For the College View, album review: Wintersleep - Welcome to the Night Sky

Imagine a slightly less polished Editors. Imagine Snow Patrol’s first two albums, before Final Straw, the one’s nobody cared about. And, as HMV so aptly described it, imagine a Coldplay influenced by R.E.M., Neil Young and lumberjack shirts instead of Radiohead. Imagine these things and you can imagine Wintersleep.

Review: Star Crossed Enemies - a new direction

Since the split of Guillotines, Brian O’Reilly and Gary White have created a new sound for themselves with Star Crossed Enemies. However, this new sound is one that may not be deemed ‘exciting’ enough for gig promoters in Dublin to consider as headline material. The example being used here is the band Green Lights’ final gig on the 27th of February, 2009. The bill for this gig was, in playing order (first to last): Star Crossed Enemies/The Funeral Suits/ and Green Lights.

Review: Swimming in a Red Sea

Following the split of Guillotines back in June of 2008, guitarist and vocalist Gavin White spent a lot of time recording solo pieces on his MacBook under two different aliases: Herodotus’ Dream and Insomnia.

Review: Joy Division, Heart and soul boxset

“With a few exceptions, everything Joy Division recorded and released is contained here. Joy Division: 1977 to 1980.” 

These are the final two lines of the summary written on the back of the Joy Division Heart and soul boxset. For those of you who do not know me personally, I am a massive Joy Division fan. I got into them after the movie Control came out on DVD back in March 2008.

Myriads in the Dublin Scene - a college assignment from 2008

Now this takes me back...

"Perspective is worth 80 IQ points" - Alan Kay

"Perspective is worth 80 IQ points." - Alan Kay 

It’s an unusual quote, I won't lie. When I first heard it, I didn't really understand it. Today, it became relevant to me in the cruelest way possible.

Review: Stone Throwing Youths - leaving the Mannikin in the closet

Following the split of much loved West Corkian band Mannikin (634 MySpace friends isn't bad going), guitarist Brian Casey suddenly found he had a lot of time on his hands. He disappeared from the music scene for a while, writing songs in Spring 2008 to release "for the laugh".

Between the click of the light and the start of a dream

No Cars Go blares. Not the tidy studio version from Arcade Fire’s second album Neon Bible, but the demo version recorded for the band’s first EP. 

It has an unusual, we’ll say, effect on me. It is making me shiver, not a frightened or cold shiver, but a shiver of excitement. It is making my heart beat faster and my body shake.