Oh, we’re halfway there — the soundtrack to beating 2020, with the last two months featuring a mythical Filipino dragon, Japanese doom metal, Irish hip-hop, industrial funk, glitchy pop, prehispanic death metal, white noise symphonic […]
Author: Conor McCaffrey
Ennio Morricone: The soundtrack of our lives
Everyone has a corner in their brain reserved for cinematic memories formed by the music of Ennio Morricone, the eminent Italian composer who has died aged 91 — just a few months after his last […]
The great indoors: Is virtual festival season a gimmick too far?
This weekend, thousands of music heads should be at Body & Soul festival, and for the rest of the summer we’ll still be getting calendar notifications for cancelled gigs and festivals. Still, many promoters are […]
Interview: TAU &the Drones of Praise ‘tapping into that ancient sound of ours’
There’s been a lot of talk in lockdown about new normals, and getting back to nature, but Irish musician Seán Mulrooney is taking it back further than most. Mulrooney — who spearheads the loose psych […]
Jeff Mills interview: ‘I’m just throwing music into the spiral’
“Your brain needs to be wired a certain way to do it. I don’t even think it’s about confidence, you just have to have no fear in what you’re about to try next. I’m not afraid to make mistakes. I’m not a machine.”
R.S.A.G. Interview: ‘with art it’s all about connection’
“I was gonna bring it out last year, but it just wasn’t there,… the emotional download was at 70 so I just couldn’t do it.”
All the right noises: Moo Kid’s April 2020
Cancel culture’s taken on a new meaning in the last few weeks, with your social and gig calendar full of blanks right up till the end of summer and beyond. Still, talk of album delays […]
It’s all just a game, I hope: Karel Fialka – Hey Matthew (1987)
In 1987, my Ma bought me the double cassette of Now That’s What I call Music Vol 10 as a Christmas present. I had my favourites – M/A/A/R/S, Billy Idol, ABC, Pet Shop Boys, Jan […]
WTF is going on in the video for Billy Ocean’s Loverboy?
When Michael Jackson released his Thriller video in December 1983 it was a year zero for presenting pop music – a 14-minute short film directed by John Landis, with higher production values than most horror […]
The sound of real isolation on The Razor Wire: Answering Machine (1990 – 2000)
Terms like self-isolation and social distancing crept up on us over the last few weeks, and they’re now drummed into our heads. And even if you’re rolling your eyeballs inside out at the state of […]
All the chances I’ve blown: The KLF – Build a Fire (1991)
The KLF never really had many tender moments. From 1987-92, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty set their stall out as acid house outsiders, giving the finger to baggy Second Summer of Love hedonism with situationist […]
Top ten TV synth themes of the 80s
One of the biggest communal TV binges of the last few years has been Stranger Things — with the pesky kids in the throwback 80s sci-fi horror series shamelessly pushing all our nostalgia buttons. Strangers […]
All the Right Noises: Moo Kid’s 2020 first quarter
Let’s see if we can get through a few lines without mentioning it. In between ambient playlists, Tiger King, hand-wash lyric memes, Zoom screenshots and a sadly forgotten historic Irish election, there’s also been a […]
Business as (un)usual for Meljoann on Company Retreat
There wasn’t much of an incubation period needed for the millions of think-pieces and social media posts spewing into the pandemic narrative as it unfurls by the minute. One thing’s certain, though — capitalism is […]
Remote Control: Keep your distance with this eight-hour ambient playlist
Amid the spiralling pandemic anxiety and cabin fever over the last few weeks, there’s been an arms race to see who can adapt quickly to this shapeshifting new way of life in self-isolation. With gigs […]
