Watching Battles onstage is an odd experience – each musician has his own dynamic, but then they collide together – and when they do the aural affect is frequently stunning.
It’s not as nebulous as their last album – and it doesn’t deliver the melodic thrills of Last Splash – but Mountain Battles has personality, spirit, warmth and tenderness in abundance.
Three years ago this month, MICHAEL HUTCHENCE s body was found in a Sydney hotel room. Now, his mother PATRICIA GLASSOP and half-sister TINA HUTCHENCE have written a book about their memories of the singer s life and the bitter legal battles which followed his death. They spoke to NIALL STANAGE
In the edition of Hot Press dated 17 October 2007 (Volume 31, No.20) Hot Press published an article under the headline "John Clarke dismisses Sunday Times article". In it John Clarke of 2FM was quoted as saying that quotes, attributed to him from an article in Billboard by the Sunday Times reporter Jan Battles, were "a lie".
In a highly revealing interview, Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke talks about the inspiration behind one of the albums of the year, his current listening and the band's plans for the future.
The Flaming Lips return to the fold with this neatly packaged mini-album featuring four new tracks and a series of remixes from their 2002 opus, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots.
What Courtney doesn’t know about life in the Hollywood fast lane (rehab, drugs charges, child custody battles) simply isn’t worth knowing. In her own words, her somewhat ironically-titled opus America’s Sweetheart contains ‘a lot of God and a lot of sex’.
Undeniably powerful, ruthlessly emotive, deeply manipulative but competent in the extreme, it's the (somewhat sanitised) life-story of Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Forbes Nash, his marriage and his recurring battles with paranoid schizophrenia
The new found confidence of Oxegen 08, more than made up for the overcast weather and chilly temperatures. Hot Press were there to catch the best of the best.
Over the last two issues of Hot Press John Waters and Ivana Bacik have clashed on the issues of family law, fathers’ rights and feminism. Here, both return to the fray for final words – for now – on a debate that seems destined to run and run in Irish life.
Killarney-based instrumental foursome HELIOPAUSE say they’re keen to keep rock ‘n’ roll alive in the Kingdom. We caught up with drummer Jamie O’Donoghue to talk mountains, his instrumental icons and supporting fellow sticks man R.S.A.G.Punk, Mark Morrison with Muse and Bob Marley with TLC, they show real production potential.
They suffered a backlash following their late '90s hit 'Popular', but Nada Surf have rebounded in style. Singer Matthew Caws talks about the thin line between success and failure.
Acclaimed Sandman creator Neil Gaiman has turned his dark imagination to children’s fiction with Coraline, a book whose subject matter is even more timely in the light of the tragic events in Soham
Initially billed as a celebration of gay culture by its organisers, the forthcoming DUBLIN MARDI GRAS seems to be splitting its supposed target community right down the middle. Although its supporters see it as a laudable complement to the long-established Gay Pride Festival, there are those who view it as simply a cynical money-making exercise on the part of businessmen unconnected with the gay scene. STUART CLARK reports on the brewing controversy.
Country rockers Richmond Fontaine are back with their most accessible LP yet. Frontman Willy Vlautin talks about juggling music and literary careers, and his recent foray into racehorse ownership.
She may be one of the biggest r&b stars on the planet, but that doesn’t mean MARY J/ BLIGE is happy with her lot. in one of her frankest
intervews yet, she tells HELEN TOLAND why she’s been given a bad rap
In order to further understand the African AIDS crisis, Bell X1, ardent supporters of Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign, travelled to Tanzania for eight days this month.
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!
He’s collaborated with Bono, Mick Jagger, and Destiny’s Child, hung out with Bill Clinton and co-wrote the biggest selling rap album of all time. but that’s only the beginning. The multi-talented Wyclef Jean here discusses George W. Bush, the death of his father and why Michael Jackson might not be such a strange guy after all
The new installment in the Narnia franchise, Prince Caspian, is burdened by huge commercial expectations. But the film's director, Andrew Adamson, is not letting the pressure get to him.
In the past five years, Garageland has helped numerous unheard bands and artists find a more permanent spot in the music biz. With a series of upcoming shows that will spotlight the most successful of the bunch, Marissa Connelly speaks to some of the highlight acts about life after their Garage Gig debuts.
