Dublin Streets Connect

Thinkhouser's Matt and Andrea obviously thought they were gas when talking about their baby 'Dublin Streets' at a Connector Tribes event last night

Tune of the Week 16

Boratto’s Bliss…
Every once in a while, a song comes along and gives you a touch of the butterflies….. Gui Boratto's 'Beautiful Life' is one of those songs, it’s the kind of metronomic beat that's as much pure pop as it is electronic.
Think synthesizers, think euphoric moments at festivals, think a crescendo of melodic waves accompanied by a pint of cider on ice…
A clear winner of tune of the week and we think it’s the perfect song to kick start what may well be the best bank holiday of sunshine ever… mmmm where’s that repeat button again?

Tour Talk

Eager rugger nutters can now log on to provonrevive.ie/diaryofalion to keep up to see the British & Irish Lions tour through the eyes of our Leinster legend Rob Kearney.

The five week diary is powered by Provon Revive and is a pretty sweet opportunity to see what’s going down behind the scenes on the tour. This week we get the low down on his new roomie and preparation for the first showdown with Highfield Lions XV in Rustenburg …

'C'mon you boys in blue'

Thinkers, Dave and Chewy, jetted to Edinburgh for the day on Saturday and enjoyed prime views of the Heineken Cup Final action.

As part of the Provon Revive team, part of the winning squads nutritional program, we’d even more reason to cheer / go crazy / cry when the final whistle blew.

It’ll be with eager eyes rugby fans log on to get Rob Kearney's thoughts from South Africa. The Diary of a Lion, Rob Kearney’s 5 week Diary powered by Provon Revive, is a blow by blow account of Rob’s thoughts on all things (from GAA to Rugby to the Sights & Sounds of South Africa) from the southern hemisphere.

The Rob Kearney Diary starts tomorrow on provorevive.ie.

The lads on their lap of honour with the cup.

Chewy and Dave getting emotional.

Tune of the Week 15

We couldn't decide on which 90s nostalgia tune to go with for this weeks Tune of the Week, so we have gone for for a marathon of classics from fashion's next big decade.
Perfect Friday afternoon fodder.

Da Hool - Meet her at the Love Parade


Rui Da Silva - Touch Me


Fragma - Toca's Miracle


The Ethics - To The Beat Of The Drum (La Luna)

This weekend

There is a bunch of great stuff happening in Dublin over the next few days, if the rain stays away we are really in for a cracker.
Things get going tonight with the Dublin City Soul Festival. They have a great line-up of music, cinema, photography, comedy and food for the next few days that will culminate this Sunday with the Soul Picnic in Merrion Square at midday. Good vibes all round.
Unfortunately this coincides with Africa Day up in the Iveagh Gardens where Republic of Loose and Paddy Casey will join a host of African talent including Vieux Farka Touré and Niwel Tsumbu. Also performing are Kila and Cathy Davey. Pretty impressive line-up I think you will agree. Top this with yummy grub, fun sports and a traditional African bazzar.
Certain members of the Thinkhouse team are particularly enamored by this little feature too.

"Visitors to this event will be greeted in various African languages by participants from the 'Most Beautiful African Girl in Ireland' competition, who will be dressed in the traditional attire of their native countries."

See you there.

New music from DM

Doing fine without Penfold

Danger Mouse is back with some fresh material and some fresh controversy. No, not the one-eyed crime fighting rodent Danger Mouse but the very talented, producer/DJ and one half of Gnarls Barkley Danger Mouse. It was his work on 'The Grey Album' - The Beatles/Jay Z mash up that put him on the map back in 2004, with the more recent success of Gnarls Barkley cementing his legacy of uber-producer.
His latest album Dark Night Of The Soul (which is co-produced by Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous) has caused a spat with label EMI though who has refused to release it after it was made available for live stream on US radio station NPR's website. Dangermouse who is quoted as saying he 'hopes that people lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are as excited by it as he is', is adamant the public get to hear this fantastic piece of work though. To this end he has planned to release the CD in a jewel case complete with booklet featuring artwork by photographer/director David Lynch, so far so good right? The hook is though that no audio will be on the album, instead a blank CD will be provided for the owner to 'do what they like with', presumably to be filled with an audio rip of the album taken from the internet. The legal spat continues while the album is available for pre-order from the official Dark Night Of The Soul website sans audio.

Tune of the Week 14

Feeding all of our ears in thinkhouse this week has been the lead single from Danish duo Fagget Fairys.

The pair launched their love affair a few years back when vocalist Ena stage dived from a DJ booth attempting (and obviously succeeding) to impress her now girly love and musical cohort Camilla.

