Jack White 'Love Interruption'

Since the White Stripes broke up not so long ago, there had been much speculation as to what the ever prolific Mr. White will do next. Well, besides concentrating on his label Third Man Records, producing everyone from Wanda Jackson to Black Milk and fighting for the value of music, he has also managed to put together a solo album. Titled Blunderbuss it will be released on April 23/24 of this year. Under twenty four hours in the stratosphere here is the first song to be released from it. Enjoy.

The (other) Horse Show

It’s easy to be romantic about horses. To be poetic and sentimental, to extoll their nobility, their grace, their courage. For that, see Warhorse (in cinemas now). For a refreshing and realistic view of the relationship between humans, horses, and art, go to current RHA exhibition The Horse Show. 

 At some point, it seems that most artists will be drawn to depicting a horse in some way - the sinews, the muscles, the bones - it's like life drawing, on steroids. The most striking thing about the work is the inescapable feeling of the sheer power of the animal, the muscular bulk filling the space. It reminds us of the constantly remarkable fact that they allow us to treat them like pets, though they can fell us with the flick of a hind leg. 

I was wary of this exhibition, because I am a life-long lover of horses and of 'classical' paintings of them. This, I feared, would involve a lot of post-whatever disassembling and dissecting and uglifying of something that is only ever beautiful. But it doesn't. It's a collection of work that seems always honest in its portrayal of the horse and indicative of each artist's relationship, whether deep or fleeting, with the animal.

The Horse Show at RHA Galleries II & III until March 25th.

 

First published here.

We are one year old...

Oh my god are we REALLY that old?

...And we can't quite believe it. We've managed to keep posting and kept all of you interested for a whole year. So here's to another year of celebrating the weird and wonderful and cool and not so cool and THANK YOU! from us, and keep reading!

We, The Alpaca Jamboree, also erstwhile Buzzcat blogging duo, are singing songs of sixpence tonight in Crawdaddy in the company of some fine bands. If you're in Dublin, stumbling past Harcourt Street Luas stop, you could do worse than to fall down the stairs and into this venue. It'll soothe jangling nerve endings.

Crawdaddy, Harcourt St - €5 - 8pm.

Epic opening credits

We just discovered the recently cancelled HBO show How to Make it in America which features an excellent opening sequence and is sound-tracked by the incredibly catchy 'I need a Dollar'. Here it is, and a few other opening credits that match the greatness of the series they precede:

Mad Men (of course) but I can't upload it here for some reason, here's the link:

http://youtu.be/WcRr-Fb5xQo

And, just for those opening bars of the song, a special mention for.....