• Happy Days Festival: Catastrophe

    August 12, 2014 - By 

    It seemed certain that somebody would let the cat out of the bag. A tongue would slip and the secret would surely be out. The mystery surrounding the location of the Ceithleann Island Theatre Company’s performances of Samuel Beckett’s Catastrophe was an imaginative programming touch of the Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival and a great publicity generator. Despite two performances every day bar one throughout the marathon eleven-day festival, nobody spilled the beans. On this day, the bus routinely picks up about fifty people from Enniskillen Castle and heads out into the wilds of the Fermanagh countryside – destination…

  • Festival Mixtape: Belsonic 2014

    August 13, 2014 - By 

    An annual fixture at Belfast’s Custom House Square, this year’s Belsonic – running from Friday, August 15 to Friday, August 22 this year – boasts some extremely big hitters. Whether you look to the likes of Nile Rodger’s Chic, Biffy Clyro or Queens of the Stone Age, globetrotting, genre-defining stadium-fillers are very much the order – with some select up-and-coming support acts thrown in for good measure. Check out the full line-up and buy tickets here. Stream our Festival Mixtape for Belsonic 2014 – featuring all fourteen confirmed acts – below.

  • Album stream: SlowPlaceLikeHome – Romola

    August 12, 2014 - By 

    Ahead of headlining the next installment of our gig/club night No Tomorrow, self-proclaimed “cosmic forest-dweller”/Donegal electronic artist Keith Mannion AKA SlowPlaceLikeHome has released his new album, Romola. And it’s very, very good. With our full-length verdict to come later in the week, the ten-track album was written, performed, recorded, mixed and produced by Mannion in Donegal’s Knather Woods. Go here to read our recent interview with Mannion, here for the Facebook event page for the No Tomorrow show (at Belfast’s Voodoo on Saturday, November 6 – also featuring Somadrone and Documenta DJS) and stream Romola via Bandcamp below. Romola by SlowPlaceLikeHome

  • In Photos: Wacken Open Air – Saturday

    August 12, 2014 - By 

    Isabel Thomas shoots the final day of this year’s Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany, featuring the likes of Arch Enemy, Kreator, Hatebreed, Megadeth, the Devin Townsend Project and more. Go here to check out Wednesday/Thursday and here for photos from Friday.

  • Parquet Courts – Sunbathing Animal

    August 12, 2014 - By 

    There must be a sense of relative trepidation whenever an underground band are thrown into the media spotlight from the depths of relative obscurity, and viewed by many a rock critic as the latest bearers of the indie rock torch. That sort of instant exposure was something that befell Brooklyn via Texas natives Parquet Courts, in the early part of last year, following the release of their second record Light Up Gold, especially after the success of the utterly infectious ‘Stoned and Starving’. Light Up Gold was considered a little rough around the edges, which resulted in the group being…

  • Jabberwocky Festival cancelled

    August 12, 2014 - By 

    All Tomorrow’s Parties have announced that Jabberwocky festival, set to take place this weekend, has been cancelled. Neutral Milk Hotel (above) James Blake, Darkside, Caribou and more were set to perform at the two-day London event. In a post on their Facebook page, ATP founder Barry Hogan wrote “It is with deep sadness we regret to inform everyone that as of today Tuesday 12th August 2014, ATP is being forced into cancelling this weekend’s Jabberwocky festival. Refunds will be available to all customers at the point of purchase. We have put everything into promoting Jabberwocky, and despite healthy ticket sales;…

  • Robin Williams: R.I.P.

    August 11, 2014 - By 

    We watch off as it happens again. Another familiar name that stared out from the telly or from the posters is gone. We’ve trained ourselves to observe these passings like a spectator sport, another body of work coming to end without a second thought for the families and friends left behind. We tell ourselves that people die around the world everyday in war and famine, accuse others of bandwagoneering, and in some sort of perverse way, these people are almost rationalised away as casualties of a full life, rewarded with infinite adulation. A name and a face on a wall.…

  • Martha Wainwright announces Dublin shows

    August 11, 2014 - By 

    Canadian singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright has announced that she will be performing in Dublin later on this year. The American singer has confirmed that she play two intimate shows on November 3 and 4 at Whelan’s. Tickets go on sale this Wednesday August 13 at 9am, and these will cost €25. Wainwright, sister of acclaimed singer Rufus Wainwright, released her latest album Come Home To Mama in 2012. Check out ‘Proserpina’ below.

  • Stream: Mons Olympus – Critical Mass

    August 11, 2014 - By 

    ‘Critical Mass’ is the debut single from Belfast’s latest riff-pedalling prog behemoths Mons Olympus and was produced by Mojo Fury’s Mike Mormecha. The track comes from their upcoming debut album Vampyroteuthis, which has a tentative release date of Spring 2015. Having been in the works for the last year, progressive trio Mons Olympus comprises Rory Dee, Luke Burns and John Quinn, the core members of Chocolate Love Factory, who officially disbanded earlier in 2014. ‘Critical Mass’ is available to download for a mere 88p from Bandcamp, but you can stream it below: Critical Mass by Mons Olympus