So here we are then - the top twenty Northern Irish bands of the year, as voted for by the ATL team.
From our ridiculous Ulster Hall show in March, to The Answer, General Fiasco and ASIWYFA all headlining the same venue in the last few weeks, via the biggest Glasgowbury ever and the Nordie takeover at Oxegen, the past twelve months have been an absolute gift for everyone at ATL. There's been so much to enthuse about we've struggled to fit everything we love into a mere two hour radio show every week.
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What is a single but a tasty aperitif before the feast of an album-sized main course? Well, of course it is on occasion an entirely misleading mission statement of an act's abilities which leads to crushing disappointment upon shelling out for the full, tedious text. But, as you can see with the number of names here that also appear on our singles of 2009 list, that's rarely the case with ATL's faves.
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Christmas is a time for many things, but primarily in our eyes it's time for lists. The collective critical might of Team ATL got their heads together, worked out a complex scoring system that would put the Duckworth Lewis Method to shame, and finally emerged blinking, tired and exhausted, with our favourite singles, albums and local acts ranked in order of preference as our cruel meritocratic society demands.
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Having just read the grinch's list of the most annoying Christmas songs ever, I thought it a good idea to redress the balance a little with a list of five vaguely alternative festive-y treats. In reality, my favourite Christmas songs are (inevitably) this and (I'm not ashamed to admit) this, but here's a few choice picks from supposedly more credible acts.
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Well, had you told us three years ago that a band of deranged ne'erdowells from Dublin would win our tiny hearts in 2009 we would most likely have offered you outside for some fisticuffs (we might anyway, that's the type of us). Fight Like Apes have been a firm favourite on the ATL playlist for some time, even headlining a gig for us in Stiff Kitten last year. We lured May Kay and Pockets the two handsomest member of the band into a trap using cheese and chicken wire and forced them into answering the following. The exchange took place in our native Ulster Scots and is tranlslated thus...
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Is there a rule that these should be old tracks? Specifically, forgotten gems?
Probably, but I don't care. I'm dying to spread the word about this...
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Think of Har Mar Superstar and the chances are the image of a sweaty Sean Tillmann gyrating in his undies or the giant inflatable dolphin from the 'EZ Pass' video will come to mind. Glorious I'm sure you'll agree!
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For the latest in our series of instant messenger chats, Rigsy catches up with Ian from A Plastic Rose to discuss the bands forthcoming single launch, their general ascendancy and how they managed to write one of the tracks of the year.
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So this is Christmas, and what have you done? As ever, November had barely even begun and every time we flicked our dial to a radio station it was wall to wall enforced merriment and oh-so-cosy festive bo... sorry... frolicks. We love Christmas, don't get us wrong, but for every Fairytale of New York there is a seasonal abomination that makes us want to boot an elf from here to Lapland and back. "Bah humbug", we say to the purveyors of X-mas tat, here is our list of the top five worst holly-be-decked offenders. Sir Cliff gets a bye, because we met him once and he smelt very nice.
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