REVIEWS
Album reviews
As opening salvos go, Tokyo Police Club’s A Lesson In Crime EP was as twitchy and raw as they come when it arrived back in 2006. It was that year’s Modern Age, and arriving...
Hailed for the past six years as one of the saviours of British indie, Twickenham boys-done-good The Mystery Jets have returned with an album that not only lives up to the gentle expectation...
For a subgenre that has so drastically altered the landscape of UK electronic music over the past few years, dubstep has been slow to begin building up a legacy of quality full-length releases....
Seeking a brief escape from Snow Patrol and time to record his "long desired country album", Gary Lightbody has done what all the superstars do these days - form a supergroup. It’s...
Maya Arulpragasam is undoubtedly a great style icon, and indeed a fascinating pop star: bursting at the seams with charisma, drop-dead gorgeous, heroically cool, and no little bit controversial....
Every once in a while an album seems to come out of nowhere and knock you clean off your feet, dazzle your senses and remind you how great music can make you feel so goddamn happy to be alive....
Following six years of churning out album after album of ultra-lo-fi pop, delinquent California native Ariel Pink has landed himself a deal with 4AD. If you wanted to be very smart about this, you...
The Strokes, Interpol, Arcade Fire… the list of bands doomed to spending their remaining days searching for the elusive magic which fired them to greatness on a classic debut is a long one...
The Choice Music Prize bestowed upon The Divine Comedy's Victory For The Comic Muse felt more like a career valediction than simply a nod for best Irish album of 2006. Neil Hannon's ninth album...
Even before the inevitable leak surfaced online, the release of This Is Happening, the third long-player from James Murphy’s LCD Soundsystem, was being overshadowed by rumours of...
Caught live
A bizarrely brief set from one of our favourite upbeat, antipodean electro acts left the crowd decidedly nonplussed in Dublin’s Tripod on Tuesday. While some welcomed the shorter set, allowin...
When news broke that Arcade Fire were set to play a ‘secret’ London show as a warm-up for their sprint across this summer’s festival circuit, blogs and message boards duly lit up...
November 30th, 2002: The Notting Hill Arts Club is filled with the usual music loving, workshy folk who seemingly always have the good fortune to attend such late afternoon musical showcases, albei...
"It's just me this year… It's the austerity tour!" Neil Hannon tells Ragged Words with a giggle a few hours before taking the stage at Dublin's Sugar Club. Tonight is one of a hand...
While the book on Irish album of the year may have already virtually closed before hot favouite Villagers' release their highly anticipated debut Becoming A Jackel this week, many in the UK - i...
The pre-show announcement goes something like this: “The artist has asked for you not to clap between songs, or until after he has left the stage. The exit is part of the show. The first half...
The last time Hypnotic Brass Ensemble were in Ireland, they left many an Electric Picnicker standing in the rain, peaking into a packed tent where early Sunday morning revelers were being whipped i...
Maybe Ragged Words aren't getting out enough but frankly we're a bit surprised Wild Beasts have so thoroughly sold out The Academy. There's such little room among the 850 that have squeezed through...
Notwithstanding an impromptu solo stand at the end of Animal Collective’s Whelans show a few years back, tonight is Noah Lennox’s debut Irish performance as Panda Bear. That being said,...
The rain seemingly hasn’t stopped for a moment as the Electric Ballroom spills out another bellyful of indie lovelies onto the ever-depressing streets of Camden Town. But the weather, despite...
