• Monday Mixtape: Ryan Vail

    May 11, 2015 - By 

    Having just released well-received mini album Sea Legs mini album with local alt-folk singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery, Derry electronic musician Ryan Vail is now moving on to writing a solo piano EP to be released on local label Quiet Arch in the Autumn. He took time out of the studio to pick his top ten tracks for us along with some thoughts on each. Peter Broderick – Colours of the Night Got to see Peter play this live at the CQAF. Always have been a fan of his work. This blew me away live.   Radiohead – Bloom Bit of a classic in our house. The King…

  • Festival Mixtape: Longitude 2015

    May 10, 2015 - By 

    One of Ireland’s biggest festivals, Longitude will return to Marlay Park from July 17-19 to showcase some of the best upcoming talent across the UK and further afield. With Alt-J, The Chemical Brothers and Hozier set to headline, there is a sense of real progression around the festival as more big acts and artists continue to be revealed. Alongside the headliners, Caribou, Metronomy and James Blake fit nicely in amongst the bill, which has something to offer in every genre. Hip-Hop fans won’t be left out: with 2014 Mercury Prize award winners Young Fathers in the mix on the Friday, and with Pusha…

  • Rave New World (8/5)

    May 8, 2015 - By 

    Having delivered a stonking set of his own at the Twisted Pepper for out second birthday last Saturday night, Aidan Hanratty delivers this week’s look at the very best electronic gigs, tracks, releases and mixes. GIGS MUD: Bodytonic present Joy Orbison at The Twisted Pepper Friday, May 8 Somehow I’ve only seen Joy O twice, both times in the Twisted Pepper basement. Both sets were superb, as intelligently crafted as they were passionate and exuberant. Tough, crunching house alongside 90s classics, retro pianos over clanking beats. He’s always one to keep exclusives close to his chest, so go along tonight…

  • Cork Heads: Ray Blackwell (De Barra’s)

    May 6, 2015 - By 

    Ray Blackwell is the manager of De Barra’s Folk Club which is situated in Clonakilty in west Cork. He is a founding member and organiser of the Clonakilty International Guitar Festival – now in its eleventh year – and has been a member of the South of Ireland Band Championships committee for the last six years. Words and photos by Brid O’Donovan. Your earliest memory of De Barra’s. To answer this question really specifically would be really difficult for me. I remember being here (De Barra’s) as a kid. I lived here with my mum and my dad and my sister. We…

  • In Search of Space: Exploring The Fringes of The Mind With Hawkwind

    May 6, 2015 - By 

    As Hawkwind’s first four years on record are collated on a new 11cd boxed set, This is Your Captain Speaking… Your Captain is Dead, Steven Rainey delves into the murky world of space rock, and discovers much more than simply a band responsible for unleashing Lemmy on the cosmos. At the end of Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, astronaut Dr David Bowman is pulled into a vortex, going on a journey into the infinite, a kaleidoscopic assault on the senses that could mean everything or nothing. Both Kubrick and writer Arthur C. Clarke weren’t exactly in hurry…

  • Visual Arts Outlook (05/05)

    May 5, 2015 - By 

    The Venice Biennale opens this week so the irish contingent has travelled to support Sean Lynch in his opening of Adventure Capital which will this year be housed at The Irish Pavillion in the Arsenale. Lynch’s work can be seen until the 22nd of November, so there is plenty of time to get to Venice and see it. The MAC opens its second guest curated show this Thursday. Gregory McCartney presents I Will Go There, Take Me Home, the work of Adrian Ghenie, Pieter Hugo and Olaf Brzeski. The opening is from 7pm. Finally, don’t forget that Late Night Art…

  • Bookmark: Una Mullally

    May 6, 2015 - By 

    In this installment of Bookmark we spend some time with Una Mullally, a journalist with The Irish Times and a recently published author, while she discusses her favourite and most influential books. Photos by Abigail Denniston. Tales Of The City – Armistead Maupin I don’t read much fiction, but these books had a big impact on me and on my aspirations to explore writing fiction. They’re so smart and nifty and more-ish. Fun Home – Alison Bechdel This is a work of genius. The ground Bechdel breaks with Fun Home is monumental, both with the form she pioneers and the subject…

  • Hefty Fog: Director’s Cvlt

    May 5, 2015 - By 

    Just when you think that the stick has finally broken, after its loyal years of splintering across the body of the dead horse, someone comes along with a claw hammer and changes the game entirely. The story of Norwegian Black Metal has been told numerous times over numerous formats, in books, magazines, documentaries, Youtube parodies – it is the one story in the history of heavy metal that seems to resonate with everyone, fans or otherwise. The murder, the arson, the music, but mostly the murder, are all what sets it apart from the usual Led Zeppelin fishmongering of rock…

  • Blur Retrospective: Parklife (1994)

    May 1, 2015 - By 

    There is something to be said about a frankly worrying number of classic records which is that many of them aren’t up to scratch. There are countless albums which on release were showered with some of the most golden platitudes ever forged. They captured a zeitgeist so perfectly that they must be regarded as true classics. But when you remove them from their time frame, many of them struggle to stand out. Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches is a fun record, but it’s nothing more than that. Post Merriweather Pavilion is a collection of bleeps that we convinced ourselves was…

  • Rave New World: Bank Holiday Special

    May 1, 2015 - By 

    In a special Bank Holiday installment of Rave New World, Antoin Lindsay and Aidan Hanratty shed some light on the very best new electronic gigs, tracks, mixes and releases. GIGS Misfit present Henrik Schwarz, Misfit DJs at Thompsons, Belfast Friday, May 1 A pretty unmissable live set from Henrik Schwarz will be going off tonight in Thompsons. For very good reason, his live set has become one of the most revered in electronic music. Known for their unbounded energy, spirit and fun, you’d be a fool to pass up on this one. AL Beat BBQ 4th Birthday May Day Sunday…