Well, Cansei Se Der Sexy have sold out, but don't hang up your high-heeled dancing shoes just yet, for their blueprint-makers Chicks On Speed are also heading over. Just to DJ, but heading over nonetheless.
Young, hungry, professional film crews and equally young, beautiful and professional actors. What’s the Irish film industry come to? Just ask Speed Dating stars Nora Jane Noone and Hugh O’Conor.
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
Ex-Desert Hearts drummer Chris Heaney has taken the front seat in his new buzz-saw noise-pop trio Escape Act. Parenthood, he says makes you work at double-speed.
He has warts on his face, chemical paste in his blood, viagra in his dick and a heart full of rock 'n' roll. "There are occasions when I do preach temperance," Lemmy tells a startled STUART CLARK Woooooargh! Photography: SIMON ROCHE
Will we go to orgies for sex every Friday night and speed date for romance on Saturdays? Perhaps we will bypass all the messy, physical business and just pop a pill to give us an orgasm? Thus begins a fascinating three part series on the ways in which our sexual activities are likely to change over the next ten years, as technology invades the bedroom and the old assumptions about sin and guilt are finally, thoroughly disposed of.
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.
There’s a lot of goodwill out there to Joe Chester. Perhaps people feel that Ten Speed Racer deserved better than they got. For me, he has yet to convince as a solo artist. This is a perfectly fine, jangly guitar-driven number blessed with nice harmonies.
While the band have the requisite break neck speed and manic energy the songs are a bit lacking and they ultimately come across (to these ears) like a less talented Placebo.
Available as a free download from their website, The Flaws' new single does little to justify their increasingly hyped reputation. Though ‘Out Tonight’ is a fine surge of pop-punk delivered at breakneck speed, it isn’t particularly memorable. Little here will set the Carrickmacross lads apart from a host of new acts plying the same territory.
‘Gigabot’ fuses dreamy synth washes with a brooding electro bass and a resonating vocal. Unfortunately, Radioactive Man’s version lacks imagination, being one of those hyper-speed electro-breaks tracks you’d expect to hear at 7am at a free party in Wicklow.
Pole dowses the elegant ‘Cry Easy’ in a slight haze, adding an odd Mr Ozio-ish bass and deep, buried chords. The double-tracked vocal and half-speed, intricate drums make this lament into an elegant stagger. Dntel’s remix of the sublime ‘The Wheel’ is a grand digital lullaby.
‘Handle With Care’ is devastatingly simple dubby house – an enormous bassline and gentle kick create the addictive rhythm, while spacey pads, reverbed hits and toms and wandering keys add colour on this slow builder. ‘See In Me’ breaks things down even more – a half-speed stepper that explore the space between Rhythm and Sound and dubstep.
They’re from Waterford, so given the city’s recent successes in the National Student Music Awards and Murphy’s Live, ‘Sticky Fingers’ should have no problem getting former Ten Speed Racer man Terry Cullen and co. international fame and fortune. The three sombre rock tracks here exude an unhurried, confident nature, complemented perfectly by the dynamic of boy/girl vocals. Promising stuff.
Like Scroobius Pip, Kate Nash’s none-more-London vocals are open to ridicule, but she has so far proved to be quite the charmer. What is most astonishing is how well her songs (previously lo-fi in the extreme) have translated into big, bold pop tunes. ‘Mouthwash’ is easily the equal of ‘Foundations’, its joyful melody helping obscure the limited subject matter. The speed with which she has been thrust into the glare of the public eye might be a concern, but let’s hope Nash can cope with it all.
Wow! Be Your Own Pet’s debut single just doesn’t let up. At only 59 seconds long, ‘Let’s Get Sandy (Big Problem)’ seems to explode from the speakers, leaving a carcass of frantic, speed-induced riotous punk in its wake.
After such a start, b-side ‘Early Sandy (I Got A Big One)’ is hugely disappointing. It is little more than a studio outtake. You couldn’t even call it a song. Nonetheless, at an average age of just 17 and with a female singer primed for indie pin-up status, expect to hear more from the quartet over the coming year.
Talladega Nights – The Legend Of Ricky Bobby starts as it means to go on – with a quote dubiously attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt – “America is all about speed. Hot, nasty badass speed.”
When it comes to flirting, Irishmen are rank amateurs – as our correspondent discovered on a foray into the murky but, as it turned out, quite enjoyable world of speed dating
Early speed metal incarnations, arguably the most technically demanding of all walks of rock, have done good things for this proggier-than-thou Boston quartet.
Musically, it’s akin to taking a high-speed walk around the dodgy fringes of Notting Hill Carnival – gritty hip-hop and digital ragga get roughed up beside aggressive d’n’b basslines, psycho garage and Playstation FX.
Despite routine speed limit violations, Dublin's Port Tunnel is one of the country's safest stretches of road. So why install cameras to police a speed restriction that is too low?
The comeback trail has, in its time, thrown up some far-fetched candidates. The highly inconvenient fact of John Lennon’s death didn’t prevent him appearing on a new Beatles single; Thin Lizzy’s busy touring schedule suggests they have long overcome the speed-bump of Phil Lynott’s passing.
Few rebirths, though, have been as unlikely as that of The La’s, a Liverpool band undone by the tortured brilliance of its leader, Lee Mavers.
With something of a renaissance having taken place in the Dublin independent scene over the past few years, now seems as good a time as any to bring ourselves fully up to speed with the sounds emanating from the Belfast underground.
Blur axeman, Graham Coxon, releases his second solo LP and, like his 1998 debut, The Sky's Too High, The Golden D is a trip into the speed/trash/hardcore underbelly of America.
A surprisingly gentle, Preston Sturges-inspired satire on Hollywood from the blessed pen of David Mamet, State And Main is almost scarily good-natured coming from the man behind such far-from-gentle classics as the scalpel-sharp Speed The Plow.
Question: Who are God Speed You Black Emperor!? Answer: They're a nine-piece ensemble from Montreal, Canada who refuse to be interviewed, issue press releases or publicity shots, remain wilfully non-specific about who plays what on their records, and are singularly wary of allowing outside forces to interfere with their music. So put that in your pipe and toke it.
They are the ultimate life-is-a-movie soundtrack, perfect for self-mythologizing and elevating the humdrum ho-hum of the ’burbs and the boonies into the stuff of half-speed-shutter-flutter-partial-exposure existential
They have got it all going on: big beefy choruses, a rhythm section that don't lose their nerve at high speed or volume, a nice line in multi-tracked vocal melodies, and guitars like a gravel bath
In the wake of Metallica’s Some Kind Of Monster, any rock band that’s been together more than five minutes has to ask themselves if they could benefit from the services of a therapist. Bon Jovi’s Richie Sambora is no exception.
He directed a young Tom Cruise in Cocktail and inadvertently unleashed 'Don't Worry, Be Happy' on an unsuspecting world. For his latest project director Roger Donaldson returns to his roots in the antipodes words.
By ommitting references to penalty points, kilometres or stricter enforcement of drink driving laws, the Government’s official Rules of the Road is dangerously behind the times.
Hard rocking Cork heroes Rulers Of The Planet recently toured the Czech Republic and Slovakia, along with Dublin electro-poppers Autamata. The Rulers’ Mick Hayes gives us the backstage lowdown, with these exclusive extracts from his tour diary.
Law enforcement agencies are worried it could be the new ecstasy. In the fourth part of Hot Press investigation into drugs STUART CLARK reports on the new breed of super-amphetamines
Like the Loch Ness Monster and The Abominable Snowman, doubts have long been cast over the existence of a recording of beat master JACK KEROUAC reading from his classic On The Road. Now, not only have the legendary tapes finally materialised, they also show that the man was no mean crooner and songwriter to boot. PETER MURPHY reports.
Like the Loch Ness Monster and The Abominable Snowman, doubts have long been cast over the existence of a recording of beat master JACK KEROUAC reading from his classic On The Road. Now, not only have the legendary tapes finally materialised, they also show that the man was no mean crooner and songwriter to boot. PETER MURPHY reports.
Personally speaking, the death of the wonderful Elliott Smith was a major blow his year. I found out about his suicide through Ollie Cole, who had e-mailed me with a very succinct, “Elliott Smith is dead. He was my king”, on the day of his death.
Do you recognise this voice? "It really annoys me that our bleedin’ patron saint is a bloody Brit. Before he came along we were havin’ the craic, drinkin’, fightin’, killin’, pukin’, inbreedin’ an’ ridin’ animals. Then over he trots with his ‘thou shalt not do this’ or ‘hey, leave that Irish wolfhound alone’..."
He was one of America s greatest writers and he wrote almost nothing but record reviews. PETER MURPHY on a new biography of the rock crit s rock guru, LESTER BANGS.
In just two years the 2fm 2moro 2our has grown into a high-profile showcase for Ireland's best new talent. Ahead of the latest jaunt, the featured acts tell Colm Russell what it means to them.
Having just done her leaving certificate exam, summer came as a great relief to hotpress reader Breda Bourke. and then everyone started to complain! here, she looks back at the season that seems to have pissed everyone off – and takes a somewhat different view.
You know, Nick Lowe was right when he asked “What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?” Lately, I try to avoid the news as often as not, because it seems that every day there’s another atrocity: more carnage, more blood, more tears, more misery, more grief.
Patrick Wolf’s baroque folk-pop has earned the singer comparisons with artists such as David Bowie and Kate Bush, while The Arcade Fire were sufficiently impressed to offer him a support slot on the first leg of their European tour.
NEVER MIND share prices and gross national products. If you want to gauge how tigerish an economy is, take a look at what people are shoving up their noses.
The year is barely up and running and it seems just like the old one. Murder and mayhem, wind and water/water everywhere. Bastards bashing the knees off victims in Northern suburbs. And a Budget that neither pleased nor offended anybody too much. So what’s new?
