• Metropolis Announce Arcadia Spectacular

    October 15, 2015 - By 

    Already an essential proposition across November 7 and 8, the inaugural Metropolis festival in Dublin will boast another, self-proclaimed “unrivalled” element: Arcadia Spectacular. The first in what’s set to be a series of art installation announcements for the festival at the grounds of the RDS, the Arcadia experience unifies every element of art into a vivid sensory matrix taking in sculpture, architecture, theatre, circus, robotics, engineerings, lightning, music and cutting edge technology. Their interactive stage, titled The Afterburner is one of eight stages and spaces to be explored at Metropolis. Check out the current line-up for the music side of things…

  • Stream: Paddy Hanna – Underprotected

    October 15, 2015 - By 

    A prophetic tale-teller and uncannily perceptive pop talisman, Dublin’s Paddy Hanna is, for us, something of a sub-genre unto himself. A key exponent of Paddyhannaism, week by week, his talents become yet more apparent, not least during a string of dates across the country recently that have coalesced as some kind of Good Word of Irish music and testament to a burgeoning appreciation of an artist who emanates an air of resolution. Taken from the forthcoming two-track EP of the same name – set for release on December 4 – ‘Underprotected’ is another superb statement of intent, coursing and balanced with feverish fragility and…

  • Watch: Cloud Castle Lake – Genuflect (Live)

    October 15, 2015 - By 

    Currently over in the States playing some shows for CMJ, Dublin quartet Cloud Castle Lake have long been one of the country’s more idiosyncratic and consistently innovatory acts. Having teamed up with Dublin-based collective This Greedy Pig, the band have unveiled the video for ‘Genuflect’, a seven-minute capturing the latest – nigh on beatific – stage of the band’s forever forward-thinking evolution. Tapping into something profound across its sleep and release, the track fuses Mingus-esque brass with totemic percussion, effects-soaked guitar, lead-like bass work and Daniel McAuley’s ever impressive, range-defying vocal acrobatics. If you’re in NYC, don’t miss them at Routh Trade on Saturday…

  • Download: Paper Trail Records – Thanks For Listening

    October 12, 2015 - By 

    Compiled and released by Paper Trail Records for World Mental Health Day 2015 on Friday, Thanks For Listening is already one of our favourite Irish compilations in… well, ever. Featuring everyone from Katie Kim, Paddy Hanna and Shrug Life to Eskimeaux, Cloud Castle Lake and Simon Bird, the sixteen-track release – featuring both Irish and international acts – was put together to help raise awareness for World Mental Health Day, founded in 1992. All proceeds from this compilation will go directly to Console, so please help by donating what you can. Artwork by Holly Tratnor and Brian FitzPatrick. Stream (and…

  • Stream: Saint Sister – Blood Moon

    October 12, 2015 - By 

    Having made a big impression at Hard Working Class Heroes last weekend, Irish duo Gemma Doherty and Morgan MacIntyre AKA Saint Sister have hit the ground sprinting with their new single, ‘Blood Moon’. Taken from the band’s forthcoming Madrid EP – set for released via Trout Records on October 30 – the track is a brilliantly earworming three minutes of drifting and empyrean folk-pop. Madrid was recorded in a short, “intense” session at County Kerry’s Noise studio by Alex Ryan of Hozier. Stream ‘Blood Moon’ below. Photos by Deborah Sheedy.

  • My Tribe Your Tribe – Ghost With You

    October 8, 2015 - By 

    The follow-up to the sublime ‘Will To Survive‘ – one of our favourite Irish tracks of the year thus far – Dublin’s My Tribe Your Tribe are back with a new single, ‘Ghost With You’. Marking their expansion to a three-piece with multi-instrumentalist Colm Daffy entering the fold, the track – yet another instantly impressive slice of anthemic indie-pop from the George Mercer-fronted band – is accompanied with a self-made video featuring the band playing and recording the single. Check out the video below.

  • Watch: Sleep Thieves – High

    October 8, 2015 - By 

    Set to play New York next week, Dublin threesome Sleep Thieves have unveiled the video for their new single, ‘High’. Directed by Canada-based Irish artist and filmmaker Claire Byrne in Toronto, the video presents an otherworldly Arcadia of tripped-out, anonymous fantasy land; one that fuses extremely well with the Sorcha Brennan-fronted trio’s dusky electro-pop.

  • Stream: Documenta – Chiaroscuro

    October 7, 2015 - By 

    Having delivered a suitably (inter)stellar performance supporting Girls Names at their album launch in Belfast last week, drone pop septet Documenta are streaming a new track from their forthcoming second album, Drone Pop #1. A drifting, subtle dance of burrowing psych-pop, ‘Chiaroscuro’ is the Joe Greene-fronted outfit’s implicit manifesto distilled to five minutes of Kosmiche-soaked, two chord concrète groove. Drone Pop #1 – recorded by Ben McAuley at Belfast’s Start Together Studios – will be released via Touch Sensitive records on Friday, November 13. Pre-order it here.

  • Watch: Owensie – Dramamine

    October 5, 2015 - By 

    Taken from his highly-anticipated new album, Dublin singer-songwriter Michael Owens AKA Owensie has unveiled the video for the the release’s extraordinary title track, featuring Woven Skull’s Aonghus McEvoy and Villagers’ Conor O’Brien on drums and backing vocals. Evoking the more somnambulist musings of Department of Eagles, the song is a subtly layered, harmony-laden four and a half minutes of ensnaring acoustic majesty, superbly mirrored in the accompanying video from Bren and Bob of Able Frame Productions. The track was produced by Dek Hynes and mixed by James Eager at The Hive Studios in Wicklow. Dramamine is launched via Out On A Limb Records with…

  • Premiere: Empty Lungs – ‘Medicine/Bernadette’

    October 2, 2015 - By 

    Ahead of launching it at Belfast’s Empire Music Hall on Wednesday, October 7, we’re pleased to present an exclusive first listen to the new double A-side from Belfast alt-punk band Empty Lungs. Tracked by Andy Coles, ‘Medicine/Bernadette’ – was mixed by Chris Ryan and mastered by Dan Coutant in New York – captures the Kev Jones-fronted quartet at their emphatic best. See below for the band’s upcoming tour dates and our premiere of the release. The online sales from Bernadette will be donated to womenonweb.org.