It's been sniffer dogs and paddywagons all the way as The enemy visit some of Britain's less salubrious Rock n' Roll locales. If they can stay out of jail, though a support tour with Oasis awaits.
The gig is no mere nostalgia trip though. ‘Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos’, ‘He Got Game’ and ‘Don’t Believe the Hype’ explode out of the speakers, still bristling with the verve and attitude that made Public Enemy one of the pioneers of conscious hip-hop.
The Enemy are the latest act to be confirmed for the Belsonic – The Sound In The City series of gigs that are taking place in Belfast’s Custom House Square this summer.
A cinematic re-enactment of probably the most pivotal event in 20th-century world history - the Battle of Stalingrad - Enemy at the Gates has its occasional moments of considerable war-flick power, and might have even been worthy of respect had the casting not been so self-evidently insane.
Tonight’s Public Enemy show marks the 20th anniversary of It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, an album as forceful in its sonic assault as its searing polemic.
Having debuted at Number One in the UK album charts last week, it would appear that working-class Coventry trio The Enemy are now officially the next big thing.
Dundalk-born director John Moore has produced one of the most gung-ho portrayals of the US military in recent cinema history in behind enemy lines, yet Craig Fitzsimons discovers a film-maker who finds flag-waving unacceptable
Rap fans are in for a treat on May 25 as Public Enemy perform the whole of their breakthrough 1988 album, It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, in Tripod.
“Crossover” may be a favourite buzz-word at the moment but as rap and the rock mainstream strike an uneasy alliance, it’s clear that a huge gulf still exists between black and white culture.
Cast by certain sections of the media in the role of villain, Ice-T has spent the past decade pounding home the message that unless America is willing to accept a major race war, something has to change.
Here, the Iceman talks to GERRY McGOVERN about censorship and the politics of rap and gives him an exclusive preview of his Return Of The Real album. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON.
Public Enemies is an extraordinary and controversial book of photographs of British neo-Nazis, taken by Hot Press’ London photographer Leo Regan. “You’re never going to combat racism unless you know where it’s coming from”, he says. Report: Stuart Clark.
The melodic transports of Community Music have been replaced by a return to purer, formulaic dub roots which, for non-aficionados like this reviewer, strips ADF of their greatest hook: eclecticism.
As expected, it turns out to be a superb performance: an awesome collision of thumping bass-lines, crunching hip-hop beats, chaotic samples and funked-up wah-wah guitar, all underpinned by an incredibly powerful political message.
On the face of it, you could take the title as indicating a reversal of the Manics' musical prejudices. Nicky Wire might've always professed a hatred of the New York school of hip, yet the opening notes of this album find his band blamming their way through a prime Velvets 4/4 and one-note piano motif ('Found That Soul').
Californian-born JIM PAGE is no ordinary protest singer. Best known on this side of the Atlantic as the writer of such classics as 'Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Russian Roulette', his music has continued to move hearts and minds well into the corporate nineties. Here, he traces his roots from Bob Dylan to Public Enemy, and explains why he wrote a special song in tribute to Sinead O'Connor. Interview: GERRY McGOVERN
On the face of it, you could take the title as indicating a reversal of the Manics' musical prejudices. Nicky Wire might've always professed a hatred of the New York school of hip, yet the opening notes of this album find his band blamming their way through a prime Velvets 4/4 and one-note piano motif ('Found That Soul').
Documentarian Morgan Spurlock takes it upon himself to track down America's Public Enemy Number 1 in his new film Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden?
Having caused a major rumpus with his last film, Behind Enemy Lines, Irish director John Moore has gone the boy’s own adventure route with his remake of The Flight Of The Phoenix. Dennis Quaid, Kevin Costner and “arseholes working in commercials” all come under the microscope as he talks to Tara Brady.
It was one of rock's most bizarre and impressive spectacles - the MANIC STREET PREACHERS live in Cuba, in front of an audience including Fidel Castro! STUART CLARK was there, and spoke to JAMES DEAN BRADFIELD about Bill Clinton, Top Of The Pops, Bono, Elian Gonzales and the band's new album
SAME LABEL, same country of origin, same release date, different acts, same effect. On the evidence of the treasures currently being produced by the Constellation label, Canada looks like becoming the post post-rock capital of the globe.
One of Belfast’s best-loved indie clubs has undergone a radical reinvention – but is still going strong after more than ten years at the front line of alternative culture in the city.
Britrock icon Paul Weller speaks about his new album 22 Dreams and why his influence on acts like Arctic Monkeys and The Enemy has proved a source of gratification and inspiration.
The Earlies have corralled an army of musicians, almost 15 in total, to create an unquestionably ambitious, unbearably ominous album, one that stalks the listener from start to finish.
TRACY CHAPMAN S eponymous debut album was one of the biggest sellers of last year more than ten years after its release.
She spoke to PETER MURPHY about her life before and after fame, that album and the race issue.
When Siniad O Connor tore up a picture of the pope on the Saturday Night Live television show in the US recently, she unleashed a storm which has been swirling around her ever since, causing her at one point to announce her premature retirement from the music industry. One month on, bruised and weary she may be but Siniad is neither downhearted nor repentant. Having declared war on the Roman Catholic Church she is determined to keep taking the battle to the real enemy. Interview: Niall Stokes.
Jinx Lennon is a true original, a rock'n'roll outsider whose music throbs to the pulse of rural Ireland. Here he talks about attending cocktail parties with David Norris and explains why Dundalk just might be the strangest town in Ireland.
Tiga has made his name as a smart cultural magpie, either by delivering clubby cover versions of pop songs – ‘Hot In Here’ and ‘Sunglasses At Night’ – or borrowing elements from other music scenes, evident on his plundering of Public Enemy and Chicago house on ‘Louder Than A Bomb’ and ‘Pleasure From The Bass’
Kilkee beach in County Clare will play host to the inaugral Cois Fharraige surf and music festival this September, which features the likes of Fun Lovin' Criminals and Ocean Colour Scene.
Fatboy Slim, Flaming Lips, Damien Dempsey, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Mercury Rev and Public Enemy are some of the heavyweight attractions at the Electric Picnic, which this year is a two-day event taking place on the Stradbally Estate, County Laois on September 3 and 4.
Sex and sanctity, grit and glitter, penthouse and pavement, God and the Devil, and all conical points in between!
PETER MURPHY dials M for ADONNA, the pre-eminent pop icon of this and every other year
Rap-metal splicings are a hairy business, with even the better efforts (Anthrax/Public Enemy, Cypress Hill’s last couple of albums) resulting in a scoreless draw. So it is with Collision Course.
Mr And Mrs Smith is all about the pitch; two deadly assassins are married without knowing it! Then an assignment brings them into direct competition! It’s a full-scale battle of the sexes with Vince Vaughn quipping from the sidelines! Then they find a common enemy! Coasting along on this dizzyingly high concept jiggery, Doug Liman’s blissfully empty-headed popcorn flick offers the seductive spectacle of two of the planet’s most prepossessing movie stars attempting to kill and fuck each other, often at the same time.
Two of Ireland’s top electronica composers are in celebratory mood after releasing a killer collaboration – and to mark the event they’re embarking on a brief tour of the country.
Hip Hop guru, political activist and occasional visitor to Inishturk, Speech tells Paul Nolan why his group are still as relevant in the 21st century as they were during their mid ‘90s heyday.
He's been painted as a loud-mouthed yob but The Courteeners' Liam Fray is actually a complete sweetheart - so long as you don't ply him with liquor and encourage him to slag his rivals.
On Dublin s Grafton Street, it s all change. PAUL O MAHONY talks to long-time street-trader BRENDAN DOWLING about the old Dandelion Market and the evolution of a thoroughfare and also discovers another surprising side to the genial leather-belt man. Pic: CATHAL DAWSON.
Messiah J and The Expert aim to put Dublin hip-hop on the map. To do so, they must tackle several deep-set prejudices – such as the belief that Irish people can’t rap.