With his latest opus Team America upsetting everybody from Sean Penn down to the White House, South Park co-creator Matt Stone sounds off to Tara Brady...
16 years after recording one of the definitive hard rock albums, MEAT LOAF takes a return trip to hell and brings STUART CLARK along with him for the ride.
Recent violent attacks, such as the horrendous killing of two Polish men, may have involved young people. But that shouldn't lead us to tar an entire generation.
Wayward alt. country sensation Ryan Adams talks about his battles with depression and the new lease of life he's enjoyed since hooking up with The Cardinals.
The Great Chat-Show War didn’t quite turn out to be the promised Mother of All Battles. Although in some ways it did: like Saddam’s first war, it was all over in less than a 100 days.
On the eve of the release of "new" Nirvana single 'You Know You're Right' and a just-in-time-for-Christmas box set to follow, we revisit the fruits of earlier legal battles involving the 1990s' great lost band
DAVE FANNING meets the inimitable ROBBIE WILLIAMS to talk about his latest album, his battles with the booze, the Take That legacy, his desire to play a politically incorrect James Bond, a vaguely remembered visit to Bono s loo and why he loves and hates The Beatles
ANI DiFRANCO is one of contemporary music's most impressive originals. Without compromising her independence or political radicalism, she has scaled the heights of commercial and
critical success. In this, her only Irish interview, she speaks candidly to NIALL STANAGE about TAFKAP, her battles with the music industry, American 'gun culture' and the troubled family life which lies behind one of her most moving songs.
He s the editor of Private Eye, a regular on one of television s most populAr shows and he got his big career break from Peter Cook. Notwithstanding all those bruising court battles, IAN HISLOP has more reasons than most to be cheerful. Interview: BARRY GLENDENNING.
CHRIS BARRY's attempts to free himself from his FM104 contract have resulted in one of the messiest and most ill-tempered court battles seen in Ireland for a long time. STUART CLARK analyses the proceedings so far and profiles some of Barry's shock-jock contemporaries across the water.
It's been good to know ya. He had his faults, but there was a lot to like about the Taoiseach. And the fact that he was central to achieving peace in the North will be a lasting legacy.
Folk doyen Richard Thompson remains a singular presence in the roots music scene after four decades. Here he talks about “exile” on the US West Coast and his recent return to his electric rock roots.
Frank Oz may be the man behind those cuddly muppets, but he’s no pushover in person. Now, his chequered career as a director culminates in the darkly comic Death At A Funeral.
A new book gives vivid voice to Irish women's experience of abortion. Here we publish Michele s story a harrowing account of the circumstances in which termination became one woman s choice.
Inspired by a renewed interest in Christianity, MAIRE BRENNAN of CLANNAD has spread her solo wings again. It s better to be addicted to faith than to drugs, she tells JACKIE HAYDEN
Two house calls for the price of one? Jackie Hayden calls in on political satirist Paddy Cullivan and Clint Velour of Camembert Quartet, resident ingredient of RTÉ TV’s Tubridy Show, only to find they are one and the same person!
Ex-Python turned film-maker Terry Gilliam watched his latest movie project the man who killed Don Quixote collapse after a succession of production disasters. Yet two young film-makers who accompanied the director on the shoot have released a documentary film about the making, and un-making, of Gilliam's epic
They may have started out as avant garde indie noisemongers, but The Flaming Lips have matured into one of the greatest and most musical bands on Planet Earth. Plus, they do an utterly magnificent live show!
It s hardly surprising that the neurotic Monica Geller is widely regarded as the least popular member of the Friends ensemble. Nevertheless, you ll be pleased to hear that Courteney Cox, the 33-year-old Alabama native who plays the Big Apple s tidiest twentysomething, revels in the role. What s more, with her success in Wes Craven s masterful suspense chiller Scream, she remains the only cast member from the smash-hit sitcom to have achieved major box office success. And now there s a sequel on the way . . . Interview: chris donovan.
Ahead of the release of his new movie, Irish boxing melodrama Strength And Honour, Michael Madsen reflects on a career that been sometimes troubled but never boring.
