• Monday Mixtape: Sam Coomes (Quasi)

    February 2, 2015 - By 

    Best known as frontman of quintessential American indie rock band Quasi, Sam Coomes is our latest willing subject in the often indispensable, always mind-bogglingly tasteful Monday Mixtape. Twenty years into the game, ex-husband and wife duo Coomes (Donner Party, Heatmiser, etc) and Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Wild Flag, etc) AKA Quasi are the living, breathing definition of indie rock royalty. Formed in Portland in 1993, the duo’s uniquely infectious, incomparably insightful brand of indie rock has spanned nine studio albums and countless EPs worth of material. Featuring everyone from Serge Gainsbourg to Iggy Pop, Coomes’ mixtape is a sublime, ten-track…

  • Deep Down South: Farewells, Returns and Festivals

    February 2, 2015 - By 

    Some news that sadly flew under a lot of radars locally in the excitement running up to this week’s absurd amount of good stuff (which we’ll get to!) was the announcement of the impending passing of sludge/doom lords FIVEWILLDIE on the 20th of February, after their final show/tenth-anniversary show at Mr. Bradley’s. We’ll have a farewell feature in the coming weeks in this space, but suffice to say, a band around which a lot of live activity revolved over the years, such as Pyre Pro, Limerick’s Bad Reputation and the Siege of Limerick are going to be sadly, sadly missed,…

  • Interview: Binkbeats

    January 30, 2015 - By 

    BINKBEATS is an electronic music producer from Utrecht in The Netherlands. He quickly became known after his BEATS UNRAVELLED series with The Boiler Room brought him into the spotlight as he started reconstructing electronic songs he loved, one sound at a time. He is currently on his first tour and exploring the possibilities of his own original music, so our photographer Colm Moore sat down with him ahead of his 7th live show ever to have a chat and capture the live gig through his lens. If anyone has ever seen your videos on YouTube the first thing they’ll notice is the…

  • Rave New World (30/1)

    January 30, 2015 - By 

    In the latest installment of Rave New World, the ridiculously informed, boundlessly savvy Antoin Lindsay & Aidan Hanratty delve into best new electronic tracks and mixes of the week, as well as various unmissable upcoming nights and releases. Gigs Scope presents Music in the Community at The Menagerie, Belfast Friday, January 30 Get down to The Menagerie for Scope who are putting on a host of local acts. Belfast hip-hop act Dsgrace is celebrating his album launch on the night alongside Rave New World favourite Bloom, Twitch’s Paddy Towe and the usual Scope DJs Nez, Paul Acroplane and G-BO. Main thing is it’s…

  • The Record: Abandcalledboy

    February 3, 2015 - By 

    In the latest installment of The Record, Brian Coney talks to Ryan Burrowes (below) from recently-expanded Belfast-based quartet Abandcalledboy about changes within the ranks, the writing and recording of their forthcoming new material and their plans for the rest of the year. Photos by Colm Laverty. You’ve been playing sets solely comprised of new material live recently. Why such a shift there? Basically the shift was down to how much we have changed musically, the older material doesn’t really fit with the tracks we have now. We used our last mini-tour (with 100 Onces) to say goodbye to the older…

  • Premiere: Darling – It’s Just One Look

    January 28, 2015 - By 

    Ahead of its release on Friday, we’re pleased to present an exclusive first look at the video for ‘It’s Just One Look’ by Dublin duo Gary Harding and James McGuire AKA Darling. Directed by Michael Kelly, the video is a wonderfully retro affair, capturing the band and their rousing alt-pop to a tee. In fact, their exuberance is perfectly tangible. The song is the follow-up to the band’s equally impressive 2014 singles ‘Echoes’ and ‘Sail Away’ and will feature on their new EP, also set for release on Friday. Pre-order it here. Darling launch the EP at Dublin’s Sugar Club on Saturday night.…

  • Start A Van

    January 27, 2015 - By 

    The follow-up to his introductory piece – Start a Band – And So I Watch You From Afar drummer Chris Wee continues his regular column with some of the more interesting, occasionally perilous tales of a touring band on the open road. Hello again and apologies for the delay on this follow-up installment of my column. My friends, family and colleagues will collectively attest to my gross misuse of such phrases as ‘sorry for the late reply’, ‘sorry i’m only getting back to you now’ and ‘sorry I just saw this’. In truth, I am awful at correspondence. I feel like my pre-disposition towards…

  • Deep Down South: Few Gigs There, Lads

    January 26, 2015 - By 

    Irish metal has been having a few years of exponential growth, with the rise of all-dayers like The Siege of Limerick and bands like Primordial, Murdock and Coldwar representing the island’s riff community on the world stage, and quality stuff materialising from the woodwork everywhere, from Ilenkus and Kawtiks to veterans like For Ruin and Mael Mordha. But at the forefront of all this has been Limerick prog-metal monoliths Shardborne, coming to the Cork Community Print Shop this Saturday care of PYRE Promotions, with Ealadha and Mannequin Republic in tow. Launching upcoming LP ‘Living Bridges’, the instrumental quartet’s combination of…

  • Track Record: Brian Cash (Halves)

    January 26, 2015 - By 

    Featured arguably the most eclectic choices to date (and there’s been quite a few of those) Brian Cash from Halves chooses and talks about his all-time favourite records, including Mogwai, The Redneck Manifesto and a Disney compilation. Photos by Aidan Kelly-Murphy. Super Furry Animals –  Mwng Tim from Halves, to his credit, got me into the Furries. I was always slightly confused by them before that. Pretty much all their records are amazing but I have a special place in my heart for Mwng (above): it’s the sound of a band doing exactly what they want to do without pandering to expectation. An…

  • Track Record: Brian Foley (The Blades)

    February 2, 2015 - By 

    In the latest installment of Track Record, The Blades‘ Brian Foley gives us an insight into his record collection, featuring everyone from Hank Williams to The Clash. Photos by Shaun Neary. Hank Williams – The Very Best Of I love traditional country music as sung by Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Don Gibson and best of all, Hank Williams. Some people find his voice a bit jarring but I find it quite appealing and it adds to some of his more bleaker songs. The little yodel he sometimes uses blends in with the pedal steel guitar and the country fiddle. The lyrics are always…