• The Dead Presidents – Can You Dig It? EP

    June 4, 2013 - By 

    It’s been a long trek for The Dead Presidents, having been a power trio in their early years, suffering from lazy comparisons to Thin Lizzy due to frontman (and former bassist) Matthew Wilson’s charismatic – to say the least – onstage demeanour. Having released very little other than an early brass section-free version of the band’s signature tune ‘She’s Falling In Love Again’ prior to this EP, the Dead Presidents spread almost solely on word-of-mouth press throughout the local circuit, with the launch of this very EP packing more people into QUBSU’s Radar than any in recent memory. One of…

  • David Byrne and St. Vincent give away free EP

    May 29, 2013 - By 

    Ahead of a pretty hefty U.S. and European tour David Byrne and St. Vincent have made their Brass Tactics EP available to download for free online. A collaborative release alongside their superb 2012 full-length debut Love This Giant, the EP consists of two remix tracks, two live tracks (including Talking Heads’ ‘Road To Nowhere’ and a previously unreleased track from Love This Giant. Brass Tactics tracklisting: 1. ‘Cissus’ 2. ‘I Should Watch TV’ (M. Stine Remix) 3. ‘Lightning’ (Kent Rockafeller Remix) 4. ‘Marrow’ (Live) 5. ‘Road to Nowhere’ (Live) Sound good? Download the EP for free below.

  • The Alice Kona Band split, release final EP

    May 27, 2013 - By 

    Belfast garage-pop quartet The Alice Kona Band have cushioned the blow of announcing they are no more by releasing their final EP online, the aptly-titled Alice Is Dead. Having released a couple of stellar singles over the last while – both of which feature on the release – the parting EP was recorded at Belfast’s Start Together in the summer of last year by Ben McAuley. On a brief statement made online, the band said, “We’ll be announcing a new project in the very near future. Huge thanks and much love to everyone that’s supported us over the last 4…

  • Robyn G Shiels – Underneath The Night of Stars EP

    May 21, 2013 - By 

    Almost locally renown for “taking his time” between releases, Belfast-based singer-songwriter Robyn G Shiels is equally – ever increasingly – justified in biding his time as a consummate, altogether important artist. As the very best wine cannot possibly stem from a rushed harvest, similarly Shiels possesses an instinctive knack for seeing the brilliant fruits of his labour (experience, regret and alleviation) arrive in their destined condition at the most appropriate time. Little over a quarter of an hour in length, his new EP, Underneath The Night of Stars, is Shiels’ present-day distillation of this fact. Emerging quietly via a slowly…

  • Robyn G Shiels releases new EP

    May 20, 2013 - By 

    Belfast-based, Kilrea-born singer-songwriter Robyn G Shiels has released his new EP, Under The Night Of Stars. Recorded and produced by Ben McAuley at Start Together Studio, Belfast, the album features a full band including McAuley on “guitars, drums, etc.” and original Therapy? drummer Fyfe Ewing on track number three of five, ‘If Now Is An Echo’. Cover artwork for the EP was created by artist Hanita Dadswell and photographer Ronan O’Donell: Shiels will officially release the EP at Belfast’s Barge this Friday, May 24. Purchase the EP (and stream ‘If Now is an Echo’ via Bandcamp) below.

  • Alana Henderson – Wax and Wane EP

    May 3, 2013 - By 

    Alana Henderson’s debut EP is a strong statement of intent. These dark folk songs are dominated by her powerful, nuanced cello playing and clear voice, with an able supporting cast complimenting each dramatic stroke with subtle harmonic flicks, background croons and interpretive percussion. It’s a beautifully organic sound, one which should appeal more to followers of the US indie end of the folk spectrum than to Mumford devotees. The opening title track is a thing of wonder, immediate and striking but revealing more of itself with every listen. Henderson’s confident cello stabs take centre stage, plucking, swooning and swelling round…

  • Vanilla Gloom – Vexed EP

    May 3, 2013 - By 

    Vanilla Gloom. It sounds like the sort of thing a depressed Willy Wonka might create. A grunge gumdrop, say. Just a taste and you’re transported back, back, back in time, all the way to the early-Nineties and a rain-slicked Seattle. Creatures in plaid lumberjack shirts and distressed jeans stalk the land, stomping their enemies under their Doc Marten-ed heels, paying tribute to King Kurt. Times are heavy. Times are good. Vanilla Gloom’s Vexed EP will take you back to those times just as surely as any magic lozenge. They’re a new-fangled, guitar-toting, female three-piece. They’re from Derry, originally, now based…