• Inbound: Drown

    October 4, 2016 - By 

    It’s pretty apt that this year is the 25th anniversary of Nirvana’s performance in Sir Henry’s in Cork and that Ireland currently finds its alternative music scene in pretty rude health. Leading the pack are Girl Band with their idiosyncratic and innovative post punk no doubt. However, there a slew of other equally excellent bands popping up throughout the whole island at what seems like a weekly basis. Galway’s Drown are one such group. Named after a Smashing Pumpkins song and only forming late last year, the level of confidence and familiarity they play with on their self titled debut EP,…

  • Playlist: 15 Must-See Acts at Hard Working Class Heroes This Weekend

    October 3, 2016 - By 

    Right up there with the country’s leading celebrations and showcases of homegrown, independent music, Hard Working Class Heroes will take over several venues in Dublin from October 6-8. With 100 acts once again independently selected to perform, we have well and truly racked our brains to whittle that imposing list down to 10 must-see acts this weekend. Tickets for HWCH ’16 are still available to buy here. Oh Boland Where: The Hub When: Saturday, October 8 (7.30pm) Pale Rivers Where: The Workman’s Club When: Friday, October 7 (7.50pm) Maija Sofia Where: Wigwam When: Saturday, October 8 (10.30pm) Rusangano Family Where: The Chocolate…

  • Inbound: BDBR

    September 27, 2016 - By 

    Following a several-odd year nadir for Northern Irish music, it looks once more like there’s an emergent wave of genuinely interesting Northern acts influenced by a whole new set of cult favourites. BDBR is a bedroom project and the pseudonym under which singer-songwriter Ryan Mills operates, armed only with his telecaster, pedalboard and back-of-the-throat vocal tones. So far, he’s got a five track EP of demos so far, none of which reach the 3 minute mark, recorded in his bedroom and mixed by Robocobra Quartet’s Chris Ryan. His sound, he tells us “came around through trial and error and playing…

  • Inbound: FONDA

    September 23, 2016 - By 

    FONDA are the sound of power pop having grown older and that bit more cynical: imagine Big Star replacing tickets to the dance with overpriced bars and the inevitable morning-after introspection. There’s a sense of displacement and longing that characterises the band’s music, a possible result of the group’s varying backgrounds, with band members Liam O’Connor, Laura Kelly and Patrick Burke hailing from Limerick, Galway and Glasgow respectively. The trio have been performing together since 2015, releasing debut EP Social Services that August. It’s four songs tackled everyday ennui with assured understatement, both in O’Connor’s lyrics and baritone delivery, and…

  • Rave New World: Palms Trax, Juniper, Toner Head

    September 16, 2016 - By 

    Antoin Lindsay and Aidan Hanratty look at the best gigs, tracks, mixes and releases of the week. Gigs Footwork presents: Citizenn, Schmutz, Eddy Kennedy & Brien at The Bunatee, Belfast Friday 16 September Tonight the Bunatee hosts a new night in the form of Footwork. Their first night will be headed up by Citizenn, the Kerri Chandler-approved London via Nottingham DJ who had an album out on Crosstown Rebels last year. Main support comes from local heroes Schmutz who’ll also be joined by Eddy Kennedy and Brien. Good stuff. AL Sense with Palms Trax, Button Factory, Dublin Saturday 17 September …

  • Picture This – Your National Visual Arts Guide: Culture Night 2016: Dublin

    September 15, 2016 - By 

    Ireland’s annual night of culture is upon us again this Friday as her galleries, museum, studios and a host of others cultural hotspots open their doors for a night of exhibitions, demonstrations and insights. Culture Night 2016 sees over 3,000 events take place across the whole island, and what started out as a capital only event 10 years ago has now spread to 40 towns and cities across the all of Ireland. Dublin sees a host of music gigs, gallery openings, late night museums and open houses with events taking place across the city until 11pm. As always Culture Night…

  • Track Record: Richard Dowling (WAV Mastering)

    September 13, 2016 - By 

    As the most experienced mastering engineer in Ireland, it’s no surprise that Richard Dowling has an extensive, far-reaching record collection. Having founded WAV Mastering 10 years ago this Autumn, 2017 will mark his 30th year working in audio, with clients ranging from Christy Moore, Choice Music Prize winners SOAK and Jape, David Bowie, Foo Fighters and Suede to name a few.  In the latest installment of Track Record, Aaron Corr captures the Limerick engineer selecting some of his all-time favourite records. David Bowie – Hunky Dory ‘Life On Mars’, ’nuff said. Andy Warhol looks a scream, I’ve him hanging on my wall. Chvrches – The…

  • Inbound: Brand New Friend

    September 8, 2016 - By 

    As the seasons inevitably turn and summer ambles into autumn, sometimes you need music to augment the mood and bridge that interim between the party and the comedown; the wind-down from long evenings boozing by the canal and the sinking realisation that it all has to finish up sometime. That seems as good a time as any to welcome a brand new friend into your life – four of them, more accurately – playing a blend of sad and raucous, joyous and melancholic songs about love and other less important things. Initially Taylor Johnson’s solo endeavour, the addition of his…

  • These Are The Voyages: 50 Years of Star Trek

    September 8, 2016 - By 

    In June 1969, US television viewers were treated to the unforgettable spectacle of William Shatner portraying a woman inhabiting his body. The final episode of Star Trek, ‘Turnabout Intruder’, featured Captain Kirk and his crew struggling to defeat a mentally unstable woman who had captured his body, planning to take over the USS Enterprise, and wreak havoc upon all and sundry. Shatner, never the most… subtle… of performers, threw himself into the role, straining to capture the full spectrum of emotions of a woman, trapped in a man’s body. Like I say, the results are pretty spectacular, for all the…

  • Rave New World: Bjarki, Frankie Grimes, Shanti Celeste

    September 9, 2016 - By 

    Aidan Hanratty takes you through the essential electronic gigs, tracks, mixes and releases of the week. Gigs Collate presents Bjarki Live, The Bunatee, Belfast Friday 9 September Iceland’s Bjarki hit the big time last year with ‘I Wanna Go Bang’, a silly banger on Nina Kraviz’s трип label, having previously featured on that imprint’s first two compilation releases. Since then he’s dropped “Б”, and Lefhanded Fuqs is due in the coming weeks. You can catch his blistering live set tonight at The Bunatee, but be warned, it will… bang. Sorry. Axel Boman, Kornél Kovács & Pedrodollar, Opium Rooms, Dublin Saturday…