Jack Colleran first appeared as Mmoths as a teenage producer of emotionally-charged downbeat electronica and quickly established himself as a purveyor of textured and layered pop electronica.
The Mmoths project culminated in a long-player called Luneworks that was already a departure from the early releases so with time and development, it has made sense that the name has been shedded in favour of his own name.
The music J Colleran makes now is less immediate, more sweeping, more contemporary ambient than purely pop.
‘O+SOH’ marks the transition between the two, drawing on the texture of the former with an expansive string section that is fresh and new for the producer. It was in his own words, ” always intended to be an introduction while drawing a line between what’s past and what is to come”.
An album on Because Music, recorded in The Meadow Studios in Wicklow, will be released in the summer.
Watch the video for the track, with CGI visuals by Nic Hamilton (Actress)
Says Hamilton:
“I worked with Jack’s cinematic long form music to describe a journey across a world on the brink of change; simultaneously familiar and unsettling, innocuous and dramatic…The music’s beautiful cascading structures reinforce a steady and endless passing of time.” – Nic Hamilton
After releasing a fine debut album as Mmoths in the form of Luneworks, Jack Colleran released a statement today and a final track as Mmoths, stating that he will be releasing music under his own name J Colleran.
The programme for the Alternative Kilkenny Arts (AKA) was announced this week. The festival running from July 28th – August 14th aims to feature alternative creative work. Music wise, that means David Kitt, Mmoths, Rusangano Family, Nick Kelly, August Wells, Yorkston Thorne Khan, Dick Valentine of Electric Six, Mixtapes From The Underground, Frankenstein Bolts and Andy Irvine in venues such as Cleeres, Brewery Corner, Set Theatre and Billy Byrnes.
My wife, Aoife McElwain’s Sing Along Social: Icons edition which recently was a highlight at Body & Soul Festival is there on August 14th. There’s visual art, theatre, comedy and spoken word lined up too. Check the Brochure.
Also announced this week for Electric Picnic:
Anachronica – The Generator in the Woods is a new area in the woods as suggested, themed on a forgotten city with dilapidated buildings (sounds like Glasto’s Block 9?) with “recycled materials,everyday objects discarded from previous generations, salvaged and adapted to turn cogs, pull levers and drive belts, which all connect to other strange mechanical apparatus. Steam hisses and blows out of exposed holes and cracks as the whole mechanism grinds methodically.”
Occupying the area in the afterhours once the main arena is drawing to its conclusion from 10pm will be DJs including:
Friday September 2nd: All City Records Presents kick proceedings off with Subject Dublin’s Lee Kelly, Daire and Sonel and Frank B.
Saturday September 3rd: District 8 Presents taking over the decks: Cailin, Aeron and Rift B2B and Nathan Jones.
Sunday September 4th: Cork’s Sunday Times Presents: Gilbert Steele, Kenny Hanlon and Sunday Times DJs.
Laurie Anderson has been lined up for a residency as part of National Concert Hall’s Perspectives Series 2016/2017 alongside Wayne Shorter Quartet and Chris Thile.
• Wayne Shorter Quartet – 22 November 2016, 8pm • Chris Thile (Punch Brothers) – 21 March 2017, 8pm • Laurie Anderson Residency: The Language of the Future to include three new and exclusive performances – 13, 14, 15 May 2017
TICKETS ON SALE Friday 22 July 2016, 10am National Concert Hall Box Office Tel: 01 417 0000 or www.nch.ie
’90s nostalgia ahoy! Nada Surf play the The Grand Social on Wednesday 2nd November. Tickets €17.50 including booking fee on sale Friday July 22nd from Ticketmaster.
