This second offering from The Darkness sees them at their most imagainative and ambitious. Encompassing everything from vast orchestras to Freddie’s grand piano, without ever sacrificing the hook-heavy choruses, it’s all you could want from the greatest rock band of the naughties.
The problem facing The Darkness now is surely that, with the element of surprise has gone, the catsuits, falsetto vocals and silly videos are going to have to take second place to the music. Problem? What problem? Yes, you might never again experience the jaw-dropping sensation of hearing ‘Growing On Me’ for the first time but ‘One Way Ticket’ is a solid enough next step, blessed with an obviously bigger budget, the understated touch of Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker and, as they so eloquantloy put it, a big, fuck off rock chorus.
“We’re not Beethoven”, clarifies Young Heart Attack screamer Jennifer Stephens, who surprisingly is a bit more at home with Mötorhead, The Darkness and even The White Stripes.
The Darkness couldn’t take the place of the Thin White Duke in our hearts, but they truly are an irresistible force of glam-rock delight. Music geniuses or not, the camera sweeping through the crowd showed that, at this stage, we were only capable of pointing open-mouthed and all we wanted were simple gestures of sensory pleasure. The jumpsuit is half the battle.
Despite the big guitars, big chorus and witty one-liners, this is a long way from the cheeky chappy, thumbs-up image of The Darkness that we’ve come to expect.
Genital warts, cherry popping, male pattern baldness, archery and kate moss… it's access and, indeed, excess all areas as hotpress readers subject darkness mainman Justin Hawkins to a thorough probing.
They may profess disdain for the CD:UK world of glamour and hype, but with a recent appearance on the show and a support slot with The Darkness to their credit, it looks like nine-piece rock sensation Do Me Bad Things are going to have to get used to being in the limelight.
In addition to the November 6th single release, the band will be playing across Ireland this month. They also invite fans to participate in their logo competition.
When not locking themselves away in 18th-century farmhouses and getting freaked out by UFOs, Mani-endorsed English rockers Kasabian are setting ablaze the UK indie scene and claiming, “If you cut our skins, we bleed rock’n’roll.” Danielle Brigham talks to the group’s consummately charming frontman, Tom Meighan
From Dickie Valentine to The Darkness: Andy Darlington dusts the five decades of Christmas records and chats to Slade's Noddy Holder about his haunting ghost of Chris- singles Past.
Those rock'n'rollers The Darkness will be playing the Meteor Awards, which take place on Thursday February 2 - but you can't get your tickets the normal way.
As exclusively predicted by hotpress.com as early as November of 2003, David Bowie and The Darkness have been confirmed as headliners for this year's Witnness-style festival.
The Darkness achieved the unthinkable by making hair metal popular again. The Answer, on the other hand, see themselves as more serious rockers and Northern Ireland’s, eh, answer to Led Zeppelin. Full of energy and yelped vocals ‘Keep Believin’ is a confident first step but they’ll need to work on melodies as opposed to white noise if The Answer are going to stand out from the crowd.
Hot on the heels of The Darkness' blitzkrieging of The Brits – is it me or is Justin's lunchbox getting bigger? – comes this equally bulging 38-track compendium of cock rock heroes past.
Only the second unsigned band to sell-out the London Astoria (The Darkness were the first), this St. Albans foursome have variously been tagged as synth-wielding emo kids, New Rave of New Rave late-comers and indie boys on a hardcore trip.
In all, YES! is an unexpected joy, a heady, discombobulating cocktail of rock opera, obstinate punk and feel-good dance vibes. Ignore, if you will, the fact that Do Me Bad Things were ‘discovered’ by the same people that ‘discovered’ The Darkness. For all its calorific riffing and Rocky Horror-esque psychedelia, the true beauty of this record is its newness (as opposed to the novelty) factor. ‘Liv Ullman On Drums’ (featuring, bizarrely, Tom Shotton on drums) is an incredible ragout of ‘70s cop show theme music with hair metal, while ‘Time For Deliverance’ is a spine-tingling AC/DC inspired-Broadway musical number.
If anyone had told me a year ago that I’d be flinging my knickers at a bloke in a catsuit and another who used to be in a boy band I’d have told them to fuck right off. But, they wore me down and I eventually succumbed to the cock rockin’ charms of The Darkness (albeit with the help of a persistent Stuart Clark). And as for old Trousersnake, well, frankly, who wouldn’t?
