Author Archives: Lisa McInerney

About Lisa McInerney

That cranky young wan from award-winning blog, Arse End Of Ireland, Lisa’s also noted for her dedication to cobbling together unrelated imprecations to make new and bemusing insults, mostly because she’s not eloquent enough to otherwise explain her deep-seated terror of genre fiction and Fianna Fail. In 2006, The Irish Times called her “… the most talented writer at work in Ireland today”, and her mam still can’t understand why this is better than being the new Marian Keyes. Which it totally is. Alright? Website Twitter: @SwearyLady Facebook.com/sweary Last FM: LeislVonTrapp

Do Over: Paperboy

  By Lisa McInerney | August 2, 2011 - 9:00 am | Do Over, Games, The Culch
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Video games are not just for children. One might expect that every lost nunky knows that, these days, but there’s a surprising amount of supercilious arses that won’t admit it. Firstly, games have become very rapidly more sophisticated – imagine Pong aficionados, back in the ‘70s, getting an eyeful of something like Red Dead Redemption – and grown-ups appreciate the finer things in life. And secondly, of course, the kids who jumped on mutant mushrooms with Mario, and beat competitors off their bikes with cattle prods in Road Rash, are now twenty and thirtysomethings with their own mortgage arrears. There weren’t a huge amount of parents playing video games in the early ‘90s, but there bloody well are now (especially considering that you can have virtual affairs in Fable III and get virtual lapdances in GTA). Fable III. Romantic. I say this because the notion that one plays video games … There’s more →

Music Video: The Dying Seconds - Mora Minn

  By Lisa McInerney | July 29, 2011 - 2:00 pm | Music, Music Videos
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Jaysus, I love it when an Irish band comes up with something moving and intelligent and beautiful. It makes me want to sneer it from the steeples. See, world? This is what we’re capable of. This is what we’re about. This is what the island of saints and scholars has distilled to. You can take your Westlifes and your Scripts and sweep ‘em under a carpet of placid meh-ness where ould wans can enjoy them in the lobotomised peace and quiet they inspire. Erm… Yeah. Anyway, this is the brand new video for Mora Minn, by The Dying Seconds, who we’ve raved about before. Mora Minn (as a single) will be launched in Crawdaddy on August 12th. That means there’s a gig on. Go be moved and inspired and made more beautiful.

Amy Winehouse 1983-2011

  By Lisa McInerney | July 23, 2011 - 9:12 pm | Featured Post, Music, The Culch
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I missed the inaugural meeting of the Amy Winehouse Appreciation Society; she was on MTV rotation before I’d heard of her. I always feel ashamed when I admit that, like it was remiss of me not to have caught the kernel of her talent, not to have been around to add to the heat that made her pop. The video was Stronger Than Me. The voice pricked my ears and swung my head and stopped my heart. I sat watching with my jaw on the floor, and as soon as the song stopped and I’d wound my jaw back onto its hinges, I found myself a copy of Frank and became a card-carrying member of that Appreciation Society, with special responsibility for Taking Amy’s Side Against Narrow-Minded Arseholes and Rolling My Eyes At People Whose Favourite Song Was Valerie.

FREE GIG - Jape in Cork tonight

  By Lisa McInerney | July 21, 2011 - 12:00 pm | Gigs, Music, The Culch
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Up to owt this evening, Corkonians? The marvellously marvellous Irish legends Jape play The Old Oak tonight, in association with Beck’s, and admission is free. Yes, free! Did I already say “marvellous”? I think I did! Is there a better way to spend your Thursday evening, fellow fans of taste, wit and electronica? Not without getting arrested, no indeed. Doors are at 8pm and support comes from Roisin O and Sweetcorn Riot. See you there!

New Music: Delilah - Go

  By Lisa McInerney | July 21, 2011 - 9:00 am | Music, The Culch
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Delilah is Paloma Stoecker, a striking diva-in-waiting, a purveyor of thoroughly modern urban soul with a voice capable of rushing from wavering fragility into powerful clarity in the same disarming lyric. Should that make her sound a little too like Adele Mark II, you might want to note that when I say modern, I don’t just mean voice-indulgent songs, or a charming shrugging-off of celebrity culture, I mean clever, stirring use of dirty beats and skewed rhythms. I mean something a bit … Jesus, cooler than the “urban belter” norm. Atmospherically closer to Sade than Adele, self-penned (and co-produced), complemented by her own piano arrangements, Delilah’s songs aren’t just clever and cool. They’re personal. Affecting. Accomplished. Go is a collection of four songs which showcase that fantastic voice at satisfyingly different angles. I Can Feel You is a ballad with vocals and piano battling it out to gorgeous effect. Breathe is … There’s more →

