Last month Stormzy seemed like the world’s biggest pop star — even if it was for one week only. The London MC has been grime’s biggest hope since Wiley and Dizzee Rascal, the most likely […]
Irish gigs of the week
LEE “SCRATCH” PERRY: The Limelight 2 Belfast, tonight, Friday 17th (£22.50) & Whelan’s, Dublin, Sunday (€25). Jamaican legend Lee Scratch Perry is 81 in a few days, but he’s still got the mischievous glint of a teenager and a head […]
Irish gigs of the week
Woweembeem presents AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA, FARAH ELLE, FAKOLI & PAPA LOU: Sugar Club, Dublin, Thursday 16th (€13) Woweembeem is a Dublin-based crew who run “parties and podcasts promoting Afrobeat, reggae, Latin & rare grooves”, running their […]
‘Touching the music is always a unique feeling’: Some vinyl love from Mihalis Safras
Mihalis Safras must be the only DJ who’s been playing for years to recently win a ‘Best Newcomer’ award — a prize that seems even more bewildering when you consider his own productions and releases […]
Gigs round-up
FLOWDAN: The Grand Social, Dublin, tomorrow, Saturday 4 (€9) Grime MC Flowdan would’ve torn the paint off the walls at the recent gig by his frequent collaborator The Bug at Opium Rooms — but better late […]
Clark’s Death Peak sounds like ‘a boulder bouncing down a hill with birds tweeting around it’
For years Clark has been a relatively unsung hero on Warp Records, hidden in the long shadows cast by cult electronic poster boys Aphex Twin, Autechre and Boards of Canada. But English producer Chris Clark […]
Irish gigs round-up
SLEIGH BELLS, Whelan’s, Dublin, Sunday 19th, €19. One of the early decade’s biggest buzz bands, Sleigh Bells’ first two albums Treats and Reign of Terror were clashes of maximalist electronics and hyper noise-pop, and the blood-spattered white plimsolls […]
Drake’s more than a meme generator – just about
Drake may be a living, breathing meme, but he’s arriving in Ireland on the back of eight sold-out gigs at the O2 Arena — so he’s no joke in fairness. Drizzy has already spent the […]
The Redneck Manifesto – still Ireland’s favourite cult band
A series of gigs to raise cash for recording isn’t a new thing, but there hasn’t been a rake of tickets bought in Ireland recently with as much goodwill as the ones snapped up for […]
Irish gigs round-up
Carla Dal Forno, Grand Social, Dublin, Tuesday 14th, €12.50 Australian singer-songwriter Carla Dal Forno is one of the newest sign-ups to Blackest Ever Black — a label that immediately sets out its stall with its name. The Blackest […]
Irish gigs round-up
ROBERT HOOD (Floorplan), District 8, Dublin, tonight, €20 Robert Hood is an ordained Christian pastor who formed radical Detroit techno collective Underground Resistance and is literally moved to tears when discussing that “sonic revolution”. Robert […]
Out with the old: Columbia Mills interview
When you hear a band has an ‘80s influence’ your brain can’t help join the dots between breezy synthpop, power ballads and the cliched garish outfits. Columbia Mills have a distinctive 80s sound — but […]
Irish gigs round-up
Andrew Weatherall, Wigwam, Dublin, tomorrow, €10 Veteran Dublin promoters Bodytonic reckon Andrew Weatherall is their “most-adored DJ”, and the revered selector, producer, musician, raconteur and label boss will always be hovering around the top tier. In […]
Machine learning: Fjaak nod to classic techno on debut album
Fjaak may look like three young H&M models, but they make machine-tooled techno with plenty of old-timer grease under its fingernails. Childhood friends from Berlin, Felix Wagner, Aaron Röbig and Kevin Kozicki have been an item […]
William Basinski’s droney, disintegrating Bowie tribute — For David Robert Jones
Of all the tributes, cover versions and live celebrations of David Bowie around the anniversary of his death, this meditative piece by avant-garde composer William Basinski taps into Bowie’s unrelenting obsession with experimentation and reinvention. Referencing […]
Moo Kid 