I can still hear their taunts – “Clark’s talking through his arse again!”... “It’s not the ’70s anymore, Granddad!”... “I had my suspicions but now I know you’re a wanker!”
As it was my mother saying it, that last one was particularly hurtful.
As 2004 kicks in, along with the suffering from the common cold, we are left to reminisce on the last twelve months. But we are not the only ones; the Hot Press critics have also had a long hard look at what made 2003 a year to remember. It may have been the rise and rise of indigenous talent such as the Thrills' escalation to the stars, the release of David Kitts' third album, or just in recognizing Damien Dempsey's unquestionably Irish tone.
The guitar is back – and how! Instrument sales are healthier than they’ve been in years. but that’s not the only good news from Ireland’s music equipment shops.
Rabbit Songs is the debut album by Hem, a slice of arcane americana that fuses
old-time sounds with modern musical sensibilities. Fiona Reid met (t)hem
So, how was it for you? On reflection, 2003 was a good year but one that offered little in the way of genuine surprises. Not that we didn’t go looking for them. As always the hunt was on to find the next big thing, the one new act that would define 2003 in years to come.
Unreconstructed Downpatrick rockers The Answer are brewing up a whirlwind of hype. But frontman Cormac Neeson admits their good humoured hair-metal may never be cool
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.
After what seemed like an eternity of enduring processed boy/girl band hell, 2003 was the year that pop became exciting again. Finally, we got a long hot summer soundtracked by Beyoncé (song of the year – hands down), 50 Cent’s awesome ‘In Da Club’ and even a band from my own ‘hood whose debut album was the feelgood hit of the season.
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.
He’s just staggered off a tour-bus and could sleep for a week. But The Dears frontman Murray Lightburn digs deep and talks about the success of the band’s best-selling No Cities Left album
Taking the best – or at least, the most over-the-top – pieces of KLF, Slayer and Radiohead, Enter Shakarai are the hottest thing on eight legs at the moment.
They may have a combined mental age of 12, but that hasn't stopped Goldie Lookin’ Chain from infiltrating the grown-ups' singles chart. Phil Udell talks bad heavy metal, secretarial work and burnt nipples with Newport's most notorious hip hop crew.
IN HIS interview elsewhere in this issue Michael D. Higgins points out that there is little to be gained from indulging in discussions about a Dublin/the rest of Ireland divide. However it would be fatuous to deny that while Dublin slept coiled inside smug self assurance in terms of its pivotal role in relation to the arts, regional areas such as Galway gradually became more vibrant centres of cultural life, in many ways.
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.
Radio has studiously ignored it but that doesn’t mean that Republic Of Loose’s ‘Girl i’m gonna fuck you up’ isn’t the best Irish single of the year. Tanya Sweeney meets the Dublin boys who just want to have fun.
Radio has studiously ignored it but that doesn’t mean that Republic Of Loose’s ‘girl i’m gonna fuck you up’ isn’t the best Irish single of the year. Tanya Sweeney meets the Dublin boys who just want to have fun.
Radio has studiously ignored it but that doesn’t mean that Republic Of Loose’s ‘Girl i’m gonna fuck you up’ isn’t the best Irish single of the year. Tanya Sweeney meets the Dublin boys who just want to have fun.
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.
Taking time out from his stag weekend, baroque retro-rocker The Mighty Stef talks about the influence of film on his writing, his enduring love for Nick Cave and his friendship with Shane MacGowan
Court cases! Vintage wines! Smack! Bad craziness! A burst pancreas! And a chart-topping album! It can only be the posthumous but never-ending saga of the defining rock band of the ’80s and ’90s. Stuart Clark gets the latest from Duff McKagan
The supposed one-hit wonders who are now big – no, make that massive – in Japan, Underworld are celebrating ten years of stream of consciousness, musical collages and, er, the greyhound form book.
No, she doesn’t hate Tim Wheeler but yes, she does look up her own chart position first. A solo Charlotte Hatherly on Bowie, Star Wars and life with and without Ash.
Just in time for Halloween, the government and the media are conspiring to demonise public servants. All the while, the real monsters are being allowed go free.
