• ASIWYFA Irish Tour

    June 22, 2015 - By 

    North Coast quartet And So I Watch You From Afar played two extraordinary Irish shows at the weekend, at Dublin’s Olympia and Belfast’s Mandela Hall respectively. Our photographers Isabel Thomas and Colm Laverty, and writers Eoghain Meakin and Cathal McBride were there to cover it all. Olympia Theatre, Dublin Photos by Isabel Thomas There’s something special about the Olympia. It’s not the most high profile venue in the city, nor does it always host the best acts from under or over the ground. But the traditional stage, elaborate plaster work and balconies add a sense of occasion to proceedings hard to…

  • Mogwai w/ RM Hubbert @ Olympia Theatre, Dublin

    June 22, 2015 - By 

    Not all bands survive long enough to have a twentieth anniversary tour, at least without reforming first. What’s remarkable about Mogwai is that they still feel like a current band, not yet reduced to being a mere heritage act, and so it’s difficult to conceive that they’ve been around that long (in the same way that it’s difficult to conceive that the mid 90s were quite that long ago, even for those of us young enough to have been in primary school at the time). As such it’s genuinely exciting to see what way tonight’s set will go, with such…

  • Mortal Kombat X (Warner Bros., Multiformat)

    June 19, 2015 - By 

    And so, we return once again to the age-old question: just how far is “too far”? Most scholars agree that one of the central tenets of art in all its forms is to be transgressive, to challenge tightly held mores and prejudices in order to push society, willing or not, in a healthier, freer direction. However, this drive towards progressiveness should always be counterbalanced by the caveat that upsetting the apple cart often leads to a lot of bruised apples. In less oblique terms, at what point does a piece of art stop being thought provoking and instead become merely…

  • Beck w/ Jonny Greenwood @ Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin

    June 19, 2015 - By 

    Beck and Jonny Greenwood on the same bill. It’s very seldom that such an absolute gift is given to the city of Dublin. Both of these men are towering artistic figures who managed to nail that subtle balance between commerce and self expression in a way that few others can lay claim to. Yet in spite of this, the crowd at Kilmainham could well be at a weekend session. Most of the crowd is relaxed and calm, drinking, not to excess, and enjoying some hand rolled cigarettes of a certain variety. Greenwood’s set is predominantly an orchestral one with him…

  • Television Irish Tour

    June 15, 2015 - By 

    Forty-one years on from the release of their seminal debut album, Marquee Moon, legendary New York quartet Television played Dublin and Belfast at the weekend. Words by Eoghain Meakin; photos by Isabel Thomas and Sara Marsden. The Academy, Dublin Off the sun kissed, Scot infested streets the smiling presence of Sinéad White (below) takes the stage. Support is always a hard slot, especially for a lone performer, but a few songs in and she has the attention of most of the crowd. And who could fail to be charmed? Though her music may tread over familiar ground her vocal acrobatics add…

  • Jurassic World

    June 15, 2015 - By 

    No recent blockbuster is so visibly animated by the anxiety of influence as Jurassic World. Coming 14 years after the last inter-species tête-à-tête, and nearly a quarter of a century after the magisterial original, Spielberg’s franchise has been dug out of amber and reanimated for a new generation. Now three sequels in, Jurassic World gestures to its cinematic parent with a half-embarrassed mixture of deference and dread, prodding audience nostalgia with riffs on iconic images while offering a surprisingly self-reflexive commentary on its own bland, sell-out pillaging of that first-time wonder. Two decades after the park’s initial teething problems, the…

  • Animal Disco: We Are Knives @ McHughs, Belfast

    June 14, 2015 - By 

    When asked to pen this review, I told myself I would strive to be objective and immediate, looking at the event solidly from the perspective of a mid-2015 evening, but as I sit down to put words to paper, I realise that this is virtually impossible. I mean, come on, it’s been over 7 years years since we last heard that finger tapping rhythm – it’s safe to say we’ve sorely missed it. So, where do we start? The obligatory history lesson, that;s where. Having risen some time in 2005 from the disbandment of classic Belfast acts Some Days Better…

  • SOAK, Rainy Boy Sleep + Rosseau @ Roisin Dubh, Galway

    June 14, 2015 - By 

    It’s a bright Friday evening at the start of the summer and as the first act of the night, Derry two-piece Rosseau (below), quietly take to the stage there is an immediate sense that the crowd here tonight are feeling that atmosphere of warmth. The room is quietly fluttering with an eagerness to be enveloped by some of the best music the North Coast has to offer. Having formed roughly six months ago and only releasing their debut EP at the start of June, Rosseau’s tender guitar and drum combo is still very much in its germination phase with only…

  • SOAK w/ Rainy Boy Sleep + Rosseau @ Empire, Belfast

    June 12, 2015 - By 

    With the news of a top 40 UK album under her belt, SOAK embarked on a tour to support the debut record, Before We Forgot How To Dream, starting off in Belfast’s very own Empire Music Hall before playing a sold out show in Dublin. Derry based band Rosseau and Rainy Boy Sleep open the show, with the former take to the stage just fifteen minutes after doors opened. Having just released their first EP the day before, Rosseau’s brief set is filled with some of the most melodic and twinkly guitar parts imaginable, and with the dynamic range of vocalist Colm on full show –…

  • Primavera Sound 2015

    June 11, 2015 - By 

    This year Primavera Sound celebrated its 15th birthday, in which time it has established itself as one of the foremost music festivals worldwide. Every year festival curators have aimed to deliver a top class line-up offering a diverse range of musical talent. Always interesting, they manage to blend exciting contemporary artists with auspicious greats who have paved the way. Scanning a list of legendary acts who have graced the Primavera stage is overwhelming; it’s like a who’s who of groundbreaking artists from the past 50 years, including Lou Reed, Iggy and the Stooges, Patti Smith, Television, Motorhead, My Bloody Valentine, Pavement,…