t like that either. Main man James Ford’s recent high profile production duties have given him considerable industry clout, allowing the group to draft in such figures as Beth Ditto, Jamie Lidell and Gruff Rhys for their follow-up. The last two should have known better but I guess they’re always partial to rocking the boat a bit. It’s actually the vocals which largely fail the most for me, the instrumental tracks seem more expansive and progressive in their focus and arrangement, especially on ‘Ambulance’. But the final track ‘Pinball’ is pretty super though and tastefully less cheddar than the rest. John Lillis www.simianmobiledisco.com

actor is the latest album from Oklahoma native, ex- Polyphonic Spree member and one-woman show, Annie Clark, better known as St. Vincent. Her second album is wonderfully quaint and has shown St. Vincent to develop fully as an artist and smash the concept of the ‘difficult second album’. Having based some of her inspiration for the album on Disney soundtracks and old Woody allen movies, it certainly feels like listening to a soundtrack for the latest independent, quirky movie. Actor is mellow, dramatic, dynamic and melancholic all it once. the theme of the album deals with the internal conflict of the human condition. It touches on the repression and restraints of everyday society, boredom, judgment and the possibility of breaking the mould and assuming a new identity. It is an album that explores escapism of relationships with oneself and other people. St. Vincent’s light, pure and sweet voice echoes through the album with walking romantic melody lines accompanied by angelic voices, such as on the opening track ‘The Strangers’, but then contrasts it with rough guitar rough, giving the impression of a tainted beauty. St. Vincent succeeds in creating a romantic, old sounding record but manages to incorporate modern musical elements such as long drones, pulsing drum beats and jagged riffs demonstrated on the track ‘Marrow’. Actor is an album of complexity and conflict and is a beautiful form of musical escapism that while not instantly as likable as her first album Marry Me, it shows growth and a bright future for St. Vincent. Miriam Le Bon www.myspace.com/st.vincent

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It seems that 26 year old London lass Speech Debelle is being pitched as the middle-class Roots Manuva for girls. And while the recently Mercurynominated wordstress does share Rodney’s knack of conjuring resonating rhymes of everyday life, she too suffers from the occasional dodgy production and drab beats that muck up Mr. Manuva’s albums. Her self-titled debut is a confessional and intelligent affair that declines to follow the more bass-obsessed route that UK rappers have chosen to take. Instead she opts to split the album between jazzy Bahamadia-esque hiphop, like the banging ‘Better Days’ and trumpet-centric ‘The Key’, and then some wack-ass acoustic guitar nonsense that’s not worth even talking about. her lyrics are undeniably sincere and there’s a unique personal honesty on show here, but her high-pitched delivery borders on whiny at times from over-emphasizing the emotion in her words. It’s like, “Jeez Speech, we get it already – have a drink or something...”. There’s traces of gritty urban realism speckled in her writing, but then she also frequently diverts into teenage confessional “dear diary” territory. Which makes for great listening if you’re a 16 year old girl feeling all the pressures and stresses of the modern world - but I don’t quite fit into that bracket. The sparkling ‘Spinning’ has pop crossover hit stamped across it’s Lily Allen-like face, but its the dustier tracks that display her ability to spin her diagnostic social stories. Put it this way, I still hope Bat For Lashes win the Mercury Prize. John Lillis www.speechdebelle.com

Subway’s II picks up right where Eine Kleine Nachtmusik’s debut from last year left off: with techno producers re-appropriating 1970’s progressive German music for their own contemporary ‘cosmic post-dance’ projects, but this time, to much greater effect. Although ‘Kosmiche’ influences, from Cluster to Kraftwerk are clearly worn on their sleeves (made obvious by naming a track ‘Harmonia’) Subway are distinguishable from the more derivative EKN by their adamantly exclusive use of all-analogue vintage equipment, giving them an organic warmth that feels more authentically Krautrocking and less like a mismatched pastiche of styles. Subway II sounds like the genre could, and perhaps should, have evolved: as though the likes of Klaus Schulze and Mannuel Gottsching had been bitten by the Detroit techno bug and had their basslines influenced by the rest of the Soul Jazz records back catalogue, instead of succumbing to the schmaltzy New-Age fad. Evidently, Subway have absorbed so much music since the early 70’s krautrock heyday, that this is a record that could exist only now, even though faithful Krautrock reproductions like ‘Simplex’ or ‘Jupiter’, which sound like cuts from Harmonia’s ‘Musik Von’ with the proverbial disco firecracker alight underneath, and ‘Monochrome’ which is a dead ringer for Super 16, off ‘Neu! 2’, might actually lead you to mistakenly believe this is a years old reissue. Subway‘s genre is in fact ‘postdance’in every sense - both a recontextualisation of dance elements away from the dance floor and perfect late-night comedown music for after the dancing has stopped. Suffice to say, fans of Gottsching’s ‘E2-E4’, Lindstrom’s latest work or even Seefeel need to hear this. Keefe Murphy www.myspace.com/subway issuefive | crudemagazine.net

