Jim Carrollon music
Hip-hoppers to hit Dublin in October
A new festival will bring such hip-hop luminaries as Mos Def, Madlib and De La Soul to Dublin in the autumn. The Wanted festival will see live acts, DJs, art exhibitions and club sessions in various city-centre venues from October 4th to 7th, as well as a screening of the new documentary from Irishman-in- LA Brian Cross and a vinyl buy-and-sell fair.
The festival is helmed and programmed by the Choice Cuts team who have been responsible for more than 60 Irish shows in the past five years, including appearances from The Breakestra, Cut Chemist, Arrested Development, DJ Jazzy Jeff, The Rebirth, Quantic, J Live and Marva Whitney.
Other Wanted events are due to take place in Stockholm and Milan as part of a Wrangler- sponsored initiative.
Wanted will feature acts not to be found at other Irish festivals, says Mark Murphy of Choice Cuts. "Mos Def and Mad Lib have never played here before, while De La Soul and J Rocc have not been here for four years."
The Mos Def and Madlib shows are particularly intriguing. Mos Def may be better known these days for his film performances (Monster's Ball, 16 Blocks), but he's still capable of turning on the magic on wax and on stage. He plays The Village on October 5th.
The following night, Stones Throw luminary and under- ground legend Madlib tops a bill at The Tivoli that includes Jurassic 5 MC Chali 2na, J Rocc (Beat Junkies), Egon, Deep Burial and Heralds of Change.
There will also be screenings of Michael Wolk's You Think You Really Know Me, a documentary on musician and producer Gary Wilson, as well as Brian Cross's much acclaimed Brasilintime.
Cross's new documentary, DJ Dusk's Rootdown Soundclash, will also be screened during Wanted. It focuses on infamous DJ battles at LA hip-hop club Rootdown, featuring Cut Chemist vs Madlib, The One vs Will.I.Am and Oh No vs DJ Exile. The title refers to the late Tarek "DJ Dusk" Captan, a hugely influential DJ, hip-hop activist and the instigator of the Root down battles, who was killed by a drunk driver last year.
Full details of the Wanted festival will be announced on August 23rd. More information from www.thisiswanted.eu and www.choicecutsonline.com.
The £100 single. Is it a record?
Dan O'Connell is The Thurston Revival, the Maidstone-born, Vancouver-based one-man band who is laying claim to releasing the most expensive debut single ever.
O'Connell intends to sell 100 copies of his Somewhere There's an Angel single (albeit on high- quality 12-inch vinyl, with artwork desiged by 10 rising UK artists) at £100 a go.
In an era of download over- load and free CDs with the Sunday papers, this may smack to some of insanity. Yet O'Connell and his backers, music industry website Record of the Day, view the price tag as a statement about the value of music. While the tune can be heard for free from today on O'Connell's MySpace site, the artefact will remind people that music is, after all, supposed to be art.
As with all bright ideas, if it works expect others to emulate O'Connell. We're sure the late great Tony Wilson, someone who also viewed pop music as art, would approve.
Bubbling up
The bubble has certainly not burst. A year on from launch, pureplay pop music cable channel Bubble Hits is pulling in viewers and is now as widely available in Ireland as it is in the UK.
Founded by James Hyland and Lee Walsh, Bubble Hits has attracted investment from MCD Concerts boss Denis Desmond. They plan to consolidate the rollout in Europe (Hungary, Germany and Poland were recently added to Bubble's reach) and a Bubble Hits Ireland brand.
Roy's debut
Here's a name for 2008. Balbriggan teen Lesley Roy may be very much below the radar at home, but the same can't be said abour her international profile.
Part of Dublin's Religion Music stable, Roy signed last year to big swinging pop label Jive/Zomba. She recently completed her debut album, where the heads at the mixing desk included Max Martin (the Swedish producer who's worked with Britney Spears and Kelly Clarkson) and Chris Lord-Alge (past clients include Green Day, Foo Fighters and My Chemical Romance).