It’s all about broken down tour buses, Alan Partridge, high speed collisions, Moby, broken ribs, Mina Suvari, MTV stars and David Bowie as Ash launch a sonic assault on America. So riddle me this: can Ireland’s hardest-working rock’n’roll outfit crack the big one?
If it wasn't for the attentions of the gutter press, NICK HORNBY's current lifestyle would be pretty much blemish-free. His new novel, About A Boy, is racking up the sales figures with Overmars-like speed; he's just sold the film rights for it to Robert De Niro for #1.8m; and to cap it all, his beloved Arsenal are poised to do the league and cup
double. Tape: STUART CLARK. Pix: Mick Quinn
Beatbox New Band Challenge winners and now curtain-raisers at Féile - it all seems to be happening with remarkable speed for The Unbelievable Children. Once the hyperactive Tim has calmed down a little bit, Tara McCarthy finds out where these precious kiddies plan on going from here.
The Coalition blitzkrieg on Iraq is part of a wider “war on terror.” says George Bush. To justify this claim, he and Tony Blair made one feeble attempt at being as hard on the causes of terror as on terror itself, when they collaborated with the UN, the EU and Russia to publish what they called the Middle East ‘road map’.
Tara Brady talks to Renee Weldon, star of The Trouble With Sex, the new romantic drama from director Fintan Connolly which explores the rules of attraction in modern Ireland with style and panache.
Hot Press loved Colder's debut ‘Again’, from a few years back. We said it was "arty Gallic cool at its best" or something. But behind the austere façade, there was heart. And the problem with new effort Heat is that it’s got plenty of art but not enough of the red, raw stuff.
Snow Patrol and Ash are just some of the North’s rock ambassadors who have given their backing to the Oh Yeah Music Centre, a state-of-the-art multi-media development which will put Belfast on the international musical map.
She's the multi-platinum artist you won't read about in the tabloids. AMY MACDONALD explains how she managed to top the charts without becoming famous.
Like Groucho Marx may or may not have said, timing is (pause) …everything. As such, the two albums that electrified us this year (Interpol’s hugely moving, visceral masterpiece Turn On The Bright Lights; Justin Timberlake’s Neptunes-assisted pop‘n’B triumph Justified) were actually released in ’02.
The traffic in Dublin has steadily been getting worse. Now, however, new alternatives are beginning to assert themselves. Stephen Robinson finds out about what the LUAS line, currently under construction has to offer
Songwriter to the stars Gretchen Peters on record company inertia, the need for revolutionary new artists, and what it means to be an American musician in these highly fraught times. words Jackie Hayden
The former NME rock crit, ZTT founder and hyper of Frankie has written a book. But it s not about pop it s about the suicide of his dad. PETER MURPHY reports on how Nothing matters.
Fifteen years on and still in a league of his own, Dan Oggly talks to Mark E. Smith about fame, footie and the truth behind his 'difficult' reputation.
Pete Cummins, has just released his first album as a solo performer, from which the single ‘Flowers In Baghdad’ was picked up by Neil Young’s website chart
When someone dies in a car crash, alcohol is routinely blamed. But a close look at the figures shows that, beyond the tabloid hysteria, the truth is sometimes very different.
Ireland has gone mad for sex toys. Blokes, women, married, single, gay, straight and any and every combination of the above – they’re all indulging as though there were no tomorrow. But what are the hottest tickets in the country’s most successful sex emporia? We sent Tanya Sweeney to find out.
The new year, according to some astrologer or other, was a very good time for making resolutions, as long as you got on with them from the start. If you’ve left it ’til now, forget it. Depending on your particular weakness, you might be just as well off.
Phil Udell meets a Coral disenchanted with their Hotpress review, but gains Brownie points for recognising that they're NOT - repeat NOT - from Liverpool.
Uber-hip electro-rock merchants The Bravery are brewing up a storm on the UK indie scene thanks to their blindingly inventive records and raw and energetic live shows. Interview by Hannah Hamilton.
FIFTEEN YEARS after his death Elvis Presley is probably having the toughest year of his career. Not Elvis the guy who works down at the chipper or at the local A&P, obviously, but Elvis the social construct and cultural phenomenon. Elvis the quintessential folk hero.
Annual article: Some of our most promising failures are not really doing enough to fulfil their ambitions. They must try harder next year, warns Jackie Hayden.
American writer john horgan has earned the wrath of the scientific community and the unwelcome support of the fundamentalist Right for his provocative theories aimed at separating science fact from science fiction.
Interview: liam fay. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON
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.
With Fianna Fáil and the PDs at each others throats, signs are that the coalition is heading for a divorce. Just look at the way they are treating the lovely Mr. McDowell.
Meet Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Mexican guitar virtuosos and planet-hopping adventure-seekers who, as Kim Porcelli discovers, are partners in more ways than one
As one of Ireland’s few motor racing venues, Tipperary Motor Speedway is an important outlet for young people who love cars. Now, it is being threatened with closure.
We see the reports on television and hear the voices on the radio but the brutal adrenaline-charged reality of the rioting in North Belfast can only be fully understood if you're in the thick of it. Gerry Ryan Show reporter Brenda O' Donoghue briefly was.
Fresh from the blockbuster success of her last novel Zoe Heller has taken a radically different approach as she explores the American intelligentsia’s short-lived crush on Communism.
With Ronaldo and Torres the toast of the Premier League, what better time to run the rule over some of the overseas stars who could soon be lighting up English soccer?
With his first film The Station Agent, Tom McCarthy has fashioned a magnetic fable of Fin, the new-dwarf-in-town, which has invited comparison with Ford and Cassavetes.
There may have been a time when Irish women were under the thumb of the Church- a state of affairs that was reflected in our collective attitude to sex. But in 2005, as the results of the new Durex survey show, we have taken control of our own sexual destinies-with absolutely no apologies to men!
Two major London newspapers recently ran large advertisements which contained the most extraordinary injunctions to world leaders - and proposed the direst of consequences should they fail to comply. Under the dramatic headline World News Flash, it was confidently predicted that the world would end on July 25th 1994.But will it? And who is behind this incredible attempt to save us all from imminent extinction? LIAM FAY reports
He’s the hottest thing in boxing and has been tipped as a future world champion. Recently Amir Khan was in King’s Hall Belfast for a lightweight bout with Laszlo Komjathi of Hungary. Francis Jones was in the audience.
That's Brendan and Trudy, by the way, not RODDY DOYLE and KIERON J. WALSH, writer and director respectively of the new hit Irish film comedy. CRAIG FITZSIMONS meets them.
For a city so often celebrated in song, it was inevitable that the horrific events in new york would be felt as keenly in the music world as in any other section of society. STUART CLARK reports on the industry response and compiles a broad selection of individual reactions to the attack
May 2nd 1998, Liverpool superclub CREAM make their first foray into the festival world with their star-studded Creamfields all-dayer.
RICHARD BLAGGER BROPHY talks to Cream promoter JAMES BARTON about the event.
He’s just knocked Lady GaGa off the top of the UK charts with his banging new single ‘I’m Not Alone’. So why is CALVIN HARRIS so worried about sounding like an oldie chasing after his fading youth?
Unheard of a year ago, the astonishing Cansei de Ser Sexy are one of the hottest indie outfits in the world. With an acclaimed debut album to their credit, the Brazilians bring their twelve legged groove machine to Dublin for BudRising Winter.
Those angry young Marxist Punk-Rockers THE MEKONS are back with a new album I Love Mekons and a contribution to a pro-abortion Woman’s Rights compilation . . . but they’re no longer quite so angry or young, not exactly Marxist, and their Punk is reinforced by Folk, Country and World Music! ANDY
DARLINGTON finds out what the hell is going on in Club Mekon.
The great news is that, owing largely to the familial, accessible and organic feel of the Irish music scene, the place is teeming with official bodies, advisory and educational organisations whose purpose is to put you and your label on the right track. Below is a list of some of the most immediately relevant
Live at the Marquee on Friday June 29: They were the gaudiest of the ‘80s pop sensations. 20 years on, Duran Duran leader Simon Le Bon explains why the good time boys are a band for the long haul.
MIKE DID not know what he was getting himself into. I didn’t know who Mike was at the time, only that I was sitting in my favourite cocktail bar, Footlights, during the all-day Sunday happy hour and these two very colourful, very loud black guys came in, full of laughter and big gestures.
JOSI RAMOS HORTA, the Nobel Laureate from East Timor, on the Indonesian genocide which has killed one-third of his people and Ireland and the world can do to help. Report: SIOBHAN LONG.
There’s lots of opportunities for great sex at college. But, of course, you need a partner with a bit of a sense of adventure to get you off the ground...
When indie godhead Frank Black hooked up with several veterans of the Nashville session scene the results were thrillingly different to his work with The Pixies
Righting political wrongs is all very well and fine, but what Mark Thomas enjoys most is
fucking people right off. except Paul Nolan that is who talks to him about his new stand-up show, A Minor Celebrity Discusses War Crimes
More people than ever may be smoking it but Ireland s marijuana laws remain among the most draconian in Europe. In the second part of our series on drugs in Ireland, STUART CLARK presents the dope on dope.
Annie Nightingale on BBC Radio One is Dance Music s fixture for insomniac clubbers. But for the BBC s first-ever female DJ this is just the latest incarnation of a career that began, sort-of, by insulting John Lennon. ANDY DARLINGTON reads the book, sits in on the show, and even finds time for an interview.
Formula One's plucky outsider Eddie Jordan talks about motor sport's party-hard reputation, jamming with Bryan Adams and winning to the British national anthem.
End of the millennium psychosis techno? Political partying house? Dance music with a social conscience and a sense of humour ? If you re looking for all of the above, then look no further than Green Velvet s new LP, Constant Chaos . On the soapbox: Richard Brophy.
Magic mushrooms were banned in Ireland recently, effectively aiming an exocet at the local ‘head’ shop business. But even before the ban, customs officials had been waging a bizarre war against what most people accept was a legal substance – resulting in considerable losses being sustained by shop owners. No wonder some of them are considering going to court to gain redress.