Being sued for rape didn’t stop Snoop Dogg giving Phil Udell the benefit of his views on NWA, record labels, going solo and how the Bible encourages him to party. Photos by Liam Sweeney.
Finns can only get better as dodgy England World Cup songs, credibility-destroying Coke ads and blood-spurting Eurovision entrants star in our C.I.N. music special.
In fiercely conservative Jerusalem, few crimes are more unforgivable than a homosexual relationship between a Palestinian and an Israeli – as Ezra Yitzhak discovered.
Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo is one of rock’s great eccentrics. In an exclusive interview he talks about meditation, chastity and why ego is the enemy of art.
Hotly tipped Britrockers Los Campesinos talk about the influence of the '90s riot grrrl scene on their music and explain why the prospect of arena rock success doesn't rev their motors.
“I hate these questions,” cries David Holmes, DJ, re-mixer, producer, free associate, film-scorer and friend to the stars. Yet he gamely faces the pan-ish inquisition that is the hotpress mixed grill
Lisa Dorrian was popular and fun loving. Then she fell foul of the North’s paramilitary underworld. A year since she vanished, her family is still trying to uncover the truth about her disappearance.
Unreconstructed Downpatrick rockers The Answer are brewing up a whirlwind of hype. But frontman Cormac Neeson admits their good humoured hair-metal may never be cool
They've masterminded recordings by Lily Allen, Estelle and Kate Nash, to name a few. In this exclusive interview, Future Cut lift the veil on their whizz-bang production techniques.
Following John Waters’ article on fathers’ rights in the last issue of hotpress, Ivana Bacik responds to his criticisms of herself and feminism in general.
Rioting in Dublin raises many questions about our society. Not all are easily answered. Of one thing there can be no doubt, however: Glasgow Celtic 'supporters' who participated in the mayhem peddle a uniquely Irish fascism.
Annual article: 12 months ago Colin Carberry was reaching for the Prozac, now he’s more bullish about the Norn Iron music scene than he has been since he started shaving.
If you’re gonna be a one hit wonder, you might as well invent the dominant form of music for the ensuing decades. Released in 1979, The Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rapper’s Delight’ was the first hip-hop single to go gold, putting the group on American Bandstand and Soul Train long before Grandmaster Flash and Run DMC.
DAVID HOLMES new album is likely to
elevate him to the world s DJ-ing A-list.
STUART CLARK visited him in Belfast to hear tales of voodoo, punk, Primal Scream and, er, Gilbert O Sullivan.
Pictures: MYLES CLAFFEY
With the 2008 battle for the White House turning into the most gripping saga in years, the best-selling novel The Race, by Richard North Patterson, could hardly be more timely.
Graduates of the Manhattan avant-garde scene The Virgins join us from somewhere to the left of the middle of nowhere – that would be Madison, Wisconsin – to talk hype, art and modelling shoots.
A new survey has revealed that 50% of Bosnian refugees are finding it difficult to make ends meet, and that 33% of them have been unemployed for over 12 months. STUART CLARK meets one refugee working to change the system from within.
Her work is brutally explicit and fired by an anger that seems to know no limits. GERRY McGOVERN plunges into the black heart of two new works by one of contemporary art's most controversial women, Lydia Lunch.
They've sold albums by the truck-load and are about to embark on a sold-out four-night run in Dublin, but Brummy three-piece Ocean Colour Scene have plenty they'd like to complain about, including the press, the music industry, and – especially – ringtone ads appearing on their albums.
Back with another volume of Woody Guthrie songs, BILLY BRAGG talks to Siobhan Long about supersonic boogie, the act of collaboration and why Tony Blair s Labour Party still has his respect.
East Timor is a small island close to Indonesia. Invaded in 1975 by its much larger neighbour, in the intervening years almost one third of its population has been wiped out in an ongoing campaign of international terrorism and genocide. The arms being used to terrorise this small island are being supplied by Britain. Report: LIAM FAY
He is best known as a musician and a songwriter, but Nick Kelly has a parallel career as a very successful advertising ‘creative’. So much so, that he was recently asked to be a judge at one of the advertising industry’s big international events, the annual Shark Awards.
IT IS OFTEN DISMISSED AS BIGOTED, SEXIST, VIOLENT AND TUNELESS. THERE IS, HOWEVER, MUCH MORE TO THE STORY OF RAP THAN THAT, YES, BIGOTED VIEW MIGHT SUGGEST. GERRY McGOVERN SINGS A HYMN OF PRAISE TO WHAT HE BELIEVES IS THE MOST INTENSE ART FORM OF THE NINETIES.
US chart-topping rockers tool like nothing better than hob-nobs, baiting journos and calling their children after prog rock bands. stuart clark shares the chocolate biccies
The Irish star opens up on sex, drugs, racism, crime, acting, actors and actresses, as well as slamming the Irish film industry and RTE.
Text: JOE JACKSON. Portraits: CATHAL DAWSON
Is it curtains for Ireland’s World Cup chances now that we’ve been drawn against the, on paper at least, far superior French? Also, fair dinkum to Cork hurling keeper Dónal Óg Cusack for doing the unthinkable and actually penning an interesting sports autobiography
. . . who is the sexiest of them all? Helen MIRREN, apparently, at least according to readers of the Radio Times, who recently voted her the sexiest woman on TV. Which may be flattering but possibly also does a disservice to a gifted actress who has no qualms about speaking her mind whether on nudity, money, the stage, television or even the cowardly assholes who bomb for Ireland. Interview: Joe Jackson
Manic Street Preachers have turned the guitars down, but not the bile. A slimline James Dean Bradfield tells a pleasantly plump Stuart Clark why John F. Kennedy, Billy Connolly and Jesus Christ Superstar are in league with Satan. Or words to that effect.
They say that there are no
characters in snooker any more, but ronnie o sullivan is an exception. A true people s champion and natural talent in the mould of Alex Higgins and Jimmy White, he s made determined efforts to curb his own excessive tendencies and is now being tipped by many to claim the world title in Sheffield this month. Interview: Nick Kelly.
Or that's what the proponents of the phenomenon of Virtual Reality might want us to believe. GERRY McGOVERN enters this brave new world and discovers that its capacity to transform our lives - at work, rest and foreplay - is truly mindblowing. Now, put on your headset and start reading!
It isn’t what it used to be – which makes it all the more important that Workers Rights should be properly protected. Some say that the Lisbon Treaty will help in that respect. Others profoundly disagree. We asked a representative of both sides to make the case for voting Yes and No...
Its Western wing may have gone to pot (and Crystal), but hip-hop’s original agit-prop spirit is alive and thriving in the Eastern Bloc, as evidenced by Polish crew WWO.
Getting behind the scary image of the world’s most notorious band is not easy but PHIL UDELL manfully plugs away as SLIPKNOT’s SHAWN CRAHAN plays hardball
Ted Hawkins, in Dublin recently to play a never-to-be-forgotten gig in Whelan’s, talks about his journey down the long and winding road which led him from an early, joyless life of petty crime and racial discrimination to his belated fame as one of the most respected of contemporary blues men. Interview: Gerry McGovern.
In a year that saw events which will forever change the world in which we live, selected hotpress contributors offer some personal recollections of the past twelve months. We begin by listing the critics’ choice of 2001’s single and album releases
Why are the Spice Girls animals ? Why would Crispian Kula Shaker benefit from a hefty spell of National Service? And why should you never trust a hippy? These are just some of the burning issues that Dr. Alex Paterson of The Orb would like to address. Oh yeah, and he also talks about his band s ace new album Orblivion, as well as his exotic, not to say erotic, yesteryear escapades on the road with LL Cool J and Motvrhead. Our man with the shiny black Panasonic tape recorder: jonathan o brien.
