Friday
Altered Hours
Lavery's Mister Tom's Belfast 7.30pm £5
laverysbelfast.com
From Cork, this excellent psych-rock/pop band embark on a nationwide tour to plug their unapologetically titled debut album, In Heat Not Sorry, which was released earlier this year to widespread approval. More dates coming your way in December.
Vision Collector
Medley Fleet St Dublin 8pm €20
medley.ie
In other days, this here newspaper was once produced in the building which now houses the Medley café-bar, which is the location for tonight's bash from the Vision Collector crew. They've a full dancecard with RTÉ Pulse's Will Kinsella, Breen, Nathan Jones and Pineal Navigation at large, as well as some unique visual art. All this plus you get to stand and marvel at what used to be The Ticket's old gaff.
Erick Morillo
Button Factory Dublin 11pm €25
erickmorillo.com
There used to be a time when Erick Morillo was a regular visitor to these parts. That was back when the dude was a regular at places like Spirit, Red Box and Planet Love thanks to hits like I Like To Move It. These days, it's Morillo's Subliminal label and club night which keep him busy, including collaborating with folks like Eddie Thoneick, Angel Taylor, Junolarc and Eli & Fur. Support tonight from Al Gibbs and Ronan O.
Tw!tch
Mandela Hall Belfast £15/£13/£12
twitchbelfast.com
As tasty twin treats go, tonight's double-header from the Tw!tch crew takes some beating with Optimo and Midland in the frame. Glasgow DJs Keith McIvor and Jonnie Wilkes have been responsible for many great nights out and record releases over the years.
Nigel Mooney's Organ Failure feat. Jean Toussaint
JJ Smyths Aungier St 9pm €15
jjsmyths.com
As (still unconfirmed) rumours run rife of the demise of JJ Smyths, the heavy guns are out in force to give the fabled venue a send-off. Guitarist Nigel Mooney was the first to play the sepulchral upstairs room on Aungier St with his Gripewater Blues Band back in 1986, and for what will probably be his last gig there, he is flying in ex-Jazz Messenger, saxophonist Jean Toussaint. If you've gotta go…
The Importance of Nothing
Project Arts Centre. Ends Nov 19 7.30pm €22/€18
projectartscentre.ie
The latest in director Gavin Quinn's absorbing riffs on classic writers focuses on Oscar Wilde, where the man who declared all art to be "quite useless" is now put to a very specific use. Here Wilde becomes the subject of an anti-homophobic workshop in an imaginary prison, where prisoners explore and repurpose his life and work to suit their own expression. That process archly mirrors Pan Pan's, finding a rigorous understanding the man and the material to create fractured, freewheeling and rough edged equivalents. If that sounds weightily conceptual, it is: Wilde, glittering and coded, is translated into something coarser and more overt. That may be our understanding of Wilde, though, whose gossamer artificial comedies now feel shackled by his real tragedy.
Saturday
Julia Holter
Vicar St Dublin 7pm €25
ticketmaster.ie
Art pop, indie pop, experimental pop – call it whatever you like. California's Julia Holter might be drawn to the more alternative elements of the songwriting game, but it's her attention to melody that corrects any misgivings. In other words, the music is odd, but shot through with brilliant ideas and results.
Romare
Wah Wah Club Dublin 11pm €10/€8
wahwahclub.ie
Archie Fairhurst returns to Dublin with a new album under his oxter. Like last year's Projections, the recently released Love Songs: Part Two is futher example of Fairhurst's prowess as a sample- embellishing producer. What has changed between albums is that the grooves that he's digging have swerved from funk and soul towards disco, psych and even trad and folk sources. It should make for quite a wow at his first Irish headliner.
Division
Pygmalion Dublin 9.15pm €10
pyg.ie
Swiss DJ Sonja Moonear is the woman at the top of the Division bill tonight. Her brilliantly textured minimal house sets at venues like Weetamix, Robert Johnson and Panorama Bar, where she kicked off at Get Perlonized!, put her on the map. Release-wise, she's had a flurry of tracks on Cosmo and Ruta 5, while she shared a "Cocoon In the Mix" slot with Carl Craig.
Sunday
A Different Republic
The LAB, Foley St, Dublin Until February 5
Four leading contemporary artists, Amanda Coogan, Suzanne Walsh, Aideen Barry and Corban Walker mark the 20th anniversary of the Irish government's landmark report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities A Strategy for Equality.
