Culture Vulture: What’s on this week
WHAT NOT TO MISS THIS WEEK
Talk of the town Townlands Carnival
Hermitage Green, Krafty Kuts and Rubberbandits headline this under-the-radar north Cork festival, which has attracted a word-of-mouth following courtesy of its laid back ambiance and hippy-ish vibes. With a family area, roots and dance stages, and ‘glamping’ facilities. Leades House, Macroom, Friday to Sunday.
Some like it Pet Brian Wilson
The iconic leader of The Beach Boys reprises the band’s classic Pet Sounds album in its entirety, with help from a vast backing band. Dismissed in their heyday as mere pop panderers, posterity has confirmed The Beach Boys as among rock ‘n’ roll’s original avant-gardists. Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin, Tuesday.
Together in eclectic dreams Yorkston, Thorne, Khan
Frowning Scottish folkie James Yorkston tours his delightfully idiosyncratic side project — a collaboration with Indian sarangi player Suhail Yusuf Khan and jazz bassist Jon Thorne. With songs at once dreamy and home-spun, these are gigs to tug at the heart-strings and fire your sense of wonder. Workman’s Club, Dublin, Tuesday; Coughlan’s Live, Cork, Thursday.
The radio show Polar Opposites
This RTE documentary considers the anti-abortion movement in Iceland, where terminations have been legal since 1935 (making it one of the first countries in the world to introduce abortion). Spearheading the pro-life movement in the tiny island nation is Corkman Father Denis O’Leary. RTE Radio One, Saturday, 1pm.
The TV show Vikings Uncovered
Historians Dan Snow and Sarah Parcak chronicle the transatlantic journeys of the Vikings and ask whether they could have made land-fall in the Americas 500 years before Columbus — and if so, what prompted the dangerous odyssey. RTE 2, Saturday, 6.10pm
The box set Ozark
Comedy actor Jason Bateman (right) turns his smile upside down to star in this Breaking Badesque tale of a crooked accountant trying to rebuild his life amid the picturesque poverty of Missouri’s Ozark mountains. Derivative and clichéd but Bateman is fantastic. Netflix from today.