Musical Women of the North

A small, rough-and-ready zine I made at GRSNI & UsFolk: Zine Workshop as part of Belfast's International Women's Day celebrations (9th March 2019). The zines made in the workshop were based on the theme of women that inspire you, so I chose to focus on some of the wonderful female acts on the local NI music scene.

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Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt - John Frusciante

Dedicated to Clara Balzary, bandmate Flea's daughter (Source: wikipedia.org) "My smile is a rifle, won't you give it a try?" The first time I listened to Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt was in the back of my family’s campervan parked in Calais after we’d just been robbed. I hadn’t listened to it – or any of Frusciante’s narcotic haze of nineties releases – since, preferring his more polished offerings of To Record Only Water for Ten Days and Shadows Collide With People , until my sister bought me a copy of Niandra Lades for my birthday. My main memories of the album were Frusciante’s wails making me jump as I tried to drift off with my headphones in. So, safe to say, I was a little apprehensive upon receiving this gift. Although released in 1994, the first half of the album – Niandra Lades – was recorded prior to Frusciante’s departure from the Red Hot Chili Peppers during the recording of Blood Sugar Sex Magik at the allegedly haunted ...

Beats and Bombs: The Story of Belfast Rap

Rat Out Records' event at The Sunflower (Source: my own) Belfast is famous for many things – ships, conflict, Van Morrison – but not quite hip-hop. Unlike the other Irish cities which have spawned the likes of Dublin duo Versatile or Limerick’s The Rubberbandits , the subculture hasn’t gained the same notoriety and recognition in the North. As a genre created by African Americans in 1970s New York, it may be fairly easy to see why the Irish brand of rap hasn’t exactly had the same level of success. Despite this, Northern Ireland is by no means lacking in musical talent; the region has produced big names like The Undertones, Snow Patrol and Two Door Cinema Club. Even on a more grassroots level, the local indie rock and folk scenes in Belfast and Derry are booming. While it may seem that we prefer our music with a catchy chorus and three chords, Belfast’s underground rap scene is alive and kicking if you’re prepared to look for it. A simple Soundcloud or Bandcamp search ...

Book Review: Just Kids by Patti Smith

Title: Just Kids Author: Patti Smith Publisher: Bloomsbury (2010) ★★★★★ “No one expected me. Everything awaited me.” I almost always find that the best part of an autobiography is the beginning: the writer’s youth. Once they’re rich and famous, it’s not nearly as interesting a read. Strictly speaking, Just Kids isn’t an autobiography, it’s a memoir: “…a salute to New York City during the late sixties and seventies…a true fable…a portrait of two young artists’ ascent”. Although I am a fan, I knew very little about Patti Smith’s personal life, and the very fact that there is little mention of her music career somehow cements the book’s appeal for me. Just Kids details Smith’s love affair with photographer and fellow artist Robert Mapplethorpe during New York of the late sixties and early seventies: the time of Andy Warhol’s Factory stars and drag queens, musical revolution, psychedelia and, of course, drugs. A little like Morrissey’s autobiographical offering, Just Kids...

Kristen Sinclair

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