In our final episode of season 2, Danny Carroll meets Bridie Monds-Watson aka SOAK, to talk about her song ‘Everybody Loves You’. The first single released from her second album Grim Town (Rough Trade 2019), ‘Everybody Loves You’ sees Bridie’s songwriting and recording process significantly shifting gears. Here, she breaks down the elements that went into the dream-pop ballad – be it a lush string section or “soggy cardboard” guitars.
In the first installment of 10 for ’20 – our new series previewing ten Irish acts we’re convinced are set for great things in 2020 and beyond – Justin McDaid introduces one of the country’s most singular live acts, Dublin quartet Acid Granny. Photo by Ivan Rakhmanin There’s a celebrated quote on a famous theory attributed to a clever man. Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with Acid Granny for an hour and it seems like time is being pulped into some sort of amniotic goo where we all converge…
The Strokes are set to play Belfast. The NYC band, who return with the sixth studio album this year, will play the Waterfront Hall on February 24th. Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning (Wednesday, February 5th) at 10am. The Julian Casablancas-fronted band last played the city (and legendary Bedford Street venue Ulster Hall) back in February 2006.
One listen to ‘Bus Lanes’ and it may comes as no surprise to discover that Dublin indie quartet Bedrooms tip their sonic hat to such luminaries such as Dinosaur Jr, Galaxie 500, Guided by Voices and Pavement. In fact, they go one further and wear the imprint of Galaxie 500 firmly on their sleeve on their new single (reader: this will never be a bad thing.) Doubling up as their third single to date – following ‘Chico’s Bodega’ and ‘Chunky’ last year – the band’s latest effort is the first of two tracks recently recorded with Daniel Fox of Girl Band. Clocking…
Marking their first Irish shows in quite a few years, NYC dance-punk heroes The Rapture will play Belfast and Dublin in July. As well as a Selective Memory late show at Vicar Street in Dublin on Friday, July 3rd, the trio will also play the Limelight in Belfast, courtesy of Open House Festival, on Saturday, July 4th. Tickets for both dates go on sale from 9am on Friday, February 7th.
There’s timely releases, then there’s White Water Rafting by Dublin five-piece Panik Attaks. Clocking in under 10 minutes, it’s a searing and supremely fucked-off blitz, brimming with full-blown righteous indignation aimed squarely at Varadkar and other such paltry cunts clinging to power. A pay-what-you-like release on Bandcamp, the fury and fist-clenched bombast of tracks like ‘Fear’ and ‘Fire In The Hole’ is nothing short of thrilling to behold. Have a first listen to the release – and have a first look at the video to lead single and outright EP highlight ‘The Boom Is Back ‘ below. White Water Rafting by Panik Attaks
From Broadcast to Sonic Youth, Kilian and Daniel from Dublin indie rock five-piece Silverbacks take us on a guided tour of the acts and tracks that made an imprint on their recent singles ‘Drool’ and ‘Sirens’. Stones by Sonic Youth At the time we wrote Drool I have been listening to Sonic Nurse a lot. Similar enough drumbeat to Stones too ey? – K Lazy Eye by Silversun Pickups I’ll be honest, I don’t know any other songs by this band but this song used to be in an old iTunes library on Daniel’s laptop years ago. The noodly guitar riff…
On Saturday, February 1st, Belfast Film Festival will host a one-off event exploring utopian and dystopian urban visions of Northern Ireland. Taking place at the former Masonic Hall on Rosemary Street – a three-storey stone building designed by Young & Mackenzie that was officially opened in 1956 – High Rise | Low Rise promises a playful, in-depth look at how modernist architecture and urban design was presented in media through the 1950s to the 1980s in Northern Ireland. Bringing that to life are two of Belfast’s best musical propositions: Blue Whale (above) and Philip Quinn aka Gross Net, who will be providing live soundtracks to…
This week we’ve got details on a number of new exhibitions opening, a pair of artists’ talks, an artist in residency programme as well as the launches of some yearly artistic programmes all happening in events across Cork, Dublin, Sligo, and Carlow. As always, if you have an event, talk, exhibition, or would like to recommend one please get in touch via aidan[at]thethinair.net Exhibition Closing| Backwater Artists Group, Cork Today and tomorrow are your last chances to see Cara Farnan’s work in Cork’s Backwater Artists Group. The exhibition, which is Farnan’s first solo show, is titled Sometimes the river flows backwards – drawn from the…