Time Is A Thief: Conversations EP (Self Released) 5/10 Sunset Rubdown: Dragonslayer (Jagjaguwar) 8/10

Patrick Wolf: The Bachelor (Bloody Chamber Music) 5/10

Lauded in their homeland of canada, Patrick Watson have garnered critical acclaim and awards aplenty, including the Polaris (the Canuck version of the Mercury Music Prize) gong for their sophomore release, close to Paradise. and it is they, for Patrick Watson, while being the name of the creative linchpin of this four piece, is also the collective moniker. While Jeff Buckley and Pink Floyd may pop into one’s mind upon first listen to Wooden Arms, the influences that the band own up to are a truer indication of where they’re coming from. names such as Danny Elfman, Steve Reich and Phillip Glass highlight their baroque approach to their work; indeed, Watson (the man!) even co-wrote several tracks with The Cinematic Orchestra on their 2007 album Ma Fleur. arms rms carries on where close to Wooden a Paradise left off, with angelic vocals and uncomplicated, yet strangely beautiful, arrangements to the forefront. the sheer scope and inventiveness which seems to come to Patrick Watson with relative ease is evident on lead single ’Big Bird In A Small Cage’, where the twin vocals blend seamlessly over a Cajun-tinged backing track. Elsewhere the aforementioned orchestral influence is betrayed to thrilling effect on the title song (surely a contender for the soundtrack to Amelie 2?) and ‘Where tthe he Wild tthings hings are’. But when all is said and done name checking one song from Wooden arms over another is akin to a ‘Sophie’s Choice’ style dilemma for any critic. urn down the lights, put this record turn on, lie back and let Patrick Watson take you far, far away. Alan Morrissey www.patrickwatson.net

Patrick Wolf’s latest unorthodox offering comes in the form of the first part of a double album, the second part entitled The Conqueror to be released in 2010. Wolf is the perfect marginalized rock star and musical extraordinaire. He started with violin and choir lessons and made his own thermin at age eleven, dropped out of secondary school and studied composition at Trinity College. It’s all a very good story, however the music does not live up to the hype. The Batchelor ends up sounding something like a post-punk, melodramatic, Celtic-type soundtrack to some mediocre musical. It is selfindulgent and uninteresting. The album was originally supposed to be based on the stresses of touring and the depression Wolf suffered, however he fell in love and changed the direction of the album. tthe he overuse of drones on tracks like ‘Who Will’ and Wolf’s whiney voice throughout the record gets a bit redundant. adding to this some ridiculous Celtic musical motifs ‘ and electro beats on ‘thickets’ and ‘the Bachelor’, give the album a disjointed, thrown together type feeling. Granted none of Wolf’s albums sound the same and I appreciate his progressive ideals when it comes to music but it just doesn’t work. here is too much going on in this there album, making it hard to listen to and pretentious. Wolf should put more effort into clear-cut musical ideas than his image and then he might produce something interesting. Miriam Le Bon www.myspace.com/patrickwolf

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this is the debut EP release of cork band, time Is a thief. Probably the most interesting factor before listening to the band is that 3 out of the 4 members (excluding the singer) used to be in a rage against the Machine tribute band. Learning about this can go either way for a new listener. You could dismiss it immediately and presume that this is just gonna be another rap/rock act comparing nothing to rage, or it may entice you to give it a chance. Fortunately for tIat, the fact of being an ex-Rage tribute act hasn’t rubbed off on their music in any blatantly obvious form apart from a few small moments. Their opening track comes equipped with your stadium worthy epic guitar intro, but 35 seconds in I get rather disappointed by the singer’s voice - just not my cup of tea really. there is some pretty cool background shouting in here though and one of the band members displays just how good a pair of lungs he has on him with some pretty impressive growling screams. The entire record follows the same recipe throughout; well produced with some nice vocal effects, solid thumping drums and bass complimented by melodic guitars. In audio terms, there cork ork at all about this band is nothing c or release; it’s more reminiscent of all the bands that Epitaph records were picking up in the early 2000’s. the start of the new wave / punk rock / emo / screamo era with such bands as From o Last, Matchbook romance, First tto Escape the Fate and more... Over all it is a pretty good first release and they’re accomplished musicians. It’s rather catchy in parts and you will find yourself singing it in your head after one or two listens; just don’t know if they’ll go far with an Irish audience. Shane Serrano www.myspace.com/timeisathiefband

