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Airwaves Festival, Reykjavik, Iceland: Thursday

By Simon Roche | Fri, 15/10/10 - 18:24 | Leave a Comment

On the bus in from the airport to the Icelandic capital you notice that not only is the sky and land some mix of grey, but even the coloured houses dotted along the lava fields are all tinted in greying versions of some once bright colour. The colour in this town, thankfully, is all...READ »

Killing Joke – Button Factory, Dublin

By Hilary A. White | Fri, 15/10/10 - 14:16 | 1 Comment

Jaz Coleman is good value whatever way you look at him. Killing Joke, his post-punk/industrial outfit, have, consistently, been satisfying the dark and noisy urges of certain corners of society since 1979 and are now recognised by everyone from Tool to Soundgarden to Nine Inch Nails as instrumental in the emergence of ‘thinking man’s...READ »

Hard Working Class Heroes 2010: Saturday [Steve Cummins]

By Steve Cummins | Fri, 15/10/10 - 13:53 | 1 Comment

Blasterbra @ The Mercantile… Like the name might suggest, this riot-grrl led outfit arrive at The Mercantile with plans for a full-on aural assault afoot but leave making little impression but noise. Hailing from Galway, frenzied frontwoman Anna Mc prowls around The Mercantile stage with a bone to pick as her three male cohorts...READ »

Mount Kimbie – Academy 2, Dublin

By Alan Reilly | Thu, 14/10/10 - 17:33 | 1 Comment

In the beginning Mount Kimbie set out to make pure dubstep and have been lumbered with the tag ever since. The truth is dubstep is merely a nuance of their sound; the band have more in common with Four Tet than Burial, though both are undeniable influences. This London-based duo have been on the...READ »

MF Doom – The Button Factory, Dublin

By Conor McCaffrey | Thu, 14/10/10 - 15:17 | 2 Comments

Doom’s doing an Axl – he’s pushing two hours late, there’s a whiff of mutiny in the air and that metal mask might have to save him from flying bottles. The Supervillain has ‘previous’ in this territory – his legacy of cancelled shows and infamous use of imposters mean we already had a bad...READ »

Cathy Davey – The Academy, Dublin

By Elaine Buckley | Thu, 14/10/10 - 14:08 | 1 Comment

2010 has been quite the year for Cathy Davey thus far. Her critically acclaimed third album The Nameless… went straight to the top of the Irish charts upon its release in May, ‘Little Red’ became a firm fixture on the Irish airwaves, and a successful tour has seen her perform to over 50,000 fans...READ »

Hard Working Class Heroes 2010: Saturday [Niamh Doolan]

By Niamh Doolan | Thu, 14/10/10 - 14:01 | Leave a Comment

Axis Of @ The Button Factory… Belfast band Axis Of launched an attack on sound, literally thrashing the decibels while metal-posturing on stage. Screaming their way through songs, like the tongue in cheek ‘Swine Flu vs. Bird Flu’, they provided both a high-energy fun and face melting experience in equal measure; jolting Saturday’s festival...READ »

Hard Working Class Heroes 2010: Friday [Steve Cummins]

By Steve Cummins | Thu, 14/10/10 - 13:40 | Leave a Comment

Friend? @ The Grand Social… Day two and yet another instrumental outfit. Friend?’s main addition to the genre is to set guitars to kill and lump in a fiddle to augment the sound. And to be fair, it works in part. Think The Frames on ‘Santa Maria’ or ‘Fitzcaraldo’ with Glen Hansard on a...READ »

Hard Working Class Heroes 2010: Saturday [Elaine Buckley]

By Elaine Buckley | Thu, 14/10/10 - 10:57 | Leave a Comment

We Are Losers @ The Workman’s Club… Day three of HWCH, and We Are Losers kick off proceedings for the OTR -vs- Nialler9 night in The Workman’s Club. We Are Losers is the brainchild of Super Extra Bonus Party guitarist Gavin Elsted, who put together a few tracks and released a free-to-download EP on...READ »

Wolf Parade, Copenhagen in photos

By Jakob Bekker-Hansen | Wed, 13/10/10 - 21:03 | Leave a Comment

Wolf Parade continued their long Expo 86… tour with a stop off in Little Vega here in Copenhagen, one of the best little sweat-boxes to see the Montreal four-piece in. As whirlwind as ever, there was some on-stage messing as Dante kept turning off Spencer Krug’s amp but for their part they laced through...READ »

Hard Working Class Heroes 2010: Thursday [Steve Cummins]

By Steve Cummins | Wed, 13/10/10 - 18:01 | Leave a Comment

Herm @ The Mercantile All disparate song styles taking in folk, rock and melodic indie-pop, Kevin Connolly’s Herm have been operating under the radar since first emerging in 2004. Last year’s fine debut album Monsters… bulged with ideas and tonight they showcase their ability to flirt between styles. An acoustic opener makes way for...READ »

Hard Working Class Heroes 2010: Friday [Niamh Doolan]

By Niamh Doolan | Wed, 13/10/10 - 12:57 | Leave a Comment

Brad Pitt Light Orchestra @ The Button Factory… Friday’s first band to grace The Button Factory’s stage, the kookily named Brad Pitt Light Orchestra employed their witty intelligent lyricism and big band with an indie slant style to the full. It’s quite possible to imagine them sound-tracking a dark comedy starring George Clooney. Material...READ »

Hard Working Class Heroes 2010: Thursday [Elaine Buckley]

By Elaine Buckley | Wed, 13/10/10 - 12:25 | Leave a Comment

Autumn Owls – The Button Factory… The nature of the Hard Working Class Heroes festival means that there are always going to be bands who fall victim to an unfortunate scheduling slot. Dublin band Autumn Owls early-evening gig in The Button Factory may have failed to draw in the masses, but that didn’t stop...READ »

Hard Working Class Heroes 2010: Thursday [Niamh Doolan]

By Niamh Doolan | Tue, 12/10/10 - 16:03 | 2 Comments

Now into it’s seventh year, Hard Working Class Heroes has trimmed the frills of the planned ‘Invasions’ that HWCH had been known to stage each autumn, organisers choose to keep this years event an Irish affair once again. One hundred of the finest acts from all over the country were selected, from the ‘little...READ »