It is only natural to be a bit suspicious of the modernity and vitality of a band named after a drum machine that was last in vogue when unruly mullets and Frankie Say Relax t-shirts were acceptably worn in public. Ten seconds in to 202s debut album, however, and your fears will be assuaged.

Here is a band with a healthy appreciation for the past, but a burning, lustful passion for the future. Marrying vintage synth sounds that most krautrock bands would kill for with the pop instrumentation of melodicas, glockenspiels and harmonicas, then filtering it through a post-punk haze, 202s have succeeded in weaved a tapestry of unprecedented artistry.
202s confidence and well-honed sound is quite remarkable given the band's short lifespace. Formed in April 2007, they operated originally as a studio outfit, working with Stephen Shannon of Halfset in his Experimental Audio studios in Dublin. They immediately set about crafting their debut album, an eclectic reflection of the bands' influences taking in synth pop, ambient instrumentals, psych folk flavours and more.

With the album in the bag reputable Parisian indie label La Maquis (A Certain Ratio, Woodentops) snapped the 202s up.

www.myspace.com/the202s

The Hot Sprockets hail from the suburbs of South Dublin, They are five friends who came together with a shared love of Rock N'Roll music...The kind of Rock N' Roll music that is haunted by the ghost of country and blues...Take the good-time revolutionary spirit of MC5, simmer it down to the sounds of Crosby Stills Nash and Young, add some rough-edged Eagles of Death Metal and your close to the perfect recipe for a beautiful sonic nugget that we like to call 'The Hot Sprockets"

The Hot Sprockets have never needed no starting pistol they have been raging at a white-hot temperature since day one. The past two years have seen these smart blues-rockers play over 200 gigs, with a number of high profile gigs in recent times (supporting The Zutons, The View, Ida Maria, Republic of Loose, Future Kings of Spain, IMRO Showcase, HWCH...ect)

The 'Country Dirt' EP was released November '08 on The Firstborn Is Dead Recordings, an Independent Irish label run by fellow Dublin musician The Mighty Stef. From beginning to the end, there is no let up in the charm or swagger of the Hot Sprockets. Timmy Cullen, Wayne Soper, Joey Lynch and brothers Franky and Adrian Kelly are five hard living, fun loving individuals tuned to the same primal source acting on a collective urge over which they seemingly have no control.

http://www.myspace.com/thehotsprockets

What follows is the tale of how Cowboy X came to be...

John and David have been in several bands together since they were knee high to grass hopper. They failed miserably. Then one day, on a beach like the one in The Beach they both rescued Karen, a complete stranger, from a shark, crocodile and pigeon attack. After many months of recuperation in hospital (and with a few plastic surgery operations thrown in for good measure) Karen was back on her feet and tracked down John and David to thank them for saving her life. They suggested many ways in which she could repay them...none of which I will mention at this time. Then they realised she could sing and her voice would work well on the music they had been writing. From then on, they were collectively known as Cowboy X and their music rang throughout the land.

A compelling tale, matched by equally enchanting music, some of which you can hear as it was played note for note at The Electric Picnic 2008!

http://www.myspace.com/cowboyxmusic

Mark Cullen is the singer and songwriter who formed the band with two of his brothers, Darren and Jason, along with Dave Morrissey and Martin Healy, both formerly in A-House. The album 'Post Romantic' was recorded in 2006, but only released at the turn of the year.

Mark (and various) brothers were Bawl, one of the hotly tipped bands of the late 90's, and followed on into the Ponies. The Pony Club story is worth noting. Signed to A&M in 1995. Spent five years in London. Made and spent lots of money. Got picked up by Mercury. Spent a fortune on an album that never received the light of day. Released two albums on Setanta. Earned fans such as Morrissey and plaudits from the UK mainstream press. And then it drifted.

www.ponyclub.tv

Katie is the Waterford based writer singer with the hugely acclaimed solo album 'Twelve'.  Here she plays new tunes live with her full band and talks to Dan. Katie Sullivan first start playing music as a teenager.

"I picked up the guitar when I was 14, started to write songs and, a year later, started playing small gigs and supports at home in Waterford," she says. "Then it was years of locking myself away with my computer and recording all day between jobs. I met Terry Cullen [from Ten Speed Racer] at one of the bars I was working in and he asked me to sing with his new band."

That band was Dae Kim, an act who provided Sullivan with her apprenticeship in what being in a band was all about. An album was recorded and released ( Matador , 2005), which saw the band gather a gaggle of admirers.

