• Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival 2013

    May 3, 2013 - By 

    Having gone from strength to strength over the last decade and a bit, Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival has all but cemented its reputation as the most versatile and wholly immersive arts festival in Northern Ireland, if not the whole island of Ireland. As it prepares once more to dominate Belfast night-life and enthrall thousands across ten days of lovingly-selected, boundlessly exciting music, art, comedy and everything in between, Brian Coney sits down with CQAF organiser from day one, Sean Kelly, to discuss what’s in store and how the country’s most loved annual arts festival came to be. ______ Hi Sean.…

  • The Japanese Popstars

    May 3, 2013 - By 

    Irish electronic act The Japanese Popstars may not quite be household names yet, but they’re surely not far off. Having supported legendary electronic duo Orbital last year on their UK and European tour, Gary Curran and Gareth Donoghue were but adding to their list of admirers after they had recruited a host of high profile collaborators for 2011’s Controlling Your Allegiance, which included the likes of Jon Spencer and Robert Smith. As Donoghue goes on to explain, one of his biggest inspirations during his formative DJing years would come to be intimately involved with the release of the band’s upcoming…

  • The Tell Tale-Hearts: Desert Hearts

    May 3, 2013 - By 

    Seven years since they last released an album, Desert Hearts return, vision undimmed and armed with a magnificent new record. And, as Francis Jones discovers, the passing of time has not tamed them. I’m sitting downstairs in Voodoo bar in Belfast awaiting the arrival of Desert Hearts. I’m here to interview them about their new album, Enturbulation=No Challenge. The last – and only previous – time I interviewed this band was back in 2006, around the release of their second album, Hotsy Totsy Nagasaki. My memories of that evening are not altogether pleasant. Drummer Chris Heaney had recently departed the…

  • Inbound: The Altered Hours

    May 3, 2013 - By 

    Of the many acts to emerge seemingly fully-formed from a currently thriving Cork scene, five-piece The Altered Hours rank right up there as the most downright thrilling. Brandishing a superbly kaleidoscopic, altogether hypnotic brand Krautrock-tinged psych-rock, the band, who recently supported New York psych masters White Hills on their Irish tour, have just released their superb debut 10″ Sweet Jelly Roll on A Records. In the first of our Inbound: series, focusing on new and exciting Irish acts, we catch up with four fifths of the young band to get the lowdown on their sound, mindset and steady rise. Words…