83/100
Rusty Willoughby has never really caught the break he deserved. His band Pure Joy never caught on like some of their peers in the neo-psychedelia scene of the 80s, while his following band Flop didn’t quite get caught up in the grunge craze that the rest of Seattle succeeded in despite a short-lived major label contract. Another band and a self-released solo record later, Willoughby might finally have the record that gains him the respect he deserves.
Cobirds Unite points to an obvious influence in the choice of covers on the record. While neither “Do Right Woman” nor “Streets Of Baltimore” were Gram Parsons originals, he did perform on the most well-known version. Willoughby has assembled a great backing band made up of members of such 90s Pacific Northwest superstars as the Screaming Trees, Afghan Whigs, and Mudhoney. The real standout is Visqueen’s Rachel Flotard, who plays Emmylou to Willoughby’s Gram.
That isn’t to say that Cobirds Unite is just another former frontman turned Gram Parsons wannabe record. Cobirds Unite is a beautifully lush record with Willoughby’s acoustic rounded out by slide guitar, organs, violin, banjo, and most importantly, Flotard’s voice which nearly trades line for line and is a great match. The songs themselves range from a quiet Elliot Smith-ish “Seventeen Express”, the country sounds of the title track, and the rock of “Find A Way Home” which does a good job of borrowing the riff from “Suffragette City”. Cobirds Unite is a solid release from front to back, hopefully gaining Rusty Willoughby the recognition he deserves.
-Adam
Rusty Willoughby – C’mon C’mon
Rusty Willoughby
Business groups confident corporate tax rate safe
The Irish Times May 14, 2010 | SUZANNE LYNCH THERE WAS a mixed reaction from business groups to the proposed changes outlined in the EU Commission’s Communication on Reinforcing Economic Policy Co-ordination.
The Chartered Accountants of Ireland said there was nothing in the communication that could prejudice Ireland’s 12.5 per cent corporate tax rate.
The institute’s director of taxation, Brian Keegan, said the association took part in bilateral discussions on corporate tax policy in Brussels with the EU tax commissioner, Algirdas Semeta, last week where the commissioner made it “very clear” that the corporate tax rate is entirely an issue for national governments. corporatetaxratenow.com corporate tax rate
“EU member states set their own tax rates. There is no change to this, either by way of the commission communication or by way of other EU policy documents and recommendations, such as the Monti report published earlier this week,” Mr Keegan said. He stressed, however, that the association would continue to monitor EU policy as it evolves.
The view was echoed by the Irish Taxation Institute’s Mark Redmond, who said yesterday that the recent proposals from Europe posed no threat to Ireland’s corporate tax rate, a sovereign right that had been reaffirmed during the debate on the Lisbon Treaty referendum. website corporate tax rate
Ibec director general Danny McCoy said the business group was broadly in favour of a more co-ordinated approach by Europe to economic policy.
He said recent events had highlighted the fragility of the euro, an issue that was a concern for businesses. “It is crucial that businesses operate in a stable currency environment so any effort to address this issue should be welcomed,” he said.
He said that the uncertainty in Europe risked putting pressure on financing for businesses. “It’s not only countries that are finding it expensive to source finance; larger companies will find it more expensive to raise finance in euro denomination.” However, he said while it was perfectly reasonable to have a co- ordinated approach in terms of deficit and debt position, the rate of taxation should remain a policy issue for individual countries.
The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Isme) said any possible changes to corporate tax would be a major concern, although the association also pointed out that VAT harmonisation could potentially emerge as a potential issue in the longer term.
Isme said the importance of the corporate tax rate was debated in detail during the Lisbon Treaty debate when members were assured that the tax rate would not be changed.
“It is a crucial issue to our members. Any change to the rate would be a cause of serious concern,” he said.
SUZANNE LYNCH
Writer / photographer / Reviler co-founder