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With the exception of perhaps Rob Crow, Spencer Krug is almost a shoe-in for the inaugural Pitchfork-backed ‘Mr Prolific Indie Rock of the Decade’; while the perceived day job he holds down may well be as co-frontman of Wolf Parade, the busy Canuck also finds time for Frog Eyes, Swan Lake, and not least, Sunset Rubdown, who sound less like a side project by the day. Album number four for Sunset, Dragonslayer, takes off where predecessor Random Spirit Lover left off - awash with swashbuckling and elaborate instrumentation, chiming with giddy orchestration, and jammed with fascinating bridges, Krug and co have crafted perhaps their most userfriendly release to date. that’s not to say it ain’t choc-a-bloc with obtuse lyrical references that could very well owe as much to period drama as science fiction, given Krug’s equal sharpness and aloofness with the pen. Nevertheless, witness the new-wave tinged ‘Idiot Heart’ where a crunchy guitar almost takes pride of place over keyboard, Krug’s usual weapon of choice; it could nearly fit in as a hipshaker down the local discotheque, with its indie swagger matched by amilla Wynne Ingr sweet backing camilla vocals. Elsewhere ‘Paper Lace’, which also made an earlier appearance this year on Swan Lake’s Enemy Mine, is a more straight-up tune, but its when Sunset revert to vigorous switches and turns like on closer ‘Dragon’s Lair’ or completely frivolous abandon as on ‘Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh’ that this record truly excels. Ciarán Ryan www.sunsetrubdown.net

Patrick Watson: Wooden Arms (Secret City Records) 9/10

Film reviews CHE: PART 1 Director: Steven Soderbergh

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Politics divides the general population, where some see heroes and freedom fighters others see terrorists and guerrillas. Ernesto “Che” Guevara was an Argentine revolutionary, an author, a doctor, a military leader and guerrilla fighter and to some, like Nelson Mandela, who referred to him as “an inspiration for every human being who loves freedom”, Che was an undoubted hero whose armed struggle was driven by his love for his fellow man. The French Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre described him as “not only an intellectual but also the most complete human being of our age.” Others, however, like the Cuban exiles in Miami, will always look on Che as the “Butcher of La Cabana”. To others who know Che only from the ubiquitous print by Irish man, Jim Fitzpatrick, which has adorned everything from Beer Bottles to Bikinis, Che is, quite simply, the coolest cat on the planet. This ‘coolness’ has persuaded countless companies to use Che’s image to promote and sell their products. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony, for the one-time Marxist revolutionary has become a global icon and his image is used by capitalists to push products far more nowadays than it is used by Marxists to inspire revolution. CHE: PART 1 is the first in a two-part bio-pic from the film maker Steven Soderbergh, who is a revolutionary in his own right. And while the subject may well be divisive, the film is never less than brilliant. The film follows the young Argentine as he travels to Mexico and meets Fidel Castro, becoming in the process one of the 82 revolutionaries who invaded Cuba under Castro’s leadership with the intention of overthrowing U.S.-backed Cuban

dictator Batista. Taking a non-linear path, the film inter cuts footage of the armed struggle and fight through the Cuban jungles to their eventual success in Havana with Che’s post-revolutionary trip to New York in 1964. Played with charismatic aplomb by Benicio Del Toro, CHE: PART 1 is a pulsating historical bio-pic. It’s a character-driven modern day masterpiece and full of wonderfully well-rounded performances that result in a commanding film that ranges from slow to explosive yet is always moving, fierce and focused. So for once the side of the political divide you find your self upon is irrelevant. Regardless of whether you think of Che as a poster-boy for a failed ideology or whether you venerate him as a hero and freedom fighter, if you like movies then you’ll love this film. It’s wonderful and most definitely worth watching. Do not miss it. Jason O’Mahony

