Royseven talk Need for Speed Most Wanted, Nerds and X-Factor.

Need for Speed Most Wanted

It was in the plush surrounds of the Radisson Hotel Golden Lane that I caught up with the golden boys of the Irish rock scene – Royseven. Still fresh from the success of their album ‘You Say, We Say’, the likeable Dubliners had been invited along to sample EA’s latest release – Need for Speed Most Wanted. Keen gamers, it was something they were only too happy to do, and Culch.ie was only too happy to sit in on some inter-band sparring as lads discussed their console fetishes and plans for the future. Culch: So who is the best gamer? Paul: It’s probably Sam….well, Sam’s probably the most dedicated gamer in that he’s constantly online playing games! Sam: I grew up playing games, I had every console going from C64 to Amiga 500 then on to NES… Lego: My first was an Amstrad and you had to load it up … There’s more

Sweary’s Jaw: All Your Gotye Are Belong To Us

Gotye must be a mixed-up pup at the moment. The thirtysomething Belgian-Aussie has been making music since his teens, enjoying the slow, steady build befitting his workhorse tendencies. He’s released seven albums as a solo artist and as part of his band, The Basics, and has accumulated a healthy smattering of awards and accolades. Then his latest album, Making Mirrors, exploded like a microwaved bullfrog and now, all over the globe, people are yodelling along to second single Somebody That I Used To Know with wildly varying degrees of success. For Gotye is no longer a mere popstar. Gotye has become a living meme. It’s a sign of the times. This is the Age Of Information, and once something becomes a cultural phenomenon, it becomes… communal. Have you ever seen an artist go from indie unknown to pop superstar to global tummy-tickle as quickly as Gotye has? Once Somebody captured … There’s more

Sweary’s Jaw: Lana Del Meh

A couple of months back, we were all very excited about Lana Del Rey. Oh, buzzin’ at the chops, we were. A doe-eyed meta-ingénue with big hair and cartoon lips, calling herself a “gangster Nancy Sinatra” and droning like an orgasmic swarm, she was hipster-fodder of the most wonderful composition. And then there was Video Games, her gorgeously retro launch song, which was accompanied by a video that looked home-made and augmented her ethereal growls so beautifully, the entire effect was nigh-on creepy. Lana Del Rey was perfect. But, like everything that the cool kids enjoy, she had to be torn down and picked apart by the cooler kids. What they discovered was that Lana Del Rey’s real name… wasn’t Lana Del Rey. That, far from being a bedroom dreamer who spliced together her own music videos from footage she kept on projector rotation, she was… a professional artist. With … There’s more

Oscar Nominations 2012

While I feel compelled to tell you that, yes, this year’s Oscar nominations have been announced (hurrah!), I also must tell you that all of us here at Culch are a little devastated. That’s right, The Fass has been over looked for an Oscar this year. *throws bricks at Academy members* And quite frankly, I just want to know why. To quote Joey from Friends : “Why, God. Why are you doing this to us?!” I have a feeling it’s to do with the Rated R aspect of the film but still. That’s no excuse. Anyway, the brick throwing much sums up our feelings on the matter. And while this means that I shall never again look at the Oscars the same way (EVER), I must press on and congratulate all the other nominees and films that did make the cut.

Shameless Pimping: Electric Ireland #tweetemhome Race from Dublin – Galway

So this is the story. Electric Ireland (the ESB) are holding a charity race from Dublin to Galway and back. Three celeb teams – Team A Joe Rooney and Mundy in the DeLorean supporting Concern; Team B Katie Van Buren and Andrew Stanley in the New York Taxi supporting the Irish Cancer Society, and Team C Brent Pope and Keith Barry in the Renault Trophy supporting the ISPCC – are competing to bag €20,000 for their chosen charity. Each team has to bag petrol for their tank by having their hashtag used on Twitter, mentioned on Facebook, and by doing various challenges along the way… and each team has an online supporter. Culch.ie is the official supporter of Team A, Joe Rooney, Mundy and our lovely driver Ian O’Flynn. It takes place Thursday 8th and Friday 9th, each day we’ll be stopping in towns along the way to do challenges. … There’s more

I Heart Tea Crowd Episode 8 - Dermot and Dave

It’s here… it’s finally here! After a marathon editing session (Dermot, we’re sorry we chopped off your shoulder…) and a couple of evenings feeling like we just couldn’t bear to share our exclusive footage of Dave Moore’s old haircut with the world, we have a new episode of Tea Crowd. And look, it’s 20 minutes long. Our YouTube account got upgraded - high 5! As usual, we also have a big box of Lyons Tea stuff to give away. If you want it, this months Tea Crowd Teaser is what has four wheels and flies? The answer is in the video. Just leave your answer in the comments and we’ll pick a winner next time out.

Events: Live Webchat with Noel Gallagher happening now!

Get over to his Facebook Page sharpish because Noel Gallagher is doing a live webchat to give fans a chance to ask him questions about his upcoming live dates, the release of High Flying Birds or anything else that takes their fancy. You can submit questions through Facebook or on Twitter using the hashtag #AskNoel and if you can’t tune in right this minute, it’s being recorded and will be up on his YouTube channel later on. That’s all then… shove off.

