• Lisa Hannigan @ The Duncairn, Belfast

    November 6, 2017 - By 

    Lisa Hannigan and her band have just edged into the first verse of their fifth song at Belfast’s Duncairn Centre for Culture & Arts. I’ve quickly nipped to the bathroom, where I overhear this brief tête-à-tête between two gentlemen: “Some gig, isn’t it?” “I’ve only just arrived. Stuck in traffic.” “Oh, Jesus.” As I leap up the stairwell back into the venue space, it suddenly hits me: the “Oh, Jesus” immediately (and very tellingly) severed the exchange between the two strangers. When it comes to a Lisa Hannigan show, it really is in your best interests to be present from the very first note…

  • Interview: Rory Nellis

    November 2, 2017 - By 

    Ahead of launching his stellar new album, There Are Enough Songs In The World, at Belfast’s The MAC on Saturday, November 11, we catch up with Belfast’s Rory Nellis to talk momentum, collaboration, the craft of carefully-considered songwriting and more. Go here to buy tickets to Rory Nellis at The MAC Hi, Rory. You release your new album There Are Enough Songs In The World in just under two weeks. How are you feeling ahead of getting it out there? The final mastered track just came through today so I’m extremely excited and unbelievably relieved that it’s all done. Tell us about the…

  • Premiere: CATALAN! – Alive

    November 1, 2017 - By 

    Back in July we presented a first look and listen to ‘OKA’, the debut solo single from CATALAN! AKA Ewen Friers of North Coast alt-punk three-piece Axis Of. What we said of that track (“whilst certainly redolent of the subtly anthemic and nicely bombastic alt-punk of the aforementioned North Coast outfit, explores new, socially-conscious territory) could be directly applied to new single, ‘Alive’. Featuring some great visuals courtesy of Tristan Crowe and Chrissie McGlinchy, it’s a fuzzed-out and perfectly trouncing effort that will almost certainly become something of a live favourite for the project in the coming months.

  • Watch: Autumns – You’re A Right Useless Cunt Aren’t You

    November 2, 2017 - By 

    What’s your favourite song title of the year? Although we quite like ‘Dishing Out Hadoukens’ by The Tragedy of Dr. Hannigan and ‘Everyone Else (Can Fuck Off)’ by Half Forward Line, ‘You’re A Right Useless Cunt Aren’t You’ by Derry’s Christian Donaghey AKA Autumns is a worthy contender in our eyes. Taken from his recently-released Dyslexia Tracks – a pulverizing, five-track EP that comes hot on the heels of his debut album Suffocating Brothers – it’s an eight-minute traipse of rabid electronica that now comes accompanied by some suitably oppressive visuals from Belfast’s Barry Cullen.

  • South Park: The Fractured But Whole (Ubisoft, Multiformat)

    November 1, 2017 - By 

    As any fule kno, the list of videogames that have made the transition to successful cinema or television adaptations is shorter than an Ewok’s trouser legs. Last year’s Assassin’s Creed is a case in point: a richly detailed and layered console franchise that was squandered on a half-baked, deeply frustrating movie that in turn made a respectable taking at the box office but ticked off both critics and gaming fans alike. It was not the first adaptation that failed to leap the gap between different media, and it certainly will not be the last. Likewise, the number of films or television programmes…

  • Flight of the Conchords Add Extra Date at 3Arena

    November 1, 2017 - By 

    With a first date set for March 25 having sold out in a minutes, Grammy Award-winning folk comedy duo Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie AKA Flight of the Conchords have announced an extra date at Dublin’s 3Arena on April 2. Tickets for the show – which takes place as part of their “Flight of the Conchords sing Flight of the Conchords Tour” – cost €28 and go on sale on Friday, November 3 at 10am.

  • Free Jazz Does Not Exist: An Interview With Han Bennink of Instant Composers Pool

    November 1, 2017 - By 

    Arguably the most important group on the European avant-garde music scene for the past 50 years, Dutch collective Instant Composers Pool will perform four dates in Ireland over the next few days. Brian Coney talks to ICP co-founder, virtuoso drummer and multi-instrumentalist Han Bennink about free jazz, opportunities for younger musicians, constantly pushing the boundaries and more. ICP play the following dates. More info here. Thursday, November 2: Culturlann, Derry Friday, November 3: The MAC, Belfast Saturday, November 4: The Sugar Club, Dublin Sunday, November 5: Triskel Arts Centre, Cork Some of my favourite ICP releases include your 1972 solo…

  • Premiere: Elephant – Time Will Tell

    October 31, 2017 - By 

    Dundalk-based artist and multi-instrumentalist Shane Clarke AKA Elephant has returned with one of his strongest single efforts to date, ‘Time Will Tell’. Featuring a wonderfully collaborative DIY video contributions from 28 different Dundalk artists, Clarke said of the Bowie-influenced track: “‘Time Will Tell’ is a song about death. Its irregular arrangement and calm-to-chaos approach is an extension of the deeper feelings within. Like a teenaged temper boiling over, grieving loss and remembering lost love. Unbalanced, unhinged and hauling ass through circumstance without having time to come to terms with where you are and how you are supposed to feel about it when…

  • Video Premiere: Lankum – The Granite Gaze

    October 27, 2017 - By 

    Few things are more satisfying than seeing a homegrown act or artist get the attention they so richly deserve further afield. Having spent several years as forging out their own inimitable – and increasingly compelling – alt-folk path as Lynched, Dublin quartet Lankum release their new album, Between the Earth and Sky, via Rough Trade today. Having already received a wave of critical acclaim via the likes of the Guardian, the release is a masterclass of vital and deftly crafted song confirming the foursome’s uncanny knack for transformative, contemporarily-framed traditional song. A nigh on hymnal peak from the new album, ‘The Granite Gaze’ – a…

  • Final Acts Revealed in eir Other Voices Open Call

    October 27, 2017 - By 

    Having received over 1,000 submissions across the country, four Irish acts have been shortlisted in the eir Other Voices Open Call. With the final vote going down to public vote (which you can do right here), Dublin’s fast-rising Fontaines, Stevie Scullion’s Malojian (pictured), Mayo singer-songwriter Maria Kelly and Derry indie-pop singer-songwriter ROE have been announced as the lucky four. eir Other Voices Festival returns to Dingle, Kerry this December for its 16th year. The chosen artist will be announced on 2FM on November 6th. Voting closes on Friday, November 3 at midnight.