The producers of choice for everyone from Justin Timberlake to Jay-Z, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo are also earning plaudits for their rock and hip-hop influenced side project, N*E*R*D
DISCO PIGS stars, CILLIAN MURPHY and ELAINE CASSIDY, tell CRAIG FITZSIMONS about how they were drawn to the intense relationship and Cork patois of Pig and Runt
…And head out on the highway. Oh, and take a notebook while you’re at it. Those were Hot Press’ instructions to acclaimed singer/songwriter Mark Geary as he hit the road with The Frames in the good ol’d US of A. And as the following account of spellbinding shows, irate audience members, near-death experiences and suspicious cops shows, it was a hell of a trip. Photography by Shawn Lynch.
A compilation, a new album in the works, more distressing rumours about Richey and the prospect of the greatest football song ever – Eamon Sweeney finds Nicky Wire of Manic Street Preachers with plenty to talk about
The missing link (ouch) between the Velvet Underground and Phil Spector, The Jesus & Mary Chain were one of the most influential and critically lauded bands of the 1980s. 20 years after Psychocandy though, Jim Reid found himself mired in serious alcohol addiction problems. Now domiciled in Devon, he looks back through the lens of newfound – but still precarious – sobriety.
The mother of Philip Lynott has seen her home in Dublin double as a place of pilgrimage for fans of the Irish rock legend – and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
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.
Manic Street Preachers have turned the guitars down, but not the bile. A slimline James Dean Bradfield tells a pleasantly plump Stuart Clark why John F. Kennedy, Billy Connolly and Jesus Christ Superstar are in league with Satan. Or words to that effect.
And a nation weeps! The three Spanish goals that went in one after the other drooped the heart and mind. The ISEQ Index probably lowered by five points. Travel agents have ulcers where they once had digestive tracts!
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
That’s ICE T, mind, and make sure you use capitals. The rapper turned TV star is coming to a stage near you, and still has plenty to say about hip hop/rock, Michael Moore, George Bush, acting, porno and, of course, ho’s.
IN THE FIRST PART OF A WORLD EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW IN THE LAST ISSUE OF HOT PRESS, BONO UNVEILED THE NEW U2 ALBUM, SPOKE ABOUT ITS GENESIS IN CYBERPUNK LITERATURE AND THE BAND'S HUNGER TO PUSH ROCK'N'ROLL TO ITS LIMITS. HERE HE ELABORATES ON HOW U2 GO ABOUT WRITING THEIR SONGS AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF GLOBAL CHAOS, HIS ARTISTIC REFERENCE POINTS OUTSIDE MUSIC, THE SUBVERSIVE POWER OF HUMOUR, AND HOW HE ADMIRES THOSE WHO 'PARTICULARLY AGGRESSIVELY' DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD. AND THEN THERE'S THE STORY ABOUT JOHNNY CASH AND THE EMU. CAN THIS MAN BE FOR SURREAL? INTERVIEW:JOE JACKSON.
Folk institution Kila met a dream collaborator in the shape of traditional Japanese musician Oki. Working together they’ve produced one of the most remarkable roots records of recent years.
From the early excesses of the Birthday Party through meisterwerks like The Good Son to his new release, Live Seeds, Nick Cave has spent nearly fifteen years probing those crevices of the human psyche that few care, or even dare, to venture into.
Here, in a highly personal, in-depth interview, Gerry McGovern grills the god of Goth about his ambivalence towards and obsession with religion, his love of dysfunctional people, his thoughts on the past and his hope for the future, oh, and how to reconcile life as an internationally renowned icon of doom with being a mummy’s boy! (Only joking, Nick!).
On Sunday 16 October a unique event takes place in The Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, as the climax of the 1994 Dublin Theatre Festival. Organised by Amnesty International, Voices Of The Disappeared is intended to highlight their campaign on “ Disappearances” and Political Killings. Stuart Carolan reports.
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.
ENYA: THE LATEST SCORE
From the Gweedore family that gave the world Clannad, another success story in the making. Enya,whose new album featuring music for the forthcoming TV series The Celts , is already making waves months before the programme itself goes on air, is joined by producer Nicky Ryan for a three-way conversation with Bill Graham. Pix:Colm Henry.
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!
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.
Having dominated the charts here for the past ten years, Ash are gearing up for a full-scale invasion of America. Stuart Clark dons his hard hat as Tim, Mark, Rick and Charlotte tell him about their new record of mass destruction Meltdown, and the A-list celebrity company they’ve been keeping in the city of angels.
