• Stream: Pleasure Beach – Go

    April 23, 2015 - By 

    Belfast dream-pop bands are few and far between. Deeming themselves just that – exactly 3,339 miles to the east of Baltimore’s Beach House – are Pleasure Beach, a new-fangled five-piece who met whilst working in the “estimable coffee shops of Belfast”. Featuring members of Northern Irish acts including Yes Cadets and In An Instant, the band’s debut single, ‘Go’, takes its cue from “pounding stadium Americana, hypnotic krautrock and blurry-eyed Scandinavian pop”, forging a self-assured and decidedly mesmeric four-and-a-half minutes of sun-kissed, wanderlust-driven pop. A self-proclaimed “part bruised break-up song, part existential post-apocalyptic horror story”, you can stream the track below.

  • Watch: Sleep Thieves – You Want The Night

    April 21, 2015 - By 

    A masterclass in woozy, nocturnal electro-pop, You Want The Night by Dublin three-piece Sleep Thieves is easily one of our favourite debut albums by an Irish band in… well, forever. A year on from its release, the Sorcha Brennan-fronted band have unveiled the video for its title (and arguably best track) ‘You Want The Night’ – and what a distance director Mike P. Nelson has gone to wonderfully, rather cinematically capture the song’s dark, marauding tangents.

  • Album stream: Screaming Parent – The Completist

    April 20, 2015 - By 

    Tagged on Bandcamp with terms including “bad glitch” and “cubase disasters”, The Completist by Screaming Parent AKA Dudley Colley of Dublin’s Dudley Corporation is ten tracks of self-proclaimed “spare-room recorded bedroom classics”. Knowing self-deprecation aside, it’s most definitely not a “disaster” from the musician. With ridiculously infectious melodies, Of Montreal-esque harmonies and Postal Service-like beats melding very nicely across a collection of tracks, the album evokes, at different points, the likes of The Books, Pinback and Metronomy. According to Colley, the album – released in advance of The Dudley Corporation’s fifth studio album – is his first solo “misadventure”, recorded in between school runs and…

  • Exclusive: Fight Like Apes New Album Artwork

    April 15, 2015 - By 

    We’re pleased to exclusively reveal the artwork for their Fight Like Apes‘ forthcoming third self-titled album, created by our very own deputy editor/photo editor, Loreana Rushe. Released on May 15 through Alcopop records, we will have a full review of the album in our May issue and MayKay from the band will also be discussing the recording of the album in her column. Tracklisting 1. I am not a Merryman 2. Crouching Bees 3. Pop Itch 4. The Schillaci Sequence 5. Didya 6. Numbnuts 7. Pretty Keen On Centerfolds 8. The Hunk And The Funplace 9. I Don’t Want To Have…

  • Stream: And So I Watch You From Afar – Redesigned A Million Times

    April 15, 2015 - By 

    A few days on from playing new material to a handful of fans and friends at a secret show in Belfast, And So I Watch You From Afar are streaming the triumphant ‘Redesigned A Million Times’. Taken from their new album, Heirs, is track has a distinctly more linear, pop-centric feel to previous material, whilst maintaining some of the classic hallmarks of the Northern Irish quartet’s sound. ASIWYFA play Dublin’s Olympia on June 19 and Belfast’s Mandela Hall on June 20 as part of a massive European tour. Go here to win tickets to the former show.

  • Watch: SOAK – Blud

    April 15, 2015 - By 

    With her debut album, Before We Forgot How To Dream, set for release via Rough Trade on June 1, SOAK has unveiled the video for ‘Blud’. Capturing different aspects of the Derry’s artist’s recent skatepark tour and more, the release is the second version of the video, the first, pre-Rough Trade video being released last year. Win tickets to SOAK’s Belfast show at the Empire on June 10 here.

  • I Am The Cosmos Set for Belfast Debut

    April 16, 2015 - By 

    Dublin electronic duo Cian Murphy and Ross Turner AKA I Am The Cosmos have announced their debut Belfast show on Saturday, May 23. The pair will play the free-entry Chromatic at the new-fangled Woodworkers. Choosing to make rare live appearances and having signed a deal with Faber Music, IATC are working on a follow-up album in Dublin’s National Concert Hall as part of the Artists in Residence project. Establishing itself as one of the city’s finest regular gig nights, Chromatic has already played host to Girls Names, Sleep Thieves, Jape, Go Wolf and Sleep Thieves. Photos by Dorje De Burgh.

  • Sea Sessions Announce New Acts

    April 14, 2015 - By 

    Ireland’s self-proclaimed “biggest beach party”, Sea Sessions returns to Bundoran from Friday 19 to Sunday June 21. Joining the likes of already-confirmed acts including Seasick Steve, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Le Galaxie, Jape and R.S.A.G. are new additions The Riptide Movement, Black Grape, Interskalactic, Little Hours, The Whereabouts, The Winters and Half of Me. Ray O’Donoghue, Festival Director says, “We’re thrilled with the latest announcement. The Riptide Movement are one of the hottest live acts out there and Shaun Ryder’s Black Grape have a 20th anniversary tour happening. This will be his second time at Sea Sessions. Alongside all the great…

  • Watch: Villagers – Everything I Am Yours

    April 13, 2015 - By 

    Showing one man’s sad spiral of rejection on city streets, Villagers’ video for ‘Everything I Am Yours’ is a harrowing yet remarkably touching supplement to one of the highlights from their new album, Darling Arithmetic. Directed by Jeremy Thraves – responsible for videos for the likes of Radiohead’s Just, Blur’s Charmless Man and Sam Smith’s Stay With Me – the video cuts between the aforementioned struggle – one man’s desire for love and to be loved – and footage of Conor O’Brien performing the song on guitar, drums and piano. Make sure to check out our main interview feature with O’Brien in the current issue of…

  • Hangar Set to Launch New Dublin Venue

    April 8, 2015 - By 

    Dublin’s Hangar team have announced the official launch party of their new venue, located on Andrews Lane, in the heart of Dublin City. Having been “hard at work creating a new space, a new cultural hub ready to cater to all types of music and events”, the venue – boasting a brand new, state of the art sound system – will kickstart on Aprll 17 with a MMOTHS (pictured) DJ/AV set (feat. Slipdraft), The Minutes and New Secret Weapon, with The Building Society DJ’s taking over upstairs. Tickets are extremely limited (300 advanced tickets) and only one ticket per person. RSVP here. First come, first served basis.