• International Beckett Festival 2013

    July 27, 2013 - By 

    The world’s largest annual multi-arts celebration of Nobel Prize winning writer Samuel Beckett, the Happy Days International Beckett Festival returns to Enniskillen this August from Thursday 22 to Monday 26. Encompassing a number of events in not only theatre but also dance, comedy, visual arts and several special one-off performances. The first annual festival to celebrate Beckett’s work and influence, last year’s festival coincided with the 400th anniversary of the founding of Enniskillen. Beckett himself spent his formative years attending the town’s Portora Royal School, previously attended by Oscar Wilde and latterly by Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy. To buy tickets…

  • Grant Hart – The Argument

    July 26, 2013 - By 

    In some ways, it must sort of suck being a person like Grant Hart. Amongst a subset of people you had reached a level of respect and adoration reserved only for deities. Your work was critically acclaimed and sold impressively for underground scene. The music you wrote not only inspired a generation but brought about a sea change within the mainstream. And yet you never quite cracked it. You teetered close within the 90s with Nova Mob’s Last Days of Pompeii album – buy it – and your own solo work, but ultimately never got the fame you so rightfully…

  • Mustang Margaritas: Alex Trimble and Jamie William

    July 26, 2013 - By 

    Last summer Two Door Cinema Club frontman Alex Trimble and his best friend Belfast photographer Jamie William embarked on road trip down the West coast of America in a classic car, taking in everything from the scorching Nevada desert and seedy sights of Las Vegas. Armed with a pair of Contax G2 cameras and literary notions like On The Road for company and Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas for company, the duo set about capturing their journey, the result of which is Mustang Margaritas, a collection of postcards hand-picked to tell the story of one special trip in a Mustang across…

  • Cuttooth – Cuttooth LP

    July 26, 2013 - By 

    Considering the gruesome state of current urban music trends, evocative and engaging Hip Hop can be pretty tough to come by these days, and with the likes of J Dilla and Flying Lotus having set the standard for dreamy, lush and stripped back Hip Hop compositions (Strip Hop?) Cuttooth – aka Nick Cooke – manages to hold his own in this milieu with his second, self-titled LP.  It doesn’t feel like there is a direct regurgitating of the late Dilla or of the very much still rocking FlyLo, but, there is more than just a tip of the hat to…

  • Grid 2 (Codemasters, PC / PS3 / Xbox 360)

    July 26, 2013 - By 

    Driving games tend to fall into several camps. There are those which are made for the type of petrolhead who wants to lose themselves in a multitude of stats and tech specs, and there are those who just want to switch on the console and jump behind the wheel. Thankfully, Grid 2 falls into the latter camp: it’s a fast and at times furious racer with the emphasis firmly placed on gameplay rather than on pin sharp simulation. A loose and to all intents and purposes arbitrary plot is chucked out early on: the fictional World Series Racing league invite you to…

  • Everything Sucks #003: Millenials

    July 25, 2013 - By 

    So the latest bored-old-hack thing du jour is to label children of the ’80s “millennials” and get stuck into them for the same shit bored old hacks did to Generation X, etc. etc. So far, so very every reactionary article, and while a lot of them have valid points (narcissism and selfies, for example), it’s mostly just the same old same: “kids these days and their technology/music/haircuts (delete as applicable), aren’t they silly/weird/unfamiliar to our audience!”. The counter-arguments build up in your head as you read, and you know you’re fighting a losing battle with the decrepits that churn out…

  • In conversation with… The Vincent(s)

    July 25, 2013 - By 

    In the first installment of  In Conversation With..., photographer Brid O’Donovan captures Margus and Shane from Cork “death pop” five-piece The Vincent(s) visually and in conversation about the band and their music. This is where we would say “awesomesauce” if we sucked – which we do so … awesomesauce. _____ [On discovering music as a kid] Margus: “I had a friend around the corner. We moved into this estate when we were young and you’d see someone wearing a band t-shirt and you would be obsessed. You call round to their house when you’re not invited. Then I found his…

  • Bell X1 – Chop Chop

    July 24, 2013 - By 

    As any fule kno, “doing a Radiohead” has become journalistic shorthand for when a given band releases a record which sounds different – sometimes radically and sometimes just a little – to the ones which preceded it, or at the very least features synthesisers or sampled drums. Derived from the moment when said band dropped Kid A on an unsuspecting public, it can either be used a positive or a pejorative, and suggests an artistic act of bravery or petulance. Of course, none of these things are in any way accurate or insightful, and are instead employed to squeeze a given artist…

  • David Lynch – The Big Dream

    July 25, 2013 - By 

    American auteur David Lynch‘s reputation as the foremost curator of surreal, gothic Americana alive today precedes him in such a huge way that “Lynchian” is surely the most frequently used journalistic crutch after “on acid.”  The soundtracks to Twin Peaks, Wild at Heart and Blue Velvet have defined these movies as edgy, dreamlike and often uncomfortable viewing.  Most directors resist the temptation to indulge their musical passions outside of the home studio; even fewer choose to pick up the microphone. When David Lynch – a soft-spoken, nasally-toned Montanan – sings on opener “The Big Dream”, at first it seems no…

  • Life Through A Lens

    July 23, 2013 - By 

    Isn’t technology mindblowing? I’m typing this collection of words onto a page, in whichever font I choose, displayed on a screen, which is attached to a bunch of plastic and metal with electricity running through it which is wirelessly connected to an international network containing all the information ever, which I can’t even see. Crazy. Thanks to technology, the world of entertainment has been changed forever. Sure, it has its pros and cons but it has certainly made things a lot easier. There is no need to leave your house to do most things. You can buy albums, watch movies,…