FROST / NIXON Director: Ron Howard

nnn pp For many that lived through the Watergate years, President Nixon has a vice like grip on their consciousness. It was a time when people irrevocably lost faith in government. A time when the innocence of the 60’s was brutally assassinated. If the President could lie to them about the illegal tapping of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Complex then surely, they began to realize, they may have been lied to about other things. This realization crystallized as the investigation resulted in the indictment of several of Nixon’s closest advisors and, ultimately, his resignation on August 9th, 1974. The investigations revealed the immense scope of crimes and abuses, which included campaign fraud, political espionage and sabotage, illegal break-ins, improper tax audits, illegal wiretapping on a massive scale and a secret slush fund laundered in Mexico to pay those who conducted these operations. We should be thankful for the relatively petty crimes of Irish politicians! FROST / NIXON is based on the play of the same name by Peter Morgan, who wrote THE QUEEN (2006), and is directed by Ron Howard. It dramatizes the factual 1977 interview given by the disgraced ex-President Nixon to the British broadcaster David Frost. The film reunites its original two stars from the stage, Frank Langella as Nixon and Michael Sheen as Frost and the audience is treated to masterful performances and a wonderfully dramatic film as the audience witnesses a titanic struggle of wills. Can Nixon outfox his interviewer and save his legacy, or will Frost demand accountability and give the waiting

world the truth? At the time the factual interviews took place, 1977, Watergate was a major talking point, thanks in no small part to the wonderful film, ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1976), which tells the tale of the uncovering of the details of the Watergate scandal by reporters Woodward and Bernstein. It won four Oscars and was nominated for another four. Nixon was always a wiley operator and in 1977 he desperately needed money to help cover the costs of his mounting legal expenses and the granting of the interview was primarily for monetary gain. He was paid a whopping $600,000, and remember this was more than thirty years ago, and an unheard of 20% cut of all profits from the Interview. A deal worthy of a man with the sobriquet ‘Tricky Dicky’. As a film, FROST / NIXON is an undoubted success, it received rave reviews, was nominated for 5 Golden Globes and the lead actors deliver astonishing performances. The movie is tightly edited, fantastically paced and damn entertaining to boot. As a historical account, however, it plays fast and loose with the truth, not entirely unlike Nixon, to such a degree that it has Nixon admitting to having participated in the cover-up, an admission that a man like Nixon would never make and, in fact, did not make in the Frost interview or, indeed, anywhere else. So I guess it depends on what you want from your watching. If it’s absolute truth and historical fact you’re after, then you may well be a little perturbed by the film’s inaccuracy. If, on the other hand, you’re like me and looking for astonishingly entertaining movies then you could do a lot worse than this. Jason O’Mahony

GRAN TORINO Director: Clint Eastwood

nnnn p GRAN TORINO takes its name from the Gran Torino Muscle car that Ford built in the early 70’s, the decade when the American Dream (Hard Work Now / House and White Picket Fence Later) began to change, for many, into the American Nightmare (Fun Now / Mortgage the House and White Picket Fence Later). This subtle change away from planning for the future to living in the present is the root cause of the disaffection that older conservative Americans feel towards their more liberal, free spending, off-spring and this generational estrangement is at the heart of GRAN TORINO. The movie opens with Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood), a 78 year old retired, bigoted Ford worker and a Korean War veteran, attending his wife’s funeral, furious at the superficial ramblings of the young priest. He is equally furious at his sons and, if anything, even more so with their families who he sees as selfabsorbed, rude and selfish. To complicate matters, Walt (Eastwood)

lives in a changing neighborhood. Houses that once stood proud and were filled with blue-collar American workers are now run-down homes for newly arrived immigrants and Walt is feeling increasingly alienated. Clint Eastwood the star, director and producer is no stranger to alienation and estrangement. The eponymous Muscle car was built in 1972, a year after DIRTY HARRY (1971) exploded onto cinema screens and into the collective conscience. In the movie Clint played judge, jury and executioner to the Scorpio killer, a killer that many associated with those of a liberal mind set, or “hippies and freaks” as Harry would dismiss them. DIRTY HARRY was a right wing movie for a very left wing time, the critic Pauline Kael dismissed it as fascist and she may well have been right. It didn’t stop the movie becoming a world wide hit, though. Walt is equally right wing and is woken, one night, by an Asian gang that is threatening his neighborhood. He grabs his gun and clears them off saying, “We used to stack fucks like you five feet high in Korea. Use ya for sandbags.” He becomes an accidental hero in the process. All he wanted was to save his flower beds, but he saved the neighbourhood instead and they shower him with gifts to show their appreciation, becoming a father-figure to the Asian teenagers living next door in the process. From THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966), to UNFORGIVEN (1992), a movie that won him his first Directing Oscar, Clint has been known primarily as a cowboy and action hero and GRAN TORINO is primarily an action movie. Though it’s difficult to imagine a 78 year old Action Hero, Clint manages to pull off the role with the style and panache of a man who is decades younger. GRAN TORINO is also Eastwood’s most successful movie ever! (Ignoring inflationary ticket prices) It’s made a fortune at the American Box Office since its opening weekend. And it’s easy to see why. Where as Dirty Harry was a fascist with a heart of stone, Eastwood’s character in GRAN TORINO, Walt, is a racist, old fart, with a heart of gold! It’s impossible not to love him and, by extension, impossible not to love this movie. It’s also the funniest movie I’ve seen in months. Go see it. Jason O’Mahony

