Every Friday, John Meagher reviews a selection of new release albums in Day And Night. Every Friday, we’ll publish a Spotify playlist of the albums (when available) so you can listen and judge for yourself. This week’s albums include Bruno Mars, Our Krypton Son, Olly Murs and Joyce the Librarian.
Recent Posts
Watch trailers of the films released in Irish cinemas today
Paul Whitington’s reviews of the films below feature in Day & Night Magazine out today. The films are in the cinema now. What do you think? What will you see?
Seven Psychopaths (***)
Director: Martin McDonagh. Stars: Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Abbie Cornish.
“Martin McDonagh must think making films is easy. His first effort as director, the 2006 short Six Shooter, won an Oscar, and his first feature, the wordy but enjoyable In Bruges, earned him wide praise, a BAFTA and a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination back in 2008. Nothing to it then, and McDonagh’s enhanced reputation has given him access to an impressive cast for this expansive and typically violent tale set in and around Los Angeles.”
Listen to albums reviewed this week from Willy Mason and Alan & The Accident
Every Friday, John Meagher reviews a selection of new release albums in Day And Night. Every Friday, we’ll publish a Spotify playlist of the albums (when available) so you can listen and judge for yourself. This week, there are three albums available for listening. Pick up the mag to read the reviews in full…
Willy Mason – Carry On (****)
“Willy Mason was not the first – and he certainly won’t be the last -to be tagged “the new Dylan”. What seems like the ultimate complimentfor a fledgling singer-songwriter, more often than not becomes a millstone the recipient can’t shake.”
AC/DC – Live at River Plate (**)
“AC/DC fans will lap up the faithfully recorded versions of their sprawling back catalogue and those who need the DVD version in their lives can revel in David Mallet’s smart direction in which he makesfull use of the 32 hi-def cameras at his disposal.”
Alan & The Accident – What Would I Say (***)
“This promising debut album offers a decent batch of songs that stand a fighting chance of getting White & Co noticed outside their native Cork. What Would I Say offers a bunch of well-crafted, comparatively well executed tunes that run the gamut from pop to folk and rock.”
Oscar the Hypno-Dog and Other Tails (***)
“Cathy Davey – patron of the canine charity, Dogs in Distress – has rounded up her nearest and dearest for an album full of doggy songs. There are contributions from her boyfriend, Neil Hannon, as well as
Lisa Hannigan, and her ex, comedian David O’Doherty, as well as Villagers and Father Ted creator Graham Lenihan.”
Now Showing: Films released today – Trouble with the Curve, The Hunt, Rise Of The Guardians, Sightseers…
Paul Whitington’s reviews of the films below feature in Day & Night Magazine out today. The films are in the cinema now. What do you think? What will you see?
Trouble with the Curve
Director: Robert Lorenz. Stars: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman.
“In 2008, Clint Eastwood let it be known that his appearance in Gran Torino would almost certainly be his last ever performance on screen. If so, it seemed an entirely appropriate swansong, because his portrayal of cheerfully racist curmudgeon Walt Kowalski seemed to sum up his entire career in a single character, and was a turn worthy of the Oscar nomination it never got. However it seems old Mr. Mount Rushmore was only having us on, because four years later here he is again in front of the cameras, playing his age and giving it socks.”
Listen to the albums reviewed this week: Rage Against The Machine, Julia Holter, Scott Walker, The Scantharies..
Every Friday, John Meagher reviews a selection of new release albums in Day And Night. Every Friday, we’ll publish a Spotify playlist of the albums (when available) so you can listen and judge for yourself. This week, there are three albums available for listening. Pick up the mag to read the reviews in full…
Julia Holter – Extasis (****)
“Technically speaking, Julia Holter is a singer-songwriter. But the term feels hopelessly inadequate when describing the music of the Los ngeles-based experimentalist.”
Rage Against The Machine -XX (****)
“Hearing this album again in its entirety after several years is a frequently thrilling experience.”
The Scantharies – The Scantharies (***)
“Those keen to hear an album quite unlike any other released this year could do a lot worse than this debut from Anglo-Greek musician and producer Andy Dragazis.”