As the world gears up for a war in which US president George Bush has said the use of nuclear weapons cannot be ruled out in the event of Iraqi chemical attacks, Aideen Sheehan speaks to a survivor of the world’s first a-bomb attack in Hiroshima.
Travelling by first class train between Wales and London James Dean Bradfield did a surprising thing: he started working on his first solo album. The resulting record taps the Manic Street Preacher’s growing affection for his roots in the valleys.
The wild rise and fall of the coke-snorting, heavy boozing, rampantly horny music biz mogul who knew Dylan, Jagger, Jackson, Springsteen and Streisand better than most. And now he’s ready to tell all.
Confronted by an autobiography with a dual narrator, Joe Jackson asks the real Ray Davies to stand up and testify on homosexuality, marriage, groupies, the essence of Kinkdom – and the true story of Lola.
After enjoying spectacular success in the early 1970’s, Gilbert O’Sullivan suddenly found his career brought to an involuntary halt by legal red tape that took five years to unravel. The Waterford singer–songwriter managed to survive those dark days, though, and is now back doing what he loves best – playing live and making records.
By rights that should make him a happy man, but, as Joe Jackson discovers when he locks horns with the former ‘Bisto Kid’, there are certain aspects of the past that are hard to reconcile.
DO YOU WANT NAILS OF FEEDBACK DRIVEN THROUGH YOUR BRAIN? DO YOU WANT YOUR EARS TO BLEED? THIS IS HARDCORE AND IT'S THE MOST VITAL ATTITUDE IN ROCK'N'ROLL, FROM LOU REED TO THERAPY? VIA NICK CAVE, FUGAZI AND... CHRISTY MOORE. OR SO SAYS GERRY McGOVERN, WHO ALSO ADVANCES THE THEORY THAT 'HARDCORE IS GENERALLY FOR HARD WHITE MEN'. SHOOTING GALLERY AWAITS YOUR RESPONSE!
The siege of Derry was a pivotal moment in Irish history. But contrary to popular opinion, it was fundamentally about land and not religion, says Carlo Gebler. Photography by Cathal Dawson.
Over the past decade in ‘The Hot Press Political Interview’ the subject of Northern Ireland has, not surprisingly, surfaced time and time again. What follows is but a small selection of these quotes, specifically those that look to the future rather than to the past.
So what does the arab world really make of Saddam Hussein and the threat of war? En route to Baghdad, Peter Matthews stops off in Amman, Jordan and hears the word on the street.
A frankly rather cynical Joe Jackson (no relation) suggests that love might not be the only reason that Lisa-Marie Presley's decided to become Mrs. Michael Jackson.
PETER TAYLOR is one of the most experienced journalists to have covered the Troubles. Midway through the screening of his most recent TV documentary, Loyalists, he spoke to NIALL STANAGE about the North s pivotal personalities, his hopes for a peaceful future, and why Provos was keenly watched by Loyalist paramilitaries.
The MTV Europe Music Awards 2002 may have been a bit of a damp squib, but an electrifying Foo Fighters, a boards-sweeping Eminem and a nekkid Christina Aguilera prevented it from being a total washout.
There's another Belfast, an alternate dimension populated by C.S. Lewis, Van and your host and spirit guide, Duke Special, who's just released his latest album.
What promoters and clubbers perceive as Garda heavy-handedness in the -war on drugs- is making life increasingly difficult for dance venues across the country. STUART CLARK reports.
Pat Kenny answers his critics, tackles TV3, bins the
Sunday Times, denies he's Alan Partridge, backs John Kelly, queries Clare McKeon and reveals his best, worst and
scariest moments in television's hottest seat.
Interview: Peter Murphy. Pics: Mick Quinn.
They say they’ve come from hell to bring us foot and mouth. But in reality they come from a small village outside Ipswich. STUART CLARK meets CRADLE OF FILTH, metal maniacs and purveyors of blasphemy, horror and gore – and, as you might expect, ends up talking about mums, kiddies, Winnie the Pooh and moisturiser
IN THE FIRST PART OF A WORLD EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW IN THE LAST ISSUE OF HOT PRESS, BONO UNVEILED THE NEW U2 ALBUM, SPOKE ABOUT ITS GENESIS IN CYBERPUNK LITERATURE AND THE BAND'S HUNGER TO PUSH ROCK'N'ROLL TO ITS LIMITS. HERE HE ELABORATES ON HOW U2 GO ABOUT WRITING THEIR SONGS AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF GLOBAL CHAOS, HIS ARTISTIC REFERENCE POINTS OUTSIDE MUSIC, THE SUBVERSIVE POWER OF HUMOUR, AND HOW HE ADMIRES THOSE WHO 'PARTICULARLY AGGRESSIVELY' DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD. AND THEN THERE'S THE STORY ABOUT JOHNNY CASH AND THE EMU. CAN THIS MAN BE FOR SURREAL? INTERVIEW:JOE JACKSON.
In the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks, a growing number, including respected foreign correspondent Robert Fisk, are starting to ask uncomfortable questions about September 11 and the War on Terror it provoked.
PETER SHERIDAN has done a remarkable job in bringing Brendan Behan s Borstal Boy to the small screen. Here he talks to hotpress CRAIG FITZSIMONS and TARA BRADY about accents, alcohol and artists
whinging, yak-herding and masturbating over the sunday dinner are just three of the tenuously-related subjects that come up for discussion as stuart clark gets completely wireless with radiohead plankspanker from hell colin greenwood.
The inhabitants of Mostar in southern Bosnia-Herzgovina have lived together in harmony for more than 700 years. Now, shelled daily by Croatian forces and suffering nightly sniper attacks, this unique city has seen its population decimated and its ancient architecture destroyed. GERRY McGOVERN talks to EMIR STRANJAW.
Sheffield band Reverend and the Makers will accompany The Zutons, The Flaming Lips and The Go! Team on the line-up for the Belsonic festival in August.
Liam Fay calls on Shane MacGowan at home, where over mugs of brandy, the singer cheerfully rationalises his notorious alcohol-intake in the face of widespread concern that he might be drinking himself to an early grave. The premier Pogue disagrees, predicting instead a happy fulfilling life away from the stage, in which he would own and run a fully-licensed restaurant in London and face extended vacations in Thailand.
Yup, we thought you'd like our stab at a tabloid headline. Thing is, there was a time when Danny Boy O'Connor looked inexorably set on a course for the California State Penitentiary. Then he discovered the therapeutic qualities of the House Of Pain and apart from the odd skirmish with the 2FM Roadcaster, there's been no looking back since. Crime reporter: Stuart Clark.
From song contest to presidential contest, the most unlikely candidate for Aras an Uachtarain continues to face down her detractors in RTE, in Hot Press and elswhere and give voice to what she believes is the forgotten silent majority in this state. dana rosemary scallon interviewed by joe jackson. Pix: colm henry.
Journalist STEVEN POOLE has, inspired by Orwell, written a riveting book documenting the insidious abuses of the English language perpetrated by politicians and powermongers.
In 1990, 22 year-old college graduate Christopher McCandless donated his $24,000 in savings to Oxfam and hit the road. Two years later he died in Alaska, after approximately 112 days in the wild. Legendary actor and director Sean Penn tells the story in his fourth film Into The Wild.
To celebrate hotpress’s thirtieth anniversary issue, we thought we’d break out the bubbly (and the tea!) and invite round a collection of Ireland’s biggest stars.
Between the unattractive alternatives of the Belfast Agreement and a return to war, there has to be a new way forward for the Republican movement. So says former IRA man and respected Republican TOMMY McKEARNEY. Interview: EAMONN McCANN
PICS: CATHAL DAWSON
The world was united in condemnation over the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. In a rare print interview Israel ambassador to Dublin Zion Evrony says the campaign was justified and that his country was motivated by the desire to bring peace to the Middle East. And he tells us why comparisons between Northern Ireland the Middle East are fatuous
This issue, Hot Press magazine comes with a stunning cover mount CD. Here’s your track by track guide to this exclusive collectors’ item, featuring the winners and headline acts from Murphy’s Live 2007. Click here to buy the mag and get your free CD!