Biffy Clyro play the 3Arena on November 26th. Tickets €46.05 + fee, on sale Friday at 9am
The Nialler9 mix series has been long overdue. Each mix will feature a theme and will be put together by some of my favourite DJs local or international. For this inaugural mix, DJ Deece is warming up the series with a mix that is themed on tracks he would play to warm up the room. He says:
“I put this mix together with the theme of the warm up DJ set in mind. I do a lot of warming up for international acts in the city at the moment, which is something that I’ve really grown to love. It gives me a chance to play tracks that are more like actual songs, rather than just peak-time club bangers. You can give tracks room to breathe, and actually listen to what’s being played. I would usually do a longer warm up set than 1 hour, but I’ve tried to get as much of my warm up style across as possible in this mix. I think it’s important during that opening DJ set to create a few moments of higher intensity but then creatively bring it back down again. It builds the room nicely, and leaves the crowd wanting more when the headline DJ goes on, which they can then provide. It’s a really under appreciated thing; the warm up. I feel it’s a great skill to have, and something that all DJs should try and master the art of.”
Subscribe on iTunes DJ Deece is a resident at Somewhere Club? on Wednesday nights in the Workman’s Club, he is a resident with Hidden Agenda where he also runs the Deece Series which brings in an international guest to play with him. He can be found at most Irish festivals and also plays with Colin Perkins as Decent Perks.
Up soon, he’ll be playing Forbidden Fruit on June bank holiday weekend, where he’ll also host an afterparty with Jackmaster in Tengu.
Ben La Desh & Norm De Plume – Lotion Chez Damier – Why (Classic Edit) Leon Vynehall – Midnight On Rainbow Road (Beat Edit) Kauf – Through The Yard (Fort Romeau Vocal Remix) LCD Soundsystem – 45:33 (Theo Parrish’s Space Cadet Remix) Moon B – PV Hills (Fudge Fingas Remix) Lauer – Hump Acid (Lexx Remix) Brother G – Dominatrix (Pump Mix) MMOTHS – Eva Dego and Kaidi – Black Is Key Cleveland – Shine
Forbidden Fruit have added some names to its lineup in Royal Hospital Kilmainham on June Bank Holiday weekend June 3rd- 5th.
First up are additions to the Friday lineup which include:
Dizzee Rascal, Young Fathers, Katy B, Bodhi
On Saturday, Mmoths and Steve Mason have been added.
On Sunday, The Field (live) & Klingade (live)
Friday Tickets €59.50+ on sale this Friday at 9am while other nights are priced similarly and on-sale now. Weekend tickets priced at €119+ from Ticketmaster.
The Nialler9 radio show airs live every Thursday night from 10pm to Midnight on 105.2FM TXFM. Like this website, it’s a new music show featuring myself presenting my favourite tunes.Last night’s show was Patrick’s Day so
Kendrick Lamar – I All Tvvins – Unbelievable Thin Lizzy – Waiting For An Alibi Mmoths – EVA Daithi – Love On Top feat. Sinead White Prince – FUNKNROLL Anderson .Paak – Am I Wrong (feat. ScHoolboy Q) Talking Heads – Houses In Motion Monika – Secret in the Dark Rusangano Family – Kierkegaard Manu Dibango – Soul Makossa Pleasure Beach – Go
Mmoths – DEU Mmoths interview Mmoths – 1709 Mmoths – Verbena Mmoths choice: Joanne Robertson – Lit David Holmes – My Mate Paul William Onyeabor – Fantastic Man Roosevelt – Night Moves The Chemical Brothers – Block Rockin’ Beats Beastie Boys – No Sleep Till Brooklyn The Very Best & Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill
Grimes – World Princess part II Mura Masa – Firefly feat NAO Paul McCartney – Temporary Secretary Les Rythmes Digitales – Music Makes You Lose Control Kraftwerk – Tour De France Primal Scream – Come Together (7″ Mix Andrew Weatherall) Kelela – Rewind Jamie xx – Loud Places (featuring Romy) Shit Robot – Where It’s At SHIPS – Space Inside _ 7″mix Bruce Springsteen – Dancing In The Dark (Blaster Mix)
You can listen live on Thursdays to the show on 105.2FM, online, the iOs app, Android app or if you missed it, along with all the other shows, via the listen back section
When the Newbridge kid first arrived, his music’s central appeal was that it was a naive, warm-hearted and relatively unburdened by expectation, exemplified by tracks like ‘Heart’ and ‘Summer’.