Whilst the biker culture has retained it aura of outlaw glamour and leather-clad allure down through the years, it’s nonetheless a mode of transport not without its dangers.
They once blagged a soccer scholarship to America as a laugh. Now back in the UK with a number one album, The Hoosiers are at the forefront of their very own scene: “odd-pop”.
Liam Fay teams up with the IMRO hit squad as they venture north to Monaghan in search of bars, discos and other such venues that do not have a licence to thrill, or at least a licence for the public performing of music.
Colm O’Hare talks to Kerry King, guitarist with thrash-metal outfit Slayer, and discovers that under that murderous, violent exterior lies a great big pussy cat . . . almost.
It’s August. Dog days. Holiday time. Offices of state close down and decisionmakers cut and run. It’s a time when a good family man ought to be taking to the countryside, or the sun and sand. Buckets and spades.
Bob Geldof recently received the freedom of the city of Dublin. But three decades ago, when Geldof first crashed the Irish entertainment scene, with his band, The Boomtown Rats, he was a thorn in the side of both politicians and priests in a notoriously conservative country.
If the Irish authorities cannot acknowledge or understand the difference between cannabis, heroin, cocaine and ecstasy, they stand little chance of getting to grips with the bewildering variety of SMART PRODUCTS currently available in Amsterdam. PAUL O MAHONY reports.
Having sent up the zombie flick on Shaun Of The Dead comic duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have trained their sights on the cop movie with their new feature, Hot Fuzz.
Is the time right for Welsh rock n rollers STEREOPHONICS to cash in on their Brits Best Newcomer award of 1998? It is, explains a frustrated KELLY JONES to BARRY GLENDENNING, but only if they can get out of this fucking airport.
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.
Rising abuse of prescription drugs, often mixed with alcohol, has introduced a deadly new dimension to Northern Ireland's drug problem. Helen Toland reports
Exclusive: The new Coldplay album, X & Y, is set to finally hit the stores next month, and Hot Press has been granted a special sneak preview. Ed Power here gives a track-by-track guide to one of the most anticipated albums of the year.
Buffy creator Joss Whedon was devastated when his follow-up project, a Western-tinged space-opera, was cancelled without warning. Rather than sulking, Whedon brought the show back to life in movie forkm, as the sci-fi pulp extravaganza Serenity.
They were one of the superstars of grunge, a band that did more than perhaps any other – even Nirvana – to bring underground rock and roll to the mainstream. But they lost their way with fan-alienating experimental records and a long-running feud with Ticketmaster. Now Pearl Jam have shrugged off the cobwebs and are back rocking like legends. Ahead of the release of their best album in years they talk about the long-road to rejuvenation, lessons gleaned from Neil Young and their place in the greater scheme of things.
Her fantasy is out-qualifying Michael Schumacher, she once drove at 200 miles per hour and she'd "consider" sleeping with a fat, sweaty Italian if it meant getting a drive with Ferrari! She's sarah kavanagh, and her ambition is to take her place on the Forumula One grid by the year 2,000. Interview: barry glendenning.
Pix: clare kavanagh.
Billy Bragg’s larynx, sexual politics, and Jilly Cooper paperbacks. What’s it all about? NICK KELLY finds out when he beams himself up to the planet DUBSTAR.
Could the legal status of E soon change? In the third part of Hot Press continuing investigation into drugs, STUART CLARK reports on the clubbers pill of choice.
They may have started out as avant garde indie noisemongers, but The Flaming Lips have matured into one of the greatest and most musical bands on Planet Earth. Plus, they do an utterly magnificent live show!
His tearful acoustic ballads have become a phenomenon. In a forthright interview José González discusses his terror of writing lyrics and meeting Craig David and tells of his parents’ flight from oppression.
As pristine popsters ABC gear up for their appearance at the Heineken Weekender in Cork, NICK KELLY grills band mainman MARTIN FRY about his new album Skyscraping, his love of all things Elvis, his battle with illness and why it felt right to wear that gold lami suit in 1982. Below, meanwhile, we preview the rest of the Weekender s goings-on down in Cork.
It ought to be one of the happiest moments of a woman's life – and for many it is. But for some women the birth of a child can be a traumatic, invasive and distressing event. Author Naomi Wolf tells Fiona Reid about the blues of the birth
When the Government announced plans to set up its own Press Council, it sent a shiver of fear through the publishing industry. Now, with John Horgan in the role of Ombudsman, he aims to protect the freedom of the press.
Don't tread on us, said Buffalo Bill Clinton, and the Cruise missiles shot off at Baghdad. Hitting this and missing that, amassing what the Americans presumably see as acceptable "collateral damage", including six civilians.
An overnight sensation after ten years and a theatrical star with no special love of the theatre, Martin McDonagh is a playwright with his eyes set firmly on the big screen.
Interview: Olaf Tyaransen.
‘When A Man Loves A Woman’ used to be a pretty good song before it became a fairly awful movie. Now it will be impossible to listen to Percy Sledge’s tremblingly emotive cry from the heart without thinking of Andy Garcia giving moist-eyed Meg Ryan that puppy dog on prozac look.
NIALL STANAGE speaks to PHILIP GOUREVITCH, author of a newly published book on the genocide which consumed the African state of Rwanda. PICS : MICK QUINN
Neil McCormick embarks on a verbal showdown with Hollywood's most famous drug store cowboys and discovers that 1994 was the year in which the hot shots traded in their smoking guns for a pill called Prozac.
Having a right royal laugh at monarchies is all very well in what we loosley describe as the free west, but Olaf Tyransen is alarmed to find it's no laughing matter in Thailand
He was the shock winner of the Progressive Democrats leadership race. In his first major interview Ciaran Cannon sets out his vision for the beleaguered party, explains why Michael McDowell was really a sweetheart, decries the rise of the nanny state, calls for the legalisation of prostitution and lifts the lid on his misspent youth as a mod.
As suede prepare for their headline slot at Dublin Castle next month, their stock has never been higher, thanks mainly to the success of their fantastic third album Coming Up. craig fitzsimons talks to singer brett anderson about it and invites him to take stock of the last few wildly successful months.
DOMINO RECORDS has released some of the most essential music of the 90 s by the likes of Sebadoh, Palace Brothers, and Elliott Smith. NICK KELLY talks to lynchpin Laurence Bell and one member of the label s current roster, Stephen Pastel of The Pastels.
In the last issue of Hot Press, NIALL STANAGE wrote about his experiences as a busker-for-a-day. This time around he meets the real thing those who try to make their living on the streets of Dublin. PICS: CATHAL DAWSON
An overnight sensation after ten years and a theatrical star with no special love of the theatre, Martin McDonagh is a playwright with his eyes set firmly on the big screen.
Interview: Olaf Tyaransen.
From a darkened studio in Artane to the bright lights of Top Of The Pops and beyond that 'Orinoco Flow' has taken Enya and all who sail with her on an unprecedented voyage of discovery. Niall Stokes joins the key figures as the flow swells into a torrent of success and is pleased to report that nobody on board is in danger of losing their bearings.
Preparing for his band's cataclysmic appearance at
this year's Trinity Ball in typically languid fashion,
SPIRITUALIZED mainman JASON PIERCE talks to STUART
CLARK about college days, high-altitude gigs and why he's
not too desperate for a new guitar. Pix: PETER MATTHEWS.
The creator of cinema’s lost peyote sacraments, mime master, graphic novelist, the man who married Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese, and the secret architect of Dune and Alien, 78-year-old Alejandro Jodorowsky is a counter-cultural legend.
To mark the occasion of the release of a near definitive punk compilation, GEORGE BYRNE fondly recalls the days when pogo was go-go and gabba gabba was hey.
GEORGE BYRNE joins the stars of stage turned stars of screen at the CORK FILM FESTIVAL as one band's star-crossed story takes another unexpected turn. Snaps: GEORGE BYRNE.
FUN LOVIN’ CRIMINAL Huey Morgan offers stuart clark a guided tour of the rotten apple, detouring occasionally to take in topics such as California Mist, London gangsters, Tricky, Ian McCulloch and Tony Bennett, as well as his high-profile relationship with Jerry Hall’s daughter. And, let’s see now, there was one thing . . . oh yes “every American’s inalienable right to have nails hammered through their scrotum if they want”.
EDDIE IRVINE is Ireland s leading sporting playboy. The Grand Prix driver is a multi-millionaire whose taste for the extravagant runs to owning a private jet, a yacht and around ten cars. Here, the ladies man of Formula One talks to NIALL STANAGE about sex, drink, drugs, rock n roll oh, and driving.
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.
They arrived on the scene almost two years ago, determined not to let their unorthodox upbringing and dazzling cheekbones overshadow their music. Now, with their supremely accomplished second album, 2004’s Aha Shake Heartbreak, Kings Of Leon have established themselves among the rock’n’roll elite – from which position they’ve begun to enjoy the perks of rock stardom. “I’m actually getting laid now,” a relieved Caleb Followill admits. words Phil Udell
The devil may have all the best tunes but, as readers of The Irish Times and Hot Press can tell you, Tom Mathews has all the funniest cartoons. Liam Fay meets the man behind the flash moustache and finds him making an exhibition of himself . . . but at least he’ll be able to pay for his charcoal!
With that long awaited third album in the pipeline, and an imminent Electric Picnic slot, Franz Ferdinad's Alex Kapranos talks to us about utilizing the doppler effect.
After the heroics which marked the finish of last year‘s International Championship, Irish rugby was brought back to earth with the defeat by France a fortnight ago. In a match that was closer than the twenty-point difference in the scoreline suggested, Eric Elwood notched up all of Ireland’s fifteen points. Paul O’Mahony talks to the cool Number Ten about rugby, sacrifices – oh, and Manchester United.
BREASTS. To have or not to have, and if so, to what extent? This particular, shall we say, philosophical debate has been raging - and I use the term advisedly - across all areas of the British media, from glossie to broadsheet.
