• The Record: Enemies

    July 13, 2015 - By 

    When we get to see a band on stage it’s hard to reverse engineer the process and think about how and why the performers got there. On stage it’s about performance and precision. Some swagger, some sway but what they all have in common is the process. The particulars may vary but they’ve all engaged in the craft. Whether solo or sextet, singer-songwriter or composer they’ve all started with a melody, the faintest whisps of an idea or, maybe, nothing at all. It’s a process that Enemies, playful math-rock maestros that they are, take very seriously. Over the space of…

  • The Libertines w/ The Courteeners @ 3Arena, Dublin

    July 13, 2015 - By 

    A rose by any other name right? 3Arena may be the pre-eminent venue for the most popular acts visiting the city but it must be a logistical nightmare. The sound is far from perfect for The Courteeners breed of indie rock. The sound has been primed for stadium rock which the lads fill out admirably but it’s at the detriment of any musical subtlety. Instead each song is awash of boom-bah drum noise and the sometimes faltering vocals of Mr. Liam Fray. Luckily it’s not so muddy that they lose the sing along spine that give their most popular tracks…

  • Bookmark: JR Ryall (Pastry Chef at Ballymaloe House)

    July 8, 2015 - By 

    In this installment of Bookmark we head to the famous Ballymaloe House in Cork to meet pastry chef JR Ryall, to discuss the cookery books which helped to shape his culinary art and culture. Photos by Melanie Mullan. The Ballymaloe Cookbook – Myrtle Allen Myrtle Allen’s seminal book, first published in 1977, contains the collection of recipes from which I trained when I began working at Ballymaloe House. This book is full of witty and eccentric stories that highlight the fun and mischief, the highs and lows and also the challenges of running a restaurant kitchen. It captures a particular time…

  • Spectrum Festival 2015

    July 6, 2015 - By 

    Spectrum Festival kicked off in Mandela Hall over the weekend with live performances from R51, Hot Cops, Echo Raptors, Joshua Burnside, New Ancestors, Loris, In An Instant and The Emerald Armada. Photos by Sara Marsden.

  • The Best Releases of 2015 So Far

    July 6, 2015 - By 

    We’re halfway through the year so we asked our contributors to select five of what they believe to be the very best releases so far, picking out personal sonic highlights from each of the great albums and EPs of 2015. Some reoccurring favourites include Courtney Barrett, Young Fathers, Kendrick Lamar and Sleater Kinney. Niall Cregan Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly A true great rap album that will be remembered years down the line as a game changer, with such a varied instrumentation, the complexity of each song is proportional to how hard to dive into the record.   Turnover – Peripheral Vision A…

  • Amy

    July 1, 2015 - By 

    I really didn’t want her to die. I mean, it’s a ludicrous thing to say: this is Amy Winehouse. We know how the story ends. But as Asif Kapadia’s scrupulously chronological film unspools we follow this charming, bolshy North London girl from a friend’s 14th birthday party (filmed in the unfailing fawn and sage colour scheme of 90’s video footage) through to the first few steps of her recording career and onto a success that she didn’t want and couldn’t withstand. “I don’t think I’ll be at all famous,” she offers in an interview. “I don’t think I could handle…

  • Alden Penner & Michael Cera @ Hangar, Dublin

    July 1, 2015 - By 

    Has realisation dawned that the drummer from the support band is the guy – the other guy – from the main band, the guy who’s not in the movies? Probably not. Alden Penner, he of The Unicorns and Clues – both of whose albums are respectively mercurial and wondrous, collaborative and eponymous – and Michael Cera don’t actually seem an unlikely pairing. When tickets for their initial Workman’s Club gig sold out quick smart the gig was duly upgraded; ambitiously it turned out, to Vicar Street, before finally settling in Hangar. The Adam Brown warms up an already roasted crowd,…

  • Russian Circles w/ Val Normal @ Hangar, Dublin

    June 29, 2015 - By 

    The Hangar, formerly Andrew’s Lane Theatre, is fast becoming the best place in Dublin for punk and metal gigs. Grimier, in all the right ways, than the Academy and much more spacious than Whelans, it’s a place that bands like Fucked Up and Titus Andronicus should be playing. So it makes sense that U:Mack, a thoroughly great group, would use the Hangar to host the Instrumental noise makers Russian Circles. The night kicks off with Dublin’s Val Normal, a math rock group. Val are very much a touring band. They’re the kind of group that you’d see on bills throughout…