• Jason Lytle w/ Malojian @ 1st Presbyterian Church, Belfast

    May 5, 2019 - By 

    Kudos to Malojian (below) for amassing such a considerable array of achievements in a relatively short period of time: touring all over the shop, winning over a legion of fans and recording four albums of hushed reverie – most notably, with big kahuna producer Steve Albini, whose sparse recoding style is fitting for Malojian’s meticulously thought out arrangements. Then, as we are told, there is the forthcoming record with Jason Lytle on which he has been working this past week. The omens and the muses are both very good, it seems. It is easy to see why. Malojian writes clever, engaging…

  • John Cooper Clarke @ Ulster Hall, Belfast

    May 1, 2019 - By 

    “It’s let’s see who’s still alive in Belfast night”, the fifty-something-year-old man said, entering the foyer of the Ulster Hall. For the city’s former punks any gig by the movement’s old guard is reason to turn out, even it if is for a poetry night. John Cooper Clarke, to be fair, is no ordinary poet. Since the 1970s, Salford’s punk-poet extraordinaire has surfed the highs and lows of an unfashionable business, rhyming and riffing on everything from sperm tests and inner-city poverty to the crumbling NHS, metrosexuals and Bono’s stolen trousers. At seventy, this great satirist is perhaps more relevant…

  • Junior Brother and PowPig @ The Grand Social, Dublin

    April 19, 2019 - By 

    The outside of Dublin’s Grand Social is littered with both local and foreign football fans, the downstairs bar is a flood of jerseys and half-spilled pints, but upstairs in the smoking area of the bar, a semi-orderly queue is forming. A few strays weasel their way to the front and mutter something about spare tickets, but to no avail. The rest, stand patiently, smoking, drinking and chatting, waiting to enter the venue. One guy bursts in red as a baboon’s hole and takes three maybe four puffs from an inhaler before joining the line. All of these people are here…

  • Turning Pirate’s Mixtape @ Lost Lane, Dublin

    April 16, 2019 - By 

    Lost Lane, Dublin’s newest venue, opened its doors this weekend on the site of what used to be the relatively infamous Lillie’s Bordello. While the truism about difficult second albums doesn’t quite translate to a live venue, word about the success of the launch night does put some pressure on tonight’s Turning Pirate Lost Lane Mix Tape to deliver. The bill is promising in itself, we know we can expect to see Barq, Cathy Davey and Niamh Farell of HamsandwicH fame but we are also promised VERY special guests. They even used caps lock. Compere Bryan Quinn introduces Barq (Half…

  • Nealo w/ Alex Gough @ Whelans, Dublin

    March 31, 2019 - By 

    From the smoking area of Whelans, dull rhythmic thuds can be heard from within the venue’s upstairs stage. Alex Gough has just begun his very first live set and for the few that have gathered to watch, it is apparent that he is no ordinary hip-hop act. Clad in what could be described as 1960s beach-wear, the 19-year-old Waterford-born prodigy is not only the on-duty MC, but also the resident drummer. Gough effortlessly juggles J-Dilla inspired beats with flows that are as smooth in delivery as they are sticky with funk. Although stiff at first, Gough (below) and his band…

  • Sharon Van Etten w/ The Golden Filter @ Vicar Street, Dublin

    March 24, 2019 - By 

    Over the past 12 years, New Jersey native Sharon Van Etten has steadily made a name for herself as one of indie music’s most reliable and consistent artists. Since 2009’s debut Because I Was In Love, her melancholic, mature songwriting has gone from strength to strength with her recent album Remind Me Tomorrow being the most experimental and accomplished of all. It’s been quite some time since Van Etten’s last outing to Dublin however before she takes to the stage the audience is treated to support act The Golden Filter. The synth-pop duo (below) is the perfect companion to Van…

  • Anderson .Paak w/ Tayla Parx @ The Olympia, Dublin

    March 20, 2019 - By 

    The Olympia is at about half capacity and there’s a gentle chitter-chatter in the air as support act Tayla Parx takes to the stage. For those not in the know, PARC is better known for her behind the scenes work, having recently collaborated with Ariana Grande and Panic! at the disco. If you look at the songwriting credits for the big pop hits of 2018, you’re bound to find her name on a few of them. Parx’ energy on stage is like that of an excited child, in the best possible way. She is giddy, charismatic and bubbly as hell,…

  • Conor Walsh – The Lucid LP Launch @ The Sugar Club, Dublin

    March 17, 2019 - By 

    Conor Walsh’s debut release, The Front, was a glimpse of a talent in development. Though Walsh’s playing was similar to that of other contemporary minimal musicians – most obviously Nils Frahm – his experimentation with treating and processing the sound of his piano showed how he was already forging his own path away from them. His untimely death just months after the EP’s release was therefore a huge musical loss as well as a personal one, as it seemed that we would be left with only that small glimpse. But Walsh’s family, after guessing the password to his laptop, found…

  • RTÉ Choice Music Prize 2018

    March 8, 2019 - By 

    It’s hard to convey the buzz in Vicar Street as the place starts filling up. You can’t look anywhere without spotting a handful of familiar faces. From my vantage point. rappers Kojaque and Luka Palm can be seen relaxing on the right side of the balcony, while blogger Nialler9 sits further to my left. Anybody that is a somebody in the Irish music industry is present. The show kicks off with a little introduction from presenter Eoghan McDermott. There’s the usual spiel of “Are we doing well?… I said, ‘Are we doing well?’” before he cracks on introducing the first…

  • Massive Attack @ 3Arena, Dublin

    February 25, 2019 - By 

    When Massive Attack announced their current Mezzanine XXI tour last October, no one could have reasonably expected a safe or linear presentation of the band’s seminal – and arguably career-cresting – 1998 album. With founding member Robert Del Naja aka 3D promising a “one-off piece of work; our own personalised nostalgia nightmare head trip”, at Dublin’s 3Arena tonight, the Bristol luminaries deliver on that pledge and then some. Unless you’ve been keeping a close eye on recent setlists, the big curveball of tonight’s set isn’t the top-drawer guest vocalists (in this case, Horace Andy and the ever extraordinary Elizabeth Frazer).…