I was in the states on September 10th, in New Jersey planning to head to Philly the next day, and you could not avoid it. It was in every paper, from the free Metro to the best broadsheets and everything between. It had its own website for months previous and one of the biggest marketing campaigns I have ever witnessed. No I’m not referring to the anniversary of the terrorist attacks. I’m talking about my subject, my lifeblood. Music.

More specifically I’m taking about Metallica.

Okay, I’m not going to lie.

I downloaded this little gem illegally.

But..

My downloading it, has led to quite a bit of good.

I promised I’d write this. I swear. I promised! Otherwise, I’d be in bed by now. Comfortable, moist after a quick shower, warmed by the duvets, cradled by the pillows, thinking about relaxing my muscles. Still, I’m not. I’m peering at the screen in the darkness, sipping my green tea, and listening to the ringing in my ears. And thinking back on that magical time at the pub.

The problem with being handed anything to review whilst drinking in a Dublin pub, is that the chances are; you’ll stumble home, put it somewhere then promptly forget where you put it. This will undoubtedly lead to several trashings of both your home and office before you find whatever it is you were supposed to review.

This is why it has taken so very long to review this year’s new EP release by the Irish Melodic Hardcore group, 20 Bulls Each (20BE). To the 20BE member who had the faith and generosity to shove a fresh and unopened EP into my hand in the bowels of the drunken vortex that is ‘The Foggy Dew’. I apologize for the delay.

Hey there…

I have something you don’t have.

I’m listening to it right now.

At this moment in time, I have ‘Care In The Community’ by Babar Luck booming through both 1000 Watt speakers as I do headphones I’m currently wearing. It’s just that good that it needs to be channeled twice, once to directly to the brain, mainlined, then again, through the collection of carefully aimed satellite speakers through the body.

Jia Zhang Ke’s 2006 film ‘Sanxia Haoren’ (English title ‘Still Life’) opened events for Dublin’s Chinese New Year celebrations. The sleeper winner of the Golden Lion Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival that year, it is a film that deserved more than the limited release it received.

The revenge movie, in its proper subgenre setting of harrowing gritty violence, I had thought to be a thing dead. Consigned to the video nasties of the 70s and 80s. Though briefly and occasionally resurrected for some brief gasps during the 90s. Gone were the days when you could find a movie about a man or woman who had just been pushed too far. Where there was no A-team like arsenal or some insane Seagal Hollywood-ed up ninja doing mental things with pressure points. Rather instead; some crazy fucker with a sock full of quarters beating people to death or a guy with a supped up blowtorch burning people for their crimes.

Trying to be impartial, when writing an Ulver review, for me personally, is not going to be easy, as I’ve loved everything they’ve released from their black metal roots, to folk and onwards to electronica and beyond.

In an effort to offer a wider variety of articles on the mountain. This year we will be covering the Chinese Spring Festival celebrations or as you’d probably more commonly know it, Chinese New Year.

Hey there,
I’m a bigot.

How you doing?

This is a letter from fan.

To Man.

Or well, joke aside, men.

First off, we lied to you. Although the topic says this is a review of the recent Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip gig at Crawdaddy (Dublin), it’s really going to be a review of the last three gigs the duo have done in Ireland. A piecemeal affair of happy memories and general commentary.

It’s taken me a number of weeks to hammer out this review. Largely because I think my brain needed time to digest what I saw and what I heard

The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust is a cooperation between poet/rapper Saul Williams and musician/producer Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails fame.) Most of the music seems to be the work of Reznor, while Williams – as the heading artist – brings the vocals, the lyrical message and the hip-hop fundamentals.

Stardust is not a bad film. In fact, it’s a rather good film, in the vein of Willow and Labyrinth. The problem is that to anyone who has read the book, it plays rather like J.S. Bach as interpreted by Ritchie Blackmore; while the experience is enjoyable in itself, you can’t help but wince as the complexity of the original is mangle…