Since then they’ve launched their debut EP, Samo Ti, in 2008 and seen remixes of their work by several other artists and hip kids. They continued to mix up love amongst those in the know including much blog fondness from the likes of discodust and palmsout. The latter even went on to release a limited edition 12" which sold out pretty snappy.

Their full length album and similarly named single were released earlier this month. Give it a listen here first - straight from the horse’s mouth.


Fagget Fairys - Feed the Horse (Yum Yum)

The school of Le Cool

Molly by artist Keith Walsh

The first issue of LE COOL DUBLIN has just arrived in our inboxes.
LE COOL, Europe’s leading alternative city guide, has just added Dublin to its line up, joining the ranks of Barcelona, Madrid, London, Lisbon, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Milan and Rome in having its own online, weekly edition.

Each issue recommends the crème de la crème of cultural events and activities for Dublin including selected gigs, exhibitions, talks, festivals, markets, openings, shows, and much more. It’s bomb.

To receive LE COOL DUBLIN direct to your inbox every week you can subscribe here:

They are also calling out anyone interested in collaborating with them to help celebrate our unique city...writers, graphic designers, illustrators, photographers and artists to showcase their work.

Tubs it is!

We just heard Tubridy’s the new Late Late Show Presenter.

To celebrate, we worked Late Late into the night here at Thinkhouse HQ, to whip up a tub of Ben & Jerry’s in his honour. It’s called ‘Late Late Tub-ridy.’ Naturally it’s low-fat, smooth and just a bit nutty.

To create your very own flavour check out http://www.benjerry.ie/. The winning Irish flavour goes to the Dominican Republic this November for an icecream-off with the GodFathers of Ice Cream, Ben & Jerry themselves. The ultimate winner will have their very own favour created and launched next year.

Tune of the Week 13

A Dazzling Diamond

Claiming this week’s top spot for audio pleasure in Thinkhouse HQ is the amazing Marina and the Diamonds with her track ‘I am not a Robot’. A native of Wales, Marina fuses Kate Bush | Tori Amos | Feist quirk to create a sound that’s altogether unique and aurally compelling. ‘I am not a Robot’ is both gloriously uplifting and defiant. Already causing a huge stir amongst music aficionados and bloggers alike, Marina and the Diamonds has just released her debut single Obsessions, another winning example of her off kilter pop credentials and her debut EP , the Crown Jewels arrives in June.

Enjoy

Marina and the Diamonds is lined up to play the Electric Picnic this September.

Thinkhouse gets Leinster to the Heineken Cup Final*

Well ok, *we’re prone to exaggeration sometimes just for headlines.
However, the Sporty Team @ Thinkhouse has been working with Provon Revive, a sports nutrition supplement developed by whiz kids in Glanbia Nutritionals and the Leinster Lads have been lovin’ it.. We like to think it was Provon that made them nail semi-final.. Here’s the lads view on the game, before that stunning victory. Roll on Leinster V Leicester.

Director - back in Tower

After a two-year gap, the pop rock quartet from Malahide - Director is back with the follow up to 2007's infectious & platinum selling We Thrive On Big Cities, remember that classic Reconnect tune?

I'll Wait For Sound is released this Friday 08 May and we can't wait to hit Tower Records for the launch. The lads play instore this Friday 08 May @ 1.00pm. Get down to grab a copy of the album and see the boys in action.

www.towerrecords.ie

Whitehouse Flickr

The First Family and friends enjoy the Superbowl in 3D, pic from Whitehouse Flickr

Much was written on Barack Obama's use of Social Media in the run up to and after the election. Some people even suggested it was his clever online campaign that gave him the edge. We really don’t need to explore that whole campaign again but what did think was worth a mention was the continuing efforts of the staff. After more than 100 days in office, the Whitehouse is still going strong, launching a new official facebook page last week and releasing new photos on their Flickr account. There are also live streams of presidential address' on their youtube channel. The Flickr account has some great snaps of the first family at home, check it out for a look see.

Tune Of The Week 12

This week’s choice is from one of France's finest, Sebastien Tellier. Monsieur Tellier is a man of many sounds, you've probably heard "La Ritournelle" somewhere along the way, it pretty lounge-tastic while his track "Fantino" was used for the soundtrack to 'Lost in Translation' in 2003. He also rubs shoulders with the finest of French dance producers too, having worked with Mr Oizo (he of 'that' ad fame) and his latest album Sexuality was produced by none other than Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk. The new school of French electro/house producers love him too, look out for remixes of his work by Kavinsky, Sebastian and Breakbot - all worth a punt.
It's the version by 're-mixers of the moment' Aeroplane we are into though. The Belgian duo's 'Italo 84' take on track Kilometer goes to show why they are worthy of the hype.



Aeroplane play Oxegen Festival Punchestown this summer.