• Fever Dreaming: An Interview with Everything Everything

    May 25, 2018 - By 

    Manchester-based four-piece Everything Everything are one of Britain’s finest bands. Since forming at Salford University in 2007, they’ve released four critically successful albums, the latest of which, A Fever Dream, secured two Ivor Novello nominations, their fourth overall. Released in August last year, it’s their best release to date: eclectic, intelligent and emotional yet still accessible and eminently danceable, it made long-standing comparisons to art-rock forebearers like Radiohead seem more accurate than ever. Caolan Coleman spoke to frontman Jonathan Higgs as the band prepare to set on a summer tour including dates at Sea Sessions in Bundoran, Cork’s Indiependence and…

  • Courtney Barnett – Tell Me How You Really Feel

    May 25, 2018 - By 

    The Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett came to international attention in 2014 with the release of A Sea Of Split Peas, a combination of her two previous EPs. Barnett’s lyrics, which detailed the most mundane aspects of her life in a manner that was confessional, witty and biting in equal measure, were the real standouts in that opening gambit, lending a song like ‘Avant Gardener’ (inspired by an ill-fated spot of gardening that resulted in her being rushed into an ambulance) the feeling of a miniature epic. Her debut studio album Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit subsequently arrived…

  • Solo: A Star Wars Story

    May 25, 2018 - By 

    ‘I’m an outlaw’, declares Alden Ehrenreich’s young Han in Solo: A Star Wars Story, the latest in Lucasfilm’s line of standalone spin-offs. Emilia Clarke, playing Qi’ra, the One Who Got Away, laughs. She doesn’t believe him. And neither will anyone watching. Kylo Ren’s call to ‘let the past die; kill it if you have to’ is great storytelling advice masked as Oedipal anxiety, and it’s advice that post-prequels Lucasfilm, addicted to the past, is unable to grasp. Lucasfilm can’t kill the past because the past is the golden goose. Solo, written by father-son Kasdans Lawrence and Jonathan, and directed, in…

  • Nothing Happens in a Vacuum: An Interview with Amanda Palmer

    May 24, 2018 - By 

    Amanda Palmer chats with Rebecca Kennedy about her upcoming Dublin show, the Irish 8th Amendment Referendum and more Amanda Fucking Palmer has never shied from creating music and art that challenges pervasive structures of gender roles, identity, insecurity and self – actualization. Cutting her teeth as a performance artist- the musician spent her early 20’s posing as an eight-foot-tall “living statue”, dressed as in a thrift store bridal gown, blowing kisses or handing out roses for dollars – Palmer learnt crucial lessons on the role of the artist, the music business and pre- Kickstarter crowd sourcing. As one half of The…

  • Beck & Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ 3Arena, Dublin

    May 24, 2018 - By 

    Both the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Beck have crafted careers built on distinct sonic styles. Their music captured time and place; Beck encapsulates an era within the 90s pushing towards innovation by blending genres within one record, whilst Yeah Yeah Yeahs defined the New York dance-punk sound of the early 2000s. Their cult statuses, born from albums like Odelay and Fever To Tell, respectively, gives them mass-appeal to a myriad of music fans. The pairing of these artists for this one off joint headline arena gig, then, feels appropriate given the impact their music has made on an incalculable number…

  • Primavera 2018 Preview: A Vibe Guide

    May 24, 2018 - By 

    Another year has come around and despite the weather we’ve been having, the growing thirst for a sunny escape is very much due a quenching. That perennial indicator of what’s both cool and good, Primavera Sound, has rolled around and with it comes that old safety net of acceptability over post-sunrise sleeping hours. We’ve kindly put together a little Spotify playlist of some of our favourites to accompany your preparation. (Heads up – those record stalls can hold onto your purchases until you’re leaving) Thanks to First Contact Music, this year will see five deserving independent Irish acts on the Day Pro…

  • Stream: Patrick Kelleher and his Cold Dead Hands – The Sea

    May 24, 2018 - By 

    Patrick Kelleher and his Cold Dead Hands have released a new song in support of the campaign to Repeal the 8th amendment and the Yes side of Friday’s referendum. The band, now a duo of Patrick Kelleher and esoteric experimental artist Brian Conniffe, have stated the following: “We unreservedly assert and support the rights of all women to total bodily autonomy. We stand in complete and active opposition to any and all institutions and legislation which oppress women, including those which curtail freedom of reproductive healthcare choices. Ireland, 25 May 2018: Vote Yes. Repeal the 8th.” An unravelling patchwork of…

  • Mac DeMarco Set For Belfast Show

    May 24, 2018 - By 

    Canadian indie rock hero Mac DeMarco will play Belfast’s Limelight 1 on Monday, October 29. Having played Dublin’s Vicar Street back in November last year, it will double up as DeMarco’s debut show in the city. Tickets for the show – which is hosted by Strange Victory – are priced £24.50 and go on sale on Tuesday, October 29. Doors are at 6.30pm.

  • Parquet Courts – Wide Awake!

    May 24, 2018 - By 

    Parquet Courts’ latest is a petrochemical explosion of fiery politics and sprawling creativity. Building upon their established art-punk sound, the Texan outfit’s experimentation with technicolour keyboard textures, funk grooves and Latin rhythms makes for their most immediate and stylistically diverse release to date. Aptly titled Wide Awake!,  the album is an unapologetically political outing, showcasing A. Savage’s lyrics which seethe with rage and indignation, his thoughts seemingly drawn into sharper focus by the U.S.A’s ongoing political calamity. Crunchy garage rock opener ‘Total Football’ indulges the bands more mercurial instincts with elastic time signatures and a jerkily danceable bassline, providing the…