• Brand New w/ Basement @ Vicar Street, Dublin

    September 23, 2015 - By 

    Vicar Street is buzzing tonight. This evening’s show, Brand New, is rather comfortably sold out. The touts out front are making a killing and the attendees are decked out in a multitude of attires ranging from well worn tees to freshly pressed school uniforms. The anticipation is pabalate as this is the first time the New York punks have visited the Republic in many years. The group also haven’t had a major release since 2009’s Daisy and have only recently released any kind of output, the single ‘Mene’. Yet, as evidenced by the crowd, Brand New are able to inspire…

  • Culture Night Belfast 2015

    September 22, 2015 - By 

    How does one even begin to contemplate an itinerary for this most varied and enormous of occasions? Not being one to shy away from a well-rounded plan of attack and in desperate need of some form of structure, The John Hewitt beckons and who are we to abstain?  After all, it seems to be an ideal location for some planning and imbibing. Planbibing, we’ll call it. Considering too that the Guinness is good, the bar is stacked tall with the official guidebooks to this evening’s proceedings, and the mellow harp-plucks are soothing our party from the stage, we’re set up…

  • Lisa Hannigan & Aaron Dessner @ Cork Opera House

    September 22, 2015 - By 

    It’s a Friday night like no other of the year in Cork City when Lisa Hannigan and Aaron Dessner take to the stage in Cork Opera House. Where the streets would normally be filled entirely with workers seeking their weekly escape from the monotony of paid employment in the corners of Cork’s pubs and clubs, this particular Friday is a night to remember rather than to numb. With the collision of the annual Irish initiative, Culture Night, and the Bryce Dessner curated showcase/festival, Sounds From A Safe Harbour, the combination of Irish folkster Lisa Hannigan and The National’s Aaron Dessner…

  • Girls Names – Arms Around a Vision

    September 21, 2015 - By 

    Although the current line up of Girls Names have been playing live for well over two years now, aside from a cover of Brian Eno’s ‘Third Uncle’, new album Arms Around A Vision (and recent single ‘Zero Triptych’ – a track that would have made a perfect centrepiece to the album had it not been perversely left off) marks the debut of Gib Cassidy behind the drums in place of founder member, Sea Pinks’ Neil Brogan, as well as guitarist Philip Quinn’s full integration into the band, having only appeared on synth duty for two tracks on 2013’s The New…

  • SOAK w/ Sea Legs & Jessica Doherty @ Playhouse, Derry

    September 20, 2015 - By 

    Small in physical stature but massive in national and international impact, Bridie Monds-Watson, the artist otherwise known as SOAK, has established herself as a confident and chameleonic performer – casually costumed yet commanding, modestly mannered yet musically masterful. These are not words one uses lightly, but they are well earned in the Derry chanteuse’s case; her meteoric rise and the reception of debut album Before We Forgot How To Dream are testament to this. And she expectedly, deservedly returns to loud applause at a packed out homecoming gig in Derry’s Playhouse Theatre, accompanied by a worthy pair of support acts…

  • Jeffrey Lewis and Peter Stampfel w/ Shrug Life @ The Hub, Dublin

    September 20, 2015 - By 

    U:Mack absolutely spoil Dublin. The breadth and magnitude of underground artists they’ve brought into the city is unparalleled and the undeniably consistent quality of musicians they bring is frankly jaw dropping. U:Mack are one of the city’s unquestioned saving graces and this show, Jeffrey Lewis and Peter Stampfel is a testament to the group’s quality and mentality. It was a wise decision moving this show from it’s original venue, The Hangar, to the small, more intimate location of The Hub. With it’s amusements lighting and couches, it feels like a much more appropriate, friendly and homely setting for this kind…

  • Holly Herndon @ Spiegeltent, Dublin

    September 19, 2015 - By 

    It’s hard to think of an appropriate introduction for Holly Herndon. Her latest album, Platform on 4AD/RVNG, blends vocal explorations, teasing ASMR and the occasional burst of full-on techno. She’s also got an academic bent to her work, studying for her doctorate in composition at Stanford. In recent months she has been involved in Infiltrate with Love, a fundraiser in support of imprisoned whistle-blower Chelsea Manning. All this might lead one to believe that her performances could carry an air of dry or overly cerebral seriousness, but instead, her appearance at Dublin’s Fringe Festival was at turns playful, dream-like and, put…

  • Withnail & I @ Strand Arts Centre, Belfast

    September 17, 2015 - By 

    Only a fool or a visionary would stage a live version of the finest portfolio of filmed quotes known to man. What fucker said that? This fucker. Just there. I was at the Strand Arts Centre last weekend for Kandu Theatre Company’s notionally foolhardy attempt to wrestle Withnail and I into submission for the stage. Free cake and a wine was promised as a sweetener. But for most in the sold out audience, it was the “bring your own” aspect that had us suitably primped in anticipation for the antics ahead. First things first – Bruce Robinson’s script is a…

  • Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture (The Chinese Room, PS4)

    September 17, 2015 - By 

    I have a friend who, when he was a young boy, was fascinated by the idea of the apocalypse. He was not terrified or even mildly scared of the prospect of the end of the world. Rather, he was excited by it. Apparently, he had read The Day Of The Triffids several times and was genuinely beguiled by the notion of the wiping out of the entire human race because, and I am not making this up, he would be free to spend all day sitting on a mountain of crisps reading comic books and watching films, all the while…

  • Battles – La Di Da Di

    September 16, 2015 - By 

    For Battles, it was always going to be downhill after a record like Mirrored; a strangely hypnotic and danceable collection of math rock songs that let the group kick in the door, guns blazing, announcing to the world that Battles were a fully formed and ready to rock. While recording their follow-up, 2010’s Gloss Drop, the group lost their lead singer and were forced to bring in a number of guest vocalists to fill the void as well as dropping vocals from a number of the tracks altogether. This schism of sound didn’t do the album, admittedly very good, many…