• Tour Diary: Ciaran Lavery in Kansas

    February 26, 2015 - By 

    Head of Belfast-based imprints Champion Sound and Quiet Arch, Lyndon Stephens reports back from Northern Irish singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery’s recent industry festival jaunt in Kansas Thursday Accompanied by yours truly, Ciaran Lavery flew to Folk Alliance festival in Kansas City, Missouri last week four days of intense industry showcase gigs. Famous for Dorothy, Toto, Union Station, The Liberty Memorial, BBQ and as the State where the Civil War started, Kansas hosts this industry event with a difference. Everything takes place over four days in two interconnected hotels. Labels, management companies, agents, magazines and government agencies rent rooms or suites (depending…

  • Track Record: Vinyl Love @ Quarter Block Party

    February 24, 2015 - By 

    Brid O’Donovan chatted with Stevie on the Sunday of Quarter Block Party and he was hosting Vinyl Love in Gulpd Cafe.  They were about six hours into a ten hour set of twenty five DJs playing 7 7” records. A few hours earlier the wonderful Siobhan Kane of Young Hearts Run Free chaired a panel discussion titled Life Has Surface Noise. Daragh O Halloran, Peter Twomey, Justin Grounds and Stevie Grainger shared with us their memories of growing up with the records they hooked to their veins. Justin spoke beautifully about how music connects us to our time and Siobhan…

  • Cork Heads: Jack Crotty (The Rocket Man)

    February 25, 2015 - By 

    Jack Crotty is founder and owner of The Rocket Man, which is a salad and juice bar on Princes street in Cork city. He also trades at markets and organises events in Cork. Food at Home There are two different sides of my family, as there is with everyone’s family. My mum’s side of the family would be very into growing food and eating healthily and my Dad’s side wouldn’t be as much but they still would have a good respect for food. It certainly was from my Mum that all that came from. Sourcing properly and ethically. It’s really…

  • Track Record: Keith Wallace (Rusted Rail Records)

    February 25, 2015 - By 

    Keith Wallace operates his bespoke micro-independent label Rusted Rail from his base in Galway. Here, he discusses his favourite albums with us from the comfort of his own home including Vashti Bunyan, Planxty and Black Sabbath. Photos by Sean McCormack.   Tindersticks – Tindersticks  I’ve had this album since it came out in 1993, but I just recently got it on vinyl, an original pressing which has one more extra song that didn’t fit on the CD at the time. There’s an entire life on this album. It’s rain-drenched and wine stained, that’s how I always think about it. It seems to…

  • Track Record: Subplots

    February 23, 2015 - By 

    In this installment of Track Record we chat to Phil and Daryl from Subplots about their most treasured records while they brew us some fresh coffee, proving they have both excellent taste in music and hot beverages!  Photos by Aidan Kelly-Murphy. Aphex Twin – Druqks Phil: We were 17 when Druqks came out and it sounded like music from another planet. I originally had the CD, and it was one of those albums that was in terrible condition as I used to lend it to anyone that expressed even a vague interest in Aphex Twin. There’s such a wealth of ideas on this…

  • Monday Mixtape: Bob Nastanovich (Pavement/Silver Jews)

    February 23, 2015 - By 

    Ok, we admit it: our predisposition to mid-Nineties American indie rock is pretty marked. Now that we’ve combined forces and shoved the elephant out of the room, let’s get down to business. Following in the ridiculously tasteful footsteps of Quasi’s Sam Coomes, as well as our very own Ciaran Lavery, Niall Kennedy from And So I Watch You From Afar, Ciarán Smith from Crayonmith and Girls Names‘ Claire Miskimmin, U.S musician and all-round good guy Bob Nastanovich is next up for this week’s Monday Mixtape. A glaringly charimastic member of Pavement and Silver Jews, Nastanovich selects some of his all-time favourite songs from the…

  • Deep Down South: A Word on TTA Magazine

    February 23, 2015 - By 

    Howdy.  Before we kick off, this week, Deep Down South will be delivered in two instalments. The usual news, views and general Cork nerdery will be along this Wednesday/Thursday, including overviews of everything coming up over the next few weeks as usual. But this, we’ve a column of two halves. If this half runs a bit short, it’s because your writer is a little tired from the last few weeks, but more so (and with apologies to the Print Shop lads for missing the fundraisers over the weekend), it’s because the finishing touches on the featured content of issue 5 of…

  • Rave New World (20/2)

    February 20, 2015 - By 

    In the latest installment of Rave New World, the mind-expandingly tasteful Antoin Lindsay & Aidan Hanratty delve into best new electronic tracks and mixes of the week, as well as various unmissable upcoming nights and releases. GIGS Misfit present: KiNK at Thompsons, Belfast Friday, February 20 Is it worth braving Thompsons on a Friday night to see someone play I hear you ask? Yes, actually, when it’s KiNK playing. The Bulgarian producer has garnered a serious reputation for his live shows over the last few years. His sets are a lovely mix of raw and clean sounds which are seriously banging. Should sound…

  • The Hefty Fog: The Aussie Triumvirate

    February 20, 2015 - By 

    The latter half of the 00’s were, as far as underground Metal music was concerned, focused almost entirely on the advent and subsequent decline of ‘Slamming Brutal Death Metal’, or however many variants on that title had been adopted during the time. The grooves of the early to mid 90’s had resurfaced on a Death Metal scene that desperately needed some kind of facelift, lest the hardcore fans be doomed to relive the 80’s over and over again like some kind of Scott Burns-produced Groundhog Day. What we got in the end was a newly popularized strain of Death Metal…

  • Track Record: The Dead Prezidents

    February 20, 2015 - By 

    Reagan and Nixon from The Dead Prezidents select their favourite dance records from Nineties classics such as Wink and Da Hool to their love for Positiva Records. Photos by Tara Thomas. Positiva Records There’s no particular song in this case, but a record label. For anyone who is familiar with the dance music scene, Positiva back in the day would be equivalent to the likes of Spinnin records now (currently the biggest dance music label). All the biggest tracks came out on this label. So when we were less musically educated at the beginning of our DJ careers, we would have just…