They came out of Ballyfermot Rock School,now they are capable of rocking the world! Gerry Mc Govern talks to a band who had the good sense to think of a name that was made for headlines.....flexihead!
A broken and distraught LIAM FAY recounts his nightmare on Stephen Street where he endured the full horrors of LINE DANCING . . . and just about lived to tell the tale. Pics: Mick Quinn
It was the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 1981 when the fire started in the Stardust nightclub in Artane on the north side of Dublin. It quickly went out of control, and in the ensuing holocaust 48 people died and 214 were injured.
A superb new documentary offers an intriguing portrait of one of the biggest rock bands on the planet. Tara Brady meets the film's director Joe Berlinger (pictured, left with Bruce Sinofsky).
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.
In the making of their third album, Coldplay may have abandoned all hope at one juncture and come within an inch of splitting up, but the record has now finally arrived in the shape of X & Y. Chris Martin and co. here give Peter Murphy the inside story on the fraught creation of perhaps the most anticipated album of the year.
catherine doherty clambers aboard the Heineken RollErcoaster and joins Revelino, The Nude, Mesner, and Abbaesque for a crazy white-knuckle ride into deepest Munster.
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
Arriving in Dublin in the last sixties as a 16 year old guitar wunderkind, Belfast born Gary Moore embarked on a musical career that has seen him go through several metamorphoses and achieve numerous notable success in the process.
Padraig Harrington talks about gay golfers, stalkers on the tour, the potential of Rory McIlroy and the death of his father. And, he says, his Open win was just the beginning.
It’s been 25 years since the legendary Dr. Strangely Strange last toured. Now they’re back on the road, in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Tim Booth kept this diary.
He s the Godfather of TV-Astronomy. He s not only the size of a minor planet, he even has one named after him. He knows all the secrets of Life, the Universe and Everything. He is Patrick Moore. And now he tells Andy Darlington about his Flying Saucer Close Encounter , his musical input into 2001: A Space Odyssey, why there are no Skating Rinks on the Moon and much more groovy cosmic stuff
Having their budgets slashed three times in 18 months has made it harder than ever for Irish aid organisations to help the world’s poor and displaced. Despite Mr. Martin’s axe-wielding, Concern worldwide are determined to continue their work in what can be life-threatening circumstances.
Advances in computer technology are set to have a more dramatic influence on our lives than eighty years of developments in motor transport. In this, the first of a new regular column called Cyber Walking, Gerry McGOVERN puts you under starter’s orders.
Former British soldier BERNARD O MAHONEY served in Northern Ireland during the H-Block Hunger Strike. Now, he has written a book about the reality of army life for a typical squaddie a reality where ideas of decency, fairness and the rule of law were often left behind. Words: NIALL STANAGE. Pictures: PETER MATTHEWS
Flying winger Denis Hickie is one of Ireland and Leinster's leading stars. But when he takes off his boots, it's music he turns to for inspiration – from Nick Drake, through Mark Lanegan and Hem to Athlete (but of course!). Interview by Steve Cummins. Photography by Cathal Dawson
The Fathers of Heavy Metal? "That child is not mine!", roars JON LORD, who played keyboard through 25 years of DEEP PURPLE splits, reformations, recriminations and tears. Now he's got a new album and tour reuniting the classic "Deep Purple in Rock" formation to talk up, with side-swipes at Metallica, the David Coverdale/Jimmy Page album, and just why Coverdale's sexually explicit lyrics made the Lord "a tad embarrassed."
Interview ANDY DARLINGTON
It was a Jubilee ago that The Sex Pistols exploded onto the world stage and changed music forever. Except little has changed, according to John Lydon and that's why he's back
Can you see the Forrest for the Gump? Can you explain the cultural phenomenon of Steven Seagal in English plain enough for Seagal himself to understand? Did you recognise any of the actors hiding beneath moustaches in Wyatt Earp, Tombstone and Gettysburg? Are you ready for the fourth annual X-mas rated Blow Up Movie Quiz?
Oh, well, give it a go anyway. Now we separate the movie buffs from the people who have got something more interesting to do than spend all day hanging around cinemas and reading Hot Press. Answers can be found on page 99 but anyone caught peeking will have to live with the knowledge that they are a dirty, rotten, good for nothing, low down cheat. Good luck. And remember, this quiz is just like a box of chocolates . . . you’ll feel sick when you’ve finished.
With the release of their debut album, My German Lover, Hada to Hada's tenure as one of Ireland's best-kept musical secrets may well be over. Siobhán Long talks to Keiran Duddy and Belinda Morris about the craft of song-writing and the dedication
that made the album possible.
With the release of his second solo album, Running Dog, Nick Kelly has cemented his reputation as one of the leading contemporary songwriters in Ireland. Here, the former Fat Lady Sings frontman talks to Jackie Hayden about the break-up of one of Dublin's most respected bands, financing his solo career through the largesse of his fanbase – and the ongoing joys of artistic independence.
With his new album The Mountain, STEVE EARLE has turned his hand to bluegrass. He talks to SIOBHAN LONG about the record, his colourful past and his love of Irish music.
. . . by regular Hot Press contributor
HELENA MULKERNS, is one of nineteen short stories by young Irish writers collected together in Shenanigans, a compendium of darkly humorous end-of-the-century fiction.
Ross Fitzsimons goes to Portugal’s Euro 04 in search of the beautiful game and the perfect bowl of cataplana, and discovers more than he bargained for – including the ribbon of death.
There have been a lot of musicians, but only one Beethoven; there have been a lot of artists, but only one Michelangelo; and there have been a lot of footballers, but only one Pelé.
LIAM MACKEY meets the Brazilian soccer legend who really does deserve to be called “the greatest”.
Been there, seen that, doin' it tomorrow. Is there no stopping Shay Healy? The most popular songsmith in Europe — and, er, Turkey — has just published a new novel Green Card Blues. Night hawk: SIOBHÁN LONG.
One of the government’s most vocal and effective critics, Labour leader Pat Rabbitte could well be the next Tánaiste. He talks about iPods, happiness, gay marriage, breaking the law - and Enda Kenny’s hairdo.
During the heady days of Italia ’90, The Stunning provided the unofficial soundtrack to the nation’s summer-long party, playing a series of uproarious shows around the country and treating the top-ten like their local. thirteen years later, having just re-released their classic album, Paradise In The Picturehouse, the group reflect on what a long, strange trip it’s been and why they’re not ready to hang up their guitars just yet.
There s not a Keith Chegwin in sight as STUART CLARK visits L!VE TV, the station that could soon be introducing Ireland to the delights of Rusty the bouncing dwarf weatherman and the rabbit who wants to present Newsnight.
When My Little Funhouse signed on the dotted line with Geffen, they were precisely 12 gigs old and probably knew more about the inner workings of a thermo-nuclear reactor than they did a recording studio. Since then they’ve toured the world, taken on the same heavyweight management as Guns N’ Roses and moved to Los Angeles where Slash and Matt Sorum are among their best buddies. Brendan Morrissey tells Stuart Clark why the Kilkenny metallers will either end up filthy rich or six feet under.
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!
Albums such as Streetcleaner and Pure have established Brummie noise terrorists godflesh as one of the most exciting alternative bands on the planet. Their latest effort, Love And Hate In Dub, is a radically overhauled remix version of its predecessor, Songs Of Love And Hate. The band s
talkative mainman justin broadrick explains all to jonathan o Brien.
Paul Weller has a reputation as one of the most truculent men in pop, with a deep-seated dislike of the promotional process. But with the release of his latest solo album Illumination, the man who once led The Jam and the Style Council agreed to put himself in the firing line. Looking back over a career that's studded with success, he's reflective and forthright - but the anger that inspired much of The Jam's finest output still burns
Not content with being one of the most successful stand-up comics of his generation, sean hughes has once again turned his hand to the world of prose with the publication of his first novel, The Detainees. barry glendenning, for his part, gives it a ringing endorsement of Eh, quite good. The Booker Prize awaits.
Everyone's favourite punk-pop pranksters Fight Like Apes report exclusively from their recent trips to Canadian Music Week and the South By South West indie festival in Austin, Texas.
Intrigued by the ridicule and bad press being generated by London s Millennium Dome, BARRY GLENDENNING pays a visit to Greenwich and discovers why Tony Blair is having trouble sustaining his massive erection.
CAST mainman JOHN POWER is on top of the world, with a string of hit singles behind him, a brand new album and impending fatherhood on the way. He talks to JOHN WALSHE about life, love, the joys of smoking weed and the meaning of sheerability .
THE PRODIGY may be one of the biggest dance acts in the world but, increasingly, they’ve been developing a rock ’n’ roll attitude. As the band line up for their Friday night headlining slot at Féile, techno guru LIAM HOWLETT talks to STUART CLARK.
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.
In the second and final part of the ultimate interview, elvis talks about colonel Tom Parker, marriage to priscilla, his '68 comeback, his quest for enlightenment and the truth about his drug intake. but as he dreams of an exciting future, at 42 he doesn’t realise that the end is close at hand
*The quotes in this recreated interview are drawn from a wealth of reliable sources and involved extensive research into many rare articles and books
There’s no argument. The Rolling Stones new record Voodoo Lounge finds the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world of yore back in fighting trim, stomping out that distinctive blend of musical mayhem we know and love in positively swaggering style – good enough, some would say, to see off any contenders to their coveted throne. At the centre of this triumphant return to form is one Michael Philip Jagger, who sounds lean, mean, hungry and ready for the fray. Here he raps with Don Was – producer of Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Was Not Was, Bonnie Raitt and of course The Rolling Stones – about the primeval power of music and how to keep on doing it even at the grand old age of twenty (Sorry! I’ll read that again) . . .
With a new ‘Best Of’ bringing the band’s story up to date, U2’s guitar man steps forward to riff on good times and bad, the private life of a public figure, discovering the secrets of the universe on mushrooms, and why, after all these years, few things match the high of being a member of U2
Ahead of their return to Ireland, Muse reveal they’re about to go through their U2 phase, talk about magic mushrooms and explain why, when it comes to conspiracy, they’re on Jim Corr's side.