Fionn Regan: 100 Acres Of Sycamore

  By Lisa McInerney | July 19, 2011 - 9:00 am | Gigs, Music, The Culch
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Y’know the way now we have Google+? Fionn Regan is like Irish Singer/Songwriter+. As cute as Donovan crossed with a hobbit, the Mercury-nominated musician isn’t your average tousled dreamboat with a guitar; he has his own sound, but he can’t seem to stop messing with it. Which is great, because I bore easily. Pop over to Soundcloud for the title track from 100 Acres Of Sycamore, the album due in August. It’s gratifyingly bigger than it has any right to be. Bluesy, over folksy. Eerie, over twee. You can also download 100 Acres free from Fionn’s website, and the album is on preorder now from iTunes and that. Fionn is currently traipsing around the country showcasing his new stuff, and has still to get to the following gaffs. July 21st, Thursday - The Grand Social, Dublin July 22nd, Friday - The INEC, Kilarney July 23rd, Saturday - The Set Theatre, … There’s more →

I’ll Sample YOU In A Minute *shakes fist*

  By Lisa McInerney | July 18, 2011 - 4:18 pm | The Culch
1 Comment

Well now. A spectacular splat of mud-splaying has been playing out this past week between dance heavyweights Ministry Of Sound and easy-listening-crud heavyweights Syco (Simon Cowell’s company. See what he did there?). Ministry Of Sound have signed young dance sensation Avicii, a.k.a Tim Berg, a Swedish DJ/producer who’s tipped to be the next David Guetta, though I don’t remember putting in a repeat order. Anyway, clearly somebody did, as Avicii’s been making waves with his track Fade Into Darkness, formerly known as Penguin. It’s an undemanding piece of popshine, pretty much perfect for mass consumption. According to Ministry Of Sound, while Penguin was notching up the radio play from the likes of Pete Tong, Annie Mac and Scott Mills, they had been working with Avicii in order to develop the track from a cheerful instrumental (Penguin) to a smash hit vocal (Fade Into Darkness). In the course of MOS’s seeking out … There’s more →

The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala.

  By Lisa McInerney | July 18, 2011 - 9:00 am | Music, The Culch
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It’s not a random word generation or an epic fail from Google Translate; it’s the title of the new single from the Arctic Monkeys*, the second from Suck It And See. Here, have a shimmy at the video, directed by the Focus Creeps. It’s got a catsuit-wearing bird in who swoons a bit in a corridor. The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala is released on August 12th. Christ. Sounds like a threat from a psychotic zookeeper, doesn’t it? *Anyone else wish they were called the Artic Monkeys? Imagine articulated monkeys. Hoho! What larfs!

Made In Temple Bar Festival, July 15th to 24th.

  By Lisa McInerney | July 15, 2011 - 9:00 am | Comedy, Events, Kids, Movies & TV, Music, Photography, The Arts, The Culch, Theatre
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To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Temple Bar’s regeneration as Dublin’s Cultural Quarter, over the next ten days, Temple Bar is the place to be for arts and culture in the capital, with its Cultural Trust having organised an impressive array of events covering music, theatre, comedy, visual arts, film and family. In fact, the whole thing is just so impressive that I’m going to liberally slice from their press release. There are dozens of really interesting, unique events planned and it’s difficult to predict highlights. Liberally sprinkled on the smörgåsbord are such delights as… Conversations about Culture, a unique outdoor photographic exhibition which will change every day featuring images of people as they pass through Temple Bar during the festival and their opinions on culture. Movies on the Street: Two movies also celebrating anniversaries this year will be screened on Cow’s Lane - Breakfast at Tiffany’s which is 50 … There’s more →

The Anti-Room Film Club

  By Lisa McInerney | July 5, 2011 - 7:28 pm | Events, Movies & TV, The Culch
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I was trying for ages to come up with a cool enough post title to suit the new Anti-Room Film Club, and I failed miserably. Puns didn’t seem appropriate, and my usual smartarseisms a bit too flippant. I think this is a really snappy idea, and not just because I also write for the Anti-Room. Disclaimer out of the way? Here we go, then. The Anti-Room, in case you’ve been living down a well, is a site written by a fantastically slapdash bunch of ladies who cover everything from pop culture to politics. We love film, and we love a lively discussion over drinks, so we’re combining the lot in our monthly film club, which starts tomorrow night, Wednesday 6th, in the Workman’s Club on Wellington Quay, Dublin! We’ll be showing cult or classic films, and there is sombre promise of cake. I shall be missing for the inaugural screening, … There’s more →

