Scene and Heard
MUSIC NEWS: Next week’s big release is Coexist from The xx, and in recent days it has been streaming on NPR.org. Well worth checking out. The band also appeared at the Electric Picnic last week, and we’ll bring you news of further Irish dates as soon as anything is confirmed. With Stevie Wonder among the headliners, Bestival this weekend at the Isle Of White has claims to having the best lineup of any festival in this part of the world. If you fancy catching the action from the comfort of your own home, it is being streamed live on YouTube. Finally, the official Scene & Heard person of the week award goes to Philomena Lynott for her complaints about Mitt Romney and the Republicans in the US using her son Phil’s song, ‘The Boys Are Back in Town’.
GIG WISE: Efterklang may not be a household name, but the quirky Danish outfit are highly thought of by ‘dem-in-de-know’. Their appearances at Meeting House Square in Dublin on Friday and at Cork Opera House next Saturday will feature accompaniment by the Major Lift Orchestra for a set that will feature much of the band’s new album, Piramida. Cork Opera House is officially part of the city’s jazz festival for its Beach House gig on Oct 27, but it’s the two big double bills at the Everyman that will be of most appeal to jazz fans. Gregory Porter, pictured, is as much of a soul singer as a jazz vocalist and the highly rated American shares a gig with top trumpeter Roy Hargrove on Oct 27. On Sunday, Oct 28, Miles Smiles is a tribute to Miles Davis featuring some of the top players who worked with him, a bill shared with a band led by Chris Dave, the urban/jazz drummer who plays with the likes of Robert Glasper, Q-Tip, etc. In the meantime, southcoast jazz fans can make do with American sax player Joshua Redman and his trio at the Triskel next Friday. Of all the Irish bands who emerged in the late 1980s, perhaps the Stunning are the standout group who should have made it on the international scene. The Galway band have reformed to play their Paradise in the Picturehouse album in its entirety at Vicar St, Dublin, on Sept 21. Also in Dublin, the wonderful Alabama Shakes have confirmed a gig for the Olympia on Nov 14.
