• Gigs of the Week: Gifted, Bob Log III, Girls Names, Yule, Cian Nugent, Sissy

    December 3, 2014 - By 

    Ho, ho, ho-w are you? Sorry, that was terrible. Let’s try that again. How are you? Good? Good. Here’s five gigs happening over the next few days that we were really think you should make a concerted effort to attend. Happy Hanukkah. Gifted: Ciaran Lavery & more @ The Empire, Belfast – Thursday, December 4 Yet another first-rate bill by the acoustically-inclined folks at Gifted, Aghagallon songwriting extraordinare Ciaran Lavery will headline the latest installment of the night at Belfast’s Empire on Thursday, December 4. Also on the bill is John Blek, Travis is a Tourist and Orchid Collective.   Sissy,…

  • Gigs of the Week: Tim Hecker, Conan, Mos Def, Boxcutter, Callum Stewart

    November 19, 2014 - By 

    Pigs of the bleak? Nope. Figs of the streak? Not a chance. Swigs of the geek? That doesn’t even make sense. What you were looking for – searching for, all these years – was this week’s installment of the ever-ingenuously titled Gigs of the Week. Inclined towards leaving the house and watching people perform music over the next few days? Read on and right on. Tim Hecker, Ellll @ Button Factory, Dublin – Thursday, November 20 Supported by Cork electronic noise artist Ellll (read about her in the November issue of our physical magazine here), Canadian ambient artist Tim Hecker (pictured)…

  • Second Chance Cinema Weekender

    November 19, 2014 - By 

    The all-but cinematically-omniscient folks of Second Chance Cinema will host another Weekender at Belfast’s South Bank Playhouse from Friday, November 28 to Sunday, November 30. Fans of pop-up cinema take note: the schedule very nicely traverses cosy matinees, weird romance and the work of local filmmakers across the three days and nights. See below for the full schedule: Friday November 28 Northern Irish Shorts – 8pm Alternative Energies. Produced by DU Dance, 2014 (20 mins) Bombin’, Beats and B Boys, Dir. Chris Eva, 2013 (30 mins) Following the Iron Compass, Dir. Paul McParland, 2013 (15 mins) Same Again, Dir. Aidan…

  • Smart Casual Vol. 1: Come Down With Me

    November 13, 2014 - By 

    The Pavilion hosts a unique, new – to Belfast – night, tentatively titled Smart Casual – almost certainly a reference to this – in its middle bar on November 23. The night takes its cues from other clubs, with the likes of Body & Soul, Optimo, and the aim is to create something of a chillfest, with an eclectic but dubby/spacey atmosphere, which will progress to a conclusion of straight-up house and techno. The laid-back night is open deck, meaning anyone with the skills and the means is encouraged to bring their own wax and spin to their heart’s content. Admission is completely free and the event kicks…

  • Gigs of the Week: All Tvvins, The Telescopes, Northern Ireland Music Prize, Luke Abbott, Crayonsmith

    November 11, 2014 - By 

    Ah, sure it’s yourself. How’s the form? Good? Good! So, we trust you’ve toddled in here for the sole purpose of finding out what gigs to hit up over the next few days, so let us not waste your precious time any longer. See below (and beyond the front door). The Telescopes, The Vincent(s) @ The Workman’s Club – Thursday, November 13 Twenty-seven years on from forming in Staffordshire, English space-rock maestros The Telescopes return to Dublin on Thursday night to play a highly-anticipated show at the Workman’s Club. Better still, the guys will be supported by self-proclaimed death pop band…

  • Gigs of the Week: Patrick Kelleher, Kab Driver, Dear Desert, Gifted, The Wedding Present, Radar

    November 4, 2014 - By 

    You’re looking well, you know that? Really well. Gym, is it? Cutting back on the soft drinks, was it? Walking to work in the morning, are we? But enough of the flirting: here’s our Gigs of the Week. Slick back that hair and get out there: much toe-tapping, gallivanting and/or wrecking the gaff awaits. New Natives: Patrick Kelleher, Bouts, Fangclub, Psychics @ The Grand Social, Dublin – Thursday, November 6 The humongously tasteful folks at New Natives will host a stellar four-act bill at Dublin’s Grand Social on Thursday night. Headlined by the inimitable and sorcerous Patrick Kelleher, the show will also features…

  • Gigs of the Week: Go Wolf, Future Islands, Sunglasses After Dark

    October 28, 2014 - By 

    Hallowe’en. There, we said it. Now that we’ve clarified our position on the matter, we’ll move straight to business: here’s our Gigs of the Week, for this particular moment week in time, never to been heard of or seen again, and yet, rather magically, still something yet to be achieved, experienced and appreciated. Time, ladies and gentlemen – think about that for a second. No Tomorrow: Go Wolf, Allez Bartoli, Ed Zealous DJs @ Voodoo, Belfast – Saturday, November 1, 9pm, £5 If we didn’t feature our monthly Belfast gig/club night in the fourth and final Gigs of the Week…

  • The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets

    October 20, 2014 - By 

    Held in partnership with the NI Science Festival, Simon Singh will host a downright unmissable show for all Simpsons aficionados at Belfast’s Black Box on Friday, October 24. Based on his critically-acclaimed book of the same name, The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets will see Singh reveal how the legendary show’s mathematically gifted team of scriptwriters have used the series to explore everything from pi to primes, from calculus to geometry, from infinitesimals to infinity. Sounds fun, right? We’d be inclined to agree. Tickets – priced at £6 or £3 concession – can be purchased here.

  • Gigs of the Week: The High Dials, Sea Pinks LP Launch, Slow Skies, Skymas etc.

    October 8, 2014 - By 

    Slow Skies @ The Sugar Club, Dublin – Wednesday, October 8 Having released their slick, elegiac Keepsake EP at the tail-end of last month, fast-rising Dublin dream-pop duo Slow Skies will surely spellbind Dublin’s Sugar Club on Wednesday, October 8. Catch them before they go positively stratospheric.   Fox Jaw, Gascan Ruckus, Th Greased Palm @ Voodoo, Belfast – Thursday, October 9 Limerick band Fox Jaw (recently abbreviated from Fox Jaw Bounty Hunters) bring their gloomy alt-rock up North for the Belfast launch of their new album, Ghost’s Parades, at Voodoo on Thursday night. Belfast-based acts Gascan Ruckus and The Greased Palm make…

  • Talking Tatts @ The Mac

    October 6, 2014 - By 

    On Monday, October 6, Belfast’s the MAC will host a unique exhibition looking at the story behind the tattoos of some of Northern Ireland’s best-known musical artists and industry professionals. An intriguing project by artist and musician Paul Kane and one of the country’s leading music photographers, Carrie Davenport, the first installment of Talking Tatts “concentrate on how musicians and members of music industry, choose to be permanently creative with their own bodies, the designs they choose, the sentimental or memory based reasons behind ‘inked’ and ultimately, why they are such an addictive art form.” The exhibition will combine portraits and a video installation “where intimate…