• Roving Eye: Otherkin in Amsterdam

    March 23, 2016 - By 

    I people watch, I guess who they are, imagine where they are going, wonder what they do in life. It’s generally how I pass the time in airports. As I wait in line to board my flight I don’t need to guess who the approaching group of young men are. All clad in black denim and leather, with guitars strapped to their backs, this is most definitely Otherkin and we are Amsterdam bound for the iconic London Calling Festival. Fresh from a support slot on Ash’s tour, and performances at Eurosonic these lads are in seriously high demand. As we…

  • New Pope’s Guide To Galway #3: Bands

    March 23, 2016 - By 

    I like bands that have personality and I like music that comes from a place, be that geographically or socially or mentally or emotionally or philosophically or whatever. As long as it’s honest in some way and thoughtful in some other way and in some other way transcends mindless entertainment and stabs you in your pineal gland, wherein lies the soul. Galway is blessed with a number of such bands and here are five of them.  Oh Boland I’ve known these young gentlemen for a few years and when they got together musically they named themselves Oh Boland, though I’m…

  • Independents In Paris: Cracki Records

    March 21, 2016 - By 

    In the latest installment of Independents in Paris, Tom McGeehan pops into the HQ of Parisian imprint Cracki Records to discuss and trace their five years in the indie game. For those unfamiliar with Cracki Records, can you tell us a little bit about where the label came from and how it came to exist? Whilst doing a scooter tour of France, we met Flo, who works for a label called ‘Dawn’. He explained how their label works, from starting out to making it a success. A few months later, we ended up in India, which was a big influence…

  • Picture This: Your National Visual Arts Guide – Easter Weekend

    March 18, 2016 - By 

    The theme of 1916 and the centenary of The Rising rings loudly in the shows currently on display in Ireland’s galleries. You can see a full itinerary of cultural events associated with the celebrations here. This cultural behemoth can be all encompassing so if you looking for a break from this or for something a little different, below are a selection of excellent shows currently on around Ireland. Words by Aidan Kelly Murphy. What: AFFECTIVE ENTITIES Where: CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery, Cork When: 5th to 26th March As part of their Make 2016 Symposium: Objects and Revolution, CIT invited a…

  • Hyperbolex with Ray Wingnut: Community Music – Skratch Manifest

    March 16, 2016 - By 

    Communities are inevitable among humans. They can be generational, geographical, professional, circumstantial, cultural and can take on any shape you can think of. We are drawn together by factors and forces from without and within the individual. For an example of a community; even if you’ve never read The Thin Air before, if you sniff around the pages you’ll find a community; a group of pro-active fans and know-alls and eager heads that co-operate to publish a sweet piece of street literature that reflects them and their community. Their art and their era. But of course the community doesn’t stop…

  • And So I Watch You From Afar in Japan

    February 29, 2016 - By 

    And So I Watch You From Afar drummer Chris Wee reports from their recent stint in the Nihon lights of the Far East. With paper cup of coffee in hand I sat, knees wedged toward my chest in the first passenger row of our boxy Hiace van, the intrepid road warrior of many an Asian motorway. The whole thing shook and bumped at every contour of the Tomei Expressway connecting our last city of Nagoya to Tokyo. There are not too many certainties in life, but in terms of ASIWYFA, whether it was the 1000mile stretch from Edmonton to Salt…

  • Cinema 16 For ’16: Secret In Their Eyes

    February 25, 2016 - By 

    An alternative guide to this year’s cinematic offerings, we trawl through the dilapidated rows of seats in the back alley ‘art’ cinemas and crumbling picture palaces so you don’t have to; rescuing gummy Venus de Milos from sticky crevices and fishing midget gems out of cold cups of tea. Diaries at the ready cinephiles. ‘Hollywood remake’ is a somewhat tainted term, for every The Birdcage there’s an Old Boy. But in this much maligned time of endless sequels and franchises that reboot like a skipping record, isn’t it better to take a brilliant foreign film and try to reimagine it…

  • New Pope’s Guide To Galway #2: General Election 2016

    February 24, 2016 - By 

    Ah Galway, city of tribes. Hipsters, students, buskers, shams, bogmen, crusties, drunks, Spanish, gaeilgeoirs, nordies, immigrants, the homeless: Galway has them all! And, for the most part, we all live in ignorant tolerance of one another. But who is to represent such a diverse and bohemian jumble of dole-monkeys? Here is my guide to the upcoming election in the constituency of Galway West. I am, of course, going to leave out Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Labour because they are all shitehawks. Don’t believe a word from any of them. They are liars. Definitely do not vote for them, I’m…

  • Cinema 16 For 16: Bone Tomahawk

    February 23, 2016 - By 

    An alternative guide to this year’s cinematic offerings, we trawl through the dilapidated rows of seats in the back alley ‘art’ cinemas and crumbling picture palaces so you don’t have to; rescuing gummy Venus de Milos from sticky crevices and fishing midget gems out of cold cups of tea. Diaries at the ready cinephiles. After a fallow period of two movies in eight years, Kurt Russell returns to the silver screen in a second western- this one with a liberal dose of horror- in two months with Bone Tomahawk, the first film from writer-director, S. Craig Zahler. While The Hateful…

  • Cinema 16 For ’16: Janis: Little Girl Blue

    February 17, 2016 - By 

    An alternative guide to this year’s cinematic offerings, we trawl through the dilapidated rows of seats in the back alley ‘art’ cinemas and crumbling picture palaces so you don’t have to; rescuing gummy Venus de Milos from sticky crevices and fishing midget gems out of cold cups of tea. Diaries at the ready cinephiles. Documentary filmmaker Amy Berg (West of Memphis, Prophet’s Prey) turns her investigative camera inwards onto the all too brief life of rock icon Janis Joplin for her new film, Janis: Little Girl Blue, profiling not just the career of one of rock music’s first and still…