REVIEW: Boyce Avenue – Mandela Hall

We all know that story of the small town band that gets noticed on YouTube and makes it big. Boyce Avenue are the latest band in this trend. However, they are not just another name to add to the ever-expanding list!  The band deliver fresh acoustic sound and songs with real sentimental meaning. They embody what all music should be in this time of dance and techno takeover!

BY CHRISTOPHER SHARKEY Continue reading

REVIEW: Cedric Has a Name – What We Want + 3 Songs EP

Cedric Has a Name also answers to Chris Steenson, a Belfast-based singer/songwriter who has cut his gigging teeth alongside the likes of Junior Johnson and Ian McHugh of A Plastic Rose. His first EP, ‘What We Want + 3 Songs’ is a melodic blend of indie, slowcore and lo-fi sensibilities that are perfect for those times in life when we just don’t know what it is we want, or what we have seems to be slipping away. Or, if you’re a bit more mundane, it’s a typical cut of classic rainy day shoe gazing soulfulness.

BY ROMANO MULLIN Continue reading

REVIEW: The Open Ear Literary Journal

The Open Ear literary journal is a collection of contemporary poems and short stories compiled by students of Queen’s University Belfast.  It signals a new generation of young writers taking a keen interest in writing and follows on from the likes of previous literary publications within the university such as The Group, which made-known local writers Seamus Heaney, Edna Longley and Ciaran Carson, and the Gown Arts Supplement, among others.
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BY JANETTE LOUGHLIN
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NEWS: Alliance HQ targeted as dissidents strike in university area

 

Two men were arrested and a viable device was defused in the early hours of Friday morning in an alley opening on Eblana Street, just off University Street. The alley opening lies just behind the headquarters of the Alliance Party. This building also doubles as the constituency office of Anna Lo, MLA.

BY LORCAN MULLEN Continue reading

ARTS: The Hangover part II

"The Hangover Part 2"‘The Hangover Part II’ is the inevitable sequel to a film which proved that comedies that were unfunny, unlikeable and thoroughly boring, could be both commercial and critical hits. This one proves that they can have equally unfunny, unlikeable and thoroughly boring sequels.

BY MATTHEW MCKERNAN

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FEATURE: Eurovision gets the X-Factor

After working through the first Eurovision semi-final, the second clearly allowed for a well deserved break. Essays are due (impending doom), but Jedward and ice cream are too hard to resist. Glee is clearly a big influence this year, the best act being Estonia with the Rachel Berry-esque girl singing about going to Rockefeller Street. There is no Rockefeller Street, in case you were wondering, but that is irrelevant for the voters of Eurovision.

BY EMMA GALLEN Continue reading

ARTS: Yelle – Safari Disco Club

I’m by no means fluent in French, but I know my feel-good tunes when I hear them! Enter ‘Safari Disco Club’, a soundtrack to your summer just waiting to be played out along side beach parties, living room raves (complete with home-made foam machine) and night drives in the tepid summer air. Yes, it’s sung entirely in French with the exception of a bonus remix track, but that doesn’t make it incomprehensible if you’re not Pepé Le Pew. Fun transcends the language barrier with this album. You’ll probably make more sense of these lyrics than Lady Gaga’s newest export anyway. Plus they toured with Katy Perry on her UK tour earlier this spring, bringing the exposure Yelle needs to make it big here on the summer circuit.

BY JANETTE LOUGHLIN Continue reading