• EP Stream: Galants – Galants

    November 21, 2016 - By 

    There’s something profoundly excellent about seeing a band wear their influences on their sleeve with a level of musicianship and a forward-thinking mentality that doesn’t yield to straight-up imitation. Dublin noise-pop Galants comfortably slot into that bracket – a fact very impressively underscored on their debut self-titled EP. Set for release on November 25 via US imprint Jigsaw Records, the four-track release – which masterfully tips its hat to the holy triptych, Teenage Fanclub, Dinosaur Jr and My Bloody Valentine – was recorded with Stephen Dunne at Lamplight Studios and mastered by Fergal Davis. Galants launch the EP at Whelan’s in Dublin on December 3.…

  • Other Voices Announce Vinyl Exhibition ‘Waxing Lyrical’

    November 21, 2016 - By 

    With just over a week until its return to Dingle, Other Voices have announced Waxing Lyrical, a new exhibition of artwork celebrating vinyl. With the official opening of the exhibition taking place on Friday, December 2 at pm at the Other Voices Hub on 12 Main Street, the exhibition “examines the collectors and hoarders, hipsters and upcyclers, innovation and interventions. Organisers said, “In an age of downloading and streaming we look back with nostalgia to the era of records, independent record shops and all of its connotations. We [will also] look at its siblings: graphics, hip-hop culture, street-art, Vjs, Djs…

  • Stream: Deadman’s Ghost – Unsaid

    November 21, 2016 - By 

    Back in April we shared ‘Insula’, a new cut from Belfast musician and producer Jason Mills AKA Deadman’s Ghost. Betraying some sonic lineage to the likes of Beak> and Tortoise, it promised the unravelling of new territory and – we hoped – some new material from the multi-instrumentalist artist. Now, seven months on, Mills has just announced details of his forthcoming third full-length release, Hypocritical Oath, which promises to be an album in which “dark tales, ambient swells, field recordings, ominous electronics and banjo twangs form part of a sonic tapestry”. Featuring additional production by David Baxter, Barry Lynn and Simon…

  • Video Premiere: Tuath – Who Do You Want Me To Be

    November 21, 2016 - By 

    Something that they have good reason to pride themselves on, very few Irish acts tread a path as singular as Donegal-based experimental noise band Tuath. A highlight taken from their Existence Is Futile EP (which we reviewed here), their new single ‘Who Do You Want Me To Be’ is a shoegaze-soaked garage psych gem that – combined with Nartystation’s wonderful, albeit slightly NSFW accompanying video – sifts through the murky depths of identity in a swirl of fuzz, groove and howling sax. Truth be told: this is right up there with our favourite Irish tracks of 2016. Have an exclusive first look at…

  • Premiere: Our Krypton Son – Everything Reminds Me Of You

    November 16, 2016 - By 

    Last month Derry songsmith Chris McConaghy AKA Our Krypton Son penned a column for TTA reflecting upon the somewhat unorthodox – yet seemingly very effective – songwriting process for his forthcoming second studio album. Bounding with the self-effacing spirit and wondrous lyricism that has defined his output to date, it well and truly piqued our interest in what lay in store for album number two. Now, a handful of weeks later, we’re very pleased to premiere the ‘Everything Reminds Me Of You’, not merely just the lead single from the release but easily one of McConaghy’s most focused and masterfully crafted…

  • Premiere: Dowth – Dowth

    November 16, 2016 - By 

    Every once in a while something lands in our inbox that makes us punch the air in quiet “fuck yeah” abandon. In the case of Dublin’s self-proclaimed “greatest pagantronic duo in the universe” Dowth, their debut self-titled LP induced that precise reaction on our first listen this morning. Comprise of John Kelleher (Rats Blood, GRIT) and Tim Ording (Melodica Deathship), the pair fuse acoustic instrumentation from melodica and fiddle to sample-based beats and synth drones, the pair conjure heavy, atmospheric sounds that draw “inspiration from the concept of ‘the otherworld’ in Irish folk and mythology.” Ahead of its release on hand screenprinted 12″…

  • Watch: Swords – Sixty Thousand Years

    November 16, 2016 - By 

    Dublin three-piece Swords returned recently with their sophomore LP Tidal Waves. Moving away from the dense layers of production that occupied their – still excellent  – debut Lions and Gold, the band have have strived to create a more organic, live sound on this record. Nowhere is this more present than on new single ‘Sixty Thousand Years’, a fragile ballad sparingly built on piano, drums, bass and vocals with little or no added embellishments. The forthright structure of the song allows Diane Anglim’s vocals to shine more prominently with an aching honesty not dissimilar to Sharon Van Etten or Broken Twin.  The song is accompanied by an equally…

  • Watch: Hot Cops – Dumbbo

    November 14, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of their debut London show at the Islington on November 30, Belfast trio Hot Cops have resurfaced with the suitably spaced-out video for recent single ‘Dummbo’. Featuring age-old visual hallmarks like burning marshmallows, pink bedsheet ghosts and some field ironing at dusk, it makes for a curious, uniquely realised four minutes for the threesome.

  • Watch: Robyn G Shiels – If I Were Thy Demon

    November 14, 2016 - By 

    Unveiled with the launch of a brand new website, Kilrea doom folk master Robyn G Shiels has teamed up once again with Belfast illustrator (and musician) Richard Davis for the funeral video for the former’s exceptional new single, ‘If I Were Thy Demon’. Having worked together on singles ‘Underneath The Night of Stars’ and ‘Hello Death’, it marks the third in a long-running series of collaborations between the two artists. Great as they all are, this might well be our favourite of the three to date. Get lost in the pair’s darkly netherworld.

  • Video Premiere: Hannah McPhillimy – Ruins

    November 14, 2016 - By 

    For many in the North (and quite a few others further afield) the name Hannah McPhillimy is synonymous with a very particular brand of delicately-woven, jazz-tinged indie-pop. Bearing the imprint of the likes of Feist and Daughter, the Belfast-based North Coast singer-songwriter has been on our radar for a few years now, with EPs Freedom Songs, Seeing Things and new four-track Wind Machine tracing the bloom of an artist whose craft and confidence have segued in sublime fashion. The second single to be taken from Wind Machine, ‘Ruins’ takes a philosophical look at a disintegrating relationship with both its musical and visual backdrop…