• Elastic Sleep – Bad Machine

    We’ve a lot of time for Cork noise-pop wizards Elastic Sleep here at TTA Towers (ok, it’s a singular tower) and never has that been more the case than now, with the release of their rapturous new single, ‘Bad Machine’. Continuing to sound like no other band in the island (at the very least) the Muireann Levis-fronted five-piece the song explores the idea of wilful submission in the face of self destruction, segueing from a hypnagogic groove to full-blown, feedback-drenched ire. Check out Echo Tree’s tripped-out video for the new single (available as a free download from the band’s Bandcamp and Soundcloud pages) and…

  • Reverberation Psych Weekender @ The Grand Social, Dublin

    With psych music these days now affording its current crop of disciples, a broader platform of sound experimentation to play with, it was in no way surprising to have looked at the diverse line up for last weekend’s Reverberation festival, and licked ones lips with fervent glee. Advertised as Dublin’s inaugural celebration of psych and drone music, The Grand Social played host to all things psychedelic with a dozen bands, various DJ’s and mind playing visuals, as well as cult films, all adding to the vibe of this 13th Floor Elevators’ inspired experience. Cork five piece Elastic Sleep, were tasked…

  • AAA: Reverberation Psych Fest @ The Grand Social, Dublin

    In this installment of AAA we go behind the scenes at the Reverberation Pysch Fest weekender which took place at the Grand Social in Dublin last weekend, featuring The Urges, Twinkranes, Magic Pockets, The Watchmakers, This Other Kingdom, Elastic Sleep, Dead Rabbits, Documenta, Autumns and much more. We’ll have a full review of the weekend online shortly. Photos by Ste Murray.

  • Festival Preview: Indiependence

    Cork’s major entry on the national festival calendar (and therefore the most important), Indiependence has established itself as one of the major festivals of the summer, typically by serving up diverse, quality line-ups in a relatively intimate setting, limiting admissions to 5,000, amid the fields of Deer Farm in Mitchelstown, the festival’s home since moving out from the town square way back (early iterations of the festival featured headline sets from Coolio and Dannii Minogue, among others, before it truly hit its stride as a camping weekender). This year’s announcements so far have been nothing short of quality, with Ash,…

  • The Co-Present Late Sessions Launch & Weekly Show

    Dwayne Woods, host of online alternative Irish radio show The Co-Present on Radiomade.ie – check their podcasts out here – has combined forces with show Niamh Farrell of Ham Sandwich to bring a monthly show at Dublin’s Workman’s Club, with the official launch taking place on Friday, February 27. Headlining the night are neo-psych quartet This Other Kingdom, who release their debut album Telescopic on April 11. Check their sonic concoction out on Bandcamp –  they’re sure to be one of the acts to keep an eye on throughout 2015, with new material being teased for their set. Following their set, singer & multi-instrumentalist electronica artist Patrick Kelleher (above) will be spinning…

  • Quarter Block Party 2015

    FRIDAY The excitement is palpable throughout the city’s creative communities in the run-up to the Block Party, and even before your writer gets to his relatively late start on proceedings, word filters through that the Structures and Strategies meeting will lead to more events in its vein, a forum for local creatives to air ideas and exchange thoughts. People’s gears are grinding already, it seems. We’re waiting outside the Gate Cinema for a few minutes and the small group outside is already conjecturing about what they’ll see out of charismatic American performer Kate McGrew (below), as well as plotting and…

  • Deep Down South: Like Light to a Fuse

    Cork City has been a fuse waiting to be lit. All this time, exciting, inimitable, indomitable people, have been creating, and facilitating, providing space, trying, and failing, learning, and improving, and resolving to do better. Coming together, helping each other. This weekend was a light to that fuse. The Quarter Block Party didn’t just meet or even exceed expectations, it utterly transcended them. A huge and varied multimedia programme, spanning music, art, theatre, discussion and good vibes, it delivered on all fronts. There’ll be a review with all the details and critique either tomorrow or Wednesday, and your writer will…

  • 15 For ’15: Elastic Sleep

    Set to feature in physical form in our forthcoming January magazine, we continue 15 for ’15, a feature looking at fifteen Irish acts we’re absolutely convinced are going places in 2015. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll going to be previewing each of those acts, accompanied by words from our writers and an original photograph by our wonderful team of photographers. Next up is Cork dream-pop band Elastic Sleep. Photo by Brid O’Donovan. There is much to be said for patience. After well-loved Cork pop combo Terror Pop abruptly bid adieu in mid-2012, the band’s core membership took their time about regrouping. Quietly and…

  • Watch: Elastic Sleep – Slip

    Cork dream-pop quintet Elastic Sleep have just unveiled the video for new single, ‘Slip’, following their debut EP, Leave You, which came out in April; and with fellow shoegazers The Altered Hours also hailing from the county, it seems to be fast-becoming a minor hotbed for all things psychedelic. ‘Slip’ – released through Big Tea Records as the second of their Winter Trio of singles – is available now from iTunes and Bandcamp for just £1. Watch the video below: