• Belfast Forward: Ten Foundations

    In the very first installment of Belfast Forward, a new regular feature looking at some of the city’s most intriguing small businesses, organisations and individuals,  Laura Carland spoke to Ten Foundations founder, Ian Campbell, about an inspiring organisation. Nestled on the busy Lisburn Road in Belfast, you can find one part coffee shop one part charity thrift store, Ten Foundations. Promoting a genuinely warm, welcoming and positive atmosphere, you relax with a hot drink, plug in and work or browse and shop safe in the knowledge that 100% of the proceeds will be used to help those living in poverty in Philippines. Photos…

  • The Record: Sissy

    Ahead of its launch on at TenterHooks Gigspace on Sunday, June 28, we catch up with Dublin lo-fi three-piece band Sissy to discuss the writing and recording of their forthcoming 7″, as well as the reception to their music to date. Photos by Carlos Daly. Hi guys. What’s been the general reaction to the first EP, and ‘Sail & Rail’ particularly, given the subject matter and events over the past year? Leigh (Guitar/Vocals): ‘Sail and Rail’ has become our most popular song. The response to that has been tremendous. It feels like shouting about abortion, when there can be such…

  • Monday Mixtape: Ryan Vail

    Having just released well-received mini album Sea Legs mini album with local alt-folk singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery, Derry electronic musician Ryan Vail is now moving on to writing a solo piano EP to be released on local label Quiet Arch in the Autumn. He took time out of the studio to pick his top ten tracks for us along with some thoughts on each. Peter Broderick – Colours of the Night Got to see Peter play this live at the CQAF. Always have been a fan of his work. This blew me away live.   Radiohead – Bloom Bit of a classic in our house. The King…

  • Festival Mixtape: Longitude 2015

    One of Ireland’s biggest festivals, Longitude will return to Marlay Park from July 17-19 to showcase some of the best upcoming talent across the UK and further afield. With Alt-J, The Chemical Brothers and Hozier set to headline, there is a sense of real progression around the festival as more big acts and artists continue to be revealed. Alongside the headliners, Caribou, Metronomy and James Blake fit nicely in amongst the bill, which has something to offer in every genre. Hip-Hop fans won’t be left out: with 2014 Mercury Prize award winners Young Fathers in the mix on the Friday, and with Pusha…

  • Deep Down South: Safe Harbours, Young Wonder and Old Rock Docs

    ANNOUNCEMENTS AND SUCH The big news as last week’s column was finishing up was the announcement of another brand-new festival to be added to Cork’s ever-expanding portfolio of annual events, with the announcement of Sounds from a Safe Harbour, ‘a festival of music, art and conversation’ running September 17th to 20th around the city. Curated by The National guitarist Bryce Dessner, the festival represents another immense opportunity to showcase the city’s strengths to a wider audience, following the good buzz and recent pick-up in events and crowds that’s happened this year. Yon blurb: Sounds from a Safe Harbour is a…

  • AAA: ASIWYFA w/ Mylets @ La Flèche d’Or, Paris

    And So I Watch You From Afar – or ASIWYFA for short – have set off on a huge tour in support of their new album Heirs. The lads landed in Paris with Mylets in tow, with a few dates in Russia and UK behind them and a huge EU tour ahead of them. Our photographer Tom McGeehan was there to capture the load-in, soundcheck and all the run up ahead of the gig and, of course, the show itself. Check out the gallery below for a comprehensive overview of the entire show.

  • Rave New World (8/5)

    Having delivered a stonking set of his own at the Twisted Pepper for out second birthday last Saturday night, Aidan Hanratty delivers this week’s look at the very best electronic gigs, tracks, releases and mixes. GIGS MUD: Bodytonic present Joy Orbison at The Twisted Pepper Friday, May 8 Somehow I’ve only seen Joy O twice, both times in the Twisted Pepper basement. Both sets were superb, as intelligently crafted as they were passionate and exuberant. Tough, crunching house alongside 90s classics, retro pianos over clanking beats. He’s always one to keep exclusives close to his chest, so go along tonight…

  • Cork Heads: Ray Blackwell (De Barra’s)

    Ray Blackwell is the manager of De Barra’s Folk Club which is situated in Clonakilty in west Cork. He is a founding member and organiser of the Clonakilty International Guitar Festival – now in its eleventh year – and has been a member of the South of Ireland Band Championships committee for the last six years. Words and photos by Brid O’Donovan. Your earliest memory of De Barra’s. To answer this question really specifically would be really difficult for me. I remember being here (De Barra’s) as a kid. I lived here with my mum and my dad and my sister. We…

  • In Search of Space: Exploring The Fringes of The Mind With Hawkwind

    As Hawkwind’s first four years on record are collated on a new 11cd boxed set, This is Your Captain Speaking… Your Captain is Dead, Steven Rainey delves into the murky world of space rock, and discovers much more than simply a band responsible for unleashing Lemmy on the cosmos. At the end of Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, astronaut Dr David Bowman is pulled into a vortex, going on a journey into the infinite, a kaleidoscopic assault on the senses that could mean everything or nothing. Both Kubrick and writer Arthur C. Clarke weren’t exactly in hurry…

  • Visual Arts Outlook (05/05)

    The Venice Biennale opens this week so the irish contingent has travelled to support Sean Lynch in his opening of Adventure Capital which will this year be housed at The Irish Pavillion in the Arsenale. Lynch’s work can be seen until the 22nd of November, so there is plenty of time to get to Venice and see it. The MAC opens its second guest curated show this Thursday. Gregory McCartney presents I Will Go There, Take Me Home, the work of Adrian Ghenie, Pieter Hugo and Olaf Brzeski. The opening is from 7pm. Finally, don’t forget that Late Night Art…