• Mixtape Preview: Hit So Hard

    August 28, 2019 - By 

    Not least considering the sheer amount of high-profile figures who dominated grunge’s heyday in the early 1990s, it may seem curious – that is on the surface – that P. David Ebersole opted to delve into the backstory of Hole’s relatively shy-and-retiring Patty Schemel in his 2011 documentary Hit So Hard. But it’s a thought that, sans facts, neglects not only the drummer’s vital involvement in one of the generation’s biggest bands, but the heady, tragic lives of those whose personal lives often eclipsed the music. In focusing on one of the scene’s more unassuming characters, Ebersole traces hugely engrossing narrative. Chronicling…

  • Chromatic – Episode 2: Tandem Felix

    August 23, 2019 - By 

    We’re pleased to premiere the second episode of our collaboration with Chromatic – a Dublin-based duo who film performances using unique spaces as visual and acoustic backdrops, featuring Tandem Felix as they perform ‘Making Dinner on Valentine’s Day’ in the Forgotten Village in Dublin. “This is a song I heard when they opened for Steve Malkmus & The Jicks back in October 2018. I remember the song well, due to its strong visual word painting throughout. I couldn’t get the song or the visualization of walking around the city, foraging for the various ingredients needed to make the meal. It’s sung and paced in such…

  • I Think it’s Time We Talked Things Over: An interview with Stiff Little Fingers

    August 22, 2019 - By 

    Inflammable Material, the ferocious debut from Belfast legends Stiff Little Fingers, is now forty years old and stands as one of the great records of the punk era. The Stiffs detailed the frustrations, anger and mind-numbing boredom of Northern Irish life during the Troubles in fearless fashion, helping to define an otherwise dark era for many. This month, the band celebrate its birthday with two Irish dates, a stop in Dublin’s Academy before returning to Belfast’s Custom House Square for the third successive year. I spoke to frontman Jake Burns about that show, his contemporaries, Brexit, and Coronation Street. Hi…

  • Mixtape Preview: Teenage Superstars

    August 19, 2019 - By 

    Running (independently) parallel with equally generation-shaping scenes in cities like Washington and Minnesota, Scotland was a singularly fertile ganglion of DIY and indie music throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s. From Teenage Fanclub and The Vaselines to The Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream, towns like Bellshill and East Kilbride – as well much bigger scenes in Glasgow – gave rise to some of the most influential artists of a generation. Such a mottled and many-chaptered narrative can’t exactly be reeled off or pared down into a précis, which is perhaps why few books – and much fewer films…

  • Quare Groove: Q&A with Colm K

    August 19, 2019 - By 

    This Saturday (Aug 24th) the soulful fellas from Belfast’s Neighbourhood club host Cork DJ/producer Colm K at the left-of-centre Ulster Sports Club. Friend of Neighbourhood and Bullitt resident, Jonny Carberry, fired some questions Colm’s way… JC: Colm! Cheers for doing this. I really enjoyed your Boiler Room Residents Hour mix from a couple of years back – they described you as someone who was ‘pushing the boundaries, orbiting in dance music territories outside of the usual house/techno worlds’. Are you still a resident at Sunday Times? How is the Cork scene at the moment – do you still have sense…

  • Monday Mixtape: Andy Ortmann

    August 19, 2019 - By 

    In the latest installment of Monday Mixtape, Chicago based sound/visual/conceptual artist and founder of Nihilist Records Andy Ortmann selects some of the tracks that have inspired him recently. “As of late, I’ve been in the studio, chipping away at the new Panicsville double LP. It will have a slew of guests including Rudolf Eb.er, Diana Rogerson, Christoph Heemann, Matthew Waldron & Daniel Menche. My newest solo album Eye of the Beholder is to be reissued on cassette September 2019 (pro-dubbed Chrome tape) in an edition of 100 copies with artwork by Paul Nudd. Myself and VIKI (Detroit) will be touring Europe October…

  • Countersunk share video for 101 Beats Per Minute track, ‘Retkiluistelu’

    August 15, 2019 - By 

    Following the success of last year’s immense compilation, Dublin experimental label, Countersunk, has been sharing a new track every week since April as part of 101 Beats Per Minute II. Featuring contributions from a wide range of Irish musicians and producers, each track in the collection, as with the first edition, is as distinct as the next, with the only brief given being that it has to be recorded at 101 bpm. The tracks themselves continue to be released anonymously, with the likes of Blusher, Kobina, Eomac, David Kitt, ROMY and Linda Buckley among the new compilation’s contributors. “We’re hoping to create a dialogue between…

  • Monday Mixtape: Elma Orkestra & Ryan Vail

    August 12, 2019 - By 

    In the latest installment of Monday Mixtape, Eoin O’Callaghan aka Elma Orkestra and Ryan Vail – a duo who has recently released one of the Irish albums of the year in Borders – select some of the tracks made an imprint on writing and recording of the project. Catch Borders, live, at the following upcoming shows: Stendhal Festival – 16th August Electric Picnic – 30th August Max Richter – On The Nature of Daylight (Entropy) This has been one of our favourite tunes to date. We’ve been listening to it since its release many years ago. Most recognise it from the…

  • Preview: Féile na Gréine 2019

    August 12, 2019 - By 

    It’s no longer up for debate: right now, the network of promoters, venues and artists that make up Ireland’s extraordinary DIY music scene (singular) is the strongest and most homogeneous that it’s ever been. From Dundalk, Cork, and Belfast to Letterkenny, Dublin, Derry and beyond, incalculable good people are putting on world-beating shows and festivals, featuring acts of every ilk and every conceivable corner of the island. No area or sound is being overlooked. No band is stranded in the arse-end of nowhere after a show. Blind, sweeping reverence for Dublin as some sort of untouchable bastion of Irish music…

  • Chromatic Launches With a Beautiful One-Shot Performance From Saint Sister

    August 9, 2019 - By 

    Over the coming weeks and months we’ll be teaming up with Chromatic, a Dublin-based duo who film performances using unique spaces as visual and acoustic backdrops. The vision of long-time friends Kieran “Sherry” Sheridan and Ror Conaty – who have both been active in the Dublin music scene for years – Chromatic is a series born from a joint desire to “open up music/musician circles to audiences who might not be aware of the artists on their doorstep.” Sheridan and Conaty correlated that with their love of outdoor natural space, as well as unique buildings and history that’s found across the…