Their name may be derived from a river that runs through the Scottish capital of Glasgow, but the word on the streets is that like Wimbledon Scottish second division leaders Clydebank are considering a controversial move to Dublin. Report: stuart clark.
Having been dogged for years by sectarianism, Northern Irish sport has finally found a team that everyone can support. Colin Carberry reports on the phenomenal rise of the ice hockeying Belfast Giants
Following the Green Party’s decision to go into coalition with Fianna Fáil, former MEP Patricia McKenna felt disillusioned and angry. Now those emotions have subsided, she has decided not to run away – but to fight…
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.
The Flaming Lips, whose new record is a 'concept album about death' are possibly the most life-affirming band you’ll hear this year. Frontman Wayne Coyne explains why
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.
Regarded by most sane citizens as an irrelevant safe haven for pompous political windbags, Seanad Eireann is really . . . an irrelevant safe haven for pompous political windbags. Why then, is the decidedly sane TCD academic, ivana bacik, so anxious to get elected to Dail Eireann s Upper House? liam fay finds out.
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.
From that piano-ballad cover of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ to her new-found fascination with Gnostic texts, Tori Amos has remained one of the most compelling and enigmatic solo artists of the past ten years. Here, she fills Peter Murphy in on the intriguing background to her latest album, The Beekeeper, her reasons for relocating to the bucolic splendor of Cornwall, and the difficulties of maintaining artistic integrity in the face of corporate profiteering. Oh, and beekeeping, of course.
With their latest album Riot Act, Pearl Jam have recaptured the blistering form of their first three albums. Matt Cameron, once of Seattle comrades Soundgarden, gives an insight into how the band has outlasted and outperformed most of its contemporaries
The Coronas were about a week into their 2008 American tour when they realised Colonel Kurtz was driving the bus. They can laugh about it now, oh yes. Sat around a table in the Library Bar on the eve of the release of their second album, the foursome – singer Danny O’Reilly, guitarist Dave McPhillips, bass player Graham Knox and drummer Conor Egan – are still young and hardy enough to take it in their stride.
Meet Larry Harvey, the man behind burning man, the world’s most extraordinary festival, in which a whole city, run as a gift economy, springs up in the arid nevada desert to celebrate creativity, non-conformism and the healing power of fire.
SUSAN McKAY has just published a startling book about Northern Protestants. Here, NIALL STANAGE meets the Dublin-based journalist and, below, relates his own experiences of life as a Belfast-born Prod. Portraits: Cathal Dawson
Until recently one of the ultimate indie cult bands, The Flaming Lips have survived the ravages of heroin, acid and a hunting trip with William Burroughs. Now, their new album At War With The Mystics finds them taking their funky psychedelia to strange new places – including the upper reaches of the charts for the first time. Could it be that their moment has finally come? Interviews: Craig Fitzsimons (now) and Peter Murphy (then). additional reporting: Stuart Clark, Ed Power and Jackie Hayden
From Belfast, NIALL STANAGE reports on the still-growing controversy surrounding Brian Nelson, British Intelligence and the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane.
Moviehouse meets the creative team behind King Arthur, the rollicking action-adventure story shot on location in County Wicklow. just don’t mention the Irish weather.
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
Sorry, we couldn t resist it! But then PETER KELLY
is that rare figure in Irish life an openly gay
mainstream politician. NIALL STANAGE meets the Cork Progressive Democrat who believes that the liberal agenda is far from finished. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON.
While Zinedine Zidane's return makes the task considerably more difficult, Ireland have both the players and mental strength to beat France in next week's crucial World Cup qualifier. That's the verdict of our panel of celebrity fans who tell Killian Murphy why they're looking forward to another night of international footballing glory.
Full profiles on Faithless, Antony & The Johnsons, Slayer, The Who, Bell X1, Status Quo, The Flaming Lips, 50 Cent, Madness, Christy Moore, Elton John and Lionel Richie.
Eamonn McCann accompanies The Pogues across the sea to Scotland s centre of Irishness, Glasgow, and enters a complex world of fiercely divided loyalties, joyous celebration and soccer madness.
