Her split with Damien Rice caused headlines around the music world. Now Lisa Hannigan is taking her first steps as a solo artist with a wonderfully ethereal debut album, Sea Sew. She talks to hot press about the end of her partnership with Rice, her hopes for the future and the influence of romantic entanglements on her powerfully feminine songwriting.
There's more to the Electric Picnic than great music as Adrienne Murphy discovered when she checked out some of the festival's off-the-beaten path attractions
As well as providing a remarkable spectacle, David Best's burning temple at the Burning Man festival also offers a forum for people to deal with feelings of grief and loss.
She is a passionate advocate of social justice for women and a dreamer, who achieved extraordinary insights through use of the shamanic drug, ayahuasca. Isabel Allende talks to Hot Press
"A million miles from thrash and punk, the twelve tracks here are an unusual mix of indie rock and country, with top class musicianship adding lots of depth and colour..."
Author Daniel Pinchbeck discusses psychedelic drugs and shamanism as potential tools for the evolution of consciousness – catalysts of change in our age of violence and ecological meltdown.
Áine Tubridy and Michael Corry are medical doctors, writers and healers, known for their holistic approach to mental health. Here are their thoughts on personal change in 2008.
With their Eurovision adventure as a focal point, it may have been a strange and unusual year for Dervish – but they've bounced back with a superb new album.
An acoustic live record stripped back to its bare essentials, Live From The Union Chapel, in its simplicity and frankness, showcases the essence of Rice.
Sinead’s voice and the band, honed from months on the road, are at the absolute peak of their powers. Lots of fans I spoke to afterwards felt they’d never heard her sound better.
His good humour apparently unblunted by years of drug addiction, Aslan’s Christy Dignam talks about heroin, sexual abuse and his belief in the redemptive power of music.
From the backstreets of Waterford to a place on the podium next to the Beatles, Gilbert O'Sullivan lived an extraordinary life. Now 60, he looks back on his rollercoaster career.
Mumblin’ Deaf Ro’s (aka Dubliner Rónán Hession’s) second album should fall on fertile ground after the critical acclaim garnered by his 2003 debut, Senor My Friend.
From playing tiny club gigs to serenading Wembley, songstress Tara Blaise has travelled a great distance in a short time. And the journey is only just beginning.
The tunes on Of Pattern And Purpose – are so cool that they offer the kind of pleasing, relaxing, thought-disengaging, space-creating emotional detachment that we find in Steve Reich or Brian Eno circa Music For Airports.
It took Gray a few songs, but by mid-set the singer-songwriter and his two-man acoustic band had moved into their flow, helped hugely by a pivotally-placed ‘Babylon’, to which the audience gave great song.
Featuring multiple mixes each of three songs, All Your Life/Sweet Love is an absolute gem of an EP by arch Irish musicians David Bickley of Hyper[boreal] and Ferus O’Farrell of Interference. These stunning tracks – put together in O’Farrell’s studio on the remote West Cork coast – blend O’Farrell’s beautiful folk vocals into some seriously spacey electronica/funky dance beats. Individually, Bickley and O’Farrell are geniuses in their own right; what they’ve created together brings their gifts to a whole new plane.
Mothers of autistic children in Ireland have their heart-rending experiences made worse by inadequate government support. One mother, who’s also a hotpress writer, explains just how despairing it can get.
Gathering together Dublin maverick Stano’s work from his first recording, ‘Room’ in 1982, to the title track, recorded this year, Reverse Presence is an absolute gem of a collection and a must-have for alternative muso lovers.
There are no saints in love. That’s a lesson The Frames’ mainman Glen Hansard learned the hard way – and which he articulates in the bittersweet love songs that make up much of the band’s new album The Cost. Hot Press hits the road with the band for an extended interview, conducted in radio studios, backstage areas, tour buses – and one very dedicated fan’s house.
Folk institution Kila met a dream collaborator in the shape of traditional Japanese musician Oki. Working together they’ve produced one of the most remarkable roots records of recent years.
Altogether a sumptuous, lilting and uplifting experience, one that’ll bliss-out fans of this ever-evolving, extraordinarily talented and brilliantly adventurous band.
