• Split

    January 29, 2017 - By 

    Split lives up to its title in dividing my opinion right down the middle. I’m not sure whether it’s a load of gratuitous, pseudo psychology nonsense or an entertaining exploitation thriller/horror. Thankfully, writer/director M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) has managed to break out of his disappointing – sometimes awful – run of films since the mid-2000s, by pulling an inspired performance out of James McAvoy (X-Men: First Class) and creating an intriguingly sinister story with a surprising bite in its finale. It may be generic at its core, containing a few too many plot holes, but Split is clearly…

  • Before Machines announce split

    September 12, 2013 - By 

    Having released their superb debut album, Tundra, at the start of the year, Belfast indie-rock four-piece Before Machines have announced that they are to part was after a final Belfast show next month. The band released the following statement: “On October 2nd, Before Machines will play Limelight 2. This will be our last performance. A few weeks ago the two Dans (Dan Larkin, Dan Black) announced their intentions to leave the band, confirming what we had all been feeling in our hearts for some time – that Before Machines are over. The release of the Tundra album earlier this year was…

  • The Alice Kona Band split, release final EP

    May 27, 2013 - By 

    Belfast garage-pop quartet The Alice Kona Band have cushioned the blow of announcing they are no more by releasing their final EP online, the aptly-titled Alice Is Dead. Having released a couple of stellar singles over the last while – both of which feature on the release – the parting EP was recorded at Belfast’s Start Together in the summer of last year by Ben McAuley. On a brief statement made online, the band said, “We’ll be announcing a new project in the very near future. Huge thanks and much love to everyone that’s supported us over the last 4…