If the mere mention of the word 'art' generally has you reaching for either the remote or the revolver, I'm with you all the way - and as movie premises go, it might seem that the tale of a bohemian New York photographer's struggle to retain her 'artistic integrity' is one best left to the poseurs.
Arts Council director PATRICIA QUINN talks to SIOBHAN LONG about internal strife, Ireland s changing attitude to art, and the necessity of taking risks. Picture: Myles Claffey
A thrilling collision in the Guinness Storehouse between the aural and visual worlds, Wonky2 - brainchild of Leagues O'Toole - proved that at some parties, you don't have to check your mind in at the door
In the first part of a two-part interview, Michael D. Higgins, Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, talks about his philosophy of art, about his own poetry and, more controversially, about RTE, the IRTC, the future of commercial radio - and the sustained and slanderous campaign against him in the Sunday Independent.
After a pair of critical and commercial misfires, Joel and Ethan Coen have returned with what many critics are hailing as the best film of their career, the dark noir No Country For Old Men.
Hybrasil, an ensemble of musicians who double as artists in other fields, are accepting visual art submissions which will appear in lieu of a support act on their upcoming tour.
Art with a capital ‘F’ or the real, raw thing? In London, Phil Udell strolls among – and at one point nearly falls over – an exhibition of controversial, cutting edge, headline-grabbing work from Hirst, Emin et al. But is it, like, y’know, any good?
Has he gone too far this time? The man who had himself crucified for his art has now alienated some of his closest friends and admirers by mailing them a photograph of himself having sex with an amputee.
In The Time Of Shaking opens this week at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, with special guests Yoko Ono and The Edge lending their high profile support to the Art for Amnesty exhibition
From 15-28 July 2002 Galway city hosts one of the most comprehensive of this year's arts festivals with esoteric offerings from the genres of visual art, music, theatre, comedy and lots, lots more
Simultaneously an homage to Preston Sturges and a re-working of Homer's Odyssey filtered through the Coens' twisted sensibility, O Brother Where Art Thou? may not quite represent the brothers' finest hour, but still goes to prove that they're wholly incapable of producing anything that doesn't bear some trace of magnificence.
One of the most eagerly-awaited comebacks in recent years, it seems that, with Art Official Intelligence, the reformed hippies are anxious to reclaim their place at the vanguard of hip hop.
"Music is not just the expression of a feeling – it is the feeling itself." – Claude Debussy
It is possibly the year's most preposterously pretentious title. Indeed, the presentation of the whole project is so lofty there is a fear that Art of Noise's 'comeback' will fall hilariously flat on its arse.
Having watched Shay Healy hold tightly onto his little camera as he, and the Music City USA crew, travelled thousands of miles across the United States this summer, believe me, I know he is driven by a sometimes infuriating "fundamental impulse" to capture beauty. Plus ugliness, pain, poverty, poetry in static form or in motion and humour - in one word: America, in all its twisted glory.
Having once chomped on a corgi and crawled on his knees across London, performance artist Mark McGowan is now planning to drag 300 kilos of potatoes through Dublin while dressed as Bertie Ahern.
Forget Rod, Emu and gottles of geer david strassman s ventriloquism is the missing link between rock n roll and Bill Hicks. barry glendenning meets the
puppet master. Pix: cathal dawson.
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to describe UK garage genii Artful Dodger as the most exciting dance act to emerge since Orbital first got our jaws dropping back in the early 1990s. Welding state-of-the-art technology to a pure pop sensibility, the production duo of Mark Hill and Pete Devereux have racked up four blistering hit singles in a year.
Not content with corrupting the youth of America with his music, the God of Fuck has diversified into painting, acting and writing. Plus: the singer’s encounters with literary outlaws JT Leroy and Hunter S. Thompson.
Rory Gallagher’s posthumous Wheels Within Wheels is a remarkable collection of previously unreleased acoustic material by Ireland’s guitar legend. It comes complete with a cover by the celebrated painter, David Oxtoby, that is certain to make a lasting impression.
It was the hottest ticket in Manhattan – and no wonder. With Goldfrapp, The Strokes, Carl Cox and Kanye West on the bill, this was a gig for people of impeccable taste – all the more so since it was brought together by Hennessy cognac.
Fresh from the success of THE DIVINE COMEDY in the Hot Press Readers Poll, NEIL HANNON drops his guard(s) for some candid talking on love, sex, aesthetics and the whole damn thing. Interview: JOE JACKSON
Perhaps the most influential punk band of the ‘70s, The Ramones were nonetheless riven with internal divisions and a variety of personal traumas, both psychological and pharmaceutical. All this and more is covered in an excellent new documentary on the band, End Of The Century – The Story Of The Ramones. Here, Tommy – the last surviving member of the original line-up – looks back on the dark times and discusses the group’s legacy with Tara Brady.
The star of cult movies such as Natural Born Killers, Kalifornia and Strange Days, Juliette Lewis appeared to have a direct entry to rock's premier league when she turned her attention to her punk outfit The Licks. Instead, she opted to embark on a small-scale tour and play a series of small venues throughout the US and Europe. Peter Murphy was on hand as Lewis' magical mystery tour reached Ireland, and was witness to some truly fascinating scenes as the singer and her band bewitched the Dublin indie cognoscenti, travelled south to rock Limerick and strolled the red carpet to join the glitterati backstage at the Meteor Awards. Photography by Liam Sweeney.
His admirers have included Kurt Cobain, Beck and Jack White. But Billy Childish is far from your average cult musician. He’s dabbled in conceptual art, is equally influenced by The Kinks and Joe Strummer and doesn’t listen to music – especially if it has anything to do with Leonard Cohen.
She may have met her prince in a bar in Santa Fe but their marriage has introduced her to a sacred oriental art that she is bringing to the west for the first time. Princess Marianne of Bali describes how ‘tantra’ turned her life around.
I ve had people start crying, people who went Sweet Jesus , and people who stopped coming to my house because of the issues I m dealing with. Paul O Mahony uncovers the extraordinary talent of Tony Crosbie, bubbling under the Dublin art scene with work personally informed by sexual abuse, domestic violence, alcoholism and drug abuse, but pointing the way to discovery and triumph.
Comic book genius Alan Moore, who was also the original author of the big screen Jack the Ripper yarn, From Hell, has now turned his attention to fellow visionary/madman, William Blake. Peter Murphy reports
Cartoonist and illustrator Tom Mathews is about to put 21 drawings of James Joyce on exhibition. All with the customary twist of Mathews humour, of course. Niall Stanage hears all about it.
Brendan Tallon, guitarist and singer with No Disco darlings Revelino, talks to Patrick Brennan about his early struggle with the music biz that stopped his previous incarnation, The Coletranes, dead in its tracks, and the creative process behind the craft of song-writing that makes his new album, Revelino, one of the year s essential purchases.
Guggi first emerged into the public eye as a member of the Virgin Prunes – the band that shared their early growth and development with U2. Having departed the Prunes fold, he turned his attention to art and has since become one of the country's most bankable painters.
If ever there was a debut album that literally required the listener to investigate further, insofar as it gives nothing away, it is this inscrutable mini-album of idle, sweet abstractions from Capratone.
In a recent issue of Hot Press, John Farrell wrote critically of the Irish Museum of Modern Art exhibition, ‘Beyond The Pale’. Here, artist Nigel Rolfe answers back.
Graduates of the Manhattan avant-garde scene The Virgins join us from somewhere to the left of the middle of nowhere – that would be Madison, Wisconsin – to talk hype, art and modelling shoots.
For 20 years, iarla o lionaird has steeped himself in the neglected tradition of sean nss singing. Now signed to Peter Gabriel s Realworld label, he believes that the late 90s could finally see a breakthrough for his beloved art form. siobhan long talks to the man with what Martin Hayes calls the lonesome touch
Hot Press’ senior art aficionado, john m. farrell, reviews the main attraction currently on s how at the Irish Museum of Modern Art and argues that the title of the exhibition may in fact be a misnomer.
Andy Williams may have a reputation as a bland M.OR. crooner but beneath the squeaky clean showbiz facade lurks an interesting man indeed, who reveals a knowledge of modern art, a past laced with drug use and an unhealthy interest in Shirley Temple. Joe Jackson travels to Branson, Missouri to hear his confessions.
IT IS OFTEN DISMISSED AS BIGOTED, SEXIST, VIOLENT AND TUNELESS. THERE IS, HOWEVER, MUCH MORE TO THE STORY OF RAP THAN THAT, YES, BIGOTED VIEW MIGHT SUGGEST. GERRY McGOVERN SINGS A HYMN OF PRAISE TO WHAT HE BELIEVES IS THE MOST INTENSE ART FORM OF THE NINETIES.
