• Watch: Talos – Escariot

    Directed, shot and edited by the visual maestros at Feel Good Lost, Cork singer-songwriter Eoin French AKA Talos has released a suitably understated video of him performing a wonderfully delicate version of ‘Tethered Bones’. Reminiscent of the likes of Perfume Genius and the Antlers, the stripped-back rendition of the debut track sees French’s vocals take centre stage, the original track’s percussion inflections and electronic tangents purified to a gripping four and a half minute of serene performance. We approve, in other words. Check out the video (by FGL’s Brendan Canty and Conal Thomson) and the original track below.

  • Watch: TVVINS – Book (Live)

    Four months on from the propulsive electro-pop of their second single, ‘You Better’, Dublin duo Lar Kaye and Conor Adams AKA TVVINS have released a video of them performing a new track, ‘Book’, at Dublin’s Storm Studio. Featuring live drummer Lewis Hedigan, the track – evocative of the likes of PVT and early Battles – opens with the wonderful opening line,”So what? You read a book. I took it from you and you took a second look”, unravelling quickly to reveal an intoxicating blend of polyrhythms melding with throbbing bass lines, jagged guitar shapes and a general air of self-assured, summery…

  • Watch: We Cut Corners – Hunger

    It’s not long now until our next No Tomorrow show at Belfast’s Voodoo Bar on Saturday, May 3. Performing on the night is Jason Deadman (DJ set), Liza Flume and Dublin indie rock duo We Cut Corners, who have just unveiled the video for their new single, ‘Hunger’ Taken from the band’s hugely impressive second album, Think Nothing – set for release on April 25 in Ireland) and May 12 in the UK – the video for the track is the latest in a series of visual accompaniments by the fast-rising duo. Produced by We Destroy You/Dang and directed, filmed, edited by Kendy Ty the…

  • Stream: GO WOLF – One More Night

    Having recently (and very deservedly) secured the support slot for Wild Beasts at Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival on May 8, Belfast indie-pop band GO WOLF have released a slick new track, ‘One More Night’. Set for release on June 2, the song – recorded by Rocky O’Reilly at Start Together Studios and mastered by Robin Schmidt of 24-96 Mastering – charges forth confidently, gleaming synth-lines and bobbing rhythms meshing to form a strong three and half minutes, its main earworming melody lingering in the mind well after a first spin (which is no bad thing, of course). Check out the…

  • Croupier to call it a day

    Having played a stellar show at We Play Here’s Record Store Day Weekender show on Sunday, Wicklow indie rock band Croupier have announced that they are parting ways at the end of May. After six years together, the band released the following statement regarding their disbandment: “As some people may already know, as of June 2014, Croupier will be coming to an end. It has been a difficult decision to make, however, we feel it is the right moment for us to finish. It’s been an amazing experience in which we have had the opportunity to not only play music as five close…

  • Watch: Cave Ghosts – Come Into My World

    Released as part of this year’s Record Store Day (and, indeed, Gay) Dublin alt-pop band Cave Ghosts‘ sublime rendering of Kylie Minogue’s ‘Come Into My World’ has more than a touch of Devotion-era Beach House about it. Helping raise funds for Dublin’s Outhouse LGBT Community Centre, the woozy cover was released in the name of Record Store Gay on Saturday. Speaking about the track, the band said, “We wanted to completely reimagine the original song and create a visual accompaniment in the form of a music video. We desired a more lush sound to our previous recordings and achieved this…

  • Gig(s) of the week: Wallis Bird, Hornets EP Launch & Come On Live Long

    Having wisely branched out to more than one must-see gig in our weekly preview of shows happening across Ireland each week, this week there was no shortage of gigs to choose from. Alas, we must still be in some ways selective, otherwise we’d be saying, “Go to everything”. And who has the money or time for that? So, looking towards the next few days, we figured the following three shows are more than worth checking out: Having released her debut album, Architect, back in 2012, Wexford folk-pop musician Wallis Bird returns to Dublin on Friday night (April 25) for a show at…

  • Ciaran Lavery Announces EP Details

    Just over a year since the release of his exceptional debut album, Not Nearly Dark, Northern Irish singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery has revealed details of his forthcoming new EP, Kosher. Set for release on June 19 at Belfast’s Black Box as part of this years’s Open House Festival, check out the EP’s tracklisting and wonderful artwork by DMC and Ben Connolly of Angel and Anchor below. 1. ‘Left For America‘ 2. ‘Sophomore Rising’ 3. ‘Boxer’ 4. ‘A Ragtime Song’ 5. ‘Orphan’ While you’re here, feel free to stream the jubilant ‘Orphan’ from Lavery’s forthcoming EP via Soundcloud below. Photo by Cathal Goodwin

  • Castlepalooza Announces First Acts

    An annual fixture at the breathtaking Charleville Castle in Tullamore, Castlepalooza have announced their line-up for 2014. With a handful of acts yet to be announced, Super Furry Animals’ main man Gruff Rhys (pictured), indie-pop duo Summer Camp and Franco-Swiss DJ Gilles Peterson top the bill of acts performing this year. Several Irish acts including Hurdles, We Cut Corners, The Clameens, TVVINS, Affleck and Ships also feature in this year’s line-up. Buy tickets and check out full line-up for the festival – taking place across August 1, 2 and 3 – over at Castlepalooza’s official website. Here’s the launch poster for the festival and…

  • Stream: A Plastic Rose – Someone’s Daughter

    Currently making waves over in Nottingham, Northern Irish alt-rock quartet A Plastic Rose have unveiled the wonderfully eccentric video for their new single, ‘Someone’s Daughter’. Directed by Tom Coles and Benson Burrows, the video features a strange, friendly robot (related to Johnny Five from Short Circuit, one wonders?), who accompanies a couple of humans before an untimely demise in an abandoned tunnel. Pretty standard stuff, really. The second single from the band’s forthcoming second album Flickering Light Of An Inner War, the track was produced by Chris Coulter. Watch the video for Someone’s Daughter below.