PETER TAYLOR is one of the most experienced journalists to have covered the Troubles. Midway through the screening of his most recent TV documentary, Loyalists, he spoke to NIALL STANAGE about the North s pivotal personalities, his hopes for a peaceful future, and why Provos was keenly watched by Loyalist paramilitaries.
In the second part of his examination of the cult of CHARLES MANSON, PETER MURPHY looks at the cult leader s trial, his continuing influence of left-field heroes and the controversy over his recordings. Also: BONO on U2 s decision to include Helter Skelter in their Rattle And Hum set.
LIAM FAY talks to writer
TIMOTHY O GRADY and
photographer STEVE PYKE about
their new book, I Could Read The Sky, which chronicles the lives of quiet
desperation lived by the forgotten
members of London s
Irish community.
Journalist NEIL McCORMICK was a schoolmate of BONO when U2 were taking baby steps. Over the past 25 years their paths have frequently crossed, inevitably in rather more exotic circumstances than a classroom. As another year draws to a close, they meet up again: the result is an unusually intimate portrait of a man who came not to save the world but to serenade it. Plus: a close-up look at some of the most striking songs on All That You Can t Leave Behind
DAVID GRAY’s sell-out December gig at Dublin’s Point Theatre was an intense, emotional affair.
NIALL STANAGE reports on a remarkable night and offers a personal perspective on the singer-songwriter’s journey
Sean O’Reilly, whose superb Watermark hit the shelves recently, has been hailed as one of the most important new voices in Irish fiction. So why has more widespread success eluded him to date?
Returning from an extended hiatus, Manic Street Preachers are in stridently upbeat form. In a revealing interview, they reflect on their enduring cultural imprint and talk about long lost Manic Richey Edwards.
JAMES HANRATTY, the son of Irish parents, was hanged for a notorious murder in England in 1961. Following the recent release of the Bridgewater Three, another miscarriage of justice now looks set to be overturned, posthumously clearing the name of a 25-year-old who was wrongfully sent to the gallows. Report: RICHARD BALLS.
Once a rock’n’roll performer in his youth, CONOR McPHERSON has now graduated into one of Ireland’s brightest theatrical and literary talents. Still only in his mid-20s, he’s already written the screenplay of the acclaimed Irish thriller I Went Down, as well as several acclaimed plays, This Limetree Bower and his latest effort The Weir. Here, he talks to JOE JACKSON about the mixed reception he’s received from Irish theatre critics, and the influence of rock music on his work.
Running a marathon, writing the folk-pop equivalent of Dante’s Divine Comedy, buying a house, releasing the finest record of his career. All in a year’s work for Josh Ritter. John Walshe travelled to Boston to meet the young songwriter.
The last 18 months have been a hell of a ride for The Thrills, catapulted from the relative obscurity of the south dublin suburbs to the top of the uk charts, rubbing shoulders with Van Dyke Parks and Peter Buck along the way. But are the band suffering from diver’s bends? is that laid-back california-in-my-mind facade starting to crumble? We put on our therapist’s hats and endeavour to find out, if something’s gotta give, what gives?
In Francie Brady aka Frank Pig, author PAT McCABE has created one of the most unique characters in Irish fiction, an underground cult hero who's already been likened to Holden Caulfield and Huckleberry Finn. The novel from which he comes, The Butcher Boy, is a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic and work on the movie adaptation is already well advanced. Here, the man who's made a silk purse out of a sow's ear (sort of) talks comics, showbands, the human condition and, of course, pigs, in the company of LIAM FAY. Pix: COLM HENRY
The winds of change have been blowing through Northern Ireland in 1998, with the endorsement of the Belfast Agreement and the establishment of the Assembly. But that only made it more likely that extreme loyalists would portray the march to Drumcree church near Portadown, and the July 12th parades, as an opportunity for Protestants and Orangemen to make a final stand. It was surely shaping up for a season of discontent – until the Quinn brothers were murdered in a loyalist sectarian petrol bomb attack on their home. By Niall Stanage. Photos: Peter Matthews.
With his first two albums, Streets mastermind Mike Skinner established himself as one of the most eloquent, idiosyncratic and gifted vocalists and worsdsmiths of his generation. But the 27 year old came close to blowing it all on spread-betting and crack, not to mention engaging in an XXX-rated tryst with an unnamed pop starlet. Thankfully, he’s bounced back with the tell-all confessional of The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living.