John Banville places himself among some of the century’s most celebrated and notorious figures, in a frank interview which sees one of Ireland’s most revered and controversial writers musing on the raging battle between high art and popular culture, not to mention the war between the sexes . . . Tape: Joe Jackson Pix: Cathal Dawson
2004 was a year of infotainment overload when popular culture became increasingly co-opted to the business of selling. But there were those precious few, who remained faithful to the idea of art for its own sake.
Tom Baxter's second album, Skybound, has just topped the Irish album chart. But it was a record that only got made after Baxter personally financed the sessions with his other talent of figurative art painting.
From Shakespearian thesp to sitcom star in Black Books, Nina Conti has proven herself to be one of the most versatile actresses around. But, as she tells Phil Udell, what she’s most interested in is reviving the lost art of ventriloquism
From Shakespearian thesp to sitcom star in Black Books, Nina Conti has proven herself to be one of the most versatile actresses around. But, as she tells Phil Udell, what she’s most interested in is reviving the lost art of ventriloquism
Artist Michael Landy - this year's favourite for the Turner Prize - tells Kim Porcelli about the two-week process of destroying all that you can leave behind
ONE OF the most widely held mis-conceptions about the rock 'n' roll business is that the moment you scrawl your 'X' on a contract, you can forget all this 'suffering for your art' nonsense and move into an elegant country retreat where snorting showbiz sherbet and indulging in all manner of perverted sexual practices is the order of the day.
Gregory David Robert‘s life reads like the most sensational book, a painfully true but scarcely believable saga of academic success, crime, heroin addiction, incarceration, torture, escape, re-capture, and finally, literary acclaim. Peter Murphy hears the extraordinary tale of australia’s ‘gentleman bandit’ turned author. photography Liam Sweeney
With a new novel Eclipse published to universal acclaim, the enigmatic Irish writer emerges from the deep gloomy cavern he inhabits to discuss art, sex, love, hate, humour, death and the battle of the sexes. Interview: JOE JACKSON.
Portraits of the author: CATHAL DAWSON
Based in Glasnevin and founded by producer Mark Hadfield, businessman Chris Hehir and Brian McFadden, Chilli Studios proves that home digital recording hasn't yet usurped state of the art commercial studios.
Motherhood means that television presenter Sheana Keane does not exactly enjoy a whirlwind social life anymore – but she’s mastering the art of the quiet night in.
Think about direction, wonder why . . . It’s eleven years since Stano released his debut album Content To Write In I Dine Weathercraft. Despite his genuine originality and dedication to his art over the intervening years, he remains one of Ireland’s most enigmatic performers, more appreciated on the continent than in his homeland. Interview: Joe Jackson
A self-styled dandy, painter, writer and poseur, Sebastian Horsley seems to do everything to excess – whether that be drink, drugs, sex, sending shit to a critic or, literally, being crucified for his art. Olaf Tyaransen hears about his agony and ecstasy.
From Sister Sledge to The Spikes, plus non musical attractions such as massage, fortune-telling and art exhibitions, Castle Palooza promises a festival in the conventional sense of the word.
When punk-funk art rockers The Rapture emerged a couple of years ago, they failed to translate tragic hipness into big sales. Road psychosis aggravated the problem, but they weathered in-fighting to ditch the DFA production and strike out on their own.
What links Richard Harris with Linda Ronstadt, Art Garfunkel with The Supremes, and Frank Sinatra with er, Ghost Of An American Airman? Why, the music of Jimmy Webb, of course, one of the most widely-respected songwriters of all-time. Here he talks to JOE JACKSON about his friendship with Richard Harris, his encounters with Elvis and his deep-rooted love of Irish music.
When Patti Smith came up with Rock N Roll Nigger in the 70s, she marked herself out as one of the most articulate and confrontational performers of her generation. On the eve of her visit to Ireland, the High Priestess of American Punk Poetry talks to Peter Murphy about art, music, the people she s lost and why she ll never give in to political correctness
Actress, writer, director, singer and not quite so archetypal French heroine Julie Delpy renders terms like ‘renaissance woman’ positively anaemic. Currently back on the map with Before Sunset, one of the cinematic highlights of the year, she talks art, sex romance and Gallic caricatures.
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.
DEREK BELL on art, spirituality and porn! MARTIN FAY on Sean O'Riada, Carnegie Hall and drink! And PADDY MOLONEY on superstar friends, Bono's problematic vocals and his critics, inside and outside the group. Yes, it's the second and final part of JOE JACKSON'S extraordinary interview with THE CHIEFTAINS.
A mere decade after his first post-Clash solo effort, Earthquake Weather, Joe Strummer comes bounding back into the ring just as his previous band's legacy is revisited via a superb video documentary Westway To The World, an incendiary live collection From Here To Eternity and the remastered reissue of their entire back catalogue.
Hotly-tipped art-rock outfit Headgear fuse bed-sit miserablism with a masterful pop instinct. But what’s former D’Unbelievable Pat Shortt doing on sax duty?
Hot Press is 20 years old? Drokk it , so is 2000 AD! The mag edited by an Alien, produced by Art & Script-Droids, and read by Earthlets everywhere the one which revolutionised the comic industry, and of the Graphic Novel. ANDY DARLINGTON assesses its cultural impact and legacy.
Being a strange, terrible, wondrous and uplifting saga of pints, goats, monsters, Malcolm McLaren, jokes, art and, er, lettuce. Or, to put it another way, the inimitable tom mathews reports from The Galway ARts Festival.
He may have gone from The Clash to the BBC World Service but, happily, Joe Strummer is still a self-proclaimed "loony and rebel" after all these years. Interview: Olaf Tyaransen
Famously opinionated Dubliner and textbook Renaissance man, ULICK O'CONNOR still has plenty to say about everything – even if RTE, he claims, don’t want to hear about it. following the recent publication of his first volume of diaries, the great man offers his views on marriage, drugs, the North, art, corruption, wild times in the Chelsea hotel and more.
Words: OLAF TYARANSEN
JASON PIERCE of SPIRITUALIZED comes on down to talk about mythology versus reality, art versus autobiography and the economy inherent in a cast of hundreds.
Interview: PETER MURPHY
He pioneered the art of glam-punk excess with the New York Dolls and now he's learned to grow old gracefully. Peter Murphy meets the boy from New York City, the ever cool David Johansen. Photos: MYLES CLAFFEY
30th Birthday Retrospective: He was the original art-rocker and the quintessential ladies’ man. Bryan Ferry looks back at three decades spent at the frontline of pop.
He may have ranked among the biggest-selling artists in the world in 2002 – but the ambition that has driven Eminem to pop’s dizziest heights shows no sign of abating with the release of his own biopic, 8 Mile. On track to becoming Hollywood’s latest darling, with all the attendant pressures and provocations that entails, will his art survive?
Comic book artist and file clerk turned movie star, Harvey Pekar must be one of the most unlikely and somewhat reluctant celebrities of our time. An ordinary man whose work has produced extraordinary art, the anti-hero of American Splendour here talks about his friend Toby, Robert Crumb, James Joyce, David Letterman, fame and misfortune, surviving and more.
Whether starring in popcorn blockbusters or thoughtful art-house movies, Gabriel Byrne is a reassuring presence on our screens. But he reserves his deepest passions for keeping alive the flame of Irish culture among the diaspora.
This gorgeous new release from Dublin producer Spectac comes with an original limited edition art print by Manuel Schibli (all releases on the fledgling Loaf Recordings are matched with a unique piece of art, so along with the three inch CD you get something visual for your wall). The music is a sublime and intricate conflation of skippy electronics and melodic instrumentation; synthetic horns and deep basslines meander over dancehall beats and soft organs. Another great release from one of Ireland’s most innovative acts.
Baby-faced James Holden shows a healthy disregard for conventions, an approach that’s evident on this album’s Jackson Pollock-esque cover art, the home to the label’s logo, a windmill.
Junebug opens with footage of the hollering mountain men of North Carolina – a fitting folk art overture for Phil Morrison’s eccentric, gently comical and down home debut.
Oh how we chuckled at Casey Fischer and Warren Spooner when they first appeared as seemingly the only members of the short lived (blinked and you missed it) electroclash scene. The combination of deeply pretentious art posturing and fairly poor electronic music was not an appealing one and, after an initial burst of interest, we rapidly moved onto something else.
Dynamic, combustible New Wave meets 70s rock anyone? You can’t budge for the youthful elasticity of widdly-widdly guitars and organ solos here, and the five Derry characters peddling this racket are well versed in the art of the smash-and-dash introductory signature tune. I defy you not to sing along by the second chorus.