Fossil fuels are running out and few countries are so vulnerable to an oil shock as Ireland. With an unprecedented energy crisis on the horizon, a conference in Dublin will explore possible solutions. But is it too late?
Bursting with intelligence, beauty and amazing emotional depth, Shaz Oye’s (pronounced Oh Yay!) debut, Truth According To Shaz Oye, is a knee-buckling, hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck-raising, shiver-down-your-back inducing album that will have you hooked after just one listen. It’s that fucking good!
Fake Chemical State is one of those records that rewards repeated listening, so over a week or so nearly every song takes a turn in the ‘best on the album’ slot.
Their unique combination of sensual Latin melodies and brilliant, metal-inspired guitar playing have made Rodrigo y Gabriela a phenomenon in their adopted Ireland, with a platinum album, sell-out tours and barn-storming festival appearances already to their credit. Now, with the release of their third album, Rodrigo y Gabriela, their sights are set on the international arena. Here, this extraordinary couple explain why they swapped sun-drenched Mexico for rain-kissed Dublin – and, for the first time, talk candidly about the open relationship they enjoy, as long-term friends and lovers.
Throwing her extraordinary talents for singing, stand-up and strip-tease into a deliciously surreal mix called Absolute Cabaret, the virtuoso ex-Nualas entertainer Karen Egan has created her own unique art form.
Amarantine is Enya’s first full-length album in five years. Fans of the ethereal chanteuse will be thrilled with it – and, in this reviewer’s opinion, it’s her finest to date.
Her novels have charmed millions of readers around the world, but in Ireland she remains best known as the Taoseach's daughter. As her third book is published, Cecelia Ahern talks about success, politics and how her parents' separation coloured her thoughts on love and marriage.
Proffering a delicious taste of her forthcoming album, Throw Down Your Arms, due for release this autumn, Sinead O’Connor thrilled punters at the Prime Minister’s 2005 Independence Gala in Jamaica with her impassioned version of Bob Marley’s ‘War’, accompanied on drum and bass by famous riddim twins, Sly and Robbie.
Damien Rice has emerged as one of the most distinctive and independent voices of recent years, achieving a remarkable level of success and artistic respect with O – the debut album that was recorded on a shoestring in his own bedroom. Famously media shy, he agreed to talk to Hot Press about the Free Aung San Suu Kyi 60th Birthday Campaign, and the beautiful tribute single ‘Unplayed Piano’, recorded with Lisa Hannigan. But, tape rolling, he talked about a whole lot more, giving the most candid and complete insight yet into the real Damien Rice.
The incomparable Dead Can Dance – reunited after seven years for a European tour that kicks off tonight in the Olympia – have created a sound that diverges sharply from anything else in contemporary rock/pop, drawing on ancient and sacred musics from around the world.
There’s something too predictable about Snoop Dogg’s R & G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece, his seventh studio album, to lift it beyond just about bearable background noise.
Each track is a distinct little hit-single, destined for the global Saturday night dancefloor. Some are too twee for my taste, pure bubble-gum, but most of these songs are much deeper and smarter than your average poppy dance tune, with lyrics that reward repeated listening, and a plethora of up-front musical references that read like an encylopaedic history of excellent pop.
Jeff Martin's second album is not a particularly Irish sound, so it’s surprising to discover that Martin is based in Dublin, though his music is happily reminiscent of the work of David Kitt.
A Treasury is a compilation of songs taken from Drake’s three albums, Five Leaves Left (1969), Bryter Layter (1970) and Pink Moon (1972), along with a couple of tracks that he recorded shortly before his death. This is deep, beautiful music that rewards repeated listening.
There’s nothing more jarring than stasis, so it’s a pleasure to hear how Palookaville, Fatboy Slim’s latest album, diverges from its four-year-old predecessor.
While fans will undoubtedly love it, Kíla’s Live in Dublin is a good place for newcomers to start, too, capturing as it does the special celtic-rave crossover invented by this much-loved band.
