History is supposedly written by the winners, but maybe it’s time for a reappraisal of 1976-77 – often credited to punk as a year zero for music. In hindsight, maybe the revolution wasn’t happening as the […]
Author: Conor McCaffrey
‘I make music on wild, stormy days’: Acid Feen – Cid Sex
There must be thousands of electronic music labels worldwide with abstract names — but We Play Acid doesn’t leave you guessing what it’s all about. The Portuguese label exclusively focuses on underground acid house and techno and […]
I dug myself a cocoon: Snow Ghosts – Vetiver
It’s been a big week for London’s Fabric nightclub, with the iconic techno venue overturning a much-publicised shutdown after settling a dispute with Islington Council and the local cops – albeit with the strictest venue […]
Irish gigs round-up: November 25 – December 1
WOLFGANG VOIGT, The Sugar Club, Friday 25, €16.50. As the a co-founder of Kompact Records, we can thank Wolfgang Voigt for some of the most compelling, intricate and downright majestic techno of the last two decades. A […]
‘Sharp and strange sonics’ from Irish techno artist tuuun
Irish electronic producer tuuun describes his first release FINESTEXPORT as “the sound of instruments and ideas being pushed into their discomfort zones” – a perfect one-line primer for his shape-shifting abstract techno. The six-track FINESTEXPORT […]
Dog-eared sci-fi psychedelia from The Pattern Forms – Man and Machine
The song title Man and Machine might evoke images of sci-fi and cyborg technology, but The Pattern Forms is a parallel universe away from the cold lines and minimalism of Kraftwerk’s Man Machine. If the […]
Jeff Mills interview: ‘Techno feeds a basic human urge’:
The Halloween bank holiday in Dublin is always a big weekend for club gigs, but Jeff Mills is the only techno guy who’ll be turning up to his gig in a tuxedo with his 909 […]
Irish gigs of the week: October 21-27
JAMES BLAKE, Olympia, Dublin, Thursday 27th. James Blake is the most delicate musician who can still ruin cause the plaster to drop off the ceiling when he conjures up certain bass frequency. The singer-songwriter has […]
Irish gigs round-up: October 14-20
OPTIMO, Bernard Shaw, Dublin, tonight. As the best Sunday rollover pub in Dublin, you could’ve guessed the Bernard Shaw would’ve dragged its 10th birthday out over a month. Tonight it’ll be a DJ masterclass, as Glasgow […]
Irish gigs of the week: October 7-13
DEATH GRIPS, The Limelight, Belfast, Wednesday; The Academy, Dublin, Thursday. When Death Grips first headbutted their way out of your laptop in 2011 with the Guillotine video you just knew they’d be one of the bands of the decade. […]
Screen savers: Interview with house crew and YouTube aces Eton Messy
Unless you’ve been clubbing in the UK or you’ve been to dance festivals in England, you probably haven’t crossed paths with house crew Eton Messy in the flesh — but there’s every chance you’ve been […]
Don’t be afraid, it’s only blood: Jenny Hval – Period Piece
“Don’t be afraid, it’s only blood,” says Norwegian artist Jenny Hval in an interlude on her new album Blood Bitch – surely the only concept album touching on menstruation and female vampires this year. The line […]
Irish gigs round-up: September 30 – August 6
Bishop Nehru, The Academy Green Room, Dublin, Tuesday A few years ago when Odd Future were gatecrashing the hip-hop scene with their snotty teen antics and splattercore fantasies, Bishop Nehru was quietly blazing his own trail. Originally dropping […]
One more festival for the road: Boxed Off’s second edition
If you’re just getting over the hangover of festival PR blitzes bombarding you with every minute detail of their weekenders, Boxed Off seems to have crept up out of nowhere. The all-day dance event at […]
Rainy day woman: Laura Ann Brady – Masterpiece
The first time I heard Laura Ann Brady she was at Dublin’s Sugar Club supporting Canadian country singer Lindi Ortega, and making the headliner seem like an afterthought. Playing solo with an autoharp, the Dublin […]
Moo Kid 