Panic At The Disco frontman Brendon Urie talks about channelling The Beatles, recording at Abbey Road and the influence on their music of Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk.
Limerick thrashmeisters Giveamanakick's third album Welcome To The Cusp is the product of ten days of cabin fever in Donegal. No wonder it sounds wet 'n' wild.
On top of scoring a Top 5 hit with Elbow's latest album, singer Guy Garvey recently absconded to Nashville to record with Richard Hawley and Frank Black.
Take one Super Furry Animal, one lap-top wizard and one disgraced motor industry executive and you get synth revivalists Neon Neon and the year's best concept album.
Velvet Revolver axe-man Slash, one of the most influential guitarists of all time, joins bandmate Duff McKagan in reflecting on Guns N' Roses' hellraising heyday.
He's long been one of the North's most singular songwriting talents. Now ANDY WHITE is returning to Belfast to perform a show that sees him bringing together some of his earliest and most current compositions.
Never in 24 years have The Black Crowes either changed their tune or sounded contrived, and they’re getting better all the time in their dependably unfashionable way.
Bland pop, dull mainstream rock and generic indie-schmindie are poison. But as the title of their album suggests, Foals have got the rhythmical remedy.
There’s no shortage of showcase events vying for the attention of young acts these days, but IMRO’s tried and trusted model remains refreshingly free of bells and whistles.
Following the Bank of Ireland National Student Music Awards since the get-go meant a real investment in the outcome of six utterly different bands. Who would triumph?
Over the past six months Delorentos have found themselves in the not entirely enviable position of being tipped as the next big thing before they’d released a single note of music. Thus their debut EP finally arrives with great expectations. Fortunately, it’s a case of happy endings all round as the Dublin four piece pass their first test with flying colours. Indeed, you’d be hard pressed to recognise this as anything but the work of a band at the top of their game. Every aspect exudes pure confidence. The only possible worry, in fact, is that, with its twisted guitar riffs and awkward beats, they could find themselves tied a little too closely to the whole Franz / Bloc / Futureheads thing. Some lead, most follow and Delorentos are heading for the front.
If there was a worry that ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’ was a glorious flash in the pan, then ‘The Beat That My Heart Skipped’ is equally glorious proof that the London duo might just be the real deal. Less consciously preachy than their debut, it adds a welcome personal angle to their sound before moving up a gear for the rant-filled, closing moments. With as much in common with US underground rappers such as Sage Francis and Atmosphere as the stuttering UK scene, this odd pairing could well be the surprise find of the year.
The big problem with The Hives is that, right from the start, they painted themselves into a corner with their outfits, attitude and two-dimensional garage rock. Actually, an ever bigger problem is that they’re not very good, but that’s an argument for another day. ‘Tick Tick Boom’ is essentially more of the same: all right, but nowhere near as good as ‘Hate To Say I Told You So’, a debut that they look more and more unlikely to match.
Clone impresses with this split release. Orgue Electronique’s ‘On A String’ is pure Chicago hedonism, the tight, doubling up claps setting the scene for a vicious 303 bass, while Legowelt’s subtle percussive twists and moody chords import the spirit of Nu Groove to Rotterdam.
It’s become fshionable to slag off Minus, but it’s hard not to be seduced by Pierce’s latest mushy, non-linear release. This doublepack ambles along unhurriedly, but Pierce is busy throughout, catching the listener off guard with visceral percussion, lurching bass licks and frazzled acid freakouts.
Detroit house producer Dixon returns with a release that takes inspiration from his techno contemporaries’ fixation with outer space sounds and, on the droning ‘Links’ a booming bass that makes Saunderson’s Resse project seem tame.
Tensnake’s original is a slamming, filtered house track, but it’s not a patch on Cosmic Sandwich’s remix, which plunges the bass to fathomic depths, laying down heavy acid lines and infectious bleeps.
