Gig Review: Lisa Hannigan & James Vincent McMorrow @ The Button Factory for Meteor Choice

Bosses don’t generally come much kinder than my editor in Culch Towers so when she was double booked, I was dispatched to the Button Factory to cover the latest Meteor Choice gig. In the orange corner was the delicious Lisa Hannigan, while in the white corner was James Vincent McMorrow (better known as JVM to 16-year-old girls on Facebook). Refereed by the always-enthusiastic Stuart Clark from Hot Press, it was part of a series of shows best described as prequels to the Meteor Choice Music Prize before nominees for the IMRO/IRMA sponsored cash prize are announced in January. The night offered fans a chance to catch acts in more relaxed and intimate surrounds than the typical commercial bread-and-butter type show. An obvious exercise in promotion by Meteor, the move must still be welcomed for rowing in behind great Irish music. The gig kicked off with Ms. Hannigan slinking on stage … There’s more

Alternative Christmas Mixtape: Day 11

It’s the final countdown. Emigrant mates are arriving back for the few days, boxes of Tayto are making their way into your gaff, last ditch effort shopping is leaving you a panicked mess… but take a minute, chill, and listen to this, the Mixtape choice of Ms Michelle Doherty, who also wished everyone a happy Christmas - how lovely is she? I have chosen Bing Crosby and David Bowie singing Peace On Earth/ Little Drummer Boy. Richie introduced me to it on Pure Morning as one of our Christmas moments and I want other people to see it. Bing and Bowie’s voices complement each other so well and I like the little intro at the start. Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2012.   Michelle Doherty co-presents Pure Morning on Phantom 105.2, weekday mornings from 7am-10am. Culch.ie’s Alternative Christmas Mixtape is curated by Sinéad Keogh, Lisa McInerney and Aaron McAllorum (yeah, … There’s more

New Music: Land Lovers - Confidants

Despite tradition dictating that it should have been yesterday, and despite the earthy folk in Newgrange having arranged their whole calendars around it, the Winter Solstice apparently only staggered in this morning, bedheaded and bleary-eyed as we suppose December affairs should be. Today is the shortest day of the year, folks! So why not make it a little more deliciously cock-eyed by blasting some sweetshine indie-pop through your own inner chambers. Take that, natural order of things! Land Lovers are a Dublin pop band who sound like Supergrass crossed with Stornoway crossed with skinny-dipping in candyfloss. They make you want to dance like this. Ooh, lovely. Their new album (their first full-band album) is called Confidants and it’s making waves you’ll be tickled pink to get swept up by. Certainly it’s making Sinéad bop around Culch Towers like a dashboard bobble-head, which we think is just swell. Confidants - a … There’s more