Twelve years since he retired his blood-stained Die Hard vest, Bruce Willis is back for another bite at the franchise. He talks about his see-saw acting career and why he and ex-wife Demi Moore will always be friends.
As Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, MO MOWLAM M.P. has one of the toughest, most thankless jobs in British and Irish politics. The task facing her is an unenviable one: to bring together the two extremes of both traditions, however briefly, for the purposes of all-party talks. In this exclusive interview, she talks about the difficult journey to date, and the immense challenges which lie ahead of her. Our man who went to Mo:
JOE JACKSON.
Pix: COLM HENRY.
Liam Fay spends a day behind the counter of the Condom Power store in Dublin, Ireland’s only condomerie
and sex shop, and a place where there is no shortage of “realistic vibrating buttocks.”
Back in the saddle with their eagerly anticipated second album Demon Days, subversive animated quartet Gorillaz here talk to Paul Nolan about striking out against celebrity culture, what went wrong with the Gorillaz movie, collaborating with Shaun Ryder, Roots Manuva and Dennis Hopper, and why they didn’t vote Labour. Oh, and Mexican brothels.
...And the kids just keep on comin’, as Hot Press investigates another assortment of motley crews with songs in their hearts and stars in their eyes, and concludes that the future is indeed so bright, you’ve gotta wear shades.
FLEXIHEAD, MEXICAN PETS, THE GLEE CLUB, IN MOTION
KEN RUSSELL is one of the most
controversial film directors of our time. Now, he s published his first novel. OLAF TYARANSEN met him. Pics: CATHAL DAWSON.
Niall Stokes: People would make an assumption that since The Corrs have sold millions of records, you ve already got it made. Does it feel like that to you?
In which Olaf Tyaransen comes face to face with a raging bull, declares war on the neighbourhood dogs and undergoes the Thai rite of passage that is surviving a motorbike accident.
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
In a rare interview, US alt culture icon Tom Waits talks to Dave Fanning about touring with Zappa, getting the nod of approval from Dylan, his fastidious approach to songwriting and why Bill Hicks remains America’s foremost political commentator
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
Dave Grohl looks back on 20 years of playing music and talks about the birth of his daughter, the trapped Beaconsfield Miners and why Neil Young is his hero.
With the Tour de France scheduled to kick off in Ireland on July 11th this year, the subject of drugs in international sport has become a hot topic again. Not only did PAUL KIMMAGE take drugs himself as a professional cyclist - he wrote an award-winning book about it. Interview: BARRY GLENDENNING
After 12 months which saw the group go from the indie B-division to rock’s premier league, Snow Patrol have had a more dramatic 2004 than most. In an in-depth interview, Gary Lightbody discusses a life-changing year, the Irish and British music scenes, friendships, relationships and where the band go to next.
CATHAL COUGHLAN has long been among the most articulate and angry of Irish songwriters. Here, he talks to JONATHAN O BRIEN about his new album, money problems and adapting to middle-age
Jailed in the '70s and '80s for gun-running and membership of the IRA, Kerry-born MARTIN FERRIS was one of the most senior Republican figures in the south to throw his weight behind the Sinn Fiin-backed peace process. Now, a Kerry County Councillor with ambitions to take a Dail seat, Ferris has earned a particular reputation for being tough on drugs in his native Tralee.
Interview: NIALL STANAGE.
From Oasis to The Ping Pong Bitches, ALAN McGEE is living proof that there s life after
success, excess, Labour, near-death and, oh yes, Creation Records. Even if you re a Rangers
supporter. Interview: STUART CLARK
Contrary to the negative way in which it's so often portrayed by the national media, Limerick is a city that combines a rich sense of tradition with an eye for innovation and in recent years has developed into one of Ireland's leading cultural centres. Kevin Barry takes a look at the people - and the places - breathing new life into the mid-western capital.
From badass bunnies via political incorrectness to the mightiest drummer in rock ’n’ roll, it’s all in an interview’s work for Queens Of The Stone Age mainman Josh Homme.
From small-time ramshackle punk'n'Irish troubadours to 'international touring act' in the space of six incident-packed years, The Pogues have not only produced music to consistently surprise and delight - they've put it in the charts too! With the help of band members Phil Chevron and Jem Finer, Bill Graham examines The Pogues' enigma in advance of the outfit's impending Christmas single 'Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah' (phew!) and their seasonal show at The Point Depot in Dublin.
He may not be your average indie kids dream ticket, but Brian Kennedy has lived in very interesting times. An initially promising career was scuppered by record company machinations, but, under the stewardship of Van Morrison, he matured into a remarkably successful solo artist, as well as a respected novelist. Then there were the small matters of performing at George Best's funeral, the recent Eurovision controversy - and his current run at the helm of RTE's flagship summer Saturday night entertainment show.
They are one of the most interesting and enigmatic groups in rock. They are also one of the biggest, with a string of multi-million selling albums to their credit. But they don’t like interviews much, making themselves available for only a handful in Europe to coincide with the release of their new album Around The Sun. Once Peter Buck sits down opposite a microphone, however, a different face of REM reveals itself, as he talks eloquently about life, family, downloads, air rage, Iraq, Bush – and The Thrills.
Hand-picked, coddled and manufactured: mainstream pop stars have the life. Don t they? KIM PORCELLI gets up about twelve hours earlier than usual and spends the day with SAMANTHA MUMBA. Hot shots: PETER MATTHEWS
It s the morning after the night before and BRET EASTON ELLIS feels like he s got Marilyn Manson playing inside his head. A dinner date with fellow penslinger Irvine Welsh has gone seriously pear-shaped and like his most famous literary creation, the Californian is fit to kill. STUART CLARK offers tea and solpadeine, and in return gets the lowdown on American Psycho, trans-Atlantic stalkers and why both Air Supply and the Teletubbies are evil. Pix: Cathal Dawson.
Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous offers a pleasant and almost innocent view of the life of a rock hack - sort of Little House On The Road. The reality, as PETER MURPHY explains, is rather different. Certain names in this harrowing saga have been changed to protect the guilty - and the author's delicate bone structure
Recently returned from a visit to Baghdad, MICHAEL D. HIGGINS calls on Ireland to take a lead in demanding an end to sanctions against Iraq, arguing that Saddam Hussein can never justify the deaths of children and the use of long-suffering civilians, as tools of opposition to his regime.
Mooks, homies, rat bastards and why Quentin Tarantino is in danger of catching a slap
nope, it s definitely not the Phish interview. jonathan o brien raps with
HUEY MORGAN of the FUN LOVIN CRIMINALS.
Ahead of the band s heineken green energy gig in Dublin, PETER MURPHY talks to
NINA PERSSON of THE CARDIGANS about success, sexuality, self-esteem and joyriding!
Every year thousands of film fans make the trip to the southern capital for the feast of cinema that is the Cork Film Festival. Hot Press looks back over the history of one of Europe’s longest-running cinematic events and checks out what this year’s packed programme has to offer. Report: Patrick Brennan
Psychic and physical disintegration! Quacks, pulsars and Marshall amps! The sound of the end of space and time! And, oh yes, silly song titles too! Welcome to the world of WAYNE COYNE and The Flaming Lips. Interview: Peter Murphy.
The actor, director, novelist and husband of Uma Thurman on the thrill of being a non-specialist and the challenge presented by "the greatest adventure you can have" - being in love
After years of pushing the self- destruct button, Pete Doherty has proved his detractors wrong with a solo album that's on a par with anything he did with the Libertines.
Colm O’Hare reports on the latest developments in the Irish film world which – thanks to initiatives spearheaded by Michael D. Higgins, Minister of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht – is experiencing an unprecedented boom period.
Will genetic engineering be a force for good or for evil? And since the genie is already out of the bottle, is even that profound question becoming redundant? GERRY McGOVERN delves into the worrying, wonderful and definitely weird world of genetics. The future starts here.
A former drug dealer, he’s been shot at nine times and lived to tell the tale, emerging as one of the most controversial and uncompromising figures in rap. But there's more to 50 Cent than the popular legend suggests. For a start, there’s a new commercial edge to the music, as his US and Irish number one album The Massacre demonstrates. Plus, as one of the new faces of Reebok’s ‘I Am What I Am’ campaign, he’s taken to the role of cultural icon with considerable zest. Oh, and besides, he’s a bit of a wow with the ladies.
We asked the fans to vote for U2's Greatest Hits and they did - in their thousands. The result is a selection of 20 tracks which, without doubt, would combine to produce a record to rank among the weightiest and most powerful anthologies in the history of rock. The full track listing is not without its controversial selections and omissions, however. Bill Graham and Niall Stokes take us through the fans' vision of the fab four's dream album.
"To tell you the truth, I don’t see myself as being all that interesting or attractive." that being so, Colin Farrell must be one of a very few who doesn’t. Dublin’s latest superstar, famous for cussing, bedding women and (lest we forget) acting, has been inescapable in the gossip columns in recent months. But how much is truth and how much fiction? In this candid interview with Tara Brady, he talks about drink, drugs, football, fame, hype, luck, romance and – in his latest box office winner The Recruit – working with Al Pacino
Responsible dad or not, Liam Gallagher is still capable of some serious rock’n’roll hellraising and giving good quote. Roy Keane, Patsy Kensit, Nicole Appleton, Yoko Ono, Bono and magic mushrooms are all on the agenda as the Oasis singer shoots from the hip. Getting the beers in: Olaf Tyaransen
There are no guarantees of success in the music biz, but if you have what it takes there is plenty of expert help available to ensure you give it your best shot.
Lee Dunne is reputed to be the most banned author in Europe and, by his own reckoning, has slept with over 1,000 women. You could says he’s got a story or two to tell.
