• Wassailing Away: An Interview with James Yorkston

    Just before James Yorkston began his tour around Ireland to celebrate the release of his latest album The Cellardyke Recording and Wassailing Society, Deirdre O’Brien caught up with the softly spoken Scotsman to discuss everything from his very content life of simple domesticity to working with KT Tunstall and the recording process that lead to such an intimate sounding record. The talent of James Yorkston really is something special to behold and the talent of the singer/songwriter/author/artist is so impressive; every album you listen to of his, every gig you attend feels like you’ve been made privy to a well…

  • Stream: A Yes Playlist

    Very obviously completely unrelated to anything that is happening, anywhere in the world, pertaining to politics, nationalism and all things in between, we’ve decided to compile a ten-track Yes playlist, featuring affirmatively-inclined tracks by the likes of Tune-Yards, Mogwai, Elliott Smith, Beck and Surfer Blood. Stream that below once you’ve finished admiring the strawberry above.

  • HWCH ’14 special guests announced

    The special guests (or honourary “Heroes”) of Hard Working Class Heroes 2014 have been announced. Set to join an already extremely impressive line-up of new and emerging Irish musical talent, the MayKay-fronted Fight Like Apes (pictured), Meath indie rock five-piece Ham Sandwich and fast-rising Derry singer-songwriter SOAK will perform throughout Dublin from Thursday, October 2 to Saturday, October 4. The organisers of the annual festival of hotly-tipped homegrown music have also announced details of HWCH and the City – a music trail of free, all ages gigs in some of Dublin’s best and most unique shops, restaurants and coffee shops. Go…

  • Stream: Slow Skies – Bodies

    The follow-up to the beguiling ‘Ice Field’ – released at the start of the month – Dublin dream pop duo Slow Skies have gone one better with ‘Bodies’, a wonderfully unravelling, reverb-soaked effort that lulls and summons in equal proportion. Delicate and funereal, the track – conjuring the likes of Hope Sandoval, Explosions In The Sky, Hanne Hukkelberg, Hope of the States and – teases with its perfectly plodding pace and Karen Sheridan’s increasingly beatific vocals. ‘Bodies’ will feature on Slow Skies’ forthcoming EP, Keepsake, set for release via faction on September 26. The duo play Donegal’s Balor Arts Centre on September 29, Dublin’s Sugar…

  • Death From Above 1979 – The Physical World

    Death from Above 1979 swagger back into your life like that former lover you swore you’d gotten over years previously. You thought ‘yeah, that’s cool, good for them’ when they announced they were playing music again, but you genuinely weren’t convinced. You went back to listening to The Black Keys and secretly viewing live performances from way back when on Youtube in the dark when you thought no-one was looking. Then, boom – in they stride, and you’re the same weak-kneed simpleton you were in 2004. Ten years is a long time. The bare-cheeked audacity. They still have the nerve…