New Power Soul Revolution from Janelle Monae

Last week, before Glastonbury drew everyone’s attention to the fields of Worthy Farm, the Guardian published a rare and surprisingly revealing interview with my personal musical hero, Prince.

The normally reclusive and press-averse megastar spoke, albeit briefly, about his favourite current artists. He called out two by name. One was Adele. The other was Janelle Monae.

When the Minneapolis maestro speaks, you know it’s time to listen up.

Her show at Tripod last week was a perfect illustration of a brave new artist on the brink of much wider success, with her roots and influences squarely apparent and fully on show – wonderful covers of Prince, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5 and Sly and the Family Stone in the mix with her own already impressive material – and a live band so well-drilled and on the mark that they were a huge part of the show, as much as Janelle herself.

So much so that the theatrical aspects of this “emotion picture”, on top of some of the best future funk/soul you are likely to hear, made for one of the most mesmerising shows to hit Dublin for a long time, and probably for a long time to come.

After the bandleader had us call Janelle to the stage, the infectious energy and apparent joy of playing instantly transferred to the crowd as soon as the band broke in to Dance Or Die – an appropriate opener, because if you didn’t dance during the show, you probably were dead. That buzz did not flag until even after the main show, when the assembled ArchOrchestra returned to the stage for a hugely-deserved curtain call.

In between, Janelle’s vibrant and powerful soul voice weaved it’s way around Tripod, capturing all in its wake, as the band – made up of a string quartet, brass section, guitar, bass, keys, backing singers, dancers, MC, and drummer – put on a polished, soul revue-style performance that was utterly entrancing.

Her ArchAndroid was one of the best records of last year, and this live show will go down as one of the best of 2011.
Janelle promised at the end that they would be back – when she does return, don’t miss it.

A Bittersweet Harvest from Gillian Welch

Gillian Welch is renowned for two things — being one of the best singer-songwriters in music, and not being nearly prolific enough.

Eight years since their last release, Soul Journey, which had the Bob Dylan-esque audacity to feature an electric guitar in their previously all-acoustic sound, comes The Harrow and The Harvest, a return to Welch and David Rawlings’ darker, melodic roots.

As the title suggests, there’s a pastoral gothic at work here, and the instruments used, that include banjo, hands and feet show they have stripped the music back to it’s almost barest bones.

There is an indescribable familiarity about Gillian Welch’s music. It’s like nothing you’ve heard before, and everything you know.

Rooted in bluegrass and Appalachian styles, there is something fascinating and beguiling about The Harrow and The Harvest.

It’s shot through with a folk memory of songs long forgotten but that are still in your ears, and their shapes come into focus quickly after only a few bars.

It’s not even country music, it’s something more than that. It’s soul music, in the purest sense of that phrase.

The songs speak of scarlet and daggers, and, within the shadows of the music, there’s the feeling that there is something ready to reap what has been sown in the lives and loves of the characters in the songs.

This isn’t a great record, it’s an essential one. There’s the essential force of life and death within, and there’s very few records you can say that about.

Cars + Love + Girls = Great + New + Music

Cars Love Girls sounds like the blueprint for every great song of the last few decades, but it’s also the name of the new band from former Republic of Loose members Cormac and Orla Breslin.

The band came about when the brother and sister duo, who had always talked about working together, were looking for the next stage to their musical careers after leaving the Loose around two years ago.

“I had a good few songs left over that I had written for the band,” said Bres. “Usually, I would bring along an instrumentals and we would then put lyrics and vocals to them. So, I was left wondering what I would do next with them, and so I decided to finish them myself.

“Orla and I always said we would do something together, and the timing was right, so it happened pretty naturally.”

That natural progression has seen the band put together an album, Skip School, which contains ten highly-polished and accomplished songs that stand out from the current crop of sounds emerging from the capital city.

Imagine the chrome-plated production sound of Steely Dan, the loose funk of early Prince and the warm embrace of Prefab Sprout, and you’re getting close to the sound of Cars Love Girls.

“I’m not really affiliated with the Irish music scene, I’ve been in one band since college, and I don’t play with anyone else. The scene wasn’t an influence, what influenced it was me going back to my record collection and thinking about the artists that I loved and what did I want us to sound like.

“Things like Prince and Prefab Sprout, bands that I never stopped listening to, something that had a groove, and was really polished. It’s almost easy listening – clean, well-produced stuff.

“That was what we were going for and, hopefully, I’ve ended up somewhere in that ballpark.”

The band will play their first official gig at Crawdaddy on July 20, and their live sound is something that Bres and Orla have been working hard on perfecting.

“We’re looking forward to the first show, we’ve been rehearsing for the last couple of months, and it’s sounding good. It’s pretty much exactly the same as the record.

“It’ll take time to grow, and settle down on stage. We have a support slot in September; we’re planning on doing the Hard Working Class Heroes and EuroSonic festivals, as well as the IMRO showcase tour.

“We’re starting from scratch, really doing everything we can. I can’t wait to get the album out there, so we’re looking at the best way of doing that.”

When the album drops, don’t expect Cars Love Girls to remain in the shadows for long. It sounds like the first step on the road to international success.  Here’s one of the debut tracks from the album, Lose Your Mind. Clearly channeling Prefab Sprout, this is a great track.