It's hard-hats and flak-jackets all round as the new improved Carter usm launch a full frontal attack against John Major, Third World repression and Pizza Hut. Frontline correspondent: Stuart Clark. War photographer Cathal Dawson
In advance of his latest movie, From Hell, in which he plays a policeman investigating Jack The Ripper, American superstar JOHNNY DEPP is adopting a low-key profile. Here, however, he talks extensively about on-set pranks, the lure of acting, sobriety versus excess and how movies, movie stars and moviegoers might cope with the world after September 11.
Words: JANE GARDNER with additional input by EARL DITTMAN
In which Olaf Tyaransen comes face to face with a raging bull, declares war on the neighbourhood dogs and undergoes the Thai rite of passage that is surviving a motorbike accident.
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.
MARILYN MANSON may be the epitome of Middle America's worst nightmare but, as STUART CLARK discovers, he's not that bad, really. On the agenda: Bono, Eminem, Moby, George W. Bush and the Columbine shootings
He’s made the Man U and Ireland right-back positions his own this season, and is playing what he admits is the best football of his career as a result. As the Republic gears up for a play-off crack at World Cup qualification, JOHN O’SHEA talks about life under Trapatonni, and reflects on another successful year at Old Trafford.
Over the past five years, Oklahoma psych-pop practitioners The Flaming Lips have become perhaps the foremost cult band of their generation. Olaf Tyaransen caught up with the Lips’ main man Wayne Coyne at the Jack Daniels birthday bash in Tennessee to discuss life, love, major label patronage and the vexed question of whether or not there’s life on Mars.
Or perhaps that's 27 under the present squad numbering system. JEFF KENNA may be living in Garry Kelly's international shadow but that doesn't mean the former Palmerstown Rangers full-back isn't one of the Premiereship's brightest prospects and a genuine contender for the Ireland team as the Green Army advances towards the European Championships. Interview and bollocking from Jack Charlton: STUART CLARK
Pix: COLM HENRY
They ve been gigging for 27 years and they were doing Words when Boyzone were still in the balls zone. They are Big Chief Flaming Star, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Little Thunder, Wild Hawk and Dull Knife (not their real names). They are
THE INDIANS
and they hope to still be on the warpath in the next millennium.
LIAM FAY
pow-wows with an authentic showband phenomenon.
A smart, savvy actress with a wry take on the vagaries of fame Sarah Michelle Gellar has her feet planted more firmly on terra firma than the average Hollywood starlet. In an exclusive interview with hotpress, the Buffy The Vampire Slayer star discusses her blood-curdling new movie The Grudge, being a teen icon, marriage, celebrity and much else besides. Just don’t mention the English coffee.
Over the hills and far away, Chumbawamba come out to play! They get knocked down. But they get up again. They get dropped by Indie One Little Indian, and then get signed up by Capitalist major EMI. Then the Tub-Thumpers Anonymous go on to score the most unlikely hit single of 1997. So what now for Alice Nutter and her chums? ANDY DARLINGTON reports.
Over the hills and far away, Chumbawamba come out to play! They get knocked down. But they get up again. They get dropped by Indie One Little Indian, and then get signed up by Capitalist major EMI. Then the Tub-Thumpers Anonymous go on to score the most unlikely hit single of 1997. So what now for Alice Nutter and her chums? ANDY DARLINGTON reports.
You wanted the best, you got GENE SIMMONS. Here, the motormouth frontman of KISS, the world s greatest showband, talks about sex and women at length (quelle surprise), discusses his Jewish heritage, explains why Kierkegaard and Nietzsche obviously never got laid, and announces to an increasingly bemused JOE JACKSON that he Gene, that is possesses the world s smallest penis.
When Nirvana exploded out of Seattle with the classic grunge album Nevermind, they were hailed as modern primitives, punk upstarts whose hard musical edge and authentic street style were the antithesis of the dominant ethos of corporate rock. Two years on however, their reputation as Rock 'n' Roll rebels is somewhat less secure. Bill Graham sifts through two new biographies of the band, and talks to Victoria clarke, the co-author of a third which has been effectively surpressed by the Nirvana 'corporation'.
