NO ENCORE

Dave brings good tidings from Toronto, Daithí is a Love Sensation, and telly addict Zara Hedderman makes a dramatic return.Up for debate; the debut album from The Murder Capital, celebrity waxwork etiquette, and the demise of another homegrown outfit...ACT ONE: Zara's summer of TV, Dave's enjoyable escape and Daithi's latest festival engagement.ACT TWO: Otherkin RIP, Taylor Swift takes control, Billie Eilish conquers all, Cheryl Cole has relevancy issues, and Slayer upset the delicate sensibilities of NASCAR.ACT THREE: Songs of the Week with Kojaque x Luka Palm, Kim Gordon, and Bat For Lashes.ACT FOUR: The Murder Capital unleash their debut album amidst a tidal wave of hype. Your NE trio duly dive in.EXIT MUSIC: Wallis Bird - 'Brutal Honesty' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The NO ENCORE studio becomes People’s Republic territory, as show OG Colm O’Regan hops back on the mic to cover for our brother in The 6ix. Craig and Daithi complete a familiar trio – do line-ups get any better than that? Why yes, they do, as we also have a new interview with The Country’s Best Band™, Girl Band.ACT ONEThe return of O’Regan comes at a busy time, as Daithi arrives fresh from The Fleadh (a boyhood dream, we learn) with new music in tow and Craig reveals he’s off on a last-minute jaunt to New York. Will he secure Broadway tickets to see Jeff Daniels’ poignant turn as Atticus Finch? Find out in a fortnight. But before that…ACT TWOOur news starts with a cruise, as Belle & Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch declares “It's like the geeks won – the geeks made it to heaven for a long weekend!” We take a look at B&S’s “Boaty Weekender” around the Med (it’s no “Motörboat”). Elsewhere, A$AP Rocky is found guilty but he’ll be grand, BTS go on a break and make Gavin James a star in Korea, and Jay Z gets into bed with the NFL.ACT THREEAhead of the September 27 release of The Talkies, Girl Band are in conversation with our own Dave Hanratty.ACT FOUR Songs Of The Week time. Big Thief get prolific, Kendrick supports a Top Dawg mate and Whitney give us wistful end-of-summer vibes.ACT FIVEHow do you follow a puzzling masterpiece like 22, A Million? We find out, taking a deep dive into Bon Iver’s i,i. Oh, and there’s a drive-by Slipknot review, natch.EXIT MUSICDaithi – ‘Nobody New Around You’ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