Pic: Andrew Duffy
The secret to Hot Chip’s success – apart from the fact that they are pretty good – is their understanding that the chorus is key. The nagging refrain on ‘My Piano’ doesn’t quite match up to previous hits, but combined with the rolling old-school piano, lo-fi low-end and Art of Noise stabs, it works. The spazzed-out dub doffs a cap to Audion.
We should know by now that everything Beck does is drowned in genius. The first track from the Nigel Godrich-produced The Information is so intellectually assured that it double-bluffs us, and cunningly is nothing more than some cool-as-fuck rapping over some funky beats. Ho ho ho – crazy Beck, pretending to be all average and follow the path he’s trodden before. We know better though: this is art.
For all the flak they get from parts of the press and large sections of music fans, you have to admit that at least the Fall Out Boy/My Chemical Romance/Panic At The Disco! axis are trying to do something different with what has become an extremely narrow-minded genre. The latest FOB is more of the same wordy, slightly too clever punk-pop but, next to the dreadful boneheadedness of Sum 41 (the cover features Mr. Avril gobbing), it sounds like high art.
It may be grim Oop North, but this single suggests otherwise. As the latest in Manchester’s line of highly ambitious hopefuls, Engineers have already mastered the art of sky-scraping, celestial wonderment. As well as doffing their collective caps to fellow Mancs Elbow and Doves, this single owes much to the expansive, melancholic leanings of Spiritualized and Mercury Rev.
Can there be anyone out there more tuned into the pop zeitgeist at the moment than this lot? With single after single proving the case, the serious critics are now falling in line as well and See The Day is more of the same. It pulls that old stunt of covering a forgotten ‘80s song (‘Dee C. Lee’ in case you were racking your brains) and turning it into a modern, state of the art tune. Tut all you want purists, but you really can’t beat Girls Aloud, so you may as well join them.
Poised between the understated electro-sounds of LCD Soundsystem and the playfulness of The Chalets, London’s Hot Chip have struck gold with the lead single from new album The Warning. Like its name implies, the track makes an art out of monotony. There are no inspiring middle eights or climatic finishes. Instead, the same mid-tempo beats are slowly drummed into our heads, before its subtle end, when we wake up from our trance, dust ourselves off and walk away, oddly content.
While ‘Burn’ is nothing more than a mediocre offering from an underwhelming album (Crimson), what saves it from the dumper is the myriad of remixers that have their way with the track.
Tim Armstrong (Rancid, The Transplants) takes ska to its logical conclusion by introducing steel drums and a reggae beat, with astounding results. Sheffield noisemongers 65daysofstatic throw all sorts of craziness into the equation when they get their turn, and they too come up with a work of modern art.
Test Icicles slow (and dull) it down, but as Meatloaf once said, two out of three ain’t bad.
This Chicago based outfit used to be called the Blackbirds and formed when they backed a singer-songwriter who subsequently ditched them. In truth they’re more of an art ensemble than a band proper and are involved in all manner of design work. The music comes across as an avant-garde blend of freeform, bass-heavy, piano-led tunes with not much to grab onto melodically.
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.
Yes, well, let’s remember our manners, shall we?A meticulously, lovingly crafted homage to the Art Deco aesthetic and early twentieth-century matinees, the film is entirely composed using only digital effects and actors, although Jude Law occasionally blurs the distinction between the two.
It’s hard to believe that Altiplanos is only the tenth album released by legendary French-Algerian fingerstyle guitarist Pierre Bensusan since his Montreux Festival award-winning 1977 debut. But this master craftsman of the guitar wouldn't dream of committing material to disc without first honing it to perfection: each of the fourteen tracks is a gleaming gem of the composer's art.
Hot on the heels of Clap Yours Hands Say Yeah, The Spinto Band look set to be one of the hotter US indie bands of 2006. Like their Brooklyn counterparts, quirky and slightly off kilter are the words you’re most likely to hear in relation to Delaware’s finest. Quirky because The Spinto Band are full of typically surreal and off beat x-generation lyrics, taking in crushing skulls, hairlines, champagne and art. Owing a debt to Evan Dando and Crooked Rain-era Pavement, ‘Direct To Helmet’ is a chirpy, playful, almost eerie lullaby which builds to a crushing fall and which is coined with the sort of California melodies and precision instrumentation sure to make them The OC’s next favourites and the cult band of the year.
Famed for his supernaturally smooth mixing skills as well as his inventive use of vocals, cuts, chops and every other trick in the DJ canon, Carter is one of the few spinners who elevates playing records to the status of art form
Irish cinema received another major boost at the weekend, with the selection of Garage as the winner of the annual Art et Essai Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Royal Trux are not for the faint heated, or for those who want discernible melodies with their serving of pop. Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema’s fifth studio album retains and refines their fine art of making unsettling and, some might say, unlistenable music.
Uncertain Intent is immaculately executed and recorded, full of big shiny shapes somewhere between art school quirkiness and latter day prog-rock muscle
Written by Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill on the death of her husband Art Ó Laoghaire in 1773, the Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire is generally acknowledged to be a masterpiece of Irish-language poetry...
For all the state-of-the-art urban production, there’s something distinctly unsavoury about Blackout. And yet, the truly bizarre thing is, the music is top notch.
Though oscar-nominated screenwriter Menno Meyjes has received criticism from some quarters for his portrayal of the young Adolf Hitler in his directorial debut Max, the Dutch-born film-maker insists that the humanity of history’s most notorious tyrant is all too clear. “And that’s what we should be afraid of,” he tells Tara Brady
The lavish cover art says it all. Almond casts himself as a 21st century troubadour adorned with diamonds and pearls. The tone is lavish and luxurious, but thankfully Marc resists the temptation of totally re-inventing himself in uncomfortable futuristic clothes.
Once mocking pop-art contenders and Virgin’s original intercontinental explorers, XTC now settle in Swindon and purvey a rural psychedelia that’s as English as tuppence, cucumber sandwiches and cream teas.
Regrettably, not all Irish singer-songwriters have mastered the art of making records that sound contemporary while still maintaining the focus of song content and artistic intention.
Establishment rules O.K.! That’s the message to be drawn from ’85s long playing output!
In a year which has been yawn-inducing rather than epoch-making, it speaks volumes about the state of the art that the year’s best buys were reissues of one sort or another by Echo And The Bunnymen, Velvet Underground and The Doors.
Skunk Anansie? Punk rock art-terrorists or some music mogul's idea of what an angry young female-fronted band should sound like in the 1990s? Post Orgasmic Chill might have provided the definitive answer.
This may be a debut album, but there's nothing new on display here. From Elvis to Eminem, there stretches a long line of white musicians who have made marketable a sound that African-Americans have already polished to the sheen of high art.
Throwing her extraordinary talents for singing, stand-up and strip-tease into a deliciously surreal mix called Absolute Cabaret, the virtuoso ex-Nualas entertainer Karen Egan has created her own unique art form.
I previously couldn’t stand Marilyn Manson. This album has changed my mind.
My preview copy came complete with a letter from Mr Manson himself, articulately explaining his attitude to his art, and rightly castigating the US media for demonising him in the wake of the Littleton, Colorado, high-school killings.
Art punk soundsculptors Estel have already wowed and wooed a limited edition legion of ardent admirers with a lovingly homecrafted and homemade 7". Now it’s debut album time and the artefact in question, Angelpie I Think I Ate Your Face, is worthy of the wait and expectation
Hot Press can reveal that the people behind the Electric Picnic, POD Concerts, are planning to run a two-week series of 6,000-capacity events between October 19 and November 3 in the grounds of the Museum Of Modern Art at Royal Hospital Kilmainham. (free content)
There’s nothing quite like the warm sense of self-satisfaction gained from watching a 13-hour German art-house movie. Fortunately, this third installment of Herr Weiss’ soap-operatic examination of post-war Germany is a rewarding piece of film-making.
Recorded mostly at home in Montréal and in art galleries and hotel rooms by the quarter-Irish, one-woman cottage industry that is Emm Gryner, Songs of Love and Death is a brave selection of Irish pop and rock songs that thankfully avoids the obvious and gives some perhaps forgotten gems an overdue turn around the block.
Although David Byrne’s Lead Us Not Into Temptation is composed almost entirely of moody incidental music, it’s still a work of art in its own right and easily the best movie score I’ve heard this century.
Call it the shitegeist. In times of war and pestilence, art gets decadent, and all we wanna do is dance. Scissor Sisters are a tight little NY combo who apply rock dynamics to disco’s lust for the transcendent dance.
Here’s a gentle reminder that rap didn’t always equate with firearms and crack. Almost ten years before De La Soul’s daisy age of sampladelic delight, Tom Tom Club were imagining rap not as a martial but a visual art with the hot colours and graffiti sensibilities of their eponymous debut.
