• DIY Dublin: Nine Crows

    July 28, 2015 - By 

    In the latest installment of DIY Dublin, Benni Johnston catches up with Emma and Dean from Nine Crows, a boutique on Ormond Quay Lower specialising in hand-picked vintage clothing. Photos by Abi Denniston. Hi guys. Nine Crows is now well established as a go to place for great vintage finds and progressive fashion both the store and online but I’ve been aware of it in it’s many guises for some time. Fill us in on the background of the shop to present day. Emma: My grandmother left me tonnes and tonnes of vintage pieces that she had collected throughout the years,…

  • Monday Mixtape: Bobby Aherne (No Monster Club)

    July 27, 2015 - By 

    “What kind of music are you into?” The dreaded question that, for many years, sent shivers down my spine, stopped me in my tracks and put a blank Fr. Dougal McGuire stare into my eyes. You might think that somebody who actually makes music has both the perfect response and riposte to this, assuming that one’s personal tuneage is both a distillation of their essence as well as a full-length mirror of their own tastes (incidentally reflecting back the sheer amount of plagiarism at work). Sadly, unless you decide to sit down the quizmaster and force them to endure one’s…

  • Rave New World (24/7)

    July 24, 2015 - By 

    The weekend, hurrah! But before that: Aidan Hanratty and Antoin Lindsay deliver their weekly look at all the very best electronic gigs, tracks, mixes and releases. GIGS White Noise 500 with Dave Clarke, Marcel Fengler & Sunil Sharpe at The Academy Friday, July 24  A hefty line-up this. In celebration of Dave Clarke’s 500th show, he’s broadcasting live from Dublin alongside Berghain resident Marcel Fengler and Dublin’s own Sunil Sharpe. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the up-and-coming Dublin talent is in abundance in Opium Rooms, with Daire Carolan playing all night alongside DJ Isleo’man (Morgan Buckley) and DJ Muscles…

  • Shot Glass: The Affectionate Punch

    July 22, 2015 - By 

    As Shot Glass Theatre enjoys its fifteen month anniversary co-founder Joseph Nawaz and I sit back and toast our success with supermarket own-brand prosecco. The acid reflux is fiery! Our sleeping partner, Infinite Jest’s Graeme Watson, cannot make it. Graeme is one of the soundest people I know and certainly the soundest sleeper. We chuckle indulgently to each other, Joe and I, marvelling at the long strange trip it’s been and what an odd thing it is to do: we invent people, make them say things and other people, pretending to be the people we’ve invented, say the things we’ve…

  • Midweek Mixtape: This Time Ten Years Ago

    July 22, 2015 - By 

    Ahh… 2005. There was something so visceral and pure about the music that we’ll be damned if there’s ever been a stronger year for indie twee pop music ever since. Where the hell have Jens Lekman, Doves and Broken Social Scene gone to? The latter being such gargantuan heavyweights constantly jostling for indie superiority against Arcade Fire. And don’t you dare get us started on Scout Niblett! It was the year of the fey fringe and foppish cardigan combo, when having a beard made you the odd man out since Conor Oberst was the ultimate indie boy de jour. Everyone you met in the smoking area…

  • Interview: The Wood Burning Savages

    July 20, 2015 - By 

    

 On the day of the release of their stellar new single, ‘Premier League’ (stream below), we chat to Paul Connolly from Derry quartet The Wood Burning Savages about recent stirrings, future plottings and the recording and release of their latest and greatest track to date. Hi Paul. You’re just back from Swell Festival. How was that and the last few months for you generally? Hello The Thin Air! Swell Festival was incredibly good fun, it’s like a happier version of The Prisoner or Lord Of The Flies. It’s only in its second year but it’s got an amazing vibe and the…

  • Video Premiere + Interview: Carnivores – Apathy In The UK

    July 17, 2015 - By 

    Set to headline the next Smalltown America Records All-Dayer on Friday, July 31 – co-promoted by yours truly – Scottish alt-rock trio Carnivores underwent some elated highs and crushing lows during the making of their stellar debut album, Let’s Get Metaphysical. Touching upon that process, the band’s love of Northern Irish alt-rock and signing to Smalltown America, the band’s frontman Kenny Leckie chats candidly with Brian Coney Go here to buy tickets to the All Dayer and check out our premiere for the video to ‘Apathy In The UK’ below.   Hi Kenny. First off, ‘Apathy In The UK’: the song…

  • Rave New World (17/7)

    July 17, 2015 - By 

    Back together, like electronic music-worshipping brothers in arms, Antoin Lindsay and Aidan Hanratty deliver this week’s Rave New World, looking at some of the very best electronic gigs, tracks, releases and mixes of the week. GIGS Twitch Present: Bicep at Mandela Hall, Belfast Friday, July 17 The last time Belfast boys Bicep played Mandela Hall for Twitch it was a sell out, so expect this to be no different. The duo have cemented themselves as the city’s most prominent global dance music force for a very good reason. Considering how electric Belfast and Twitch atmospheres can be, a homecoming show…

  • The Hefty Fog: Growing Out of Metal

    July 16, 2015 - By 

    The metal internet collectively lost its shit recently when Mastodon’s Brent Hinds (pictured) admitted that he never really liked metal and has been, in his own words; “trying to get Mastodon to not be such a heavy metal band.” And so it was that every Mastodon fan would experience that same feeling of blighting abandonment we have all gone through at one time or another in our early years. Some have claimed that Hinds is taking the piss to an extent, that it’s unthinkable for someone to do something they don’t truly enjoy for as long as he has. I…

  • Roving Eye: Le Galaxie in Brighton

    July 16, 2015 - By 

    The latest Roving Eye trip took me to Brighton to get a little taste of The Great Escape with party time favourites Le Galaxie. Brighton – nicknamed “London by the Sea” – has witnessed huge gentrification over the last decade, albeit without losing its notorious licentiousness. It has a charming seaside resort exterior, with beautiful Regency architecture converted into guest houses or pied-à-terre for London bourgeois weekenders. However, a gentle scratch of the surface reveals an undercurrent of bohemian non-conformist attitudes and the UK’s largest recreational drug market. Seemed like the perfect location for the UKs leading music industry festival,…