• Terry Pratchett (1948-2015)

    March 16, 2015 - By 

    “It is often said that before one dies your life flashes before your eyes. This is in fact true. It is called living.” – Sir Terry Pratchett Terry Pratchett’s last book, a paperback copy, sits on my shelf, pristine and unread since receiving it for Christmas and I find myself both cherishing and dreading the opportunity for one final visit to the most significant of the worlds he created, The Discworld. I can honestly say that I had no idea how important the writer of these books was to me until I read he’d died. Sitting in my workplace looking…

  • Label Mixtape: Touch & Go

    March 18, 2015 - By 

    Originally founded as a fanzine in 1979 by Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson before becoming a record label in 1981, Touch & Go was originally a platform for the Chicago hardcore punk scene, before Vee handed the reins over to Corey and Lisa Rusk in 1983, with Corey Rusk still being at the helm today. The label would go on to become synonymous with the 1980s noise rock scene, as well as 1990s math-rock, before expanding into all things alternative in later years. The label is also well known for its DIY ethic, offering artists 50-50 deals after production and…

  • Monday Mixtape: Ricki O’Rawe (Not Squares)

    March 16, 2015 - By 

    With their forthcoming second album, Bolts, set for release next month, Belfast-based trio Not Squares are steadily re-affirming their reputation as one of the country’s very best live acts. Ahead of launching the album at Galway’s Róisín Dubh on April 9, Ricki O’Rawe (pictured in the bold white-rimmed shades, above) from the band shares his favourite songs as of late – including Tyondai Braxton, Luke Abbott, Arca and Polmo Polpo – in a playlist aptly-titled Pissed and Passed Out. Take it away, Ricki. “This mix is made up of sounds that I have been digging recently. The music spans time and space but coheres…

  • Primer: Bia Beatha

    March 16, 2015 - By 

    In our first online installment of Primer we attend Bia Beatha, a monthly supper club focusing on showcasing Irish cuisine and the art of food and dining.  Photos and interview by Mark Earley. Hello Rachel! You’re the brains behind Bia Beatha. Tell us about how it all started. It’s kind of a funny one as I came up with the idea for the event in Berlin when I was there with my Mum for her birthday early last year. We were looking for somewhere to have decent German food without a tacky tourist vibe and no-one was able to recommend somewhere to…

  • Rave New World (13/3)

    March 13, 2015 - By 

    If there’s two men on this isle more readily equipped than Antoin Lindsay and Aidan Hanratty to tastefully distill the towering pantheon of electronic music as it manifests itself at this precise moment of time, in this particular corner of the world, we haven’t met them. Nor do we wish to. Here’s this week’s Rave New World. Don’t chew glowsticks. GIGS Twitch Presents: Paul Woolford and Midland at Mandela Hall, Belfast Saturday, March 14 Two heavyweights of house and techno make their way to Twitch this Saturday for a pretty unmissable back-to-back session. Paul Woolford has played Twitch a few times before…

  • Bookmark: Stephen White (The Last Mixed Tape)

    March 17, 2015 - By 

    In the latest installment of Bookmark, Stephen White from music blog The Last Mixtape shares his thoughts on some of his all-time favourite books, featuring many a modernist classic. Photos by Abigail Denniston. High Fidelity – Nick Hornby Unfortunately, in far too many ways, I am Rob Fleming. There’s few things that scream “music snob” more than being a music blogger… I think that’s why High Fidelity has stayed with me for so long. It’s funny one moment and raw to the bone the next – how Hornby keeps you routing for Fleming despite his various character flaws is astounding. Plus John Cusack is…

  • Festival Mixtape: Body & Soul 2015

    March 12, 2015 - By 

    Set to return to Ballinlough Castle, Clonmellon in Co. Meath during the Summer solstice weekend of June 19-21, Body & Soul 2015 is set to be one of the highlights of the Irish summer festival calender yet again. Just yesterday, the festival announced its first wave of confirm acts – and what a tidy list it was. Ahead of further line-up announcements, stream our sixteen-track playlist featuring some of the very best acts already confirmed to play the festival – including Goat (pictured), Dan Deacon, Natalie Press, Clark, Meltybrains?, SOHN, Nightmares on Wax, Savages and Austra – below.

  • Interview: Rory Nellis

    March 12, 2015 - By 

    Just over a year since the release of his wonderfully beguiling four track EP, The Moon, Belfast-based singer-songwriter Rory Nellis is currently crowdfunding for his forthcoming debut album, Ready For You Now, via Pledgemusic. Ahead of its release in June, Nellis – also frontman with the indie rock quartet Seven Summits – talks to us about the crowdfunding process, the host of local musician friends who feature on the album and how focusing on the positives of his hometown pays creative dividends. Hi Rory. Your forthcoming debut solo album, Ready For You Now, is being released via PledgeMusic – an increasingly…

  • Monday Mixtape: Ror Conaty (No Spill Blood)

    March 9, 2015 - By 

    Ror Conaty is currently drumming with cosmic heft overlords No Spill Blood and with Wizards of Firetop Mountain. Today, he shares a playlist of some heavy duty tunes he’s currently enjoying. In his own words: “These are songs I’ve been hounding on lately, some are better off heard in the context of the album like Clint Mansell or Swans but all of them psych me out, some for their intense drive or their ability to make me focus while making things and others for giving me that last shot of serotonin when I though I was empty.” No Spill Blood launch their debut album…

  • Label Mixtape #003: 4AD

    March 10, 2015 - By 

    A label based on aesthetic principles, 4AD has spent over 30 years being everything you think it is not. Initially founded by Ivo Watts Russell in 1980 as a vehicle to release music by bands at the centre of the nascent goth scene, the label quickly established a style and format that would lead to it becoming one of the most iconic record labels of the 80s.With records clad in immaculate Vaughn Oliver sleeves, the label originally specialised in floaty, gothic ambience, before encompassing world music, dance music, and – perhaps most significantly – the cutting edge of the US…