Scott Walker – Bish Bosch (**)
“Bish Bosch is his 14th studio album and it’s arguably the most challenging album he’s yet made. Walker’s determination to follow his own calling may be admirable, but unlike other practitioners at the far reaches of avant-garde music, his efforts all too frequently veer on the unlistenable.”
The Zolas – Ancient Mars (***)
“Zach Gray and Tom Dobrzanski made small ripples in their native Canada with a prog-pop album called Tic Toc Tic back in 2009. This follow-up is a much more radio-friendly effort, even if their new-found brand of indie-pop fails to mark them out from the crowd in the way its predecessor did.”
Watch the trailers of new film releases: Silver Linings Playbook, Gambit, Nativity 2, End of Watch…
Paul Whitington’s reviews of the films below feature in Day & Night Magazine out today. The films are in the cinema now. What do you think? What will you see?
Silver Linings Playbook
Director: David O. Russell. Stars: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver.
In one sense Silver Linings Playbook could be dismissed as a romantic comedy, but it’s so much smarter and more grounded than that description would imply…
Listen to the albums reviewed this week: Windings, Little Mix, Pat Byrne & Tulisa
Every Friday, John Meagher reviews a selection of new release albums in Day And Night. Every Friday, we’ll publish a Spotify playlist of the albums (when available) so you can listen and judge for yourself. This week, there are three albums available for listening. Pick up the mag to read the reviews in full…
Tulisa – The Female Boss(**)
“She trots out the sort of female empowerment clichés that the Spice Girls trademarked all those years ago.”
Windings – I Am Not The Crow (****)
“I Am Not The Crow is a late contender, surely, for the Choice Music Prize.”
Little Mix – DNA (**)
“DNA is not short of big-name helpers, including regular Rihanna tunesmith Ester Dean, and the album bounces along with the sort of uber-catchy élan that papers over the songs’ myriad cracks.”
Pat Byrne – All Or Nothing (***)
“Perhaps wisely, Casey focuses on what he does best – writing solid, keenly observed guitar-driven songs that showcase his ability to
deliver choruses to lodge in the memory.”
Paddy Casey – The Secret Life Of (***)
“This debut album is more accomplished than many might have expected, and in places the singer’s passionate delivery is redolent of Brian Adams in his mid-1980s pomp.”
Facebook’s promoted posts fail
When Facebook released a promotional video in October that, among other things compared their service to a chair, there was much derisory howling and naturally, lots of parody ads. Yet, perhaps we shouldn’t be laughing so hard. Facebook seems to think it’s as important as the basic functional thing you’re sitting on.
To that end, Facebook’s business model is to let you in, get you hooked and then slowly start to implement features that will make them money to justify their public offering. Their recent Promoted Posts feature is indicative of that. It offered all users the ability to promote their posts or pages for a small fee to the people inside or outside their network. By doing so, they could ensure everyone that liked their page or was a friend would see that status update.
Facebook updates don’t get seen by everyone, they never really have. Facebook’s Edgerank algorithm supposedly deals with the problem of giving you news from your friends not noise. Facebook say that by default only 15% of users will see a status. But unrest is growing that Facebook have been reducing the reach of pages for some time.
The general consensus is that it’s a squeeze and it hurts people who don’t have huge revenues to play with: bloggers, internet personalities, writers, musicians and artists. DangerousMinds.net calculated that to reach 100% of their 50k page audience, they’d have to pay $672,000 per year.
As The Rubberbandits tweeted last week: “270,000 Facebook fans and unless we pay a grand each time we post, only 10% can see it. Bad form Facebook. Crushing the independent artist.”
While there’s some dispute about how calculated this reach reduction is and whether it’s always been in place, the fact remains that if a large proportion of people who are using Facebook believe it is, then that’s adding to the number of disgruntled users.
It’s a reminder that Zuckerberg and co. are in charge at Facebook, so you, your friends, your family, brands, artists and businesses are playing by their rules.
