Sugarhill Gang
Block parties, mobile discos and basement DJs. Before any hip-hop record label was ever formed, people were out rapping on the streets, plugging equipment into any socket they could find
Iron Man
While Robert Downey Junior initially seemed an odd choice as the actor elected to portray Ironman, his cheeky playboy personality is Tony Stark down to a tee. Stark, the billionaire
John Cooper Clarke
In school, in Ireland, we get Austin Clarke on our poetry syllabus moaning about heifers and blackbirds in the faraway Irish mists – snooze. In England they get John Cooper
Tilly and the Wall – O
Optimists are often a group of people as maligned as child-murdering pathologoists. Tilly and the Wall are just the type of people to be treated with such suspicion. Upbeat major
Snow Patrol – A Hundred Million Suns
Recorded in Westmeath and Berlin, the 5th album by this million-selling Northern Irish/Scottish band is one of those difficult albums to review. After the huge sales of the previous two
Los Campesinos! – We are Beautiful, We are Doomed!
“It’s fair to say that I chose hopelessness/And inflicted it on the rest of us/But at least I’ve come to terms with my own mortality.” If you feel a slight
A Surprising Portrait: Interview with Bloc Party
As I wade through countless interviews and press snippets across the internet to find hitherto unasked questions for the subject of an upcoming interview I’m struck by a common thread
Kanye West – Robocop
Fresh from his “Would you judge a grandmother’s love?” reaction to the criticism of his auto-tuned drop from his forthcoming album ‘808s and Heartbreak’, Kanye’s going to have to polish
Get Well Soon – Listen! Those Lost At Sea…
Around these parts, there is much love for Get Well Soon. Ever since we heard a rough demo last year, and most notably since the release of his album on
Story Of Hair + So Cow – Nanny Natch
Dublin’s finest indie-popsters return with an excellent new single, Nanny Natch. Their eagerly awaited debut album, Cheap Rate ticks all the right boxes, and it’s refreshing to hear an Irish
Bloc Party – Intimacy
Of that elite group of post-punk revivalists and two-guitars-and-an-indie-haircut bands from 2004 and 2005 that struck it massive with their abrasive, propulsive sonic attacks, all have stumbled a little waywardly
Redbelt
Redbelt is director David Mamet's latest offering and uses mixed martial arts as the basis to explore corruption and rigging within competitive sports. The premise of the film centres around
Penny For Your Thoughts
It is a startling voice that trickles through the phone from a county faraway when John Lambert picks up. Sounding like he’s constantly smiling, Lambert flits his way from stories
Indian Jewelry – Sangles Redux
Indian Jewelry are difficult to pin down or describe accurately, and even more difficult to construct a linear biography of (as their contrived press release dictates: ‘Indian Jewelry is the…
Holy F*ck – Holier than thou
For many Holy F*ck are like the attractive new boy or girl one of your friends got to know in a club and have been raving about fancying ever since.
Sex and the City: The Movie
Sex and the City: The Movie is essentially an overlong episode, hyped to a slavering frenzy by a media that flogs the same pricy clothes and niggling discontent with one's
Underground Ledgends: Interview with The Melvins
The very sound of the words “sludge metal” is enough to send shivers down any music fan’s spine. It’s all faux-mystical lyrics, self-indulgence, and cock-rocking, right? Right. But in any
Mongol
Mongol is an epic tale that follows the early years and subsequent rise to power of Ghengis Kahn, ruler of the Mongol empire that stretched over half the known world.