plastic donkey dvd zine news archive

the cap pas cap 12" launch at the boom boom room was the best fun i've had in ages. five bands. free in. plenty of riffs, a reservoir of noise and a farm yard full of cowbells. one track from each band at 640x480 divx can be downloaded in bulk here, else seen in the full glory of youtube lofi below. enjoy.

11.11.06

student life is offically over. three months left in dublin before going to live off the fat of the land in the rockies. time to clear out all my old pc files. hours and hours of video to get through. here's some nice northstation footage from last year at lazybird. more to come soon. youtube will come in quite handy.

the gossip show at the music centre the other night was amazing. low lighting, so some iffy photos are up here. déborah has some yummy videos here.

food du jour: religieuses aux café from leon (on trinity street). so nice, they make you want to cry.

todays soundtrack: les georges leningrad 'sangue puro '

30.09.06

my thesis has been submitted. stress over (for now). four interviews in the last couple of weeks, so decision time very soon. with my new found spare time, i've had a chance to go through some of the piles of randomness lying around my flat. i forgot about a dvd-r that i got in the post last year with no information at all. five minutes long. here it is:

the last couple of weeks have been dominated by the new xiu xiu and bonny prince billy albums. i'm sure the vinyl will start to wear out soon. there are some pictures of the ewa gigon/party weirdo/estel show up here. the sound in the hub has taken a dive since the last sound guy left, but it wasn't too bad. ewa has an amazing voice and played a very haunting set with little more than a delay pedal and a vibrator. estel were ear bleedingly loud. party weirdo rocked, but were much better at xbxrx last thursday. xbxrx themselves were full of adrenaline, but were lacking in synthesizer department. great night all the same.

the gossip, erase errata, css, esg and the long blondes are all on their way to dublin soon to keep me both busy and broke.

todays soundtrack: xiu xiu 'the air force '

23.08.06

these are days of little money. one month left on a studentship. while this does mean more pay in the future, it will most likely be in the real world. (if they'll take me) . as soon as my phd gets submitted, you won't be able to keep up with all the updates here.

i knew i'd be a cover star one day. who would have predicted it would be on the journal of materials chemistry:

if i get some decent pics of deerhoof later i'll upload them alongs with some of queen kong in cork. nice time for gigs. be your own pet last monday (who rocked), deerhoof tonight, 10lec6 on friday and gang gang dance next week. this is where money could come in useful!

todays soundtrack: `miss violetta beauregarde 'odi progfanum vulgus et arceo '

15.07.06

time continues to count down. if i only knew to what.

sometimes a song just gets stuck in your head. stuck like cyanoacrylate. usually about one a week. so i found my latest addition random walking around soulseek. a band called 'no more'. eventually i found out they were a german band around from 81-86. here's the track 'hypnotised'. discography ici.

i shouldn't have downloaded the new erase errata album last week. but i did. it's great! gets my mouth watering for their show here in october. i really thought i'd never get to see them live again.

i got a nice cdr in the post from droney feeback duo n,n who are playing in eamonn dorans on tuesday. some other people playing who i've never heard, so it can only be good. it gets a bit tiresome seeing the same band on rotation every couple of weeks, no matter how could they are. i can let cap pas cap away with it as they're playing with uter at maximum joy next week.

i updated the video section with some more youtube links.

todays soundtrack: bow wow wow 'see jungle! see jungle! go join your gang, yeah, city all over! go ape crazy!'

18.06.06

pictures from lightning bolt and quack quack are up here. none from an albatross, but darren got some tasty ones. it was nice of t.i.t.s. to come all the way over from sunny california, but they were a bit underwhelming on the night. skinny wolves have some great things lined up for this summer/autumn including the amazing xbxrx with weasel walter on drums, plus gang gang dance!! maximum joy also have some fun looking nights in the works too.

my most listened to record of late is chromatics 'nite' ep. the perfect thing to play at all those cocaine fuelled cocktail parties in my apartment. not this chromatics, this one.

new additions to the indie school and dublin section will be coming soon. in other news i have three months to prepare for one of these babies.

p.s. please don't order the BME dvd's as they are all gone now!

todays soundtrack: gary numan 'the pleasure principle'

