• Frame by Frame #003: Feet For Wings – Cathedral St

    February 17, 2014 - By 

    Having just unveiled the stunning yet subtle video for their new single single, ‘Cathedral St’, Belfast acoustic-folk band Feet For Wings talk to Colm Laverty about its production, the thematic and inspirational impetus behind its creation and their individual thoughts on music videos and the making thereof. Warning: contains a single reference to Miley Cyrus. Proceed at your peril. First off, tell us a little bit about each of your roles on this music video. Dave: The whole band contributed in finding the location to shoot the performance and generally sort things like dates, gear etc out. Apart from that…

  • Classic Album: Bark Psychosis – Hex

    February 14, 2014 - By 

    You’re familiar with post-rock, right? Long, usually instrumental tracks that start off quiet and pretty, build slowly then BOOM – erupt into cathartic crescendo, before tailing off with a swooning little coda. That’s post-rock. Beautiful and yes, intense, but formulaic; “alternative” muzak safe enough to accompany football highlights, teen melodramas and Sir David Attenborough whispering feverishly over infra-red footage of rutting beasts. Let’s rewind back to 1994. Mojo hack (and subsequent alt-music historian) Simon Reynolds slips the promo from a new British band into his stereo and presses play. The sounds which ooze from his speakers are alien – an…

  • Classic Album: The Smiths (1984)

    February 13, 2014 - By 

    Hindsight is a wonderful thing. After 30 years of disappointments, you can look back and see exactly what started it all, throwing all amount of history and emotional baggage on top of it to make some kind of distorted, grotesque picture of what it was like. But when you sit down to listen to The Smiths‘ debut album, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this month, you’d be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about. For an album that supposedly changed everything, it’s so damn ordinary. The Smiths’ debut had a tortured genesis, involving betrayal, back room deals, and…

  • Hardwell and the Defence of Dance

    February 12, 2014 - By 

    To read the hysterical coverage following last week’s Hardwell concert, you’d think that end times were upon us: thousands of feral, drug-abusing teenagers on the rampage with the Dutch DJ as their dark prince. The debate over the next couple of days was depressingly predictable, with fingers pointed at dance music, drugs and “prinking”, or pre-drinking – a catchy new name for a custom as old as the hills. Hardwell’s Edinburgh show was even cancelled as a frankly bizarre precaution. But there’s no need to panic. This was a 16+ event featuring a globally successful dance music star, in a…

  • Frame By Frame #002: September Girls – Green Eyed

    February 10, 2014 - By 

    Following on from a feature on the making of Cliff Richard by Abandcalledboy, Belfast-based photographer and filmmaker and Colm Laverty chats to Jessie from Dublin noise pop band September Girls about her brilliant and thoroughly DIY video for the band’s recent single, ‘Green Eyed’. First off, tell us a little bit about each of your roles on this music video. I’m Jessie and I play the red guitar in the band… and I also directed this video! In a sentence, what sets ‘Green Eyed’ apart from other Irish music videos? It was a very DIY affair, made by the band,…

  • Twenty Years of Troublegum

    February 7, 2014 - By 

    Set for an expansive three-disc deluxe reissue in March, the gamechanging Troublegum by Northern Irish alt-rock heroes Therapy? was unleashed twenty years ago today, back in the thoroughly transitional musical milieu of early 1994. An impassioned and inexorable fourteen-track masterstroke borne from social disillusion and the laws of unspoken smalltown psychosis, it saw frontman Andy Cairns, bassist Michael “The Evil Priest” McKeegan and drummer Fyfe Ewing propelled from emerging contenders to bona fide alternative rock demigods. From the gloriously demented ‘Knives’ to closing rampage ‘Brainsaw’, Troublegum forged Cairns’ deeply intelligent and masterfully sardonic lyrics, Ewing’s mighty rhythmic élan and a breathless deluge of earworming, generation-defining pop-punk hooks coloured…

  • Frame By Frame #001: Abandcalledboy – Cliff Richard

    February 4, 2014 - By 

    In the very first installment of Frame By Frame – a brand new feature looking at the production of music videos by all kinds of  Irish bands and artists – Colm Laverty talks to Ryan Burrowes and Mark Finnegan from Northern Irish alt-rock trio Abandcalledboy about their recent, wonderfully retro tribute to the Peter Pan of pop, Cliff Richard. >Hi guys. First off, tell us a little bit about each of your roles on this music video. Mark (Finnegan, bass): I did a lot of the pre-production (storyboarding, set pieces, locations), it’s something I have a bit of experience in, but…

  • Choice Cuts: The Best Tracks of… January

    January 31, 2014 - By 

    In the first of an new series-based feature, Belfast-based writer Aaron Hamilton trawls through the very best music released in the month of January, distilling his favourites to a mere eight tracks.  Whereas the first five are in no particular order, the final three are, as you might well guess, in order of consecutive greatness. Will we be humming their choruses this time next month? Check yourself then and read on now. St. Vincent – Digital Witness [Loma Vista] A second teaser to her upcoming album, ‘Digital Witness’ shows a decidedly weirder side to Annie Clark’s music. The big horns are…

  • The Record #004: Stillpoint

    January 28, 2014 - By 

    In the latest installment of The Record, Liam Kielt caught up with Belfast alt-rock band Stillpoint as they recorded their forthcoming single ‘Go Ahead and Go’ at Start Together Studio. A semi-swansong as sorts coinciding with the band’s recent decision to go on hiatus for a while, it will be released at some point over the next couple of months. Check out Liam’s photos from the recording and our interview with Stillpoint frontman (and Two Glass Eyes‘ bassist) Dave McKendry below. Hey guys. You recently recorded your single ‘Go Ahead and Go’ at Start Together. Tell us about the recording process.…

  • Ten Reasons Why You Should Love Iron Maiden

    January 20, 2014 - By 

    Whether you like it or not, Iron Maiden are one of the most successful British bands of the last 35 years, ignoring traditional methods of support to stay at the top of the pack. They’ve (fairly) consistently managed to stay ahead of their peers, and even after all this time, still manage to pull out a few surprises. They’re going to be spending a large portion of 2014 on the road, effectively laying rest to their 80s legacy in a series of epic gigs all across Europe. But for those of us who’ve never appreciated the unique charms of the…