• The First Time: Rachel Austin

    July 30, 2013 - By 

    In the third installment of The First Time, we catch up with Belfast-based experimental folk singer-songwriter Rachel Austin, delving into a whole range of musical “firsts” in her life both as a performer and lover of music. Traversing her experiences with everyone from the Appleseed Cast and the Smashing Pumpkins to UB40 and Django Reinhardt, the Virginia-born artist has come quite the way… Portrait photo by the ever-excellent Joe Laverty. ___ First album you bought? I begged my parents to take me to the music shop to buy Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World when I was 8 or 9.…

  • Festival Mixtape: Tanglewood Music and Arts Festival 2013

    July 29, 2013 - By 

    Taking place at the incomparably scenic surroundings of Narrow Water Castle in Warrenpoint, Tanglewood Music and Arts festival returns for its third outing on the weekend of August 3 and 4. Headlined by globetrotting North Coast post-rock quartet And So I Watch You From Afar, the showcase also boasts a line-up including the likes of Thin Lizzy guitarist/singer-songwriter Eric Bell, electronic duo The Japanese Popstars and Belfast singer-songwriter Peter Wilson AKA Duke Special. Several up-and-coming and increasingly established homegrown acts included More Than Conquerors, Pocket Billiards and Hurdles also feature in the line-up, set to take place across four stages. With…

  • Turn It Up: An alternative Blur playlist

    July 29, 2013 - By 

    ‘Girls and Boys’, ‘Parklife’, ‘Songs 2’ – the vast majority of us could hum the choruses to each of these Blur singles in our sleep, night after night, until time itself consumes us and the final under-the-breath muttered “woohoo” for eternity. Which is not necessary a bad thing, of course. In their heyday, Alex James, Damon Albarn, Dave Rowntree and Graham Coxon were collectively responsible for concocting some of the most ridiculously infectious singles of a generation. Lingering beneath that exterior, however, was a considerably more experimental knack spearheaded by the wonderfully wayward playing of Coxon and Albarn’s own brand of…

  • Inbound: Affleck (Exclusive EP stream)

    July 29, 2013 - By 

    Seventy-five percent of sadly-departed experimental pop foursome Eatenbybears, Affleck are a Belfast-based three-piece that have covered quite a bit of ground in the four months since the former outfit’s untimely dissolution back in March. Comprised of Aidan Kelly, Clark Phillips and James Pollock, the electronic pop outfit – dusting themselves down and arguably finding their sound – have been occupied writing and recording their all-too-brief self-titled debut EP, a sublime five-track slab of phantasmal harmonies, shuffling somnambulist rhythms and subtly cascading, wonderfully woven electronic noise. As it so happens, for this week’s special installment of Inbound, we have an exclusive stream…

  • Mustang Margaritas: Alex Trimble and Jamie William

    July 26, 2013 - By 

    Last summer Two Door Cinema Club frontman Alex Trimble and his best friend Belfast photographer Jamie William embarked on road trip down the West coast of America in a classic car, taking in everything from the scorching Nevada desert and seedy sights of Las Vegas. Armed with a pair of Contax G2 cameras and literary notions like On The Road for company and Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas for company, the duo set about capturing their journey, the result of which is Mustang Margaritas, a collection of postcards hand-picked to tell the story of one special trip in a Mustang across…

  • Everything Sucks #003: Millenials

    July 25, 2013 - By 

    So the latest bored-old-hack thing du jour is to label children of the ’80s “millennials” and get stuck into them for the same shit bored old hacks did to Generation X, etc. etc. So far, so very every reactionary article, and while a lot of them have valid points (narcissism and selfies, for example), it’s mostly just the same old same: “kids these days and their technology/music/haircuts (delete as applicable), aren’t they silly/weird/unfamiliar to our audience!”. The counter-arguments build up in your head as you read, and you know you’re fighting a losing battle with the decrepits that churn out…

  • In conversation with… The Vincent(s)

    July 25, 2013 - By 

    In the first installment of  In Conversation With..., photographer Brid O’Donovan captures Margus and Shane from Cork “death pop” five-piece The Vincent(s) visually and in conversation about the band and their music. This is where we would say “awesomesauce” if we sucked – which we do so … awesomesauce. _____ [On discovering music as a kid] Margus: “I had a friend around the corner. We moved into this estate when we were young and you’d see someone wearing a band t-shirt and you would be obsessed. You call round to their house when you’re not invited. Then I found his…

  • Life Through A Lens

    July 23, 2013 - By 

    Isn’t technology mindblowing? I’m typing this collection of words onto a page, in whichever font I choose, displayed on a screen, which is attached to a bunch of plastic and metal with electricity running through it which is wirelessly connected to an international network containing all the information ever, which I can’t even see. Crazy. Thanks to technology, the world of entertainment has been changed forever. Sure, it has its pros and cons but it has certainly made things a lot easier. There is no need to leave your house to do most things. You can buy albums, watch movies,…

  • Classic Album: The Blue Nile – Hats

    July 23, 2013 - By 

    Every so often, an album slips through the cracks. It may have inspired quiet critical praise among the attentive, but for the most part the record sinks without trace into the mists of obscurity. Some albums are eventually rescued from this fate – The Velvet Underground & Nico being the most famous example of a record posthumously put on a pedestal – but the majority of these forgotten critics’ darlings are left to be cherished by a devoted few, doomed to pop up occasionally on ‘Forgotten Classics’ blogs or Channel 4 specials before fading away again. Despite having an older…

  • Getting Re-acquainted: Dinosaur Jr – Freak Scene (1988)

    July 23, 2013 - By 

    Until this point, noise-mongers Dinosaur Jr had never sounded so upbeat. Indeed, this seemed to be the moment that the entire American indie underground came out of its shell and decided to have some fun. But little did anyone know, this upbeat ode to joy was soon to become a fond farewell to the idealism and camaraderie of a scene that had fundamentally altered the lives of many. Goodbye indie charm, hello corporate clout. By 1988, Dinosaur Jr had silenced most of the doubters. The somnambulistic three piece had originally been the butt of many a joke, with their sloppy,…