Few bands in history have attracted an avalanche of slippery rockspeak semantics quite like Pere Ubu, and frontman David Thomas’ seminal musical mobius trip has variously (and aptly I guess) been proclaimed as the statelier emanations of jazz-punk, post-punk (via either Detroit or New York scenes), Dadaist art-rock, demi-no wave, pre-Pixies rumbling, avant-garde and just about any hip, broad church you care to mention.
In pop art, acts of grave-robbing and cradle-snatching go largely unpunished. The Strokes are not what you’d call the most original of bands, but they’ve always excelled at petty larcenies.
To the unending delight of the crowd, the choice of Neosupervital to support The Divine Comedy was a good one, as they clearly share the desire that art should draw attention to its artfulness.
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.
THERE’S CERTAINLY no keeping up with this particular Jones. As if a collaboration with The Art Of Noise wasn’t trendy enough, the man who legions of Joe Dolan fans would have us believe is Wales’ answer to Joe Dolan goes one better with an entire album of instantly recognisable classics recorded beside an array of the great, the good and the Simply Red of the current musical milieu.
In the '90s, hip-hop moved out of the streets into the world of big business. An avant-garde street art that expressed black consciousness lost its DIY ethic and became a commercially driven industry, spearheaded by Suge Knight and Puff Daddy.
In the '90s, hip-hop moved out of the streets into the world of big business. An avant-garde street art that expressed black consciousness lost its DIY ethic and became a commercially driven industry, spearheaded by Suge Knight and Puff Daddy.
Sumptious strings herald the opening of Catatonia’s latest aural adventure, and you’re starting to think that maybe you’re being taken in a new direction, a pop towards high art. But then Cerys Matthews’ familiar tones enter the fray and you realise that no matter what Catatonia do music-wise, they are still going to sound like Catatonia.
IF, IN February 2000, you still don't believe that modern rock is on borrowed time as an art form, despite all the overwhelming evidence, then consider this.
For 14 years The Frames have conducted the business of their art like filmmakers who reached a détente with the studio system through operating on a one-for-us/one-for-them basis.
It’s unmistakably The Rolling Stones as we know and love them, down to the last chopped rhythm of Keith Richards’ telecaster, Charlie Watts’ snare crack and the mannered tics of Sir Mick’s white boy blues croak. Like The Ruttles’ clever pastiches of Beatles classics, the Stones appear to have perfected the art of parodying themselves to a point where you wonder if they might be having a laugh.
In an ideal world where people of consummate good taste (Er, anyone we know,George? - Ed) ruled the radio waves, the much-maligned genre of power pop would - by rights - be an airplay staple and practitioners of this noble art such as Fountains Of Wayne …
THIS ORIGINALLY started life as a mere play on the New York art circuit, but Hurly Burly's crackling dialogue and caustic observational sharpness meant it could hardly stay out of sight forever - genius always rises to the surface eventually.
When art student Roger Herbert set up fastfude.com as part of a term project, little did he know that five years later it would be one of Northern Ireland’s most popular and controversial music sites
Located in the top floor of one of north Dublin’s last remaining tower-blocks, Hotel Ballymun is both an art project and a dynamic social experiment. It’s also proof of what a community can achieve when it pulls together.
Lock a monkey in a room with a state of the art PC for long enough and it will
eventually type the complete works of Shakespeare. No surprise then, that
BARRY GLENDENNING can t even type a pound sign.
Born on 26th February 1932 in Arkansas, the guitarist, singer and songwriter Johnny Cash is one of the true legends of country music, a performer whose popularity transcends the boundaries of that art-form.
He may have gone from The Clash to the BBC World Service, but, happily, Joe Strummer is still a self-proclaimed "Loony and Rebel" after all these years
He may have gone from The Clash to the BBC World Service, but, happily, Joe Strummer is still a self-proclaimed "Loony and Rebel" after all these years.
There are those who believe that the future of music as an art form is seriously under threat from the rise of music piracy. Where will it all end? The truth is that no one truly knows.
From the germ of a melodic idea through to the record that's played on the radio - Hot Press presents all you need to know about the art of songwriting. By journalist and musician PETER MURPHY. Part One of a three-part industry special.
One of the finest white soul voices Britain ever produced, Rod Stewart reminisces about the sozzled Faces days, discusses Bob Dylan, his penchant for blondes, and recalls the thyroid cancer that almost robbed him of his voice seven years ago.
[oops this was mis prompted as oxegen video interviews in our e-zine - they're here ]
Animal Collective regale us with tales of Conan O'Brien, tour-bus illnesses and explain why the life of the footloose musician isn't always a romp through the daisies.
Sliabh Notes are a trio of renowned traditional musicians who play dance music that long preceded the breed that flourishes these days in the club scene. Siobhan Long pays a visit to them in the best place possible to hear the music: a wedding reception in Kerry.
Having taken their name from one of Picasso's most famous paintings, guernica are aiming to keep Donegal safe for off-kilter power-pop. Interview: patrick brennan.
At just 23, Siniad Lohan is one of the brightest prospects to have appeared on the Irish music scene for some time, with the Woman s Heart stars taking her to their collective bosom not to mention her acclaimed debut album which is nestling comfortably in the Top 10. Siniad an scial: Siobhan Long.
Craig Fitzsimons meets Jimmie Dale Gilmore, possessor of a unique high ’n’ lonesome voice and yet another great product of the Lone Star State who, belatedly, is
experiencing a modicum of stardom himself.
Ah, the trusty live album, beloved of contractual obligates the world over as a means of putting out that pesky last record without actually having to come into contact with the wankers from the record company.
Imaginative variations on the theme *The Pure Thrill of Living* were the focus of attention at the 9th Smirnoff Young Designer Awards which took place in Trinity College, Dublin recently.
Now in its second year, Cork Live At The Marquee is one of the highlights of the Irish music calendar. Here, Hot Press presents a complete preview of what's in store for music fans in the southern capital - and looks at the great legacy of Cork music.
He quit busy Dublin for blissful rural Sligo and recorded what many consider to be one of the outstanding electro records of the year. CHEQUERBOARD's John Lambert talks about finding his muse in the north west.
The enigmatic pied-piper of psychedelic rock Donovan is to be honoured with a festival and a new documentary. Long based in Ireland, he talks about working with David Lynch and his plans to bring a new movie project on the road.
Singer-songwriter Stephen Fretwell may be getting heavy airplay on the Beeb, but the compromised nature of the song receiving all the attention means he’s not a happy bunny.
"Such are the pitfalls of being a celebrity chef," mused Olaf Tyaransen last year, in his interview with superstar hash-slinger Conrad Gallagher. "You don't get judged on your food. You get judged on your judgments..."
Rollerskate Skinny frontman Ken Griffin is back with an ace new band, Favourite Sons. And, would you believe it, they’re the toast of New York’s rock scene. Even Jack White’s a convert.
Modesty doesn't forbid us drawing your attention to a new book on Irish comedy, in which this here organ plays a small but, dare we say it (and yes we do),
significant role. By our special correspondent E. Gomaniac.
Though a renowned singer-songwriter in her own right, SHAWN COLVIN’S current album is a collection of cover versions. MELISSA KNIGHT hears why the songs on Cover Girl are so special to her.
Annual article: There was no love lost in 2005 between the ‘art’ and ‘middlebrow’ literary factions, but as long as Cormac McCarthy puts pen to paper, who cares? Plus round-up of the books of the year.
Behind the strange stage name, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly’s Sam Duckworth is an old-fashioned dreamer who thinks music should say something and has little truck with blink-and-they’re-gone scenes.
Contrary to popular belief we’re not familiar with every venue in the country, but below – with the aid of our Hotpress student reps – we provide a guide to some of our favourite student hang-outs
Renowned for his elaborately-posed images of nude figures in public settings, artist Spencer Tunick is hoping Irish people will strip off for him when he visits these shores in June.
It s a bit of a mouthful but it s actually the multi-talented Parisian musician, photographer, sometime pop producer and film maker Jay Alanski in an ongoing process of aural and spiritual development.
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.
Donal Convery, lead vocalist of Co. Derry band Asterix talks to ADRIENNE MURPHY about the link between pain and creativity, and why he hopes to give up his day job.
The lure of regular nine-to-five work is exerting a powerful gravitational pull – but Portrush four piece Patio Sounds are determined to stick it out and spread the word about their intriguing brand of idiosyncratic pop.
Having befriended Joe Strummer before the Clash man’s untimely death, artists such as Adam Duritz, Ryan Adams and Shane MacGowan are also now lining up to give kudos to New York singer-songwriter Jesse Malin.
Bounding between genres, Derry rocker Andrew Ferris would seem to suffer from the best sort of attention-deficit disorder. And he also has his own label.
