Living awhile in the front of my skull

The Antlers Personally, I wouldn’t listen to a word I say. I should go back and delete certain posts. I should delete the whole blog and start again. But the internet never forgets – mistakes are cached like bitter arguments between family and friends. I have made grievous errors. I don’t deserve an opinion, never mind a miniscule audience. The Antlers released Hospice in 2009… not once but twice. It’s that good. After the original self-release garnered... Read More

Xiu Xiu – Whelan’s – Photos

Xiu Xiu - Whelan's Strange gig in Whelan’s on Saturday night. Decent crowd in the venue and almost all seemed devoted to the cause of the Xiu Xiu. Their set, heavy on material from their latest album Dear God, I Hate Myself, sharply turned corners to move in drastically different directions. They’ve carved a following with this sort of contrasting performance which spliced delicate and fragile songs with barely audible, quivering vocals in between burst of frenetic,... Read More

Yeasayer – Academy – Photos

Yeasayer - Academy I’ve been listening to Yeasayer‘s new album Odd Blood a lot lately. A lot. I was hoping for good things to happen in the Academy on Friday night and I think that’s exactly what we got. A quality live show with a band rightly rejuvenated by an excellent new release. The stage looked great, with disco-flashing furniture surrounding a band that confidently gave it their all. Tracks from the new album like “Rome”, “Ambling Alp”... Read More

Saturday is a Battlefield

Skins As Soon As You Hear Quick and belated mentions for a few fine ways to destroy brain-cells, ear-drums and reputations tonight. The best things come in threes and that’s how tonight rolls. I’m discounting the Xiu Xiu gig in Whelan’s, cos in fairness, if you’re into Xiu Xiu, you’re probably going and if you’re not… well, I wouldn’t recommend dropping in for a pint and a chat. I’ll be down there photographing the post-punk... Read More

New Broken Social Scene “World Sick”

Forgiveness Rock Record Thank you Jebus! Broken Social Scene, quite possibly the best band in the world right now, have confirmed the title and cover art for their upcoming album, due out May 4th (I’d imagine it’ll be apr 30th in Ireland) on Arts & Crafts. The album, Forgiveness Rock Record, is the long-awaited proper follow-up to two of my absolute favourite records of the last decade, You Forgot It In People (2003) and Broken Social Scene (2005). In between times,... Read More

This week I will be mostly… on paper.

Oisin Byrne's Paper Ball After a pretty quiet Thursday around the Dublin art scene, Friday arrives with all sorts of gusto! In the earlier part of the day, I’m hoping to catch one of the screenings of Oisin Byrne’s “Paper Ball” (pictured above). The film was shot in Castletown House last November and features a huge cast tearing about the luxurious surroundings in equally impressive outfits which were individually sculpted from paper. The 16mm-projected... Read More

Yacht Rock

Yacht Rock Yacht Rock is the term used to describe a unique brand of smooooooth music that was hugely popular in the late ’70s and early ’80s. That was then and this is now. Some crowd of comedy geniuses gathered together a couple of years ago to make a series of online shows telling the stories behind the creation of some of the smoothest hits of the time. The result was 10 episodes of “Yacht Rock” which were made available through Channel101.com. After... Read More

tUnE-YaRdS – Whelans – Photos

tUnE-YaRdS - Whelan's tUnE-YaRdS returned to Dublin this weekend and got such a good response she considered moving here to live a life of fame and adoration. It was mightily different from her previous visit supporting Dirty Projectors in September. That night she walked onto a stage in front of a small crowd who had arrived early and played her set with confidence and gusto, though she was clearly aware that her style of music and performance was likely to shock and confuse... Read More

This week I will be mostly… spinning the wheel.

Yesterday's Tomorrow Today Some recommendations for your art-devouring pleasure this week. Thursday night is busy as always with a good few shows opening. ‘Yesterday’s Tomorrow Today’ is a collaborative show between Leslie Cullinan and mega-celebrity artist Helena O’Connor. The show deals with several questions relating to time and ultimately (the one we’ve all asked since we were 4) questions about time travel. The fun in The Joinery in Stoneybatter... Read More

re: public

re: public Really wanted to post about this a while ago, but life certainly does have a habit of getting in the way. ‘re: public’ is the current exhibition in Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, which opened last week with a launch event after two weeks of construction which took place openly in the gallery. You can grab the full details on the show – which is a collaboration between TBG&S and GradCam along with guest curator Daniel Jewesbury – here.... Read More