• Watch: This Ain’t No Disco Episode 3

    With episode one having landed like an early Christmas present back in December, This Ain’t No Disco is an Irish alternative music program hosted by the tireless Donal Dineen and directed by Myles O’Reilly of Arbutus Yarns. Marrying music, visuals, discussion and collaboration over 50 minutes, episode three of the series – produced with no budget or sponsorship, and is “powered only out of passion, musicians and crew who worked […] voluntarily” –  features TTA favourites Rusangano Family, RSAG, Lisa O’Neill and Lankum’s Radie Peat and Darragh Lynch, as well as Bridget Mae Power, David Allred and Peter Broderick, and Stephen…

  • The Divine Comedy w/ Lisa O’Neill @ CQAF, Belfast

    It’s a while since Neil Hannon has toured with a full band version of The Divine Comedy, having toured last album Bang Goes The Knighthood solo back in 2010 (including a date in this same faux-starlit CQAF marquee) and having made most appearances since – such as his Mandela Hall performance upon winning 2015’s Oh Yeah Legend Award – with a stripped back trio of acoustic guitar, piano and accordion. The days of endless major label money having long since dried up, a return to the era of bringing along a full orchestra seems unlikely, but the promise of a…

  • Home Truths: An Interview With Lisa O’Neill

    Ahead of her highly-anticipated appearance at Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Bellaghy next Friday, May 5, Cavan folk raconteuse Lisa O’Neill talks to Brian Coney about the imprint of literature on her work, her admiration for Heaney and plans for album number four. Go here to buy tickets. Photos by Joe Laverty Hi Lisa. First off: what compels you to play HomePlace and what are your own experiences with the writing of Seamus Heaney? I’ve heard great things about HomePlace and feel honored to be invited to perform there. From what I’ve read and listened to of Seamus Heaney, I’m left…

  • A Time and A Place: An Interview With Lisa O’Neill

    While it may seem trite to state that music, like most art, is often shaped by its environment, it is a theme that’s so intrinsically linked to creative expression that it simply cannot be ignored. So it’s unsurprising then, when listening to the melodic alt-folk, and often traditional-leaning music of Lisa O’Neill, that the actual act of listening itself becomes more than just transformative, but transcendental – your mind’s eye can become fixated on lyrical allusions or musical tropes associated with specific locales, real or imaginary, that allow deeply rewarding connections to be forged. For O’Neill, her upbringing in rural…

  • Final acts announced for Forbidden Fruit 2014

    And So I Watch You From Afar, Girls Names (pictured) and Lisa O’Neill are amongst twenty-one final acts announced to play this year’s Forbidden Fruit festival in Dublin. Also the likes of The Flaming Lips, Flying Lotus and 2manyDJS at the annual Summer festival at Dublin’s Rotal Hospital Kilmainham include Erol Alkan, dOP, Detroit Swindle, Gavin James and more. Check out the full festival poster below. Forbidden Fruit 2014 takes place on Saturday, May 31 and Sunday, June 1. Go here to buy tickets and watch the video for ‘The New Life’ by Girls Names below.