STEVIE NICKS
Talk To Me
Stevie Nicks is an iconoclast. She pours spirit and tenacity into every vocal performance, and I have been enchanted by her ever since I heard ‘Edge of Seventeen’ in the bar scene of School of Rock, as Jack Black and Joan Cusack sip beer and bond over their shared love of Stevie. When I was a child, my dad gave me a Rock A Little cassette that he had kept in his briefcase from the 80s. He used to listen to it on his Walkman while travelling around Italy as a teenager. Although her work with Fleetwood Mac is iconic, her solo music will always be special to me. It reminds me of being a child, mesmerised by the fire-throated siren in a boho skirt. Continue Reading…

Reevah has transformed her dream-folk sensibilities into a more vibrant, indie-pop approach with Daylight Savings. Tracks are packed with huge choruses, pulsing synths and hooks that nod to late 80s MTV pop-rock. While drawing upon these influences, she nevertheless manages to maintain a sound that feels fresh. Continue Reading…

It’s an exciting time for the Belfast Trad scene. Not that it hasn’t always had a vibrant energy that has you stomping your feet and swaying for hours on end. But these days when I head to a trad gig there’s the added element of having no idea what to expect. It’s a thrill in itself.

Lonesome George played the Empire Music Hall last Saturday. Thinking back to the concert, I’ve come to the conclusion that the band has this unique quality of keeping you feeling right at home whilst keeping you guessing. Continue Reading…

Brand New Friend return with a record that sees them evolve into a new, arthouse soundscape. Their third album Grandstand blends grunge guitar with sunbursts of 00s-inspired garage rock. The title which nods to the iconic sports TV sports programme hosted by Des Lynam, is a perfect allusion to the bittersweet epiphany of leaving childhood behind. Continue Reading…

Back in the day, an art combo called the Frank Chickens came up with a performance idea called scratch. The idea was that you shouldn’t be fixated with the finished, tidy product. Rather, you deliver the raw heart of your idea, and burnish the details as you go along. Scratch became a core concept of the Battersea Arts Centre and has traveled widely ever since. Continue Reading…

“I’m an Irish woman and I’m an abused child.”

On the track ‘Sin é Sinéad’, dedicated to the late Sinéad O’Connor, a monologue of O’Connor simmers amongst flashing lights, electronic drum beats and the relentless bounce of bass. This is the work of ‘tradtronica’ act, Huartan. The trio finds liberation in the conflict between rigid boundaries, the sparks that fly when you scrape them together, in both music and subject. Continue Reading…

Kneecap are shouting out to the glue-sniffers and the “low-life scum”. Ten thousand people in Falls Park are loving it. It’s a night of messy humour, beats and singalong. Here we are, in the Gaeltacht of west Belfast, where the seeds of an Irish language movement have grown into a new vernacular of pills, thrills and bellyache. This is the group’s heartland, their “DLA capital”, a community that’s engaged and up for it. Continue Reading…

ELLAS is the first collaborative all-female mixtape in Northern Ireland. It highlights through the work of 16 performers the diverse talent flourishing across the local music scene. The project’s founder, DJ and musician Katie Martinez reveals how the fusion of artists influenced her decision to expand beyond the idea of just a regular album. Continue Reading…

Thursday was the downpour, Friday was the recovery and Saturday is the sun-lashed finale. The fields of Ballymully Cottage Farm embrace the heat as the welly boots are retired to the campsite. The Stendhal Festival organisers are visibly relaxed and the extra footfall (over 10,000 people attending) is proof that this has been a restorative win – a great weekend in spite of funding cutbacks, messy weather and a populace that has been mugged by grim economics. Now they all want to party and Stendhal is willing to oblige. Continue Reading…