Nizlopi
Cyprus Avenue
Fri 2 May 2008
Doors: 8:30 pm
€10
Half These Songs Are About You
Main Article: "Half These Songs Are About You"
Nizlopi released their first album, Half These Songs Are About You, in 2004 under FDM Records, and was generally very well received.[citation needed] It features the singles JCB and Girls. In 2007 Nizlopi received an Impala Platinum award recognising sales of Half These Songs Are About You in Europe
[edit] JCB
Main Article: "JCB (song)"
The JCB song is Nizlopi's most successful song to date, after reaching number one in the UK on its second release. The song was written about Luke's troubles with dyslexia at school and his escape to accompany his dad at work, and was released as a single in June 2005, reaching number 160 in the UK Singles Chart. The single was then re-released in the UK on 12 December 2005, reaching number one the following week on 18 December 2005, selling more than twice the number that the closest contender, Westlife. Dermot O'Leary gave the track extensive airplay on his BBC Radio 2 show. Some bookmakers put it in the running for the honour of Christmas number one but it was beaten by the winner of the second series of the UK version of The X Factor, Shayne Ward's debut single "That's My Goal". The video has received lots of airplay, mainly on music TV channel VH1. It is an animated video, made by Laith Bahrani (a.k.a. 'Monkeehub'), who also animated an unofficial video for an acoustic version of "Creep" by Radiohead. In 2007 Nizlopi received an Impala Platinum award recognising sales of over 500,000 copies of JCB (song) across Europe.
[edit] Girls
Their next single, released on 3 April 2006, was track 2 on the album, "Girls". The band have described the song's video on radio interviews as "Tim Burton-esque". The video was directed by Karni & Saul of Flynn Productions, and is the first that the band appear in. It was released, in what is now traditional Nizlopi strategy, on the Internet first.
[edit] ExtraOrdinary
Main Article: "ExtraOrdinary (EP)"
A mini-EP containing six songs and titled "ExtraOrdinary", was released on 4 September 2006 . The six tracks included two which had been released before; 'Helen' and 'Yesterday' which were previously released on the JCB and Girls EPs respectively. The record is an attempt to strip down the orchestral production of their early work to represent the duo's vibrant live sound.
ExtraOrdinary contains the track, 'Homage To Young Men', a piece written and performed by Alastair McIntosh. Alastair is one of Luke Concannon's favourite authors (Thom Yorke of Radiohead fame is also a fan of Alastair's). Alastair is an 'eco activist' and human ecologist and was inspired to write this piece after working with Luke. He has performed live twice with the band, performing this song with them. The band have likened Alastair's performances to "..the howlings of a wild animal". Alastair is well known for his contributions to the Scottish version of 'Thought for the Day' and has been dubbed "The Rapping Reverend".
[edit] Make it Happen
The long-awaited second full album from Nizlopi will be released on 31st March 2008. The album was recorded with legendary producer Phill Brown who has produced for artists such as Bob Marley in the past. The album was recorded on 2-inch tape, a traditional style of recording said to create a more 'raw' sound that is popular with musicians preceding the era of digital recording technology.
[edit] Start Beginning
The release of new album Make It Happen will be preceded on 17th March 2008 by a digital single Start Beginning. A live favourite, the single is the first version of the song to be recorded in a studio environment, and is the first track from the new album
