Jim Carrollon music
Ever-popular picnic picks performers
It's a sign of a good event when you think it has been around forever. The Electric Picnic began as recently as 2004, but has established itself as the best Irish music event of the summer season.
While the headlining bands help that reputation, it's the sideshows, carnivals, tents and general feelgood factor at the event which really account for its popularity. Truth be told, there's nothing else like the Picnic on the Irish summer calendar.
The festival returns to Thomas Cosby's Stradbally Hall estate in Co Laois for three days and nights on August 31st, and the first acts for this year's event will be announced publicly next Monday (tickets go on sale on Tuesday).
According to promoter John Reynolds, this has been a "difficult" year in terms of booking acts for the festival. "There were some acts we would like to have got for the Picnic, but we were out-bid for them. Acts and their agents can now demand huge fees because there are so many festivals looking to book them. Money matters."
Multiple offers, where a number of festivals are block-booked together, also caused problems. "The act we were most disappointed not to get were Arcade Fire. But they got a multiple offer for Oxegen and T In the Park and went with that instead."
Yet given the size of the Picnic, Reynolds is happy with the acts he has confirmed. "You have to remember that there's a limited capacity of 32,500. We could easily have increased that to 50,000, which would would have given us more bargaining power, but that would dilute what's special about the Picnic.
"The audience matters to us. If people don't buy tickets, we don't have a festival - simple as that. It would be a very short-term strategy to increase the capacity. The festival would probably implode as a result."
As for the acts already in the bag, Reynolds is staying schtum until next week, but On the Record has done some sleuthing. Expect Björk, LCD Soundsystem, The Stooges, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Beastie Boys, Chemical Brothers, Jarvis Cocker, The Good, The Bad and The Queen, Wilco, Primal Scream, Peter, Björn and John, The Go! Team and MIA to be revealed as Picnic-goers on Monday evening.
Antony and the Björk songs
One act certain to visit the Electric Picnic this year is Björk, who releases her seventh studio album, Volta, on May 4th. It features an all-star cast of contributors, including Timbaland, Antony Hegarty, innovative Congolese noise-makers Konono No 1, Malian kora maestro Toumani Diabaté and Chinese pipa player Min Xiao-Fen.
On first listen, Volta is a more beat-driven and adventurous journey than her last two albums, Medulla and Vespertine. Opening track Earth Intruders marches to a glitchy Timbaland beat before Konono No 1 kick in with their thumb pianos, while the dirty breaks underpinning Declare Independence and the chimes on I See Who You Are usher in wonderfully out-there sounds.
But the real treats come when Björk duets with Antony on Dull Flame and My Juvenile, both voices perfectly matched as they soar away. Imagine that pairing at the Picnic.
We are a blog
From today, On the Record will be available as a blog at www.ireland.com/blogs /ontherecord.
Besides featuring all the content from today's column, Jim Carroll will be updating the blog with music business commentary, links to free music and anything else that catches his eye or ear between columns.
Your input is welcome. If you have a comment, query or quibble on what has been written in the column or blog, don't be shy.
Lisa's next move
Lisa Hannigan now has no excuses. Damien Rice's decision to end his musical relationship with her, a move expedited by whatever happened between soundcheck and show in Munich a fortnight ago, means she can now fully concentrate on that solo album. A listen to her contributions to last year's Cake Sale album suggests that there's a potentially excellent debut in the works.