Over the hills and far away, Chumbawamba come out to play! They get knocked down. But they get up again. They get dropped by Indie One Little Indian, and then get signed up by Capitalist major EMI. Then the Tub-Thumpers Anonymous go on to score the most unlikely hit single of 1997. So what now for Alice Nutter and her chums? ANDY DARLINGTON reports.
Over the hills and far away, Chumbawamba come out to play! They get knocked down. But they get up again. They get dropped by Indie One Little Indian, and then get signed up by Capitalist major EMI. Then the Tub-Thumpers Anonymous go on to score the most unlikely hit single of 1997. So what now for Alice Nutter and her chums? ANDY DARLINGTON reports.
Few Irish albums have been as eagerly awaited as THERAPY?’s Troublegum and while the jury has yet to deliver its final verdict, early indications suggest that the band from Larne may be about to fulfil their own prophecy and become multifuckingnationally huge. But does taking on the world mean having to compromise the hardcore principles they’ve fought so hard to protect?
ANDY CAIRNS and MICHAEL McKEEGAN tell Hot Press trouble-shooter GERRY McGOVERN that displaying your gums doesn’t mean having to sacrifice your teeth. Pix.: MICHAEL QUINN.
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.
With The Story Of O, poet and journalist OLAF TYARANSEN has written an Irish memoir like no other before, a remarkable, powerful, controversial and outrageously funny book that s set to catapult him into the literary
limelight and to the top of the best-sellers lists over the coming weeks. If you think that the accompanying pix tell the naked truth, just wait till you read the book. Ireland s first outlaw autobiography, it s an uncompromisingly confessional tale of literature, sex, drugs, rock n roll and rebellion. But it is also a beautifully-written tour-de-force, a love story that will entertain, shock and move readers. In this short extract, the author battered by the rigours of his pro-cannabis election campaign and broken-hearted by the apparent collapse of a long-term relationship goes completely off the rails. Nude portraits: MICK QUINN
MORE PEOPLE SMOKE IT IN THE UK THAN GO TO CHURCH, THE AMERICAN LAW JUDGES ADMIT THAT IT'S THE SAFEST THERAPEUTICALLY ACTIVE SUBSTANCE KNOWN TO MAN BUT STILL THE WAR AGAINST CANNABIS RAGES ON. OLAF TYARANSEN EXAMINES THE VESTED INTERESTS WHICH STAND IN THE WAY OF ITS LEGALISATION.
You wanted the best, you got GENE SIMMONS. Here, the motormouth frontman of KISS, the world s greatest showband, talks about sex and women at length (quelle surprise), discusses his Jewish heritage, explains why Kierkegaard and Nietzsche obviously never got laid, and announces to an increasingly bemused JOE JACKSON that he Gene, that is possesses the world s smallest penis.
The inside story of Veronica Guerin starring Joel Schumacher, Gerard McSorley, Ciaran Hinds and Cate Blanchett. Rolling tape Tara Brady and Craig Fitzsimons
Helena Mulkerns catches up with the charming Dublin-based chanteuse on a tour of East Coast college campuses, and finds a wilfully free spirit at ease with her sexuality – if not with the industry’s categorisation of such guitar-wielding women.
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.
Or how TONY BENNETT survived drugs, near-death and the mafia, to become possibly the coolest man on the planet at the age of 72. Interview: Joe Jackson.
Bobby Gillespie's still staying up all night but now it's because there's a baby in the house. Otherwise, it's all systems go for Primal Scream at their bunker hq - Witnness cometh, Mani's back and Kate Moss, Kevin Shields, Robert Plant and AndrewWeatherall all feature on the groundbreaking evil high
With his work on the soundtrack to In The Name Of The Father bringing him into the full glare of media attention Gavin Friday takes this opportunity to put to rest any accusations of riding on U2’s coat-tails. Confident and brimming with ideas for his solo career, The Spotlight Kid gives the lowdown to an eager BILL GRAHAM.
John Walshe talks to Jamiroquai mainman, Jay Kay, about the funk soul brother’s latest album, A Funk Odyssey, his testy relationship with British tabloids and why President George W. Bush is a “bad fucker”
Our annual HP-7 summit brings together some of the pre-eminent movers and shakers in irish music to reflect on everything from backstage catering to the end of war, pestilence and famine. Your host: Stuart Clark.
Positivity is their mantra, classy is their byword and their mission is to become the biggest and best pop group on the plant. With their jam in the point date looming SYLVIA PATTERSON goes on the road with DESTINY'S CHILD and hears a tale of self-empowerment, vision and that collision between cleavage and christianity
They may refuse to play the media game, but whether it’s dating page three models, accepting awards dressed as the Village People or earning the ire of Keith Richards, there’s never a dull moment in the world of Alex Turner and Arctic Monkeys.
With State Of Play and Shameless, Paul Abbott has taken more risks than any other writer of TV drama – with spectacularly successful results. Now, Channel 4 have asked the BAFTA award winner to write a pantomime, that’s destined to be one of the highlights of the festive season.
There s very little torture involved in making a record until it s released and then the audience gets to suffer. PETER MURPHY meets the one and only LYDIA LUNCH.
You know you re doing something right if your book disturbs both Cat Stevens and Snoop Doggy Dogg. But Sligo-born eamonn sweeney s debut novel, Waiting For The Healer, with its explosive mix of booze, blood, manic comedy and rock n roll, is also winning rave reviews for its uncompromisingly forthright author. Interview: liam fay.
JOHN FARRELL was brought up in an Irish working–class neighbourhood in Brooklyn. From a very young age he knew that he was gay. But it took twenty–five years before he could go fully public, with this powerful, funny and tragic telling of his own journey to sexual maturity.
DAVID HOLMES is about to leave his native Belfast for New York City, where he will record his third album. STUART BAILIE took a final opportunity to speak to the artist also known as Homer. On the agenda: Hollywood soundtracks, rumours of brawling, past glories and future plans.
Pics: MICHAEL TAYLOR.
Unheard of a year ago, Carlow teen Saoirse Ronan is the actress of the hour in Hollywood. Here, she and her actor father Paul Ronan talk about her remarkable rise.
With a new 'best of' bringing the band's story up to date U2's guitar man steps forward to riff on good times and bad, the private life of a public figure, discovering the secrets of the universe on mushrooms and why, after all these years, few things match the high of being a member of U2.
Special hotpress.com members edition: "director's cut" featuring interview sections unavailable anywhere else.
When Tommy Tiernan held court in the Hot Press Chat Room at Electric Picnic recently, he had no idea the kind of shit storm that would unfold. During what was in effect a spontaneous, unscripted live performance – not unlike an appearance on The Late Late Show that also sparked controversy – he told a story about a couple of Jews who reproached him after a performance in New York. The result? He has been accused of anti-semitism and widely vilified. But those who know Tiernan are quite clear that the accusations are completely wrong. So – in order to allow people to judge for themselves – here is the full text of the Chat Room interview.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers visited Lansdowne Road, Dublin on July 8 but we caught up with the band in Paris recently and heard why the west coast warriors of funk-rock have never been hotter
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.
Watching David Bowie on television recently one couldn't help but think of Neil Hannon. Not that he is a musical "chameleon"—to use the phrase most often applied to Bowie—but he does seem to be a person more comfortable presenting to the world a series of ever-changing poses designed to conceal rather than reveal his "real self", as in vocally situating himself somewhere between Barry White and Prince on the magnificent Charge, or satirising—while still relishing—his role as the eponymous sexist hero in Becoming More Like Alfie. Strangely enough, Neil confesses that he was thinking something similar while watching Bowie being interviewed
From hip replacement to hip and onto hip-hop, the second coming of texas has been one of the most unlikely artistic and commercial triumphs of recent years.
But as olaf Tyaransen discovers, the new-look
sharleen spiteri remains very much her old self.
By any standards, The Corrs are an extraordinary phenomenon. It won't be long before the combined global sales of their albums to date top the 20 million mark. In Ireland alone, by the end of the year, they will have sold over a million records - at which point they may well have established themselves as the biggest-selling Irish act of all time on home turf.
Peter Murphy takes a train to the wild west (Galway that is) with the original Texas Jewboy, crime writer and legendary stardust cowboy Kinky Friedman. Peter Matthews has the negatives.
Has Madonna become the immaterial girl? Or will the Re-invention tour re-establish her as the foremost female icon on the planet? On the eve of her first ever Irish appearance at Slane, Peter Murphy takes a look at the strange twist the Queen of Pop’s career has taken – and how she is now fighting back, for all she’s worth.
The legend of the booker prize-winning author is of a life of fear and loathing and bad craziness that not even Hunter S. Thompson would dare to invent. But the truth is even stranger than the fiction. From a pampered mexican childhood through lost family fortunes, doomed movie ventures, alleged swindling, a couple of convictions and a serious drug habit, Peter Finlay has re-emerged atop a mountain in Leitrim, a little god of the literary world. Interview Olaf Tyaransen Photo: Nick Hitchcox
Fresh from masterminding yet another historic victory – this time, Laois’ first Leinster championship in 57 years – gaelic football legend Mick O’Dwyer recalls famous days with Kerry and offers his customarily forthright views on professionalism, soccer at Croker, drink sponsorship, booing the Taoiseach and a changing Ireland. All this plus the little-known Louis Walsh connection!
No one has their ears sadistically sliced off with a cut-throat razor but there's savage revelry aplenty as Siobhan Long sets her watch to Hiney time and spends 24 hours in the dangerously
danceable company of Speranza.
(N.B. This is a work of faction. All names have been changed in order to protect the guilty from certain incarceration in state mental institutions or correctional
facilities.)
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.
THE FINAL YEARS OF peter cook
The father of modern British comedy, peter cook s death in 1995 brought the strangest chapter of his life to a close. Ravaged by alcoholism, he dedicated his final years to sloth, drink, drugs, porn, daytime television and late-night radio phone-ins. But even in his darkest hours, the black humour and brilliant wit that marked him out as the towering comedy talent of his generation just kept on breaking through. liam fay reports.
