• Track Record: White Collar Boy

    February 17, 2015 - By 

    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…

  • Bookmark: Colm Kenny-Vaughan

    February 23, 2015 - By 

    Bookmark is the first of a new series where we explore the collected books of those who entertain us in the world of arts and literature. We chat to Colm Kenny-Vaughan, a Dublin based theatre actor and choral singer about the books that have influenced and inspired him in his line of work. Photos by Abigail Denniston. George R.R Martin – A Dance With Dragons I know Game of Thrones is a very popular TV series at the moment, and it’s not hard to see why based on the books (collectively entitled A Song of Ice and Fire). This latest installment…

  • Interview: Sleater-Kinney

    February 19, 2015 - By 

    Ahead of their Dublin show at Vicar Street on March 26, Brian Coney talks to Janet Weiss, drummer with the recently-reunited, impossibly influential Sleater-Kinney about getting back together, rediscovering the magic of writing and refusing to be ever consigned to the “girl band ghetto”. Hi Janet. Before touching on the reunion itself, in what ways do you think No Cities to Love – your first record in a decade – is a continuation, musically or thematically, from The Woods? I think that with so much time between The Woods and the new record, it’s not really a direct response to…

  • Monday Mixtape: Ciaran Smith (Crayonsmith)

    February 16, 2015 - By 

    Following in the footsteps of the likes of Ciaran Lavery and Claire Miskimmin from Girls Names, Ciaran Smith (pictured, left) from Dublin band Crayonsmith selects his all-time favourite tracks – Fog, Rhye, Viet Cong etc. – for this week’s Monday Mixtape. Crayonsmith are currently recording an EP and playThe Horse and Stables, London, on March 17

  • Deep Down South: Creative Spaces, Familiar Faces, More Festivals

    February 15, 2015 - By 

    In the aftermath of the events of the Block Party and Noisefest, as mentioned/fawned over in this column, a hugely busy early 2015 awaits Cork City and the people that populate its creative community. As mentioned in last week’s column, last week’s Structures and Strategies meeting brought artists together to discuss goals and offer mutual support, and from it has emerged Cork Creatives, a new group dedicated to similar meetups monthly. Such a step forward can only be hugely positive for everyone involved, and if the last few weeks have been any indication, working together is the way forward. Email…

  • Front of House: Ber Quinn

    February 16, 2015 - By 

    In our fifth installment of Front of House, we chat to Cork native Ber Quinn about his life as a sound engineer in Dublin and his current work with Villagers. Photos by Brid O’Donovan. Hey Ber! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Hi! I’m a Cork man living in Dublin on and off for the last 7 or so years. As a live engineer, I mix front of house sound for Villagers, The Magic Numbers, Cathy Davey, Wallis Bird, Duke Special and a German classical ensemble called Stargaze. I’m also a studio engineer fighting the tide of click tracks and…

  • The Thin Air Valentine’s Playlist

    February 13, 2015 - By 

    Sure, every second song is about love or lack thereof, but that hasn’t stopped us from compiling a Spotify playlist summing up the sometimes transformative, other times twisted world and ways of love pretty flippin’ succinctly. Featuring Mojave 3, James Blake, Pavement, Grizzly Bear, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Magnetic Fields and more, you can and subscribe to it below.

  • Rave New World (13/2)

    February 13, 2015 - By 

    In the latest installment of Rave New World, the ridiculously informed, boundlessly savvy Antoin Lindsay & Aidan Hanratty delve into best new electronic tracks and mixes of the week, as well as various unmissable upcoming nights and releases. GIGS Rødhåd at District 8, Dublin Friday February, 1 Everyone’s favourite techno DJ with a name they’re not really sure how to pronounce is in Dublin tonight. Is it Rod-had, Red-head, Rod-head, who actually knows? Does anyone actually care? Expect relentless techno from Rødhåd (pictured) who seems to have quietly catapulted himselfinto the higher ranks of techno royalty in the last 18 months. His ever-burgeoning reputation is…

  • For David Pajo (1968-)

    February 13, 2015 - By 

    Over a decade ago now, I discovered the music of Elliott Smith on a Nirvana messageboard. Looking back, it was most definitely a potent catalyst for everything I have looked for in music – and elsewhere – ever since. Someone recommended I check out ‘Tomorrow, Tomorrow’ from XO as a starting point, so I did. I was immediately infatuated; like a giddy moth to a burning flame, instantly seduced by the mournful turns and phrases of Elliott’s words and chords. Without hesitation, I threw myself into his varyingly exceptional discography, listening to nothing else for days on end in the depths…

  • Q+A: A Place To Bury Strangers

    February 23, 2015 - By 

    Amid preparations for a three-month tour of the US and Europe, A Place to Bury Strangers‘ front man Oliver Ackermann chats to Joe Madsen about the release of their fourth album, Transfixiation, and their years as a changing act in a niche genre. APTBS to come to Dublin on March 31 and Belfast the following night. APTBS has gone through quite a few changes over the past decade, shifting band members, management, and labels through its stages. How do you feel the band has changed or grown through all these developments? I think it’s allowed us to become more focused on exactly…