Bristol punks IDLES are one of the few English guitar lad bands who are punching up through the underground with something to say — helping to finally banish second- and third-hand indie bands still waiting […]
Same as he ever was: When David Byrne played the Galway Arts Festival (2004)
Any anoraks out Byrne-watching on July 26 might have bumped into a stranger in a strange land. According to his online tour journal, the singer took his fold-out bike for a ride on Salthill Prom […]
You never quite know what you’re gonna get with the Brian Jonestown Massacre
If you’ve seen the 2004 music documentary Dig!, you’ll know the bitching and high-wire tension between the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre scored all the bullseyes over the actual music. Jonestown leader Anton […]
Jon Hopkins dragged out of his Luminous trance for live show
British electronic producer Jon Hopkins has one of the best albums of the year behind him in Luminous Beings. The record is a project informed by a journey of transcendental meditation and psychedelic exploration, and […]
There’s always high expectations with Low
There’s no end to songs, protests and think-pieces about the ongoing calamity surrounding the Trump era, but no other music other act has tackled the US shitshow with as much elegance and subtlety as Minnesota […]
Gleaming psych-synth gems on The KVB – Only Now Forever
At the impeccably-curated La Route du Rock festival in France at the tail-end of the summer, The KVB headlined the opening party – held in the Nouvelle Vague club rather than the outdoor ruins of […]
The Man From Tomorrow is playing tonight
In recent years, Detroit techno pioneer Jeff Mills has indulged his more experimental avant-garde side, with conceptual pieces on space science, Egyptology, jazz and Afrobeat – as well as holding a residency at the Louvre […]
Helena Hauff: Everybody keep Qualm
Hamburg DJ Helena Hauff has released one of the electronic albums of the year in Qualm, a visceral slab of analogue electro with a punk edge, and hands-dirty track titles like Fag Butts in the […]
Kirkis channels Bowie and MJ, but mostly the fear on Dead Nightclub
Here’s a new brain-wrong video from Melbourne artist Kirkis, who’s got plenty more weirdness where that come from. Dead Nightclub is the first track from his second album Kirkis 2 and follows his debut Vide […]
Echo & the Bunnymen: too many strings attached
You’re never much more than a year away from an Echo and the Bunnymen gig in Ireland, but this time they’ve probably got a lot more to prove as they hit Dublin tonight. Their last […]
Real metal machine music: Author & Punisher – Beastland
The term industrial music evokes plenty of gut reactions, from the avant-garde nihilism of Throbbing Gristle to the crossover thrash headbutts of Psalm 69-era Ministry. But in the wrong hands it’s vaguely goth metal with […]
Interview: Author Nick Soulsby on his oral history of Swans – Sacrifice and Transcendence
For a band that inspires so much devotion and cult hyperbole, a book about Swans was always set to be a colossal task. Since the early 80s, the name Swans has been used as a […]
‘Defining mortality’ on new Dopplereffekt EP Athanatos
Electronic conceptualists Dopplereffekt have just announced details of a new EP, which seems to be another exploration of their later period science themes. Athanatos apparently build on the concepts of 2017’s Cellular Automata (Moo Kid’s […]
OCTAVIAN IS ENJOYING THE PARTY WHILE IT LASTS
London rapper Octavian has told the story about being homeless around the time the London Olympics was happening down the road from where his mum kicked him out of the house. But his rise through […]
Jinx Lennon holds up a surreal mirror to Ireland’s lunacy
Punk poet and singer-songwriter Jinx Lennon has over nine albums held up a surreal mirror to Ireland’s post-crash spiral and new bubble fakery, with oblique observations that are always a few steps ahead of the […]
Moo Kid 