• Classic Album: The Divine Comedy – Promenade

    June 25, 2014 - By 

    I’m none too smart, a sumo-intellectual at best, but people often assume I am clever because of my large forehead, glasses and the fact that I talk far too much. My learning is skin-deep and a mile wide but I have a felicitous ability to put random things together in a manner that would answer Lautremont’s dictum: I can’t get any of my dissecting done as the whole place is lousy with sewing machines and umbrellas. But mostly what I like doing is showing off. And this is a record that really shows off. It is, if you like, a…

  • Track Record: Caoilian Sherlock (The Shaker Hymn)

    June 27, 2014 - By 

    In the latest installment of Track Record – a feature looking at the record collections of Irish musicians and artists – photographer Brid O’Donovan shoots Caoilian Sherlock, lead singer and guitarist for Cork alt-rock four-piece The Shaker Hymn choosing and selecting some of his all-time favourite records, everything from legendary West Coast rappers and local psych-rock masters. The Clash – London Calling This is the only Clash album I actually like. When myself and my friend Oran were fifteen we went to Kerry for a holiday and we had two albums. Oran was the first person I met that knew about records…

  • Preview: Pick ‘n’ Mix Theatre Festival

    June 24, 2014 - By 

    Pick ‘n’ Mix. The phrase typically brings to mind the stale, sugary, empty promise of overpriced cinema confectionery. The Pick ‘n’ Mix Theatre Festival on the other hand promises to deliver something altogether more nourishing. Now in its seventh year the festival is named for the variety and scope of the shows it exhibits. In previous years the festival has played host to everything from high-energy dance shows set against computer generated backdrops to audio/visual pieces designed for infants. The point is very much “something for everyone”, something a bit unique for everyone with a sense of adventure that is.…

  • Meb Jon Sol: The Art of Fanciful Begging

    June 23, 2014 - By 

    I felt someone step over me in dark. They slipped quietly out the door and it shut behind them with a soft click, extinguishing the thin strip of light from the hallway that had briefly appeared, casting the room back into darkness. I pulled the sleeping bag tight around me and rolled over, negotiating a fleeting moment of comfort with the unforgiving wooden floor. The room was already stuffy with the early morning heat. I could tell the figure leaving that morning was tense, and I was the reason. I couldn’t blame them. They had generously offered their floor as…

  • Interview: Paddy Hanna

    June 24, 2014 - By 

    A restless artist and then some, Paddy Hanna is deservedly well regarded as one of the most prolific musicians in Dublin and beyond. When he’s not busy singing in Grand Pocket Orchestra or playing in Popical Island bands No Monster Club, Ginnels and Skelocrats, he’s writing, recording and playing his own wonderfully infectious, clever indie pop music. Off the back of the release of his exquisite debut album, Leafy Stiletto, we talk to Paddy about the incestuousness of Popical Island, scraping the “serious misery muck from [his] mind’s floor” and finding the time to commit to so many different projects. Hi Paddy. You released the…

  • Classic Album: Hüsker Dü – Zen Arcade

    June 19, 2014 - By 

    From the moment you press play, you know that you’re in for something special. Those drums, militaristic and intensely precise, ushers you into this false sense of rigidity and form. Then that bass comes in with its thick tone and fuzzy edges, blurring the sound and removing focus while never losing time. We have a second to breathe and adapt before that guitar comes in. Phasered and distorted to all hell with a piercing shrill undertone, its presence is pushing this carefully constructed structure to brink collapse. This wall of sound is finally scaled by an almost nonsensical barking vocal…

  • Fruit Tree: A Nick Drake Playlist

    June 19, 2014 - By 

    “Fame is but a fruit tree, so very unsound. It can never flourish, ’till its stock is in the ground. So men of fame, can never find a way, ‘Till time has flown, far from their dying day. Forgotten while you’re here, remembered for a while, A much updated ruin for a much outdated style.” So goes the now almost mythical opening lines to ‘Fruit Tree’ by English folk singer-songwriter Nick Drake, a song that perfectly encapsulates the peculiar phenomenon of posthumous fame and adulation. Although featuring on his 1969 debut album, Five Leaves Left – the first of three full-length albums he…

  • Inbound: Dear Desert

    June 19, 2014 - By 

    In this installment of Inbound – a feature introducing some of the country’s finest fast-rising musical talent – we chat to newly-formed Dublin-based band Dear Desert about how they got together, their influences and plans for the future. Hi guys. Can you tell us a bit about yourselves individually? Brendan: We are a Dublin based band but we all come from different parts of the country. We’re all working in Dublin and doing our best to make time to write and head to gigs. I work in music, so its easy to keep an ear out for new bands to see.…

  • Inbound: Big September

    June 17, 2014 - By 

    Featuring original photography by Alessio Michelini, we catch up with Wicklow indie rock five-piece Big September to talk about the recording and release of their debut album, the escapism inherent in their music and the band’s ahwe abundance of self-confidence looking towards the next few months. Hi guys. You released your debut album a month ago to a great response. How does it feel having it out there? It feels amazing. We had such a laugh making it and it makes it so much better that it did so well. We’re really thankful to everyone who bought it – it means so much to…

  • Festival Mixtape: Body & Soul 2014

    June 13, 2014 - By 

    Boasting one of the strongest festival line-ups this summer, Body and Soul returns to the labyrinthine and picturesque Ballinlough Castle, Co. Westmeath from June 20-22. Closely connected to the tradition of the Summer Solstice –  a thousand year old celebration to honour the sun – the festival has struck a fantastic balance between the very best acts in electronica (and elsewhere) and visual/performance art over the last few years, increasingly establishing itself as an annual showcase with its very own unique draw and charm. With exactly one week to go to the festival, we have compiled a fifteen-track Body & Soul…