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Livesets

  By seanear1ey | April 23, 2012 - 2:33 pm | The Culch
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Sometimes Culch/the Format collaborator Gerard Walsh has been working away on a side project for some time that he calls ‘Livesets’. The premise is simple he solicits local bands and song writers looking for a video to be made of them performing acoustically outdoors around Dublin - Temple Bar, Grand Canal etc. Busking to you, the viewer. The result is roughly three minute, single shot performances. Filmed in HD the post-production is gorgeous with subtle colouring and focus blur. I like them. Then again I may be biased because I happen to think Mr Walsh is pretty insanely talented. I’ll let you decide. So far there have been a total of eight Livesets videos from five different musicians / musical groups and Gerard is always on the hunt for more. See below for my top 3 fave. The Youtube channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/LIVESETSWMM/videos with a combined total of hits for all … There’s more →

Event: Dr. Sketchy’s Dublin and Molly Crabapple

  By Kitty Catastrophe | April 20, 2012 - 1:44 pm | Events, The Arts
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Molly Crabapple is an award-winning New York artist, author and all round kickass lady whose Victoriana-steampunk-Rococo work has appeared in places like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Marvel comics. Forever finding ways to fund and create personally fulfilling art projects, in September of last year she locked herself into a hotel room for a week, covered the walls in paper and filled every available square foot with her gorgeous, intricate brand of art. The project was called Molly Crabapple’s Week In Hell, it was funded by myriad backers on Kickstarter, and has since been turned into a book. Not one to stay idle for long, right now she’s in the middle of Shell Game, another Kickstarter-funded project, this time an art show inspired by Occupy Wall Street and the assorted global economic disasters, which will result in nine huge paintings that will deal with themes such … There’s more →

Game Review: FIFA Street

  By Anto | April 14, 2012 - 1:08 pm | Games, The Culch
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If there’s one sport franchise that was well overdue a reboot, it was FIFA Street. The original game, released in 2005, and it’s subsequent titles weren’t really taken seriously and they were quite cartoonish. The past five years has seen a major shift in football games with the rise of FIFA as the dominant, accurate simulation (for my money anyway). The advances they’ve made in terms of player models, game engine, variety and depth are really something to be admired and they’ve brought that passion to the reboot of Street. The focus here is all about individual ball skills, trick dribbling, faking out opponents and building up fluid momentum while moving the ball up pitch. The controls are similar to the main FIFA franchise and the left-stick, for example, is used for flicking the ball around to produce heel-chops, feints and step-overs. Some practice and rotating it in set patterns … There’s more →

Festival: Spirit of Folk launch 2012

  By Anto | April 12, 2012 - 9:50 pm | Events, Festivals, Gigs, Music, The Culch
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Myself and Peter popped along to the Spirit of Folk festival launch last week in Whelans. We were treated to a brilliants night of entertainment with TRAZ, Bunoscionn, The Young Folk and The Hot Sprockets. We had a chat to Martin & Natasha Duffy who are behind the festival on what they have in store for 2012: listen to ‘The @spirit_of_folk 2012 Launch #sof12’ on Audioboo Tickets are on sale now with day tickets for €35 and a weekend one for €65/family €120. You can find them at spiritoffolk.com, on Facebook here and Twitter at: @spirit_of_folk

The Format: Sea Sessions Launch 2012

  By seanear1ey | April 10, 2012 - 2:38 pm | Events, Festivals, Music, The Culch, Tourism
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We recently headed down to the Workman’s Club for the launch of this year’s Sea Sessions Surf & Music festival. The Bundoran beach fest takes place from June 29th to July 1st and this year features one of its best line-up’s to date. Complete with must-see recommendations from the likes of Phantom’s Derek Byrne, Goldenplec‘s Aidan Cuffe and the Indo’s Aidan Coughlan, here’s our festival preview.  

