• A Guide to The Cathedral Quarter – Part I

    July 25, 2014 - By 

    Boasting over 200 free events to over 30,000 attendees, the sixth year of Culture Night Belfast is drawing near with much of the focus being directed towards the city’s stunning Cathedral Quarter, an area which prides itself on being at the heart of cultural locality in the city. Set to take place on Friday, September 19, the annual showcase – which calls itself “the city’s biggest, most colourful and inclusive cultural celebration” – will bring the quarter and it’s many established and makeshift venues to life. The annual Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, which celebrated its fifteenth year in early May, brought the very…

  • Watch: Rubberbandits – Fellas

    July 24, 2014 - By 

    Featured none other than Gabriel Byrne, Rubberbandits have unveiled the brilliantly bizarre video for their new single, ‘Fellas’. Bound for this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the plaster-bagged duo’s latest visual concoction (NSFW, you understand?) was shot and edited by Ray Sullivan. Watch the video below.

  • Watch: Iceage – The Lord’s Favorite

    July 25, 2014 - By 

    A new song has been released by the Danish punk rock youngsters of Iceage, along with an accompanying video. The track, titled ‘The Lord’s Favorite’, is a distinct change of direction for the usually frenetic and messy noise-punk purveyed by the quartet; it was this kind of raw tone which saw them gather much acclaim for their 2013 album You’re Nothing. The band have since decided to mix up the formula by including elements of country and blues with this new track, mildly akin to 80’s punk visionaries Minutemen. There is a less than subtle Nick Cave feel to it, too,…

  • Watch Dogs (Ubisoft, Multiformat)

    July 24, 2014 - By 

    After being stuck in development for what seems like a lifetime – at least, in gaming terms – this much-vaunted open world adventure drops onto both current and next generations promising great things. Fantastic things. Unbelievable things. Press releases predicted an iconic central character, unparalleled depth of gameplay, and complete freedom in a living, breathing city. Naturally, much of this is promotional hyperbole, but what Watch Dogs does offer is something quite different from the usual titles – a fresh spin on an increasingly stale genre. It might not hit all the targets bang on but when it does work, it is…

  • Judas Priest – Redeemer of Souls

    July 24, 2014 - By 

    Judas Priest have always had a ‘balls to the wall’ sound, largely courtesy of guitarists KK Downing and Glenn Tipton. So when Downing decided to abandon ship in 2011, it was the musical equivalent of Priest losing a bollock. Kicking off their seventh album, ‘Dragonaut’ positively tears out of the speakers, leaving you in no doubt that if this is Priest on one bollock, it’s still better than most other things. Redeemer of Souls is very much Judas Priest being ‘Judas Priest’, delivering molten slabs of classic heavy metal, stories of warriors, machines, and beasts. And by adhering to the…

  • Punk Rock @ The Lyric

    July 24, 2014 - By 

    Punk Rock – a play written by Simon Stephens and directed by Selina Cartmell – comes to Belfast’s Lyric Theatre for a stint, from August 10 until September 6. Set amongst a clique of sixth formers during exam time in a library as they prepare for mock A levels, Punk Rock sees the typically dysfunctional group discuss their pre-university problems and struggles with personal identity. Writer Simon Stevens has been heralded as the most prolific British playwright of his generation, and the likes of The Independent and The Guardian have given the play positive reviews. You can check out the Lyric’s…

  • Stream: Abebisi Shank – World In Harmony

    July 23, 2014 - By 

    The follow-up to last month’s totally glorious ‘Big Unit’ – a track we called “nigh on four minutes of increasingly inimitable, dazzlingly unravelling, meticulously imaginative post-rock” – Dublin instrumental rock trio Adebisi Shank are streaming an equally anthemic masterstroke, ‘World In Harmony’. If sheer unbridled exhilaration required a soundtrack, the five-minute track – set to feature on the band’s forthcoming third album – would surely be in contention. Drenched in propulsive, rhythmic elation, the track is an effects and chant-laden triumph, making us just that little bit more (ok, quite) excited about the new record. This is the Third Album of a band called…

  • Inbound/exclusive remix stream: SlowPlaceLikeHome

    July 23, 2014 - By 

    A self-proclaimed “cosmic forest-dweller”, fast-rising South Donegal musician Keith Mannion AKA SlowPlaceLikeHome has spent the last two years increasingly beguiling us with his sublimely somnambulant craft. Following on from a string of wonderful EPs last year – collectively bookending his extremely promising debut album, There Go The Lights Again – Mannion is set to release the ten-track Romola next month, an albums that us all but seduced already, thanks to singles, ‘She Comes In Colour Stereo’ and ‘Luna’. Accompanied with an exclusive remix stream of John Daly’s take on the former track (below), Brian Coney chats to Mannion about the inspirational value of isolation, the…

  • Eagulls announce Belfast and Dublin shows

    July 23, 2014 - By 

    Maybe you’ve managed to catch Eagulls at Longitude last week, or even supporting Franz Ferdinand in March. Well, the group have now announced two Irish headline shows for October this year. The band will be performing at Belfast’s Limelight 2 on Wednesday, October 22 and Dublin’s The Academy 2 the following night. Tickets for both shows go on sale on Friday, July 25 at 9am. Eagulls eponymous debut has been one of the best we’ve seen this year, so check out ‘Possessed’ below.

  • Stream: SBTRKT – New Dorp, New York

    July 23, 2014 - By 

    London’s favourite masked DJ Aaron Jerome, aka SBTRKT has unveiled an eccentric new track, featuring Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, called ‘New Dorp, New York’. The debut track from the producer’s much anticipated sophomore album Wonder Where We Land follows 2011’s much-lauded SBTRKT, an album that brought artists such as Sampha and Jessie Ware much-deserved exposure, as well as refining his tense, minimal post-dubstep into something that has been emulated ever since. This new track is even more bubbly and noisy than ever, with Ezra Koenig’s rambling lyricism adding a modest pop flavour to the song. Listen to ‘New Dorp, New York’ below. The new album…