• Open Ear ’24 Preview: A Q+A with Elaine Howley, Andrew Morrison & Dion Doherty

    May 1, 2024 - By 

    It’s just over four weeks until Ireland’s finest festival, Open Ear, returns to Sherkin Island in West Cork From May 31 to June 2, the festival, now in its sixth edition, will be another world-beating celebration of experimental and electronic sounds, from these shores and beyond. As well as unmissable sets by the likes of Hilary Woods, GNOD R&D, da Googie, Lesko, Brian Not Brian and Caskré, this year’s outing doubles as a trove of specially commissioned collaborations between two artists that have not previously worked together. Right up there with the most essential of these is long-time TTA favourite…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 12th April

    April 12, 2024 - By 

    It’s silly how strong a week it’s been for new Irish sounds. Here’s the very best of them from Shiv, Natalia Beylis, a horror soundtrack by Lankum’s Ian Lynch, His Father’s Voice, MELTS’ second album, Voids, and the latest in Moot Tapes’ single series featuring Flowers at Night Shiv – limerence Cosha – MurMurs Interlude Natalia Beylis – Lost – For Annie (Excerpt) Lost – For Annie by Natalia Beylis Ian Lynch – All You Need Is Death (Original Soundtrack) His Father’s Voice – Arm’s Length Arm's Length by His Father's Voice Moot Tapes Single Series: Flowers at Night –…

  • Cutting Teeth: A Conversation with John Patrick Higgins

    April 10, 2024 - By 

    A rare jack of all trades & master of many, Belfast-based writer, filmmaker, playwright, screenwriter, theatre director and musician John Patrick Higgins has only gone and successfully written two books. We can’t say for sure, as they’re not yet published, but we can all but guarantee you that they’ll change your life. Or, your know, your immediate awareness of indispensable writing from these shores. The first of those two books, Teeth: An Oral History, is, we are reliably informed, a bitingly funny story illustrated by the author and featuring a glossary of useful terms, as most of his references pre-date…

  • Landless Announce Second Album, Share ‘The Fisherman’s Wife’

    April 8, 2024 - By 

    Landless have announced details of their highly-anticipated second album. Six years on from their debut album Bleaching Bones – and us featuring them as ones to watch in our 18 for ’18 feature – the Dublin/Belfast quartet will release the ten-track Lúireach via Glitterbeat Records on 7th June. Teaming up once again with John ‘Spud’ Murphy, the Lily Power, Méabh Meir, Ruth Clinton and Sinéad Lynch have revealed that they haeve added sparingly-used instrumentation – including Lankum’s Cormac MacDiarmada on fiddle, viola and banjo throughout, as well as trombone from Alex Borwick on ‘The Newry Highwayman’ – on the album.…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 22nd March

    March 22, 2024 - By 

    It’s been another ridiculous week for world-beating Irish music. Dig into new Fears, MELTS, David Holmes, New Jackson, Lucy Gaffney, Kormac feat. MayKay and more MELTS – Waves of Wonder Fears – affinity affinity by Fears Kormac feat. MayKay – Waiting on You David Holmes feat. Raven Violet – Blind On A Galloping Horse Remixes Vol. 2 David Holmes Ft. Raven Violet – Blind On A Galloping Horse (Remixes Vol. 2) by David Holmes Lucy Gaffney – Forgive to Forget New Jackson – Like Ruth Mac – Tutti Fruiti Fizzy Orange – Choo Choo

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 15th March

    March 15, 2024 - By 

    With not a single St. Paddy’s-angled misfire among them, today sees essential new albums from Blue Whale and HAVVK, Fight Like Apes covering a Sinéad O’Connor classic in aid of Palestine, stellar new tracks by Garrett Laurie, Ciaran Lavery and more Blue Whale – Last Immediate Images Fight Like Apes – Black Boys on Mopeds Garrett Laurie – No Warning Ciaran Lavery – Honeybun HAVVK – To Fall Asleep To Fall Asleep by HAVVK Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin – Siren Spring Siren Spring by Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin The Guilteens – The Boat

  • Pixies at 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin

    March 11, 2024 - By 

    One afternoon in 2016, I necked an industrial vat of coffee and proceeded to make the case for the Quietus that, when all is said and done and hyped and re-issued, ad infinitum, Trompe le Monde was Pixies 1.0 at their most downright irresistible. Marking their shapeshifting, space-obsessed last hurrah before combusting two years after its release in 1993, it’s spent the last three decades astride its predecessor, Bossanova, as a genre-mangling snapshot of the band being indie rock’s OG mentalists par excellence.  Eight years on, I’m more sure than ever that, for all their relative dearth of Kim Deal, it’s…

  • Lankum Scoop 2023 Choice Music Prize

    March 8, 2024 - By 

    Lankum have just won this year’s RTÉ Choice Music Prize for False Lankum. As time has shown us, there is no such thing as a foregone conclusion at the annual awards but Lankum’s fourth full-length taking this year’s Best Album prize is unlikely to be a shock to many. Released via Rough Trade back in March last year, the John “Spud” Murphy-produced triumph firmly cemented the Dublin quartet’s status as a singular force in forward-leaping experimental folk. Among the plaudits the album has released over the last twelve months include a Mercury Prize nod, five stars from the Guardian and…

  • Bonnie “Prince” Billy Announces Irish Tour

    March 6, 2024 - By 

    Bonnie “Prince” Billy has announced a six-date Irish tour for August. The Louisville artist – aka Will Oldham – will play a string of relatively intimate shows in Clonakilty, Cork, Limerick and Galway, before two dates in Dublin at the National Concert Hall and Whelan’s respectively. Check out the full details via the rather lovely poster below. Presented by Foggy Notions, the shows will see Oldham supported by Nuala Kennedy and Eamon O’Leary. Tickets go on sale for all venues this Friday, March 8 at 10am.