Distorted Perspectives festival took place at the Regional Culture Centre in Letterkenny over the weekend with Jeffrey Lewis, BC Camplight and Captain A and the Commerical Monsters. Photos by Mickey Rooney.
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For non-Irish acts, Letterkenny probably seems like a strange date to include on a tour. But with Distorted Perspectives now in its third year, having previously brought names like Moon Duo and Damo Suzuki to the town it might not stay that way. This year, the festival’s biggest draw is Leeds psych quintet Hookworms, making their debut Irish jaunt along with a show in Dublin’s Whelans the night before. From the outside, the RCC looks like much too large a venue for this sort of gig, but thankfully the performance space is perfect – a small black room with a…
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Contrary to popular belief, on the 13th of July 1985, Bob Geldof did not turn to a TV camera and shout, “GIMMIE THE FUCKIN’ MONEY!” Instead, whilst imploring viewers to make the phonecall, and being told by BBC TV host David Hepworth that they needed to give the postal address out first, he utters, “Fuck the address, let’s get the numbers.” Hepworth then informs him that they’re going to have to give the address out first anyway, and Bob retires to the background for a moment. The three other studio guests proceed to read out credit card numbers, with Pamela…
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Deep in the serenity of West Cork lies famed music venue Connolly’s of Leap, a venue which is set to host Ciúnas: An Evening of Quiet Songs, on Friday, April 29. An intimate seated show in which the organisers ask the audience to “completely give their attention and respect to the artist”, the evening will feature the varyingly somnambulist sounds of three of the country’s finest: trio Pine the Pilcrow, the dark folk musings of I Have A Tribe and West Cork native Sam Clague. Ciúnas’ is the Irish word for quiet, or silence; maybe even ‘absence of sound’ .
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As part of their latest Irish tour the irrepressible Booka Brass Band stopped off at Galway’s Roisin Dubh on Friday night. Patrizio Mancuso was there to capture the show.
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Explosions in the Sky live at Vicar Street in Dublin with support from We Were Promised Jetpacks. Photos by Vincent Hughes.
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PJ Harvey’s back catalogue is a sight to behold. Over eight solo records, the woman hasn’t even skimmed the surface of a bad record. She’s toyed with a multitude of genres from Albini noise to electronica to English folk and fit into each with alarming ease. Yet in spite of her mercurial ability, she still finds a way to challenge her listeners, even this late in the game. Her previous album, Let England Shake, was a concept album the first world war as viewed through English folk music. Her latest LP, The Hope Six Demolition Project, is a vicious polemic…
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Cork based producer Ronan McCann AKA Carried By Waves releases his second LP Resolute this Friday 22nd of April. Following on from his 2012 debut full length Softly Held Together the producer and multi-instrumentalist take spacious, colourful electronics and post-rock elements aplenty and continues to create a sound that could be best compared to the likes of Aereogramme and God Is An Astronaut but which holds enough individually and heart to stand steadfast and confident. To coincide with the album’s release, the producer has debuted the video for leading track Resonation Day. With its orbiting guitars and cinematic pianos and keys the track’s instrumentation is very reminiscent of…
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Lost Themes 2 is legendary filmmaker and composer John Carpenter’s follow-up to his 2015 effort, Lost Themes. The central concept behind the record is simple: themes for films that Carpenter never made. To anyone who has seen the likes of Assault on Precinct 13, Escape From New York or Halloween, this is a salivating promise as it distills one of the man’s greatest strengths into a single cohesive package. Lost Themes 2 is an expansion on that same idea, and not unlike a sequel, it builds upon the groundwork laid in the first outing in bigger, more polished way. The…
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Belfast’s Pleasure Beach have had an interesting first year of life. Having garnered almost immediate attention with their debut single ‘Go’ the band were left to cut their teeth on the live circuit with eyes and ears already planted firmly on them. The five piece took to their high-profile support slots with precociousness and charm despite their sets often comprising of 50% covers. Their debut EP Dreamer to the Dawn was a dazzlingly colourful release with ‘Go’ playing on the same field as The War on Drugs and Bruce Springsteen while ‘Hayley’ was a delicate, sleepy number that radiated with an emotional “soundtrack ready” charm. The band has…