Analog Festival , Dublin

Last weekend saw the return of the annual Analog festival to Dublin. The roster this year included an evening of pirate songs and sea shanties on the Friday in the rather very nice surroundings of Grand Canal Square. Performers included the ever chirpy Lou Reed , Tim Robbins , Shane McGowan and Neil Hannon among others . I didnt make it down on Friday night , but by all accounts the place was half empty. I guess an evening of pirate songs wasn't as big a draw as the organisers envisaged , despite the performers. Id say Lou was delighted...

Saturday saw a triple bill that included noise rockers Liars , Danish experimantalists Efterklang and jazz rock Legends Tortoise. Liars came on stage at 7.30 with people still coming in in dribs and drabs. Try as they might their brand of agit-rock just didnt come off in the daylight - I wont be harsh and say they bombed , just that Id imagine they'd have been better suited to a dingy club type affair. Next up were Efterklang.I had seen these guys in a small club in Brighton a few months back when we were over recording our own record and was absolutely blown away. My main reason for going along was to see if they could pull it off twice. They didnt dissapoint. Numbering 8 members ( 5 core members and 3 additional live musicians ) , there music is a blend of choral harmonies , glitch electronica and postrock. They make music that come only come from that part of the world but they have the crowd in the palm of their hand within about 10 mins.. check them out at www.myspace.com/efterklang Tortosie followed and it waas clear by the reaction of the crowd that they were held in high esteem . That whole jazz fusion thing isnt really for me , but I enjoyed their set from a performance point of view I guess. the trade offs between the two drummers were particularly great..... right, thats me for now , better get back to work , my boss is giving me the evils... Bren