Festival Alert: Couch x CouchWest 2015

Now in its fifth year (!!!) Couch x CouchWest is once again coming to a screen near you. Very near you. Like, in your hand right now, if you’re reading this on your phone. Though if you want to make a YouTube playlist of the videos and project them on the nearest wall-like surface, YOU CAN. Such is the beauty of Couch x CouchWest!

Lineup: Anyone who sends in a video. Are you a musician? In a band? You should sit down on your couch / favorite chair / front porch / elevator shaft / etc and sing a song for in the internet. It will be awesome. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS NOON EASTERN MARCH 21st.

Dates: March 15-21

Location: Anywhere you want. In bed, in the bath (Carefully! Make sure your device is well protected from the water!), on a train, on a plane, on the bus, you are all welcome, come join us, where-ever you are.

Survival guide: As with That Other Festival, you will probably want snacks and cold beverages and comfortable clothes. The major differences: Pants are optional, pets are encouraged, there are no lines, you’ll never be shut out of a show unless your internet falls apart, and the only hipster is you. Plus the beer is way cheaper and the odds of people talking through/over music you are trying to listen to are WAY lower.

Highlights: The entire festival is a special experience, and I urge all y’all to catch as many sets as you can. The following are some things I personally am looking forward to:

1) The Irish Showcase. Tony Fitz has once again rounded up some luminaries and persuaded them to record some videos, and I can’t wait to see them.

Here’s one he recorded last year, featuring Rónán Ó Snodaigh (Kila) & Kristina Aspeqvist (Stockholm Vodou Orchestra), who literally met 10 minutes before this was filmed and did not discuss or rehearse their performance:

Rónán Ó Snodaigh & Kristina Aspeqvist | Cara Liom (CXCW 2014)

2) Unexpected gems of cover songs. There were thirty-four last year, and this one, a wholesale reinvention of NIN’s Closer by The Tonk Honkys quite justifiably got Best In Show. Not going to lie, I dolphin-clapped and squeaked with joy.

The Tonk Honkys cover Closer by Nine Inch Nails - CXCW2014

3) Surprise special guests. Last year, Rosanne Cash (!!) joined in the fun. This year Glen Hansard is going to be part of the Irish Showcase. (Okay, that kind of ruins the surprise, but – there might be more. ONE NEVER KNOWS.)

Here’s Roseanne Cash and The Thread from last year:

Rosanne Cash & The Thread - A Feather's Not A Bird (CXCW2014)

4) Finding out what Two Mule Blues will blow up this year. Spoiler alert: it will probably be a couch. Last year it was a white couch, neatly matching the snow on the mountains behind them:

Two Mule Blues - Old Vinyl and Innocence CXCW 2014

To attend the festival, click here, starting on March 15!

CXCW Highlights: The Irish Showcase 2014

I cannot think of a better way to observe St. Patrick’s Day then cutting myself a slice of soda bread, making a large cup of tea, putting my feet up, and settling in with the CXCW’s second annual Irish Showcase.

You can find the whole thing here; below are a few videos to give you a taste of the excellence to be had:

First, the incomparable Tony Fitz, producer and front of house manager for Homebeat, who organized the first seven videos in the showcase, with The Murder, the first track from his upcoming record. Joining him are Gráinne Hunt and members of Red Sail.

Tony Fitz | The Murder (CXCW 2014)

I don’t know if there’s a CXCW record for “Most Dogs Per Video” but if not, Carriages may have set one, with four, count them, FOUR happily wagging tails in this video for Pale Face which they wrote special for CXCW:

Carriages | Pale Face (CXCW 2014)

Rónán Ó Snodaigh of Kíla and Kristina Aspeqvist, director of the Stockholm Vodou Orchestra met ten minutes before this video was recorded. The song is called Cara Liom:

Rónán Ó Snodaigh & Kristina Aspeqvist | Cara Liom (CXCW 2014)

Sleep Thieves, of Dublin, met on Twitter and bonded over synths and movie soundtracks. Here they are with French Kiss from their upcoming album You Want The Night, coming soon from Minty Fresh Records:

Sleep Thieves | French Kiss (CXCW 2014)

These next two videos are not Tony Fitz productions, but they are still great stuff.

Representing the West: Willow Sea (Will O’Connor), from Galway, with instrumental-in-progress Dying Starts:

Dying Stars, Instrumental in progress

And finally, last but never least, CXCW’s first participant from Northern Ireland, songwriter Rowena Cairns with You Could Break My Heart

http://youtu.be/DnRbDnqhFV4