• Rave New World (24/7)

    July 24, 2015 - By 

    The weekend, hurrah! But before that: Aidan Hanratty and Antoin Lindsay deliver their weekly look at all the very best electronic gigs, tracks, mixes and releases. GIGS White Noise 500 with Dave Clarke, Marcel Fengler & Sunil Sharpe at The Academy Friday, July 24  A hefty line-up this. In celebration of Dave Clarke’s 500th show, he’s broadcasting live from Dublin alongside Berghain resident Marcel Fengler and Dublin’s own Sunil Sharpe. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the up-and-coming Dublin talent is in abundance in Opium Rooms, with Daire Carolan playing all night alongside DJ Isleo’man (Morgan Buckley) and DJ Muscles…

  • Shot Glass: The Affectionate Punch

    July 22, 2015 - By 

    As Shot Glass Theatre enjoys its fifteen month anniversary co-founder Joseph Nawaz and I sit back and toast our success with supermarket own-brand prosecco. The acid reflux is fiery! Our sleeping partner, Infinite Jest’s Graeme Watson, cannot make it. Graeme is one of the soundest people I know and certainly the soundest sleeper. We chuckle indulgently to each other, Joe and I, marvelling at the long strange trip it’s been and what an odd thing it is to do: we invent people, make them say things and other people, pretending to be the people we’ve invented, say the things we’ve…

  • Midweek Mixtape: This Time Ten Years Ago

    July 22, 2015 - By 

    Ahh… 2005. There was something so visceral and pure about the music that we’ll be damned if there’s ever been a stronger year for indie twee pop music ever since. Where the hell have Jens Lekman, Doves and Broken Social Scene gone to? The latter being such gargantuan heavyweights constantly jostling for indie superiority against Arcade Fire. And don’t you dare get us started on Scout Niblett! It was the year of the fey fringe and foppish cardigan combo, when having a beard made you the odd man out since Conor Oberst was the ultimate indie boy de jour. Everyone you met in the smoking area…

  • Interview: The Wood Burning Savages

    July 20, 2015 - By 

    

 On the day of the release of their stellar new single, ‘Premier League’ (stream below), we chat to Paul Connolly from Derry quartet The Wood Burning Savages about recent stirrings, future plottings and the recording and release of their latest and greatest track to date. Hi Paul. You’re just back from Swell Festival. How was that and the last few months for you generally? Hello The Thin Air! Swell Festival was incredibly good fun, it’s like a happier version of The Prisoner or Lord Of The Flies. It’s only in its second year but it’s got an amazing vibe and the…

  • Video Premiere + Interview: Carnivores – Apathy In The UK

    July 17, 2015 - By 

    Set to headline the next Smalltown America Records All-Dayer on Friday, July 31 – co-promoted by yours truly – Scottish alt-rock trio Carnivores underwent some elated highs and crushing lows during the making of their stellar debut album, Let’s Get Metaphysical. Touching upon that process, the band’s love of Northern Irish alt-rock and signing to Smalltown America, the band’s frontman Kenny Leckie chats candidly with Brian Coney Go here to buy tickets to the All Dayer and check out our premiere for the video to ‘Apathy In The UK’ below.   Hi Kenny. First off, ‘Apathy In The UK’: the song…

  • Rave New World (17/7)

    July 17, 2015 - By 

    Back together, like electronic music-worshipping brothers in arms, Antoin Lindsay and Aidan Hanratty deliver this week’s Rave New World, looking at some of the very best electronic gigs, tracks, releases and mixes of the week. GIGS Twitch Present: Bicep at Mandela Hall, Belfast Friday, July 17 The last time Belfast boys Bicep played Mandela Hall for Twitch it was a sell out, so expect this to be no different. The duo have cemented themselves as the city’s most prominent global dance music force for a very good reason. Considering how electric Belfast and Twitch atmospheres can be, a homecoming show…

  • The Hefty Fog: Growing Out of Metal

    July 16, 2015 - By 

    The metal internet collectively lost its shit recently when Mastodon’s Brent Hinds (pictured) admitted that he never really liked metal and has been, in his own words; “trying to get Mastodon to not be such a heavy metal band.” And so it was that every Mastodon fan would experience that same feeling of blighting abandonment we have all gone through at one time or another in our early years. Some have claimed that Hinds is taking the piss to an extent, that it’s unthinkable for someone to do something they don’t truly enjoy for as long as he has. I…

  • Roving Eye: Le Galaxie in Brighton

    July 16, 2015 - By 

    The latest Roving Eye trip took me to Brighton to get a little taste of The Great Escape with party time favourites Le Galaxie. Brighton – nicknamed “London by the Sea” – has witnessed huge gentrification over the last decade, albeit without losing its notorious licentiousness. It has a charming seaside resort exterior, with beautiful Regency architecture converted into guest houses or pied-à-terre for London bourgeois weekenders. However, a gentle scratch of the surface reveals an undercurrent of bohemian non-conformist attitudes and the UK’s largest recreational drug market. Seemed like the perfect location for the UKs leading music industry festival,…

  • Midweek Mixtape: Songs To Lament Life To When The Party’s Over But You’re Still Awake

    July 15, 2015 - By 

    It’s 3.30 am and you’re sitting alone at the kitchen table in the house of friend. It’s deadly silent apart from an occasional snore from the living room where most of your friends passed out a few minutes ago. You’re surrounded by empty bottles of cider and are still cradling your last paper cup of wine. You had been excited about going out but it was average and the exact same as every other night out. The silence and the sickly yellow filter on everything in the room caused by overly harsh lighting and the smell of cigarettes and stale…

  • Interview: Deerhoof

    July 15, 2015 - By 

    Last year, Californian experimental indie rock quartet Deerhoof released their twelfth studio, La Isla Bonita, having spent the last twenty years unfailingly re-inventing themselves as one of the most exciting and downright inimitable bands of their generation. Ahead of Cork, Dublin and Belfast shows on Tuesday, August 18, Wednesday, August 19 and Thursday, August 20, the band’s vocalist/bassist Satomi Matsuzaki and drummer Greg Saunier about their legacy, their expectations and memories of playing Ireland and their mantra of always looking forward. Photo by Chad Kamenshine Hi guys. What stage are you at right now as regards another album? as soon as one comes out, are…