• Castlepalooza line-up announced

    May 13, 2013 - By 

    Taking place at Charleville Castle, Tullamore from August 2-4, the line-up for this year’s Castlepalooza Music and Arts Festial has been announced. Boasting an impressive roster of international electronic acts such Kutmah, Luke Vibert and Ceephax Acid Crew, several Northern Irish acts including Girls Names, Ed Zealous and SOAK also feature in the line-up. With more announcements yet to be made, the following acts will play the festival: Al Patron, And So I Watch You From Afar, Arman Giorgio, Bolts, Carried By Waves, Ceephax Acid Crew, Clogagh Murphy, Clu, Cymbals, Daithi, DJ Baz, Dogs, Double Agent 7, Dunc4n, Ed Zealous,…

  • OST: Our Krypton Son

    May 13, 2013 - By 

    In the first of a new feature, we implore Derry singer-songwriter Chris McConaghy AKA Our Krypton Son to take us through ten songs that irrevocably formed his not only his taste in music, but also his approach as a songwriter himself. Bowie, Cave, the Floyd – below is an aural insight into one of the finest music-making minds in the country. The Beatles – ‘There’s A Place’ “An underrated belter from their debut. Introspection in a pop song in 1962? Why, yes.”   Rush – ‘Tom Sawyer’ “Legends. The song that made the 13 year old me want to be…

  • The Round-Up: 10/05/13

    May 10, 2013 - By 

    The very first of what will be our weekly retrospective on what’s been happening in the music world – both local and much further afield – this week’s Round-Up is a decidedly English affair… Bow Down As has often been his way for five decades now, David Bowie got into a spot of bother on Wednesday for the religious imagery in his video for his latest single, ‘The Next Day’. Featuring the sixty-six year-old as a Christ-like figure, the video was taken down from YouTube for supposedly breaching its Terms of Use. It has since been returned with an adult-only…

  • 4AD to release retrospective book

    May 10, 2013 - By 

    Thirty-four years after being founded by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, a new book entitled Facing The Other Way will document the colourful history of boundlessly influential record label, 4AD. Having released music from artists as diverse and pioneering the Pixies, Grimes to Cocteau Twin – to name but a few – the London-based independent label will sees its history penned by journalist Martin Aston and will feature several exclusive interviews. You can pre-order Facing The Other Way – set for release on September 19 – here. Watch a 4AD session from the Mark Lanegan Band below.  

  • Savages – Silence Yourself

    May 9, 2013 - By 

    Someone once said, “hype is a dangerous thing” (which it can be, depending upon who or what is being hyped and, perhaps more importantly, who or what is creating the hype). Just under a year since the release of their debut single ‘Flying To Berlin’, London all-female quartet Savages have been moth-to-bright-light attractive to a very contemporary type of hype – all thanks, that is, to the b-side from the debut single in question. A chromatically descending, shrieking slab of claustrophobic antipathy, ‘Husbands’ felt like a fully-formed masterstroke; a lost post-punk gem propelled by an energy and urgency that came…

  • The Specials – Ulster Hall, Belfast

    May 9, 2013 - By 

    Two years on from their phenomenal performance at Belsonic 2011 – not to mention an astonishing thirty-four years since first performing Queens University way back in 1979 – ska/2-tone pioneers The Specials return to Belfast tonight very much assured of their legendary status. Despite lacking founding member Jerry Dammers since reforming in 2008 and now missing vocalist Neville Staples this year due to health reasons, there is a definite air of celebration and mild hysteria in the air, undoubtedly spurred on by the looming, gratefully-received safety net of a next day Bank Holiday. Diving straight into the hectic ska of…

  • The Good Music Club

    May 9, 2013 - By 

    Featuring Obscured By Echoes, Kay Leotard and The Wolf, photographer James Goulden captures the scene at one of the monthly, live concert tapings of The Good Music Club; a series of intimate showcases taking in Austin, Texas.

  • VerseChorusVerse announces special full-band shows

    May 9, 2013 - By 

    To mark the release of his highly-anticipated debut album, VerseChorusVerse AKA Belfast-based singer-songwriter Tony Wright has announced a special, full-band show in association with The Thin Air. Featuring Jonny Black and Herb Magee from LaFaro and Stu Bell and Stephen Leacock (ex-General Fiasco, Desert Hearts), the Northern Irish supergroup of sorts (above) will bring to life what Wright calls “an edgy, full blooded, forward thinking, rootsy rock n roll album laced equally with hope and realism”. The free show will take place at Belfast’s Voodoo on Saturday, June 15. A Dublin show upstairs in Whelan’s will take place two nights…

  • Stream two new QOTSA songs

    May 8, 2013 - By 

    The tension, excitement and momentum continues to mount. Recorded as part of a Belgian radio session, two brand new tracks by Queens of The Stone Age have just surfaced online. Set to feature on their highly-anticipated new album …Like Clockwork., ‘I Sat By The Ocean’ and ‘If I Had A Tail’ are two extremely promising tracks, building upon the two songs we’ve already heard – ‘My God Is The Sun’ and ‘I Appear Missing’. Stream the two live songs via Soundcloud below.

  • Alana Henderson – Green Room, Black Box (CQAF)

    May 8, 2013 - By 

    One of the things that marks Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival out as a bit different is the inclusion of the Artist In Residence. Every year a locally based musician is chosen for this coveted title, a badge saying this person is a cut above the rest and a badge that is proudly displayed throughout the festival, the artist in question playing several showcases as well as supporting international acts playing during the festival. Joining previous success stories of Rachel Austin, Aaron Shanley and Glastonbury performer Isobel Anderson is this year’s choice, cellist-singer-songwriter Alana Henderson. It’s no surprise then that…