If you’re a big guitar head you’ll enjoy trainspotting this album, but if you’re an ordinary Joe who likes to keep abreast with new trends in contemporary music, forget Shangri-La – it’ll make you feel like you’re listening to a wedding band.
The Dears seem set to storm Europe with their second offering, the literary and apocalyptic No Cities Left, a cinematic symphony about the death of one world and the birth of another.
John Seymour, who died on September 14th in Pembrokeshire, was one of the foremost figures in the self-sufficiency movement. Here his friend and fellow activist Adrienne Murphy pays her respects.
With Candyfloss Girl, Cork singer-songwriter John Leo Carter and friends have done a rare thing. They’ve created a touching, soothing, seamlessly flowing album that can be played again and again, providing a fresh experience every time.
Ultra-modern twists on the singing styles of jazz, soul and blues are Topley Bird’s trademark, but her understated ease and sultry innocence are very much her own.
Chrissie Hynde’s voice is as strong and distinctive as ever, but I find the songs here bland and uninspired, musically unadventurous and run-of-the-mill.
Skin swops her former intensity for a calmer, more introspective sound that suits her themes of intimacy with self and others, the break-up of relationships and that which forms to take their place.
With her looks and singing talent, Obernik has the qualities of a serious popstar-in-the-making, but more than that she has the ability to write excellent songs
This year’s Convergence Festival in the heart of Dublin promises a scintillating feast of events celebrating sustainability and cultural transformation. Adrienne Murphy takes a bite
Enlisting 12 new countries as member states in the EU – the enlargement issue – is not all we’re voting for in the upcoming Nice Treaty. What’s also at stake is democratic control by individual EU members over their own essential services
Those who limit themselves to the traditional man-on-top position during sex are missing out on the fun and excitement that a little sexual experimentation can provide. For the more adventurous a little research can help you see a whole new side of your partner
Unpalatable truths about the 'war against terror' - and Ireland's involvement – will be revealed during the trial of Eoin Dubsky, the young Wexford man who spraypainted a US war plane refuelling in Shannon
The Department Of Justice has denied asylum to Elizabeth Onasanwo and her four children, who are due to be deported back to Nigeria, where the two girls - Bolu aged 6 and Christina aged 18 - will face female genital mutilation, a traditional practice frequently resulting in death
One by-product of the technological revolution is an increase in state surveillance. Sweeping new EU powers invoked in the 'war against terror' may sound the death-knell for our communications privacy
Wyclef uses the majority of the tracks here to highlight the heinousness of a society that encourages its youngsters, particularly its black youngsters, to adopt guns and crime as a way of life
This is her fourth album, a hugely ambitious concatenation of every kind of black American music you can think of, from jazz, r 'n' b and soul to funk, go-go and hip-hop
The family courts have traditionally favoured women over men when deciding issues of child custody. Adrienne Murphy discovers that fathers are fighting back.
These days you're more likely to meet a witch at the frontlines of mass anti-globalisation rallies than on the mountain tops under a full moon. Renowned American witch and author Starhawk tells Adrienne Murphy why.
Adrienne Murphy reports on the aftermath of the violence which engulfed the Reclaim The Streets protest in Dublin and finds many wondering, not for the first time, 'who will guard the gardai?'.
If we care about the lives of Irish women, then a no vote in the march 6th abortion referendum is a must. Adrienne Murphy poses the questions and offers some answers
During the days of protest at last month's G8 summit in Italy, police raided the Independent Media Centre in Genoa and tried to seize video footage. Journalist and documentary-maker Eamonn Crudden was among a group of twelve who travelled from Ireland to Genoa for the protests. He told ADRIENNE MURPHY about the experience.
William St Leger, A freelance graphic designer from Clonmel now living in London, locked himself to the roof of an American military base during a recent high profile Greenpeace action in England. Here is his account of the day, as told to Adrienne Murphy
Their friends warned them against it and the textbooks were hardly more encouraging, but when ADRIENNE MURPHY gave birth to Fiach, herself and partner Dara were not to be dissuaded from travelling en famille for three months in the "hot thin waist" of Central America. This is their remarkable story
The docking of the Woman On Waves ship in Dublin has not only highlighted the plight of Irish women who have to go abroad for abortions, but attracted the attention of the world’s press. ADRIENNE MURPHY reports on the furore surrounding its arrival
I don't know whether the labyrinthine beauty and complexity of contemporary dance music has trained my ear into high expectations, but nowadays rock, pop and punk has to be top class for me to find it remotely interesting. And I'm afraid this latest offering from Green Day – their first album in three years – just doesn't cut the mustard.
