• Irish Tour: Battles

    August 18, 2016 - By 

    Roisin Dubh, Galway The last time Battles played in the Roisin Dubh was in 2007, just after the release of their first LP Mirrored and just preceding the colossal cult acclaim of tracks ‘Atlas’ and ‘Tonto’. In the years since then that cult following has expanded and expanded, giving the band a listenership that extends to younger Math-Rock devotees, fans of experimental contemporary composers like Steve Reich, blow-ins from the band member’s old groups (Don Caballero, Helmet, Lynx) and, well, people that just like the way they sound. On a Monday evening in August the curious universal appeal of such…

  • C.K. And You Shall Find

    August 15, 2016 - By 

    ‘Everything that I did was counter-intuitive…’ confessed Louis C.K. recently while describing the creation and financing of this year’s ten part tragedy series, Horace & Pete. Nothing looked like this minimal television show before and somehow it’s audacious ambition inspired incredible contributions by an immense cast. In the era of massive budget, world-beating, broad-ranging golden age of television, along comes Louis C.K. with a low-budget drama set in a bar and condensed to dialogue, family and isolation. To be so ‘counter-intuitive’ and unorthodox and yet so brilliant is exactly what makes Louis C.K. compelling. He is a comedian comfortable writing…

  • The First Time: Stevie Martin (Rainy Boy Sleep)

    August 14, 2016 - By 

    As anyone who has ever had the pleasure of chatting with him – no matter how briefly – will know, Stevie Martin AKA Rainy Boy Sleep was a truly endearing and incredibly humble individual. For a musician so respected – for an artist with a head always bustling full of ideas – Stevie never neglected that wry smile and extraordinarily sound demeanour that he effortlessly carried around the country and beyond, guitar case & towering dreams in tow. Late last night word started to circulate around Stendhal Festival of Art in Limavady that, having been reported missing for three weeks just a few days ago,…

  • Stream: President Obama’s Summer Playlist

    August 12, 2016 - By 

    “Been waiting to drop this: summer playlist, the encore. What’s everybody listening to?” Featuring everyone Janelle Monáe, Charles Mingus and Courtney Barnett to Nina Simone, Beach Boys and D’Angelo, Barack Obama has reminded us once more that he is unequivocally the coolest POTUS ever by sharing his 2016 summer playlist. Presumably the last of his several playlists compiled and release during his presidency, Obama first shared what was on his iPod whilst running for office back in 2008, revealing big-hitters John Coltrane, Bob Dylan and the Stones amongst his favourites. His parting Summer playlist of ’16 is a more diverse and intriguing affair,…

  • Rave New World: Out To Lunch, Ambivalent, Twitch

    August 11, 2016 - By 

    A solo effort, Aidan Hanratty brings you the best gigs, tracks, mixes and releases of the week Gigs Out to Lunch August Weekender, Yamamori Tengu, Dublin Saturday 13, Sunday 14 August It’s all about Out To Lunch this weekend. In what’s probably the best lineup Dublin’s ever seen, we’ve got stellar international names like Ben UFO, Laurel Halo, Lena Willikens (who we’ve interviewed here), and Call Super (above), Irish upstarts like Lumigraph, Melly and Sage and the novel curiosity that is snooker legend-turned-electronica fan Steve Davis. I’m bubbling with excitement about it. There’s so much to say. See you there? Sense…

  • Picture This: Your National Visual Arts Guide – Re-Vision

    August 9, 2016 - By 

    The concept of ‘revision’ is often viewed as the process of returning to something and reevaluating what it was and how it was interpreted at the time. In this edition of Picture This we see revision as as a concept of revising based on new evidence, returning to something and reconsidering it, re-examining and creating something new, and to rethink what was and what will be. In Dublin we see The Douglas Hyde Gallery re-present a selection of Alec Soth’s past projects under a new theme, in Belfast Exposed we see Yvette Monahan reassess the legacy of a landscape on…

  • Interview: Lena Willikens

    August 5, 2016 - By 

    Out To Lunch has featured more often than most in the gigs section of our weekly Rave New World column. That may seem unbalanced, but the quality and variety of their bookings is simply undeniable. They’re taking a step into the unknown this month with a monster bash in their unofficial home Bar Tengu. A two-day affair (three if you count Friday’s opening party), it sees some of their previous guests (DJ Sprinkles, Call Super, Laurel Halo) and some new friends (Peggy Gou, Ben UFO, um, Steve Davis) coming together for a frankly ridiculous party. We’re talking three- and four-hour…

  • Rave New World: Karen Gwyer, GAIKA, Kornél Kovács

    August 4, 2016 - By 

    Antoin Lindsay and Aidan Hanratty look at the best tracks, mixes and releases of the week. Tracks GAIKA – 3D [Warp] Following on from his brilliant record ‘SECURITY’ earlier in the year, in what seems like a very logical step for him, GAIKA has signed to Warp. ‘3D’ is the first material of his to surface on the label and it’s some of his best. It’s a noisy, murky take on grime and his evident taste for experimentation is clearly what attracted Warp’s attention, and will hopefully drive him to even wider and deserved recognition. AL Kornél Kovács – Dollar…

  • Sparks: Mental Wellbeing & Recovery on The Road with ASIWYFA’s Chris Wee

    August 3, 2016 - By 

    And So I Watch You From Afar drummer Chris Wee reflects on perspective, mental wellbeing and recovery on the open road. October 2nd 2015 : Santa Fe – Denver It is sometimes at our lowest points that we are the most open to experiencing something truly special and fulfilling. 9 shows left out of 31, feeling a little raggedy. We pulled away from last night’s accommodation, a truly soul destroying casino hotel, planted on the dusty nothingness somewhere outside of Santa Fe. Nowhere makes you more homesick than places like this. It was my turn to drive, and despite my…

  • Inbound: Slouch

    August 2, 2016 - By 

    Perhaps it’s just us, but we’re noticing a serious – and welcome – islandwide resurgence on the scuzzy alternative rock front as of late, with Dublin way ahead of the pack. This month, it’s young trio Slouch, who come from Knocklyon, on the outskirts of the city, just before the mountains – and they sound like it. They released their debut EP, Feminine Elbows, last year, which boasts the sound of a desert contained within a garage in the ‘burbs. They’re carried with the just-loose-enough, gut-led rhythmic swagger of Physical Graffiti-era Zeppelin with the influences of a subsequent three decades…