Tom Waits is a heritage act who doesn’t really play ball with the nostalgia crowd. Whenever there’s a rare news bulletin from Waits HQ I get a naive jolt of hope that he’s going on […]
You can easily forget how huge Depeche Mode are
When Depeche Mode started their European tour in May they shared a video as a reminder that they’re the biggest band in the world – in some parts. It was a clip – since shared […]
Irish gigs round-up
COM TRUISE, Button Factory, Dublin, tomorrow If you have enough internet time on your hands you can literally find thousands of synthwave and retrowave artists online, a vast underground community of electronic producers in thrall to […]
Irish gigs round-up
CRADLE OF FILTH, The Limelight, Belfast, Monday; The Academy, Dublin, Tuesday. A heavy metal focus group couldn’t have organised this gig – with Cradle of Filth sure to win all the Halloween costume awards. The British veterans have been […]
Richie Hawtin gets up Close at Metropolis
Before Metropolis started two years ago in November 2015, an Irish winter festival seemed like a hard sell. By October every year we’re usually done with the festival spamming all through the summer and we’re […]
Liam’s big mouth routine is the PR win of the year
Ireland’s newest winter festival was nearly left out in the cold after a group of residents lodged an appeal — but the first ever Samhain festival is going ahead at Weston Airport, 20 minutes west […]
Dublin Blues Fest kicks off – with no blues
The Blues Fest in Dublin is an unashamed nostalgia trip to warm up the coldest of winter hearts — but one tune by headliners Steely Dan will strike a particular chord with everyone in the […]
Irish gigs of the week
GHOSTPOET, The Button Factory, Dublin, Tuesday, €16 Ghostpoet’s fourth album Dark Days and Canapes is the bleakest yet from the poet, rapper, singer, beatmaker and producer, but his acclaimed live show will be no less intense. The […]
Leftfield interview: ‘Leftism live is an enormous output of emotion’
Ask any random person to recall 1995 in music and Britpop will come up right away. If you were to commission a talking heads nostalgia programme or a Q magazine special, you’d be searching for […]
The Masseduction of Annie Clark
A countless number of bands can be filed under ‘art-rock’ no matter how much they deserve it, but St Vincent has made a case for her whole career as a work of performance art. Texan Annie […]
Nine Inch Knives: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross rework John Carpenter’s Halloween theme
It’s not often you need a spoiler alert when you’re discussing a new tune, but this new Nine Inch Nails rework of John Carpenter’s Halloween is better when you don’t know what happens at the […]
Irish gigs round-up
THE BREEDERS: Vicar Street, Dublin, Monday The last time The Breeders went on tour they couldn’t resist doing the now-obligatory 20th anniversary album shows that any self-respecting 1990s alt-rock band goes for. The band took their breakthrough […]
The Horrors’ biggest triumph was avoiding the indie landfill dump
Even though The Horrors have only been going for over 10 years, when you recall the state of the so-called indie-rock scene in 2007 it feels like a real survival story. It’s also a tale […]
Alessandro Cortini’s new LP Avanti is a fuzzy childhood time capsule
Anemoia is a word that describes an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia for a time you’ve never known, and it could also be a handy one-word filing tab for this new ambient album by electronic producer […]
Irish gigs round-up
JENNY HVAL, National Concert Hall, Dublin, tonight. Jenny Hval released one of 2016’s most stunning records – and surely Blood Bitch is the only record to be filed under ‘concept album about menstruation and female vampires’. […]
Moo Kid 