One of the world’s great visionary composers, Philip Glass is presenting — and performing — two of his most iconic minimalist works as part of a special residency at the National Concert Hall this weekend. […]
Category: Gig previews
King Kong Company: From cult band to actual cult
Over the last few years, Waterford crew King Kong Company have gone from Ireland’s biggest cult band to an actual cult — from having an afternoon mass at Electric Picnic, to posting downloadable gorilla masks […]
‘Fuck hotels’: No Surrender 2 at Bernard Shaw
The clock is ticking on the last days of Dublin clubbing, pubbing, cultural (and pizza) institution the Bernard Shaw, after the recent news that it’s closing its doors on Richmond Street South to make way […]
The DIY synth absurdism of Look Mum No Computer
Sam Battle is the quintessential modern star, even if he’s forged a career out of vintage electronics. As Look Mum No Computer, he invents ludicrous electronic instruments out of obsolete toys and gadgets, and racks […]
Helmet: Strap It On for 30 years x 30 cities
The early 90s was the best time for extreme bands to be signed to major labels, with the likes of Sonic Youth, Ministry, Pantera and dozens more snapped up on the back of the success […]
Kneecap kicking against the pricks
Last week Belfast hip-hop act Kneecap posted a tweet quoting “some fella from Dublin” asking them, “Why would you rap in Irish? No one even speaks it”, above a photo of one of their recent […]
Bill Drummond is going on tour for the rest of his life
Rave provocateur, anti-Illuminatist, magical realist and performance art seditionist Bill Drummond is going on tour for the rest of his life, and he’s got seven years left. He’s worked out his life expectancy as 74 […]
Pixies might be starting to give a shit again
In 2016, Spin magazine posted an article with the headline, ‘Has any great band ever cared less than the Pixies?’, hand-wringing over an “unnervingly low stakes” series of releases after their 2004 comeback. Spin had […]
Gary Numan Disconnects from the past
Gary Numan may have spent 40 years with his biggest hit Cars in the rearview mirror, but he’s an artist who doesn’t keep coasting along in the nostalgia lane. True, Numan still performs his classic […]
Jah Wobble: Post-punk’s steady pulse
Jah Wobble was there at one of the most important forks in the road for music – answering a call from his old mate John Lydon to start a band after the sordid implosion of […]
Pere Ubu’s singular ‘avant-garage’ vision
It’s no hot take to say punk music itself was less important than all the bands and artists that flourished in the no-rules year zero late 70s after the tide washed back out. Emerging in […]
Jay Electronica’s an Eternal enigma
New Orleans rapper Jay Electronica is a social media pioneer of sorts — first making his name on MySpace with his viral (at least for those days) beatless composition Act I: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge), […]
10 hyped acts at Electric Picnic 2019
Electric Picnic is now a far cry from its ‘boutique’ beginnings in 2004, with the site expanding to 57,000 this year, and a move in recent years to include huge pop stars among the leftfield […]
Stiff Little Fingers: ‘Still putting the fast back in Belfast’
When stiff little fingers formed in Belfast in the late 70s, the idea of them playing an outdoor gig for thousands beside the High Court would have been beyond a surreal joke. But the veteran […]
The Murder Capital strike Fears
With post-punks Fontaines DC this year becoming the most hyped band in Ireland — or anywhere else — fellow Dubs have quite a lot of ground to make up, to capitalise on the buzz around Fontaines’ […]
