• Scratch My Progress 2014 Applicants Wanted

    April 10, 2014 - By 

    After two successful annual campaigns to date, Belfast’s Oh Yeah Centre are once more on the look-out for young musical talent to apply for their ‘Scratch My Progress’ programme. A talent development programme offering four musical acts the opportunity to “hothouse their talent, learn about the business of music, plus the trades of performing and writing”, it will involve various meetings and workshops with music industry professionals including lawyers and accounts, vocal coaches, PR experts and more. Charlotte Dryden, Project Manager of Scratch my Progress said, “[It] is opening the doors again to new music potential. It’s the third recruitment…

  • Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (Square Enix, PS4/Xbox One)

    April 10, 2014 - By 

    The history of the Tomb Raider franchise should serve as a cautionary tale to aspiring videogame developers. When Lara Croft first romped into the media, gamers went mad for her double pistols, Daisy Duke cut-offs and clipped English accent. She struck the right balance between vulnerability and sexuality, thereby causing critics to herald her as either, depending on your opinion, a benchmark for female empowerment or male voyeurism. While some saw her as an anatomically impossible ogle magnet, others were glad to have a female lead in a videogame at all. Yes, there are Samus and Alyx Vance but after that the list…

  • Cloud Nothings – Here and Nowhere Else

    April 10, 2014 - By 

    Prior to 2012’s Attack On Memory, Cloud Nothings were often found buoyant in the same lo-fi slacker waters as Ty Segall, Wavves and a myriad of other Pitchfork darlings. Memory’s somewhat messianic production from Steve Albini explored the four piece’s heavier fundamental aesthetics and lathered it with frontman Dylan Baldi’s pop sensibilities. Following buzz singles ‘Stay Useless’ and ‘Fall In’ we saw Cloud Nothings nail the right-of-way Letterman Show and gain favourable festivals slots in all corners of the tour circuit. By bringing in producer John Congleton (The Dismemberment Plan, Explosions in the Sky) on their fourth LP we see a band who’ve played…