On the eve of the release of Tour De Flock, BellX1’s live album and DVD from Dublin’s Point Theatre, Paul Noonan, Brian Crosby and Dominic Phillips answer the weird and wonderful questions of hotpress readers, from the swimming habits of monkeys to ripping the gusset of your pants on stage.
As the major force in the "Club of '22", whose attempts to oust Charlie Haughey from the leadership of Fianna Fail finally resulted in Dessie O'Malley's departure to form the Progressive Democrats, Charlie McCreevy was long considered a thorn in the side of the Taoiseach by the party faithful. Ironically then, it was McCreevy himself who was to be instrumental in setting up the talks with the P.D.s following the recent election which would result in Charles J. Haughey continuing to stay in power in a new kind of coalition government.
Generally regarded as one of the most candid of Irish politicians, Charlie McCreevy here lives up to his reputation as he shoots from the hip on matters both political and personal.
Gerry McGovern writes about his own brief but disturbing experience as the victim of sexual abuse and argues that Church and State stand accused of failing to protect the most vulnerable and powerless in society.
Dropped by Warners, but buoyed up by mega-sales of a soundtrack hit, Nick Lowe is back with a great new album, The Impossible Bird, and lots to say about Johnny Cash, Elvis Costello and a benevolent devil with the feet of a chicken. Interview: Joe Jackson.
A former member of the UVF, David Ervine was jailed in 1974 on explosives charges. His paramilitary past notwithstanding, he has emerged in recent years as one of the most impressive politicians in Northern Ireland. The subject of a new biography by Henry Sinnerton, here he talks about Johnny Adair, drink, drugs, his family and the crisis facing Unionism that threatens to derail the peace process
. . . she was reet petite! That's not true, actually. Instead, the maverick motorbike-riding DUP councillor and former Lord Mayor of Belfast talks about loyalist paramilitary violence, the assassination of prison officers, the indifference of London, his hostility to Mary Robinson, his scorn for the Official Unionist Party - and his own willingness to take up arms in the cause of keeping the six counties out of a united Ireland. Interview: JOE JACKSON. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON
From gigs with cider punks in limerick to playing for Fidel in Havana and from the low of Richey’s disappearance to the high of performing before Wales’ victory over Italy – life has never been boring for the Manic Street Preachers. Stuart Clark listens intently as Nicky Wire discusses their defining moments
Rregarded as the original, manufactured boy band, once upon a time The Monkees ruled the world. Now, half of television's fab four are back and, as you might expect, they have quite a tale to tell. Joe Jackson talks to Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz
In the week in which he finished up his radio show, Ireland’s most (in)famous broadcaster/journalist has the last word On Roy Keane, Mick Mccarthy, John Giles, Kevin Myers, Vincent Browne and a whole lot more.
It’s a rare thing indeed to hear an Irish lesbian speak openly and frankly about her life, lusts and loves. Gay writer, EMMA DONOGHUE, however, is one of the first of a new and more confident generation. At twenty-four, she has already produced a prodigious body of work ranging from drama to cultural history to her just-published first novel, Stir Fry. In the process, she has emerged as a proud and powerful voice for hundreds of young lesbians in this country. Interview: LIAM FAY. Pix: COLM HENRY
It’s been quite a year for PETE DOHERTY, the former Libertines frontman, and now leader of Babyshambles. 2005 featured a series of drug busts, failed rehab attempts, the tabloid witch hunt of his girlfriend Kate Moss, several non-appearances and live shows that fluctuated between agonising and ecstatic... oh, and the small matter of a debut album. As hotpress went to press, the news broke that Doherty had been busted yet again, barely two days out of an Arizona clinic. hotpress talks to Doherty’s label boss, Rough Trade founder Geoff Travis, tour photographer Danny Clifford, and former Babyshambles drummer Gemma Clarke, for the insiders' view on what’s becoming an increasingly sad and fearful saga.
Commander of the notorious Company C of the UDA in Belfast, Johnny Adair was given 16 years for directing terrorism. While he was never convicted of murder, the rumour mill suggests that he has been reponsible for as many as 43 deaths.
Amir Khan is one of the hottest young British boxers in a generation. What makes his story especially interesting is that the Bolton Olympic silver medallist is an English Muslim child of Pakistani parents. He is due in Belfast shortly for his seventh professional encounter and, make no mistake, fight fans are in for a treat.
Dylan is a farmer with a difference – he's a cannabis cultivator. He is squeezed by both criminals and the Gardai. But he aims to put Ireland on the map for quality, organically grown weed.
Sharp suits, a global fan base, his own luxury recording studio - David Gray has certainly come a long way. On the eve of the release of his latest album, he talks about the dark side of success and explains why he wants to leave the singer-songwriter tag behind
A win next week and we're there - but what lies in store for Irish supporters if Big Jack's men do qualify for America? Long suffering England fan Stuart Clark was in the States this summer for US Cup '93 and found that if the dress rehearsal is anything to go by, the World Cup Finals should be a sporting event to savour. Main pix: Simon Parry.
He’s one of the last great orators in Irish politics. But there’s more to Joe Higgins TD than firebrand socialism. In this candid interview, the man once described as a ‘nitwit’ by an enraged Bertie Ahern talks about his childhood, the role of the church in his life and explains why the Celtic Tiger has let Ireland down
He’s one of the last great orators in Irish politics. But there’s more to Joe Higgins TD than firebrand socialism. In this candid interview, the man once described as a ‘nitwit’ by an enraged Bertie Ahern talks about his childhood, the role of the church in his life and explains why the Celtic Tiger has let Ireland down
Although the acclaimed C Mon Kids was conspicuous by its absence from the
Best-Of-96 polls, The Boo Radleys sice and martin carr aren t bitter. As they prepare for an assault on the States, peter murphy gets the lowdown on their hatred of videos, their contempt for producers and their disapproval of outfits such as Dodgy, The Lightning Seeds and Everything But The Girl.
It's head-scratching, nail-biting, on-the-tip-of-your-tongue time again, as GEORGE BYRNE presides over our renowned annual music quiz [this is for the year 2000]
Like many of his brethren in the world of comedy, David Baddiel has turned his hand to fiction in recent years. Although his previous efforts met with a lukewarm critical response, his new novel, The Secret Purposes – a skilfully rendered tale which draws heavily on Baddiel's grandparents' experience in wartime England – looks set to reverse that trend. Interview by Peter Murphy. Photography by Liam Sweeney
Don't write the singular Maria McKee; write the plural Maria McKee instead. Bill Graham encounters a mercurial talent in a variety of moods, musics and memories.
For close to a decade, Lillie’s Bordello has been the nightclub of choice for the famous and not-so-famous of Dublin cultural life. But with the passing of the Celtic Tiger era and the current uncertainty over the club’s future, can Lillie’s retain its position as the capital’s number one celebrity haunt?
Politician, law & criminology professor, activist, abortion information campaigner and labour party candidate in the forthcoming european elections… all this and Ivana Bacik once served a pint of vodka to Perry Farrell, shortly before he fell over on stage at Glastonbury.
Or will we? Pete Townshend's solo career has been marked by an increasingly ambitious search for more "mature" forms of saying what he's got to say. His latest project, psychoderelict, is no exception. So just why has the former powerhouse behind The Who, and much-acclaimed spokesman for a generation, lost confidence in the rock 'n' roll music he did so much to define in the '60's and '70's. Liam Fay goes up before the beak.
In the second and final part of an extensive interview, MIKE SCOTT discusses inspiration and influences, recalls his difficult solo years and explains the death and resurrection of THE WATERBOYS. Interview: PETER MURPHY
25 years after the publicaton of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, doctor hunter s. thompson remains the originator and unequalled exponent of Gonzo journalism, an author as famous for his own high-octane, outlaw lifestyle as he is for the remarkable series of books and articles which made him a rock star of the written word.
