• Robert Plant w/ The Last Internacionale @ Olympia Theatre, Dublin

    November 25, 2014 - By 

    It’s funny to think that Led Zeppelin spawned practically every rock’n’roll trope that elicits either an eye roll or a “fuck yeah!” (depending one’s state of inebriation). The old clichés have gone from birth through acceptance, weathering punk’s dismissal into irony and meta-referencing, and all the way around again until it’s hard to decipher what point on the rotation things currently fall. New Yorkers The Last Internationale are somewhere on that loop, a band that could comfortably populate the background scenery in Almost Famous, such is the posturing and rock-by-numbers shenanigans that are in progress onstage. The guitarist even gives…

  • Classic Album: The Dismemberment Plan – Emergency & I

    November 24, 2014 - By 

    “The only thing worse than bad memories, is no memories at all” – Travis Morrison, “Spiders In The Snow” Emergency & I is a legitimately great record. It’s one of those rare, incredibly charitable records that just keeps on giving and giving. Repeat listens reveal so many layers and nuances to each of the songs. Musically, everything seems to work. Eric Axelson’s basslines are genuinely inspiring, so good in their own right that they could carry the songs on their own, and often do. This is offset by Joe Easley’s drumming acting perfectly as Axelson’s foil and sliding effortly between…

  • Boxcutter & Defcon – New Yen EP

    November 24, 2014 - By 

    Veteran Northern Irish producer and multi-talented wizard-man Boxcutter (Barry Lynn) has had a fairly enviable run of success since his debut for Planet Mu records back in 2006. A string of high-grade LP and EP releases, collaborations and remixes for the likes of Amon Tobin, Falty DL and Space Dimension Controller – as well as countless headline shows worldwide – would suggest that Lynn might deserve a relaxing day or two off. The release of his latest EP New Yen, in collaboration with fellow NI producer Defcon, suggests otherwise. In fact, what it does suggest is that Lynn is in…

  • Transition Cinema: Outburst 2014 Review

    November 24, 2014 - By 

    The film programme of the 8th annual Outburst Queer Arts Festival, screened at Belfast’s QFT, offered a showcase of some of the most interesting additions to international queer cinema. A running theme in this year’s films is that of identities in transition. Characters move from female to male, naive to mature, adolescent to adult, loser to big-shot, in to out. Sometimes they escape their current identities through bravery and curiosity; other times they are forced to by events out of their control. New identities and arrangements promise liberation and novelty, but navigating the changes brings unseen problems. Sometimes they make…

  • Lykke Li @ Vicar Street, Dublin

    November 24, 2014 - By 

    In April 2011 Lykke Li made an unlikely appearance at the old Tower Records for Record Store Day. With several hundred happy punters crammed in amongst the vinyl, she performed material from her (at the time) recently released second album and international breakthrough ‘Wounded Rhymes’, and absolutely blew the rest of the line up out of the water. It took all of three minutes to identify Li’s stand out live asset, one that an album and a significant step up in stage size has done little to change: honeyed soprano vocals applied to poetic emotional trauma. We were hooked. There’s an obvious hole to…

  • AAA: Red Enemy @ The Button Factory, Dublin

    November 24, 2014 - By 

    In this huge installment of AAA (Access All Areas) we go behind the scenes with Red Enemy as they launched their highly anticipated self-titled debut album in the Button Factory in Dublin last Friday. Hefty support came from four other incredible acts on the night- Overhead The Albatross, Frustration, Nibiru and Bitch Falcon. Our photographer Carlos Daly spent the entire evening with all of the bands on the bill as they set up and psyched themselves out ahead of the gig. Check out the gallery below for a comprehensive overview of the launch.