• Twin Peaks – Down in Heaven

    May 16, 2016 - By 

    If the stage-diving garage rockers The Orwells seem determined to re-live the late 60s anarchy of the MC5 and The Sonics, their fellow Chicagoans Twin Peaks seem happy to champion the more genteel sounds of that era. Guitarist Clay Frankel has spoken of the how a trilogy of 1968 records, The Beatles’ White Album, The Stones’ Beggar’s Banquet and The Kinks’ Village Green Preservation Society were key influences in the recording of new album Down In Heaven, and the folkier pastures of the British bands’ work has seemed to guide Twin Peaks to deliver a fine set of bittersweet, summery guitar pop just in time for…

  • Cian Nugent, Nap Eyes & Cryboys @ Whelan’s, Dublin

    May 16, 2016 - By 

    It’s a diverse crowd of music heads both old and young here at Whelan’s for a night of straight-up good music, untethered to current trends for what’s a homecoming show for Cian Nugent who has been gallivanting across America with main support Nap Eyes recently; this night kick starts the European leg. Opening the show are one of Nugent’s numerous side-projects, alt. country-meets-power-pop of Cryboys. Their 3-4 minute nuggets evoke early Wilco in what appears to be their first outing in some time with the group. It’s a strong set, scattered with the kinds of nostalgic hooks one would expect…

  • ANOHNI – Hopelessness

    May 12, 2016 - By 

    For her first release since disbanding Antony and the Johnsons, Anohni has changed not just her name, but her sound as well. Gone are the doleful torch ballads of Antony and the Johnsons (1998) and I am a Bird Now (2005), and the intricate chamber arrangements of The Crying Light (2009) and Swanlights (2010). In their place are electronic soundscapes rooted in the sensibilities of the record’s two producers – the harder edges of Hudson Mohawke marrying surprisingly easily with the more amorphous textures of Oneohtrix Point Never. The change of sound is drastic, but arguably necessary, Antony and the Johnsons having proceeded to a logical…

  • Jeff Lynne’s ELO @ 3Arena, Dublin

    May 11, 2016 - By 

    While Jeff Lynne sure knows how to make a bold statement by suggesting he is Alone in the Universe, tonight’s show and the previous string of dates in the UK that sold out in minutes certainly suggest otherwise. Apart from long time keyboardist and collaborator Richard Tandy, Lynne has an ensemble of relatively new but seasoned musicians to recreate and reinstate his cosmic vision of Electric Light Orchestra for his first tour in over 30 years. This particular gig at Dublin’s 3Arena was originally scheduled for the previous weekend but due to illness Jeff had to postpone and apologised fervently…

  • Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool

    May 11, 2016 - By 

    There is a certain degree of futility in reviewing a new Radiohead album. Although the term is thrown around quite loosely, it could be convincingly argued that Radiohead are legitimately a ‘critic-proof’ band and nothing that a bespectacled, pseudo-musical aficionado can say will affect anyone’s views. There is a good possibility that everyone reading this has already secured, listened to and devised their own opinion of the disc and its relative merits and is simply reading this as a form of validation. So since the majority of you have already digested it, let’s get the obvious question out of the…

  • Frankenstein Bolts – Cinematic Views

    May 10, 2016 - By 

    In the most sincere kind way, Cinematic Views by Wexford’s Frankenstein Bolts is just a nice record. It’s not a spectacular exploration of the human condition or a technical behemoth that levels the playing field with its symphonic intricacies. No, Cinematic Views is simply a delightful serving of dreamy folk with electronic overtones, almost like a stripped back Oppenheimer or if Belle and Sebastian covered Zero 7. This, the duo’s debut EP, is comprised of four neatly formed pieces of gentle, soothing musical warmth. The opener, “Station Street” is mellowed slice of sweet, carefree pop; the kind of music that’s…

  • James Blake – The Colour in Anything

    May 9, 2016 - By 

    There has always been something special about James Blake. Ever since his career began in a clutch of dubstep influenced EPs he’s been making music that means an awful lot to an awful lot of people. As he’s progressed, channelling our collective existential scream into a mournful but beautiful whisper, his resonance seems only to have deepened. His sound, one could even say his formula, of spacious, emotive music paired with his own haunting vocals are affecting in a way that is almost primal. Yet that description does a disservice to the intellectual construction of his music. True, there are no massive changes here; it is…

  • Julianna Barwick – Will

    May 9, 2016 - By 

    In a recent interview with Clash, ambient musician and vocalist Julianna Barwick appeard preoccupied with the difficulty of feeling a sense of “home” anywhere, the challenge in finding a place where one can feel empowered and at ease. Travelling to upstate New York, away from her residence in Brooklyn, to work on her fifth album Will just left her craving civilisation. But Brooklyn’s relentless buzz wasn’t right either, and so the album ended up being finished in North Carolina. What we get in Will then is an album awash with luxurious keys and dizzying vocal loops that attempts to sonically provide…

  • Aidan Moffat: ‘Where You’re Meant To Be’ screening & performance @ Black Box, Belfast

    May 5, 2016 - By 

    Aidan Moffat has been a busy man over the last few years but that hasn’t stopped him from quietly taking the Scottish folk songs of the countryside and transplanting them to the city. Working alongside documentary filmmaker Paul Fegan, Where You’re Meant To Be is part Road movie and part music documentary. Where You’re Meant To Be is Fegan’s first feature-length but the director is a former music promoter in Glasgow and has previously made a short film Pouters (streaming for free online) alongside a number of music videos for Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells and Belle & Sebastian. As…

  • Susanna – Triangle

    May 5, 2016 - By 

    How does a collection of songs become more than the sum of its parts and coalesce into a greater whole? Surely, sharing a musical or lyrical theme should suffice, but countless records have succumbed to the trappings of the generic in following that format. Given the risk, what’s the real benefit of opting for such rigidity in self-expression? Susanna’s Triangle is a great example of why the album as an idea works and how magical it can be. Over its ambitious runtime, the release primarily focuses on a fluid, transient interpretation of what constitutes a song. The emphasis here is…