Tracked down to his lair in the Colorado mountains, Thompson lives up to all expectations in this exclusive interview and story by daniel senstius and jurrien dekker. Photography: chris van houts.
PACK YOUR LEMSIP AND NIGHT NURSE AND PREPARE TO DO BATTLE WITH THE BEIJING FLU AS THE SAWDOCTORS TACKLE THE SOUTH OF ENGLAND ON THEIR LATEST TOUR. CURRENTLY BETWEEN LABELS THE BAND’S U.K. FANBASE IS INCREASING STEADILY, EVEN IF THE CONCEPT OF ‘DESIGNER BOGMEN’ HAS YET TO PENETRATE THE SHIRES
CHECKING THE TEMPERATURE: BILL GRAHAM.
Powerful evidence of both early experiences of racial prejudice and the premature ending of her relationship
with her father is still to be found in the work of
NINA SIMONE, one of the few artists alive who gives equal weight and force to the political and the personal. In this rare interview, conducted during her recent visit to Dublin, JOE JACKSON meets a lover and a fighter. Pics: CATHAL DAWSON.
Is football hooliganism really the new rock ’n’ roll and should little boys be wearing Boot’s No.7 blusher? Stuart Clark fears for the moral wellbeing of the nation’s youth as Manic Street Preachers wage holy war against MTV, Take That, Kate Moss and poor old Gerry Ryan.
Pix: Cathal Dawson.
Darina Allen, eat your heart out. New York chef ANTHONY BOURDAIN has done it all, from chopping out lines to chopping off fingertips, along the way dealing with the Mafia, Madonna, a dead man in a freezer and the palpitating heart of a cobra. STUART CLARK hears about cooking as rock'n'roll. CATHAL DAWSON serves up the pictures
Elstree, remember me, went the old Boggles tune. The location is a far-flung suburb of north London, former nerve centre of an entire B-movie industry, now home to television shows like East Enders, Holby City (wandering through the corridors, your correspondent comes across a room identified by the rather ominous notice: Make-up - GUTS), and of course Top Of The Pops.
From strange days coming second in a yoghurt-sponsored competition and playing awful gigs sandwiched between boy bands, Damien Dempsey, with a little help from Shane, Sinéad and Christy, has survived and thrived. Eamon Sweeney meets a rap balladeer with a hit album, a social conscience and more than a few stories to tell.
Hailed as one of the UK s hottest young talents, and having appeared in such successes as Michael Collins, The Magnificent Abersons, and Velvet Goldmine, Jonathan Rhys-Myers is in fact Dublin-born and raised in Cork. OLAF TYARANSEN met the rising star. Thesp Behaviour: Peter Matthews
Sex? Yep. Drugs? Uh-huh. Rock 'n' Roll? Yesireebob! Aerosmith were no strangers to the unholy trinity of debauchery during the '70's and early '80's but find that having cleaned up ten years ago they're now cleaning up with the punters. Not that they're beyond having fun, fun and, er, more fun as our resident boogiemeister Stuart Clark finds out.
In a single decade, Irish electronica and dance music has transformed the national scene. MARK KAVANAGH has been involved from the very beginning, as a DJ, activist, producer and hotpress columnist. Here, he offers a personal take on a long and winding but ultimately fruitful road, and reveals some of the new challenges he ll be undertaking as a DJ, producer and recording artist over the coming 12 months
'Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me' may be their battle cry, but leftist rocker/rappers Rage Against the Machine are new to Dublin and Tom Morello needs to be told how to do everything from crossing streets to putting vinegar on his chips. Here, while strolling through town, the guitarist talks about the band's politics, life in Los Angeles and the camera of the people - the Kodak Electrolux. Tour guide: Tara McCarthy
Re-telling the story of September 11 with a measured hand and lightness of touch hithertoo unhinted at, director Oliver Stone proves a more serious thinker than his paranoia-soaked canon would suggest. Here, he explains how his experiences as a soldier in Vietnam framed his outlook on life and art.
A top American psychologist claims she has unearthed disturbing evidence of CIA involvement with British Intelligence in Northern Ireland.
Olaf Tyaransen reports.
Back in their terrifying heyday, they threw pigs’ heads around on stage, covered themselves in muck, provided Marilyn Manson with a career and wrote ‘Community Games’ for Aidan Walsh. Having escaped the clutches of a sinister born-again Christian turned transvestite, they’re now making movies with Neil Jordan, dining with Damien Hirst and consorting with Tony Blair. All in all, it’s been a long, strange trip for The Virgin Prunes
Following the sudden death of his girlfriend in the early ’90s, traumatised US writer Bill Carter took off for the unlikely destination of war-torn Sarajevo. Whilst there, he established a series of satellite link-ups with U2’s Zooropa tour, which still rank among the most divisive and controversial moments of the band’s career. Despite the subsequent media fallout, an unconsummated affair with an indian supermodel, and several brushes with death, Bill Carter has lived to tell his extraordinary tale.
Moby Comes Out To Play
IT S NOT often a Grammy nominee saunters into the Hot Press offices in the midst of the controlled explosion that is production weekend. But then, Moby s one of those freaks of nature a pop star who seems interested in what goes on around him rather than employing people to block it out.
The industry may not have always liked them but their fans couldn’t be more passionate. Ten members, four studio albums, three managers and two major labels later, The Frames still managed to add up to more than the sum of their parts. Peter Murphy, with help from Glen Hansard and other key players brings the story of the band up to date in this, the final part of our two-part special [Photo Mick Quinn]
. . . Or not, as the case may be. In this extremely revealing interview with peter murphy, henry rollins speaks frankly about relationships, violence, depression, squaring up to Al Pacino and the problems that come with a life lived on the road
In the second part of his examination of the cult of CHARLES MANSON, PETER MURPHY looks at the cult leader s trial, his continuing influence of left-field heroes and the controversy over his recordings. Also: BONO on U2 s decision to include Helter Skelter in their Rattle And Hum set.
The fourth series of RTÉ Two's highly-acclaimed Other Voices, presented by John Kelly, was recorded over an extraordinary eight days during the madcap run-up to Christmas, in the thoroughly invigorating coastal environs of Dingle. Hot Press reporter Craig Fitzsimons was there to soak up the phantasmagoria, as some of the hottest talent from Ireland and abroad descended on the tranquil Kerry town to make heavenly music.
from reagan to bush; from radio free europe to clear channel; from green to reveal; from the sfx to marlay park. REM call time out and Peter Buck fills in the gaps from 1983 to 2003. interview Peter Murphy
The legendary GRACE JONES is coming to Dublin.
OLAF TYARANSEN caught up with her in New York to talk about drugs, stalkers, her recent marriage and period pains.
Never mind figgy puddings and partridges in pear trees, there’s some serious seasonal business to be done as the annual HP-7 summit gathers in the crucible of cultural discourse that is The Central Hotel’s Library Bar.
Eleven years on from their debut and New York avant-garde guitar manglers Sonic Youth have reached an ever-growing audience without compromising their ideals of integrity. Here, GERRY McGOVERN offers a personal testimony to their recorded output in anticipation of their appearance at Sunstroke '93.
Bono, Adam and Larry. Not to mention the self-styled King Boogaloo himself, Mr B. P. Fallon, whose new book U2: Faraway So Close offers an intimate visual and verbal diary of the band’s world-record shattering ZOO TV tour. For good measure the, um, also self-styled Mr Ramalama talks about Jimi Hendrix and the Mafia connection, toting guns with Tone Loc, giving Little Richard a hard-on, and other little, um, side voyages into other territories, man. Er, tape recorder thingy: Joe Jackson.
