• MMOTHS, Toby Kaar & Daithi @ Roisin Dubh, Galway

    July 25, 2016 - By 

    I was really looking forward to this gig. Between them, Toby Kaar, MMOTHS and Daithi released some of the most exciting Irish releases of the past twelve months, each of them showcasing the versatility and dedication that exists amongst the country’s young musicians who ditched guitars and drums for adventures into electronics. In the context of these artists’ significance to the country’s music scene, that versatility is paramount, from Toby Kaar’s disjointed, franticly emotive beats, to MMOTHS’ encompassing soundscapes, to Daithi’s infectious, melodic floor fillers. So on paper this bill looks terrific right? What I guess I forgot was that…

  • Guide To Galway #4: Galway International Arts Festival 2016

    July 13, 2016 - By 

    The Galway International Arts Festival is here again and we’re all really happy about that – it’s the most wonderful time of the year! Yes, it’s the cultural equivalent of the Olympics or the World Cup, a time when the city’s social, economic and design problems are papered over for the visiting tourists. Lovely, lovely tourists with their lovely handsome faces. No, to be honest, it really is great. Galway is buzzing and never looks or feels better than for these two beautiful weeks in July. Shop Street is 110% the best street in the country right now – today…

  • Saul Williams @ Roisin Dubh, Galway

    July 4, 2016 - By 

    We’re very good at pretending nothing’s wrong. Rather, we’re excellent at grunting a few times about how shambolic everything is before sauntering to the bar and quickly changing the subject. Of course we are! We’ve become so resigned to the radical shitness of so much that goes on both far from home and right outside our doors that half the time we just sigh a little and tweet a GIF of a cat that somehow represents how doomed everything is. Sometimes though, we have a tendency to surprise ourselves with our potential. Every once in a while something gives us…

  • New Pope’s Guide To Galway #3: Bands

    March 23, 2016 - By 

    I like bands that have personality and I like music that comes from a place, be that geographically or socially or mentally or emotionally or philosophically or whatever. As long as it’s honest in some way and thoughtful in some other way and in some other way transcends mindless entertainment and stabs you in your pineal gland, wherein lies the soul. Galway is blessed with a number of such bands and here are five of them.  Oh Boland I’ve known these young gentlemen for a few years and when they got together musically they named themselves Oh Boland, though I’m…

  • Sea Pinks @ Roisin Dubh, Galway

    March 15, 2016 - By 

    I sometimes wonder how often, if ever, bands think about how the sound they craft in a studio translates to a live stage. Some groups are simply ‘studio bands’ – they sound better when they can endlessly and obsessively tinker with the sonic possibilities of technology. Others see the live setting as a different set of circumstances altogether, something with the living potential for a more sensory collective experience, something that can become a genuine reason to senselessly roar at your friends in a smoking area. While this is all pretty vague stuff to be beginning with, I promise it…