In the aftermath of sorry debacle known locally as ‘the Gates’ dividing lines have been drawn here. Whether or not you went to see the gates has become the most current litmus test for whether or not you are a real New Yorker. These tests come up frequently in the Big Apple. A few months […]
Mercury Rev are one of those bands who have a History. The journey from their debut album Yerself is Steam to their newest release The Secret Migration has been long and winding, taking in all manner of inter band warfare and sonic variance along the way. The original band line up was a six piece […]
“And who’s gonna raise a hand When all we were taught to do was dance Who’ll be able to stand After this avalanche” Thea Gilmore – Avalanche If Pete Townshend felt provoked, by an overbearing post-war generation, to write My Generation exhorting his elders to “just fade away”, Thea Gilmore’s ire seems aimed as much, […]
It is March 18th, the day after the day before. Ireland is suffering from a giant hangover. Callers to radio shows throughout the day describe how the Irish have made a show of themselves in front of the whole world, and newsreaders are suggesting that the level of disgraceful drunkenness was unprecedented. Things have never […]
David Mitchell has repeatedly proved his talents at a chastening productive rate. His first novel, Ghostwritten, was published in 1999 before the author turned 30. His second book, Number9dream (2001), was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. With his third work, Cloud Atlas, Mitchell not only garnered a second nomination for the book prize, he achieved […]
Heredity, the debut novel by Jenny Davidson, mixes a number of styles to produce a compelling, page-turning story that has been described as part detective novel, part twisted historical romance. It tells the story of Elizabeth Mann, a current day travel-writer/researcher, who, while in London, becomes obsessed with the historical character of Jonathan Wild, and […]
Women and rebellion is something McCafferty knows a lot about. Having grown up in Derry, she was at the centre of Northern Ireland’s civil rights movement for equal votes, homes and jobs for Catholics. McCafferty was there on Bloody Sunday in 1972, when British soldiers shot dead 14 marchers in Derry.
“Share out what we have got, not what we do not need anymore” It’s already March and New Year resolutions are already part of the past. Jingle bells and tinsel are so far away they are already buried in my memory. Belated email messages from friends that I hardly keep in touch with and who […]
Arguably, for decades after the end of World War II, the spectre of a revived far-right political/military movement has haunted Western Europe. This fear, though, has often been focused on the fantastic, rather than concrete. In his study on the presentation of neo-Nazis in major Hollywood films between 1945 and 1979, for example, Professor Lawrence […]