• Track Record: Ships

    March 26, 2014 - By 

    Dublin band Ships released their single ‘Space Inside’ as a 7″/digital release on Berlin’s Stratosfear Recordings label this week. Sorca McGrath and Simon Cullen took time out to chat to Ian Pearce about their own favourite records in their collections. You can purchase their latest track on Bandcamp: First up is Sorca. Arthur Russell – Another Thought This record is like probably his most private record. It sounds like something that he dreamt up. It feels private when I listen to it as well. I listen to it in moments when I need a little time-out. It’s my time-out record.…

  • The Complete Guide to Therapy?: Part 2

    March 25, 2014 - By 

    PREVIOUSLY: Guitarist Andy Cairns and drummer Fyfe Ewing meet at a Battle of the Bands and start jamming after talking about bands they like in common. First demo tape 30 Seconds of Silence showcases a wide variety of ideas, and soon they’re joined by Ewing’s classmate Michael McKeegan, for the recording of second demo tape Meat Abstract. The intrepid trio set off on tour around Ireland, and with the release of their debut single, also entitled Meat Abstract, the UK. While in London, the band gets airplay from John Peel, and begins to garner label interest. Signing with Wiiija, Therapy?…

  • The Complete Guide To Therapy?: Part 1

    March 24, 2014 - By 

    Your writer would have been six years old when, at the end of The Den, the video for Nowhere came on. It was unlike anything. From the kaleidoscopic visual onslaught, to the menace of frontman Andy Cairns and his bob ‘n’ goatee combo behind his black Gibson SG, to the wailing police-siren lead that overlays its rollicking chorus. There are times when you can’t explain what makes sense, but it just does, especially at that age. And it stayed with me, lying dormant through childish flights of fancy through Britpop, nu-metal, assorted electronic pop and whatever else was handy to…

  • Inbound: Extra Fox

    March 24, 2014 - By 

    Right now, The Cast Of Cheers camp – with their wonderfully productive love-in with the boys from Adebisi Shank and solo experiments – is one beautiful, hot mess. With Conor Adams’ projects taking in garage rock (Charmers) and electronic tweakery (TVVINS), brother Neil is also ready to step out, but he’ll be doing so as a solo artist under the name ‘Extra Fox’ (formerly, briefly, Kuma Hana), a bedroom electronic project all set to hit the city. With The Cast Of Cheers taking a break from the public eye, the experimentation is clearly oozing freely from a few pores. For…

  • Interview: Solar Bears

    March 21, 2014 - By 

    Ahead of their Thin Air show at Belfast’s Voodoo this Saturday night (March 22), Brian Coney talks to John Kowalski from Dublin electronic duo Solar Bears about the evolution of their sound, the imprint of cinema on their music-making and how things are going in the process of piecing together album number three. Hi John. You’re currently in the process of making your third album. How have things been progressing over the last couple of months? Really good thanks. We are deviating a lot and making sure we are covering new ground, which is our preference. At the moment there…

  • The Singer, Not the Song – Five Singers Who Didn’t Write the Lyrics

    March 19, 2014 - By 

    There’s a school of thought that suggests you have to mean every word you sing, that the songs are born out of personal experience, and you need to live it like you sing it. Nick Drake and Ian Curtis delved to the depths of their souls, and lost their lives in the process. Mark Kozelek and Mark Eitzel exposed their own failings and regrets through songs, whilst Elvis Costello laid himself bare, inviting the world to pass judgement. But whilst this does make for an intensely personal listen, it doesn’t strictly mean that you have to suffer for your art…

  • Interview: Slint

    March 14, 2014 - By 

    Over two decades since it was released into unravelling obscurity, Spiderland by Louisville post-rock pioneers Slint has ever-increasingly climbed the ranks to be commonly heralded as one of the most revered cult records of all time. As much lauded for its distinctly impenetrable introversion as it is its decidedly forward-thinking musical mastery, the six-track release will finally see a remastered release as part of a deluxe boxset – also featuring a feature-length documentary by Lance Bangs titled Breadcrumb Trail – next month. Ahead of our exclusive screening of Breadcrumb Trail at The Garrick, Belfast on Thursday, March 27, Brian Coney talks to…

  • Inbound: Screendeath

    March 18, 2014 - By 

    Screendeath, aka Ryan Thompson is a twenty-year-old Northern Irish electronic dance music producer and DJ hovering just beneath the radar, waiting for his moment. Signed by Norman Cook AKA Fat Boy Slim at Southern Fried Records, his debut EP Packback, released in October 2010, gave him the Radio 1 label ‘one to watch in 2011’. Since then he’s played the ‘Chibuku’ Stage at Manchester’s Parklife, shared stages with Annie Mac, Julio Bashmore and Fake Blood, as well as having his track ‘Packback’ spinned by Erol Alkan. Emily Thornhill talks to the DJ and producer. Tell us a bit about yourself and…

  • Inbound: The Wood Burning Savages

    March 13, 2014 - By 

    In the latest installment of Inbound, we chat to Paul Connolly and Dan Acheson from hotly-tipped Derry alt-rock quartet The Wood Burning Savages. Having just released their debut video for their wonderful new single ‘America’ following a hugely impressive headline performance at Belfast’s Radar, the pair talk about the band’s stance on being “old school” in the modern age, their stance on the imprint of last year’s City of Culture and having two albums worth of material waiting in the wings. Hi guys, you have just released the video for your new single, ‘America’. Can you tell us more about…

  • Classic Album: The World of Twist – Quality Street

    March 12, 2014 - By 

    The World of Twist were, and are, an enigma, wrapped in a conundrum, cocooned in carpet off-cuts and bundled out of a burning warehouse window onto a waiting barge. I knew nothing about them when I first fell in love with them twenty years ago and I know less than that now, the intervening decades having been something of a blur and, let’s face it, I’m not getting any younger. The Twist’s singer Tony Ogden isn’t getting any older either, as he died several years ago. Drummer Nick Sanderson has also passed on. But this is no “curse of the…