• Gig of the week: Protex, Start Stop Start Again and more @ Black Box, Belfast

    Presented by three Belfast independent record labels – Time To Be Proud, Punkerama and Scarred For Life Records – our gig of the week this is week is a special charity show at Black Box on Saturday, November December 7 headlined by legendary Belfast punk band Protex. With all proceeds going to children with cancer, the show will also feature sets from Stop Stop Start Again, Shock Treatment, 3D Shark and Mohican Jack. Ryan Fitzimmons from Sunglasses After Dark will also be performing a DJ set. at the show, which doubles up as the official release of the Punkerama Charity Single for…

  • Video exclusive: Our Krypton Son – Can’t Make You Come Back

    Ahead of the its release on December 16, we have an exclusive first look at the video for ‘Can’t Make You Come Back’ by Derry singer-songwriter Chris McConaghy AKA Our Krypton Son. Created by videographer Tristan Crowe, the video features McConaghy leading an isolated existence, contemplative and longing, ruing the void left by the song’s subject matter. A perfectly appropriate visual accompaniment to a song imbued with McConaghy’s instantly recognisable, masterfully melancholic songwriting style. ‘Can’t Make You Come Back’ will be released via Smalltown America on December 16. Watch the video for it below.

  • Download: Aaron Shanley – Bedroom Tapes: Swiss Cottage Teal Roses

    Lisburn lo-fi acoustic singer-songwriter Aaron Shanley has unveiled a new nine-track “bootleg” release, Bedroom Tapes: Swiss Cottage Teal Roses. Ahead of a fully-recorded studio release in the pipeline, Shanley said the release featured “generally unheard stuff that won’t ever be recorded again or featured on future albums” and ranges from the brilliantly understated – ‘Dear No One’ and the Death Cab For Cutie-esque ‘I Hope So, Laura’-  to more buoyant tracks including ‘She’s So Easy To Hold’ and ‘Trouble’, a track that evokes the heartfelt Americana of Foy Vance. Stream (or pay what you like for) Bedroom Tapes: Swiss Cottage Teal Roses below.

  • Stream: Fight Like Apes – Carousel

    Ahead of a handful of pre-Christmas shows, Dublin four-piece Fight Like Apes have unveiled a new track titled ‘Carousel’. A typically urgent number from the electro-indie-punk-popmakers – propelled by scurrying synths, Books-esque sample and MayKay’s voracious vocal – it feature on the band’s from their forthcoming new album, set for release at some point in 2014. Fight Like Apes play Distillation 07 at Belfast’s Oh Yeah Centre on Saturday, December 14. Go here for the Facebook event page. They also play Roisin Dubh in Galway on December 5, Whelan’s, Dublin on December 20, and Cork’s Cyprus Avenue on December 27th. Check out the track below.

  • Spelunky (Mossmouth, PS3)

    There are, so the internet viral says, so many dumb ways to die. This way of thinking inspires Spelunky, a shamefully retro platformer with a devious sense of humour that manages to bridge the elusive gap between “oh, just one more go then” and “oh, I want to impale my own eyes with my joypad”. Your character, an intrepid explorer in the Dr. Jones mould, can be crushed by a boulder, bitten by a snake, manhandled by a yeti, gobbled by piranhas, melted by an ancient mummy’s noxious breath, brain-fried by an alien’s gaze… the variety of deaths is almost endless,…

  • Stream: Benihana – Patterns EP

    Kildare electronic duo Will Molloy and Billy Archbold AKA Benihana have unveiled a stream of their debut EP, Patterns. Having released a couple of tracks throughout the year – including the spectral ‘Vanish’ – the pair’s five-track release veers between understated techno and synth-driven electronic pop, serving as a brief but brilliant introduction to a duo likely to concoct great things over the next while. Stream (or pay what you like for) the EP via Bandcamp below.

  • All Apologises: Translink’s Comedy of Errors

    We’ve all been there. Underslept and shivering, kicking your heels to keep you occupied because the idea of blankly trawling through your phone yet again could send you into a spiral of technological self-condemnation. The banshee-like Enterprise train from Dublin roars past on the adjacent track, vengeful and creaking, when the immortal words come blaring over the tannoy in an irreducibly grand English accent: “We are sorry that the 8.55 train to Great Victoria Street has been delayed by approximately 8 minutes. Apologises for this late running and the inconvenience it may cause you.” A giddy pocket of school children elaborately…

  • Eleven Must-See Shows in Belfast This Christmas

    Whilst we haven’t exactly been neglected of great shows of every conceivable kind all throughout 2013, there’s something about the Christmas period that somehow brings together some of the most downright irresistible line-ups of homegrown (and occasional international) musical talent. This year is no different, both across Belfast and much further afield. That said, keeping our eyes (and ears) firmly fixed upon the aforementioned hub of seismic musical happening, we present to you our eleven “must-see” shows in Belfast this festive period.  Radar: Feet for Wings – Speakeasy, Thursday, December 19 Radar at Belfast’s QUBSU Speakeasy has delivered for some…

  • Gig of the Week: Two Glass Eyes, Safe Ships, The Wood Burning Savages @ Radar

    One of their final line-ups before Christmas, our gig of the week this week is the latest installment of Radar at Belfast’s QUBSU Speakeasy on Thursday, November 28. Headlined by alt-rock three-piece Two Glass Eyes, the bill will also feature performances from equally excellent Belfast-based punk band Safe Ships (above) and hugely promising Derry quartet The Wood Burning Savages. Check out the typically gleaming poster for the show: As you can see above, doors are at 9pm and admission is free. Stream ‘Fighting Fit’ and ‘Safest of Ships’ by Safe Ships below.

  • Gremlins @ QFT Belfast

    Belfast’s Queen’s Film Theatre will host a special one-off screening of Joe Dante’s classic 1984 horror comedy blockbuster Gremlins on Saturday, December 14. Presented by BBC Radio Ulster broadcaster Ralph McClean the screening is one of a select handful of Christmas movies being shown at the film theatre this year and will also include complimentary Jameson cocktails, music and prizes (including an original print by Peter Strain). Doors are at 9pm, the film starts at 10pm and tickets are available to purchase right here. http://www.queensfilmtheatre.com/films/jamesongremlins/