• Record Store Day 2016

    April 18, 2016 - By 

    In the early years of Record Store Day, depending on where you lived in Ireland your choice of independent record shops to visit may have been limited or even nonexistent. But despite the growth of downloads and streaming in the eight years since the day started, while some old shops have died away, many more have sprung up in their place, and many of those who had nowhere to go in 2008 are now spoiled for choice. As the number of limited edition releases grow and major labels further muscle in on the event it’s easy to grow cynical and…

  • The Liberation of Loss: An Interview with Guy Garvey

    April 18, 2016 - By 

    The rest of 2016 is shaping up to be very busy for Guy Garvey. In between winding down his sojourn in support of solo debut Courting The Squall, the Elbow front-man is curating this year’s Meltdown Festival at the Barbican before rejoining his band mates to write a follow-up to 2014’s The Take Off And Landing Of Everything. Jonny Currie chats to Guy about cathedrals, etymology, and being a bit of a community freak. You’ve played Belfast a number of times over the years. Do you have any particular memories that stick out? I love Belfast! One memory that sticks in…

  • Rave New World (15/04)

    April 15, 2016 - By 

    Aidan Hanratty gives you the week’s best gigs, tracks, mixes and releases. Gigs Zehr Gut present Dana Ruh at Bar Tengu, Dublin Friday 15 April Homebeat, the guys behind Another Love Story and more, are kicking off a new event called Zehr Gut. In collaboration with Goethe-Institut Irland, its aim is to promote German musicianship and artistry in Ireland. First up in that regard is German DJ and producer Dana Ruh. She’s put out countless records in the past decade, and plays at home and away pretty much constantly. Expect a heady mix of house and techno. Bodytonic present: Neneh Cherry (DJ Set) at…

  • Label Mixtape: What’s Your Rupture?

    April 14, 2016 - By 

    Running an independent record label can often seem like one of the more concrete definitions of a ‘labour of love’. Brooklyn-based label What’s Your Rupture? (WYR?), founded in 2003 by one Kevin Pedersen, has managed to strike a superb balance in its release strategy – giving a platform to newer bands while simultaneously bringing older artists to new audiences. Oddly enough, the label originally started off the back of the notoriety gained by Pedersen’s stand-up comedy act, but has since gone on to become one of the most venerated underground labels in contemporary music. While fairly discerning in what he…

  • Out Of Oblivion Into The Light: An Interview with Mission of Burma

    April 12, 2016 - By 

    For years, Boston post-punk legends Mission of Burma were one of rock music’s great ‘what if?’ stories, an obscure but influential band that broke up far too soon due to singer/guitarist Roger Miller’s tinnitus, worsened by their notoriously loud live shows, leaving behind just one full length album, an EP and a couple of singles. When they finally reformed in 2002 (with Shellac’s Bob Weston taking over the role of tape manipulation from Martin Swope) they did it properly, refusing to be a mere nostalgia act and issuing a string of new albums that sounded just as vital as what…

  • Monday Mixtape: Tim Burgess (The Charlatans)

    April 11, 2016 - By 

    I love putting a line up together for a festival. Tim Peaks, our stage, coffee shop and general place of ace happenings will be heading to festivals from Scotland to the Isle of Wight, taking in Liverpool Sound City, Kendal Calling and Festival Number Six from May to September. Tim Peaks means I can invite some of my favourite bands along to play – some are bands from O Genesis our record label, some are old friends and a couple are new bands I’ve not had the chance to see live and others are bands that have been playing at Tim…

  • Rave New World (08/04)

    April 8, 2016 - By 

    Aidan Hanratty and Antoin Lindsay return with the best electronic gigs, tracks and mixes of the week. Gigs Melodic: Francois K + Donal Dineen / Melodic DJs at The Sugar Club, Dublin Friday 8 April 2016 Francois K is a legend, simply put. DJing since the 70s, he knows his stuff and has managed to keep with the times while maintaining his identity. Donal Dineen is a local legend too, so this is a wonderful opportunity to see two heavyweights in one night. Boom. AH Bastardo Electrico presents Prosumer at Cyprus Avenue, Cork Friday 8 April 2016 Prosumer is a regular enough visitor…

  • Inbound: God Creative & Crimes Against

    April 7, 2016 - By 

    Both stellar acts in their own right, Dublin’s God Creative and Crimes Against have joined forces to collaborate on an upcoming album. In this installment of Inbound, Eoghain Meakin catches up with them just after this historic Easter to talk ancestors, ‘the scene’ and solid gold rocket ships. Photos by Pedro Giaquinto. Everything is changing in Ireland. Hip Hop, once the cast out of the home-grown music scene and the last import only product on the musical menu, is growing in strength, respect and deployment. Case in point is Dublin’s latest collaboration between long time rapper God Creative and writer/producer Crimes Against. Billed…

  • How Satire Explains The Rise of Trump

    April 6, 2016 - By 

    “Let’s Drop The Big One And See What Happens” On November 8th 2016, the United States of America will elect a new president, and at the moment, in the eyes of many commentators, it’s a three horse race as to who that individual will be. On one side, the liberalism of Bernie Sanders is vying for prominence with the pragmatism of Hillary Clinton, and on the other side stands the man no-one would have expected, the irascible Donald Trump. The eyes of the world will be upon the US, and it’s difficult not to feel history is being made, for…

  • Track Record: Kevin Breen (Kid Karate)

    April 6, 2016 - By 

    In this installment of Track Record we hang out with Kid Karate’s Kevin Breen (and a crocodile) while he takes us through some of his favourite records from Tame Impala to Talking Heads. Photos by Aidan Kelly Murphy. Michael Jackson – Bad Who’s bad? A hee hee! Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly Hands down the best album of 2015.  Nothing has blown my mind like that in a long time. Kendrick is doing what Kanye thinks he’s doing. A great album to expand your consciousness. Tobias Jesso Jr. – Goon My friend Dave Parle turned me on to this guy.…