Fashion designer, punk Svengali, musical maverick, filmmaker and occasional pervertor of justice. MALCOLM McLAREN has been all of these things – and more – in a rollercoaster career that's seen him become a hero to some and an unscrupulous villain to others. STUART CLARK tools up at Ron & Reggie's Gangland Surplus Store for a showdown with the man who manufactured cash from chaos! Scene-of-the-crime photographer: COLM HENRY.
The glitz and glamour is but the tip of the iceberg a lot of blood, sweat and tears has also gone into making THE CORRS the huge success they are. And it s not just about the music either the tricky business they call show has to be negotiated too. NIALL STOKES gets the inside story from the captain of the ship, manager JOHN HUGHES, with supporting testimony from some of the crew.
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.
It's been ten years that's shaken a fair bit of the world and now, suddenly, OASIS are back. what better time for a reflective, confessional, candid and scandalous one-on-one with a man who always gives great quote, NOEL GALLAGHER. Interview: STUART CLARK
JOHN FARRELL was brought up in an Irish working–class neighbourhood in Brooklyn. From a very young age he knew that he was gay. But it took twenty–five years before he could go fully public, with this powerful, funny and tragic telling of his own journey to sexual maturity.
By any standards, The Corrs are an extraordinary phenomenon. It won't be long before the combined global sales of their albums to date top the 20 million mark. In Ireland alone, by the end of the year, they will have sold over a million records - at which point they may well have established themselves as the biggest-selling Irish act of all time on home turf.
Mary Harney grew up on a farm in Co. Dublin, experiencing what she herself calls "a normal childhood". Having completed a convent education she studied at Trinity College, and became the first woman auditor of the prestigious Hist. Soc., where she mingled and met with many of the then present and future politicos of the era.
Republic Of Loose are one of the most exciting bands to emerge from Ireland during the last decade with one of the most charismatic lead singers ever to bestride a stage in the country.
In late 1990, shortly prior to her election as President of the Republic of Ireland, MARY ROBINSON gave the following interview to this magazine, which we reproduce here as a Hot Press Greatest Hit to mark the occasion of her retirement from the office. It turned out to be a clear and definitive statement of her manifesto, which she ended up carrying out virtually to the letter. At the time, it was described as the longest suicide note in political history , by the Irish Press seven years on, her comments make interesting and often provocative reading. Tape: LIAM FAY.
Greetings From LA
beck and tom petty get together in Los Angeles for an impassioned rap on songs, songwriting, showbiz, the Unplugged phenomenon and how too much music can boggle the mind. mark rowland listens in.
The first sci-fi cineplex
blockbuster of 1998
STARSHIP TROOPERS is directed by Paul Verhoeven from a book by noted sci-fi scribe Robert A. Heinlein. And it s either a mindlessly enjoyable special effects white-knuckle ride or dangerously subversive propaganda for right wing militarism. You decide: to Grok, or not to Grok?
With the general election approaching, the leader of the Labour Party offers his views on Bob Dylan, Bono, Ali Hewson, Sile De Valera, RTE, Sellafield, The Abbey Theatre, marital breakdown, the decline in power of the Catholic Church, the rise of Sinn Fein, the irrelevance of the PDs, his ambitions for Labour, and the perception of him as a smoked salmon socialist. All this, and the enduring appeal of a certain song
The outlaw loved by the in-law, Willie Nelson can draw 4,000 people outside Dublin virtually by word of mouth. But it ain't all middle of the road: as befits a veteran of the honky-tonks who had done battle with the IRS and the law, the country music legend can still get in touch with the dark side of Hank
John Noonan, who played a pivotal role in the IRA’s military campaign against the British occupation of Northern Ireland, gives a revealing interview to Jason O'Toole.
One of the most distinctive and colourful characters in Dail Eireann, Junior Minister WILLIE O’DEA is also passionate about his commitment to reforming adult education. Here he talks to Joe Jackson about his brief, about Michael Noonan, Frank McCourt and “Stab City”, and about his recent outspoken comments on taxi drivers, political donations and other controversies. And, yes, he admits he did inhale and was “legless” the night he got elected
Dublin's unlikely new Lord Mayor, Tomás MacGiolla, gets a lot off his chest on subjects as diverse as pomp and ceremony, government discrimination against Dublin, the re-zoning scandal, violence and prostitution on the streets of the capital, conspiracies to undermine the Workers Party and, inevitably, his palpable bitterness towards Democratic Left. Interview: Liam Fay. Pics: Colm Henry.
