• TTA Session #007: Ciaran Lavery

    We’ve said it a few times before but some things just need repeating: Ciaran Lavery is easily one of the most naturally gifted Irish singer-songwriters of his or any other generation. With an extraordinary voice schooled in heartache and experience, Lavery’s restrained yet fevered acoustic tales harbour some truly wonderful turns of phrase and gently-strummed songwriting brilliance. Filmed/edited by Colm Laverty, and featuring sound by Chris Ryan, we recently captured Lavery performing two of his very best songs – ‘Shame’ and ‘Left For America’ – early in the morning outside Belfast’s iconic Duke of York on Corporation Street. As well delivering two superb renditions of both songs, Lavery…

  • Cobain: Montage of Heck

    In April of 1994, Kurt Cobain died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He left behind a wife, an infant daughter and a legacy as one of the last true rock gods. In the intervening 21 years, a messianic persona has been grafted onto this young man from Aberdeen, Washington. His face is plastered on t-shirts and posters the world over to the point where he has become an apolitical Che Guevara for angry misunderstood adolescents to identify with. There is a plethora of retrospective articles, unauthorized biographies and crackpot theories relating to the man, his music and…