Scene and Heard

MUSIC NEWS: While many music fans have great memories of John Peel and the music he introduced to our ears, the late DJ’s legacy grew even stronger this week with the release of his record collection online.

Thespace.org hosts the collection, and 100 albums are being uploaded in alphabetical each week, beginning appropriately this week with the letter ‘A’. Do your own maths as to how long it’ll take to get the full 25,000 online. And then there’s just the 40,000 singles and countless thousands of CDs. Another departed northern English institution, the Hacienda, will be briefly resurrected for three events to mark the club’s 50th anniversary from May 21. Among them will be a dance night in the car park of the apartments which now stand on the site of the seminal club. The video for the first single from Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s new album, Americana, is now available to view online. The old standard, ‘Oh Susannah’, features alongside other American folk classics such as ‘She’ll Be Comin Round The Mountain’ and ‘This Land Is Your Land’. The Simpsons may not be the coolest cartoon on the planet any more, but the soundtrack from Sunday’s episode in the US may have helped restore some kudos. Hot Chip and Animal Collective both featured. Finally, a minute’s silence for Charles ‘Skip’ Pitts, who passed away earlier this week. This funk soul brother was the guitarist who pioneered the ‘wah wah’ style, not least on the Shaft title track by Isaac Hayes and ‘It’s Your Thing’ by the Isley Brothers.

GIG WISE: It’s been a Corkish week for Jessie J (left). She recorded an appearance on Bandon boy Graham Norton’s show for tonight, and then announced a Live At The Marquee gig for July 3. Tickets went on sale at €44.05 + booking fee this morning at 9am for what should be the biggest gig of the Marquee season. Also in Cork, the Kilfenora Céilí Band play Cork Opera House on May 18, while the Pavilion has signed up the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble for an appearance on the Sunday of the long weekend — Jun 3. They’ll also be appearing at Dolans in Limerick on May 31. The Hypnotics have recorded an album with their father Philip Cohran which will be released on Damon Albarn’s label, Honest Jons, near the end of this month. The Kilkenny Roots Festival takes place this weekend, and the Sunday gig from the wonderful Alabama Shakes is already sold out.