Music
Gotye: Autonomous artist meets autonomous audience…
Tweet What a great way to demonstrate what’s happening in this new digital world. It’s a Wired talk by Gotye (he’s Belgian Australian, so its not pronounced the way you’d think). It’s peppered with great music inspired by his own internet hit Somebody That I Used to Know: What got to him first of all [...] more »
Beware of Mr Baker…
Tweet That’s Pete ‘Ginger’ Baker, by the way. No relation… [Are you sure?! - Ed] In the Guardian Edward Helmore talks to the former Cream drummer as a taster for the forthcoming documentary “Beware of Mr Baker” – the “second-best rock documentary of the year”, according to Rolling Stone. There’s also a Guardian gallery, Ginger Baker’s [...] more »
Climbing up on Solsbury Hill…
Tweet Just a random music video… Grab your things, I’ve come to take you home… Enjoy. more »
Other Voices Live
Tweet I meant to flag this up earlier, but better late than never. The Guardian is live-streaming two sets from the Other Voices Festival in St James’s church, Dingle, tonight. The stream starts at 9.30pm GMT. First up is the Wild Beasts gig followed by a live stream of Spiritualized at 10.15pm GMT. Also at the Guardian, [...] more »
Drum and base
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Friday Thread: Hey (Father) Joe, where you going? St Pats Knock, 1976.
Tweet Right, many of you won’t make much of this. But if you are anywhere near fifty, you’ll certainly remember the music (taken from the Pound Club, behind Roddy’s and opposite the bus station in Oxford Street, I think. It turns out to be “The Pieces of Eight” in Anne Street) and that unforgettable mid 70s look. [...] more »
RTÉ on hosting Eurovision 2012: “that’s a bridge we’ll cross on Sunday if we need to.”
Tweet Despite the BBC report headline, RTE’s chosen representative, Jedward, are not the “favourites” for Eurovision 2011. That position still clearly belongs to France. Although, to be fair, Jedward’s odds have shortened since I bookmarked that earlier today… RTÉ, on the other hand, would probably be quite content with a French result - judging by the comments from Julian Vignoles, [...] more »
Friday thread: some Irish culture while we wait for the result
Tweet The Rubberbandits are back. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FiKME7LAW8&feature=player_embedded While we are at it: And a history lesson: more »
“Higgs, Higgs, glorious Higgs…”
Tweet A little bit of culture, and science, from the CERN choir via CERNTV. It’s no Large Hadron Collider rap… ANYhoo… Enjoy! more »
Listening to Van Morrison
Tweet There’s a great piece in today’s Guardian Books section, Greil Marcus on his new book Listening to Van Morrison. Here’s an extract from the article It’s a short book, not a biography or a career survey, but an attempt to follow those moments in Morrison’s music, as he’s made it from his first records with [...] more »
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Books
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Belfast port celebrated as hopes rise for lower corporation tax
Tweet The House of Lords was the suitably grand venue for the London launch of Alf McCreary’s magnificently illustrated tome Titanic Port, a history of Belfast Harbour. Before I got a chance to take a good look at my copy, my ears pricked up when the chairman of the harbour commissioners Len O’Hagan said hopes were [...] read our review » -
“Good Friday. The death of Irish Republicanism” by Anthony McIntyre: a review
Tweet This was a book that I first reviewed at the same time as “Unionism Decayed” back in 2008. Like Vance’s work, it is the author’s portrayal of a defeated political movement or ideal and as a Unionist it was instructional to read an interpretation of the immediate post-Agreement period from the other side of the [...] read our review » -
Propaganda of Peace: Media and culture during the peace process
Tweet Extract from Greg McLaughlin and Stephen Baker: The Propaganda of Peace: The Role of Media and Culture in the Northern Ireland Peace Process. Bristol: Intellect Books. 2010. Political opponents Ian Paisley and Martin McGuiness were confirmed as First Minister and Deputy First Minister of a new executive in May 2007, closing yet another chapter [...] read our review »
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