Named after a variety of peach, theres definitely an air of orchards in late summer about Portland-based Laura Veirss graceful seventh album. But if that sounds fanciful, July Flame is anything but. Veirs has dropped the big-band stylings of her recent records and, with the help of Jim James from My Morning Jacket, returned to a fluid fingerpicking style thats serene, succulent and, at the same time, oddly spare. Floating at unpredictable angles above billowing guitar wheels, powdered drums and occasional swooping strings, Veirss uncannily weightless voice may as well have blown in on the wind, but its precisely that artless quality that makes this record stand head and shoulders above albums from her folksy peers. The mood here is warm if melancholic and tinged with nostalgia. But theres a counter note of optimism that, for all this records minor notes, lifts it towards the joyful. Claire Allfree D Thursday, January 14, 2010 metrolife 13 THEATRE REVIEW Glengarry Glen Ross TV Pick Of The Day This Is Eamon Dunphy TV3, 10pm The physicality of the creative process and the dialogue between the head and the hand are explored in Dublin artist Mark Garrys new solo exhibition, Another Place, at the Kerlin. Comprising site-specific pieces that are at once delicate and dramatic, they both examine the possibilities of craft materials (paper, wood, thread) and challenge their utilitarian origins. Here, a twisted bandeau of prism-coloured thread extends across the gallery (This Is About You), subverting spatial expectations, while a dainty flower remarkably rendered in soft American basswood seemingly sprouts out of a wall (Blue Eyed Grass). Lucy White Previews tonight; Fri until Feb 13, Kerlin Gallery, Annes Lane, South Anne Street D2, Mon to Fri 10am to 5.45pm, Sat 11am to 4.30pm, free. Tel: (01) 670 9093. www.kerlin.ie Theres a school of thought which states that everything comes back into fashion if you wait long enough. Bryan Adams has always seemed a notable exception to this theory. Fads rise and fall, entire musical genres are born and implode and yet Adams, with his denim jacket, windswept hair and strangled yelp, remains the textbook definition of rocknroll naffness. But maybe thats starting to change. Nearly 20 years since he took over the number one spot for the entire summer with (Everything I Do) I Do It for You, the Canadian rocker has, it would seem, been partly rehabilitated by the guilty pleasures movement, the core or thesis of which is that cheesy music ought to be celebrated for its so-bad-its- good qualities, rather than snootily shunned. So hes putting to one side a successful second career as a fashion photographer and dusting down his songbook for a series of intimate concerts around Ireland, starting with a two night stand at The Olympia. Entitled the Bare Bones tour, the string of dates sees Adams deconstructing his hit-parade, re-imagining tracks such as Summer Of 69 and Run To You as brooding acoustic dirges. A bit too late in the day to bring him any true credibility, perhaps. Still, its always heartening to see a veteran such as Adams stepping outside his comfort zone and challenging the expectations of fans. Eamon de Paor Tonight & tomorrow, Olympia Theatre, 72 Dame Street D2, 7pm, 65.70. www. bryanadams. com is not a cute situation. I only realised because I made people around me uncomfortable but I do that anyway. She laughs, and says: Im a very weird, awkward person. You sound like every geeks wet dream, I tease. Its funny, she responds, guiding us back to PG waters, I was fortunate enough to get to visit the Harry Potter set recently, which isnt even cool geeky. I mean, my best friend and I do an annual extended- edition 13-hour Lord Of The Rings marathon but even that is cool next to Harry Potter. I dont care, I love it. It made me realise thats how people feel about Twilight, she concludes in typically unfazed fashion. Before that Id be, like: Really? Its just Rob and Kristin. Whats the big deal? Theyre great but why are you screaming? Up In The Air (15A) is in cinemas from tomorrow zone Gender swapping in theatre is nothing new, with Elizabethan actors squeezing themselves into corsets and young women playing the principal boy in pantomime. But Idir Mns decision to cast mainly women in David Mamets 1982 testosterone-soaked critique on the tyranny of capitalism is far more provocative not because female actors are impersonating men per se, but because theyve chosen to do so due to the lack of decent female stage roles. Idir Mn have gone where the good writing is, to the master of (intentional) verbal diarrhoea. Mamets big city real estate sales team bluster, beg, steal and lie in a bid to top the leader board, pushing plots of land on prospective clients, bagging mega-bonuses and Cadillacs in return. The tale is well- known thanks to the 1992 film adaptation, and this sparse production is no less abrasive (or less convincing) with women wearing the pinstripe trousers. There is also light and shade Patricia Fitzpatricks histrionics as scheming Dee thankfully tempered by understated performances from Sonia Gamble as disillusioned Georgie, Jane Elizabeth Walshs devious Rikki Roma and Sharon Coades Shelly The Machine Levine who pulls off a convincingly femme (and sympathetic) Jack Lemmon. Georgie laments that she hates her job but the avarice that drives the teams very existence also validates it. As such, the only redemption here is that such parasites get their comeuppance when the economy nose-dives... Lucy White Until Sat, The New Theatre, 43 Essex Street East D2, 8pm, 12 to 15. Tel: (01) 670 3361. www.thenewtheatre.com BOOK Second Readings: From Beckett To Black Beauty by Eileen Battersby Liberties Press, 15 A classic, as Mark Twain once remarked, is a book everybody wants to have read but nobody wants to read. Kudos, then, to Irish Times journalist Eileen Battersby who takes 52 of her favourite novels and makes an impassioned case for why they merit the term masterpiece and, more importantly, why they deserve to be read or, indeed, re-read. Each selected volume is given a short and penetrating overview accompanied by an insightful biographical sketch of its author. While there are no shortage of blue chip classics (Ulysses, Crime And Punishment and The Great Gatsby) highlighted, Battersby is unafraid to stick her head over the parapet with a few left-of-centre choices. She makes strong cases for both Saul Bellows overlooked More Die Of Heartbreak, the rambunctious account of a Jewish intellectual who knows everything about botany but nothing about life, and Brian Moores remorseless The Lonely Passion Of Judith Hearne about a self-deluded spinster in 1950s Belfast whose breakdown is related with all the force of a good thriller. Readers will undoubtedly lament the absence of their personal favourites (Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Elizabeth Bowen fail to make the cut, for instance) but its to Battersbys credit that theres not one novel here you wouldnt like to make time for. And if you only want to speak intelligently about books you havent read, this is for you. Daragh Reddin CD Laura Veirs: July Flame Bella Union GIG Bryan Adams ART PREVIEW Mark Garry: Another Place Love him or hate him, Eamon Dunphy always has something to say and this excellent interview with Ursula Halligan sees the controversial journalist and ex- footballer talk about everything from his early life of poverty to his later drink and drug-fuelled excesses and all those outspoken opinions he has become famous for. Adam Hyland index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html