22.05.06

i need to take holidays more often. a magic two weeks. lots of great food, sights, shopping and even bands too. experimental dental school (not a hundred miles away from deerhoof with synths), magic people (bizzare mix of a flute, guitars, crazy noises and storytelling-very original), made in mexico (stylish nowave, but a bit too sloppy to pull it off) and b.e.a.r.d. (sleazy reverb soaked rock) at the middle east in boston.

next up was year future and the amazing with love (from italy) at the knitting factory in new york. so much energy. we also went to see the chalets at the knitting factory who played with art brut, the robocop kraus and surprise guests we are scientists. some pictures here.

for the rest of the trip some less musical pics here.

p.s. ~~magik markers~~ and lightning bolt this week. rawk!

food du jour: too much.

16.04.06

the easter bunny came. yum yum. i was much too comfortable playing some gamecube at home last night to venture out to the long blondes. ah well. maybe next time they won't play at 2a.m.. the ballroom 50th party was great fun. a couple of pics here.

the next couple of weeks involve going around the corner to a gig on friday, visiting galway for the seven inch launch with paul, giving a talk in college, playing records at skinny wolves and then flying off to boston and new york for two weeks. i better catch up on my sleep.

food du jour: chocolate bunnies from thortons

todays soundtrack: bonny 'prince' billy 'ease down the road'

27.03.06

a word of advice. don't put off a trip to the dentist for three years. ouch. i have started to update the video archive onto youtube including some footage that was on the plasticdonkey dvds. links are here and more soon.

gig wise, i can't wait for the ballroom birthday bash on friday, queen kong on sunday and the long blondes next week. sadly, i'll be missing out on pro forma, due to the whole two places at once condundrum.

berlin was both fun and scary. off to london tomorrow to spread the exciting word of electronic structure calcuations on bismuth stannate.

p.s. you can buy the new (retards) heart paul o'reilly split seven inch here, here, here, here and here.

food du jour: my gums are too sore to eat.

todays soundtrack: deerhoof 'the runners four'

8.03.06

i really enjoyed numbers. some people didn't, but if you don't like them on record, what do you expect? so i'm in the process of transferring my video files to youtube. it saves me loading my server, plus gives easier access. disease by numbers should be up tomorrow. for now there's some killing spree and e+s=b anyway. check them out here.

the new mmr album came in the post today. nice suprise. dance fest. sounds a lot like park attack in places, with a good shovel of fugazi. the new liars album didn't really grab me like it should have. it sounds like it's the laid back side of a double album. nice sounds and all that, but missing the bite. bring back the witches i say. as for the new yyy, better off not going there. love is all and aids wolf have been keeping me amused fixing all those thesis typos.

off to berlin this weekend. abandoned buildings. generators. crowbars. fingers crossed i make it back.

food du jour: spinach and potato bake from m+s. continental chocholate biscuits from aldi.

todays soundtrack: measles mumps rubella 'fantastic sucess '

15.02.06

another month gone. eek. i should have been thesis writing non stop, but instead i saw the gossip and the violets in london. amazing show though. some pictures here.

i'm already getting hyped up about seeing numbers play dublin. march 2nd!

food du jour: tiramisu from dunne & crescenzi .

todays soundtrack: aids wolf 'the lovvers lp"

17.01.06

deserted village provided a great start to the new year with a pretty intense night of music last friday. footage from we are knives is up now.

in food news. the establishment that was the dodgy pizza place across from cineworld, got refurbished to an italian a while back. take note though, while being pretty plain looking from the outside, it’s quite tasty inside. early bird before six during the week with starter, main and drink for €8.99. bargain!

todays soundtrack: we are wolves 'non-stop je te plie en deux'

09.01.06

my fourth attempt at creating a decent site. better??? i hope so. having no internet yet in my new abode gave me some free time. i think the video backlog has finally been killed.some e+s=b and betamax format here. nearly a year later, eeek. lots more updates will be on their merry way.

todays soundtrack: judy nylon 'room without a view''

17.12.05

i love all christmas related parties. ncad on thursday, toners tonight, thumped party tomorrow. this was a pretty good year. veronica lipgloss, a-frames, the chalets, death sentance: panda! and the mae shi put out some of my favourite records. 2006 is going to start with me moving house on day one. what's to follow?