. . . 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.
The year began with contrasting and contradictory alignments. On the one hand, the United States were about to invest a new president, a young, rock’n’roll-loving sax-playing boyo from the south called Bill Clinton, offering the possibility of America as the last great hope again.
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
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?
This release stands out not so much for the original track’s slamming acid, but on account of Donnacha Costello’s remix. Focusing on the foreboding and dropping doubled-up skeletal beats, his version is a potent cockatil for dark rooms all over the world.
As with cathedrals, the tremendous emptinesses in this music is what matters: the infinities of space are what make us stop and look, and become still and listen
The insurmountable fact remains that, while Longview probably have serious designs on Elbow’s crown, they come across as a slightly low-calorie version of Gene.
Easy on the eye, and not exactly challenging in the grey matter stakes, Pitch Black is a highly watchable if far from unforgettable slice of low-budget sci-fi/monster-movie daftness.
As harsh, propulsive, plangent guitar fills the auditorium, Tricky begins to rasp out the lyrics, his voice coming on like a percussive instrument. The mood is black, strangely beautiful – but frequently impenetrable too.
Lowestoft’s finest have come up with a lorry-load of impossibly joyous pop-metal anthems, the likes of which haven’t been heard since David Lee Roth and Van Halen were spandexing their way round the ginormodome circuit.
To interpret the work of a composer such as Duke Ellington is a difficult task by any yardstick; the music is very complex and transcends much of the construct of jazz, into which genre it is usually placed.
Taking place tonight in the Dublin Point, the Meteor Ireland Music Awards will feature performances by Paddy Casey, Bell X1 and The Thrills among others
The musical template remains largely unchanged, but the combination of galloping, melodic bass and searing twin lead guitars – at times oddly reminiscent of Thin Lizzy – is hard to resist.
The musical template remains largely unchanged, but the combination of galloping, melodic bass and searing twin lead guitars – at times oddly reminiscent of Thin Lizzy – is hard to resist.
Unlikely as all this may seem, Youth & Young Manhood proves to be very much the real deal, a refreshing blast of a record that might just see the Kings become the cult rock band of the summer.
The debut LP from Cherry Falls is a prime example of the brand of emotionally balanced, nice-guy rock that is currently smeared across the schedule of E4. And, as such, encourages as much joyfulness as a party political broadcast by the DUP.
“I’d like to treat you better…I like you and what you have to say” they sing on the implausibly titled ‘My Drug’ – a patently insincere song that, judging by the level of enthusiasm on display, is obviously inspired by Night Nurse - and although every note and mannered vocal whisper is impeccably positioned, the overall effect is entirely underwhelming.
Señor Smoke is more of the same from Dick Valentine and crew. Like its predecessor it’s packed with raw energy and pure fun. Valentine can be laugh out funny at times.
With the best part of a decade of excellence behind them, including four outstanding studio albums and a best-selling compilation, it was inevitable that Crowded House would leave behind a clutch of songs which failed to reach the widest possible audience.
Sleaze rock. Glam rock. Cock rock. Essentially it all adds up to cod pieces and really, really bad hair, with some low-slung guitars added as a prop to bag the chicks. The Glitterati have already and unapologetically proved themselves as that, with their enjoyable live stints more influenced by LA than their native Leeds. But you can’t hear image on your headphones and without their sunglasses to hide behind, they ain’t so hot.
Seeing as Ridgeway St. is one of the two entrances into Botanic Gardens, it’s a fair bet that a sizeable percentage of this crowd strolled past The Lyric to get here this evening.
Which is entirely apt.
There is a tendency to regard Bill Callahan, the morose Kentucky songwriter who trades as Smog, as a sort of bargain-basement Will Oldham, a rural malingerer perched perpetually on the brink of an emotional fault-line.
For all its starkness though, Callahan’s oeuvre is tinged with a cautious beauty. Beneath the artist’s pained snarl – he’s one of those live performers who seems in constant distress – one begins to detect the hint of a rueful grin.
For his 12th record, Callahan retreats from the mannered melancholia of his recent albums. Here, the ominous tranquility of nature is Callahan’s obsession. Where most see a tranquil lake, Callahan senses the sinister undertow.
Fake Chemical State is one of those records that rewards repeated listening, so over a week or so nearly every song takes a turn in the ‘best on the album’ slot.