Roll Up Your Sleeves Director: Dylan Haskins

nnnnn Roll Up Your Sleeves is a documentary on the punk ethos come to be known as Do-It-Yourself culture. And… I’m finding it hard to write this review without giving my personal little side story. So here we go… I’ve been in bands and gigging for the past ten years of my life. And in my early gigging years i was privileged enough to share the stage with some of the bands featured in this DVD. But it wasn’t just

issuefive | crudemagazine.net

WATCHMEN Director: Zack Snyder

nnnn p What we got here is a Superhero movie that’s closer in tone and content to TAXI DRIVER (1976) than it is to Spiderman, Superman or Batman. It’s a dark, brooding, complex, multi-layered mystery adventure set in an alternate 1985, one in which Nixon is back for a third term as President and costumed superheroes are part and parcel of everyday life. The cold war rages and threatens to turn hot. The world is ticking dangerously close to nuclear war. Midnight on the ‘Doomsday Clock’, which charts the tension between the US and the USSR, signifies Armageddon and the clock reads five minutes to midnight. WATCHMEN is based on the comic book of the same name which was originally published by DC Comics as a 12-comic book series between 1986 and 1987. The 12 parts were subsequently collected into a trade paperback, and quickly became something of a critical smash. It’s the only ‘graphic novel’ to win the prestigious Hugo Award or, indeed, to be named among Time Magazine’s ‘100 Best English Language Novels.’ The original Watchmen, however, is near un-filmable, such is its density. So the director, Zack Snyder, who made the wonderful 300 (2006) deserves a lot of credit for making a movie that’s damn near as cracking as the comic. Few directors could get away with making a $130 million R rated comic book movie, without any stars, but that is exactly

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what Snyder achieves. And the film is all the better for it. The plot centers on Rorshach’s investigation of the murder of one of his former colleagues. Along the way he uncovers a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. During the course of his investigations, he reconnects with his former crimefighting pals – a rag-tag group of retired superheroes , only one of whom has true powers, the near-God-like, John Manhattan – and glimpses a wideranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. The film is fantastic, Snyder delivers in spades and the little-known actors are a revelation. Particularly Jackie Earle Haley as the washed up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorsharch. His Noir voice-over is reminiscent of Bickle’s in TAXI DRIVER, with the words scratched on your psyche as if by rusty razor blades. “The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout ‘Save us!’ And I’ll whisper ‘No’.” Classic! Jason O’Mahony

THE INTERNATIONAL Director: Tom Tykwer

nn p p p They control your money. They control your life. They control the government. And everyone pays. No, we’re not talking about the dreaded two tonne Biffo Cowen, or even his scary Fianna Fáil henchmen, we’re actually talking about the dastardly crooks that run the bank in Clive Owen’s latest film, THE INTERNATIONAL. Now given the current economic climate and the banking meltdown, a movie about baddies in banks might seem to be timely indeed. However, the movie is loosely based upon an earlier banking scandal, one involving the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI). Way back in 1972 a leading Pakistani financier founded BCCI which, at its peak, operated in 78 countries, had over 400 branches, and had assets in excess of $20 billion making it the 7th largest private bank in the world. By 1991, it had become the focus of one of the largest scandals in world financial history, due to massive fraud and corruption. Regulators found it to be involved in money laundering, bribery, support of terrorism, arms trafficking, the sale of nuclear technologies, tax evasion, smuggling, illegal immigration, and the illicit purchases of banks and real estate and it was found to have ‘lost’ at least $13 billion! Whew! That’s a lot of corruption! All that and the bank’s relationship with unsavory characters such as Saddam Hussein led to BCCI being jokingly referred to as the Bank of Crooks and Criminals