First introduced to the English-speaking world through Peter Gabriel and Sting in the late 1980s, Youssou N'Dour achieved truly global fame in the mid-'90s with his hit single '7 Seconds'. Joko is his third album.
Katharine Gifford of SNOWPONY talks to Adrienne Murphy about the band s debut album, their impeccable pedigree and her favourite themes of sex and death.
Adrienne Murphy speaks to ASLAN, in the midst of recording their live album. Under discussion: the dangers of chasing fame, and the importance of self-belief.
In the second part of her investigation into the issues surrounding childbirth in Ireland, ADRIENNE MURPHY speaks to Jo Murphy-Lawless, author of a compelling book on obstetrics.
The Eclipse Music Festival in Waterville didn t exactly go according to plan but, as ADRIENNE MURPHY reports, out of the chaos came a day and night to remember.
JOAN ARMATRADING has been making impassioned, poetic music for two decades. She is also a political activist, having recently attended the 1999 Vienna Peace Summit. Adrienne Murphy met her.
JOAN ARMATRADING has been making impassioned, poetic music for two decades. She is also a political activist, having recently attended the 1999 Vienna Peace Summit. Adrienne Murphy met her.
Nature Creates Freaks is full of frenzied angst, with gut-wrenching vocals and the kind of thrash guitar that make you fear for the band's body parts. Cay look to the Sonic Youth-led tradition of American, and particularly New York, underground rock, so it's a suprise to discover that they're actually British.
Covers and Others showcases the work of eight up-and-coming Northern Ireland bands. The general genre is straight-up rock, with many of the featured bands comprising guitar, vocals, bass and drums.
Kooky is a young male crooner with a classical voice who sings maverick, cabaret style pop tunes like a contemporary Irish Frank Sinatra. His album’s title – The Good Old Days – acknowledges the throwback nature of his vocal style, which sounds like it’s from the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s rather the turn of the 21st century.
On the first listen, Paddy Casey’s debut album Amen (So Be It) stands out as top quality singer/songwriter material. On the second, you hear intimations of the kind of subtle complexity which insists that you listen again. And again. And again.
Author and environmentalist JUDITH HOAD has stood fast against the modern gods of progress and profit. But, as concerns about GM technology grow, it becomes ever-more important that voices like hers are heard. By ADRIENNE MURPHY. Pic: Cathal Dawson
This is the kind of music I'd like to be able to enjoy but simply can't. Independently, the various components - the piano, the string arrangements, the guitar choruses, the odd bits of futuristic sampling, even the slightly whiny vocals - are interesting in a Tindersticks, experimental kind of way.
The four Of Us are back, and reflecting a new kind of maturity. Classified Personal is notable for its laidback mellowness. If you were feeling overworked, hungover or otherwise emotionally stressed, the fourteen tracks here could provide a soothing balm for your frazzled soul.
In the last issue of Hot Press, Olaf Tyaransen shared his confessions of a single Irish male. This time around, Adrienne Murphy offers one woman s perspective on love, sex and the pursuit of happiness.
The Junk yard: Voices From An Irish Prison is the title of a powerful new collection of writings by inmates of Mountjoy Prison. ADRIENNE MURPHY hears how the pen has replaced the spike for one former inmate, PENNER, and also talks to the anthology s editor, MARSHA HUNT.
Draped in lush decadence and tragic dissolution, the devilishly handsome Marc Almond's latest is Baudelairean in its literary scope and sensibilities. Satin, silk, kisses that are cruel - the fear of being hurt - erotic, neurotic, obsessive love - these are the themes that suffuse Open All Night.
