• Meltybrains? @ The Academy, Dublin

    November 28, 2016 - By 

    The underappreciation of musicians and bands is a hot topic at the moment. The fact that creative output is criminally undervalued isn’t news but it seems that, here in Dublin at least, we’ve reached a moment. The fact that bands are openly citing financial and commercial difficulties as a reason for stop doing what they love should be a harrowing distant possibility rather than the hard truth that it is. Yet, as a fan, as a gig goer it’s often hard to keep in focus just how thankless the “job” can be. Just look at Zaska’s well deserved successful fund…

  • American Football – American Football (LP2)

    October 24, 2016 - By 

    There was a lot going on back in 1999. Will Smith was declaring the next thousand years for himself, everyone was waiting for that big party Prince had promised and there was far, far too much clip art around. So it’s no wonder that some people missed a very quiet yet incredibly important moment in music history. Like the proverbial ripple in the pond (or butterfly hadouken) the release of American Football’s debut started as a small, localised wonder but since has proved to be a landmark and touchstone, for many reasons, but most notably for its influence on nascent genres like emo and post-rock. The…

  • The Dillinger Escape Plan – Dissociation

    October 11, 2016 - By 

    So here we are, The Dillinger Escape Plan have literally beaten a bloody, broken and sometimes shitty path to an ending of their own choosing. What was once being called a hiatus is now, absolutely, one-hundred percent a break up and so ends nearly twenty years as one of the most frenetically innovative groups in “heavy music”. But as one has come to expect from the band they are not going out with a whimper but rather a guttural hoorah. To finish there will be a globe spanning tour and this, their final album, Dissociation. And while it may be their least directly innovative project to…

  • Clipping – Splendor & Misery

    September 13, 2016 - By 

    For those who don’t know Clipping, they are an LA based trio who single-handedly make up the most prominent hip-hop and avant-garde contingent of legendary label Sub Pop. Since their critically received label debut CLPPNG the group have become a reckonable leftfield force, creating music that is challenging, beguiling and academic all at once. While their last EP Wriggle may have been little more than loose tracks after the release of their LP it continued, musically and verbally, to chronicle humanity’s burnt suburban landscape where society is little more than its bodily functions and lust for cheap thrills and short term gains. On the surface Splendor…

  • Shooting From The Hip: Meet Dublin’s Hipdrop Records

    September 1, 2016 - By 

    Hipdrop Records is a new Dublin label championing the often overlooked but always exciting sounds of Ireland’s funk, afrobeat and world music artists. With an obscenely talented opening camp of musicians and years hustling in event organisation we talked to co-founder Keith Fennell about changing the record, fun and family. Words by Eoghain Meakin. Photos by Lucy Foster. So what is Hipdrop records? How did it come about? Hipdrop Records is an independent label for Funk, Soul and World music setup by me and my long term business realist, Dan Whelan. The ethos of the label is in the name…

  • Frank Ocean – Blond

    August 30, 2016 - By 

    Fame is a funny thing; mercurial, fickle and often fleeting. Once back in the mists of time people became famous just for what they did but now, in our pervasive, insistent culture it’s hard to even distinguish between what someone is and what they actually do. And that’s Frank’s story, ever since his rise as the most credible member of internet championed dysfunctionals OFWGKTA Frank has existed in a place where he and his music are scrutinised, obsessed over and disassembled. Yet it is a wave that Frank doesn’t just ride, but seems to have actively tamed. Ever since the comments on his sexuality, the…

  • Toe, TTNG, Steve Strong and Yonen @ Button Factory, Dublin

    August 21, 2016 - By 

    For those who couldn’t make Bristol’s preeminent ArcTanGent festival this weekend Venture Promotions have put together one hell of a consolation prize. Known as the pre-eminent post and math rock extravaganza, it’s also a mecca that not all fans can make. So that’s why tonight, in the Button Factory, is such a boon. Scooping the proverbial cream from the crop, the saliva inducing line-up includes two celebrated acts from the festival, a UK solo virtuoso and one of our very own. Their name is Yonen and it fell to them to play to the first comers. The group sit somewhere…

  • Longitude 2016: Friday

    July 18, 2016 - By 

    ‘None of you are Muslim, are ya?’ says the taxi driver coolly. It’s a remarkably, calmly delivered piece of xenophobia, proving that the sun even has a good effect on bigots. So though it may have made for a frosty entrance it provides a good talking point in the slow moving traffic as we make our way to the start of the flat-footed, full-blooded, bloated, banter-filled beginning of festival season proper. Because today is day one of Longitude 2016 a festival with a good reputation, an impressive line-up and the most important headliner of this year. So while sitting in…

  • The Pressure is Off: An Interview with Joe Mount of Metronomy

    July 13, 2016 - By 

    Metronomy are just one of those bands. On average the group have released a full record every two to three years, each one to more acclaim and appreciation than the last. From their wonky, wild sophomore record Nights Out to the refined pop reflections of Love Letters they’ve been a group whose steady rise through the ranks has looked almost easy. So easy in fact that it’s hard to imagine that it’s been a whole decade since the release of their outrageous debut Pip Paine (Pay the £5000 You Owe). ‘I suppose I’m part of the furniture,’ muses Joe Mount.…

  • Blood Orange – Freetown Sound

    July 13, 2016 - By 

    There are few contemporary artists who have gone through such pronounced changes as Mr. Devonte Hynes. From his musical start in the synth-disco- punk outfit Test Icicles through his part in the indie-folk revival with Light Speed Champion and now, probably his most celebrated incarnation, as the eighties revivalist Blood Orange. As if that CV isn’t impressive enough he’s also amassed a veritable pile of song writing credits with artists as diverse as Sky Ferreira, Carly Rae Jepsen (one of the many ladies making an impactful appearance here), Solange and Heems. His chameleon nature and expansive ability obviously calls to mind luminaries like Bowie and…