At the end of an exciting, painful and earthshaking year, Bono reflects on the political and the personal – from drop the debt, September 11, Afghanistan and Genoa to the death of his father Bob, the birth of his son John and the enduring friendship which underpins U2’s music and career. Interview: Niall Stokes
[this interview originally appeared in the spectacular Hot Press Annual 2002 - used in the pictures below - a very limited number of this unique collectors item will shortly be on sale - email u2@hotpress.ie to reserve a copy]
Director Morgan Spurlock has caused quite a stir with Super Size Me, the McDonald’s-baiting documentary that highlights the perils of a fast-food diet. With McDonald’s currently on the counter-offensive in an attempt to soften the impact of the movie, Spurlock discusses corporate subterfuge, media stardom, losing his libido, and the near fatal toll his super-size diet exerted on his health.
At the ripe old age of 50, when most of his peers are floundering in the doldrums, Nick Cave has hit a purple patch with Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, his most commercially successful and critically acclaimed album to date.
It's been a long strange trip and no mistake, one that describes a discernible line from
Harry Smith's Anthology Of American Folk Music through to the Handsome Family.
But there's even more going on beneath the surface. GREIL MARCUS, the music critic's music critic,
is PETER MURPHY's guide on a mystery train whose other passengers include Elvis Presley, Robert Johnson, Mark Twain, Nick Cave, The Blair Witch, Bill Clinton, The Band, Siniad O'Connor, Beck, William Burroughs, William Faulkner and Bob Dylan. And that's just the first class carriage. All aboard
With the new publication in book form of a collection of his newspaper columns, the Sinn Féin president addresses matters both personal and political. Here he offers further thoughts on Omagh, death threats and the peace process as well as on music, his late mother, his own family and his vision of a private life beyond politics.
The rise and fall of chef CONRAD GALLAGHER was Icarus-like – one moment the toast of Dublin’s glitterati, the next a virtual pariah.
but unlike Icarus, Gallagher has fought his way back, bloodied but unbowed and determined to pay off all his debts
Interview: OLAF TYARANSEN
Famously opinionated Dubliner and textbook Renaissance man, ULICK O'CONNOR still has plenty to say about everything – even if RTE, he claims, don’t want to hear about it. following the recent publication of his first volume of diaries, the great man offers his views on marriage, drugs, the North, art, corruption, wild times in the Chelsea hotel and more.
Words: OLAF TYARANSEN
The recent murder of
the notorious b.i.g., following the killing of Tupac shakur six months ago, has been linked by many to the prolonged East Coast-West Coast feud which threatened to tear the US hip-hop community apart. jonathan o brien reports on how life
chillingly imitates art in the gangsta rap wars.
Never has a leader of a government so suicidally snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as Albert Reynolds has. BILL GRAHAM mulls over the reasons why.
With close to forty TDs in the Dáil, and Labour in government with Fianna Fáil, the parties of the left have undergone something of a renaissance in Ireland over the past few years. There are those, however, who view this as a grand illusion, arguing that the cause of socialism is being ill-served by our elected representatives. Meanwhile, following the collapse of the East European model of communism, the left is experiencing a crisis of its own. GERRY McGOVERN talks to the activists who see themselves as carrying the socialist torch and profiles the parties who have yet to make an impact at the polls. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON.
From stardom with Westlife to the breakup of his marriage, and a subsequent attempt to kickstart his solo career, Brian McFadden had an extraordinarily eventful year. With his private life routinely splashed all over the tabloids and controversy currently raging over everything from his latest video to his admiration for Nirvana, he remains in the eye of the storm. In a candid interview with hotpress, he discusses living his life in the media spotlight, his decision to leave Westlife, drink, drugs, sex and the continuing fallout from his break-up with his wife Kerry.
Columnist Kevin Myers called her “our pretty little she-shinner” but an unimpressed Mary Lou McDonald insists that her party is actually run by a group of formidable women. She also reveals that she believes Gerry Adams when he says he was never in the IRA, defends Sinn Fein’s fund-raising, discusses the release of Jerry McCabe’s killers, and names her least favourite irish politicians. plus: the newly elected MEP’s views on drink, drugs, music, media, religion, and more.
Returning from an extended hiatus, Manic Street Preachers are in stridently upbeat form. In a revealing interview, they reflect on their enduring cultural imprint and talk about long lost Manic Richey Edwards.
At the time of writing indications are that Tori Amos’ ‘Cornflake Girls’ single will hit the No.1 spot in the British charts this week. Celebrations may indeed be in order – but for Tori right now there are far more burning issues to be talked through and dealt with. In an extraordinarily intimate, open and at times devastatingly honest interview, she talks about the horrific knife-point rape documented in ‘Me And A Gun’, the lingering wounds inflicted on her by the experience and the difficult healing process she has begun – including, she says, accepting the ‘prostitute’ in herself. Along the way she challenges a wide range of assumptions on love, sex, violence, religion, masturbation, feminishm, lesbianism and the main
man himself, Jesus Christ. By Joe Jackson.
Anti-capitalism, political fundamentalism, life after September 11 and what to tell the kid who has only two stripes on his tracksuit - the celebrated no logo author tells Hotpress about how best to beat the brand.
n a career spanning 25 years in the glare of the stagelight, CHRISTY MOORE has known every emotion from insecurity, despair and vilification to adulation, triumph and the warm glow of creative fulfilment. He has dabbed in drugs, drink to excess, suffered a heart attack for his troubles and made some of the finest records that have ever been subjected to critical scrutiny in this country. Now, in a frighteningly honest interview, he tells it like it is and was. Cross-examination: JOE JACKSON. Microscopic camerawork: COLM HENRY.
Films about the Yugoslav war have tended to prove less than successful in box-office terms over here, but you would be doing yourself a diservice to overlook Danis Tanovic's tense, disquieting thriller
With the death of Johnny Cash two weeks ago, music’s Mount Rushmore finally crumbled. From the hell-raising country outlaw of the ’60s to his final incarnation as a patriarchal figure intoning songs of guilt and redemption, Cash’s voice resonated down through the years with undimmed intensity. In this special Hot Press tribute to the Man In Black, Peter Murphy talks to Cash collaborators Sandy Kelly and U2, and recounts the turbulent life and times of one of the most iconic figures in 20th century music
Dublin's unlikely new Lord Mayor, Tomás MacGiolla, gets a lot off his chest on subjects as diverse as pomp and ceremony, government discrimination against Dublin, the re-zoning scandal, violence and prostitution on the streets of the capital, conspiracies to undermine the Workers Party and, inevitably, his palpable bitterness towards Democratic Left. Interview: Liam Fay. Pics: Colm Henry.
Egyptian-born Ali Selim, now a resident of Tallaght, is the Secretary General of the Irish Council of Imams, which was formed last month to represent Islamic concerns in Ireland, ranging from theological matters to issues of social integration. In this extensive interview, he attempts to dispel many of the Western myths about the Muslim world, addresses the subject of Islamic extremism, Salman Rushdie and the Pope’s faux pas.
How The White Stripes turned the bare essentials into an essential noise, insisted that three is indeed a magic number and wound up becoming one of the most phenomenally successful rock acts in the world
With Cameron Crowe s Almost Famous putting rock hackery on the silver screen, no less, Peter Murphy wonders if Seventies rock journalism is the new rock n roll. Helping him with his enquiries: PAUL MORLEY and GREIL MARCUS
The HP-7 Summit is back with Michelle Doherty, Rocky O'Reilly, Niall Breslin, Mark Greaney, Niamh Farrell, Messiah J and Danny O'Donoghue sat around the only table that matters this Christmas.
