• Tension & Trepidation: A Guide to Goblin

    October 31, 2015 - By 

    As it’s Halloween and Claudio Simonetti’s kings of the Italian horror genre just played District 8, Dublin last night, it seemed apt to have a look at the irrefutable endowment Goblin made to horror soundtracks, and their contribution to music as a whole. In 2015 the band is more popular, and influential than they have been at any time in the past. They probably never thought their scores would serve as a touchstone for metal, electro and experimental music, but it undoubtedly has. Goblin emerged from the remnants of a number of splintered Italian prog rock acts in the early 70s.Keyboardist and frontman Claudio Simonetti and original drummer…

  • Rave New World (30/10)

    October 30, 2015 - By 

    Aidan Hanratty and Antoin Lindsay preview all the very best electronic gigs, tracks and mixes of the week. GIGS Shine 20th Birthday at Queen’s Student Union Saturday 31 October The best lineup Shine has done in ages? Probably. The best option to spend Halloween in Belfast? Almost definitely. Local boys Bicep head the bill at the usual spot with a cracking raft of other DJs in tow. Heidi will be joining them in room 1 and in room 2 you can catch the blistering Ryan Elliott. One-half-Belfast AnD will be joined by Dublin’s primo techno supremo Sunil Sharpe. Plenty of…

  • Magic and Loss: A Tribute to Lou Reed

    October 28, 2015 - By 

    Two years ago, the musical world lost one of its own gentle giants.  Lou Reed, the Brooklyn-born poet, musician, and artist, died of liver disease at the age of 71, leaving behind a profoundly lasting legacy that’s transformed countless lives, careers, and artistic endeavours.  Some of the 20th century’s most iconic artists cite Reed as a notable influence.  And yet the waves made by this larger-than-life presence often go unnoticed by modern music consumers.  Taking risks held a constant stay throughout the corpus of Reed’s work, lending an evolutionary quality to decades of his music, and likewise influencing decades of…

  • Hyperbolex with Ray Wingnut: Nevermind The Zogabonds

    October 28, 2015 - By 

    ‘Oooh… that Benjamin Netanyahu, he’s a card, isn’t he??’ It’s 7.04am on May 9, 1996 and Zig and Zag are holding it down on The Big Breakfast. They are about to interview and host a live session with Eels who have earlier that year released their wonderful breakthrough album, Beautiful Freak. They go on to show Eels snippets of their favourite television program about Pike and Chubb fishing. In a few minutes time the band perform ‘Going Over To Susan’s House’ live and acoustic. Zig and Zag trip out to the groove, air guitaring, bugging out. It is beautifully and boldly…

  • Visual Arts Outlook (27/10)

    October 27, 2015 - By 

    Hello all once again. Seasonal, spooky, autumnal week ahead, even better if you happen to be lucky enough to be on half term break! (sadly not me). This week  I’d like to draw your attention to the ARTS MATTER ‘Red Alert, State of Emergency’ Stormont Rally that will be taking place next Tuesday afternoon at 1pm. This is a rally to protest about the cuts being made to the arts in Northern Ireland. If you feel that the arts need support in this community, please go along and show your commitment at this positive event. Banners and placards welcomed! If…

  • Label Mixtape: Gravity Records

    October 23, 2015 - By 

    Gravity Records started out just like any other cult indie label – see: SST, Dischord – of the ‘80s-early ‘90s, when a pragmatic lead member (drummer Matt Anderson) of the most relevant band (Heroin) in a scene (1991 San Diego) wanted to release just one single. They would, as tradition goes, ultimately earn more notoriety and credibility than money, but it provided a rich catalogue of scattered splits and short long-players over which punk nerds and indie swots of the future can pore over and explore a periodic cul de sac. Fewer labels inbred more effectively and better developed a…

  • Rave New World w/ Forrests mix

    October 23, 2015 - By 

    In the second of our sporadic guest mixes from our favourite DJs and artists from the island of Ireland, we have a fascinating tread through the library of an act that’s on the cusp of something big. Dublin-based duo Forrests released their debut Wilder on Blast First Petite a few years back, and after some time spent gigging and writing, they’re back with Organs. Self-released, it’s a glorious barrel of noise and beauty. They’ve put together a really excellent mix for us, moving from electronic forebears Throbbing Gristle and Laurie Spiegel to present-day luminaries Leon Vynehall, Willie Burns and Mica Levi. Artwork by Sarah…

  • Label Mixtape: K Records

    October 22, 2015 - By 

    K Records was founded in 1982 in Olympia, Washington by the beguiling Calvin Johnson, a personal project undertaken with the sole intention of making the music he enjoyed by his friends and peers more widely available. Trading with cassettes only in the 1980s as a viable cheap option for bands who didn’t want to commit to bulk pressings of vinyl or CDs, which in turn spearheaded the 1990’s DIY aesthetic, cementing them at the forefront. The ‘K’ apparently stands for ‘knowledge’ which is fitting considering it’s founder’s keen familiarity with the underground scenes not just in America, but in places as…

  • Interview: Claudio Simonetti

    October 28, 2015 - By 

    Ahead of Devil’s Night Disco this Halloween Eve in Dublin, Loreana Rushe talks to renowned composer Claudio Simonetti about performing the acclaimed soundtracks for Profondo Rosso and Suspiria live with Goblin and how horror as a genre has shaped his work. Hi Claudio. I’m very happy to be chatting to you and looking forward to Devil’s Night Disco in Dublin, which promises to be a very special show on Halloween weekend. How are you currently preparing for the double bill? We’re very fortunate to perform Profondo Rosso and Suspiria for a long time and I don’t think we’ll have any trouble in doing a…

  • Here Is No Why: Mellon Collie Remembered

    October 23, 2015 - By 

    Today marks the 20th anniversary of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by the Smashing Pumpkins. A seminal album in the canon of alternative rock, but one that struck a chord particularly with our contributors and musicians in Ireland who are self confessed Pumpkinheads. We’ve collected their thoughts and stories below on the record and why it’s left such an everlasting impression on their lives. My first glimpse of Mellon Collie was staring at the video for ‘1979’ on MTV, standing in a queue at burger king as a snotty teen. The moment I heard that song, I was overwhelmed…