Editors kicked off their Irish tour with support from Talos in the Ulster Hall in Belfast and travelled down to Vicar Street in Dublin the following night. Photos by Niall Fegan and Sarah Ryan
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For over a quarter of a century, Stephen Malkmus has inspired countless aspiring musicians to pick up a guitar, form a band and write loud, dissonant melodies and playful, witty lyrics. Pavement and the Silver Jews are amongst two of the most influential bands of the 90s and 2000s. For the last seventeen years, however, Malkmus has been performing with The Jicks. Earlier this year, Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks released Sparkle Hard, their tremendous seventh album. Ahead of their gig in Dublin’s Vicar Street, Malkmus spoke to Zara Hedderman about artists making music in their fifties, the process of…
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The Thin Air podcast returns with a distinguished elder statesman of indie rock – David Gedge of The Wedding Present. John Peel favourites and jangle-pop pioneers The Wedding Present emerged from Leeds in the late 1980s with their scrappy and lyrical debut album ‘George Best’. A unique blend of bitter melodrama and everyday mundanity, it’s an urgent record that revels in the melancholy of small town life. From their C86 roots the band went to be bona fide indie-popstars, charting no less than 12 singles in the UK top 40 in 1992, and becoming a regular anomaly in the shiny…
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Tucked away in a side-street of bustling Belfast City is Accidental Theatre, a relatively-fangled DIY space that plays hosts to a cavalcade of events, both illustrious and wonderfully unassuming. Sitting somewhere in between the two is 20:20, a monthly charity songwriter night that takes over the venue’s upstairs – and singularly cosy – book bar. Giving rise to a whole new kind of “intimate” gig experience, the night takes place on the second Wednesday of every month and – full testament to its stripped-back, yet carefully-curated M.O. – delivers something special, time and time again. Ahead of its next outing on October 10th…
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Ahead of recording a session for Radio Ulster’s Across The Line at Belfast’s Start Together Studio, Villagers’ Conor O’Brien sits down with Brian Coney to talk through the writing and recording of his stellar, self-produced new album, The Art of Pretending to Swim. Listen back to the ATL Live Session here. 1. Again The underlying beat on ‘Again’ gives a real subtle, nocturnal club vibe. Did you intend that or was it accidental? It was probably a bit of both. I wrote the riff and realised that it was basically 120 BPM, and I was like, “Cool, that will work…
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The Thin Air podcast returns with another delightful in-depth song dissection. This week Danny Carroll meets Antrim singer-songwriter Stevie Scullion AKA Malojian. Having recorded his last album with Steve Albini (this documentary is worth a watch when you have a spare hour), Stevie wound up home-recording his most recent LP ‘Let Your Weirdness Carry You Home’. Featuring contributions from Joey Waronker (Beck, REM), and Gerry Love (Teenage Fanclub), the album has recently been nominated for the Northern Irish Music Prize. From his home studio, Stevie talks about the album’s title track ‘Let Your Weirdness Carry You Home’. Clocking in at nearly six…
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Speaking to Julien Baker feels like talking to your friend in a bar. Her unassuming nature and down to earth discussion can almost make you forget what a successful, accomplished person you’re dealing with. Despite being only 22 years old, Baker has managed to forge an illustrious career with her emotive, gentle indie rock. Having shared stages with the likes of Death Cab For Cutie and Paramore, with two critically-acclaimed albums already under her belt, she is humble about her success. “I try to be personally aware that any response to the record at all has exceeded what I expected,”…
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Ahead of shows at Belfast Empire Music Hall (Sept 17th) and Dublin’s Whelan’s (Sept 18th) Ripley Johnson of San Francisco psych alchemists Wooden Shjips talks to Cathal McBride about songwriting process, positivity and playing to “up for it” Irish audiences. It’s been a full five years since the last Wooden Shjips record. What made 2018 the right time for a return? Well, it was 2017 that we reconvened to make the record. Hard to say why, really. For me, I just got the urge to work with the guys again so proposed a simple plan for making it. The plan was…
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Having kicked off with music and chat from Frankie Cosmos and Paddy Hanna, The Thin Air podcast continues with another brace of brilliant interviews. Danny Carroll meets Dublin folk miscreants Lankum to discuss their mournfully epic song ‘The Granite Gaze’. Along with producer Spud, the group talk through the lyrical origins of the song, listen back to an early demo, and highlight individual elements of the track’s swelling arrangement. Yoni Wolf Our other installment features Yoni Wolf, singer and songwriter with the Cincinnati group Why? Ahead of returning to Ireland, to play the Button Factory (September 17th) and Roisin Dubh (September…
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Ahead of its release in October Belfast-based singer-songwriter Stephen Jones AKA Glass Wings reveals the artists and tracks that made an imprint on his forthcoming debut album, Everything and Nothing. I’m under no obligation to be cool in these choices right? Sit back and relax as I take you on a tour of some of the greatest melodicists who inspired me in the making of this album. Hiatus Kaiyote – By Fire I’m always a little suspect of people who say they have a favourite band. But if pressed, Hiatus Kaiyote might have it for me. I’ve been lucky enough…