• Until Dawn (Sony, PS4)

    October 19, 2015 - By 

    This time last year, Alien: Isolation took an innovative approach to the survival horror genre with mechanics that were at once challenging and, crucially, very, very scary. Its creation of a steadily building sense of dread was, until the release of Until Dawn, unparalleled. The brainchild of British developers Supermassive Games sets out to do something equally bold, and the results are hugely satisfying. Drawing upon the same creaky genre tropes that inform the none more meta movie Cabin In The Woods, this strange and beguiling release starts in a familiar locale (an isolated resort inconveniently placed atop a mountain,…

  • Sharon Shannon @ Empire Music Hall, Belfast

    October 19, 2015 - By 

    It’s a full house in Belfast’s The Empire Music Hall for button accordionist Sharon Shannon – one of the standout concerts of this year’s Ulster Bank Belfast International Arts Festival. Only the week before in Chicago the Clare musician received the iBAM! (Irish Books Arts & Music) award for her outstanding contribution to music – a merited accolade for a musician who has carved out a highly successful international career on an instrument whose usual habitat is the pub session. Shannon follows a long line of notable Irish accordionists from Joe Burke and Joe Cooley to Tony MacMahon and Seamus…

  • Graham J (Wild Is Launch) @ Sugar Club, Dublin

    October 19, 2015 - By 

    Following more than a year as an emerging live cabaret act, local Dublin singer Graham J. Norton took the Sugar Club’s center stage Wednesday evening to launch his debut album Wild Is.  Known simply as Graham J. to avoid confusion with TV personalities, this countertenor’s act arranges an eclectic mix of operatic, jazz, musical theatre, and pop genres, with original and covered work scattered throughout to create a thorough medley. The swarthy showroom space of Leeson Street’s Sugar Club proved an ideal venue for this variety act.  Decked in velvet red curtains and fairy lights, the dimly lit stage hosted…

  • Documenta – Drone Pop #1

    October 19, 2015 - By 

    As one of the forerunners in a burgeoning Irish psych-rock scene, Documenta are an intriguing prospect.  They have realistic expectations of their audience and a keen sense of artistic integrity.  Their music doesn’t invite the fanfare of over-excited teens screaming a chorus back at them.  It is music to be absorbed, introspective and thought provoking; it lends itself well to the escapists among us, those who want to drift away momentarily to dream of halcyon days. There’s clarity in their approach – a three-record agenda has been mapped out, this being the second in the trilogy before they move on…

  • Sea Legs w/ Little Rivers @ LEAF Cafe, Liverpool

    October 19, 2015 - By 

    Near the top of Bold Street as you amble uphill toward the bombed out church; beyond the spot where less intrepid travellers pause, is a place of rest and recuperation; a place of beauty, chocolate wonderment, amazing brews and some of the finest music in the City.  A tea room in the 20’s, a cinema in the 60’s and home of the original Microzine clothes shop in the 00’s, LEAF stands proudly in this beautiful art deco building.  It is fortunate to have maintained above its main tea emporium a triple height acoustically beautiful performance space, filled with an impressive…

  • Editors w/ Victories at Sea @ Olympia Theatre, Dublin

    October 14, 2015 - By 

    Since 2002, Editors have gained two platinum selling albums, five consecutive Top 10 albums, have toured the world and headlined festivals year after year. Tonight’s show has the dichotomy of on the one hand showing exactly why and how they have gained this success, but also leaves a little bit to be desired when it comes to a live show. Technically, the show is close to flawless – personality however, is close to absent. Before Editors take to the stage, fellow Englishmen Victories At Sea open the night with their guitar driven rock. With only one EP under their belts…

  • Gears of War Ultimate Edition (Microsoft, Xbox One)

    October 14, 2015 - By 

    Grunting. Shooting. Explosions. Fist pumps. The simple formula at the core of the Gears Of War franchise is by no means original but there is no denying its world dominating success. Upon its original release in 2006, GOW was for many the reason to invest in an Xbox 360, thanks to its finely honed shoot and cover mechanics, inventive world and a single player campaign that dared to tell an engaging narrative instead of functioning as a taster for the multiplayer mode. GOW has often been held aloft as the epitome of dumb but fun gaming yet now, nearly a…

  • Giveamanakick w/ Naive Ted @ Whelan’s, Dublin

    October 13, 2015 - By 

    When it was announced that Limerick noise-rock duo Giveamanakick were reforming to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their second album We Are The Way Forward, to say I was a tad ecstatic would’ve be an understatement. During their initial lifespan which lasted from 2001 to 2009, Giveamanakick – i.e. GAMAK – were one of the forerunners of the independent Irish underground scene. It was a time when bands such as themselves, The Redneck Manifesto, The Jimmy Cake, Estel and Waiting Room amongst others, helped breed new life into a scene that was succumbing to an overload of lifeless acoustic musical…

  • Irish Tour: 100 Onces & Stonemasons

    October 12, 2015 - By 

    “It feels like an attic in here.” This is the first thing a friend says to me when we walk into the upstairs room of the Roisín Dubh on a Saturday to catch one of the last shows of Los Angeles duo 100 Onces’ extensive tour which saw them travelling around the UK, Eastern Europe, Russia and back to Ireland. The feeling that we’re in an attic is largely owing to the lack of much light of any sort and the cluttering of three band’s worth of equipment in the corner. It’s not a bad feeling at all, and it…

  • Macbeth

    October 9, 2015 - By 

    In recent years, screen adaptations of Macbeth have sought to make an impression by courting relevance. Geoffrey Wright’s 2006 film, starring Sam Worthington in the lead, tranposed Shakespeare’s blood-coated tragedy to modern-day Melbourne, putting the verse in the mouths of rough cokehead gangsters who wouldn’t look out of place on the Sons of Anarchy set. For the BBC’s 2005 ShakespeaRe-Told series, Peter Moffat turned the theatrical into the gastronomical, casting James McAvoy as an ambitious sous chef chasing Michelin star glory. This new Macbeth, directed by Justin Kurzel (his sophmoric feature after 2011’s The Snowtown Murders), is the first high-profile film adaptation of the…