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 […]
Category: Gig previews
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’ […]
Spread the Love Sensation
In the last few years, Pride events in Ireland have grown exponentially, we voted an emphatic Yes in the marriage referendum, and no one batted a false eyelash when drag queen Panti Bliss was declared […]
Post Malone might be shit, but just get over it
Most mega-successful stars – maybe with the exception of Queen of the Universe Beyonce – can be pretty divisive, with uber stan fans going to bat while half the population scratches their heads. Pop-rap superstar […]
The Human League: It could’ve all been so different
In a parallel electronic universe, the Human League could’ve been a cult industrial act, instead of one of the most celebrated synth-pop acts of all time. Formed in 1977 by Phil Oakey, Martyn Ware and […]
If you want Blood… Russian Circles
Grabbing elements of metal, post-rock and experimental prog and jazz, Russian Circles are one of the most intense live acts around. The Chicago instrumental act have just released their seventh album Blood Year, some 40 […]