The attention gave him opportunity in music, to the detriment of his Leaving Cert, but it also gave him time to develop. At age 22, debut album Luneworks is the result of that maturity and exploration.
What that translates to is an album that is an entirely different prospect and of a different sonic palette than those early forays into electronic music. The twelve tracks on Luneworks are infinitely more textured and experimental, sharing kinship with producers on Tri Angle Records – The Haxan Cloak, Forest Swords and Holy Other among them.
Dispensing with a pop-fronted vocal, many of the songs feature Colleran’s wordless falsetto treated and given new properties as an instrument shrouded in atmosphere, enveloped by production texture. Piano-style chords bring focus as on the warm ‘Everything In its Right Place’-style ‘Deu’. ‘Para Polaris’ is an percussive take on MBV-style ambience, the words on ‘Eva’ are buried within the production, both warm and noisey, with Colleran sounding close to Foals’ Yannis Philippakis.
Elsewhere, sustained synths allow sparkling piano to linger, ‘Lucid’ recalls Jon Hopkins in style while ‘1709’ adds a fresh rhythmic side.
Luneworks, as the title suggests is far from those early forays into pop-fronted electronica, this is nocturnal experimentalism to get lost in. It leaves the sense of a musician is still at the start of a longer path.
Mmoths is gearing up to release his first full-length debut album on March 11th called Luneworks through the labels Because Music/OYAE.
in the time since appearing, Newbridge man Jack Colleran’s music has grown in texture and maturity. It feels like the right time for him to release an album after a few years of exploration.
‘Eva’ is an evocative piece of music anchored by a ticking clock rhythm and Colleran’s own singing voice which echoes Foals Yannis in tone.
‘Eva’ is the first song he wrote for the record, which also includes ‘Deu’.
Mmoths plays a London show on February 10th at The Pickle Factory.
The full tracklisting for Luneworks:
1 You 2 Deu 3 Phase In 4 Para Polaris 5 Verbena 6 Scent 7 Eva 8 Lucid 9 Body Studies 10 1709 11 Phase Out 12 Ohm 13 Naoko Pt. 1 14 Naoko Pt. 2
The music of Jack Colleran aka MMOTHS is almost unrecognisable from the music that made his name on a couple of early EPs which were all bright tones and ambient evocative arrangements.
As he should be doing for a young man thrust into the music business, MMOTHS has been taking his time since, exploring sounds that are decidely more atmospheric and dense on tracks like ‘Yago’ and ‘Santo’. Live shows have swayed into gauzy intense territory with vocals used as an instrument.
The ambient tag still applies on MMOTHS’ first new track this year and the premiere track from his now 2016 debut Luneworks to be released on OYAE / Because Music in March. ‘Deu’ keeps some of the warmth of old present through sustained chords that give the song more of a Radiohead ‘Everything In its Right Place’ mode. This just feels right.
Hangar, the new nightclub in the recent Andrew’s Lane Theatre space has been rocking its credentials as a place for house and techno nights of late but this week, it’ll begin its live strand of programming.
Future live acts lined up to play in the coming months include Sleaford Mods, F**ked Up, Route 94, Jimmy Edgar, Aeroplane and more.
This Friday though, one of the first acts to play Hangar returns for the official launch: MMOTHS will play a DJ A/V set with visuals by Slipdraft and there will be sets from The Minutes, New Secret Weapon & The Building Society DJs.
Tickets are free but limited. RSVP is required via Eventbrite.
But if you want to win a pair from me with some complementary drinks, leave a comment below with your name and a link to your favourite track of the moment.