SINEAD O'CONNOR has been many things - bona fide pop star, tabloid target, controversial activist, mother and priest. But, above all, she is one of Ireland's most compelling musicians.
With a new album due for release, she talks to NIALL STOKES about love, sex, the Church, fame, racism and why "it's important to make it soul music." Pictures: MYLES CLAFFEY
Following a period during which they were rumoured to be playing Slane, Coldplay are revealed to be Witnness 2003's Saturday night headliners. A hotpress.com exclusive
He began working in music as a drummer, but Dave Pennefather's greatest success has been as MD of Universal Music. Hot Press looks back over the life and times of a man with a larger than life reputation.
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.
EMINEM s Marshall Mathers LP has gone 12 times platinum in Ireland. He s been voted Time magazine s Man Of The Year. And, having broken through into the mainstream with the remarkable Stan , he s just been nominated for four Grammys. So why is the world suddenly falling at the feet of a venomous bottle-blonde rapper who s penned some of the most repugnant, hate-filled lyrics since the invention of the gramophone record? Peter Murphy tells one of pop music s most extraordinary stories ever
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?
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.
The future is here. Well, somehow it always is. And, as usual, it is both familiar and strange. Nothing seems to change, but one day you turn around, it is 1995, and you are cybersurfing on the internet, summer seems to last all winter, ambient-acid-techno is bubbling away on the radio, your fax machine shows up on the Antiques Roadshow and papa’s got a brand new drug.
Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova and The Pogues have been officially confirmed for Oxegen, along with the full day-by-day schedule for the July festival.
Waves of soldiers dressed in contrasting black and gold? Gilded corridors finished with crimson? Carpets of bright yellow chrysanthemums? Wow, this can only be a Zhang Yimou flick.
Like many of the studio greats, Disney’s first computer animated feature finds inspiration in a tale familiar to anyone who made it through kindergarten. This time around, however, the titular avian doomsayer has rather more guile than the featherbrain who walked right into Foxy Loxy’s supper-pot.
South Korean anime has always lagged behind that produced by big brother Japan, but Sky Blue’s lush dystopian tableaux and extravagant Wagnerian staging rivals practically anything the neighbours have come up with. Seven years in the making, you can see where Sky Blue’s vast team of animators put in the hours.
Financed by a maxed out credit card and shot in black and white, In Search Of A Midnight Kiss is precisely what we expect – nay, demand – from our indie schmindie movies.
In their prime, a decade or so ago, the Levellers made for an awesome live prospect – all flailing fiddles, flying dreadlocks and impassioned agit-prop lyrics.
Christy Moore declared “some of the finest songs I know are American, as are some of the finest people”. He expressed resentment that his involvement in the gig should be seen as anti-American. Moore made his point in the very simple but effective gesture of playing mostly American-written songs, before introducing The Haliburtons from Texas, who delighted the crowd with their own songs of protes
After years of pale imitations and wholesale corporate plagiarism, this is a typically stunning eardrum assault from arguably the greatest rock trio that world has ever known.
The organisers of Oxegen '08 have revealed that the three day festival is now completely sold out. Plus, they've announced the day by day line-up so far...
Timothy Treadwell was an amateur conservationist whose obsession with grizzly bears would lead to his grisly (sorry) demise in 2005. Apparently suffering from at least three kinds of mad, Treadwell would spend 13 summers in a remote Alaskan park attempting to live among the bears before the creatures he repeatedly made kissy faces at would attack and devour both him and his unfortunate girlfriend.
On paper this recipe should only work when disasters are the special of the day; take some down-your-throat production values, stir in guitars big enough to fill the most ravenous appetite, nourishing Led Zep drums, some unapologetic spice for the soul, hippy-dippy lyrics, bird song, Johnny Foreigners singing in strange tongues, lavish helpings of sitars and tablas, a telephone ringing, a bagpipe to taste, and, er, the kitchen sink.
