Pinback- Autumn of the Seraphs
(Touch and Go Records; 2007)

I don’t know why Pinback aren’t more popular. They have a song on an O2 ad and I’m sure they’ve popped up in The OC at some point. But despite their repertoire of catchy indie-pop songs they’ve remained relatively unknown and underrated. With Autumn of the Seraphs, their fourth album, it’s visible that they have become comfortable with their sound without becoming uninventive. The moody guitar riffs, uplifting refrains and piano theatrics that Pinback have previously mastered are all present here. However this offering seems much more delicate and focused than their other albums.
Autumn of the Serephs opens with the fast paced “From Nothing To Nowhere”, where guitars and vocals mix to create an infectious foot-tappingly good song. This up-beat theme continues into the album with the punky “Barnes” and synth-laden “Good To Sea”. In songs like “Walters” and “Bouquet”, Pinback reveal their ability to take a song into many different directions, without it feeling forced. The meditative pace and instantly likeable keyboard hooks are clearly that driving forces at work on this album, without taking from the catchy guitar riffs and melodic vocals of Rob Crow. The album closes with “Off By 50”, a mini pop epic which begins like a Black Sabbath and finishes with crashing drums, pianos and guitars.
My only complaint with Autumn of the Seraphs would be that at times it seems too delicate and songs may sound too carefully constructed. What it lacks is a rougher, edgier sound, maybe some guitar feedback or harsh noises every now or then. Nevertheless Pinback have once again proved themselves as a tight indie pop band well able to produce catchy and energetic songs. Fans of bands like Modest Mouse and The Shins will find enjoyable songs on this record.

Award-winning photojournalist to exhibit work on rural women in India

NUIG will host a photo-exhibition of the work of Asia’s eminent development journalist, Palagummi Sainath from the 25th of November until the 2nd of December at the Arts Millenium Building. The exhibit entitled “Visible Work, Invisible Women: Women & Work in Rural India” will focus on India’s rural women and in a broader context, the problems faced by women across the globe. The photographs highlight the astonishing contribution of rural women to India’s economy which sadly remains unnoticed and unacknowledged despite their significant labour and hard work. Sainath’s work also aims to point out the distressing wage ratio of women as compared to men in rural India and the inherent discrimination in terms of land ownership and control. The pictures of these women offer poignant glimpses of the lives, labour and struggles of millions of rural Indian women. The exhibition has so far been seen by over half a million people in mostly rural impoverished areas, and has toured extensively internationally.

Palagummi Sainath has worked as a journalist reporting on development and related issues in India for 26 years. He has won over 30 national and international journalism awards and fellowships, his most recent being the Ramon Magsaysay award in 2007 for journalism, literature, and creative communications arts.
Sainath's book, 'Everybody Loves a Good Drought' , has gone into 19 printings and has been translated into a number of languages. Through his work on India’s social problems, Sainath changed the nature of the development debate in his own country and across the world. In the last decade, he has spent on average three quarters of the year with village people, reporting extensively on agrarian crises due to neo-liberal policies, on the lack of sensitivity and efficiency by the government and the bureaucracy, on farmer suicides in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala and also reported on the plight of the dalits. Sainath's strength lies in his energy as an investigator, the rigour of his research and the lucidity of his prose. A fine photographer and public speaker, he is currently the Rural Affairs Editor of India's most serious English language daily, The Hindu, of Chennai.

The eminent Indian journalist Nikhil Chakravartty once described Sainath's work as "the conscience of the Indian nation." His work on poverty, hunger and inequality has also won praise from the likes of Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen who once described him as one of the world's great experts on hunger and famine.
Sainath is actively involved in the training of journalists in the poorest regions of India's countryside. He has also been teaching journalism at the Sophia Polytechnic in Mumbai for 20 years. Many of Sainath's students have themselves gone on to win major national awards.
Sainath will also be speaking at this years’ conference “Development Futures” hosted by NUIG on the 24th and 25th of November. The conference aims to enhance the connections between development research and education and integrate dimensions of practice and activism.