HILARY WOODS: The Sugar Club, Dublin, tonight, €16
Former members of Irish indie-rock bands rarely make a leap as vast as Hilary Woods, whose brilliant debut Colt is one of the records of the year, and many degrees of separation away from the so-so histrionic indie janglings of the now-defunct JJ72.
Woods has more in common with her Sacred Bones labelmate Jenny Hval, with delicate, brittle vocals, minimal electronic arrangements, sparse composition and field recordings all swirling into a haunting, melancholy master-stroke.
MANGO x MATHMAN, The Complex, Dublin, tonight, €15
After a full-on, giddy summer festival season, Dublin grime duo Mango x Mathman aren’t hanging up their rave stabs or gruff bars for the winter. They’ve already been announced for Other Voices Ballina at the end of the month, and headline this Dublin Fringe Festival show tonight, along with Huva, NUXSENSE, FYNCH, Marcus Woods, Blue Niall and RTL Music. The pair’s debut LP Casual Work is one of the long-awaited and long-promised records of the year and recent social media posts of them with experimental modernists the Crash Ensemble suggest they could be at finishing touches stage, which is good news for everyone.
A CERTAIN RATIO: The Sugar Club, Dublin, tomorrow, €27.90
Cult Manchester punk-funk icons play a rare Dublin show. Preview here.
BIFFY CLYRO, The Helix, Dublin, tomorrow, SOLD OUT; Waterfront, Belfast, Sunday, SOLD OUT
At a Therapy? acoustic show in Whelan’s last year, frontman Andy Cairns walked out at the start and said: “Don’t worry, this won’t be as shite as you think.” Cairns realised the tightrope of a noise-rock band ditching the distortion — not every band can pull off a Nirvana Unplugged.
Scottish act Biffy Clyro have been smoothing down their edges for nearly 20 years — from tetchy underground metallers to arena-filling festival main stage hard rockers, and this acoustic tour is a chance to strip everything back and see if the songs still stand up. The gigs are long sold out, so at least fans are confident they can pull it off.
THE MUSIC OF BOND, JAMES BOND: National Concert Hall, tomorrow, €12-39.50
Aside from the gadgets, cheeseball innuendos and one-liners, the legacy of James Bond movies has always been propped up by some of the most iconic theme tunes in cinema history.
The RTE Concert Orchestra has in recent years been moonlighting with hip-hop and house DJs, but they’re on more familiar ground this weekend to bring these sumptuous themes to the NCH.
White tuxedo and dinner gown is optional of course, but pieces like Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, Diamonds Are Forever and John Barry’s other classics are mandatory. Deep cuts like The Living Daylights are also promised — but thankfully no Jack White & Alicia Keys.
CLONAKILTY GUITAR FESTIVAL, Various venues, Clonakilty, Cork, Monday-Sunday, September 23 (separate tickets)
As a celebration of the six-string, the Clonakilty International Guitar Festival is immediately inclusive, with a message on its site: “From virtuosos to noodlers, all are exalted!”
The West Cork festival is having its 14th edition with its biggest festival yet, with gigs still in its spiritual home, De Barras in the town centre, as well as a new circus Big Top and Shanleys, O’Donovan’s Hotel and other bars. There are 40-odd gigs and workshops and most are free, with some of the bigger events needing a ticket. The de facto headline act in The Frames’ Glen Hansard, but you can also catch John Spillane, Pillow Queens, Bill Shanley, Naive Ted, David Keenan and loads more. See clonguitarfest.com for all the details.
WHY?: Button Factory, Dublin, Monday, €26; Roisin Dubh, Galway, Wednesday, €28.90
As the co-founder of Anticon records and a member of cLOUDDEAD, Yoni ‘Why?’ Wolf was responsible for some of the most experimental and surreal hip-hop in the noughties. In 2008 Wolf fully untethered himself traditional from hip-hop with the album Alopecia, a full-band release that’s equal parts psychedelia, crooked folk, electronica and drone-rock. He’s one a 10-year anniversary tour – a chance to catch up with one of the decade’s best left-field curios.
Moo Kid 