For many, Neil Diamond is the cheeseball in the diamante cowboy shirt hamming up Sweet Caroline for pensioners in the front row — and he kind of is, up to a point. But shuffle around […]
Dälek’s Endangered Philosophies is the hip-hop album we deserve right now
The front cover of Endangered Philosophies is like a picture someone could just tweet and lazily caption: #2017. It’s a scene of deranged wrongness, arrows shooting into the hide of a screaming wild cat trampling […]
Andrew Weatherall interview: ‘It’s good to see the reds of people’s eyes’ (2008)
This town ain’t big enough for the both of them, and sparks will fly when Andrew Weatherall and Ivan Smagghe get set for another soundclash. Armed with “a disco bag over one shoulder and a […]
Brainwaltzera tries to squeeze all Warp Records’ best bits into his debut LP
The Aphex Twin references come pretty quickly when Brainwaltzera’s name comes up. When he released his EP Aescoba earlier this year, there were so many Aphex DNA strands running through the tracks that there was […]
It’s weird watching LCD Soundsystem’s Shut Up and Play the Hits now
We all partied, as the saying goes. LCD Soundsystem called it a day in 2011, and their three-night run in Tripod in 2010 was one of the defining events at the long-lost Dublin venue – […]
Irish gigs of the week
GHOSTFACE KILLAH, Button Factory, Dublin, Tonight, Friday 29th It’s tough being a Wu-Tang fan these days. Their 2014 album A Better Tomorrow was an over-produced mess, with a few syrupy tracks that border on Disney balladry, and […]
Haco’s new album Qoosui sounds like it’s barely there, but it’s magical
Japanese sound artist Haco describes her voice as a ‘mist’, and it’s true, there’s something intangible and barely-there about her new ambient drone album Qoosui. Haco is the one-time singer of Japanese avant-pop band After […]
LCD Soundsystem really are getting away with this brazen comeback
Even when we’re stuck in music’s current rut of nostalgia and retromania, LCD Soundsystem’s break-up and reunion is one of the most brazen yet. The dust had barely settled on the band’s ‘farewell’ shows when […]
‘I think therefore I ambient’: Mixmaster Morris interview
Mixmaster Morris is the OG of the UK chillout room, an ambient pioneer who reworked the acid house experience to include soft landings alongside the all-night raving. You can loosely file him alongside The KLF […]
She drives me crazy: Grace Jones – Pull Up to the Bumper (1981)
A few years ago I had to pick some tunes for an X-rated list and I had Wu Tang Clan’s Dog Shit pencilled in – Ol Dirty Bastard’s leg-humping solo effort on Wu-Tang Forever. But […]
We’re going Dutch: Lowlands 2017 recap
Even as the hype over Irish festival season fades and your wellies are dumped in the cupboard, it’s not that insane to start thinking about next year. After all, Electric Picnic tickets went on sale before […]
Roots Manuva interview: ‘It’s like a mud fight instead of a ballet’ (2008)
Not renowned for their modesty, most commercial hip-hop artists assign some ethereal majesty to their MTV-bankrolled ‘vocation’. For Rodney Smith Aka Roots Manuva, it’s a base instinct, a subconscious tic “I find it hard to […]
The National may as well apply for residency in Ireland
The National are one of a select group of American bands who could apply for residency in Ireland – with Pixies and Bruce Springsteen a couple that stand out, playing almost annually without much bitching […]
You’ve got Mael: An interview with Russell of Sparks
For nearly 50 years Sparks have been one of pop music’s biggest conundrums. If you’re way out of the loop the LA duo are a one-hit wonder, but they’ve had over 20 albums since their […]
Perturbator goes one darker on surprise EP New Model
French electronic producer James Kent aka Perturbator has always lurked in the darker outskirts of the synthwave scene, so it’s no surprise that he’s just premiered his surprise new EP on the Metalsucks and Metal […]
Moo Kid 