• The Pavilion

    July 22, 2014 - By 

    Yesterday morning we woke up to the news of the closure of another Cork venue. The Pavilion, after eight years under current management, suddenly shut its doors, flourishing with a magnanimous thank-you over its social media channels to its regulars and social media followers. It’s sad. A wonderful venue, that supported Cork artists so wholeheartedly over the years, and brought in its share of legendary names over the years, from Stiff Little Fingers to Lee Scratch Perry, has come to an end. A place where magic was made, a swathe of musicians cut their chops, and a regular crew of DJs,…

  • Classic Movie: Planet of the Apes (1968)

    July 18, 2014 - By 

    It was the beginning of the comedown after the Summer of Love. 1967 had been a remarkable year, where pop culture had truly broken down the barriers, becoming perhaps the most important part of most young people’s lives. Inevitably, the year that followed took on a darker hue, and it was only a matter of time before someone would capture the fear and paranoia that had slowly crept into youth culture. And unbelievably, this dread was perfectly encapsulated in the unforgettable image of a bare-chested man on his knees, pounding his fists into a sandy beach, whilst the waves indifferently…

  • Deep Elm Records & How The Mainstream Ate Our Collective Souls Before Selling Them In A Bargain Bin In A Two For One Deal

    July 17, 2014 - By 

    It’s hard to be an independent record label in 2014. Between the slow, fluctuating, apparent demise of the CD, the hyper-commercialisation of alternative cultures and the fact that the average modern music consumer has the attention span of a five year old after a can of Monster, it’s a struggle for even the most robust, stubborn indie label to stay indie and stay functional. Today, the decision of a young person deciding to focus their career on working with and financing small bands is seen as admirable – it’s a sweet idea, but they’ll eventually give up and get a…

  • Longitude 2014 Must-Sees

    July 16, 2014 - By 

    Off to Marlay Park we go again. After a string of big-name acts performing at the venue these past few weeks, it’s time for Longitude to cap it all off. This is the second year of the festival, and though the line-up mightn’t be as strong as it was last year, there are most certainly a whole host of top acts to catch at this year’s festival. Here are a few of our favourites and a Spotify playlist for your pre-festival persual. Friday Bombay Bicycle Club They might be an obvious choice, but Bombay Bicycle Club are really one of…

  • Beyond Berghain: The Authentic Berlin Experience

    July 17, 2014 - By 

    If you have recently thought of visiting, moving to, or simply losing a weekend in Berlin, let me first of all congratulate you. Your sense of judgement is sound. In the words of Metronomy – if you’ve got to go to Berlin… GO. Everyone knows Berlin is quite actually the Laney Boggs of the world. Even when it wasn’t “hot” (thanks Cold War), David Bowie was living here, for Christ’s sake. And, again, like She’s All That, no one was particularly surprised that the moment Berlin took off her glasses (bye bye Wall), she became a shit-hot babe. But, sadly…

  • Meb Jon Sol: Bound For Glory

    July 14, 2014 - By 

    I pulled my cap further down my brow and buried my face deeper in my scarf to shelter from the biting cold. It had been threatening to snow all day but so far only delivered misty rain that cascaded down in brilliant sheets through the winter night. First came a pair of headlights, piercing the rain grey. Soon the entire shape of the lorry tore around the McKenzie roundabout I was standing on, shuttling at a speed which I feared would cause it to topple over on top of me. The driver maneuvered the roundabout with ease, circling and parking…

  • The Smuggest Album Ever Made: Pink Floyd’s The Division Bell

    July 15, 2014 - By 

    Apparently, Pink Floyd are set to release new music. Well, ‘new’ music. It says so on Polly Samson’s Twitter. And frankly, she should know. After all, she wrote most of The Division Bell, and now lists herself as the writer of something called The Endless River, a record made by her husband David Gilmour, featuring various other people, and credited to Pink Floyd. And if all this turns out to be the case (which it does) then there’s every chance that music fans are in for a pretty grim Autumn, as another catastrophically over-content monstrosity will be dumped upon us,…

  • Monty Python: still relevant, influential and, yes, funny

    July 10, 2014 - By 

    I write in reference to an article published yesterday on the Belfast Telegraph’s online Opinion section, by editor Mike Gilson. Today’s topic was that of Monty Python Live (Mostly), the group’s first major reunion since 1983’s Meaning Of Life, their string of performances at the O2 in London, and, specifically, the simultaneous broadcasting of the closing night across 450 of the UK’s cinemas (July 20) – a theatrical teaser trailer of which Gilson had the misfortune of witnessing with his own naked eyes. Before I continue, I’d like to clarify that my intentions, as crass and insulting as they may appear, are…

  • Everything Sucks #009: Garth Brooks

    July 8, 2014 - By 

    So, the news has just broke that country-pop superstar and apparent one-man economic stimulus package Garth Brooks has decided that the cash-in he was offered from a willing fanbase, that queued up for days in some cases and doubled occurrences of carpal tunnel syndrome refreshing their browsers, wasn’t good enough. After having two shows pulled owing to the objections of residents who have better things to do than have their front yards pissed in, the man himself issued an ultimatum that it was all the money he was initially offered, or he’d find some other backwoods to warm up for…

  • No Good Trying: A Syd Barrett Playlist

    July 7, 2014 - By 

    “I wasn’t always this introverted. I think young people should have a lot of fun. But I never seem to have any.” So said Roger Keith “Syd” Barrett in an interview with Rolling Stone in 1971. Three years on from parting with Pink Floyd – a band he co-founded and named – Barrett had just released his second and final studio album, Barrett, before withdrawing from the limelight, a visionary, plagued genius; victim of psychedelic consumption. Tales of his heavy LSD use and notoriously erratic behaviour are well documented, agonisingly revealing the birth and decay of arguably psychedelia’s brightest star, a beatific songsmith, equally entrenched and liberated by his…