Easy As It Flows

French-Irish pair Carosel are all combinations of fun - their music is a blend of "perky, soulful, sunny jazz-pop". From Pete Mc Granes cheerful array of melodious instrumentation fronted by Michelle Phelans crystal clear voice that contains enough warmth to melt any cynicism. Carosel are on a winning streak. Upon releasing their album Kaleidoscope earlier this year, the duo received rave reviews from press and radio, and have been described as "A rare combination in the current Irish muisc scene".

http://www.myspace.com/caroselmusic

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Sunrise

The Last Tycoons began life as Porn Trauma and released their first EP 'Sunrise' in 2005. The four-song EP was a critical and commercial success, spending several weeks in the Irish Top 40 and being hailed by HotPress magazine as 'a revelation'. It was also one of the top 50 selling Irish singles of that year. They followed this with a limited edition 7-inch-only single 'Casanova Blues' which sold out in weeks and was again highly acclaimed in the media.

They became The Last Tycoons in 2007 after a change of personnel, attitude, and clothes, and released the single 'Loving Arms', again to a positive response with the band being described as 'a refreshing alternative to the raft of copycat, post-punk pretenders doing the rounds.'

Since then they have been touring in Ireland and the UK, gaining a reputation for their often raucous live shows, but have spent the last 8 months working on their debut album, which is now completed, but is as yet untitled. 'The Dry Law' is the first glimpse of the material recorded for the album and is available now from itunes and all the usual online stores.

www.myspace.com/thelasttycoons

www.facebook.com/thelasttycoons

www.youtube.com/thelasttycoons

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Jealousy

The past few months have been very interesting for pop-rock act Hogan. Lead by front man and guitarist Mark Hogan, backed up on guitar by Wayne Brereton, on bass guitar, Johnny Westman and on the drums, Ronan Nolan.

They are fast making a name for themselves for their energetic live set, which critics are hailing as "not to be missed". They have just signed an endorsement Deal with Lakewood Guitars, along with ‘Jealousy’ their new Single, receiving significant support from national Press and Radio.

FM104 invited Hogan in to perform on The Strawberry Alarm Clock and their last single 'Miss you', which was written for a close friend who tragically died in a car accident, launched them into the Top 40 Irish Charts, which is high praise for all involved considering they are an independent band in the Irish music industry.

Hogan have inevitably impressed audiences along the way, with an incredibly energetic live performance, complimented by a catalogue of songs that couldn’t fail to impress even the harshest critic.

www.myspace.com/hoganmark
www.bebo.com/hogan-band

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Downfall

VIC. are a five-piece rock band from Dublin. Drawing on influences such as Snow Patrol and the Kings of Leon, VIC. have invented their own brand of delectable pop rock which manages to make its own firm musical statement.In the last 3 months they have played five sold out dates in Tripod, The Button Factory, Crawdaddy, The Sugarclub and The Village.

The band was formed in 2003 by lead singer and song writer Dan Fox, bassist Peter Wallace and drummer Rob Meredith, who were all still in school at the time. Lead guitarist Rich Margetson and multi-instrumentalist Billy Campbell later joined the group, to complete the five piece in 2005.

With the band gradually receiving more and more airtime and their fan base growing constantly, VIC. are one band to keep a close eye on.

You can see VIC at the Village on 31 July and their latest single "Chasing Nothing" is due for release in September 2009.

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Screaming Out My Name

Following the release of ‘You Don’t Know My Name’ in September 2008 at Dublin’s Tower Records, Citizen have traveled the length and breadth of the country, playing dates in many of Irelands most popular music venues; including Whelans, Roisin Dubh and Crawdaddy.

Including these headline and support slots, Citizen also appeared regularly on the college circuit. The band featured on line up’s at many Irish Universities’ Fresher and Rag Week festivals. Including dates at UCD and Trinity College Dublin, Citizen played headline shows at Rag Week festivals of both NUI Galway and the Institute of Art Design & Technology, Dun Laoghaire (IADT).

While gigging heavily in support of their debut release, Citizen took a brief break to return to the studio to demo some new material. This time Citizen availed of the services of top producer, and all round musical know it all, Keith Farrel.

At the end of a highly productive session, Citizen emerged with demo recordings of "Screaming out my name" and "I’m standing alone". The promise shown in these recordings excited the band and all those around them.

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Decisions

The Kinetiks have become one of the top unsigned Irish indie bands of the last number of years having blasted onto the scene in 2007, with their debut E.P making an immediate impact on nationwide airwaves.

Support slots with The Enemy and Scouting For Girls, followed by festival appearances at Oxegen, have ensured the band have stayed in high demand. Regularly touted as an electrifying live act The Kinetiks' lead singer Gaz has been described "as watchable as a frontman can get".

Singles such as "Bite The Bullet", "Decisions" and "Lightbulb" prove their worth.

Photo credit - Enda Doran.

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