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Johnny Tractor's Webpage
This page contains all the musical articles I've written and a song of the week which, be it a current release or a little known diamond, I recommend....
Maybe sometime in the future it'll grow into an independent site.
Then I'll run away from the Hoodlums.com and never look back
No EGo Fanzine no.3 news
No EGo Band Summit Interview excerpt
Can I Nick It?
Paddy's Day Megabash review
Song of the week No.4 12/04/03 - The hardest Button to Button
Song of the week No.3 05/04/03 - In Your Arms
Song of the week No.2 29/03/03 - Witness (one hope)
Song of the week No.1 22/03/03 - Gimme Shelter
No EGO Fanzine no.3 news
The Hoodlum's manager and NO EGO Tsar Dave McLynn has appointed me No Ego zine editor. This will mean/has meant a big shakeup in the Zine department of No Ego Promotions and unfortunately I had to let a lot of people go, because of both harsh economic realities and the fact that they were lazy feckers.
The Zine is planned to come out some time in August and we are hoping to have a second compilation tape of local bands to coincide with the launch (flog both of them together, for under a fiver).
The new Zine will build on the good progress made by the first two and there will be plenty of new features including a lot more articles, short stories and interviews.
If you would like to contribute to the zine or suggest something, you can contact me through the_hoodlums@hotmail.com.
Alternatively, if you are in a band and would like your cd to be reviewed, you can contact mclynn33@hotmail.com and Dave will sort you out.
I have posted an excerpt from the first "No Ego Band Summit" interview with members of 5 local acts below as a taster of what's to come in the new Zine.
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Excerpt from the First No EGO Band Summit
The Eight Wise Men…
RB: Robert Blake – Singer/songwriter
DC: Dave Colohan -
MD: Mike Dempsey – Dummy Kid guitarist/singer
S/JK: John Keane – Skytraffic drummer
S/MD: Mark Dolan – Skytraffic guitarist
S/AON: Alan O’ Neill – Skytraffic guitarist/singer
EK: Eddie Keenan – Belling Twin Classic Ninety guitarist/singer
DM: Dave Mclynn – Free Agent
Q.Would yee sell yee’re music for advertising?
RB: It depends what they were selling.
EK: If it was condoms or something. (laughter)
DC:I would never sell it.
Q. What if it was for say, the Special Olympics, like David Bowie’s song ‘Heroes’?
DC: David Bowie is the most clever man in the world, cos he runs an internet company that makes millions every year.
MD: It depends on the situation, what sort of situation you would be in. If you had your music and you just wanted it to be out there, no matter what, you wouldn’t really care….
DM: Moby sold most (all of it actually) his ‘Play’ album to adverts and his reason was that it was a small label, and he wanted to make them money. Is that valid?
DC: No, those people are all cunts. If there singing about or playing music from the heart, then advertising-
DM: He said that he wanted the label to make money, but at the same time, he was making money, like….
MD: …(agreeing) That’s an alternate motive.
S/JK: Well, The Dandy Warhol’s – ‘Bohemian Like You’ it even has on the album a Vodafone logo and it says- “The hit song off the Vodafone add”. That’s completely like you know, you may as well pull down your pants and ask them to ride you in the street.
DC: The saddest example of all that, I don’t know if any of yee remember, they were out before I was born, The MC5 (Detroit punk rockers), who were the most revolutionary band of the sixties…
DM: …yeeeeaaahhhhhh (agreeing, but sounding like a sheep baa-ing)
DC: …they appropriated a lot of free jazz and played anti-racism rallies but
now… I notice an episode of ‘Friends’ – Rachel’s wearing an MC5 t-shirt, they’ve actually been brought back and now Levi’s sponsor them. When they do an interview, 3 Levi’s representatives are sitting in the room with them. That is what corporate sponsorship is about.
RB: Here’s a totally different flipside to it. I truly believe that the revolution is not knockin’ all the shit down and starting over again. I think it happens slowly and the way you do that is through supporting co-operatively owned businesses. So if I could write a jingle for a co-op that I believed in, I’d be there.
Q. So it depends on the motive/situation?
All: Ye
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Can I Nick it?(appeared in No Ego Fanzine 2 March 2003)
As Cd prices soar ever higher, Johnny Tractor looks at alternatives to coughing up your hard-earned cash.
You have no cash. There’s a song you just can’t get outta your head. What can you do? Firstly, ignore Eminem’s threat to “Beat the S---“ out of anyone who steals his music and read this simple guide to music on the cheap.
