Just ahead of the Brand New Friend gig at the Limelight. Belfast on July 4, vocalist and songwriter Taylor Johnson selects the important tunes from the jukebox of his heart.

THE SUPREMES
This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)

As a 17-year-old my dad shipped off to Naples by himself to explore the world and escape the Troubles. He had a tiny Walkman and a handful of cassettes he would dance to in the evenings. This consisted mainly of Kate Bush, but The Supremes were one of his favorites and he passed on his love of 60s girl bands to me. The Supremes/Ronettes sound was a big influence on our new record, our song ‘Hey Blue’ is an ode to them. I love how sad it is too, Diana Ross has been hurt here, but she’s still in love with whoever she’s singing to. Continue Reading…

Ross Parkhill is the Director/Founder of Stenhal Festival of Art, which runs 30 June to 2 July in Ballmully Cottage Farm, Limavady. This is his playlist selection for Dig With It magazine. For info about the festival, see stendhalfestival.com.

RADIOHEAD
OK Computer (1997)
Glastonbury 2003 – age 20, first paid-for concert/festival, all in one. I wasn’t really into music beforehand, life changed!! I couldn’t have named a Radiohead song prior. Synonymous headline set and particularly ‘Karma Police’. We were 50 deep from the front, maybe – had a huge impact on me and in time would ultimately help inspire the existence of Stendhal Festival, and without doubt it inspired our beloved Karma Valley space. Someday they will play, Limavady – nice
dream, eh? Continue Reading…

A brief listen to Robocobra Quartet’s back catalogue, from the tentative baby steps of Knotweed, to the criminally underappreciated live album, Live Tape #1,  shows a band prone to bursts of poetic and musical capitulation. Robocobra Quartet have always allowed songs to fall around them like a house on fire, as long as the flames resemble fireworks. Not so on Living Isn’t Easy, a record built with foundations to last. Continue Reading…

“This is what we do here; move forward while falling back.”

Bernie McGill’s new book of short stories is a collection of quiet majesty, featuring 12 perfectly crafted stories, all exploring moments of transition in the lives of the lost and the lonely. With a compassionate skill, these stories are like arrows in flight; we do not know where they have started from, or where they will land but the journey itself is what is important. Continue Reading…

This year’s Belfast Book Festival sees a number of events exploring different cultural experiences. There is Romanian writing, poetry about motherhood, queer poetry, and an inter-generational event. Poet Nandi Jola and author Sue Divin will both be there to share from their recent publications – two texts which on the surface seem very different but which both have something to say about our wee country. Continue Reading…

Documentary filmmaking is often considered the rawest configuration of the cinematic form. This raw sincerity can be found throughout the work of Elspeth Vischer or Vish Films –  a Belfast-based director whose focus lies between both factual and experimental film traditions.

In 2020, Elspeth embarked on her first documentary feature film as a Creative-Practise PhD Candidate at Queen’s University Belfast, titled Let Us Be Seen; Analysing and Documenting the Development of Grassroots Feminism in Belfast. Continue Reading…

Ewen Friers recounts the fraught story of Bella Pacifica, the third album by Axis Of.

In early 2016 I sat on a Provence-bound flight, awash with a strange feeling of relief, sadness and optimism. With the sweat on my forehead barely dry from the show the night before at the Limelight, I had rushed the Axis Of gear to our lock-up on the North Coast and closed the door on it for good before heading to City Airport, waving goodbye to Mr Tayto and heading for sunnier climes. Continue Reading…

The 19-year-old says that she’s absolutely voting Green. Moments later, a 92-year-old tells them she will read the party leaflet and have a good think about it. These doorstep reactions are noted on the campaign sheet and to the team moves from Kingsway towards Parkvue Manor and potential victory. Electioneering is on.

Continue Reading…

A question-and-answer session with Rory Friers about the making of And So I Watch You From Afar’s Jettison album and the pioneering audio-visual experience that launched it.

By Addison Patterson. Continue Reading…

“I was dreaming in my dreaming

Of an aspect bright and fair

And my sleeping it was broken

But my dream it lingered near…”

Patti Smith, ‘People Have The Power’

Patti Smith, Conor Hall, Belfast, 2003. Image by Stuart Bailie

Continue Reading…