• The First Time: Stevie Martin (Rainy Boy Sleep)

    August 14, 2016 - By 

    As anyone who has ever had the pleasure of chatting with him – no matter how briefly – will know, Stevie Martin AKA Rainy Boy Sleep was a truly endearing and incredibly humble individual. For a musician so respected – for an artist with a head always bustling full of ideas – Stevie never neglected that wry smile and extraordinarily sound demeanour that he effortlessly carried around the country and beyond, guitar case & towering dreams in tow. Late last night word started to circulate around Stendhal Festival of Art in Limavady that, having been reported missing for three weeks just a few days ago,…

  • Stream: President Obama’s Summer Playlist

    August 12, 2016 - By 

    “Been waiting to drop this: summer playlist, the encore. What’s everybody listening to?” Featuring everyone Janelle Monáe, Charles Mingus and Courtney Barnett to Nina Simone, Beach Boys and D’Angelo, Barack Obama has reminded us once more that he is unequivocally the coolest POTUS ever by sharing his 2016 summer playlist. Presumably the last of his several playlists compiled and release during his presidency, Obama first shared what was on his iPod whilst running for office back in 2008, revealing big-hitters John Coltrane, Bob Dylan and the Stones amongst his favourites. His parting Summer playlist of ’16 is a more diverse and intriguing affair,…

  • Rave New World: Out To Lunch, Ambivalent, Twitch

    August 11, 2016 - By 

    A solo effort, Aidan Hanratty brings you the best gigs, tracks, mixes and releases of the week Gigs Out to Lunch August Weekender, Yamamori Tengu, Dublin Saturday 13, Sunday 14 August It’s all about Out To Lunch this weekend. In what’s probably the best lineup Dublin’s ever seen, we’ve got stellar international names like Ben UFO, Laurel Halo, Lena Willikens (who we’ve interviewed here), and Call Super (above), Irish upstarts like Lumigraph, Melly and Sage and the novel curiosity that is snooker legend-turned-electronica fan Steve Davis. I’m bubbling with excitement about it. There’s so much to say. See you there? Sense…

  • Picture This: Your National Visual Arts Guide – Re-Vision

    August 9, 2016 - By 

    The concept of ‘revision’ is often viewed as the process of returning to something and reevaluating what it was and how it was interpreted at the time. In this edition of Picture This we see revision as as a concept of revising based on new evidence, returning to something and reconsidering it, re-examining and creating something new, and to rethink what was and what will be. In Dublin we see The Douglas Hyde Gallery re-present a selection of Alec Soth’s past projects under a new theme, in Belfast Exposed we see Yvette Monahan reassess the legacy of a landscape on…

  • Rave New World: Karen Gwyer, GAIKA, Kornél Kovács

    August 4, 2016 - By 

    Antoin Lindsay and Aidan Hanratty look at the best tracks, mixes and releases of the week. Tracks GAIKA – 3D [Warp] Following on from his brilliant record ‘SECURITY’ earlier in the year, in what seems like a very logical step for him, GAIKA has signed to Warp. ‘3D’ is the first material of his to surface on the label and it’s some of his best. It’s a noisy, murky take on grime and his evident taste for experimentation is clearly what attracted Warp’s attention, and will hopefully drive him to even wider and deserved recognition. AL Kornél Kovács – Dollar…

  • Inbound: Slouch

    August 2, 2016 - By 

    Perhaps it’s just us, but we’re noticing a serious – and welcome – islandwide resurgence on the scuzzy alternative rock front as of late, with Dublin way ahead of the pack. This month, it’s young trio Slouch, who come from Knocklyon, on the outskirts of the city, just before the mountains – and they sound like it. They released their debut EP, Feminine Elbows, last year, which boasts the sound of a desert contained within a garage in the ‘burbs. They’re carried with the just-loose-enough, gut-led rhythmic swagger of Physical Graffiti-era Zeppelin with the influences of a subsequent three decades…

  • Inbound: Franklyn

    July 30, 2016 - By 

    It seems like a case of twice bitten, thrice wise for Frankyln’s Owen Strathern. After initially finding some success with Magherafelt mods The Tides, Strathern’s growing indifference to the lad rock pedalled by his school friends lead to the bassist joining forces with his brother Enda and Tides newbie Stephen Leacock to explore poppier territories. General Fiasco, including Enda on guitar and Leacock on drums, seemed destined for big things: the band’s pop punk melodies, paired with Owen’s deceptively vulnerable lyrics, drew the attention of the British indie press, and the success of early singles ‘Sometime Sometime’ and ‘Ever So…

  • Picture This – Your National Visual Arts Guide: August Bank Holiday

    July 29, 2016 - By 

    August is upon us this weekend. The business end of the summer has arrived, and with it the penultimate Bank Holiday Weekend of the year. We’ve squeezed an extra day off from the boss (hopefully) and Ireland’s galleries have a host of great shows on offer. In Cork we see an exploration of the artist as a wanderer and recorder, with a host of international artist on display in the Lewis Glucksman Gallery. In Drogheda the Marmite Prize for Painting arrives on these shores for the first time with Highlanes Gallery playing host. The West provides refuge for a trio…

  • Rave New World: Equiknoxx, Phuong-Dan, Jake Hodgkinson

    July 29, 2016 - By 

    As the weekend beckons, Antoin Lindsay and Aidan Hanratty bring you the best electronic gigs, tracks and releases of the week. Gigs Dialogue Present Jake Hodgkinson at White’s Tavern, Belfast Friday 29 July Dialogue is making its name for itself as one of Belfast’s best underground techno nights. For their fourth party they’ll be bringing in Bristolian Jake Hodgkinson to the intimate White’s Tavern in Belfast’s city centre.  AL  Flipside: Dynamo Dreesen at Bar Tengu, Dublin Friday 29 July Acido Records boss Dynamo Dreesen comes to Tengu for an extended set, promising the solid house you’d expect from this Sex Tags…

  • Festival Mixtape: Stendhal 2016

    July 26, 2016 - By 

    Voted Ireland’s Best Small Festival for the last three years in a row, Stendhal Festival of Art returns to Ballymully Cottage Farm in Limavady on the weekend of August 12-13 with their strongest and most varied bill to date. Featuring the likes of alt-rock titans Therapy?, Lynched, Badly Drawn Boy, Derry’s Ryan Vail, Jealous of the Birds, PORTS and alt-folk five-piece Emerald Armada, the team have once more struck an impressive balance between weight and restraint over the line-up’s two days and nights. With tickets still available to buy for a mere £40 here, check out the full line-up and stream our fifteen-track track playlist, featuring our must-see…