• So Long, Leonard Cohen

    November 11, 2016 - By 

    To suggest that the life of Leonard Cohen was anything short of remarkable would be an understatement by anyone’s standards. Poet, songwriter, accidental fashionista, Buddhist monk, wheeler and dealer, lover and friend, forever a gentleman, and never far from the sharpened edges of comedic wit, the man lived as great men do – with a profound love for the beautiful things, an acceptance of the inevitable, and an enthusiasm to share it all with a world in desperate need of something with which to relate. Leonard Cohen has been known as the songwriter’s songwriter since his debut release Songs of…

  • Playlist: Northern Ireland Music Prize 2016

    November 8, 2016 - By 

    On Friday, November 11, 12 Northern Irish acts will vie to be awarded this year’s Northern Ireland Music Prize, essentially the Northern equivalent of the Choice Music Prize. With Downpatrick’s Ash set to received the Oh Yeah Legend Award – before playing their 1977 album in full –  shortlisted acts PORTS, Jealous of the Birds and Girls Names will also be performing on the night. Ahead of the event, we’ve compiled a Spotify playlist tracks from the 12 nominated acts, including Documenta, exmagician, Ciaran Lavery and more.

  • Gigs of the Week: Teleman, Peaches, Buzzcocks, Saint Sister, Sarah Neufeld

    November 3, 2016 - By 

    Teleman Limelight 2, Belfast/Workman’s Club, Dublin Friday, November 4/Saturday, November 5 Having released their first-rate, second studio album, Brilliant Sanity, back in April, London indie-pop quartet Teleman stop off at Belfast’s Limelight 2 and Dublin’s and Dublin’s Workman’s on Friday and Saturday. Total newcomer? Well worth checking out on a whim. Peaches w/ Cut Once The Academy, Dublin Sunday, November 6 Supported by Dublin duo electronic duo Michael Hefferman and Aisling Browne Cut Once, electro-pop Queen par excellence Merrill Beth Nisker AKA Peaches plays hands down the best show in the country on Sunday night at the Academy. Brought to…

  • Isolation and Release: An Interview with Arcade Fire’s Sarah Neufeld

    November 4, 2016 - By 

    Both in her solo output and work as a member of Arcade Fire, Sarah Neufeld has long established herself as one of the world’s most forward-thinking, consistently singular violinists. Ahead of the only Irish date of her current European tour at Belfast’s The MAC on Monday (November 7), the Canadian chats to Brian Coney about collaboration, virtuosity, writing on the road and what to expect from Arcade Fire’s forthcoming fifth studio album. Hi Sarah. Your second album, The Ridge, is a wonderful release. Congratulations. What was the writing process like for this release, especially compared to Hero Brother? Thanks! I wrote The Ridge in a more…

  • Festival Mixtape: Metropolis 2016

    November 3, 2016 - By 

    Set to bring the veritable cream of the sonic crop to Dublin’s RDS this weekend, Metropolis is undoubtedly one of those festivals worthy of being doubly filed under “must-attend”. Ahead of the three-night blitz of sight and sound, stream our twenty-track Metropolis Festival Mixtape, featuring DJ Shadow, Moderat, Girl Band, Jessy Lanza, BADBADNOTGOOD (pictured), The Sugar Hill Gang, Novelist, Shura, Crystal Castles and the mighty Grace Jones, below.

  • Label Mixtape: Castle Face Records

    November 1, 2016 - By 

    San Francisco based Castle Face Records is an independent label that was formed ten years ago by Thee Oh See’ John Dwyer along with associates.  Brian Lee Hughes – who worked on a film for Coachwhips (another J.D. fronted band) final performance – fell in love with Dwyer’s work and offered financial assistance to allow him to release his endless stream of musical conceptions.  It came at a time when a major label had duplicitously dropped the ball when it came to releasing Thee Oh Sees’ Sucks Blood (2007).  These serendipitous events proved to be the catalyst needed to form Castle…

  • No Country For Bold Men: The Stormy Psychedelia of the 13th Floor Elevators

    October 31, 2016 - By 

    It’s something of an accepted cultural trope that sixties music was awash with recreational drug use. Acid, in particular, still holds a central place in many people’s conception of the sixties western counterculture as a socio-historical phenomenon, to the extent that anyone wishing to visually document the decade seems obligated to include a montage of marches, hirsute men and women looking a bit glazed, riots, Hendrix, more marches & Nixon – all set to the Rolling Stones’ ‘Gimme Shelter’. It’s one of those culturally reductive but semiotically useful ways of describing material history, albeit one that leads to sourceless pseudo-proverbs…

  • Our Krypton Son: Letters From Throat Lake

    October 27, 2016 - By 

    Derry songsmith Chris McConaghy AKA Our Krypton Son reflects on writing his forthcoming second album on a child’s acoustic guitar in a tent in Creeslough in Co. Donegal. Day one. I’ve been plucking the nylon strings of my child’s acoustic guitar for several hours. And glaring at a notepad. It’s bloody freezing and I’m shivering. Shivering with the starling, shaking with the gorse bush. I’ve come to Creeslough to stay for two nights. We’re to write an album, this village and I. An album to be titled ‘Fleas And Diamonds’. A song cycle about rebirth, the first growl of love…

  • Gigs of the Week: Windings, Kiasmos, James Blake, DJ Yoda & Mhaol

    October 27, 2016 - By 

    Sure, the irrefutable gig of the week has already happened but bearing in mind this feature prefers to focus on the weekend, let’s try and stay positive. As ever, Halloween is a massive weekend in all corners of the country with shows, one-offs and happenings of every ilk cropping up across the board. This year is no different. Here’s our five must-attend gigs. James Blake Limelight 1, Belfast/Olympia Theatre, Dublin Friday, October 28/Saturday, October 29 Having released his stellar third studio album, The Colour In Anything, back in May, these are positively unmissable Irish dates from the Grammy-nominated Londoner. Kiasmos (DJ Set) Saturday,…

  • Dreaming On: An Interview With Pleasure Beach

    October 26, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of their Jameson Bow St. Session alongside Wyvern Lingo and Amaron + Magic at Cork’s Crane Lane tomorrow, Alan Haslam from Belfast five-piece Pleasure Beach talks to Brian Coney about writing hits, what defines dream-pop and taking it as far they can. Register for free tickets to the band’s Bow St Session here. Hi guys. For the uninitiated, how did Pleasure Beach come about? When were the seeds sown and when did it all come to flourish? Hi! Well, we were all involved in various other projects around the time of the band’s formation. I had a handful of new songs…