todays soundtrack: love is all 'nine songs of the same'

29.11.05

pictures from gossip and blonde redhead.

lalalalllallalala. it's awfully cold here. yes it is.

today's soundtrack: lightning bolt 'hypermagic mountain'

16.11.05

still working through video backlogs. finding four walls and a roof to live under is taking more time than expected. however, all is not lost.. new footage from piratio, thread pulls and (retards). more real soon. i promise. next week i'm off to london for a fix of the gossip and blonde redhead. yay! xo

today's soundtrack: beautiful skin 'everything, all this and more'

02.10.05

live footage backlog is being tackled. new videos of stoat, the ghostwood project, les georges leningrad and giveamanakick are up now!also new photos from park attack, cap pas cap and tera tora!

today's soundtrack: rip rag & panic 'attitude'

20.08.05

the website gets a facelift. lots of updates. still a little bit to finish off (video and information).

-> fun facts from each layer of plastic donkey in the school section aswell as new ones from nervous gender.

catch some good music this week with park attack this thursday at the hub and this ain't vegas on saturday at the voodoo lounge.

from here on plastic donkey will be primarily a webzine of live footage, photos, and reviews. i'll get it updated in the next few weeks with stuff i have gathered as of late. trying to track down material for the new dvd was just taking more time/patience than i have. someone else please start something similar! i'll buy it for sure.

june has been crazy. the burn my eye launch in limerick was excellent. the les georges leningrad shows in both belfast and dublin were amazing. 'end of the world two' nearly lived up to it's name as i don't think anymore people could have fitted into the hut. photos from all of the above can be seen here. upon all that i had to give a conference talk last week. summer=rest (i wish).

reviews of burn my eye in this months mongrel and rocksound. if you see them anywhere else sure let us know. about two weeks left to get any submissions in for plastic donkey four!

someone slow time down please! june this week. crazy! next week we're having a great launch night for the burn my eye dvd down in limerick. if you're down that end of ireland pop in, it'll be great fun.

plastic donkey four shall be coming more concrete very soon! any video submissions (live or music video) will be gratefully recieved.

death sentance:panda! stole my heart. hear and see. click on the cute donkey to buy the brand spanking new burn my eye dvd with paypal for €10 (including paypal fees and shipping)!

feast your eyes on some sleater-kinney, the pipettes, the legend and rogers sisters here. bme is being finalised as you read!

alas, moving units cancelled when i was in london. on the bright side i'll be back next weekend for some sleater-kinney related grrrl action. burn my eye promos will go out this week. if you'd be interested in reviewing one get in touch!

in other news the special edition of the (retards) debut 'sex is a weapon' is in shops now (well murder city records at least), or you can mailorder from me for €7 postage paid. sixteen track album, plus a dvd with no budget music videos, live footage and the like. new (retards) track here.

i have also updated the music section, if i am missing out on any great music let me know and you'll have my eternal love.

more info on the pretty hot burn my eye release here. i'm off to oxford for the week to preach some science, and to hopefully catch some bands along the way. aron xo

a year later and it's about time the site got a bit of a shake up. not that i have any more technical knowledge about websites, i'm just a bit more comfortable with dreamweaver.

i backed up all the old news here. some of the sections may not be functioning completely, but i'll get around to these in the next couple of days. my new favourite thing is lists, so expect lots of them. new photos are up here; le tigre, gravy train!!!, anna da silva, selfish cunt and (retards).

in terms of actual news, the pope may be dead but plastic donkey is still alive and kicking. full details about the new european release of burn my eye (in conjunction with rimbaud records) soon! suffice to say, this will rock. bits and pieces are coming together for plastic donkey layer four.

as far as im aware plastic donkey layers one, two and three and now all gone! thanks to everyone that picked one up. last week i had lots of fun filming two of the launch nights for the excellent risc records compilation. make sure to check it out. there's some photos here.

new pictures from the ballroom of romance #36 are up here. i got some yummy footage too. layer three is 99% sold out. snap it up fast. i'm now open to music videos/submissions for issue four. the plan is to get as many bands as possible for this throughout the year and there may even be some more interviews. all suggestions welcome.