Pennie Smith, the legendary NME photographer who shot the cover of The Clash’s London Calling is about to have an exhibition in Belfast. Peter Murphy gets her to rewind the film
With interest in this year’s 10th Roundstone Arts Festival already building up, we sent our very own Roundstone Cowboy Jackie Hayden to check out this year’s line-up.
Brendan Tallon, guitarist and singer with No Disco darlings Revelino, talks to Patrick Brennan about his early struggle with the music biz that stopped his previous incarnation, The Coletranes, dead in its tracks, and the creative process behind the craft of song-writing that makes his new album, Revelino, one of the year’s essential purchases.
He made his name with the excellent anti-establishment drama How To Cheat In The Leaving Cert. Now director Graham Jones is back with another challenging offering in Fudge 44
Michelle Phelan and Pete McGrane of folk-pop duo Carosel have cracked the secret to balancing love with the art of making music. And it’s not as complicated as you’d think.
photos Emily Quinn
From self-contained sound system to collaborators of choice for everyone from Mutya Buena to Kylie, Groove Armada have perfected the art of beat science.
As one half of gross-out movie kings the Farrelly Brothers, Bobby Farrelly turned bodily humour into an art form. Now the Farrellys have reunited with actor Ben Stiller for their funniest film in years, The Heartbreak Kid.
Grappling with weighty political themes is grist to the mill for Colin Meloy of Oregon art-rockers The Decemberists. He’s even written a song about the Shankill Butchers.
Re-telling the story of September 11 with a measured hand and lightness of touch hithertoo unhinted at, director Oliver Stone proves a more serious thinker than his paranoia-soaked canon would suggest. Here, he explains how his experiences as a soldier in Vietnam framed his outlook on life and art.
It's one thing to suffer in some abstract way for your art, it's another to have some coked-up crazy attack you for it. But that's what happened to one joker-man after a gig in Dublin.
With the release of their acclaimed third album Flock, which went straight to No.1 in Ireland, Bell X1 have staked their claim not just to greatness, but also to potential world domination – a possibility which is reinforced considerably by their powerful showing in the Hot Press Readers’ Poll. Here, in an emotional and revealing interview, the band’s photogenic frontman Paul Noonan discusses life, art, love, death... and music.
Keiji Nakazawa, the godfather of Japanese ‘anime’ art, was six when the atomic bomb devastated his Hiroshima home. It was a tragedy that would haunt him for life, and inspire his fiercely anti-war comics
Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo is one of rock’s great eccentrics. In an exclusive interview he talks about meditation, chastity and why ego is the enemy of art.
A graduate of art-house cinema and experimental theatre, Cork actor Cillian Murphy is set for the a-list following his chilling turn as Scarecrow in Batman Begins. Interview by Tara Brady.
Or, Augusten Burroughs And The Art Of Magical Thinking. Peter Murphy talks to the bestselling author about his troubled upbringing in rural Massachusetts, the long and strange series of events that led to him becoming a writer, and why his current personal and professional happiness may just mean that his extraordinary story has a happy ending after all. Photography by Emily Quinn.
Despite the sell-out success of the Monster tour and a shelf-load of awards for Black Books, Dylan Moran remains as steadfastly gloomy as ever about the art of stand-up comedy. “You’re standing there pandering to a couple of hundred swivel-eyed, maroon-faced, braying fucks,” he groans to Barry Glendenning.
Taking the DIY ethic a step further than many, Alan Roe, aka Roesy, devised a rather creatively impressive way to raise money to record his album Only Love Is Real.
The Streets’ new album, A Grand Don’t Come For Free, looks set to skyrocket Mike Skinner’s status as the voice of hedonistic British youth. Hot Press meets up with Skinner backstage in Derry to discuss the creation of his latest masterwork, the perils of fame, superstar collaborations, hanging out in Ibiza and the art and artifice of his onstage persona.
He may possess formidable academic credentials, but Road To Welville author TC Boyle refuses to take an elitist stance on his chosen art-form. “If it’s not entertainment at its root, it sucks!” he tells Peter Murphy
Dublin art-rockers Rollers/Sparkers are currently earning critical garlands for their debut EP, Geography For The Leaving erudite band member, John McMahon, here holds forth on the local music scene and forsaking academia for rock’n’roll.
The Adidas Wellness Centre in Stockport is a state of the art facility, in which your entire physical condition is tested and assessed. So how would Hotpress’ Carol O’Hanlon stand up to the scrutiny – not to mention the endurance test through which she would be put?
He may have an image as a political bruiser, but even if he is prepared to engage Bertie in a head-butting contest, Michael Noonan would rather win over the electorate by the more gentle art of persuasion. Joe Jackson meets the Fine Gael leader to discuss public issues and personal traumas, and discovers why he's partial to drink and Bill Clinton but opposed to Sinn Fein, the Bertie bowl and tax breaks for sports stars.
If there were handouts for the shy and retiring, Dervish would be at the back of the queue. Never backward in coming forward, this Sligo/Roscommon ensemble have elevated audience rapport to an art form that's sadly all too rarely practised round these here parts. Lead singer, Cathy Jordan (the sole Roscommon interloper amid a quintet of Sligomen) delights in the more quirky and bizarre backgrounds to the band's songs and tunes. And somehow they all seem to treat a night flight to Kuala Lumpur with the same gravity as they would a skite to Kenmare. Dervish live and breathe on the road. Its interminable miles are the band's sustenance, its cat's eyes their compass to the next town, the next continent, and the next gig.
BARRY FRY is to football management what Keith Moon was to hotel rooms. During his spells at Barnet, Southend United, Birmingham City and now Peterbough, he s turned upsetting people into an art form. STUART CLARK shares a half-time Bovril with the man who once used 46 different players in a season and is proud to include ticket-touting for Johnny Giles in his C.V.
Main pix:
Cathal Dawson
In Vienna, along with another 99,999 people, LIAM FAY witnesses what may well be the finest rock n roll extravaganza ever mounted and discovers that its got both art and heart in abundance as well.
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.
There was a time when TOASTED HERETIC’s world view was, to put it mildly, a little on the jaundiced side. Now, though, with the imminent release of their Mindless Optimism album, Galway’s finest look set to put ‘The Year Of The Lawyer’ behind them and prove that while they’re not necessarily the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world, they’re certainly the happiest. Discovering the art of Zen: OLAF TYARANSEN.
Sometimes it's hard to be a woman, especially when it involves piling on layers of latex, strapping on corsets, and getting to grips with false eyelashes. And yet, whether it's Kurt Cobain donning a scruffy frock, Robin Williams in full matronly guise for Mrs Doubtfire, or the 6'7 Ru Paul co-presenting The Brits, transvestism seems to have acquired a stronger multi-media allure than ever before. Andy Darlington examines the portrayal of TVs in cinema and the arts, and considers the sexual and social implications of the ancient art of cross-dressing.
Mary Black doesn't write her own material. Instead she has made an art of picking the right songs - and interpreting them to perfection. What's more, she has concentrated her song-finding activites on a range of Irish songwriters, with results that can at times be extraordinarily illuminating. Report: Jackie Hayden
You re the frontman with The Stunning, you make an innocent remark about farmers and acid house and you end up creating banner headlines in The Western People. Lorraine Freeney assures Steve Wall that this is the sort of stuff Hot Press never stoop to, and also hears about the new album, Deco in The Commitments and the art of bridging the rural-urban divide.
Dublin is a shithole basically! that's the opinion of Kevin Shields, one of the two Irish members of My Bloody Valentine, who quit the fair city six years ago because of what they saw as the stifling atmosphere of the place. Since then they've lived and gigged all over Europe and their 1988 album Isn't Anything has put them on top of the critical approval lists and independent charts. Here, taking a break from their US tour, the band reflect on their art, their careers and what they see as the general awfulness of the Irish music scene. Interview: Helena Mulkearns
“I think a beautiful piece is more important then having a seasonal gimmick. I get more enjoyment out of creating something that is special, and that someone will have in their wardrobe and feel special about, like it is a prized thing”
When Donna Karen bought three of Helen’s prints and subsequently commissioned her to design a line of scarves, she realised the potential in bringing the two disciplines together
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.
Poetry slam takes poetry out of the hands of academics and puts it on stage in front of an audience. But not everyone thinks this is a good idea, as a recent spat in Galway underlines.
We love ’em and we hate ’em but ads have a bigger impact on our lives than we might ever care to admit. Billy Scanlan hears a defence of the mart sell from award-winning ad creator Des Creedon.
WEEK AFTER week I try to remain the right side of well-mannered when some myopic PR person or director phones and says "There's a play coming up in the blah-blah-blah theatre and it's got great music that'll really appeal to your readers."
