What do Stacey's Mom, Bullet with Butterfly Wings, and Mmmbop have in common...?

Tinted Windows, thats what! The new hybrid supergroup comprising James Iha (ex-Smashing Pumpkins), Taylor Hanson of Mmmbop fame, the bassist from Fountains of Wayne, and Cheap Trick's drummer.

Their self-titled LP has been out since the end of April so its well past its zeitgeist-date at this stage..

Despite Taylor Hanson's naff musical beginnings - luckily they don't transfer on this effort – it’s not bad. It is unashamed power-chord-driven pop rock, to the extent they could be pigeonholed as a Thinking Man's Busted! This is probably unfair though, in patches it does lend itself more to Dinosaur Jr's 2007 album Beyond..

Check out the single Messing With My Head...

Dead Serious is another good album track too...

Health warning: this is college rock by a band with an average age of 42 - not everyone's rock music ideal. There is however some trademark James Iha guitar-squealing, albeit used more sparingly in the mix..

Am I the only one who thinks this album is half-decent?

Review - Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present: Dark Night Of The Soul

As if parting ways with Paul McCartney and Radiohead wasn't enough kudos-shattering for one decade, EMI now finds itself embroiled in a right kerfuffle with the enduringly zeitgesity producer-cum-cash cow Danger Mouse. His über collaboration-compilation with Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse - featuring such luminaries as Frank Black, Iggy Pop, Julian Casablancas, Gruff Rhys, and Nina Persson (The Cardigans) - has been streaming online on NPR for the past few weeks , originally in anticipation of a physical release through EMI. However, following disagreement with EMI over release logistics, Mouse et al have opted for the pragmatic route. With David Lynch contributing a vast collection of photography described as a "visual narrative" to the music, the album's completion was marked by a limited release of an artbook of these photographs along with "a blank CD-R as an artefact to use however you see fit".

It might not be available on an official CD release, or via a legitimate download, but that nice NPR stream of the album came in handy...

So, how does it rate?

Well, Gnarls Barkley it isn't. Nor would you expect Danger Mouse not to diversify with every new project he embarks on. Given the time of year this album has found its audience, you might expect Danger Mouse to have one eye on shiny summer pop-ulism. Not the case. Its a remarkably dark album, perhaps best stored up for those dull introverted winter nights.

Album opener 'Revenge' finds a pensive Flaming Lips churning out what can loosely be described as a sombre retake of 'Fight Test' in that it features the same Wayne Coyne confidence-inducing brand of lyrics but in a far more stifled and moody fashion. Although slow-paced a lá Beck's cover of "I Need Your Lovin (Like The Sunshine)" it does reach an intense drum-laden crescendo, the kind that leaves you wishing that this was a full-length Flaming Lips album in its own right so they could continue exploring this newfound dark sound.

The renaissance of Gruff Rhys finds a new chapter on 'Just War' - it starts out as a swampy slide guitar effort but quickly sidesteps into electricified layers. Although oozing in complexities, its actually quite a simple tongue-in-cheek anti-war song.

Another highlight includes Frank Black's appearance on 'Angel's Harp' - it has all you would want from Black - the thrashy guitars, the iconic wail, its fantastic. Although sounding quite fresh and new, its possibly the most Pixie-esque track he's written since that band stopped recording together.

Apparently all the vocalists on this album were sent instrumental tracks and simply asked to record over them with whatever vocals they wanted and its pretty evident on Iggy Pop's effort 'Pain'. By no means Iggy Pop's worst ever project - see his Sum 41 collaboration - it does come across as a self-indulgent imitation of Ian Curtis. Even though there mightn't have been a Joy Division without the Iggy influence, this song just isn't good.

The rest of the album is very filler-ed - albeit with some bright spots from Nina Persson and Julian Casablancas - but on the whole DNOTS keeps Danger Mouse up there on the producer wishlists across the popular music landscape. Surely Michael Jackson will be on the phone to recruit him for that comeback album any day now...

Finally, a tasteful abstract video of Mogwai performing live!

Mogwai - Mogwai Fear Satan from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

someday these guys will get round to releasing a live DVD, and it will be awesome.

Are you watching RTÉ Sports' Advertising Department?

Park Ji Sung is to North Korea as Gary McKay is to the Republic of Ireland!!

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The North Korean soccer team have achieved the impossible by qualifying for 2010 World Cup. By holding out for a nil-all draw in their final qualifier against Saudi Arabia, the North Koreans have qualified for their first FIFA World Cup since their impressive showing in 1966:



This is thanks in no small part to NK goalkeeper Ri Myong-guk - who kept a clean sheet for the fourth time in five games - but also to South Korea & Manchester United's Park Ji Sung, whose 81st minute leveller in the South's own qualifier against Iran ensured the North Koreans held on to 2nd place in the group and avoided a play-off against both Bahrain and New Zealand. Having qualified 2 weeks ago, South Korea really lent a helping hand to the Secret State by drawing both their remaining meaningless games to keep NK's dream of automatic qualification alive.. Shades of Gary McKay's dig out for Jack Charlton in our Euro '88 qualifying campaign spring to mind, although its unlikely that Park Ji Sung would be received as openly in Pyongyang as McKay is this side of the Irish Sea!

This article in today's Indy imagines the scenario should the USA be drawn in North Korea's group in South Africa (Stranger things have happened...)

Speaking of Ji Sung Park, here he is "having a laugh" with Patrice Evra and "Carlito" Tevez - Go on the lads!!

Has Dean Kiely been shafted or is he a victim of the golden age in Irish goalkeeping?