NO ENCORE returns with another deep dive into the world of cinema as powered by a musical theme.Dave Hanratty and David Higgins are joined by Norma Howard, who knows a thing or three about all things film, as they do an Irish movie for once by focusing on 1980s kitchen sink drama but also colourful fantasy musical Sing Street…Is Sing Street a strong depiction of recession-era Dublin? Are the songs any use? How about the casting? And Jack Reynor’s accent, for that matter? What the hell is with that ending? And just how smoothly did director John Carney handle the press tour for this one? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s one thing you should know about Nadine O’Regan: never interrupt her when she’s halfway deep into a new 10-minute sonic odyssey from Tool.With Dave bound for Toronto, the beloved broadcaster and journalist joins NO ENCORE to unpack a busy August week in music. Aside from chatting to Craig and Daithi, you can also catch her chatting to the infinitely less interesting likes (ahem) of Jon Ronson, Graham Norton, Tracey Thorn and Kevin Barry on her own podcast, My Roots Are Showing.But before that, let’s get musical… ACT ONE:Craig might have been at home watching Daniel O’Donnell’s bizarro Eurovision knock-off “Mary From Dungloe”, but Daithi and Nadine actually went to a festival. They discuss the good, the bad and the traffic of All Together Now. ACT TWO:We pay tribute to David Berman, one of the finest writers of songs and words you are likely to hear. The former Silver Jews frontman passed away less than a month after his glorious return to music with Purple Mountains.From there, we analyse Chance The Rapper’s reaction to The Big Day criticism, with Nadine delivering an impassioned defence of the album (she likes at least two of the 22 songs).Lightening the mood further, A$AP Rocky is a free man, Tyler can play New Zealand, Noel Gallagher’s still a quote machine and Nic Cage reveals all about that ‘Purple Rain’ karaoke.ACT THREE:Noel Gallagher also has a song out, so there’s that... Elsewhere in Songs Of The Week, Tool’s first release in 13ish years and Drake gives Jai Paul a massive payday. We knew he was good for something.ACT FOUR:If you caught our recent ‘Sounds Of The Hot Boy Summer’ episode, you’ll know how much we adore Clairo’s ‘Bags’. Does the rest of her Rostam-produced debut album live up to that greatness? Immunity is our Album Of The Week.EXIT MUSIC:Felted Fruit & Laurie Shaw – ‘Mum & Dad’s’ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the studio once again approaching critical meltdown levels, Dave and Craig welcome the returning Dean Van Nguyen to the table.Dean has a new book out - Iron Age: The Art of Ghostface Killah - and he explains why you should pick it up. Elsewhere, the new Chance the Rapper album comes into all of its overlong and irritating focus...ACT ONE: A bit on Dean's book.ACT TWO: Oh joy, there's another flowery Fontaines D.C. profile in the wild. The boys examine the New York Times' take on the Dublin punks and there's some other scattergun news action, too.ACT THREE: Songs of the Week featuring BoyW1DR, HAIM and Brockhampton.ACT FOUR: Chance the Rapper got married and he wants to tell you about it. For 77 minutes. Sigh.EXIT MUSIC: lullahush - 'Elysium'   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not to go all Santana or anything but jesus christ the studio felt like it might actually melt down during this one. Yes, it's a two-hour episode. You're welcome. On the agenda; a tournament of summer tunes, the cancellation of Versatile, and a chat with Orla Gartland, who is awesome. ACT ONE: A brief preamble for once.ACT TWO [5:10]: The horrible Cats trailer, Versatile's reckoning, and the Mercury Prize nominations - tis the week in news.ACT THREE [24:15]: Songs of the Week~!ACT FOUR [36:15] In lieu of an album - yes, again - the boys consult Spotify's 'Songs of the Summer' playlist and go all European Football Championship knockout on the whole thing in a bid to discover the official NO ENCORE Sound of the Summer.ACT FIVE [1:14:00]: Dave hits up a sleepy franchise chain coffee shop in Dublin city centre to welcome Orla Gartland home with the best of all gifts - a 33-minute interview. They discuss moving to London, airport trouble, working in a despised cereal café, her excellent new EP and a whole lot more.EXIT MUSIC: Tandem Felix - 'Nightclub (I Sold My Soul To The Devil)'  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The boys are back - well, two of them, at least. With Daithí away, Dave and Craig will play. On the agenda; the new Ed Sheeran album, Craig's festival trip abroad and the current state of The Strokes, and one Song of the Week that isn't like the others...ACT ONE: Craig talks about Bilbao for a bit.ACT TWO: News including the world's biggest 2Pac fan, Rihanna under fire, Lizzomania, and Tool vs Justin Bieber.ACT THREE: Songs of the Week with Purple Mountains, another Charli XCX collab, and a song that holds up. ACT FOUR: Ed Sheeran has gathered together a bunch of his superstar mates for a team-up album that has greatly upset Dave and Craig.EXIT MUSIC: Pillow Queens - 'Gay Girls' (Elaine Mai remix) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

That's a Superman II reference, kids. It's a case of 'abandon ship' this week as the entire crew leaves Dave on his lonesome. Sad times.Luckily, the birthday boy is able to call on ace rising rapper Nealo as a co-host. Tangent-friendly chaos ensues as the boys talk Longitude, Versatile, Jeremy Renner (yes, again) and being middle-aged now.ACT ONE: Fresh from Longitude, Nealo gives his perspective from both onstage and off.ACT TWO: News! The Jeremy Renner rabbit hole goes deep, JAY-Z aims that little bit higher, and Metallica look to expand their audience.ACT THREE: Songs of the Week with Villagers, Madlib, and Sampa The Great.ACT FOUR: More news because Dave forgot some.ACT FIVE: Steven King of Fangclub discusses his band's new album Vulture Culture and the unique personal struggles he overcame to deliver it.EXIT MUSIC: ILENKUS - '3456' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A ridiculously stacked episode this week as the OG Three return to the fold. There's reviews of huge gigs, a great interview and a genuinely insane foray into the world of music from a Hollywood superstar.Let's do this...ACT ONE: Reviews of Mother Pride Block Party, Glastonbury from the couch, and Vampire Weekend's trip to Trinity College.ACT TWO: Tons of acrimonious news featuring Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Jack White, Interpol and Dave and Craig's old haunt doing them proud. ACT THREE: Bantum is back and he's got a rake of ace tunes with him. But first, the boys catch up with a man rejuvenated as he celebrates 10 years of making music. ACT FOUR: Songs of the Week with Jeremy Renner (yep), Kanye, and a homegrown team-up.ACT FIVE: Thom Yorke returns with another solo effort, but what do the guys make of ANIMA? EXIT MUSIC: Dashoda - 'In Between'  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back at it with another music and movies breakdown; NO POPCORN returns after a brief life hiatus with man of the moment Elton John.No, he's not in studio as he's very busy, but rather the film of his life - Rocketman - is up for discussion as the Two Davids dive into a most fantastical story... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.