Making his first home town foray in months, Kilkenny drumming sensation R.S.A.G is just one of the highlights of this year’s arts festival in the Marble City.
Thanks to their distinctively guitar-saturated sound, French outfit RINOCEROSE have carved out their own niche in the already crowded Gallic dance scene. Interview: RICHARD BROPHY.
Her international upbringing in Switzerland, Germany and the US influenced her creative tendencies and cultural outlook. “You need to be constantly curious and informed of what is going on in the world”
Veteran post-rockers Mogwai have just released arguably their finest record yet. On a suitably overcast day in France, band leader Stuart Braithwaite talks about the influence of Glasgow on their work – and explains the part played by ‘nonsense art’ in their music
He’s the PT Barnum of Rock, with Irish blood coursing through his veins and a penchant for encasing himself in translucent space bubbles. Ahead of THE FLAMING LIPS’ much-anticipated visit to Portlaoise, true believer Peter Murphy gets the gospel according to Wayne Coyne.
Daring Hot Press correspondent Danielle Brigham tells in her own words how she dodged knives, nibbled coat-hangers, fire-limboed – well, crawled – and pulled the world’s stretchiest man, all in the course of a day with the fun-loving freaks of the Circus Of Horrors. photos Liam Sweeney
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.
Celebrating its 21st anniversary this summer, 1998's Galway Arts Festival promises to be the best ever. Hot Press' honorary Tribes-man, COLM O'HARE, previews the main attractions and offers a comprehensive guide
to the best places to eat, drink and make merry.
“I was clearing out some boxes recently and I came across these sketches I must have done when I was about six. I had scribbled in bright crayon across the page ‘Swimwear Collection’, and had drawn these bright yellow stick insect figures with big heads"
If you’re gonna be a one hit wonder, you might as well invent the dominant form of music for the ensuing decades. Released in 1979, The Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rapper’s Delight’ was the first hip-hop single to go gold, putting the group on American Bandstand and Soul Train long before Grandmaster Flash and Run DMC.
Noise terrorists Paranoid Visions have had their first hit record after 30 years. Is this mere carelessness or part of a cunning plan to subvert the nation?
PETER MURPHY meets GAVIN FRIDAY and discovers a fascination with Kurt Weill that has led to Friday and Maurice Seezer’s Ich Lieb Dich revue at the Tivoli Theatre
He’s the seventh son of a seventh son, he adores beautiful women, he doesn’t have a million in the bank and he couldn’t sew a button on a shirt. fashion designer Paul Costelloe reveals all this and more to Stephen Robinson – and also explains what he really meant when he made that infamous observation about irish women and style.
COLM O HARE speaks to Fran Healy and Dougie Payne of TRAVIS about ongoing success, irritating Radiohead comparisons and avoiding the nightmare of 9-5 existence.
There’s a strange din echoing around Belfast these days. It can only be sometime satanists, occasional folkies and day-tripper pagans The Factotum Choir.
One of the new breed of DJs emerging from the UK, Craig Richards and his DJing partner Lee Burridge have been lauded for their ability to seamlessly join the gaps between breakbeat, tripped out tech-house and deep trance. Resident at London superclub Tyrant, friends with the enigmatic Sasha and on the brink of releasing the definitive Tyrant mix CD, one of the hottest DJs on the planet talks to RICHARD BROPHY.
The creators of the new Eyebrowy DVD expound on the inspiration behind their hilarious cartoons, their decision to leave their Irish characters behind, and how the real-life counterparts of their ‘toon army view their small-screen siblings.
What the funge are you talking about? I mean I only came in for a quiet sup of the black stuff and a quick read of my favourite mag? I just can't help looking, well I mean staring at that picture on the wall.
With presenter John Creedon on a roll with his new mid-afternoon slot on RTE Radio 1, Jackie Hayden crosses the threshold of his Cork abode to see what the man gets up to away from the mike.
Gerry McGovern talks to Dael Orlandersmith, one of the leading lights of the new generation of New York-based street poets,about the inherent subversive energy of the medium and about why the movement takes its cue from Lou Reed, rap and Hip Hop.
Oscar-winning film The Cider House Rules was given a 12 rating in Britain. In this country, only those 18 and over will be permitted to see it. Is its focus on abortion the reason? Report: NIALL STANAGE
They pinched their name from the Old Testament and are quite partial to a bit of Moz. They are The Maccabees and just maybe they’ll rock your world in 2007.
For student and Hot Press contributor HANNAH HAMILTON the moment of truth finally came two weeks ago. Writing from the eye of the Leaving Cert storm she reveals that not even a blast of crass can relieve the stress
Craig Fitzsimons talks to David Gleeson, director of Cowboys & Angels, another exciting addition to the growning canon of unapologetically youthful and exuberent contemporary Irish movies
An Irish bouncer at closing time and a plague of frogs in America EAMON SWEENEY hears about the weird and wonderful inspiration for the new album from LOOPER
When not touring with Republic Of Loose, Mick pyro is free to kick back in his basement pad in a 1960s Swedish-style Terenure house, where he indulges his love of CDs, books and movies – and ponders the aesthetic similarities between Shakespeare and hip hop.
Hero of the underground; the fastest, most exciting DJ in the world; creator of wildly experimental, white-knuckle techno; and now a photographer hosting his first ever show! Richard Brophy catches up with the Purposemaker in London and discovers a new side to the Jeff Mills mystique.
Formed when they were fresh-faced school kids, border country gloomsters Sanzkrit are at long last set to unleash their debut album. You could say they’re looking forward to finally getting stuck in.
A visit from Larry Harvey, creator of Nevada’s legendary Burning Man festival, looks set to be one of the highlights of Dublin’s forthcoming convergence weekend.
David bickley, aka Mobius of hyper[borea], tells Olaf Tyaransen about dance music as gaeilge, Bronze Age atmospheres and how he came to throw his Hot Press Award off a cliff.
One minute you're directing the UK National Lottery, the next you're fending off rabid dogs in the Himalayas. Asif Kapadia talks about his remarkable cinematic journey
When Ryan Adams gave his record company an album called 'Love Is Hell', they declined to release this “fucking dark, twisted sad and morose” record. so Adams decided instead to record a loud, punky, uptempo album called 'Rock N Roll'. and guess what? now we get to hear both.
From running a restaurant to writing best-sellers, Sara Sheridan has made the ricky business of career transformation look easy. Olaf Tyaransen catches up with an old friend in a new situation.
They began as an acid house act doing a disco cover of Neil Young's 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart'. Then they took a break, discovered big beat and became wine waiters for cult author Douglas Coupland. There's never a dull moment with Saint Etienne
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
A breathtaking variety of acts have come together - as Lennon might have put it - to focus attention on the ongoing genocide in Darfur, under the auspices of Amnesty International.
Jackie Hayden makes a courtesy call on Eleanor McEvoy and interrupts her putting the finishing touches to her new album. Instead of showing him the door, she shows him around!
Nobody actually shouted “hit the bitch” during the previous Dublin run of Oleanna – as happened on Broadway – but Irish audiences were sharply divided in terms of the male and female adversaries in David Mamet’s controversial play. Personally, I found the polemical exchanges at the heart of the production a little ham-fisted.
Joe Penhall's Blue/Orange depicts the battle for one man's soul being fought in the arena of a psychiatric institution. The play's star George Costigan tells all.
Just about every artist will tell you they never pay attention to reviews. Those same acts can most likely recite word for word those very same reviews. Sound bites, artistic temperament and tight deadlines are not the makings of a quiet life.
After a storming appearance at the Eurosonic festival in Holland, Patrick Freyne talks to Cathy Davey about recording, redecoration and ill communication.
It took ten years for debutante director Kerry Conran to complete his film, even though most part was done before he uttered the word "Action!". Tara Brady meets the brimming brain behind the film-geek opus, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
Loved by the Kaiser Chiefs and bushy moustached Ukrainians alike, The Chalets have partied their way round most of the western world in recent months. Stuart Clark hears about backstage beerathons, ding dongs with Kele from Bloc Party and monkeys in track-suits.
The recent release of the compilation album So Real: Songs From Jeff Buckley was a potent reminder of the extraordinary impact Jeff Buckley made during his short life. In an exclusive interview, on the 10th anniversary of his death, his mother Mary Guibert reflects on the singer’s legacy.
Ang Lee mightn’t have been the most likely candidate to put the jolly green giant on the big screen, but he has rendered Stan Lee’s Incredible Hulk as a greek tragedy.
Long gone are the days when appearing in a play in the Gaiety rather than the Abbey or Gate was seen as “slumming it”. Or that's how Ronan Smith, who plays a priest in Groundwork’s latest production of John B. Keane’s Moll, which opens on March 9th and runs till April 9, sees it anyhow.
