Band of Skulls have released a new live album, Live At Brixton. Recorded at their gig on December 7th in Brixton’s O2 Academy, the two disc CD is the Southampton outfit’s first release since 2011’s Sweet Sour. They played a number of Sweet Sour’s tracks at Other Voices 10.

Band of Skulls will play the 02 in August, as the support for Ohio rock act The Black Keys. Currently on tour in the States, Band of Skulls play this Dublin show during a busy summer on Europe’s festival circuit. Those who saw them recently on Other Voices will know that their live performances are certainly worth catching.

Tickets are priced from €39.05 and are available here
www.ticketmaster.ie/event/18004847818F50FF

Three years on from the critically acclaimed debut Baby Darling Dollface Honey, Band of Skulls return with their followup effort Sweet Sour, set for release on February 20th. The Southampton rockers have once again teamed up with producer Ian Davenport for the 10 track record, which was mixed in L.A by Nick Launey (Nick Cave/ Yeah Yeah Yeahs).

Monday’s release, along with an upcoming tour, signals a busy start to 2012 for the trio.

Check out their Other Voices performance, which featured the album’s first single, ‘The Devil Takes Care of His Own’, when the series airs in March.

Saturday night and Dingle town is buzzing. It’s the third of the four nights of recordings in the church. Previous night’s guest Mick Flannery has Foxy John’s rammed with his music trail set and the impending live streams from St. James’ Church mean that the pub actually has queues outside.

No such problems for those who are lucky enough to have won one of the many competitions to be in the church. If they needed any cobwebs blown away, Band Of Skulls were the band to do it. The Southampton rockers took the stage on night three to deliver a five-song set of fiery rock ‘n’ roll. The devil’s music in a church with songs called ‘The Devil Takes Care Of His Own’?. Sounds just what’s needed. Low down, dirty bluesy guitar riffs, big drums and lots of dramatic stop / starts, Band Of Skulls’ set was steeped in the history of rock music in the same way that the second guest is steeping in the tradition of the British folk troubadour. Frank Turner sold all his possessions and went wandering with just a guitar in hand and seven years later, he’s racked up over a 1000 solo shows.

A smiley tall man with a commanding presence, Turner visited Dingle for approximately three hours after flying there from Berlin in the morning. While he was here, he found time to play a song about his grandmother, a song for a good friend (“Seeing as we’re in a church, I thought it ‘d be nice to do a song about drugs.”) and an ode to his hometown of Winchester, ‘Wessex Boy’ from his latest album England Keep My Bones. He finishes with a cover of Loudon Wainwright III’s cheeky ‘Motel Blues’, a tawdry tale of singer/groupie dynamics and with that he’s out he door and in a cab on his way back to mainland Europe for more nomadic guitar-laden travels and the spreading of the word of Frank Turner.

What happened next was rather special. Having suffered two brain hemorrhages in 2005, former Orange Juice frontman and solo artist in his own right Edwyn Collins was left with weakness in his right side and impairment of communication ability. His wife and manager Grace Maxwell helped him to read, write and speak again and for a while his only phrases were “yes”, “no”, “Grace Maxwell” and “the possibilities are endless”. He learned to sing once again but his physical impairment means he may never play guitar again. Not that it stopped him releasing two albums since his misfortune. In a magic and inspiring set in the church, Collins played songs from his two recent LPs Home Again and Losing Sleep backed by two acoustic guitarists. The set was emotional one. His wife Grace watched Edwyn perform beaming with pride and encouraging him throughout. He played Orange Juice’s 1982 breakthrough hit ‘Rip It Up’ as well as poignant numbers ‘Low Expectations, ‘Searching For The Truth’ and his most well-known hit ‘A Girl Like You’ – still an amazing pop song. Collins clearly enjoyed himself immensely: he played harmonica, rarely consulted his lyric book, laughed a lot and relished the guitar solos. A touching experience that was met with a standing ovation.

The night finishes with an ensemble cast. Cherry Ghost are a Bolton band of folk musicians who have been playing together since 2005. You may know their ‘People Help The People’ single which was most recently covered by up and coming singer Birdy. Tonight’s performance has a collective feel. They are joined by close friend and collaborator Jimi Goodwin of Doves. Both are good friends with Elbow who recommended that the band play here (even ringing our host Philip King on the night to see how things were going). The set was a pleasant one of gentle symphonic songs adorned with bluesy slide guitar, harp and synths including early hit ‘Mathematics’, the church-suitable ‘My God Betrays’ and songs from the band’s second LP Beneath This Burning Shoreline. Doves’ singer Goodwin joins the band for the remainder of the set and they play works in progress from his own solo forthcoming LP with ‘The Panic Tree’ and ‘Didsbury Girl’ being the standouts. There’s still time though for an edifying solo song from the harpist Esther Swift called ‘Stillness Of The Night Time’ and a cover of saxophonist Jim Pepper’s ‘Witchi-Tai-To’ to finish. With tomorrow promising sets from Wild Beasts, SBTRKT, Spiritualized and others, some rest is required but not received as the town pulls us back into its pubs and bars for some post-show chatter.

Other Voices 10 have announced a number of new artists who will perform at this years recordings in Dingle. St. Vincent, Band of Skulls and Ben Howard are among the exciting talent who will be heading to the Kerry town for the TV show. Other Voices takes place in St. James’ Church in Dingle from December 1st to 4th, with the IMRO Other Room recordings taking place on December 5th. The line-up has now been confirmed.

Tickets for Other Voices are only available through competitions which are currently running online on the Other Voices Facebook page and Twitter (@OtherVoicesLive) as well as radio stations and print outlets around the country. Dingle will be a the ultimate weekend destination for all music fans – no ticket necessary – from December 1st to 4th, as Intune Networks will streaming all the action from the church, fully live to five locals – Geaneys, McCarthys, An Droichead, Foxy Johns and Benners.

Dingle’s Christmas Festival of Light also takes place that weekend, featuring Other Voices Music Trails, farmers markets, guided walks, treasure hunts, book readings, theatre, street music, Christmas craft market, Santa at Oceanworld with the penguins, Christmas caroling and a children’s lantern parade that will light up the whole town. See www.facebook.com/DingleFestivalofLight for more details!

Thursday December 1st
The Frames
The Coronas
Little Green Cars
St. Vincent
Truir (Martin Hayes, Caoimhin O’Raghallaigh and Peadar O’Riada)
Iarla O’Lionaird

Friday December 2nd
Lisa Hannigan
James Vincent Mc Morrow
Mick Flannery
Cold Specks

Saturday December 3rd
Cherry Ghost with Jimi Goodwin ( Doves )
Edwyn Collins
Frank Turner
Band Of Skulls

Sunday December 4th
Wild Beasts
Spiritualized
SBTRKT
King Charles
Ben Howard

Other Room December 5th
Rams’ Pocket Radio
Fred
Ham Sandwich
The Ambience Affair
We Cut Corners
Gypsies on the Autobahn
Inni-K