Dublin Opinion

[ Hangover friendly broadcasting - Photo from Radio Nova Website]

On a balmy night last summer, I had somewhat of a radio epiphany while trying to tune the car radio somewhere near my home. I came across a station I’d never before noticed that was playing a track from that Stuart Staples solo LP from a couple of years back. In the provincial town I live in in the South West of France, the range of choice on the airwaves is a bit limited. Outside of the big national stations (which are mostly excellent though somewhat heavyweight) - France Inter / Info / and Culture (or ‘culcul’ to we lowbrows) my radio search usually comes up with overexcited rugby commentators or some bloke announcing a monster bingo at which the top prize will be half a pig - a dead one, be reassured ! The station I had managed to find on that night turned out to be Radio Nova Radio Nova Website and since then 100.3 Mhz FM has done a great deal to preserve my sanity as I shuttle between the kids’ dance lessons / music lessons / the schoolrun / the drama lessons and all the other forms of self-improvement my progeny get up to.

Despite the choice of the same name of a very crap pirate station that operated in Dublin in the 80s, France’s Nova is a child of the post May 1968 explosion in counter-culture. It was founded in 1981 by the late Jean-François Bizot - a counter culture media type who had made his name through the magazine ‘Actuel’ in the 70s - France’s first widely distributed leftfield glossy. I don’t know what Nova was playing in 1981 but these days it has an eclectic playlist of all the best in leftfield music with a smattering of classic soul, funk, reggae, Afro, Latino and rap to keep (almost) all happy. I am rarely disappointed as the next track starts in any case.

So why am I mentioning Nova to you on this day that everything turns green until we puke ? Because the station have spent the last week promoting a trip they’ve organised to Dublin this past weekend under the dodgy title of ‘In Pub We Trust’. This has entailed a good few plays for Irish artists and the occasional attempt to understand us (good luck to them!). Last week they managed to fit in Irish Hip Hop, Neil Hannon, our National Sinéad, David Holmes, DJ Shadow (ain’t he Scottish ??), Dry County, Van Morrison, Phoebe Kildeer and a smattering of young (Paddy) Turks here and there in their playlist. They are also somehow linked to the gig Jack Penate played this weekend (maybe by being on the guest list, I dunno).

As the high(?) point of this Oirish splash out they broadcast live from the old Jemmie distillery in Smithfield this morning. As with most yoof-oriented radio stations, their programmers feel the need to employ a couple of amphetamine-laced chatterboxes for the slot when most civilised people are recovering from a hangover (6 - 9 am) and it is this couple that have been locked inside the old distillery since Friday last, apparently (Mathilde and Armel - pictured above). Even their newsreader back in Paris appears to be hungover - but then he has to remain stoic in the face of their speed and whiskey-fuelled blarney all through the morning. For once I have no actual hangover though I do have the political hangover of finding I live in virtually the only medium-sized town in France that has decided to swap their Socialist mayor for a disciple of Sarkozy in yesterday’s 2nd round of voting. Thanks for that one, St. Pat !

I hope then that this post explains to you why you possibly ran into a French soundcrew while out on the tear this weekend asking you what makes ‘you Eyereesh so crazeee’… I also hope you represented our slightly imperfect wee country in a dignified manner - those of you that weren’t at the 72-hour prayer vigil in the Pro Cathedral, that is…