With a vivid backwoods sound that’ll leave you hungry for a campfire and a pair of old moccasins, Nevada native ALELA DIANE is Europe’s favourite adopted daughter of folk. On her sophomore visit to our shores, she talks to Celina Murphy about working with her Dad and the album she never thought she’d make.
Never mind CD:UK, Top Of The Pops and Later With Jools – you really know you’ve made it when the phone rings and it’s Sparks telling you they love you. Stuart Clark hears about the irresistible rise of Glasgow hotshots Franz Ferdinand.
Hi-tech slo-fi merchants
The Plague Monkeys discuss science,
vocal heroes, glockenspiel loops
and The Day Of The Triffids with a
suitably quizzical Peter Murphy.
Hi-tech slo-fi merchants
The Plague Monkeys discuss science,
vocal heroes, glockenspiel loops
and The Day Of The Triffids with a
suitably quizzical Peter Murphy.
As frontman of Galway’s Toasted Heretic Julian Gough was an enfant terrible of Irish rock. Then he jacked in music to become a best-selling writer. With his old band preparing to reform, Gough reveals his loathing of television and explains why his home town is the cosmopolitan capital of Ireland.
MY VITRIOL are young, angsty and ambitious. They talk to NADINE O’REGAN about fame, their debut album, Finelines, and the merits of female bass players
Musicologists often find it neater to trace the roots of soul, blues and rap back to their African origins. In the process, they can often avoid exploring the far untidier influence of the African-American entertainment tradition in which Cab Calloway was a pivotal player.
Joe Jackson talks to Bernard Farrell, author of Many Happy Returns, a darkly funny Yuletide drama that explores the spiritual malaise of contemporary Irish life.
Marc Carroll is shouting to be heard above the din at the Falcon, a legendary dive in London s Camden Town, but I have the feeling that if the place was as hushed as a library he d be yelling anyway.
Having a tapdancer instead of a drummer might seem like the height of indie schmindieness, but thanks to Conor Oberst, Tilly and the Wall are heading for the big time.
The Stables in Mullingar has become an essential stopover on the Irish rock touring circuit. Here, the venue's booking man, David McLynn tells Jackie Hayden about the current state of rock in the Midlands.
Those who limit themselves to the traditional man-on-top position during sex are missing out on the fun and excitement that a little sexual experimentation can provide. For the more adventurous a little research can help you see a whole new side of your partner
Halloween is just around the corner. But do we celebrate it in a way that is fundamentally prejudiced and hostile? MELISSA KNIGHT argues that it's time we understood the reality of Witchcraft and Goddess worship.
As New Queer Cinema pioneer TOM KALIN returns with his long awaited second film Savage Grace, starring Julianne Moore, he reflects on the mainstreaming of the marginal.
On the face of it, the Fleadh Mor in Tramore had it all: blistering sunshine, hairy hippies, a stall selling glow in the dark condoms and a line up of rock 'n' roll legends that would be hard to match.
The tragic death of Mic Christopher before Christmas came as a terrible blow to his many friends and fans (see letters page). Here our own Kim Porcelli recalls her memorable encounters with "an exceedingly generous soul".
Blogger faves and YouTube stars OkGo stepped into the A-league recently when they attended the Grammys. Biggest thrill of the night? Shooting the breeze with Mastodon.
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.
Perhaps no men have gone further in the name of daft entertainment than the Jackass team. And certainly no woman has taken on a more testing assignment than Tara Brady when she gatecrashes their stag party.
The past year hasn't been the easiest for Whipping Boy and all who sail in him. Their debut album, though critically acclaimed, did not sell well and they've also had to weather their own share of record company hassles. But, as Gerry McGovern discovers, the band are still setting their own agenda, and forging forward with their own brew of hope, confidence and fuck-ye-all attitude.
One of Ireland’s leading young painters, Rasher has had his work collected by Colin Farrell, Louis Walsh and Ali Hewson, and has also contributed a cover image to the new edition of Declan Lynch's The Rooms.
“There doesn’t need to be any problems conjured for wrong interpretations,” says Clown aka Shawn Crahan. And while you’re chewing on the prime gibberish, here’s the Slipknot view on humanity (“filthy, disgusting, disease-ridden”), fans (“they’re all cows”), piss (“i like the way it smells”) and life in a band (“i’m so bored, so trapped”). Prepare to shake your head in disbelief
They're Ireland's leading hip-hop duo but there's more to Messiah J & The Expert than gangsta stereotypes. Over brunch, they talk about their move towards using live instruments and their hotly-tipped new record.
Get your dancing shoes on. Electro newcomers Magistrates are here to rock your blocks off. They talk about hanging out with Damon Albarn, worshipping Michael Jackson and living up to the legacy of heroes like Bowie and Talking Heads
With the second part of The Gallery Of Photography s Robert Mapplethorpe Exhibition running until January 31 in Temple Bar, paul o mahony takes a look at the photographer s raison d jtre and talks to the Gallery s Director, christine Redmond.
Kirsty MacColl has added another string to her bow with a new album heavily influenced by Cuban and Brazilian music. She told Niall Stanage about the album s genesis, the break-up of her marriage to Steve Lillywhite and why there s no Left in Britain anymore .
Patrick Freyne talks to Ken McHugh of Autamata about his double life as artist and producer, his new album, Colours of Sound - and about moving to the country.
In Dublin to promote his latest book, Smiths-loving author Douglas Coupland explains why the Apocalypse keeps raising its seven-headed head in his avowedly modernist novels.
Ahead of her appearance at a huge charity fashion show in Dublin, the supermodel talks mountain-climbing, modelling, smoking and U2.
By OLAF TYARANSEN.
Ahead of their much anticipated Electric Picnic spot, Bloc Party talk about going mad in Westmeath and explain why it’s time for a post-punk concept record.
His dreamy electro-pop is winning Ulrich Schnauss an international fanbase. In his native Germany however, they’re still not convinced. Maybe it’s something to do with all those guitars.
Annual article: Bright young things like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen captured the HP critics’ hearts this year, though they somehow neglected Johnny Cash and Mark Lanegan...
Bad-ass rockers The Cult have reconvened following half a decade in the wilderness. Frontman Ian Astbury talks about standing-in for Jim Morrison, jamming with UNKLE and explains why it's good to return to his day-job.
He’s remixed Franz Ferdinand, Mylo and Radio 4, and released one of the most innovative titles of recent years in 2001’s It Rough. Now Robi Insinna, aka Manhead, is set to take his music to a larger audience with his eponymously titled new album.
Irish journalist, novelist and musician JOE AMBROSE has JUST published The Violent World Of Mosh Pit Culture (book), an explosive first-hand account of life inside the mosh pit. STEPHEN ROBINSON spoke to him about the sex, brutality and freedom to be discovered within the ‘pits.
Snowman FC from Cork won the Irish heat of the JD Sets, played live in the legendary Jack Daniel's Distillery in Tennessee and recorded with REM man David Barbe in Nashville.
DIY r’n’b artiste, support act to the new-garage glitterati and unlikely sex-bomb Har Mar gets undressed for success. Superstar skinning up Kim Porcelli
Her fans include David Bowie, Bono and The Cardigans’ Nina Persson – and now she’s released possibly her finest record yet. EMM GRYNER talks about raising her game and steering clear of the ‘indie-folk’ vogue.
On the face of it, the show is like any other Brian Kennedy night. Young girls become giddy. Mothers are impassioned as they shove themselves to the front, wailing along with the words and leaving piles of flowers at the singer s feet. The singer, bless his heart, is trilling and wowing at the reception, resplendent in crushed velvet, letting his all-embracing charms soften up the crowd.
After a hiatus and reshuffle, Tindersticks have returned to former glories with their album The Hungry Saw. Singer Stuart Staples talks about the band's rejuvenation.
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 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.
Aimee Mann is one of the most interesting and distinctive songwriters of the past 20 years. Just don’t ask her what she thinks of the Mercury shortlist!
Ex-Picturehouse front man Dave Browne talks about differentiating his USB, pushing the envelope, and disambiguating his product with a blue-sky opportunity.
MICHAEL D. Higgins obviously got under the hypersensitive skin of Sunday Independent journalists who have accelerated their systematic, and at points, paranoiac attack on the Minister since he proposed some relatively revolutionary ideas about the arts, in a recent issue of Hot Press.
Peter Murphy discusses the finer points of prophecy with US writer T.C. Boyle whose latest short story collection includes tales of plague, air rage and terrorism
Lunar Records supremo Brian Molloy has enlisted the help of such luminaries as Bertie Ahern, Eamon Dunphy and Bono in the making of voices and poetry of Ireland, a one-off CD being released to benefit the homeless this Christmas.
