• 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…

  • Modest Mouse @ The Helix, Dublin

    July 14, 2015 - By 

    The grand, university setting of the Helix is not the most obvious choice for a band with a legacy built on working class indie rock but as with everything else in Modest Mouse’s tumultuous career, they try their best to build something out of nothing. Armed with a setlist of crowd-pleasers, the band work their way through a career worth of tracks. Opening with the slow building ‘Of Course We Know’, closer of their most recent album, Strangers To Ourselves, they set the pace for a set filled with their characteristically cynical but sad, fucked up but victorious output. Despite claims…

  • 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.