After Dae Kim faded into the rear-view mirror, Sullivan turned her attention to her own songs. In between trying to help out new bands with John Haggis, the Waterford-based human dynamo behind the Granny It's OK label, Sullivan kept writing song after song until she had about 50 recorded on her home computer.

Disaster struck in the form of a dastardly computer virus. Those songs and scraps vanished from her hard disc and there was no way to bring them back.

www.myspace.com/dancekatiekimdance 

Bon Iver is yet another  American indie folkie outfit that are all the rage at the moment. Justin Vernon is the man and his current band is his most notable music project to date. The band now also consists of Mike Noyce and Sean Carey.

The name, Bon Iver, is a corruption of the French "bon hiver" (good winter). Vernon independently released Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago in 2007, the majority of which was recorded while spending three months in a remote cabin in Wisconsin.

Since then the album or singles have been name checked/ picked up etc by NPR in the USA, Triple J in Australia, Last FM in Britain. iTunes single of the week etc..

Recorded by NDR on September 26, 2008, during the Reeperbahn Festival, Hamburg, for the Eurosonic Partnership of the EBU.

Mick Flannery is a 25 year old stone mason who was brought up on a farm outside Blarney, Co. Cork, Ireland. His first real connection to music was watching an unplugged Nirvana covering Bowie's 'The Man Who Sold the World'.

After a stint in a music college in Cork, he travelled to the U.S. where he "wandered around for a time."  While there, he entered the U.S. Songwriting Competition in Nashville, Tennessee and (to his surprise) won two top awards for his compositions.

More recently this year he was nominated for the Choice music prize, won best male this year at the Meteor Ireland Music Awards, and he was also Hotpress' most promising act of 2009.

www.mickflannery.com

One Day International is Matt Lunson on vocals, Cormac Curran on piano, Danny Snow on bass, Ross Turner on drums, Eimear O'Grady on cello.

Their album 'Blackbird' was produced by Brian Crosby (The Cake Sale, and formerly of BellX1), and is (according to them) full of tales of lovers and strangers, confidence and vulnerability.

www.onedayinternationalmusic.com

Late of the Pier are a four-piece indie electronic band from Castle Donington, England whom released their debut 'Fantasy Black Channel' in August 2008.

Their style has often been compared to the artists Gary Numan, Brian Eno, Stephen Dubrich, Bill Nelson of Be Bop Deluxe fame and the more contemporary Metronomy and Klaxons, mainly due to the prominent use of synthesisers in their music meshed in an off-kilter pop style.

Recorded by 2fm extrAlive at the Cosby Stage at ELECTRIC PICNIC on  31st August 2008.

www.lateofthepier.com

Recently nominated as one of the RTE 2fm Hope for 2009 at the recent Meteor awards, this session will surely sweeten the bitter taste of defeat - Wallis Bird won the award. 

Songwriter Richard Bolhuis (vocals & guitar) set up House of Cosy Cushions in Amsterdam in 2003. The Dublin based band has formed around a group of core players Stephen Kiernan - drums, Rob Campbell - bass, Orla Nolan - vocals and Rossa O'Neill - trombone.

In 2005 Richard and Erik Hendriks received a grant from the Dutch Film Fund for the HoCC  animation-short 'Palace for the Lost Ones', which is included on the E.P. bearing the same name.

After a string of gigs in Ireland, Seadog Records released the album 'Animal Dream' (October 2008) featuring guest performances from Cathy Davey, Cora Venus Lunny, Eimear O'Grady and Christian Volkmann. The band are touring Ireland in April and play their first London gig on the 9th of May.

www.myspace.com/houseofcosycushions

Four Dubliners formed the band in 2005 based on (in their own words) "a bond cemented by sleepless weekends and a yearning for synchronised headknocking".

They specialise in their own street gigs their 'Merchantsville' club nights and other live happenings.

In 2008 they released their debut single 'The Indie War' which helped raise their profile nation wide and paved the way for a string of festival appearances throughout the summer.

www.myspace.com/hasslemerchants

You might know Joan from her loud serrated bands The Dambuilders, Black Beetle and
Those Bastard Souls. Or playing more subtly and quietly in Antony's Johnsons or Rufus Wainwright's band. The voice and delivery has raised comparisons to Dusty Springfield, Annette Peacock and Chrissie Hynde. Like Antony, Joan's music seems to have come out of nowhere.

Born Joan Wasser in Maine, USA she  is a violinist and singer/songwriter, was a symphonic violin player before taking up punk rock.

Recorded by 2fm extrAlive at the Little Big Stage  at ELECTRIC PICNIC on Friday  29h August 2008.

www.joanaspolicewoman.com/