When Dean Kiely came back into the Irish squad last year, it was surely on the promise that he was assured of being Shay Given's understudy, especially after the outstanding season he had as West Brom stopper through their successful promotion charge back into the Premiership.

One year on and while Kiely has come full circle at club level - losing his no. 1 spot to Capello-rated Scott Carson only to reclaim it again in recent weeks - a curveball has been thrown Trapattoni's way in the guise of Kieron Westwood, who himself mirrors Kiely's vein of form this time last year (in fact Westwood has been selected on the PFA Players' Team of the Season in the Championship). This must have given Trap a selection headache going into today's Nigeria, especially with a surprisingly match-fit Shay Given back in the fray.

One suspects that Kiely had expected to slot in as Given's first-choice replacement based on assurances he must have received off Trap et al on his return to the Irish set up, and his frustration when this did not transpire is surely what led to his departure from the squad. However it is not unreasonable of Trap to select Westwood ahead of Kiely at present given the superior game-time Westwood has under this belt this season coupled with his consistent performance levels. We see at Manchester United how Fergie manages to seemingly keep 3 goalkeepers satisfied that their futures at the club are intact, although obviously club football naturally offers more opportunities to players. Perhaps it is more telling to look at a country like Poland, where there is an abundance of goalkeeping talent - Boruc, Kuszczak, Fabianski and Zaluska all have worthy claims to the no. 1 jersey yet none seem dismayed at their lack of gametime. Of course Kiely is not in the position of having time on his side as these keepers do.

Its a real pity that Kiely has walked and one wonders how Trap could have handled the situation better given the legitimacy he has in selecting Westwood. One also wonders what role Alan Kelly could have or can play in this situation or its resolution. Lord knows Shay Given is never far away from a detrimental injury so it is of utmost importance that Ireland has three top-class keepers at their disposal and although Paddy Kenny has also been a fine-performer for Sheffield United of late, the fact that Kiely has clawed his way back into the West Brom side ahead of a keeper of Carson's pedigree, it does highlight how much of an experienced and talented stopper he is (as witnessed in his man-of-the-match performance this time last year in Craven Cottage versus Colombia), and the efforts he has gone to get back in the shop window are clearly fuelling his frustration. A year is a long time in football, and with Colin Doyle, Joe Murphy and Paddy Kenny waiting eagerly on the fringes, its safe to say that Ireland has never before had a such a rich vein of goalkeeping talent. One suspects Kiely has a future as a goalkeeping coach however, so for him to walk away from the Irish camp could deter any contribution he could give to Ireland in this capacity. Heres hoping for clarification on both sides of this kerfuffle...

Reach for the Stars.. and lose your disability benefit!!

The Susan Boyle success story may be "heartwarming", but this story emerging from Britain's Got Talent 2009 is more of the funny-bone-warming variety!

Wanna be a top-brass politician in France? Earn your stipes as an Au Pair in Dublin first!

If she'd actually won the super-close 2007 Presidential Election run-off with Nicolas Sarkozy, this would probably be well-known or at least not an irrelevant piece of trivia... The Indy did some insightful exploring into Ségolene Royal's time spent in Ireland as an Au Pair during her teens! She didnt mention it in her autobiography surprisingly but the gist of the article is if she got the chance to mind France as well as she minded Irish kids, there might be less strikes there today (I wont say no strikes, in France that would be impossible!).

While I'm at it - heres the link to what is now widely established as one of the great political campaign debates of the TV age, Sarkozy and Royal's duel before the 2007 Election.. Pity there isn't a big Irish vote in France, we could claim another Superpower head-of-state as one of our own!

RTE's Peter Collins makes Ryan Giggs cry, while Thierry Henry wins the battle of the Reeboks!

...well not really, but who knows how the Welsh wizard reacted off-air to Collins' line of questioning in this post-Champions League final interview tonight...

Check out the above link to see Peter Collins rub it in with a downbeat Giggsy, essentially saying to his face "God it must be awful" and "United lost on your watch as captain, that must hurt like a bitch.."

What must also hurt is losing to his fellow Reebok-wearer Thierry Henry. Check it out this witty ad Reebok brought out to capitalise on having Reebok endorsers on both sides - surely a first for them in these times of Nike and Adidas suffocation! Its a great ad, it ignores the boots and focuses on the rivalry... Giggs may have sent TH the Man Utd Opus but Barca's own Opus could become substantially larger if Pep Guardiola continues to have his way!

See What O2 Can Do?

Far be it from this blogger to promote the use of meaningful music in mindless marketing, but O2's latest Blueroom ad campaign yet again highlights their kudos in spotting eye-openingly gorgeous tracks to soundtrack their bubble-laden branding.

But whats more impressive is that these tracks always tend to be mostly unheard of by the larger public. Memorable song-usages include Leftfield's 'Release the Pressure', with which O2 launched its brand in 1999, and later followed this with 'Blood On The Motorway' in the See What You Can Do ads in 2002 - an otherworldly song snaffled off DJ Shadow's divisive second album The Private Press, which could easily have become an end-of-album afterthought for many if spared of this glowing exposure..

Back to the present, O2's current blueroom ad gives Florence and the Machine's 'Cosmic Love' track from her anticipated debut album Lungs (released this July) its first airing anywhere - believe me, myself and thousands other are looking for this song in mp3 format all over the internet, and the blueroom ad is literally the only place it can be heard..



Top marks to O2 for seizing the zeitgest yet again, and expect to hear a lot more of Florence and the Machine this summer.