International. And now back to the movie – THE INTERNATIONAL, which is short for The International Bank of Business and Credit, is a ‘thriller’ which struggles to thrill. Interpol investigator Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and New York Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) are hot on the heels of a corrupt multinational bank. They trot across the globe, popping up in Milan, Berlin, Luxembourg and New York to do battle with bankers. The filmmakers have made a meal of the allegedly prophetic nature of the bankers as baddies storyline. The truth, I fear, is a little more prosaic. They simply wanted to capitalize on the huge success of the Bourne movies, which is fine, except that, unfortunately, THE INTERNATIONAL, while not being a bad movie, doesn’t come close. It’s difficult to see who is to blame. Probably not the Director, Tom Tykwer, who made the wonderful RON LOLA RUN (1998). He photographs some spectacular scenery and deserves credit for creating some action packed sequences, particularly the shoot-out in the Guggenheim Museum which is an orgiastic explosion of broken glass and flying bullets. However, we can’t blame Clive Owen either, he puts in a fine steely performance as the dogged Interpol agent. But for whatever reason, and whoever is to blame, the film, ultimately, is an underwhelming thriller, it’s uninspired and a little inconsequential. Not bad but by no means great. If you really want to get your heart racing and want a bank thriller – then drop into any branch of an Irish bank and ask for a mortgage. You’re guaranteed to get hearts racing – your own and the bankers! Jason O’Mahony

VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA Director: Woody Allen

nnn pp I have an e m b a r ra s s i n g admission to make, an admission that, for a movie fan, is tantamount to admitting a fondness for wearing grannies underwear. I don’t like Woody Allen and I don’t like his movies. There I said it. I know he’s a comic genius but I just don’t get it. I don’t. I want a different kind of laughter. I want laughter that leaves me gasping for air. And it’s what I get when watching John Cleese in FAWLTY TOWERS (1975) or Larry David in CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM (2000 – 2007). That’s the kind of comedy for me. I love DUMB & DUMBER (1994) or the more recent Frat Pack movies like DODGEBALL (2004) with Vince Vaughan. Having said that, Larry David and Ben Stiller are huge Woody Allen fans so I know it’s just me. I just don’t get it. And yes, I have watched the ‘classic’ Allen movies. I’ve sat through ANNIE HALL (1977), TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN (1969), CRIMES AND MISDEMANOURS (1989) and others more times than I care to remember as first one friend,

then another would try to ‘cure’ me of my aversion to Allen. “But Annie Hall is hilarious,” they would say, putting on the DVD and yet no one watching the movies ever laughed uncontrollably. Ever! In fact, I laugh harder at Chris Walken’s confession in ANNIE HALL than any of the ‘fans’ laugh at any other part of any of his movies! So it was with some trepidation that I went to see VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, Allen’s latest, a movie that’s critically acclaimed and a box office hit, having received its World Premier at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. The film recently won a Golden Globe and was nominated for three more, while Penelope Cruz won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in the movie. Now just as New York City was the backdrop in Allen’s MANHATTAN (1979), the stunning city of Barcelona is the setting for the romantic adventures of Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson). The two young Americans spend a summer in Spain and meet a flamboyant artist (Javier Bardem) and his beautiful but insane ex-wife (Penelope Cruz). Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is straight-laced and about to get married. Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) is a sexually adventurous free spirit. When all four main characters become amorously entangled, the results are chaotic and anything but predictable. And, much to my surprise, wonderfully entertaining. Penelope Cruz is magnificent as the manic, knife wielding, gun toting, fiery ex-wife and is well worth her Oscar. Javier Bardem is on fire as the Latin Lover while the Americans more than hold their own. There’s another star on screen, the beautiful Barcelona, and anyone familiar with the city will delight in seeing its landmarks peppered through out the film. The music smolders with Spanish sensuality, the story unfolds in a luscious Mediterranean idyll and the four main characters breeze across the screen and in and out of one another’s lives in this captivating and thoroughly enjoyable film. And any movie that has Penelope Cruz kissing Scarlett Johansson is ok by me. The movie is a light, sunny, entertaining romantic comedy and fans of Allen won’t be disappointed. VICKY CRISTINA has its share of laughs but don’t expect to see the audience gasping for air! Jason O’Mahony