Copying is probably the simplest way to get started. All that’s required is a PC with a Cd burner, a blank cd and a friend’s cd. Open up your cd creating programme (already on the pc) and off you go. Alternatively, cd burners are available online from Amazon.co.uk. Expect to pay about €150.
Mp3 sharing sites is the next option and one of the most popular (and about as fun as a Radiohead Comedy Show) is Win Mx. It’s dull but it gets the job done. Choosing a search result is puzzling, while the absence of technical support is a pain. The chat function is basic but sufficient. It downloads quickly and with several million members it’s bursting with rare tunes.
If you find switching on a mobile phone a bit technical then Lycos may solve your download problems. Simply type in your Song/Artist name in the search box, click on mp3 then download. Although lacking non chart hits, it does the dirty deed quickly and with little fuss.
It may be slower than a Bono acceptance speech but Kazaa delivers, where Lycos fails, with its depth. Taking almost 15 mins. to download and twice as long to download a song, your phone bill will look scary but if you’ve heard it, you’ll find it on Kazaa.
Even if the aforementioned methods are beyond your budget, there’s always the Winona Ryder approach. Try the Parama Ballaclava for some tasty attire, while lots of helpful advice on how to get started and some moral justification can be gotten at “The Art of Shoplifting” page.
With Cd prices flirting with the €30 price range and the likes of Robbie Williams getting £80m deals, it seems many record companies could loosen their purse strings a little.
Don’t be afraid of the miserly approach to music loving, embrace it.
Links
Amazon.co.uk
www.amazon.co.uk
Win MX
www.winmx.co.uk
Lycos
Http://music.lycos.com
Kazaa
www.cndoscotland.com/paramo/balacalva.html
The Art of Shoplifting
www.shine.net.au/shinemag/bguide/shoplifting.htm
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Paddy’s Day Megabash
Paddy’s Pub, Ballymahon, Co. Longford
It’s not Seattle. It’s definetly not New York. But a scene is slowly brewing in Ballymahon. Twenty five bands, two nights and two Euro in, it was a success before it even started.
Acts from the four corners of the country tested the strength of the temporary benches, as the crowd bounced to the beats. Among them was Wicklow ska-punk outfit Foot in Mouth. The saxophone led “Turkeys” and rhythmic “Buggy Duggy” provoking much drunken dancing.
Local acts Evil Elvis’s impressed with the shoutty “On Track”, Saibhir led a singalong with “Five Words” and The Hoodlums rocked and rolled with “Lost Days”.
Dublin’s Puget Sound and Limerick’s The Poke relished the chance to play in the musically undernourished midlands.
With crowdsurfers leaping off tables, barstaff deployed to beat back the moshers and guitarists soloing on amps, the diversity of quality was more than amended by the riotous good fun.
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Song of the week 12/04/03
Song:The Hardest Button to Button
Band:The White Stripes
Why:
Combining simple guitar riffage and even simpler beats, this song is a dance song for people who don't like dance music.
Precisely what it's about, I don't have a clue, something about a "baby boy" who they imaginatively named "Baby" who he decides to torture by sticking pins in it. That's not very nice, but the song sure is.
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Song of the week 05/04/03
Song:In your Arms
Band:Audioslave
Why:
This track opens with sparse playing from Tom Morello and a lamenting verse.
It towers with it's chorus but the icing on the cake is Morello's epic solo which seems to be the first time he's used his skills to sound anyway melodic. It sounds a progression from the hi-tech warbley noise he used to make in his Rage days.
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Song of the week 29/03/03
Song:Witness (one hope)
Band:Roots Manuva
Why:I know what you're thinking. Hip-hop is crap. But it's not. Just have a listen to this gem from Root's Maunva (real name: Richard Hawley) second album "Run Come Save Me"
Rapping about "Cheese on Toast" and "Ten pints of bitter" it's a far cry fom the guns n' bitches rubbish that invades from the the West. From start to finish it squelches along incessently like a fat man with water in his runners.
Keep an eye out for the video aswell, it shows Roots going back to his school (in his ferrari) to participate in his school sports, he beats all the kids in the sack race, egg and spoon and three legged race and then drives off and leaves them all moanin and crying.
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Song of the week 22/03/03
Song:Gimme Shelter
Band:Rolling Stones
Why:Dirty, Dangerous, and Downright sleazy this Rolling Stones hit is taken from their Fory Licks greatest hits-type album.
With the haunting choir, loose bluesy playing and Jagger's warnings that a "Storm is Rising", it reminds us all that once he was the leader of a mighty rock band and not just a dirty old man with a very wrinkly face.
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