The word is out on Lingo

Ireland’s first ever spoken word festival? Really? There’s never been one before? It’s true and true again – despite the proliferation of book festivals, writer’s festivals, literary festivals and all the rest of the festivals that celebrate the written word, Lingo Spoken Word Festival is the first of its kind.

Set up by Irish poets Colm Keegan and Stephen J Smith, and Dublin-based US poet Erin Fornoff, Lingo aims to blend curated, festival-specific components while accommodating as many voices (drawn from an open submission) as possible. The primary aim, says Fornoff, who is the event’s artistic director, is to put Ireland on the map “as a must-visit destination in the international spoken-word event calendar”.

The full line-up – announced last night – includes UK slam poet Polar Bear (aka Steven Camden, a wordsmith much admired by Kate Tempest who you may have caught at the 2010 Dublin Fringe Festival); Derry- based Abby Oliveira; 2013 All Ireland Slam Poet champion John Cummins; and the current holder of the Chair of Irish Poetry, Paula Meehan.

Associated events include Poetry Brunch, panel discussions, gigs, festival club, and The Hero Hour – which has a panel of public figures (2fm presenter Rick O'Shea, Senator David Norris, RTÉ newsreader Aengus Mac Grianna) sharing their favourite piece of poetry.

Lingo takes place in three Dublin venues – the Workman’s Club, the Liquor Rooms, Smock Alley – across the weekend of October 17/18/19. Tickets are €16 to €35 from entertainment.ie and Smock Alley Theatre. Attendance is requested and expected. Otherwise, there’ll be words. Mark my . . . oh, whatever.

Top of the pubs When does a nostalgia trip tip the balance and become just . . . well, odd?

Recently, Wheatus were announced to play Dublin bar Café en Seine on October 9th. If you’re frantically flicking through your mental back catalogue in a bid to recall that name, allow us to help.

The New York band were primarily known for their 2000 hit single Teenage Dirtbag, and its follow up, a cover of Erasure's A Little Respect. While both songs may still have the capacity to pull tipsy thirtysomethings on to the Whelan's dancefloor of a Saturday night, there's something strange about a band that has stretched one-and-a-half hits out for 14 years – never mind performing in a place that's not even a functioning gig venue.

So what keeps a band like Wheatus going? For frontman and only remaining founding member Brendan B Brown (left), is it demoralising to run through an hour-long set, only for constant requests for the one-hit wonder?

Well he's got company. Take a look at the other artists that had hits during summer 2000: Craig David (7 Days), Samantha Mumba (Gotta Tell You), Bloodhound Gang (The Bad Touch), Toni Braxton (He Wasn't Man Enough). Where are they now? Not playing a swish Dublin pub of a random Thursday evening in October . . . oh.
Lauren Murphy

#ThomYorke Mystery is the new black, don’t you know

It feels like Thom Yorke wouldn’t know a press release if it hit him in his elusive, bearded face. The Radiohead and Atoms For Peace frontman uploaded a photo of an unidentified white vinyl record to his Tumblr account recently, and caused his entire internet fan base to collectively soil themselves with excitement.

But who could really blame him for being a cowboy of stealth? Music punters have recently been taken over by the kind of screaming, flailing mania that’s usually reserved for the darts hall. Mystery is the new black, and Thom “The Power” Yorke has successfully broken through the fan-base apathy that seemed to have set in in recent years.

Having information is old news. Yorke’s not the only rogue-trader in this game: there’s a noticeable rise in the popularity of secret venues, TBC artists and mystery special guests, just like last year’s surprise-release albums from David Bowie and Beyoncé, and artists, such as Aphex Twin, taking to the darknet to dripfeed information on their new releases. All of this creates events that are more wrapped in mystery than the shroud of Turin.

Tonight, Nialler9 hosts a gig in BlockT with a wholly unannounced line-up. Secret Cinema in London continue to host furtive film-viewing experiences that seem to be the cinematic equivalent of getting punched in the face in a dark room, and meanwhile back at the discotheque, Discotekken have their top disco technicians working on a secret Dublin laneway that will be the location of their next hooley.

But what if that mystery vinyl was in fact – oh, let’s say – a plate? Or a re-release of Thom Yorke’s The Eraser on an oversized, novelty eraser? Expect the en masse disposal of record collections and replacement with rare vintage plates and/or giant stationary very soon.

If Thom Yorke has alluded to them obliquely, they must be more relevant than everything else you own.

Update So it turns out that Thom Yorke is even sneakier than we thought. Today he released a new album called Tomorrow's Modern Boxes. You can download it over on https://bundles.bittorrent.com/. No word yet on how the crockery collection is coming along. 

Emily Longworth