D Monday, February 8, 2010 metrolife 13 Golden-haired boy CD OF THE WEEK Fionn Regan: Shadow Of An Empire Universal With his rumpled hair, soulful eyes and trembling voice, Fionn Regan ticked all the Irish singer-songwriter boxes on his Mercury-nominated debut, The End Of History. This made him a bit of a star abroad, especially in the US, where the ballad Put A Penny In The Slot featured conspicuously on Greys Anatomy. However, it left many at home bemoaning the fact that, in order to have any sort of international career, Irish artists still had to cleave to past-their-sell- by-date Celtic troubadour stereotypes. When he announced the long-awaited follow-up was to be lumbered with the portentous title Shadow Of An Empire, another suite of hairy acoustic dirges seemed inevitable. As it turns out, Regan has chucked the script out the window and veered into unexplored territory with a breathless collection of plugged-in rockers. Stepping beyond the sub-Damien Rice introspection that sucked all the fun out of his first LP, Shadow Of An Empire cracks by at a blistering pace: Genocide Matinee sounds like a pre-bonkers Ryan Adams; the rattling tambourine on Protection Racket winks towards amped-up Bob Dylan whilst avoiding pastiche. The Bray native has also cultivated a surprisingly zany streak as a lyricist you wouldnt catch Glen Hansard tossing off a line like: The plug in the socket burns a hole in the pocket/These big companies are giving us the squeeze/ Lets raise our glasses to Mr Onassis. Gutsy and brash, Shadow Of An Empire is a record that demands to be played at full volume with the windows rolled down. Who knew Regan had it in him? What next Paddy Casey goes prog? Eamon de Paor TV Picks Of The Day Hook In Haiti RT1, 10.40pm Three months before the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Irish charity Haven travelled to the poverty- stricken island nation to help build badly-needed shelter in one of the poorest slum towns. George Hook (pictured), the Newstalk presenter and rugby pundit, was the high-profile celebrity who went with them, and his take on the charity effort is both interesting and entertaining, while the hard work done on their mission is particularly poignant given that we know what happened next. Generation Jihad BBC2, 9pm Peter Taylor investigates the terrorist threat from young Muslim extremists radicalised on the internet the so- called Generation Jihad. In the first episode, Taylor hears from those convicted under Britains newest anti-terror laws and investigates some of the most notorious terrorists. Scary stuff. Adam Hyland Taylor Swift: Today Was A Fairytale (Mercury) When shes not being stage- invaded by Kanye West, US pop princess Taylor Swift (pictured) gets to sing gooey-sweet tunes like this. Its a Grimm sort of happy-ever-after. Placebo: Bright Lights (Dreambrother) Meanwhile, veteran rockers Placebo cast their own spell one where it resembles 1996 but theyre bigger than ever. Bright Lights works the twisted magic that recently saw them packing arenas, supported by The Horrors. The Soft Pack: Cmon (Heavenly) These Los Angeles dudes, however, havent roused themselves from a mid-1960s slumber. Too bland. Oswald: Flying To The Ground (R&R Music) These Glaswegian pop-metal newcomers give this debut some welly but it never really takes off. Too lumpy. Calvin Harris: You Used To Hold Me (Columbia) Just right! And so Calvin Harriss pineapple-headed rave monster ate the whole lot up. The end. Arwa Haider NEW SINGLES OUT THIS WEEK DVD Fame Entertainment In Video, 12, 22 There are several reasons why people still remember the name of Alan Parkers Oscar-winning Fame almost 30 years on but this all style, no substance turkey of a reinvention wont enjoy the same longevity. With the High School Musical generation firmly in its sights, this soulless take on the lives of the all-singing, all-dancing students of the prestigious New York City High School of Performing Arts looks the part with swift camera work, gritty atmospheric lighting and slick musical numbers but it quickly displays a gaping lack of talent in the scriptwriting and editing departments. The fatal flaw is that too many characters and four years worth of growing pains are crammed into just 103minutes, meaning the bunch of performing cut-out clichs are never on screen long enough to make any sort of impression. Its a shame because the young cast of unknowns is clearly talented and deserves better than this. The briefly appearing faculty (including Kelsey Grammar, Bebe Neuwirth and Debbie Allen, who starred in the original film) is shamefully wasted too. Baby, forget this and watch Glee instead. Extras: The Dances Of Fame featurette, character profiles, music video, deleted scenes. Damian Tully-Pointon GAME Dantes Inferno XBox 360, 58 (PS3, 38 & PSP, 35) The genius in being able to translate a plotless medieval poem into arguably the modern eras defining entertainment medium should not be underestimated. Dante Alighieris descent into the nine circles of hell form the perfect level structure for an epic hacknslash in the mould of games such as God Of War but able to carve its own identity with surprising ease. Dante is reimagined here as a returning crusader, haunted by the sins of his jaunt of pillage and murder across southern Europe and in the Holy Land. Having dispatched Death in the opening level, he goes home to find his beloved Beatrice, whose soul has been dragged into hell. From here, you must negotiate every circle of hell to save her. The incredibly twisted and imaginative art direction forms the ideal backdrop to some of the most exciting and fast-paced melee combo fighting ever seen, against some truly memorable foes. Avoid if youre squeamish but embrace if you want a magically violent and surprisingly thought-provoking game. Steven Fox BOOK Even The Dogs by Jon McGregor Bloomsbury, 15 Jon McGregors third book resembles a novelistic incantatory poem. The decomposing body of Robert Radcliffe lies on the floor of a filthy flat before being taken to the morgue and dissected by a pathologist. The derelict lives of those he knew a drifting underclass of boozers and junkies, including his teenage daughter Laura intersect with descriptions of the autopsy as Roberts alcohol-ravaged body is broken up, peeled back, exposed. Damage is at the heart of McGregors novel, which telescopes in on an urban twilight inhabited by drug addicts whose lives have narrowed into a single, pure needlepoint of need. Unflinching and compassionate, McGregor focuses on the relentless squalor of his characters lives in a rhythmically sculpted prose that combines documentary precision with expressionistic lament. Extraordinary. Claire Allfree To the best of our knowledge, The Low Anthem dont have a motto but if they did, it might well be have facial hair, will strum. Like Midlake and Fleet Foxes before them, these dusky-voiced New Englanders have parlayed a 19th-century sartorial style and a penchant for Crosby Stills & Nash-esque harmonies into blogger-powered success. Not that it would be really fair to dismiss the Ivy League educated trio as just another beard rock act. For one thing, theyre not quite as hairy as their peers. Also, there are glimpses of twinkling self-awareness beneath their molasses-thick country-rock orchestrations. Or that, at least, is the lesson you are tempted to take away from their most recent record, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, wherein Bon Iver style choral fugues give way to occasional flashes of sardonic wit. Springsteen has already come on board as a fan. With this show upgraded from Whelans to Vicar Street due to demand, its clear the rest of us are gradually cottoning on too. Expect one of those holy hushes to settle on the room early in the evening and linger all night. Eamon de Paor Tonight, Vicar Street, 58-59 Thomas Street D8, 8.30pm, 18. Tel: (01) 454 6656. www. thelowanthem.com GIG The Low Anthem index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html