A shed of one’s own

In a damp, misty corner of the garden, in the shade of a dangerously overgrown, gnarled tree, sits an unimposing, unkempt little shack. For many years, it has been unloved and, frankly, unlovable. Filled to bursting with torn boxes, rusting tools and mouldy furniture, all concealed behind a warped door, it looks forlorn, abandoned and […]

Dear reader, meet Screenreader

At the end of January this year, young Cork trio Screenreader released their self-produced debut album Disconnect The Dots. On first listen, there’s little doubt that it’s a “homemade” record but it doesn’t take long to grow on you. It’s a charming triumph of aspiration and conviction over quite obvious fiscal restriction. These are […]

Baby it’s cold outside – so here’s freezerRoom

In the final month of 2011, I was finally properly acquainted with the music of Cork collective freezerRoom, a band I’d heard plenty about but somehow managed to avoid. With a name like that, I’d expected them to be purveyors of stark, chilly electro or experimental neo-Krautrock. But no, they’re anything but; their sound is […]

Pointing the way to a Happy New Year

Dearie me, it’s 2012. The world is in the grip of death, famine, financial collapse, and, despite the so-called ‘Arab Spring’, there are still a significant number of lunatics running the global asylum. The New Year arrives with violent storms battering the coasts of Britain and Ireland. Even David Bowie is about to turn 65. […]

Bona, darling

Moz reissue isn’t such a Drag Some might say: “Oh, not another Morrissey reissue.” And they would have a point. This past decade has seen a ridiculous quantity of Moz re-releases, not all of them good quality, ensuring that one of the most loyal fanbases in popular music forks out time and again for material […]

Ham roll with the changes?

How did I miss this? Have Ham Sandwich have done a ‘Sugababes’ and changed their entire line-up? This photo beside the review of their new album White Fox in this morning’s Metro Herald is the first I’ve heard of it. Either that, or it’s the first published result of a wacky new Hot Press photoshoot, where Podge and […]

When a McMuffin top will no longer do…

It’s “grow your winter layer” time of year and no one seems more keen to give you a better weather-resistant, wind-cheating midriff than old Burger King. We’ve covered American contempt for the concept of pizza here before, but this vile object really should have anyone with tastebuds and a modicum of self-respect reaching for their sick bags. […]

England is (still) not Britain

The arrogance of The English (formerly known as the England football team) and misguided opinion of their own importance continues to show it knows no boundaries or sense of perspective. Not only have they launched a new and expensive football kit when their popularity is at an all-time low, and even their most stupidly die-hard […]

Coals To Newcastle, balls to Christmas

The starvation diet, the back-of-sofa coin-searching and the redemption of those saved-up bus change tickets now begins in earnest; the best Scots band ever Orange Juice release a 7-disc box set in November. Full details are here, but the release does, regrettably, mean that several of my family will be receiving only Christmas cards this […]

Afraid of the dark..?

I’m rather looking forward to the new Guillermo del Toro co-production, Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark, due out early next year. Rather bizarrely, it’s a remake of the TV movie of the same name from 1973, something of a favourite of mine. Del Toro has co-written the script too, and there’s a nice teaser […]