Weekender: |wiːkˈɛndə|– noun – what to do with your weekend.
DAWN LANDES
Thursday 15 January | Upstairs at Whelan’s | 8pm, €13
Kentucky native, Brooklyn-based folkster Dawn Landes is treating us Dubliners to an intimate show upstairs in Whelan’s as part of her ongoing European tour. Having been afforded no small amount of praise for last year’s gut-wrenchingly honest break up record, Bluebird, which details her divorce from honorary-Irish Canuck Josh Ritter, Landes is returning to the fold with a charming collection of stripped back cover versions. This latest EP featuring new takes on classics from the likes of Roxy Music and Bruce Springsteen amongst others that will surely go over a treat in the live environment. Landes ‘s artistic ace in the hole is an acute sonic understanding that comes from a passion for the behind the scenes, nuts and bolts technicalities of music production. A skill she honed in institutions as venerable as Stratosphere Sound studios and the great Phillip Glass’ own personal recording space. With a lightness of touch that never betrays the dark melancholy of her material, Landes is an artist that must surely have a very busy 2015 on the horizon.
ORANGES – JANUARY RESIDENCY
Friday 16 January | Anseo | 8pm, Free
The first of three free Friday evenings in Anseo on Camden Street for Oranges, a new band of old heads from the Dublin underground music scene. The three piece is made up of G. Duffy (of Thread Pulls), Ed Kelly (formerly Cap Pas Cap) and Micí Durnin (of Maximum Joy and B-Music) who have begun making an interesting post-punk racket, debuting at one of the last gigs in the late, great Joinery just before Christmas in support of The Wormholes. Oranges will be taking over the the cramped but glorious confines of the upstairs of Anseo for this and the next two Friday evenings.
MR. SCRUFF
Friday 16 January | Button Factory | €20,10.30pm
The undisputed king of marathon eclecticism and artisanal tea-maker of note Mr.Scruff is making his return to fair shores this weekend with one of his trademark 5-hour sets. Since appearing on the scene in the late 90’s Scruff has cut out a niche of his own as one of the forerunners in the Ninja Tune stable of crate-digging sample fetishists. Famed for consistently considering the maintaining of a “vibe” to be paramount to deployment of floor-filling banger after banger, Scruff’s philosophy to live performance is distinctly unlike that of the vast majority of his contemporises. This one is certainly a must-attend for you and perma-beanie’d cargo short wearer in your life.
HOLLYWOOD BABYLON – NINJA III: DOMINATION
Saturday 17 January | The Lighthouse Cinema | 10.45pm, €9
Dublin’s premier midnight movie club/ cavalcade of the bat shit mental, Hollywood Babylon, are starting the year in their typically absurdist fashion with a showing of bizzarro martial arts dance flick Ninja III: The Domination. Drawing heavily from Flashdance and The Exorcist but with added ninjas (yes, you read that correctly) Ninja III is the products of the great Cannon Films, one of the powerhouses of the VHS B-movie era. Detailing the trials and tribulations of ‘A woman with ESP with an interest in ancient Japanese culture who becomes possessed by the spirit of an evil warrior’ Ninja III is a must see for those with a taste for only the finest trash.
DRANK FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY
Saturday 17 January | Pacino’s | 11.45pm
Year one for Drank has been an unprecedented success. Having grown over the last 12 months from a distinctly specialist and underground concern to one of the most exciting hush-hush clubbing experiences in the city. As the adopted home of grime, footwork, jungle and bass music Drank has become an invaluable resource for those who harbour a penchant for all things gut rumbling and filling rattling. The stellar line-up for this very special taste of the Drank is an enticing one indeed as heading the bill will be South-African jungle savant and recent Life Festival highlight, Richard Entropy, making his Dublin debut. Local boy Bobofunk will also be taking to the stage to show off the anything goes approach to song selection that has made him a fan favourite over the last year. Rounding out the line-up is one of the figureheads of the burgeoning instrumental grime movement, Paul Purcell of Glacial Sound. There’s sure to be a celebratory atmosphere surrounding this one so get down early and see why nobody can leave after just the one Drank.
