Swedish-born, Berlin-based John Maus collaborator Molly Nilsson at Dublin’s Grand Social on Friday night. Photos by Pedro Giaquinto.
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Lousy Smarch weather! We’ve got Baltic temperatures, snow and whole host of other Winter wonderland treats that we were supposed to piss off back in February that have opted remain, ratcheting up the March misery. It’s cold and overcast and what we need is some good straightforward fun; fortunately, Philadelphia’s Santigold has kindly provided her new album, 99¢, to help get us through this tough time. The album offers up twelve slices of delightful poppy, reggae-tinged electro-pop songs that help to blast away remnants of the winter blues and, except a handful of cuts which should have been culled, the…
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When Ed Hamell decided he was done with bands, picked up a battered acoustic guitar, and decided to go it alone, he called himself Hamell on Trial. And whether he meant to or not, he set the scene for over two decades of confessional, confrontational, and apocalyptic music. Make no bones about it, when he gets on the stage, Ed Hamell is on trial. And we’re judge, jury, and executioner. With numerous brushes with mainstream acclaim under his belt, the New Yorker has managed to keep in underground for most of his career, but that acerbic style, calling to mind…
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Anyone who thinks that thrash metal is in any way obsolete or past its best need only to have peeked into Belfast’s Limelight on Monday February, 29. Inside, you would have seen a sea of long hair, patched denim vests and old school metal t-shirts – oh, and heard one of the best metal gigs of the year, as well. As if to prove that point, support act Lost Society, despite having recently released their third album Braindead, are still a young band (as in ‘barely allowed in a pub’ young), but are carrying the thrash torch with unbridled enthusiasm…
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“It’s one thing to spend a long time learning how to play well in the studio, but to do it in front of people is what keeps me coming back to touring.” It was Rush’s Neil Peart who said that. But what happens when you have to perform in front of hardly any people at all? This unenviable position is precisely what Gross Net, nom de musique of Philip Quinn, is faced with as he begins his supporting set for his other band Belfast post-punks Girls Names in front of a sparse crowd on a rather nasty, wet Friday night…
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The Choice Music Prize celebrates the diversity and talent present in the Irish music scene. Tonight’s show in particular shows the vast range of bands and artists, both up-and-coming and those who have already well and truly made their mark. Whilst there may only be two awards up for grabs – Song of the Year and Album of the Year – the 12 bands that perform illustrate the real reason why we’re all here. Before announcing the winner of the former prize, there are performances and interviews for Today FM. Although the interviews fall slightly flat at times (simply because the crowd talk…
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No Monster Club’s Bobby Aherne doesn’t as much shirk convention as he takes it to one side and kindly conveys that it has absolutely no place at his party. Set to launch his new album I Feel Magic at Dublin’s Bello Bar this very evening (Friday, March 4) Aherne has unveiled the perfectly oddball video for the release’s second single ‘Charity Shop/Slaughterhouse’, a “surreal video sees Bobby playing a mysterious stranger getting to know the last few inhabitants of an otherwise abandoned planet. Uniquely, it also features a sign language interpreter for the hard of hearing.” Beware: this track – nicely placed between…
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The phenomenal Joanna Newsom with support from Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold live at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin last night. Photos by Aaron Corr.
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Antoin Lindsay and Aidan Hanratty return for their latest look at the very best electronic gigs, tracks and mixes of the week. Gigs Lower Your Expectations #5: Barry Redsetta + Frawl at The Underbelly, Limerick Saturday 5 March LYE continues its run of great guests, with Major Problems boss Barry Redsetta travelling to Limerick tomorrow night. He’s famed as a warmup DJ, but here he’ll be shining brightly. He’s got quite the collection, with unreleased goodies to boot (MPR010 is killer) – check out this sweet mix he did last year for proof. Local man Frawl is on support, fresh from the…
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Whether you’re a newcomer or have been following his slow-burning, revelatory evolution as of late, Derry’s Ryan Vail has always commanded a domain that he can call his own. A master of subtlety, nuance and the hallowed space between the notes, his debut EP These Words revealed fully-formed promise that has only grown (and grown into itself) in the half-decade since. Whether you look to EPs including Fade and Grow, tracks such as ‘Sunlight’ and ‘Days’, superb new single ‘Wounds’ or Sea Legs, his well-received concept collaboration with Ciaran Lavery, Vail’s music and the sphere he conjures via slowly bobbing, synth-laden electronica has always…