Comedy: Vultures

  By Laura | March 28, 2012 - 12:26 pm | Comedy, The Culch, The Internet
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You like to laugh don’t you? Of course you do, you dirty bitch. Well pay attention because this may make you do just that. If it doesn’t? Well we don’t know what to tell you. Irish detective web-series Vultures returns with a new series to your local computer screen. Probably the one you are looking at right now. Aye, we see ye. We at Culch.ie love a good detective story particularly one with the word ‘dicks’ in the title. The new episode features student detective Janine Drew as she makes a documentary about unemployed detectives in Ireland and tries to find out what happened to the former dicks of Vultures Private Investigations. Starring Suzanne O’Brien (Janine Drew), Sean Hackett (Niall Tennyson), John Morton (Jim Vultour) and David Thompson (Dan McGrain) it’s worth a look. The first of four; episodes will go online monthly between now and June. Produced by Mycrofilms, … There’s more →

Jacob’s Creek ‘Wine & Dine Experience’ Roadshow

  By Anto | March 26, 2012 - 4:38 pm | Food
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Fancy joining the Jacob’s Creek ‘Wine & Dine Experience’ Roadshow for free dinner and matched wines? It takes place take over the following dates: Dublin 27th March (myself and Darren will be there), Cork 4th April, Galway 19th April and Waterford 26th April. To request a reservation at these special culinary events, logon to facebook.com/jacobscreekireland and enter your details on the ‘The Wine and Dine Experience’ tab or email [email protected] with Jacob’s Creek ‘Wine & Dine Experience’ in the subject line, your name, date of birth (as drinks will be served), and contact details for you and a guest. Also please include which county event you would like to attend. Places are limited and guests will be chosen at random.

Do Over: Big

  By Laura | March 26, 2012 - 12:00 pm | Do Over, Movies & TV
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One of the most confusing things about Big is Josh’s wish. “I wish I were big” Not “I wish I was an adult” or “I wish I looked like that bloke from Splash! – his face is exceptional”. No. He wants to be ‘big’. Of course they had to work the movie title in somewhere but it’s an odd choice of words. “I wish I were big” could easily be interpreted as “I wish my underpants were a little tighter” but one would doubt that would merit a PG rating. Perhaps Josh meant “I wish I was 7ft 11” which makes more sense since Josh was turned away from a theme park ride because he was too short. I digress. Big (1988), if you somehow managed to skip childhood, tells the story of young Josh Baskin. Whilst at a funfair, Josh makes the aforementioned wish at a machine called ‘Zoltar … There’s more →

Festivals: Titanic Lockdown 2012

  By Laura | March 26, 2012 - 9:00 am | Festivals, Music
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We won’t lie. News of the Titanic Lockdown Festival made us genuinely concerned we’d piss ourselves with excitement. Launching Belfast’s Titanic celebrations on the 31st of March; Titanic Lockdown is billed as a ‘boutique’ festival in the heart of the docks. The (FREE!) daytime programme will feature an indoor village with street art, urban sports demos, fashion & jewellery making workshops, ‘Stare Wars’ (Que?), Wii Olympics, Magic, Face painting, Fire & Light Shows, DJ sets, live performances from leading local acts and a continental food market. The day events are taking place between 12pm and 6pm at T13, the enormous skate park/cultural space building in the Titanic Quarter. Come 7pm, ticket holders can see performances from Roots Manuva, Gilles Peterson, London’s Soul Jazz Sound System and many more to be announced. That’s not bad for £25 eh? The outdoor events take place under the great big yellow Harland & Wolff … There’s more →

Event: Dublin Dance Festival 2012

  By Jen McShane | March 23, 2012 - 3:00 pm | Events, Performance Art, The Arts
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  For those of you lucky enough not to be blessed with two left feet (yes, I’m talking about myself here), the artform of the dance is a wonder to behold. These super talented people can skip, dance, jump and move (like jagger, we’re told) with such effortless ease that it’s just not fair. Still, regardless of whatever credibility you have on the dance floor, you’ll surely love the Dublin Dance Festival. The Dublin Dance Festival are delighted to announce their deadly dancing (see what I did there) programme for 2012, offering audiences a wealth of experiences from the diverse, creative, sensuous and adventurous worlds of contemporary dance. From May 11th - 26th in venues across Dublin, lovers of dance will be treated to an array of exciting festival shows that will definitely sweep you off your feet. Festival events will appeal to audiences of all ages and tastes in … There’s more →