plastic donkey layer three is now in the shops and selling fast so i hear. ive only got 17 left myself! the excellent badges (as designed by p) are proving popular. available from the good people at road records, anthology books, red ink/murder city and rimbaud records (or direct from me). layers one and two are completely sold out except from rimbaud who has one copy of each left. poster and details: here ; screenshots: here. thanks to all involved!

happy new year to all. the end of the world went amazingly well. pictures here. more news on the new plastic donkey very very soon.

i hope everyone had a great christmas! i've been busy burning multiple copies of issue three and getting the first plastic donkey live event organised. the end of the world is nigh.

the old messageboard was a bit of a joke. i just set up a new one. plasticdonkey.proboards44.com or just click on the guestbook link above.

issue three is just set to go. review copies are in the hands of an post. it should be in the shops 05.01.05. i could get any mailorder out early next week if you're desperate. in the end the badges were made using my new wee badge machine. they're very pretty indeed. poster here and some screenshots here. enjoy!

shellac was rock. pictorial evidence here. very short audio/visual evidence here (~3mb).

time just seems to disappear. ive been working hard editing pd#3 this weekend. full info shortly. what is known is that this will be the best yet! i have to try and organise some badges next week. last couple copies of pd#2 are with me and rimbaud records, sold out elsewhere. littlefuries is the latest hosted site (ex-strangleberries.. very very catchy, melodic indie pop fun), check out the drawings.

filming at ballroom of romance #33 went to plan. some great footage. thanks to all bands involved! pictures of the show can be found here.

issue three is on track. a number of victims have been lined up for live footage, music videos and miscellaneous contributions. now is the time to send me anything you would like included (even material for review).. and there's new irish review section lined up. anyone know what 'plastic reviews' or 'plastic grinder' is as gaeilge?

i dropped the last four copies of issue one into red ink today so from me it is now sold out! magic. they have some more copies of number two aswell. number three is now in the idea process. mail me any suggestions!

i survived london and return with pictures of blonde redhead (who were amazing). i also found out p.d. number two is reviewed in the new issue of plan b.. go buy!

just a quick update today. there's a new sectionfor reviews under plastic info. two at the moment but i'm sure more will come flooding in soon.

in five days i will be in london for ten days (college stuff). hopefully i'll catch moving units, cass mccombs, blonde redhead and tv on the radio along the way. so last chance to mailorder for a while. there are still a couple of free 7"'s left too!

plastic donkey #1 and #2 are now available online along with lots of cool records from Rimbaud's Records & Distro.

sleep would be nice, but no! starting to get number three in prelim phase, so if anyone has any videos etc. give me a shout. probably a while off yet though. there is now a GUESTBOOK under plastic info so you can all leave me love letters and tell me how cool i am! thanks a bunch. got two great 7"s today in murder city records (over flip at the central bank). go visit.

only two updates today (pretty hearts everywhere and updating the # of remaining copies of pd2 on the layers page). im sure there's lots left in the shops but ive just got about ten left myself. ahhh!! all good feedback so far which is nice. the hawnay troof video seems to be a fav with the kids. ill try and get a guestbook/messageboard worked out soon.

plastic donkey is now in road records, anthology books and red ink zines and radical books. all lovely places. people should mailorder from me too! okay so some decent updates today (cause i now have broadband at home): LOTS of new pictures under plastic photos and some more links.

payday is my favourite day of the month! preorders of layer two went out this morning. i finally got my pc to read a video on a mac formatted disc i sent. success is mine. so this week is burn burn burn to get the rest finished. every copy will come with two stickers and a five track steerage ep! (thanks to conor). see the updated poster in the plastic layers section for the final lineup. best value ever!

more of the links work now. yay! if anyone wants an ultra trendy plasticdonkey.com sub domain just let me know. just think sbabek.plasticdonkey.com could be yours.

so this is my first attempt at updating the website. it even has a banner now! how cool is that? the packaging for layer two is finished, waiting on two videos and ill start on the dvds next week. hopefully send any preorders on friday and then shops the following week. fun fun.

the first ten to mailorder get a free mystery 7"!! and all at €5 postage paid.