• Stream: Tim Hecker – Amps, Drugs, Mellotron

    Experimental multi-instrumenalist and producer Tim Hecker has released an alternate version of his track ‘Amps, Drugs, Harmonium’ as part of the Adult Swim singles series. The re-imagining of the track, entitled ‘Amps, Drugs, Mellotron’ may seem foreign to the album from which it has been taken, (2013’s Virgins,) despite the original song being a moment of respite amid some of that years most cacophonous songs. This alternate version lowers in volume and tension more so than any other track from his starkly brilliant last album, though his fondness for drones and slow musical evolutions has not wavered. You can listen…

  • Stream: So Cow – Barry Richardson

    Taken from their forthcoming first album proper, The Long Con, Galway three-piece So Cow have made an extremely solid return with their new single ‘Barry Richardson’. A typically off-the-wall dose of slinky, guitar-led garage pop, the track calls to mind Pinkerton-era Weezer, Blur circa Modern Life Is Rubbish, the charming lyrical ruralism of Andy Falco (Mclusky/Future of the Left) and Deerhoof. The Long Con – produced by Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier, no less – is the band’s first album recorded in a studio and sees Brian Kelly joined by Dublin drummer Peter O’Shea and Jonny White on bass. According to the band’s Soundcloud…

  • Album stream: Oaks – Safe Haven

    One for fans of abstracted, hip-hop inflected ambient noise, Belfast-based musician James Bruce AKA Oaks has released his eight-track debut album, Safe Haven. Calling to mind everyone from Mouse and Mars, Labradford and The Books to Tortoise, Exploding Orchestra and Boards of Canada, the album – recorded in different locations but predominantly Bruce’s home – melds found sounds and samples with scattered beats, brass and strings to form an impressive, nicely hypnotic mid-point between drifting melancholia and bold experimentalism. The artwork for the released – arranged by Bruce, also drummer with Belfast prog band Kasper Rosa – features a photo taken by Tom McGeehan. Stream Safe Haven via Bandcamp…

  • Stream: Spoon – Do You

    Everyone loves the good weather at this time of year, right? And who better to sing a song about the searing heat than the Austin, Texas band Spoon? On the second single from their upcoming album, They Want My Soul, they have perfectly captured that sense of summer euphoria. The song, titled ‘Do You’, is the sound of the wind going through your hair as you drive the coastline with the top down – yes, its undeniably corny in a sense, but its just too lovely to pass up. The track is wonderfully textured, with shimmering keys and quirky backing vocals keeping…

  • Stream: Adebisi Shank – Voodoo Vision

    Dropped late last night, Dublin instrumental three-piece Adebisi Shank have got us even more excited for their forthcoming third album with the release of the somewhat familiar ‘Voodoo Vision’. A fixture of their live sets over the last few few years, the track – previously titled ‘Thunder’ – is a vocoder-laced, effects-laden brilliantly-realised, beautifully bastardised and utterly exhilarating six minutes of sheer instrumental transcendentalism. We’re fans, in other words. Stream the track – set to feature on the band’s forthcoming third album – below.

  • Stream: Grimes – Go

    The otherworldly summer sounds of Claire Boucher’s 2012 breakthrough Visions under her moniker GRIMES have largely been eschewed on this new single, unveiled in the UK by Zane Lowe of BBC Radio 1. Entitled ‘Go’, the track was originally penned by Boucher for Rihanna, who then turned it away. The song features a much punchier beat and a more dubstep inspired sound than anything the musician has touched before, opening with chilling harpsichord and Boucher’s luscious vocals, before twisting into a darker and heavier territory. The track also features Blood Diamonds, who has collaborated with the Montreal songstress in the past.…

  • Watch: The Vals – Quiet Part of Town

    The full band medium of Belfast-based singer-songwriter Paul Doherty, The Vals have unveiled the video to their new single, ‘Quiet Part of Town’. A wonderfully crafted effort, the song channels a timeless, psychedelic-tinged sound, broad, serene guitar chords marrying delicate keyboard lines, shuffling rhythms and sweetly-placed strings, not to mention Doherty’s vocals – a real centre-piece. Directed by Thomas McKeown and Daryl Randal, the video proves a suitably hazy, nostalgic accompaniment. ‘Quiet Part of Town’ will feature on The Vals’ forthcoming album, Wildflower May. Stream the video via Vimeo below.  

  • Stream: Courageous Endeavors – Prototype

    Jazz is great. Isn’t jazz great? The genre seems to be enjoying a resurgence, fronted by Toronto trio BADBADNOTGOOD, who recently dropped a rather sublime record as well as collaborations with the likes of Danny Brown and Earl Sweatshirt. The newest release in this new wave of modern jazz comes from a quartet called Courageous Endeavours. Hailing from Minneapolis, their debut album, Prototype, is an enthralling and vital addition to the rejuvenated movement; it’s brilliant, and absolutely worth listening to. In particular, check out ‘Habits Of Entitlement’ and ‘Second Hand.’ You can listen to Prototype below, and watch the music video for…

  • Stream: Spies – Moosehead

    Bursting straight out of the traps, ‘Moosehead’ by Dublin five-piece Spies is nothing if not a sonic statement of intent from a band tipped to go far over the next few months. A gazey post-punk effort brimming with confidence and purpose, the track – produced by Rian Trench of Solar Bears – sees subtly soaring guitar textures, propulsive rhythms and Matthew Broderick’s sublime vocals merge to form one of the most impressive songs from an Irish band we’ve heard this year so far. Check out Spies’ forthcoming gig dates and the video for ‘Moosehead’ below. July 26: The Old Blue Last, London July 28: The Sebright Arms,…

  • Watch: FLAWS – Feels Like Home

    Ahead of their debut EP launch on Wednesday night, Belfast-based three-pieceFLAWS have released their video for their first single, ‘Feels Like Home’. Evoking the stadium-worthy melodic rock of In Case of Fire – a band that two thirds of FLAWS, Steven Robinson and Thomas Camblin, were once members – the track is an infectious three-and-a-half minutes of melodic alt-rock, redolent of a certain increasingly bygone sound of in Northern Irish music, Indeed, according to the band’s label, OLD FANG, FLAWS “pack a welcome punch not seen in Belfast this side of the late-noughties banjo haze”. A battle cry in favour of…