Mmoths will trail his 2015 with a special show in Block B, Smithfield on Saturday December 20th previewing his new live show and album. Tickets €15 available from RA. BYOB.
Sheffield boy-girl duo Slow Club are coming to Ireland. They have gigs lined up in February in Pepper Canister Church, Dublin (18th) Roisin Dubh, Galway (19th) and Empire Music Hall, Belfast (20th).
A couple of upcoming events involving me:
Eventbrite are putting on a series of events called Britespace which will explore the future of events all next week. The topics include events as revenue streams, future trends, what we can learn from the ice bucket challenge, marketing and more.
I’ll be participating in a talk next Thursday lunchtime called In a digital age, do we still need music promoters? on 42 Dawson St which will be moderated by Laurence Mackin, editor of The Ticket and also features Eoin Cregan from Bodytonic and Ros Madigan of Goldenplec. It’s a free event but registration is required. The entire week’s event’s proceeds will go towards The Dublin Simon Community.
Secondly, the Science Gallery are putting on a series of events called First Up, which will feature talks from people who made their own career happen or who pursued a lifestyle they were interested in. I’ll be speaking on Wednesday December 10th at 1pm in the Trinity Long Room Hub. Registration is required but it is free.
Other upcoming guests include Moya Doherty, the co-founder of Riverdance and Tyrone Productions; Avril Stanley of Body & Soul, Aisling Rogerson, of The Fumbally, Mary Nally of Drop Everything, Cathal Gaffney of Brown Bag Films, James Morris of Windmill Lane, designer Niall Sweeney& Rory O’Neill/Panti and more.
Téada Orchestra will celebrate their first birthday with a special audio visual concert consisting of video game and film music. Expect string arrangements of music from Alfred Hitchcock, Final Fantasy, Bioshock, Max Richter and Samuel Barber set to visuals from the games and films in question. It happens in The Sugar Club on Tuesday 2nd December. Early Bird Tickets €10 plus booking fee from http://www.ensemble.ie/pixels
U:mack are bringing Japanese atmosphere rockers Mono over for a show on Monday December 8th. Support from Helen Mooney. Tickets €16 from www.tickets.ie/umack & Wav Tickets.
Tradfest Temple Bar is back for its 10th year from Wednesday January 28th to Sunday February 1st. Donovan, The Levellers, Hothouse Flowers, Mick Flannery, Kathryn Roberts, Paddy Glackin, The Undertones, Susan McKeown and more will line out in the city to showcase Irish music in venues around or near Temple Bar like St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin Castle, City Hall and St. Michan’s Church. Tickets on sale now.
It’s been a quiet year for Jack Colleran aka Mmoths as he’s been working on his second album for most of that time. Having shown us a preview in the form of the ultra ambient heavy track ‘Santo’.
This week, he’s dropped another new song, not on the album, but one that pivots expectations for what is to come, which is likely going to be less sweet and more textured than previous releases.
‘Yago’ has more light in it than ‘Santos’, yet it’s still wrapped in an increased level of textured ambience that marks this material from his more adolescent stuff. It came with a brief note:
“I’ve spent the past twelve months writing this album. ‘Yago’ and ‘Santo’ were both written during that time, although they aren’t a representation of the record itself, they come from the same place. In a way they’re a sign of what’s to come.”
Mmoths has been rightly, taking his time on the production of his long playing debut which will come out early next year.
In the meantime, realising it was quite a while since we heard anything from the Mmoths camp, he posted a new track called Santos on Soundcloud yesterday. It’s a dark tune weighed down by ambient noises and brooding low-end notes and then lifted by treated vocals and head-nodding percussion. This tune’s heavy.
Jack Colleran has remixed ‘Missing Things’ from Friends Of Friends signing Kyson, Berlin-based Jian Kellett Liew. The original is a hazed R&B beat track. The Mmoths version in his typical style, blows those elements apart in a slow-motion Mount Kimbie-esque atmospheric way.
Mmoths has shows coming up in Ireland across October and November.
