Album review: The Flaming Lips
Thu, Dec 05, 2019
THE LIVE album is very much a 1970s creature. In a time when your favourite band was unlikely to come to your town, it allowed you the vicarious thrill of 'almost being there' once the needle hit the vinyl.
Read more ...Knives Out - a great whodunit in the Agatha Christie mould
Thu, Dec 05, 2019
DIRECTOR RHIAN Johnson has made some of my favourite films of recent years, but while his last film was a Star Wars, his best work has always been his own scripts, particularly his spin on film noir with 2005’s Brick.
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Celebrating the quiet man of sixties British pop
Thu, Nov 28, 2019
WHILE THE name Ivor Raymonde may not be familiar, the songs he wrote, produced, or provided orchestral arrangements for, are among the finest of British sixties pop.
Read more ...Powerhouse performance from Christian Bale in Les Mans 66
Thu, Nov 28, 2019
LE MANS 66 could easily be called The Myth of American Exceptionalism: The Movie. Usually in such Hollywood stories - this chronicles the clash between European Enzo Ferrari and American Henry Ford II - it is the other way around.
Read more ...A break-up film that is a breath of fresh air
Thu, Nov 21, 2019
MARRIAGE STORY is a film about divorce. The obvious comparison is with Kramer versus Kramer but perhaps a better comparison is with Annie Hall - remember that movie starts with "Annie and I broke up” in Alvy’s monologue.
Read more ...EP review: Hiperson
Thu, Nov 14, 2019
IN A world so dominated by the English language, it is refreshing when a band goes against the grain and sings in their native tongue. Hiperson, from Chengdu in southwest China, is one such act.
Read more ...The Irishman - big cast, big cost, and worth it
Thu, Nov 14, 2019
THIS WEEK saw the release of the much anticipated The Irishman in Irish cinemas. We are lucky here in Ireland, due to Netflix's role in financing the film that is has not been released in American cinema chains.
Read more ...Geraldine Mills' poetic trek into her family history
Thu, Nov 14, 2019
THE OPENING verse of Geraldine Mills' new poetry collection, The Bone Road, reads: “They’re glad to see the back/of all the wind-crippled whins,/turn their heads from/the rain over Achill Island,/smoor the final fire.”
Read more ...Danielle Holian’s brutal truth telling
Thu, Nov 07, 2019
DANIELLE HOLIAN'S debut poetry collection, Beautifully Chaotic, is part of a boom in the popularity of poetry among young people – particularly young women – over the past few years.
Read more ...Album review: Starcrawler
Thu, Oct 31, 2019
WHAT A difference a year makes. In 2018 LA's Starcrawler's debut album arrived after much hype and celebrity endorsements from Dave Grohl and Elton John. It was spirited and energetic, but scrappy and inconsistent.
Read more ...Comedy Carnival - laughter in the Eyre in spite of Brexit
Tue, Oct 29, 2019
THE BIGGEST Vodafone Comedy Carnival Galway to date just might have been the most memorable, with routines, views, and actions that delighted audiences over the last weekend, and the memory of which will keep up giggling for some time yet.
Read more ...Album review: Lankum
Thu, Oct 24, 2019
'THE WILD Rover' is known as a rambunctious, 'no regrets' ode, to a one time life of boozing. In the hands of Lankum though, it is a very different proposition.
Read more ...An aerial view of Galway in the 1600s
Thu, Oct 24, 2019
THE FIRST paragraph of this fascinating book reads: “Galway is unique among Irish cities in possessing a map that not just provides a bird’s-eye view of the urban landscape at a critical juncture in its history, but also offers insights into cultural, socio-political, and religious outlooks of the town’s ruling elite at this time. The printed map is a glorification of Galway, a celebration of its importance, wealth and power in the years immediately preceding its surrender to parliamentary forces in 1652. That it was made to impress is evinced not only in the visual impact of the heraldic embellishments and decorative artistry employed but also in the wealth of detail recorded, much of which might otherwise remain unknown."
Read more ...Album review: Daithí
Thu, Oct 17, 2019
INTROSPECTIVE, CONFESSIONAL songwriting is not an approach readily associated with electronic music, which tends mostly towards the austere and abstract on one side, or euphoric, Balearic, hedonism on the other.
Read more ...Judy marks major comeback for Renée Zellweger
Thu, Oct 17, 2019
JUDY IS based on the stage play End of the Rainbow. It is a sturdy and competent music biopic, there seems to be one of these every year and this is a one of the good ones.
Read more ...New poetry collection from Mary O'Malley is worth rejoicing over
Thu, Oct 10, 2019
THE POET Dave Lordan has argued that, in an age when poetry is more effectively transmitted over the internet, rather than through traditional book sales, the poetry collection belongs more to the heritage end of the poetry business.
Read more ...Album review: Kim Gordon
Thu, Oct 10, 2019
THE EASIEST way to approach Kim Gordon's debut album is not necessarily at the start, but towards the end, with the furious, rampaging, hurtle of 'Hungry Baby'.
Read more ...Joker - a troubling depiction of Batman's arch enemy
Thu, Oct 10, 2019
JOKER, ALSO known as Arthur Fleck, grew up the victim of abuse, and struggles with a type of Tourettes which results in his erupting in involuntary laugher when he is unhappy or uncomfortable.
Read more ...Album review: Kacy & Clayton
Thu, Oct 03, 2019
THE SASKATCHEWAN cousins 2018 album, The Siren's Song, was steeped in late 1960s British folk-rock, with clear nods to Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, and Anne Briggs.
Read more ...The Goldfinch - big star cast cannot rescue bad adaptation
Thu, Oct 03, 2019
THIS IS the second film released in the last few months named after a painting. The first was The Souvenir, a beautiful low budget movie about a film student in 1980s London. This is the opposite - big budget (which unfortunately looks set to make an epic box office loss), all star cast, and based on a Pulitzer Prize winning novel.
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