The War On Drugs: Interview

We caught up with Adam & Dave from The War On Drugs just before their sold out Whelans gig in Dublin. They were pretty excited to be finally playing in the venue. They were also hoping Mike Scott was gonna jam with them that night. It never happened. Scott was in attendance though and as I stood beside him watching the band from our upstairs vantage point, it occurred to me that it didn’t matter that he had declined their invitation, what mattered was that he was there to witness and thereby honour the work of a new generation.

Django Django: Interview

On Feb 23rd Django Django played their muchly anticipated debut Dublin gig in The Grand Social. And what a gig it was. Expectations were trumped by the bands rock solid delivery as was the warmth of the vibe on the night by the sweat soaked crowd. We met up with the boys for a chat before the gig.

Other Lives: Interview

Last week we caught up with Oklahoma band Other Lives after their Academy gig in Dublin for a quick interview. We first heard their new album “Tamer Animals” during the summer and with hints of The National, Grizzly Bear to their cinematic sound – they were already on our favourite album of the year list.

Squeeze: Interview

Pop legends Squeeze have been playing music on and off for 38 years. They are currently touring a greatest hits show and we caught up with one half of the songwriting partnership Chris Difford for a chat before their recent Dublin gig.

Gavin Friday: Interview

It has been sixteen years since Gavin Friday’s last solo album Shag Tobacco. In the interim he has been busy with film scores and soundtracks, including Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ the 50 Cent biopic with Quincy Jones. He has also been embracing his theatrical side with the The Royal Shakespeare Company and of course there was his unforgettable starring role in Neil Jordan’s Breakfast On Pluto.

He returns now with new album ‘catholic’, released today, Good Friday. Ken Thomas‘  lush and ambient production provides Friday’s lyrics, delivered in his seasoned sleazy growl, with a rich cinematic soundscape. Loss and death are the central themes, but they are examined from a vantage point, where the fog of grief has lifted and a new day is dawning, gently peaking its head above the horizon. It is an album that rewards repeated listens, slowly revealing its warm and intimate charms. Below is an interview we recorded with Gavin recently.

Smoke Fairies: Interview

Smoke Fairies music is a beguiling blend of folk harmonies and blues guitars. In 2010 they released their debut album Through Low Light & Trees having previously recorded with both Richard Hawley and Jack White. We spoke to Katherine and Jessica before their Dublin gig in December 2010.

Republic Of Loose Bounce Back

Having been out of the blogosphere for the past little while I am very happy for our return to coincide with that of Republic Of Loose who have bounced back from a line up change that could have meant the end of the band. Specifically they lost two core members last year but decided to continue for at least one more album and as it turned out that album might just be the creative high point in their career to date.

Bounce At The Devil (Or Vol. 5 Johnny Defeats Satan)  is their fourth album and is a major step forward for the band. Not content to repeat themselves they took the experimental route and the resulting album is a dense multilayered highly danceable affair. I always saw them as a band at odds with their surroundings and even at odds with themselves, where perfect pop was served up with hot and sleazy slow cooked funk and lyrically on this album they appear at times to address this. Musically they incorporate dance and metal influences more so than before, with tracks now being highly complex arrangements that reveal more with each listen.

Rhythmically they far surpass their previous work, with percussion, bass and drums weaving tight knit off-beat grooves that the melody lines bounce off rather rest on. Highlights include The Bla Bounce which combines the abrasiveness of  Baltimore club music and irresistible pop to sublime effect while retaining a sweet and crunchy centre, and The Man which is the cleverest pop song I have heard this year. If this is the sound of a band reassessing their work and their direction then the old adage that personal crises make for great art certainly rings true. Rather than me rabbit on about this band and album any further, you can listen to this interview we recorded with ROL main man Mik Pyro recently.

Republic Of Loose Interview where Mik talks about the band’s history, the recent line up changes, the new album, the international distribution deal and the future for ROL…check it out.

Jim Jones Revue: New single

The hard rocking, hard working punk n roll merchants Jim Jones Revue have a new single High Horse out now, with the album Burning Down Your House due shortly. Produced by Jim Sclavunos of The Bad Seeds and Grinderman this cut indicates that a bigger budget production serves the sound well. While the debut album rocked like a motherfucker the sound was somewhat claustrophobic, not surprising given that it was recorded live on a four track in a tiny rehearsal space.

The JJR template is simple enough on paper, 50′s Rock n Roll hopped up on punk n speed goof balls, re imagined for the 21st century.Capturing this on record without losing any of  the ferocity of the live band will have been a formidable task for Sclavunos but by the sound of this he was more than capable, with the individual instruments now enjoying more elbow room and  the sound in general more breathing space. I can’t wait to hear the entire album.

Jim Jones Revue  High Horse:

Earlier in the year we spoke to Rubert Orton and Jim Jones of Jim Jones Revue about the bands journey so far, the recording process, opening for The Dead Weather and the state of the music industry in general.

Jim Jones Revue Interview

yeasayer interview

Thanks for checking out the new Needle Hits The Groove blog, over the next few weeks we’ll be filling this up with our favourite new music, rants, interviews, photos and podcasts of our previous shows from last year. But what is more fitting to kick off a blog than one of the first ever Needle Hits The Groove Interviews? We were lucky enough to catch up with Anand Wilder of Yeasayer before their Dublin date in early 2010 to talk about the new album, the recording process and how he feels about the downloading culture. Enjoy!