OUT FROM BEHIND THE GREASE-PAINT THAT ADORNS HIS FACE ON THE COVER OF ‘SPIKE’, ELVIS COSTELLO EMERGES TO TALK ABOUT THE MUSIC THAT RUNS IN HIS FAMILY FROM BIG-BAND TO SPEED-METAL, HIS MUCH-TOUTED IRISH CONNECTION, WORKING WITH PAUL McCARTNEY, HIS CONTEMPT FOR MUCH OF TODAY’S POP MUSIC AND THE FEELINGS THAT INSPIRED HIS DEATH-WISH FOR MARGARET THATCHER.
lthough left broken-hearted by the demise of the Irish Press, CON HOULIHAN s latest collection of prose, Windfalls, confirms that his pen, like the Castle Island colossus himself, is still mightier than the rest. Now, at 71, a novel is in the works. SIOBHAN LONG embarks on a long night s journey into day with the legendary journalist.
Pix: COLM HENRY.
lthough left broken-hearted by the demise of the Irish Press, CON HOULIHAN s latest collection of prose, Windfalls, confirms that his pen, like the Castle Island colossus himself, is still mightier than the rest. Now, at 71, a novel is in the works. SIOBHAN LONG embarks on a long night s journey into day with the legendary journalist.
Pix: COLM HENRY.
lthough left broken-hearted by the demise of the Irish Press, CON HOULIHAN s latest collection of prose, Windfalls, confirms that his pen, like the Castle Island colossus himself, is still mightier than the rest. Now, at 71, a novel is in the works. SIOBHAN LONG embarks on a long night s journey into day with the legendary journalist.
Pix: COLM HENRY.
In the final months of his battle with cancer, TONY GREGORY sat down with Hot Press to discuss his life and career. Knowing it would be his final interview he was in a reflective frame of mind.
It is five years since rapper TUPAC SHAKUR was gunned down on the streets of las vegas in a gangland-style shooting that took place on September 7, 1996. Since then he has become the subject of one of modern music’s most bizarre death cults, as he continues to sell millions of records and to top charts all over the world. but behind his death lies a story of hip-hop babylon – a sordid tale of intrigue, egos, drugs, sex, intimidation, violence – and, almost by the way, some great and enduring music.
By PETER MURPHY
For over three decades, the political agitator and columnist Eoghan Harris has been the focus of abundant controversy, consistently raising hackles with views that are seldom less than heretical.
And so, unbelievably another year has bitten the dust. Here, continuing a tradition as Christmassy as the eating of turkey and the consumption of way too much alcohol, The Hog reflects on a turbulent year, when we all grew older and much, much wiser.
Despite the resolutely Irish blood coursing through his veins, Barry Glendenning nonetheless committed the heretical gesture of celebrating with the blighty faithful following England’s world cup win. Read on for the full shocking details…
They deliver their revolutionary polemic via brilliantly thumping turntablism, the immense thunderclap of a live drummer, deliciously vicious guitars and, of course, the mesmerising showmanship of Chuck D, Flavor Flav and Professor Griff themselves.
What better way to gauge the state of contemporary hip-hop than checking out the latest singles from 50 Cent and Chingy, two of the genre’s brightest young things.
Set those VCRs, folks: Network 2 screens the last-ever episode of No Disco this Saturday, May 10th. Don't forget the exclusive band-designed video sleeve, free in this issue of Hot Press
To the outsider, there is much here that is just plain ludicrous – from the artwork and song titles to the demonic voice overs, satanic choirs and head wrecking, totally OTT hysterics
Crashing guitars and nice melody lines abound here, as Lit become the latest American power poppers to pound their way across the Atlantic and into the charts.
So too this fantastic film (honest), which makes for easily the best aquatic night out since they found Nemo. Preserving the quirky surrealist aesthetic of the sublime TV show (one part Tex Avery, two parts John K., one part anti-John K.), the movie sees our pure-hearted porous hero take off with Patrick the starfish on a perilous mission to rescue King Neptune’s crown and save township Bikini Bottom from the ever nefarious schemes of the Napoleonic Plankton.
SAME LABEL, same country of origin, same release date, different acts, same effect. On the evidence of the treasures currently being produced by the Constellation label, Canada looks like becoming the post post-rock capital of the globe.
I blame Puff Daddy. Until Sean Coombs, rappers boasted about their riches, but they still remembered – and referenced – their not-so-glamorous roots. Now, though, the vast majority seem content to leave that kind of reality-check to Eminem.
Being a fiendishly appropriate headline for a column in which our hero reveals how easy it is to win an Oscar and offers his suggestion for the ultimate musical instrument of torture. (And no, it’s not the accordion).
The Faltering Flame is a collection of poems and songs united behind the common theme of striving for peace in Northern Ireland. All the profits from the sale of this CD go to the Cornerstone and Currach projects, two bodies working with mixed community groups on the peace line in Belfast. Needless to say, it's a very worthy cause and deserves your support.
The sceptics might argue that for a group with such a troubled recent past to preach of increasing the peace is a touch hypocritical but, as that cover suggests, this has been something of a learning experience for all involved.
The first batch of acts for Scotland's T In The Park Festival have been announced, giving a strong indication of who'll be coming to Punchestown this year.
Stankonia is staking its claim to sovereignty. A geographically elusive and psychedelically warped mental landmass, this is no playa-haters’ paradise, but the place “from which all funky things come.” Not Monaghan town, in other words.
Not many tricks up their sleeves on this album. The Bronx make more of the same noisy, aggressive songs on an album with the same title as their last two.
Apollo 440 are one of those bands for whom there is no middle ground. You either love them for their unique brand of electronic sampladelica or despise them with a passion usually only reserved for the Man Utd money machine.
This December 31st/January 1st when some drunk at whatever New Year’s party you happen to be gatecrashing starts mumbling sweet nothins in your ear about how bloody awful the last twelve months were for music, do me a big favour and clout him.
For this his third album, DJ Shadow attempts to shed the “indie rap” tag which sticks so easily to instrumental hip-hop producers. To that end, Shadow collaborates with the likes of Keak Da Sneak, David Banner, and several other rappers. The result is an album which, in places, takes a far more conventionally “rap” direction than previous outings.
For reasons best known to herself, Cassandra Wilson, the finest jazz singer of her generation, has recorded an album of Miles Davis covers (with added vocals) as a follow-up to 1996's New Moon Daughter, an inexplicably acclaimed effort which was so far up its own arse it probably caught sight of a few jazz critics.
The synth-rock (or electro-indie if you like) bedroom ascetics – who heretofore brought you the charming line “I’m like Stevie Wonder, but I can see things” – have by their own acknowledgement looted the mechanical music museum, spending a lifetime distilling their record collection into manageable, tongue-in-cheek precipitates like whiskey or MSG.
It’s hard to think of a more perfect setting for Jurassic 5’s good-time party vibes than twelve o’clock on a Saturday night in Vicar St. The venue is sold out and from the off, everybody is up and dancing for what proves to be a pulsating couple of hours’ entertainment.
The band formerly known as The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion have the same explosive line-up as on their previous six outings, including their last meisterwork, Plastic Fang.
The improbably gangly Gil Scott Heron saunters onto the Savoy stage like a goodwill ambassador from another, less frenetic era. Clutching a conciliatory white towel, his greying hair bursting out in clumps from beneath his baseball cap, he looks for all the world like a kindly grandfather figure come to entertain at a children’s party.
Not even a suspect device on the railway line could prevent the Bacardi/hotpress team from reaching Belfast for the Northern leg of the new-look plugged format.
It’s shaping up to be the mother of all battles of the bands as Dublin heroes Bravado square up against Waterford’s Gorbachov in the Murphy’s Live 2008 final in The Savoy, Cork on May 15.
In the '90s, hip-hop moved out of the streets into the world of big business. An avant-garde street art that expressed black consciousness lost its DIY ethic and became a commercially driven industry, spearheaded by Suge Knight and Puff Daddy.
In the '90s, hip-hop moved out of the streets into the world of big business. An avant-garde street art that expressed black consciousness lost its DIY ethic and became a commercially driven industry, spearheaded by Suge Knight and Puff Daddy.
