Tag Archives: Derry

Our Krypton Son

Our Krypton Son – Derry singer-songwriter

What you may need to know…

01. Christopher McConaghy, better known as Our Krypton Son, of course got his pseudonym from watching Superman II.

02. Having released his self-titled debut full-length in 2013, he’s shared the stage with big-name acts like Snow Patrol, Hozier, and Two Door Cinema Club, as well as treading the boards at T Vital and Other Voices.

03. Streaming above is the video new single Everything Reminds Me of You, taken from his upcoming second album, Fleas and Diamonds, releasing via Small Town America Records.

04. Catch him launching said long-player at a special gig in the Nerve Centre in Derry, this day week, Friday 10th.

Thoughts: Creating from the circumstances and tools at his disposal, McConaghy wrings big sounds out of big songs.

Our Krypton Son

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Axecatcher – new EP and upcoming shows

What you may need to know…

01. Metallic hardcore is the order of the day from Derry four-piece Axecatcher.

02. Intriguing genre nerds in 2012 with debut single The Odalisque, the band have kept fairly prolific, releasing EPs in 2013 and 2014, while supporting bands like KENMode and Rotting Out has kept their profile up.

03. Streaming above in its entirety is third EP Common Blood, self-released on the band’s Bandcamp last week. Coming soon to other platforms.

04. One can safely assume that a new EP means gigs to be announced in short order. Stay tuned to their social media for more.

Verdict: Nothing fancy and no polish, just a big, focused, fupp-off racket. Sound.

Axecatcher

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 Diana King, Kitty O’Kane and Collette Devlin outside Strand Road police station in Derry yesterday evening

Three women [Collette Devlin, Diana King and Kitty O’Kane] have handed themselves into a police station in Derry, stating they have procured and taken illegal abortion pills and requesting that they be prosecuted, in protest at Northern Ireland’s restrictive abortion laws.

…The women hope to trigger a trial to showcase the archaic nature of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act – the legislation which makes abortion in Northern Ireland illegal except in extremely rare circumstances.

King, 72, a retired social worker, said she felt compelled to make a stand…  “It is unforgivable how women are being treated. I am handing myself in to the police to inform them that I have procured the nine-week abortion pills on several occasions,” she said before making her way to the police station.

…The three women put themselves forward ahead of younger women, because they no longer have jobs that might be affected by a criminal record.

Northern Irish women ask to be prosecuted for taking abortion pills (The Guardian)

Pic: Gareth Wilkinson

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Sister Ghost – Growing Pains

What you may need to know…

01. Sister Ghost is the garage-rock/punk project of Co. Derry’s Shannon D. O’Neill, formerly of all-girl post-punk trio Vanilla Gloom.

02. The project has quietly been turning out singles for nearly two years now, progressing nicely from quick-and-dirty grunge, to the sum of a wide palate of influences and reference points held together by O’Neill’s distinct voice and muddy/jangly guitar dynamic.

03. Streaming above is the video for new single Growing Pains, premiering yesterday on The Last Mixed Tape. Practice is hard sometimes.

04.  Shannon is joined in a live four-piece by an assortment of good buddies from various bands on the Northern scene (that might also be familiar to Irish music blog nerds). Last seen live at Dublin’s F_ Festival, more gigging activity is sure to follow off the back of the new release.

Verdict: Think a shiny, ’80s indie-pop bijou roughed up to bejaysus with squally alt-rock and punk influences. Glorious.

Sister Ghost

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About 170 years too late.

FIGHT!

Birmingham Mail reports:

“A wedding guest received a home food delivery with a difference – a spud with a stamp on it that had travelled 400 miles by post.”

“Dermot Bradley, a 52-year-old painter from Derry, got a huge shock when the Maris Piper arrived in the post from Birmingham – his address written in marker on the skin and a heartfelt message of thanks written on the other side.”

“It was from his sister-in-law, Edel, thanking him for a special wedding gift.”

Right so.

She’s still no An Post Guy though, in fairness

Potato posted in Birmingham with address written on in pen arrives safely in Ireland (Birmingham Mail)

Previously: Will An Post Deliver This?

00112143_58497375_fight (Top) Foyle MP Mark Durkan and (below) NI Minister for the Environment Mark H Durkan

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Rumours abound that Derry SDLP duo Mark Durkan MP and his nephew, Mark H Durkan MLA and NI Minister for the Environment went toe to toe in a city centre bar on Saturday night.

Both men are believed to have attended a family christening in the City Hotel on Saturday and later moved on to Tinney’s Bar on Patrick Street. They have both denied the story on social media.

Mark H can throw a punch in fairness, as evidenced in a charity fight in 2012.

Meanwhile, the NI Minister for the Environment in yesterday’s Sunday Journal asked the public to be more considerate of others in relation to noise and anti-social behaviour:

“Noise is a serious issue that can seriously affect our health and wellbeing and interfere with our daily lives. I would ask everyone to be mindful of the impact their behaviour may be having on their neighbours, fellow citizens and community.”

In a statement, Óglaigh na hÉireann has called on the SDLP to end its campaign of violence and to disband.

Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland, BBC NI

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The other Jimmy Carr.

Local election candidate, Jimmy Carr, claims the SDLP accused him of being a drug dealer.

Earlier this week The Derry Journal exclusively revealed that a Derry City Council (DCC) issued iPad containing “questionable” messages linked to Mr Carr had been handed over to the PSNI.

It is alleged that the messages were about illegal drugs.

However, The Derry Journal can now reveal that the PSNI have received a second iPad and are considering examining both devices to determine if any crime has been committed.

Councillor Carr says he will fight the election as an Independent.

He’s running in the Awk ward….

PSNI receive second iPad as Jimmy Carr claims SDLP accused him of being a drug dealer (Andrew Quinn, Derry Journal)

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A lorry driver has pleaded guilty to stealing a bra and underwear from a circus in Derry last month.

Seamus James Gerald Bonner, 32, from Ivy Terrace, committed the offence on 11 April.

He admitted entering, as a trespasser, a mobile changing room at a circus in Ebrington Square and stealing the bra and underwear.

Sentencing was put back until 20 June to enable the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Bonner?

Big Top?

Scanty details?

Etc.

Derry man stole Ebrington Square circus underwear (BBC News NI)

File pic: Eamonn Farrell/Photocall Ireland