the bands that have had an life lasting effects on me, it was their friends and people involved in the shows. It was their drive, their organisation, their ethos. These were people no older than me, that had done it all themselves because they could. They weren’t sitting around waiting for things to happen and complaining when it didn’t. If you want it, there’s no one better than yourself to make it happen. For years after, that non-profit DIY punk scene of the Dublin suburbs and surrounding counties grew to become the Basta Collective, onto Hideaway Records and the Hideaway House. All the while I observed from afar, envious of such a young and active punk rock scene. This documentary is of the exploration and realisation of one young film maker by the name of Dylan Haskins, as he ventures across the world and interviews veterans along the way such as The Ex and Ian MacKaye of Fugazi/ Minor Threat. He documents the people he meets and the places he visits, on how others have been doing it for years upon years. It examines the relationship between DIY culture and the need for autonomous social spaces. This is a way of life, by choice and is truly inspiring. Ladies and gentleman, this is Roll Up Your Sleeves. Get it. Learn from it. And realise how lazy you are. Shane Serrano

Game review PROTOTYPE

Xbox 360

7/10

worse with the infection becoming widespread. This sense of progression and constant change is a very nice touch that makes the player very conscious of what they may encounter as they travel from one district to another. Being a superhero game, Prototype is all about superpowers and offering the player an experience they won’t soon forget. In this respect, it does not disappoint. Not being tied to an existing comic or movie means the developers were able to give our anti-hero an arsenal of moves the likes of which you have never seen. as well as the classics such as super strength, speed and endurance, Alex can shift shapes and take on the form of any body he wants. Contrasting this stealthy ability, Alex also has a plethora of devastating offensive powers at his disposal; razor sharp claws, a blade that runs up the side of his arm and an extendable razor-tipped tentacle to name just a few. Alex can switch between these powers on the fly, with each offering a unique move set. Each of the powers are ridiculously fun to use, with a surging sense of power as you decimate your foes at the quick press of a button. Coupled with the ability to steal tanks and helicopters, as well as use a handful of firearms, there really is no shortage of ways to destroy your enemies in Prototype.

points’ which can then be cashed in for upgrades. These include more health, new attacks and enhanced speed. In terms of presentation, Prototype is a major disappointment. The character models are stiff and lifeless, especially during cut scenes. the city is made up of dull blocky buildings, with only one or two landmarks standing out from the ugly rows of generic apartment blocks. the draw distance is shockingly poor for a title encouraging hurried gliding through the sky and piloting helicopters. The higher you go, the more you notice buildings popping in and out of shot as well as a thick layer of fog covering anything more than a block away. the game looks like it needs a few more months in development. The audio fairs a little better with a decent score and appropriate sound

Escapism. It’s one of the most basic reasons people play video games. the chance to escape into a world you’ve never experienced. To do things you didn’t think possible. to be a person you never thought you could be. at its core, this is what Prototype is all about. Offering an alternative take on standard superhero games, Prototype isn’t based on an existing comic book or movie. Instead it is set in a universe entirely of its own, and as such it offers a totally unique experience. You take control of Alex Mercer, a one-of-a-kind government experiment gone wrong. Waking up in a morgue, with no recollection of who he is, Alex is shocked to discover that he now possesses superhuman abilities. Quickly finding himself targeted by elite government agents, the amnesiac hero must uncover the truth and take his revenge on those who turned him into a human guinea pig. If this all sounds like generic comic book nonsense, it’s because it is. Prototype’s story is as unoriginal and lazy as they come, with both the concept and the execution disappointing at every turn. The writing is clichéd, the voice acting is half-hearted and the characters are uninteresting, making for one completely throwaway story. One redeeming quality however, is the unique way in which the story is told. Instead of simply having the characters explain the plot, Alex has the power to absorb the memories of the people around him. at various points in the game, specially marked characters will appear on the map, indicating that they have information that is valuable to Alex. The antihero can then “consume” these characters to trigger a memory. It’s a unique take on interactive story telling that makes the otherwise lackluster pros seem more enjoyable. In terms of design it follows a very familiar setup. as Mercer, you have free reign over the island of Manhattan, which is immersed in conflict between military forces and a grotesque horde of mutants infected with a deadly virus. While the free-roaming New York environment might seem a bit tired in 2009, the aforementioned conflict really adds another dimension to it. Military zones have tanks on patrol, dozens of soldiers on the streets and military bases around every corner, with death and decay being strewn across the streets of the infected zones. As time goes on, the situation in the city grows progressively

