• Irish Tracks of the Week – 24th November

    November 24, 2023 - By 

    Some serious big-hitters among this week’s best Irish music. Dive into new Junior Brother, Lemonade Shoelace, Chalk, Two Nice Catholic Boys, Sly, Ciaran Lavery and more Photo by Adam Heffernan Junior Brother – The Men Who Eat Ringforts Two Nice Catholic Boys – Three Cheers for the Distant Observer Three Cheers for the Distant Observer by Two Nice Catholic Boys Ciaran Lavery – Shame (10 Years Later) Lemonade Shoelace – Soul Syndrome THEE U.F.O – Junk Funk Garbage Uly – Alex Chalk – The Gate Eoin Dolan – The Most Important Thing Is Peace Within Yourself ZOiD – Internal Space…

  • Radical Optimism Above All: An Interview with David Holmes

    November 8, 2023 - By 

    Ahead of the release of his most fully realised record to date, Blind on a Galloping Horse, Belfast torchbearer David Holmes talks radical optimism, Weatherall, self-awakening, signing to Heavenly and really making it count Artwork by Jimmy Turrell Photos by Steve Gullick Whoever coined “there aren’t enough hours in the day” might not have bothered if they were up on David Holmes. Lauded producer, generation-spanning DJ and soundtrack composer par excellence is the brief but it only grazes the surface of a trailblazer who has packed in more than most. Three sprawling decades in, it’s a journey that hits like…

  • Gig for Gaza Set For Vicar Street

    November 1, 2023 - By 

    A massive fundraising gig to raise funds for medical aid in Gaza has been announced. Taking over Vicar Street in Dublin on 28th November, Gig for Gaza will bring together some of the island’s very best artists – Lankum, The Mary Wallopers, Damien Dempsey, Lisa O’Neill, Pauline Scanlon, Síle Denvir, Niamh Dunne & Friends – to raise vital funds for Medical Aid for Palestinians Doubling up as the first fundraiser gig to be organised by a new, all-island initiative Irish Artists for Palestine, tickets go on sale at 10am this Friday, November 3rd November. Learn more about Irish Artists for…

  • Meet Gleo: A New Ambient and Experimental Series in Limerick

    October 25, 2023 - By 

    If live music has one grand, immutable law, it’s that most venues are usually only as vital as the sounders who inhabit them. In Limerick – a city we have been known to refer to as the beating heart of the island’s independent scene – it’s a sentiment you will often find spilling over in rooms like Dolans, The Commerical and Pharmacia. Without these spaces and the heroes that helm them, the sounders would know each other much less and a whole community would suffer for it. Yet for all the obvious rude health, for Jack Brolly and Caimin Walsh,…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 20th October

    October 20, 2023 - By 

    Dive into the very best Irish releases of the week, featuring John Francis Flynn’s stellar new single, the second LP from Tandem Felix, Nyahh’s essential Irish experimental compilation, Naoise Roo, I Dreamed I Dream, Ciaran Lavery and more   Nyahh Records – Under the Island: A Compilation of Experimental Music in Ireland 1960-1994 Under the Island: Experimental Music in Ireland 1960 – 1994 by Nyahh Records Tandem Felix – There’s a New Sheriff in Town There’s a New Sheriff in Town by Tandem Felix Naoise Roo – Silent Halls John Francis Flynn – Willie Crotty I Dreamed I Dream –…

  • Fonoon Festival 2023

    October 5, 2023 - By 

    The second edition of Arab Cultural Festival Fonoon returns to Belfast this weekend. Taking over 2 Royal Avenue from the 6-8th festival, the series is described by organisers as the gate to Arabia where everyone will have a chance to celebrate the rich tapestry of Arab culture, history, arts and music through a variety of entertaining and cheerful artistic workshops and activities suitable for all.” With the supreme aim of bringing people together and spreading positivity to encourage unity among communities, this year’s programme goes above and beyond to celebrate the beauty, diversity and vibrancy of Arab culture via art,…

  • ferna Announces Irish Tour

    October 5, 2023 - By 

    ferna has announced details of her first-ever Irish tour. Having also recently been announced to play this year’s Northern Ireland Music Prize ceremony on 15th November, the acclaimed North Coast singer-songwriter – real name Hannah McPhillimy – will play a string of shows throughout the island in November and December. Check out the full dates and details for the tour, which stops off in Cork, Dublin, Belfast – as part of this year’s Sound of Belfast -and Portstewart, below. The news comes six months after ferna released her sublime debut album, understudy, which you really should revisit: understudy (debut album)…

  • Spiral Night Market

    October 4, 2023 - By 

    Much like the likes of, say, Letterkenny or neighbouring Dundalk, Drogheda is a textbook case of an Irish town that more than holds its own as a thriving creative community beyond the confines of our native cities. Along with the likes of independent record store Bigmoon Records and any number of forward-pushing artists (Spit, A92 and hotgirl, to name just three) McHughs functions as a vital hub in the heart of the Louth town which you will, of course, find slap-bang between unlivable late capitalist hellscapes* Belfast and Dublin. * poetic licence applied In recent years, the Cord Street institution’s…

  • Full Line-Up Announced for SCANRA

    October 5, 2023 - By 

    The full line-up has been announced for the inaugural SCANRA. Taking over The Workman’s Cellar on Saturday, 4th November, 2023 at 7pm, it’s a new immersive night of music, myth and storytelling celebrating the Irish origins of Samhain through the voices and mediums of modern creators. Presented in collaboration with Workmná and The Thin Air, SCANRA was launched back in August with the announcement of live performances from acclaimed Belfast-based songwriter and pianist Clara Tracey, industrial-electronic artist Coolgirl (Lizzie Fitzpatrick, formerly of Bitch Falcon) and haunting acapella soundscapes from the Dulciana Vocal Ensemble—each set specially curated to evoke elements of the supernatural and the…