• Classic Album: Television – Marquee Moon

    June 10, 2015 - By 

    I was 17, staring forlornly out of my bedroom window to a street clad in the dimming light of dusk. As the stars began to pierce through the veil of night, one by one, two haunting chords began their journey towards the infinite. As duelling guitars spiral towards their chaotic, yet inevitable conclusion, I found myself standing beneath the Marquee Moon. Just waiting. To my teenage ears, this was perplexing. The music I was listening to, the epic title track to Television’s debut album, had been, and continues to be described as a punk record. But where were the distorted…

  • Cork Heads: Turncoat Press

    June 8, 2015 - By 

    Turncoat Press is an independent Irish comics publisher based in Cork. They are Emmet O Brien, Chris O Halloran and Colin O Mahoney. On June 13 they are launching their second comic book ‘Life Signs’ in the Franciscan Well, Cork from 2pm until 8pm. Photos and interview by Brid O’Donovan. Turncoat Press. Colin: Turncoat Press is the three of us. Emmet, Chris and myself. We are a small press comics publisher. We’re based in Cork and we are on to our second publication now. So Turncoat Press is still very young. Myself and Emmet write and Chris draws. We wanted…

  • Rave New World (05/06)

    June 5, 2015 - By 

    In the giddy, optimistic aftermath of Boiler Room debuts in Belfast and Dublin, as well as a hugely successful first outing for AVA Festival, Aidan Hanratty and Antoin Lindsay deliver their weekly look at all things electronic. GIGS Pogo: Bodytonic & Hidden Agenda present Late Nite Tuff Guy & Young Marco at The Twisted Pepper Saturday, June 6 So unfair, so unreasonable – Bodytonic and Hidden Agenda combine to bring two excellent DJs to town. Late Nite Tuff Guy is famed for his edits/reworks (a personal favourite is that of Roland Clark’s ‘I Get Deep’), while Young Marco has released…

  • The Record: Heroes In Hiding

    June 5, 2015 - By 

    In the latest installment of The Record, Cian Donohoe, drummer from Dublin folk-rock quartet Heroes In Hiding offers an insight into the writing and recording of their second EP, Decorated Absence, which is released today. Photos by Tara Thomas. “Our second EP, Decorated Absence was recorded and produced by Philip Magee. The writing and recording process was hugely different to our first EP, Hush, which was released in March last year. Hush was self-produced and recorded and then mixed by SOAK’s producer, the brilliant Declan Legge. That first EP was a much longer and more easygoing process than the one we have just…

  • Festival Mixtape: Electric Picnic 2015

    June 3, 2015 - By 

    With Blur, Grace Jones, FKA Twigs, Mac DeMarco and more added to the bill yesterday, this year’s Electric Picnic is shaping up to be one of the best outings for the annual Co. Laois festival in years. With many more acts yet to be revealed, Interpol, Jurassic 5, Manic Street Preachers, Belle and Sebastian, Battles, The War on Drugs, Jon Hopkins and Future Islands are also amongst the acts already announced to play this year’s festival, taking place from September 4-6 at Stradbally Estate. Go here to buy tickets to Electric Picnic 2015 and check out our Festival Mixtape for EP 2015 below.

  • All Genres Weird & Wonderful: Nintendocore

    June 3, 2015 - By 

    Following on from the rather curious world of Vaporwave, Kelly Doherty continues to scour the world’s sub-genres so that you can sound informed at hipster dinner parties with minimal effort. This month: Nintendocore Name: Nintendocore Origins: The 8-bit Nintendo games of the 80s – think Super Mario, Zelda – combined with the angsty post-hardcore/metalcore that lights up the hearts of angry 15 year olds all over the world How to use it in a sentence: “All my son does anymore is sit in his room listening to Nintendocore. Between that and his obsession with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as…

  • Exclusive EP Stream: Heroes in Hiding – Decorated Absence

    June 3, 2015 - By 

    Ahead of its official launch on Friday, we’re pleased to present an exclusive first listen to Decorated Absence, the second EP from Heroes in Hiding. Produced, recorded and mixed by Philip Magee, the three-track release is all-killer, no-filler folk-pop from the Dublin four-piece, fresh from their performance at Forbidden Fruit at the weekend. Ahead of an in-studio The Record with the band tomorrow – featuring an insight into the recorded and release of the EP and featuring candid shots from our photographer Tara Thomas – stream Decorated Absence in full below. Photo by Tara Thomas

  • Visual Arts Outlook (1/6)

    June 1, 2015 - By 

    Perhaps the main event happening this week in the Visual Arts in Belfast would be the Launch of the Annual Belfast Photo Festival. This year running from the June 4-30 there are lots of events throughout the month to go and check out, in various venues across Belfast. This weeks opening for the Photo Festival include (both on Thursday evening) The Golden Thread: To Camera: Lorraine Burrell, Amanda Coogan, Tony Hill, Tom Lovelace, Moira McIver, Maria Platero, Manuel Vason, and Ai Wei Wei. And Body of Work: Jordan Hutchings (project space) QSS Bedford Street: Metamorphosis: Thorsten Brinkmann, Alma Haser, Christiane…

  • What Happens When You Add Toto To David Lynch

    June 1, 2015 - By 

    On paper, there seems no situation that would combine the disparate elements of film-maker and master of the surreal, David Lynch, future Captain Picard and Professor X, Patrick Stewart, former Police-man Sting, ambient music guru and former glam rock icon Brian Eno, and soft-rock superstars Toto. Surely, you might say, if there was something that brought all these people together and united them on one project, that project would be a crazy, unwieldy thing, probably unloved by all? Well, if you did think that, you’d probably be right. Released in 1984, Dune was intended to cash in on the sci-fi…

  • Monday Mixtape: Elaine Howley (The Altered Hours)

    June 1, 2015 - By 

    Since we kick-started out Monday Mixtape back in January, we’ve had some truly excellent playlists courtesy of Niall Kennedy of ASIWYFA, Ciaran Lavery, Pavement’s Bob Nastanovich, Girls Names’ Claire Miskimmin, Ciaran Smith of Crayonsmith, Quasi’s Sam Coomes, September Girls, No Spill Blood’s Ror Conaty, Ricki O’Rawe of Not Squares, Sargent House’s Cathy Pellow, The Mighty Stef’s Stefan Murphy, Dara Kiely of Girl Band, Built to Spill’s Doug Martsch, Ryan Vail and Autumns’ Christian Donaghey. Today, we continue that altogether tasteful tradition with none other with Elaine Howley of Cork psych-rock wizards The Altered Hours, who selects ten of her all-time favourite songs…