A strange hybrid of supernatural thriller and magic realist soap opera, it's no wonder this galloping hokum is the third biggest grossing title of all time in its native Mexico.
Buck 65’s last album, Talkin’ Honky Blues, was something approaching a revelation, proof that hip-hop could still be a potent, astonishing force. It was never going to top the charts or thrust its author onto MTV but it did promise much for the future, a promise that Secret House Against The World resolutely fails to deliver on.
It’s their safest record to date, yet also their most rounded with Cole delivering an unfaltering run of fine songs that suit the poppy presentation down to the ground.
This remake of Takashi Shimuzi’s creepy hit, The Grudge belongs firmly within this sub-genre’s successful tradition and happily, the project’s godfather, Sam Raimi has retained the services of the original director and the spooky Tokyo setting.
Unquestionably one of the finest lyricists of his generation, Britain’s Tom McRae has so far failed to reach anything near the level of commercial success his talent deserves.
He’s balding, scruffy and older than the average frontman, but Craig Finn knows how to work a crowd.
Music Review | Live
21% | 1 Jul 2004
Tanya Sweeney
As Metallica take to the stage amid a cacophony of fireworks, it seems that, despite their sonic brutality, their slick show is beginning to feel a little…well, inauthentic. In fact, it feels a little like Imax…but with a much better soundtrack.
A match made in ... heaven? The Handsome Family - the husband and wife duo of Brett and Rennie Sparks who make beautiful, if rather spooky music together.
Centuries before Holland became synonymous with the export of tulips, relaxed cafe culture, sleazy porn and ‘brilliant orange’ football, the Dutch were famed primarily for their Old Masters.
Supergrass are survivors and don’t we just hate them for it? This has nothing to do with their music, a blokey psychedelia informed by a flair for everyman pop, and everything to do with cosmic justice.
The twin worlds of Pink the pop star and the punk rock princess collided here tonight and made awkward bedfellows. The outcome of which one will win out is still in the balance.
The Electric Picnic couldn’t have been any more inspiring (weather excepted). Now, roll on the Music Show....
Electric Picnic. It marks the end of the summer, and the beginning of the academic year when people start to trudge back to schools and college. It is a moment when you start to anticipate the darkness falling down around us, the days getting shorter and then shorter again, till the watershed weekend arrives when the clocks go back, and the winter comes stealing in.
With David Bowie and The Darkness already confirmed for Oxegen, hotpress.com brings you more details and exclusive 'predictions' for the festival line-up...
In an Ireland where recrimination and retribution are the norm, the generous, consoling words of Linda Ryan – whose son was one of those killed in a car crash – were like a light in the darkness.
It was obvious right from the start that there was more to Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart than the restricting format of The Tourists would ever be capable of revealing.
No longer the nascent, impressionable - though hugely ambitious - young quintet who unleashed the blood-splattered masterpiece The Bends in the mid-'90s, nor the newly crowned kings of modern rock who enjoyed virtually unprecedented levels of acclaim circa-OK Computer, they have instead settled into a role as sort of latter-day alt. culture godfathers
Songwriters have been adopted alternate identities for decades now but few have gone so deeply into ‘character’ as Martin Corrigan, or, as he would prefer to be called, John Edgar Voe
The war is over. There are many messages that can be read into the overwhelming endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement on both sides of the Irish border - but that is the most conclusive, and the most welcome.
Purveyors of some of the fattest riffs on planet rock, The Datsuns, on working with Led Zepplin’s John Paul Jones, dangerous video making and how to frighten the horses.
30th Anniversary Retrospective: Looking back at 30 years of Irish literature, best-selling author Joe O’Connor reflects that things have never been better.
Opinions are somewhat divided on the future of trad – some feel the music should retain its explicit links with the past, while others contend that the only way for the genre to survive and flourish is through stylistic diversification. Plus the usual round-up of news from around the country.
It's hard to believe that it's so long since John Fogerty's last album. In the intervening time span, rumour and speculation flared intermittently about a new album in the marking - yet Fogerty, one of rock'n'roll's most tantalisingly enigmatic recluses remained silent.
Kevin Myers' use of the word bastard may have been pernicious – but it was not the most offensive aspect of his attack on unmarried mothers. Plus: the death of the great Hunter S. Thompson.
