We followed Pennsylvanian rockers Halestorm on their Irish tour taking in The Academy in Dublin and Limelight in Belfast with support from Wilson. Check out the galleries below by Carlos Daly and Liam Kielt. The Academy, Dublin by Carlos Daly The Limelight, Belfast by Liam Kielt
Keith Wallace operates his bespoke micro-independent label Rusted Rail from his base in Galway. Here, he discusses his favourite albums with us from the comfort of his own home including Vashti Bunyan, Planxty and Black Sabbath. Photos by Sean McCormack. Tindersticks – Tindersticks I’ve had this album since it came out in 1993, but I just recently got it on vinyl, an original pressing which has one more extra song that didn’t fit on the CD at the time. There’s an entire life on this album. It’s rain-drenched and wine stained, that’s how I always think about it. It seems to…
In this installment of Track Record, we hang out with Gav White and Mark Cummins from Dublin based ‘Post-Nothing’ duo White Collar Boy. They select their five favourite records each from their respective collections featuring the likes of Fuck Buttons, The Beta Band and Scott Walker. Photos by Aidan Kelly-Murphy. Gav White The Universal Togetherness Band – Self Titled This is the last record I got just last week. Recovered gem of an LP that I first heard on a Mister Saturday Night Podcast and then I couldn’t find it anywhere until the ever reliable Gilles Peterson played it on his show. It has…
In this special installment of AAA (Access All Areas) we hop on tour with London alt-folk trio Bear’s Den as they took in the Workman’s Club in Dublin and Voodoo in Belfast with support from Rukhsana Merrise last weekend. View both full galleries of their tour below, filled to the brim with photos by Shaun Neary and Sara Marsden. The Workman’s Club in Dublin by Shaun Neary Voodoo in Belfast by Sara Marsden
In a film primarily concerned with death, it’s fitting that the soundtrack serves as an elegy. Graceful, portentous, and dramatic, Ennio Morricone’s score for Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West is more or less devoid of the whoops, shrieks, and catchy electric guitar that helped both men make a name for themselves on A Fistful of Dollars in 1964, a soundtrack that became one of the most iconic and evocative of its era. But despite that, it might just be the best thing one of the 20th century’s finest composers ever put his name to. Italian director Sergio Leone had made a few…
In the third installment of our Front of House series, we chat to James Feeney, a sound engineer working predominantly at The Workman’s Club in Dublin. He discusses what goes into his job and and his plans for 2015. Photos by Shaun Neary, Carlos Daly and Isabel Thomas. Hi James! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Hello! My name is James Feeney, I’m based in Dublin and currently working as a freelance sound engineer. I primarily work in The Workmans Club but there are a few bands I work with quite often too. How did you become…
With Longitude announcing their first string of acts last week, Forbidden Fruit have followed suit with a very tidy announcement featuring some electronic and hip-hop heavyweights. Set to feature 70 acts over five stages, the festival at Dublin’s Royal Hospital Kilmainham – taking place on the June Bank Holiday weekend, May 39-31 – will see the likes of Run The Jewels (above), Fatboy Slim and Wu-Tang Clan perform. Matador, Ejeca, Joey Badass, Bakermat, Earl Sweatshirt, Booka Shade, Dusky, Mr Scruff and Cyril Hahn will also feature in the festival’s fifth outing. Go to the Facebook event page for Forbidden Fruit 2015 for…
Few young bands excel at their respective genre as convincingly as Belfast-based indie-rock trio Hot Cops. Set to play our Independent Venue Week show at Oh Yeah Centre on Friday night, the band have just unveiled their new release, #1 Babes, a four-track EP of cunningly off-kilter, slacker-soaked anti-anthems that instantly evoke their main influences in Pavement, Deerhunter and Cloud Nothings. The EP was recorded by the band’s bassist Nathan Rodgers and mixed/mastered by Chris Ryan. Stream/download it (for free, if you so like) via Bandcamp below. #1 Babes by Hot Cops
The importance of editing should never be underestimated. It takes a lot for a person in any creative medium to step outside themselves and be able to recognize that, while you may be intensely proud of what you’ve made, some of it needs to be cut off to save the rest; a kind of apoptosis. Never forget that, while a cheeky wee guitar solo can be essential, after a point it’s just diminishing returns. It’s nigh on impossible to count the number of genuinely interesting prog rock songs that have been lost to unwieldy length and arrogance on the part…
Possibly the most anticipated gig all year, Run the Jewels aka Killer Mike and El-P lived up to the hype and put on a killer performance in the Opium Rooms last night, with support from GodKnows + mynameisjOhn. You can read our full review of the show in our January issue of The Thin Air magazine. Photos by Colm Moore.