The Sounds Of Science is a beautifully packaged, comprehensive anthology of the work of Adam 'Ad-Rock' Horowitz, Michael 'Mike-D' Diamond, Adam 'MCA' Yauch and, latterly, Money Mark Nichita, from their early hardore days, through the Bratpop of Licenced To Ill right up to Hello Nasty. Since the start of the '80s, when the Boys first inflicted their cacophonic buzzsaw guitarfest on New York, they have experimented with genres from hip-hop through to country, from punk to bossanova, sampling everyone from Run DMC to Rachmaninoff into the bargain.
THIS WHOLE "Can Caucasians Rap?" claptrap is getting very tired. The US press might be having a field day over the fact that a new wave of white devils (Dr. Dre's boy Eminem, Remedy of the extended Wu-Tang Clan, Non Phixion) are moving in on the 'hood, but the race issue is as after-the-fact now as it was when The Stones and Led Zeppelin were committing grand larceny against Howlin' Wolf and Willie Dixon.
In order to facilitate the emphasis on spectacle, narrative and characterisation are almost completely sacrificed – and while there is some genuine sense of a stand-off for the movie’s final hour, it’ s rendered as an undifferentiated mish-mash of special effects and loud bangs.
Semi-literates campaigning for the preservation of elite schools? Catholic journals displaying ignorance of the core elements of Catholicism? Where will it all end?
BEFORE EMBARKING upon one of the more, eh, idiosyncratic musical careers of our time, Will Oldham had a brief career as a TV-movie actor. In one of his roles, he was called upon to play the father of a little girl who'd fallen down a well.
BEFORE EMBARKING upon one of the more, eh, idiosyncratic musical careers of our time, Will Oldham had a brief career as a TV-movie actor. In one of his roles, he was called upon to play the father of a little girl who'd fallen down a well.
IN WHICH Liam Howlett, in the wake of the half-great but ultimately overblown shitstorm that was The Prodigy's Fat Of The Land album and panzer-campaign, holes up in the culture bunker, getting back to his B-boy bleach bum roots.
Rage Against The Machine (The Tivoli, Dublin)
Hard heavy blackwhite Hispanic funkpunkraprock is probably the best way to describe Rage Against the Machine's music.
Those who like a drag can at least take consolation from the fact that anti-smoking legislation goes completely unobserved in the afterlife. By Caught In The Net's guest writer Teddy de Bono.
What a fucking hoopla. Between Tom Cruise aggressively marketing his forthcoming merger with Katie Holmes and the furore surrounding Paramount’s preposterous (and frankly unethical) embargo on the appearance of film reviews prior to War Of The Worlds’ day-and-date planetary release, by now, odds are you’ve heard all about Mr. Spielberg’s latest venture.
When Boyzone pranced awkardly around the Phoenix Park stage in their orange jumpsuits at the ill-advised and worse-attended homecoming for the Republic's USA 94 squad (which could have been a subtle reference to the fact that we'd been sent packing by Holland, but I doubt it), …
While Roy Keane maintains his Stadium of Light exit was the fault of new Sunderland owner Ellis Short, a quick look at Roy’s track-record speaks for itself
It was far from edifying, watching Bertie Ahern attempt to slug it out with the Mahon Tribunal. Now that it's all over, maybe we can get down to some real politics...
AFTER THE IRA ended its war, I watched the Last Night Of The Proms, that great musical celebration of all things British past and present. Well, more past than present, since the Empire is gone.
From Bill Clinton’s infidelity to his country’s version of foreign policy, the concept of “moral indefensibility” makes a twisted kind of sense in the United States
WHAT WE have here are two prime specimens of Metallicus Mutatus, a creature indigenous to North America and as resistant to extinction as the cockroach.
After being viciously attacked by a gang of thugs in our "fair" city, Bootboy wonders what is wrong with a society that engenders such senseless, animalistic aggression
Corkonian hip-hop homeboy, sometime music-biz mogul and supremo of the International Bar s International Comedy Club New Yorker DES BISHOP is all these things and more. NICK KELLY collared him for a quick chinwag.
The war is over. There are many messages that can be read into the overwhelming endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement on both sides of the Irish border - but that is the most conclusive, and the most welcome.
There had been a working assumption that, in the thirty-plus years of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, we had just about seen it all. But last week proved otherwise
The US is toasting the election of its first African-American Commander in Chief. But can an Irish politician unite the country in a similar fashion as financial meltdown looms?
Since records began, popular music has maintained a healthy and unstinting preoccupation with political issues. GERRY McGOVERN namechecks some of the artists who have nurtured such links and argues that even music which ostensibly extricates itself from the issues of the day, is itself inherently political.
He is a visionary, a poet – and an innovator in terms of interrogation techniques. Now that he has resigned as US Defence Secretary, the campaign to make him a Nobel Laureate starts. Right here...
He is a visionary, a poet – and an innovator in terms of interrogation techniques. Now that he has resigned as US Defence Secretary, the campaign to make him a Nobel Laureate starts. Right here...
The US army graverobs Hendrix… the death of the man who exposed the Turin Shroud… the international court hamstrung at birth… the lonely death of Annie Kelly
Bearing in mind the chequered history of his predecessors, Eamonn McCann reckons Pope Benedict XVI may be letting himself in for a hell of a lot more than he bargained for.
Silent Grace, the new movie about the hunger strikes and dirty protests by women in armagh prison, brilliantly confounds expectations. Tara Brady meets its director Maeve Murphy
It's almost two years since Sinead O'Connor announced her retirement from music. However, it was always on the cards that she would find her voice again. The good news is that she has. She explains all in an exclusive interview with Niall Stokes...
When 28 people died in an Israeli massacre at Qana, Lebanon, the Derry Anti-War Coalition occupied Derry's Raytheon Plant. Eamon McCann reports on their visit to Qana.
The gospel according to Engels: when the capitalist shit hits the ecological fan, the goats shall inherit the earth. Also, the unpleasantly Gore-y details.
The conflict in the North is commonly analysed in terms of the kind of people involved in the violence. Paramilitaries, for example, are frequently explained, or explained away, as psychopaths or racketeers.
Or how the Christian right detected family values in the sex lives of penguins. But only the heterosexual ones. Plus: the bizarre parable of the Eyeballs In The Sky.
And that’s just the politicians we spoke to... The publication of a major new anthology of Hot Press interviews by Jason O’Toole, focused primarily on the Irish criminal underworld, gives cause for reflection on what it takes to ‘get good interview’.
At the precise moment that TOWER RECORDS are celebrating their 30th anniversary, they have the youngest managing director in their history – ANDY LOWN. Since assuming his present post in July 1996, he’s masterminded the expansion of the company in Ireland, and is about to preside over the opening of five new outlets in this country. Interview: STUART CLARK.
THE INTERNET is already in the process of changing the face of the music industry. ETAIN BREATHNACH looks at some of the best websites, speaks to some of the Irish pioneers and outlines coming controversies.
STUART CLARK travels to New York to see and hear ONEIDA - the best American band you haven't heard of, yet - and to take the eve of the millennium pulse of the city that never sleeps. Pics: PETER MATTHEWS.
30 years after the recording of Bitches Brew, the release of The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions comes on like Apocalypse Then The Sequel. PETER MURPHY journeys upriver into the heart of darkness and unearths still more evidence to confirm MILES DAVIS reputation as one of the most peaceful and influential musicians of the millennium.
Hard rock has taken on many forms, but if it's loud enough to annoy the neighbours, it should be categorised as good old-fashioned metal. Peter Murphy guides you through our choice of the Top 30 metal albums of all time.
All Write Now, we said. And boy did you follow instructions! The entries poured in from all over Ireland, and further afield, in their thousands. We were snowed under – but, as the song says: That’s the way, uh huh, uh huh, we like it…
Blessed with total recall, Craig Fitzsimons relieves the most glorious Irish sporting achievements of the past 30 years – and some that we’d all rather forget.