Joe Jackson talks to Susan FitzGerald, star of Landmark Productions’ Irish premiere of Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, the controversial play which explores a range of taboo topics.
Having lived a peripatetic existence for several years, Katell Keineg has now settled in Dublin and is earning deserved kudos for her moody brand of arty acoustica.
The biggest obstacle to Belfast becoming the European City Of Culture may be the reluctance of its own people to accept that it deserves the title. Colin Carberry reports
The dance revolution, and the strong DIY ethic that it has engendered, have largely been fuelled by advances in digital technology and easier access to home recording equipment. Many successful artists operating in the dance arena today started out experimenting with basic keyboard/drum machine and home computer set-ups, before upgrading to more advanced equipment.
American singer-songwriter SHAWN COLVIN explains that her fourth and latest album A Few Small Repairs is about more than just her recent marital breakdown. Interview: JOE JACKSON
They all left poxy factory jobs to be in a band, they used to dress in Clockwork Orange costume onstage, and they confess that they only signed to their current label so that one of them could sleep with Saffron from Republica. They are THE JOSEPHS, and your host is PETER MURPHY.
The twisted dance-punk of Hard-Fi is inspired by the angst of suburbia. But that hasn’t stopped them reaching for the stars – or breaking into an airport.
Country music’s stock has never been higher. First Johnny Cash gained an entire new generation of fans, then Hollywood began to pepper its films with bluegrass and roots music. Now, everyone from Jack White to Van Morrison is waking up to the magic of country. Ireland's getting in on the act too, with the launch of the Midlands Music Festival, a two-day celebration of all things hatted and booted. Colm O’Hare traces the rebirth of a genre.
They may be nothing more than a tribute band but if so, they re a damn good one. JACK L and his BLACK ROMANTICS have been unanimously lauded for their Jacques Brel-inspired Wax album: The idea was to bridge the gap between Brel and Scott Walker. Now Jack L himself talks to JOE JA
Unofficial curator of the New York club scene and head of a creative emporium many have described as a contemporary version of Warhol’s factory, LCD Soundsystem mastermind James Murphy is rapidly emerging as one of the biggest players in the U.S. underground. He tells Barry O’Donoghue how it happened
Nationalism is still alive and well at least on the walls of toilets. Then again, football and genitalia seem just as popular. Last issue, we looked at the writing on women s walls; this time STEPHEN ROBINSON finds out what men are scrawling in their own convenience. Pics: Paul Connell
Belfast-based novelist Jo Baker has once again become the subject of much attention in literary circles with the publication of her powerful and compelling second novel The Mermaid’s Child.
With a little help from peers like Johnny Moy and Primal Scream, Mainline look like animating the Irish scene with some long overdue black-shades-and-scuzz-rock sleaze.
From frontman with incendiary collective Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy to his current incarnation as hip-hop zen master, Michael Franti has remained one of the true radical voices of the US underground.
Controversial Irish webmaster Stephen Ryan caused a bit of a stir recently when he circumvented the rules on website name registration with his p.orn.ie website.
Quite what the establishment will make of mark begley s photographic work remains to be seen, but it s sure to raise a few eyebrows. paul o mahony talks to a man intent on kicking down the walls.
. . . and talks and talks. But when it's NICK KELLY doing the talking, he's always worth listening to, whether what's under discussion is Leonard Cohen, french polishing amid plastic furniture, the brain-numbing efficiency of the music industry or the long-term future of the FAT LADY SINGS. LIAM FAY has plenty of time for him but barely enough tape.
She’s an acclaimed novelist – but Emar Martin is fast earning a reputation as a visual artist also. As her latest exhibit opens, she talks about moving between the two media
It sounds like a car-crash waiting to happen – a Southern California garage band channelling psychedelic Cambodian pop. In fact, DENGUE FEVER are one of the most beguiling new acts to pop up on the radar recently.
Kicking off our 2007 coverage of the northern music scene, Hit the North answers all of those questions that have been keeping you awake at night. And a few that haven’t.
Her split with Damien Rice caused headlines around the music world. Now Lisa Hannigan is taking her first steps as a solo artist with a wonderfully ethereal debut album, Sea Sew. She talks to hot press about the end of her partnership with Rice, her hopes for the future and the influence of romantic entanglements on her powerfully feminine songwriting.
He's the Hollywood enfant terrible who refuses to mellow with age. In a rare interview, John Waters talks about the aesthetics of trash, and looks back on his career.
The latest group to benefit from the tutelage of legendary producer Stephen Street, attitudinal Mancunian rockers The Courteeners are one of hottest newcomers on the UK indie scene.
Domino Records – home of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Max Tundra, Franz Ferdinand and Four Tet – turns ten. Kim Porcelli talks pop culture with label boss Laurence Bell.
They can rock with the best of them but beneath the guitars-to-eleven mania, Belfast noise-poppers Therapy? have a lot of smart things to say. Their new album was even inspired by an famous playwright
Motherhood has done little to diminish maria doyle kennedy‘s snarling rock chick attitude. Here, she talks about censorship, Chuck Palahniuk and how she’s managed to balance music with big-league acting.
As Live 8 looms closer, rumours have been circulating that artists are being told that they cannot criticise politicians from the stage. HotPress' guest writer looks at the issues from an artist’s perspective. Bob Geldof responds below.
Venturing across the pond for his first London headline show since his days with A House Dave Couse was delighted, and not a little surprised, to play to a packed house. Might his stop-start solo career finally be gathering momentum?
The best electro-rock outfit since KLF or this year's Sigue Sigue Sputnik? The jury's still out, but Fischerspooner's Casey Spooner tells us he's more than just a cheap stunt
They may look after Lambchop’s pets and occasionally leg it from Crawdaddy to catch the last train home, but when not partaking in such hi-jinks, Dublin quartet Delorentos are busy trying to kick rock music another rung up the evolutionary ladder.
Frazer Guided Melodies
TARNATION may make soundtracks to cinematic desert scenes but there s more to Paula Frazer s beautiful songs than a fistful of spaghetti western themes. Interview: Nick Kelly.
Tom McShane's not sure if he wants you to hear his music, but a recent cover of one of his songs might prove just the thing to coax him out of his bedroom.
She's worked with Keane, Razorlight and Bloc Party. But young video-maker Aoife McArdle's true inspiration are the elegantly gloomy movies of '40s Hollywood.
She’s the post-modern starlet who is stalked by paparazzi wherever she goes but is as comfortable talking about Andy Warhol and John Updike as she is hanging with fashionistas. Say hello to Lady GaGa the good-time pop princess who went to school with Paris Hilton, cultivated a drug habit ‘cos that’s what David Bowie did in the ’70s, but thinks fame is just a game.
Graham Knuttel talks about his fight with the bottle, his friendship with Sylvester Stallone and why he doesn’t want to be surrounded by his own paintings.
'Cellar veteran and all round nice guy Dermot Carmody returns to the fray with a brand new one-man show which he previews in Dublin, Galway and Cork before travelling to Edinburgh this Summer. Stephen Robinson reports
They've masterminded recordings by Lily Allen, Estelle and Kate Nash, to name a few. In this exclusive interview, Future Cut lift the veil on their whizz-bang production techniques.
Barely out of school, Dublin sister duo Heathers are already turning heads with their melodic punk-pop. They talk about what it's like being one of the country's buzzing newcomers.
Mark Eitzel and American Music Club have had all the critical plaudits and cult status that they ever could've wished for. What they really want now is fame and megabuck success! Patrick Brennan met the Wet Wet Wet wannabees.
Accompanied by images from his photo diary, DONAL DINEEN takes us through a month-by-month guide to the records that kept himself, and the Today FM faithful happy in 2001
Having put his psychiatric problems very firmly behind him, hip hop genius Rodney Smith aka Roots Manuva has returned with another landmark album, Awfully Deep. Interview by Danielle Brigham.
Fresh from a starring role in the Readers Poll, Josh Ritter has even more reasons to be cheerful – like touring with Joan Baez and getting to know Damien Rice.
Now that it has been seen by the whole world (and it's Uncle Bilbo) the truth can finally be revealed – Gimli was a most reluctant dwarf. John Rhys Davies explains how he overcame doubts about the book and an allergy to make-up and learned to love The Lord Of The Rings, voted movie of the year in the Hotpress Readers Poll
Now that it has been seen by the whole world (and its Uncle Bilbo) the truth can finally be revealed – Gimli was a most reluctant dwarf. JOHN RHYS DAVIES explains how he overcame doubts about the book and an allergy to make-up and learned to love The Lord Of The Rings, voted movie of the year in the Hot Press readers poll
Words: CRAIG FITZSIMONS