THE FINAL YEARS OF peter cook
The father of modern British comedy, peter cook s death in 1995 brought the strangest chapter of his life to a close. Ravaged by alcoholism, he dedicated his final years to sloth, drink, drugs, porn, daytime television and late-night radio phone-ins. But even in his darkest hours, the black humour and brilliant wit that marked him out as the towering comedy talent of his generation just kept on breaking through. liam fay reports.
From A to Z, Paul Nolan and Ronan Fitzgerald introduce all the runners and riders for Punchestown – throwing in a baker’s dozen of acts who are not to be missed* along the way
Thirty years ago Neil Armstrong took that famous first step on behalf of all mankind. That means me and you. But wait a minute wasn t it also supposed to be a giant leap? So what happened next? And what went wrong? ANDY DARLINGTON reports.
Winning an oscar was a culmination of a life-time's struggle for GLEN HANSARD. But success extracted a heavy toll on the singer, plunging him into self doubt and leaving him feeling confused and adrift. As The Swell Season prepare to release their second album, he talks about the long road back to sanity, his romantic break-up with songwriting partner MARKETA IRGLOVA and why, having derided Ireland in the press, he’s now proud of his home country
again. Plus Irglova talks about the end of their love affair and the challenges that fame and Fortune bring.
If you’re Randy Newman you’ll also need a piano, some borrowed dominants and lashings of irony. And that’s just for starters. Joe Jackson hears about the private, public and musical lives of one of American music’s most singular talents.
Triumph Of The Will meets Spinal Tap and Bach meets Sabbath as METALLICA join
forces with 101 dinner jackets. Peter Murphy travels to Berlin to sample the results.
The outlaw loved by the in-law, Willie Nelson can draw 4,000 people outside Dublin virtually by word of mouth. But it ain't all middle of the road: as befits a veteran of the honky-tonks who had done battle with the IRS and the law, the country music legend can still get in touch with the dark side of Hank
Ex-IRA man Gerry Kelly talks to Jason O'Toole about his run-ins with the British Army, his near death experiences, the part he played in inflicting civilian casualties and his time on hunger strike.
Dail Eireann has never been short of socialist mavericks but rarely has a member of government spoken out so emphatically in favour of divorce, abortion and the shackling of the Catholic church as Democratic Left’s EAMON GILMORE. JOE JACKSON meets the agnostic Junior Minister who smoked and inhaled and reckons he'd probably make a better whoremaster than a priest. Pix: Colm Henry.
There’s no pipe of peace – in fact no pipe at all from the non-smoking sinn féin leader – as Olaf Tyaransen asks if, given Osama Bin Laden’s use of terror as a political weapon, Gerry Adams might not have some sympathy for the world’s most wanted man. that question and other contentious queries relating to the IRA, Jean McConville and the murder of Garda Jerry McCabe are dealt with in an interview which also takes in Eoghan Harris, George Bush and Bono, and ends with the interviewee humming a familiar Monty Python tune.
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.
During the late eighties, Aslan were among the most celebrated of Irish rock acts, immensely popular at home and signed to EMI, a major multinational label, on which they released their debut album, Feel No Shame. And then it all came unstuck, amid squalid tabloid accusations of drug addiction, egotism and recrimination. Now they re back, older, wiser and more resolute but with their musical batteries recharged, a new contract with BMG under their belts and that old emotional band intact. Report: Liam Fay (with additional reporting by George Byrne).
As the General Election looms, many polls suggest Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny is the next Taoiseach in waiting. So what is he really like? And where does he stand on the issues that matter to Hot Press readers?
The fact that it's just over ten years since Pac-man was wowing the world's computer buffs, shows the vast leaps that the gaming industry has made since. Hot Press investigates the cult of the console.
LET'S GO SHOPPING
Gerry McGovern embarks on a mission to steer you through the sea of software.
During the late eighties, ASLAN were among the most celebrated of Irish rock acts, immensely popular at home and signed to EMI, a major multinational label, on which they released their debut album Feel No Shame. And then it all came unstuck, amid squalid tabloid accusations of drug addiction, egotism and recrimination. Now they’re back, older, wiser and more resolute – but with their musical batteries recharged, a new contract with BMG under their belts and that old emotional band intact. Report: LIAM FAY (with additional reporting by GEORGE BYRNE). Pix: MICK QUINN
With a new tribute album to Gram Parsons on release, PETER MURPHY enlists the help of co-executive producer EMMYLOU HARRIS to recreate the tale of Southern Gothic that was the late singer s life.
The technology which drives home entertainment is changing, and it's changing fast. Colm O'Hare takes a close-up look at what's happening in hi-fi, television, video and home cinema technology and discovers that the future has already arrived.
It’s a different world than it used to be! In this special extended birthday column, The Hog takes a necessarily selective – and typically colourful – look at the 30 most important influences on the process of change that has brought this country all the way from there to… well, where else but here?
When Nirvana exploded out of Seattle with the classic grunge album Nevermind, they were hailed as modern primitives, punk upstarts whose hard musical edge and authentic street style were the antithesis of the dominant ethos of corporate rock. Two years on however, their reputation as Rock 'n' Roll rebels is somewhat less secure. Bill Graham sifts through two new biographies of the band, and talks to Victoria clarke, the co-author of a third which has been effectively surpressed by the Nirvana 'corporation'.
Maverick genius or away with the fairies? Peter Murphy travels to North-East Scotland to meet Mike Scott at home in the spiritual Findhorn community where The Waterboys’ latest album was written and recorded. And Steve Wickham explains how he left and rejoined the band.
After a career barely spanning five years, there is a definite feeling amongst those who know about such things that POLLY
JEAN HARVEY is destined to be one of the true rock music greats. Her darkly visceral, sexual and lacerating work has struck a
raw chord, and made her the object of passionate adoration. But it has also cast her in the eyes of some as an
"axe-wielding bitch cow from Hell."
LIAM FAY travels to meet ze monsta, but instead finds a home-loving Yeovil lass who likes nothing better than gardening and whipping
up pots of rhubarb marmalade.
CORONATION STREET. It s an
institution. So who wants to live in an institution? Well - there s Ken Barlow, Vera Duckworth, Deirdre, Fiona . . . you know them all, don t you? Be
honest! ANDY DARLINGTON visits
the Street of Dreams, and finds out that it s real!
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.
DENIS LEARY, sultan of sneer, is en route to Dublin to star in the Murphy s Ungagged Comedy Festival. By way of a little limbering up, and proving that there s no smoke without fire, here he lets rip on Noraid, The Kennedys, The Royals, Bill Hicks, Dean Martin, Oasis, Father Ted, drugs in Kerry and, oh yes, why he d like to go to Riverdance with a sniper s rifle . Interview: LIAM FAY.
What on earth is milky-white, squeaky-clean, God-fearin PAT BOONE doing,
wearing leather
and studs and singing heavy metal anthems? JOE JACKSON delves behind the year s most bizarre comeback to extract a rare and fascinating interview with a man who once alienated rockers and now finds himself ostracised by Christians.
In the second and final part of his exploration of the Secret Sexual History of Elvis Presley, joe jackson describes the king s prowess as a peak performer, reveals the great loves of his life, and charts his sordid, sad and ultimately tragic decline and fall.
In the second and final part of his exploration of the Secret Sexual History of Elvis Presley, joe jackson describes the king s prowess as a peak performer, reveals the great loves of his life, and charts his sordid, sad and ultimately tragic decline and fall.
London has long been recognised as one of the world's leading centres of entertainment and musical excitement - not to mention pleasure in all its multifarious manifestations. But when you really need it, do you know where to find it? Fay Wolftree brings you the insider's inside guide to Europe's premier rock 'n' roll metropolis.
For many people it is U2's greatest album. Twenty years on, to mark it's re-release, Colm O'Hare talks to Daniel Lanois and reflects on the extraordinary background to a monumental album.
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.
The future is here. Well, somehow it always is. And, as usual, it is both familiar and strange. Nothing seems to change, but one day you turn around, it is 1995, and you are cybersurfing on the internet, summer seems to last all winter, ambient-acid-techno is bubbling away on the radio, your fax machine shows up on the Antiques Roadshow and papa’s got a brand new drug.
They go together like a horse and carriage. You can't have one without the other - or words to that effect. In fact, however, even rock 'n' roll has yet to invent an erotic language that does justice to the breadth and complexity of human desire. In pushing out the boundaries, madonna has taken on the role of sexual pioneer, and done it with courage and no little success. Niall Stokes weighs up the evidence . . .
Following their Herculean performance at Oxegen – not least in the Hot Press Signing Tent where they signed several zillion autographs – Feeder pay a November 20 visit to the Dublin Ambassador.
Recorded in 2003, McAlmont and Butler’s ‘Speed’ won’t be followed by a new album or tour dates. Indeed, the sometime collaborators haven’t recorded anything else in the intervening three-year period. So why has it been released? Reportedly Rough Trade boss Geoff Travis was so impressed upon hearing the track he immediately wanted to put it out. And ‘Speed’ is impressive. Much in the vein of ‘Yes’ and ‘Falling’, it’s full of bombastic arrangements, dirty guitar interventions and feel-good calls to “keep moving on”. Fingers crossed it sparks a re-birth.
The title of Mike Rafferty's long-overdue solo debut refers both to this youthful septuagenarian's current age and to the old 78-rpm records that inspired him. A native of Ballinakill, Co. Galway, Rafferty grew up immersed in the East Galway tradition, learning to play both flute and uilleann pipes from his father, Tom 'Barrel' Rafferty.
Tough new measures are being promised, to tackle the phenomenon of dangerous driving among young males. But the law is far more likely to work if it seen to be applied intelligently – and if there is a positive side to any new Government campaign.
Strangely Science & Nature starts off at its nadir with the uninspired 'Zorro' then steadily trundles uphill, through leisurely-paced 'The Last Of The Great Navigators'.
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.