While there are a great variety of powers, there are no missions that take advantage of specific abilities. Every mission has you traveling from A to B, occasionally stopping along the way to dismember an enemy. With such a “cut and paste” design, towards the end of the 12 hour experience the game really starts to drag along, as you feel like you’re just running around in circles; it‘s a minor issue, but irritating nonetheless. The mission objectives may be dull but the player really does have total control over how to go about completing them. Sneak attacks or all out action, it really is up to you. this variety is complemented by the game’s parkour system that lets Alex sprint across the environment at a blistering pace, automatically vaulting over obstacles and scaling walls with ease, making it seem like there truly is nowhere he can’t go, and nothing he can’t do. as is the standard for games of this nature, there are various side missions and diversions you can engage in when not progressing the story. these missions are nothing special but they do offer some variety. The game play is so unique and enjoyable that the mundane objectives and tasks are more entertaining than they would be in any other title. Successful completion of these side quests earns you ‘evolution

effects. At its best, it’s average. At its worst, it’s not of the standard set for this generation of consoles. never has a name been so appropriate for a game. Prototype really does feel like a rough version of a game that will be released next year. It’s a bag of ideas lacking a proper execution. The concept is great and the game play is thoroughly enjoyable, but the story, design and presentation are all flawed and lacking in the polish that we’ve come to expect from a game in this generation. That said, it really is a case of the whole equaling more than the sum of its parts, as Prototype’s unique game play and entertaining side missions are enough to keep you interested from start to finish. Barry Murphy issuefive | crudemagazine.net

Man anD MEn by adrian connolly

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4 2

A Slick and solid skateboarding shoe with a classic design. Featuring Bruise Control Technology, this shoe is for the big boys… More cushion for the pushin’! 2

You may or may not know this, but iconic film director Spike Jonze had a big influence on this Lakai shoe model. Which justifies its legitimacy without having to point to the obvious understated style and simplicity. Featuring suede uppers and a vulcanised sole, keeping the shoe slim and stylish. The Manchester comes in a range of colours like you wouldn’t believe, from neon pink to electric blue to… 3

A staple in any skateboarder’s wardrobe. Lightweight without compromising on the durability required. There are a whole variety of colours available too, like this one featuring purple detailing. 4

Big prints on shirts are back, and DVS are making the best. This 100% cotton t-shirt with the silkscreen logo print, seen here in vintage navy, also comes in a whole host of colours.

www.dvsshoes.com // www.lakai.com crudemagazine.net | issuefive

> ACROSS:

DOWN:

1. Bewilderment (9) 9. Split or separate into parts (6) 10. Degrading and stingy (9) 11. Prized breed of hirsute rabbit (6) 12. Of the parish (9) 13. Generic shape of U.F.O’s (6) 17. Roadside bomb used by the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents (1,1,1) 19. First name of Admiral Nelson (7) 20. Scottish seaman on whom Defoe based his castaway (7) 21. Chapman and chums were confronted by the knights who say …? (3) 23. In 1919 the workers of Limerick took over the city and formed ? (6) 27. Tactic for outwitting an opponent (9) 28. Messy (6) 29. In 1997 Bowie sang that he was afraid of ? (9) 30. Not level (6) 31. Colleague (9)

2. Jedi name of Ben Kenobi (3,3) 3. A bundle of sticks (6) 4. The Irish for Sarah (6) 5. Perform surgery (7) 6. First name of Formula 1 driver Fisichella (9) 7. Geppetto’s marionette (9) 8. Gritty Mike Leigh film (4,5) 14. Synonymous reference book (9) 15. Authorised pirate (9) 16. Delegates/Junior doctors (9) 17. Charged subatomic particle (3) 18. Nintendo’s newest hand held games console (1,1,1) 22. Narrow strip of land joining two land areas (7) 24. Coiffure (6) 25. Ethereal oriental martial art (3,3) 26. Popular leguminous seed (6)

Solutions to Issue four’s crossword Across: 1. Assistant 9. Africa 10. Appoints 11. Linear 12. Thrift 14. Leer 15. Caste 16. Emetic 18. Whistle 21. Phrased 18. Whistle 21. Phrased 24. Zephyr 26. Eerie 30. Odds 31. Eddies 32. Lloyds 33. Merriest 34. Needle 35. An émigré

Down: 2. Sappho 3. Ironic 4. Tenets 5. Nestles 6. Affirm 7. Libertas 8. Matricide 11. Leech 13. FACT 17. Swaziland 19. Improper 20. Lords 22. Raid 23. Best man 25. Yodels 27. Redrum 28. Edging 29. Nessie

issuefive | crudemagazine.net

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