Do Over: The Brady Bunch

  By Hermia | March 23, 2012 - 12:00 pm | Do Over
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There’s an episode of the Gilmore Girls where Lorelai and Rory try to explain the beauty of The Donna Reed Show to Dean. The conversation goes like this: Rory: My favourite episode is when their son, Jeff, comes home from school and nothing happens. Lorelai: Oh that’s a good one. One of my favourites is when Mary, the daughter, gets a part-time job and nothing happens. Rory: Another classic. That pretty much sums up The Brady Bunch. It’s a beautifully simple show where one life lesson or general scenario is taken care of tidily in one quotable episode. The OCDer in me shrieked with delight when I first came across it about three years ago. Six siblings, two parents and a maid all living in close quarters and existing in perfect harmony. Sure there was the odd row, but nothing that couldn’t be quickly solved by some inward reflection and … There’s more →

Movie Review: Contraband

  By willok | March 23, 2012 - 9:00 am | Movies & TV
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Mark Wahlberg, akin to a Ken Doll, comes in two versions; the believable, serious, characterful, film and TV producer giving time to screen roles we know of Fighter and The Departed and also the swaggering, millennial era B-movie star who makes movie choices that are questionable, but fun to rip apart in a cinema post-mortem. In Contrband he travels firmly in the latter territory and hence in this review, he shall be Marky Mark. There isn’t too much of a plot to spoil in this type of fare; we’ve all been here before - a reformed family man slips back into the murky world of his criminal past to help out a relative, he brings together a motley crew of criminals and has to race against time to save his family. As such, things are on extremely shaky ground. Everybody is working very hard to convince us there is some … There’s more →

Gig News: Benjamin Francis Leftwich to play Whelan’s in November

  By Lisa McInerney | March 22, 2012 - 3:00 pm | Gigs, Music, Music Videos
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A bit of good news for those of you that love shimmery folk-pop that captures fleeting moments and spins ‘em up for posterity. English singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich takes to the stage in Whelan’s this coming November 3rd. Tickets are €15 each and are on sale now from Ticketmaster. Benjamin, whose acoustic sound and delicate vocals have earned him comparisons with Jose Gonzalez and Iron and Wine, released his debut album Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm last summer. Lead single Pictures secured the coveted “Hottest Sound” nod from Zane Lowe, but Shine here is just as nice. Benjamin’s nice too. ”I’d prefer it if we could give everything away for free,” he said, in an interview last year. “I want people to hear my music.” Sensitive, talented and a bona-fide indie kid? We could just eat him up.

Do Over: Charlie’s Angels

  By Hermia | March 22, 2012 - 12:00 pm | Do Over, Movies & TV, TV
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“Once upon a time there were three beautiful girls who went to the police academy and they were each assigned very hazardous duties. But I took them away from all that and now they work for me. My name is Charlie….” Now you stop that eye rolling immediately. I know for a lot of you Charlie’s Angels conjures up vile images of Cameron, Lucy and Drew dancing around in their underwear and being thoroughly ridiculous in every way, but I’m here to put you straight. Those movies were spittle in the face of every true fan of The Angels. Jill Munroe, Sabrina Duncan and Kelly Garrett - the three women who inspired a generation of girls and aroused a generation of boys. Sure there were other angels - blow-ins to fill up space - but those three were the original and best. Each of them represented a different type of … There’s more →

Music: The Sweetest Silence by Storyfold

  By Aaron McAllorum | March 22, 2012 - 9:00 am | The Culch
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Storyfold have unveiled their latest music video for their brand new single ‘The Sweetest Silence’. Directed by Billy Keane, the video mixes film shot on location at World’s End Studios, Dublin and self-shot videos from the recording of their debut album at Modern World Studios in Tetbury, UK. The Sweetest Silence is the 4th single to be taken from ‘Rocket Science’ but the first to feature pianist Lindsey Hogan on lead vocals. The song was included in music blogger 2UIBestow’s ‘Best 10 Songs of 2011’. He said: From the first few seconds of this track you know this is a special tune. Lindsey’s lead vocals are delightful and work so well with Paddy’s backing vocals. This is a fantastic uplifting song that deserves to be played loud! The band also embarks on a mini Irish tour that includes headlining Whelan’s, Wexford Street this Friday, March 23rd. It will see the … There’s more →