As a sort of accompaniment to Hot Press' current cover story on the Heineken Rollercoaster Tour bill-sharers, we decided to make 'em our Archive Artists Of The Week. Getcher old news stories, getcher reviews, getcher interviews. You know you want 'em
Music Review | Live
29% | 7 Nov 2003
Ronan Fitzgerald
Dizzee Rascal has just left the stage and the feeling of disgust is palpable.
The latest LA outfit to cause a stir on this side of the pond (in the pages of Kerrang! at any rate) The Bronx come with all the right booze, puke ‘n’ drugs credentials to make them instantly appealing to their demographic (i.e. 13-year-old males).
Purveyors of guitar pop, the Dublin up-and-comers gear up with a finely crafted album that wears its influences on its sleeve, but manages to sound vibrant and relevant. No real surprise when you consider what those influences are; shades of the Stranglers here, a whisper of Wedding Present and a touch of Teenage Fanclub there, but the overall sound is a lot more than the sum of its parts.
By threatening to tighten the rules for provisional drivers, the government is implicitly holding young motorists responsible for rising levels of death on the road.
Most Unkle productions feel like they were conceived by a brain only capable of operating in widescreen – they aim toward all-encompassing epicity, but end up as nothing but a half-agreeable mess
Culled from their 2004 world tour, this generously endowed 22-track live album finds the German electronic pioneers giving a fresh lick of paint to classics like 'The Model', 'Autobahn', 'Trans Europe Express' and 'Tour De France'.
Matthew Sweet belongs to an honourable power-pop tradition in the US that is lauded in certain quarters but exists largely away from the gaze of the public at large.
The Fall delivers a slow-starting but strong, riotous show at the Spiegeltent, performing an electrifying set that leaves little doubt that this band will still be at it many years from now.
Fun, fun, fun! A film about 300 years in the life of a violin? It would be hard to think of a less prepossessing subject for a film - The Drying of the Paint or The Growing of the Grass might at least find a certain cult niche, but this is really putting the audience to the test.
They must be sick of the Pogues comparisons by this stage, but listening to Blood Or Whiskey’s third studio album it’s impossible not to think of Spider Stacey bouncing his head off a beer crate and an early Shane MacGowan screeching into the microphone with two fingers aloft as the squaddies chucked their chips at him. Blood Or Whiskey evoke those sort of memories. The Rum, Sodomy And The Lash era when The Pogues stuck to their punk and traditional origins.
Interrogation scenes of Spanish Inquisition severity provide the light entertainment in a staggeringly bleak and brutal (if generic and utterly preposterous) outing, which careers towards a ridiculous but suitably hair-raising conclusion at near-breakneck pace without pausing for breath.
There is enough merit in the energetic power-chord rock of these ‘Nordic rock crusaders’ (their description) to make you refrain from putting them down as just another piece of spam in the already crowded inbox of retro-rock clichés.
After a rocky road to stardom, The Vines end recent successful studio time to release Vision Valley. This is not just a return to form, it’s the happy ending that a story like thiers cries out for.
A COMPILATION of eight years worth of The Pastels' singles, b-sides, odds, sods, cover versions and fiddly instrumental bits, Truckload Of Trouble proves that The Pastels are, in one sense at least, a remarkable group.
The MC – straight outta… er… Wexford (and why not?) – is a lippy customer, full of the same recycled braggadocio, tough guy, chin-out posturing, and boil-in-the-bag misogyny favoured in the world of commercial hip hop.
The best bands have a gift for making connections even when they’re tearing things apart and – on tonight’s evidence – the Primals have a desire to join things up that verges on the evangelical
For the duration of this two-hour (yes, a full 120 minutes) show, he displays the energy of someone that has just supped from the cup of eternal youth.
This is Ozzy's first studio outing in six years, and his first time to record an album sober. It benefits from Zakk Wylde's demented riffs and solos, and the lyrics feature more relevant political comment than you’d expect.
The guitar sound is refreshingly raw and potent, without ever straying into metal territory, while they keep a firm enough grip on the melody to maintain interest
A documentary set in the small, snowy coastal town Berlevag, situated two hundred and fifty miles inside the Artic Circle, where a two dozen or so aging blokes in sailor suits make up an all-male choir
Thankfully however they've garnered enough spot on contributions from Michael Franti, DJ Speech and Grant Lee Phillips - all held together by 1GL's pre-recorded soundtrack - to draw the curious in to this diverse melange.
It’s early days for the band, and although right now, it seems unlikely that they’re going to topple any Premier League outfits, the world is still very much their oyster and I’d venture that they’ll swallow it whole at some point.
The self-styled "heaviest band on the planet" aren't about to relinquish that mantle just yet, on the evidence of Reinventing The Steel, and they waste no time in letting us know. Titles like 'Death Rattle', 'Revolution Is My Name' and 'Hellbound' ...
For all their talk of positive energy, St. Anger is an overwhelmingly bleak record – one that is easy to admire but hard to love, that sees them careering, admittedly often thrillingly, down a musical cul-de-sac.
Recorded during three days of self -enforced seclusion in autumn 1999 and sounding exactly as you might expect an album recorded in a basement probably bereft of natural light to sound, Ladies’ Love Oracle is melancholy, intimate and deliciously sad.
As a debut, Everything, Something, Anything is for the most part a passable listen. However, like many first albums, there’s a feeling of unfulfilled potential about it.
Mika's wide sonic palette has already been touted (by himself and others) as a trump card, but this listener detected a sizeable gap between ambition and achievement throughout Life In Cartoon Motion.
Renowned Irish recording engineer and producer Brian Masterson has been added to the line-up for Music Ireland 07, which takes place in the RDS from October 5 to 7.
British ambient maestros Zero 7 were one of a plethora of groups to seize on the fresh stylistic blueprint provided by Air’s Moon Safari, and use it to further explore the new realm of dreamy soundscapes so brilliantly realised by Messrs Dunckel & Godin.
Given that many of rock’s most universally revered icons could at least partially be filed under ‘folk music’ – Dylan, Cohen, Nick Drake - it’s striking how rarely the genre attains genuine crossover appeal among those who’d gleefully hunt down reggae or blues obscurities.
His take on crunk (which is so generic it feels generous to even call it a “take”) feels flimsy and devoid of hooks, although the lightly Carribean production touches do show a smidgeon of promise.
It’s not often that people start queuing outside London’s Koko at 5pm – the last time was for Madonna, and that was Madonna. Tonight though, the Doherty-ites are making sure Babyshambles’ UK tour kicks off in style.
Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge are widely credited for making dance music that indie kids can groove to. Their last album Melody AM, and especially the hit singles ‘Poor Leno’ and ‘Eple’, saw the Norwegian duo heralded as the future of ‘intelligent’ dance.
This is a film of secrets and lies, of repressed memories and strange displacements in a chick flick in the very best sense of that sadly devalued term
A massive rock guitar sound underpins much of Punkara, combining with the very intensity of the beats and vocal delivery from new recruit Al Rumjen, formerly of King Prawn.
The historical environs of the Tower Of London were a fitting setting for a live performance of what Damon Albarn called “a song cycle that’s also a mystery play about London”.
I could have got my priorities in order, given Patch Adams a miss and devoted my morning to that long-postponed appointment with the dentist. I fucking should have, too.
Driven along by their now trademark keys, ‘Last Of The Big Time Benders’, ‘Sing Song Sung’ and soon-to-be-released single ‘I Built A Gun’ are as good a triumvirate of tunes as you’ll hear from any young(ish) Irish band.
There’s enough edge on his third outing, The Trinity, to suggest he has at least an even-money chance of cutting it as a more credible latter-day incarnation of chest-beating predecessors like Shabba and Shaggy.
On their last album Slang, Def Leppard moved away from the stomping, Glam-influenced anthems with which they'd earned their fame and fortune and slipped into experimental mode but that album's looser, funkier structures were met with a distinct lack of interest from their fanbase and so, for Euphoria, they're back on more familiar ground.
Imagine growing up in Falkirk, a very small and very rainy village in Scotland, and living a youth of unrequited love, forbidden desires, drinking cans of cider in fields, awkward sexual encounters with female friends and dirty bed sheets. This might help you to understand Moffat’s background and lyrical content, but nothing can prepare you for the brutal honesty and frankness with which he sings.
First, the facts. Everything Picture is 102 minutes of music spread over two CDs, an audacious debut from an encouragingly unconventional Newcastle-originated quintet with a long and tumultuous history of in-fighting.
Sepia-tinted olde-style cover art, hmm. Photos of cactuses and tin-roofed shacks, eek. Band name: The Creekdippers, egad. Any fears one might reasonably have, on encountering this compilation of the ‘Dippers’ three-album career to date, of wonkily played pretendy-drunk alt.country and/or snoozily worthy Grammy-bagging ‘new folk’ are, however, happily misplaced.
Stunning is only the start of it. To come back from a showcase having seen one great new band is an achievement. To see three is staggering. From the off it seemed destined to be a special night.
Th' Legendary Shack*Shakers' third album continues their exploration of the musical demons that dwell in the shadows and side-shows, and come to life in murder ballads and mountain hollers. They have shape-shifted these musics into something new, powerful and, at times, monstrous.
Crank up the stereo, and let the pregnant, shimmying tones that are the opening of the Chemical Brothers' latest invade the room. Sit back and prepare to be entertained like you have never been entertained before.
Sadly, Phoenix is woefully short on incident. In the absence of any real narrative thrust, the film instead concerns itself with interpersonal intricacies.
ALL HAIL Nick Leeson, high roller extraordinaire, the man who gave a whole new meaning to the notion of losing your Barings.
Sam Snort loses his Barings from time to time, often in a place called Leeson Street.
The most breathlessly exhilarating cinematic joyride of its kind since Pulp Fiction, Doug Liman's follow-up to the much-loved Swingers is an instant cult classic which could be hailed in many quarters as a generation-defining masterpiece.
It's been five whole years to the month since Elastica released their eponymous, million-selling debut so I guess you could say they've been away for a long stretch (sorry, couldn't resist!).