New (Free!) Music: Niki and the Dove - The Fox

  By Lisa McInerney | July 3, 2011 - 11:48 am | The Culch
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This is not particularly new. It’s just that I suddenly realised during a poptronicagasm last night that I couldn’t live without it. This is The Fox by Swedish electronica duo Niki and The Dove. Niki is not the singer’s name (it’s Malin) and there is no further mention of ornithological interests, but surely that’s on the forgivable end of nomenclatural fraud? I’d much rather Kate Bush-style hollering and slightly off-kilter synths than the kind of twee candyfloss the band name suggests, anyway. Niki And The Dove - The Fox by subpop And you can download and keep it for free (click the downwards arrow on the rhs)! Lovely, innit? And here’s more eerie dancepop in DJ Ease My Mind (which sounds like Natasha Khan at the Eurovision)

Sweary’s Jaw: A Lowe Blow

  By Lisa McInerney | June 27, 2011 - 10:23 pm | Celebs, Festivals, Music, Sweary's Jaw, The Culch
3 Comments

Well, holy rolling eyeballs, but didn’t we get very angsty about Zane Lowe’s response to Lauren Laverne’s response to Beyoncé’s… er, beyonse? Twitter lit up with the indignation of it, friends fell out over it, otherwise rational people called for Lowe’s head on a platter, delivered to Ms. Knowles’/Mrs. Z’s feet so she could shimmy some sweet rage all over his lolling jawbone… It was all very exciting, really, and just the job to get our Monday morning moving. If you’ve spent the last day and a half in a cave, you may be gratified to learn that this controversy stems from Lowe’s seeming less than orgasmic when asked what he thought about Beyoncé’s headlining Glastonbury performance. After co-host Laverne near buzzed right through the ceiling on delight and pop-epiphany, telling us that she felt that Beyoncé’s performance epitomised pop music and was an extraordinary reimagining of the ideal Glastonbury … There’s more →

Go Swoon at The Dying Seconds at The Workman’s Club. The National Commands It!

  By Lisa McInerney | June 27, 2011 - 7:57 pm | The Culch
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Waiting on the next big bang in your day-to-day? Ah, good news then! Purveyors of delicious soundscapes and all-round interesting people The Dying Seconds play The Workman’s Club this Thursday, so, you know, you’d want to get your arse ’round to that. From two fellas with laptops to a full line-up of musicians playing all kinds of everything (including lots of drums, we’re told), The Dying Seconds have hugely expanded on the sounds and styles of 2007′s eponymous debut and are bursting to get out there and churn up a storm. Having just finished work on their second album, Glimmerers, the gang have planned a blast of live dates to take them through the rest of 2011 … well worth catching, but don’t just take my word for it. The National found ‘em when in Dublin recently, where Aaron had this to say: “A bunch of us fell for the … There’s more →

Do Over: Beauty and The Beast … twenty years on. (Now you feel old, non?)

  By Lisa McInerney | June 24, 2011 - 11:00 am | Do Over, Movies & TV, Random Whimsy, The Culch
3 Comments

“It’s not right for a woman to read! Soon she starts getting ideas, and … thinking.” Inspired by Sinéad’s hindsight-fluffed dissection of The Lion King the other day, I took it upon myself to dust off my (now digitalised) copy of Disney’s Beauty and The Beast to see if what was neon-catchy then can stand up to scrutiny now. And you know what? The grown-up me has found just as much to like about it! Hurrah! Beauty and The Beast was a grower, for me. As a tween, I preferred Aladdin’s derring-do and his bare-chested-but-non-threatening aesthetic moxie. Hot on his genie’s blue heels came The Lion King, which had more fart jokes than you could shake a warthog’s arse at, and then, of course, along came Toy Story, which turned all of our brains into fizzing Play Doh. But eventually it occurred to me that I liked Beauty and The … There’s more →

Human Sacrifice in Cork.

  By Lisa McInerney | June 18, 2011 - 1:08 pm | Events, Festivals, Music, The Culch, Theatre
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Bit of a stretch, holding this in Cork, isn’t it? Where’re they gonna get a virgin? The inaugural Solstice Festival, an offshoot of the Cork Midsummer Festival, has been ticking away playfully on the third floor of the Old FÁS building since Thursday. The Solstice festival finishes tomorrow, so to see it off with a bang they’ve teamed up with Dublin-based performance collective Come As Soon As You Hear to present Human Sacrifice, an evening of DJs, dancing and … er … virgin bloodshed at the Midsummer Festival’s Spiegeltent. Taking the idea of a closing party wickedly literally, no? Kicking off at 10pm at Murphy’s Midsummer Nights at The Spiegeltent, the event will see a pretty young virgin pay the ultimate price as a gesture of gratitude to The Gods for a bountiful harvest. Dress to distress and don’t forget your dancing shoes as DJs Conor Behan and Joey Kavanagh … There’s more →