It’s been a busy year for Republic of Loose. With several Irish tours in the bag, they have spent the last few months gearing up for the UK release of their album Aaagh!.
Last night began a momentous chapter for the world’s biggest band. For U2, it was the first live airing and radio/internet broadcast of material from their eleventh studio album, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. For those in attendance, it was an opportunity as rare as they come. The location: Dublin, Ireland. More specifically, at the album’s birthplace, in their Hanover Quay studios. Hot Press editor Niall Stokes was in attendance to feel the impact and capture the aftershock. [photos by John Dardis, courtesy of U2]
In case you haven’t been monitoring the zeitgeist recently, Lily Allen is the sharp, sassy, 21-year-old daughter of UK comedian Keith Allen, who’s recently become known as the poster-girl for the MySpace generation.
Crack houses, stripping, underwear parties, hate mail from Pink Floyd fans and Elton John’s dog – are you ready for a tasty slice of camp pop history as told by Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters?
It's been called the "Exploding Plastic Inevitable Turnip", but don't let that put you off: the Flat Lake Festival is rapidly becoming a highlight of the folk calendar.
Editors mainman Tom Smith is pining for his mainsqueeze Edith Bowman. HP advises him on an anniversary gift. Aw, bless. Still, he hasn't gone soft, as is borne out by copious potshots at Keane and Sugababes.
Things are on the up and up for Snow Patrol whose long-overdue commercial success means they’re now getting matey with pop divas, soap stars and footballers. Gary Lightbody tells Stuart Clark how it all went right.
co.uk, with their spiky sound and their hearts set on superstardom, are the new great white hopes of the northern rock scene. STUART CLARK met them.
PiX: MICHAEL TAYLOR
For a man who was working in Galway nightclubs and renting damp rooms in dilapidated hotels at the turn of the decade, PERRY BLAKE hasn t done too badly since. After releasing two acclaimed singles for Polydor, he s now set fair to emerge as one of Ireland s brightest new
songwriting talents.
OLAF TYARANSEN hears his intriguing story.
For a man who was working in Galway nightclubs and renting damp rooms in dilapidated hotels at the turn of the decade, PERRY BLAKE hasn t done too badly since. After releasing two acclaimed singles for Polydor, he s now set fair to emerge as one of Ireland s brightest new
songwriting talents.
OLAF TYARANSEN hears his intriguing story.
Their debut Hot Fuss sold over 4 million copies and in the process set The Killers up as one of the brightest young hopes of the modern era. On the eve of the release of their second album Sam’s Town, the band look like settling for nothing less than U2-sized supremacy. Now, if only Brandon Flowers would shave off that, ahem, controversial face fuzz.
It’s Christmas, time for some of the leading lights of the Irish musical family to return from far-flung stages and convene for a traditional evening of reflection, revelation, conversation, merriment and, well, gargle. The guests: Glen Hansard and Colm Mac Con Iomaire of The Frames, Gemma Hayes, Mundy and David Kitt.