Attack Of The Clones turns out to be almost as awful as its predecessor, with only the occasional lightsabre fight serving to deflect attention from the demented ridiculousness of the entire enterprise
It is never a particularly auspicious sign when a film hangs around in post-production for over a year, and in The Thirteenth Warrior’s case, the process has been so protracted that director John McTiernan’s subsequent feature (the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair) has already beaten it to the big screen.
Jun-hwan Jeong’s brilliantly mad, mad, mad, mad spaced odyssey famously bombed on release in its native Korea, when in a twist worthy of the film’s delirious logic, the movie was marketed as a romantic comedy.
Cult cinema messiah Takeshi ‘Beat’ Kitano has of late gotten very, well, Japanese. What with all the traditional arts and crafts (Bunraki dolls, Noh drums, everything but the origami) on display in his movies recently, it’s been a bit like chancing upon an oriental fete.
TOMBSTONE (Directed by George P. Cosmatos. Starring Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliot, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Charlton Heston, Dana Delany, Jason Priestly, Joanna Pacula, Michael Rooker, Billy Zane)
Never quite attaining the knee-trembling brilliance of its soon to be seen sequel, House Of Flying Daggers, Zhang Yimou’s awe-inspiring swash-buckler, Hero is still a movie that simply begs, nay, pins you down on the ground and insists to be seen.
It seems that two of Galway's finest comedy venues have come to an agreement about how to maximise the entertainment in the Tribal city
Brendan Burke has branched out into the promotions game and is hosting a series of comedy gigs in Gibney’s of Malahide on Friday evenings
Recent events may have caused us to ask ourselves what level of passion, commitment and all-consuming belief does a person need in order to die the horrific death of a suicide bomber. But, Bootboy muses, are they the only people who truly care about anything these days?
THE WORD psychology has its roots in Greek: psyche, the soul, spirit, or mind’ and logos, the Divine word; speech; the word which expresses the inward thought; the thought itself.
The Supreme Court decided last week that a lesbian couple, and a child, have the right to be recognised as a de facto family. It is a decision with profound and hugely positive implications for gays generally...
It’s shaping up to be the mother of all battles of the bands as Dublin heroes Bravado square up against Waterford’s Gorbachov in the Murphy’s Live 2008 final in The Savoy, Cork on May 15.
New York-based Irish artist Catherine Owens will be getting her posh frock out on August 31 as her clip for U2’s ‘Original Of The Species’ battles it out for Best Special Effects In A Video and Best Editing In A Video at the MTV Music Awards in New York.
ORANGEMEN last marched in Dublin in 1937. Apparently feelings ran high at the time, and there were running battles and scuffles the length of Talbot Street, as the banner-bedecked brigade made its way towards Amiens Street station, some of them, at least, to board the Belfast train there. Sixty-three years on, another march is being planned for the capital this time to mark the bicentenary of the first meeting of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, which took place in what is now the Norwich Union building on Dawson Street.
Being a fiendishly appropriate headline for a column in which our hero reveals how easy it is to win an Oscar and offers his suggestion for the ultimate musical instrument of torture. (And no, it’s not the accordion).
WHAT IS this gay community to which I claim to belong? And how can it be a community when the definition of one’s sexuality (the membership criterion) is constant only in its fluidity?
Let us call them the Birmingham Four. It is a collective description with many overtones of the Irish abroad, battling with the British system.
The Birmingham Four are, of course, Paul McGrath, Steve Staunton, Ray Houghton, and now Andy Townsend, who has joined in solidarity with his Republic of Ireland colleagues at Aston villa.
‘That’s entertainment’ was the message of the year but not as Paul Weller intended it, for in 1986 popular music was closer to mass entertainment as Declan McManus’ pater knew it than any year since Elvis Presley swivelled his hips on the Ed Sullivan show.
ANDY DARLINGTON reflects on how the role of women-in-rock has changed from making tea and sandwiches for the boys to demanding – and more often than not gaining – access all areas.
Music Review | Live
19% | 7 Sep 2006
They said it couldn’t be done, but this year’s Electric Picnic achieved the impossible by being even more joyous, vibey and action-packed than its predecessors. Hot Press was in the thick of things as 200 acts and 30,000 music lovers descended on one very big house in the country.