Sweary’s Jaw: A Novel Interpretation

If you confessed to not knowing who the Kardashians were, far from sneering at your blissful ignorance, I think I’d have to kiss you. There are so few innocents left in the world. A kiss would be the least I could do. Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian are a veritable Cerberus of inanity and lip gloss, three vessels equally vapid and privileged and about as relevant to the real world as the threat of Godzilla. Everything about them is for sale – their weddings, their fallings-out, their bloating concerns, their likes and dislikes. Stars of a number of shiny, stupid shows, they truly epitomise reality TV, for though their carry-on is as planned and scripted as an episode of Sex and The City, actresses they are not. Their reality is TV. Their reality is celebrity. They exist privately to exist publicly, which is as sad for the onlooker as it … There’s more

Opportunity: Do you want to sleep with Sinead O’Connor?

  The following post appeared on Sinead O’Connor’s website yesterday, Saturday August 20th and was reported on Independent.ie: The man who runs my site will protectively suggest I may want to visit the bathroom for a few intimate moments and a subsequent cold shower before deciding to post this on the site but I will of course ignore him as it’s too late now and the her-moans are having the best of me. I recently read of a woman in America who married and regularly humps her truck. I don’t yet own a truck but I’m beginning to understand her head space. And am worried I too may be so desperate for sex that within days I might run up the road and hump Bray Cab’s whole fleet in one hour. Forty quid clear-up afterward. Can’t say fairer than that. Except maybe a photo for their web-site. Which would be … There’s more

Video: OMG it’s Jedward!

So, a weird thing happened to us yesterday. There we were, minding our own business (for a change), checking our email (for a change) and we come across one called ‘Message from Jedward’. Naturally we regarded it with a fairly hefty amount of suspicion since most emails we get purporting to be from 18-year-olds go straight into the spam folder but turns out there was nothing untoward about it…we really did get a message from Jedward. See? It might be one of those things you can actually describe as surreal, as opposed to most of the time when it’s common usage is mangled. Obviously we’re entirely aware that it’s a clever little ploy to promote their new album, but since the other hello videos they did were for the likes of Miriam O’Callaghan, Perez Hilton (who they described as the best website ever - sigh, they’re not even wrong) and Obama, … There’s more

Coming Soon: Movie Fest

The gang behind the awesome Movies.ie are bringing a little bit of Comic Con to Dublin the form of the upcoming Movie Fest. If you’re a film buff, you should probably start getting excited right about now. If you’re everybody else, you should just be glad that people are still working to make cool new things happen despite our pervading national gloom. High five to the innovators. Happening at Cineworld next weekend (August 13th /14th) “The event will showcase, for the general public, exclusive footage from upcoming Hollywood blockbusters along with previews of Hollywood films not due for release until late 2011. Day tickets are available for purchase for the event, and each day will include two high-profile feature film previews along with presentations from all major Hollywood studios. These presentations will feature a huge selection of extensive never-before-seen footage and trailers from some of the most highly anticipated films … There’s more

Replay: The Vodafone Comedy Festival

We spent a very sunny Saturday in a very black tent for The International Comedy Club show at The Vodafone Comedy Festival in the Iveagh Gardens last weekend. On the Thursday we caught Maeve Higgins, Tig Notaro and Eleanor Tiernan in an unexpectedly awesome all-female line-up. We can’t find official video from the weekend online just yet, but with Tig Notaro and Nick Thune being two brilliant new-t0-us acts that we’ve come away loving, we’re doing our duty to pop culture and telling you to check them out. The Comedy Fest, by the way, has lots of newfangled venue names like ‘The Cherry Top’ and ‘The V Room’ now that new sponsor Vodafone’s on board, but it’s still the same awesome weekend of comedy. Missing it and looking forward to next year already.

Galway Races: 2nd Leg of the Budweiser weather presenter auditions and Scott Campbell bets on Bahrain Storm

In Galway for the races? Even if you’re not, read on for the chance of a free pint! There’s an open invite to the Galway Races Budweiser Ice Cold Index party at The Skeffington Arms Hotel in Eyre Square on Saturday from 4pm. Rugby star DJ Cian Healy is on the decks and Jennifer Maguire is MC for the Galway leg of the auditions to find Scott Campbell’s weather presenting co-star for a national TV campaign. The Budweiser Ice Cold Index (a smartphone app that gives you money off your pint on hot days ‘the hotter the day the less you pay’ if you haven’t heard the spiel) are holding three heats to find a co-star for their weatherman Scott Campbell. The Dublin date has already passed but there’s still a chance to try out in Galway on Saturday or next month in Cork. Each heat has one winner who … There’s more

Pics: Tonight It’s Miller Time Launch

Pictured are some of the lads and ladies who attended last week’s launch of Tonight It’s Miller Time.       The shindig at Krystle, Harcourt Street, was to announce details of Miller’s Tonight Dublin, Tomorrow Ibiza event happening this Friday July 1st. 75 venues are taking part, 75 winners will be selected on the night and they and a friend will board Miller’s private flight to Ibiza for 24 hours on the club scene on July 2nd. Interested? Here’s the real money shot, details of the bars that are taking part…