That's me sold on Trashmonk. Mona Lisa Overdrive contains some of the most unusual, atmospheric, surprising and mystical songs that I've heard in ages.
That's me sold on Trashmonk. Mona Lisa Overdrive contains some of the most unusual, atmospheric, surprising and mystical songs that I've heard in ages.
Donal Convery, lead vocalist of Co. Derry band Asterix talks to ADRIENNE MURPHY about the link between pain and creativity, and why he hopes to give up his day job.
ADRIENNE MURPHY, Hot Press writer and environmentalist was among seven people charged with sabotaging a Monsanto-owned GM sugar beet crop in Wexford last June. From the field to the courtroom, from taking a stand to taking the stand, this is her personal account of a tumultuous ten months. Pix: Cathal Dawson.
With Performance And Cocktails, Stereophonics keep on their path of American-style indie grunge. The key is Kelly Jones' vocals, which never seem to falter despite the extraordinary volume, intensity and passion with which he sings.
Snowpony's pedigree will make indie-lovers keen to hear their debut album. Katharine Gifford, former keyboardist with Stereolab and singer in Moonshake, is Snowpony's songwriter and lead vocalist. Drummer Kevin Bass also hails from Moonshake, while the band's bassist, Debbie Googe, used to be My Bloody Valentine.
Kele Le Roc is poised for major pop success. Adrienne Murphy met her at Childline 99, and talked to her about the music buisness, finding her own voice and, er, the Kids from Fame. Pics: Cathal Dawson
Brendan Wade and Paul Bell have both enjoyed long and varied musical careers. Now as THE SWANS they speak to ADRIENNE MURPHY about their soon-to-be-released new album.
The ongoing battle between environmental campaigners and biotechnology giant Monsanto escalated further last week with the start of court proceedings against seven environmentalists.
Providing track after track of top quality house, the well-named 1999 is sure-fire party music. This classy dance gem was put together by Cassius, a French duo peopled by Phillip Zdar and Hubert Boombass. Before their most recent incarnation, Zdar and Boombass worked individually and together in La Funk Mob, Motorbass and L'Homme Qui Valait Rois Millards. With 1999, they capture a fresh house sound that scintillates on the cusp of the new millennium (whatever that might mean).
On Shabba Ranks And Friends, Shabba brings his deep ragga voice and pop/soul/hip hop treatment to a range of diverse songs, most of which were recorded six or seven years ago.
englebert humperdinck s legendary career stretches over the past 30 years. Now, however, it s reinvention ahoy! as he releases . . . a dance album. adrienne murphy meets The King Of Romance and is told she has a beautiful handshake .
Many inadequacies and injustices are coming to light in the practice of birth in Ireland. In the first of a two-part investigation, Adrienne Murphy explores the issues surrounding human reproduction, and the growing desire among women for the right to have natural births. Pix: CAthal dawsoN.
ADRIENNE MURPHY reports on the sacking of scientist DR ARPAD PUSZTAI following a recent World In Action TV special on genetic engineering and talks to The Guardian’s environment editor, John Vidal, about his sometimes vexed encounters with the Monsanto group.
For one day only, ADRIENNE MURPHY’s boyfriend GAVIN HARTE decided to go where Dustin Hoffman had gone before in Tootsie, and metamorphose into a woman – with the help of the staff at a Phibsboro establishment that specialises in such radical makeovers. How did it look? What did it feel like? And – most importantly – was his corset too uncomfortable? Pix and images: MICK QUINN
The first arrests have taken place in Britain as a
result of a new form of direct action against genetically
engineered plants. ADRIENNE MURPHY, herself an active opponent of GE, reports.
Critically-acclaimed novelist LISA ST AUBIN DE TERAN's latest book, The Hacienda, is a gripping
autobiographical account of how she and her daughter escaped from a tyrannical, insane
husband in deepest Venezuela.
Interview: ADRIENNE MURPHY.
Pic: Cathal Dawson
Eco-activists were barely noticeable, but local people and concerned visitors took up the fight against the MONSANTO GE sugar beet trials at a dramatic day of action in Co Wexford last Sunday. ADRIENNE MURPHY was in the thick of it.
