Automated Music Presents: Simon Baker

Automated Music are back with a mega blow-out for the bank holiday weekend, this time securing top DJ Simon Baker to join in the fun.
Simon has been growing on the DJ circuit since the early nineties, honing his craft in electronic music and eventually floating well beyond the shores of the UK with recent tours in the States, South America, Asia and of course, all around Europe.
He initially gained recognition in 2004 as part of a duo known as The Liptrick, but after releasing their EP on Ralph Lawson’s 2020 Vision label the group disbanded, and Simon launched his own Infant Records label soon after.

Since then he has worked with many other DJs such as Paul Woolford, Burnski, Tim Green, Anthony Collins and many more. The last few years has seen quite a busy touring schedule for Simon, securing residencies in Asylum (Leeds) and DDD in London, but his vision stretched further than his home land. He has played some of the top European clubs such as Weekend, Watergate and Cocoon in Germany and Nitsa in Barcelona. The U.S. welcomed him to Droog (L.A.), The EndUp in San Fran and Sullivan Room in NYC. He has even had the fortune of stepping on stage at the Piknic Electronik Festival in Montreal.
With more mixes still to come, including a re-work of Simian Mobile Disco’s “Sleep Depravation”, Simon simply cannot stop and is on a collision course with mainstream electro audiences.

Dublin’s Automated Music have the pleasure of hosting Simon Bakers Irish debut, along with support from Rubio and Barry Greaves.

So get your dirty techno shoes on this Bank Holiday Sunday and make your way down to The Underground at Kennedy’s to check out Automated Music’s newest guest; Simon Baker.

Doors 10pm, Entry €15.00.

For more info check out: www.myspace.com/simonbakerinfantrecords
www.myspace.com/automatemusic

Words by Dave Quinn

Gig Review: Shoctopus at Radio City, Saturday 11th of April

With bands like Airbourne and the Answer reviving that type of simplistic Rock n Roll that does exactly what it says on the tin (rock your socks off!), they have in turn sparked new life into the creators, AC:DC, along with inspiring new acts to rekindle the flame. Everyone knows I’m a sucker for judging a book by its cover, especially when it comes to the name a band gives itself. You can imagine my excitement and anticipation for seeing Dublin based band Shoctopus live on Saturday 11th. The band played Radio city and after checking them out on myspace I was optimistic about the quality in their live performances. With bands like Airbourne and the Answer reviving that type of simplistic Rock n Roll that does exactly what it says on the tin, and in turn have sparked new life into the creators; AC:DC. Their sound isn’t a million miles away from Motorhead or The Sword with vocals similar to a pre-solo career Ozzy Osborne. Unfortunately the turn-out on the night was far from what I expected but nothing prepared me for the performance itself.

As the guitarist belted out riff after riff the front mans voice began to drown. His over enthusiastic desperation for everyone to “rock out” fell on deaf ears which was made worse by his constant demand for people to crowd around him after every song. Have you no shame Sir? While the Drummer made repeated mistakes in an attempt to keep up with a tempo he was supposed to be setting for the rest of the band, the bassist stood motionless and seemed uncomfortable in his own skin. These were still overshadowed by the lead singer who can only be compared (by me) to a hard rock Doppelganger of Morrissey’s personality with none of the talent. This beast does exist, for I have seen him with my own eyes and I can assure you, cringe-worthy is an understatement.

The only talent was the guitarist who has font fantastic ability in a type of guitar playing that is getting a second wind in popularity thanks to bands like the Answer. This guy needs to pack up his guitar and his awesome riffs and sail away on a life raft because the Shoctopus boat is sinking. They don’t even need an Iceberg to speed up the disaster, the lead singer is a perfect fit for the job.


Words by Dave Quinn

Automated Music Presents: Tim Green

Whoa! What was that enormous sound? I don’t know but I think we should check it out…. What a kick in! And the rest is history.
What the hell am I on about you ask? Isn’t it obvious that the above words were spoken by every music lover in the world right before electro music exploded onto the scene for all to enjoy!
Electro music can stand for many things and is commonly defined with bands like Jus+ice, Digitalism and of course, Daft Punk. These bands have paved the way for a new uprising in the Dublin DJ scene with more tangents of the genre being created daily. One particular Independent label saw the new horizon and immediately capitalised, making them an easily recognisable name for any DJ event in Dublin today. Automated Music offer a fresh perspective on Dance Music and with their growing popularity they have attracted many household DJ names in techno, minimal and house. They do not look like they will stop for a breath anytime soon.
The latest offering from Automated Music comes in the form of a rising DJ with little left to prove, London based Tim Green aka TG. Tim has released records on label Dirtybird & Trapez which have since been sampled by world Famous DJs Carl Cox and Claude Von Stroke, and Tim is now looking to take on Dublin with his first ever Irish gig. TG’s ability to fuse live DJing with CDjs and laptop work have gained him critical acclaim and led to gigs such as The Watergate in Berlin & Nuits Sonore Festival in Lyon.

So for anyone in the mood to get crazy to some dark minimal techno tunes blasted into your ears by a DJ we will be hearing a lot more from, check out Tim Green at The Cavern on Store Street on Thursday April 9th. Doors open at 10pm and admission is a measly 12 bucks. Support on the night is from Automateds own local favorite DJ Citizen Black, and playing for the first time under Automated Music, Blue Nun.

For More information check out www.myspace.com/tg909
www.myspace.com/automatemusic



Words by Dave Quinn