The famed KODO drummers from Japan offer one of the most remarkable musical
experiences on planet earth right now. ADRIENNE MURPHY caught them in action in Zürich.
After a long hiatus in the studio, London-based psychedelists saint etienne are back with an acclaimed new album, Good Humour. adrienne murphy finds out what they've been doing in their spare time.
In anticipation of the Guinness-sponsored SOUTHERN SOUL AND DISCO FESTIVAL '98, which takes place in Cork over the June Bank Holiday Weekend, ADRIENNE MURPHY shares a chinwag with MIKE G of New York rap luminaries THE JUNGLE BROTHERS, and gets the lowdown from the highly-touted AOIFE Nic CANNA on what it's like being a female in the testosterone-dominated world of DJing.
In Scotland, environmentalists are sabotaging genetically modified crops; in Ireland, activists are calling for a major day of action on the same front. As the battle-lines in the genetech war become ever more defined, ADRIENNE MURPHY hears the views of both sides.
In Scotland, environmentalists are sabotaging genetically modified crops; in Ireland, activists are calling for a major day of action on the same front. As the battle-lines in the genetech war become ever more defined, ADRIENNE MURPHY hears the views of both sides.
With his new book, How To Murder A Man, novelist CARLO GÉBLER has written a compelling account of the hatred and animosity that fuelled Ireland's land war of the 19th century. Here, he discusses the ideas behind his work and the motives that drive him, with ADRIENNE MURPHY. Pics: Colm Henry
Reformed baa-aaa-aad boys pet lamb are back with a new album that's going to make Roadrunner sorry they ever dropped them. Getting the wool pulled over her eyes: Adrienne Murphy.
Éanna Dowling admitted to causing #1,400 worth of damage to Smurfit Institute of Genetics - but the courts took a lenient view. Report: Adrienne Murphy
Shed Seven, once the forgotten men of Britpop, have been catapulted back into the spotlight with the success of their barking mad single She Left Me On Friday . Interview: Adrienne Murphy.
When it comes to selecting a condom for that steamy sexual encounter, the revolutionary Avanti leaves Mr Fred Brewster s Geronimo in the ha penny place. Report: adrienne murphy.
It took 277 attempts at cloning to create dolly the genetically engineered sheep that took the world by storm during 1997. Here adrienne murphy attempts to explain just what the hell is going on in the bizarre world of biotechnology, with a little help from dr. ian wilmut the man who made Dolly what she is today (out of another sheep s breast).
And our wombs. Under the cloak of so-called free trade agreements, and using genetic engineering as a weapon, a small number of corporations are not only seeking to control and exploit the global market they have also begun to establish a patent on life itself.
Report: Adrienne Murphy
With the new Outhouse Centre as its nucleus, South William Street looks set to become the cultural and economic hub of Dublin s gay scene. adrienne murphy reports.
While high-profile successes have been scored by the authorities in the so-called war on drugs, the problems associated with heroin addiction in Dublin are worse than ever. Report: Adrienne Murphy.
The global economic system is out of control and leading humanity on a road to environmental self-destruction. So says visionary economist RICHARD DOUTHWAITE, who argues that Ireland, for all its problems, is well placed to give birth to a new kind of culture that would ultimately safeguard the future of the planet and its inhabitants. Interview: ADRIENNE MURPHY
ADRIENNE MURPHY reports on the planning
controversy surrounding GLENDING WOOD in Co. Wicklow and its potentially catastrophic implications for the area?s rich archaeological heritage.
not to mention a thousand and one instruments to flesh out their exhilarating new wave trad. kMla take to the road, with puns, poetry and party atmosphere to spare. Adrienne Murphy accompanies the merry pranksters.
Torch-song troubadour marc almond had his greatest commercial success during his days with Soft Cell, but it s as a solo artist that he s really reached his creative pinnacle. Interview: adrienne murphy
ADRIENNE MURPHY lived with the ecological vigil-keepers in the Glen O The Downs for two weeks leading up to the dreaded day when the chainsaws finally arrived. This is her report from the frontline of Ireland s latest environmental battle. Pix: Colm Henry
