• Stream: The Rupture Dogs – Throw Your Heart Into It

    July 23, 2013 - By 

    Belfast-based alt-rock quartet The Rupture Dogs have released their latest single, ‘Throw Your Heart Into It’. The second track to be taken from the band’s forthcoming new album Feral, it was recorded by James Lyttle at Millband Studios, Lisburn and was mixed and mastered by Neal Calderwood at Manor Park Studio, Magherafelt. Stream or pay what you like for the single below. Alternatively, watch the video for the song – featuring the band’s bassist Terry McHugh headbanging like his life depends on it here – right here.

  • Getting Re-acquainted: Dinosaur Jr – Freak Scene (1988)

    July 23, 2013 - By 

    Until this point, noise-mongers Dinosaur Jr had never sounded so upbeat. Indeed, this seemed to be the moment that the entire American indie underground came out of its shell and decided to have some fun. But little did anyone know, this upbeat ode to joy was soon to become a fond farewell to the idealism and camaraderie of a scene that had fundamentally altered the lives of many. Goodbye indie charm, hello corporate clout. By 1988, Dinosaur Jr had silenced most of the doubters. The somnambulistic three piece had originally been the butt of many a joke, with their sloppy,…

  • Stream: PigsAsPeople – The Art Of Leaving Your House

    July 23, 2013 - By 

    Belfast-based post-harcore/noise-rock band PigsAsPeople have released a new single titled ‘The Art Of Leaving Your Home’. Set for release on Idle&Us in September, the track is available to download for free or pay what you like via Bandcamp. Stream the track below. The Art of Leaving Your House by PigsAsPeople

  • Swim Deep – Where The Heaven Are We

    July 23, 2013 - By 

      Back in the early nineties, when grunge was king and the Britpop cloud had yet to cast its boorish shadow over the nation, indie was a much more interesting minority concern. The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays’ pilled-up baggy; the fey jangling of Suede and early Blur; shoegaze swaying between the plangent ache of Slowdive and the speaker-threatening cacophony of My Bloody Valentine and the Jesus and Mary Chain – few could have predicted that by the middle of the decade, Ocean Colour Scene would be shifting units by the truckload. Many an ageing hipster will still get misty-eyed…

  • Villagers set to headline Harvest festival

    July 22, 2013 - By 

    As exclusively revealed on BBC Radio Ulster programme Across The Line, Dublin band Villagers have been announced as headliners of the inaugural Harvest Music Festival in Ards on Saturday, August 31. The festival – taking place at Grey Abbey House – will also feature performances from Hayseed Dixie, Duke Special, Gareth Dunlop, Farriers and Emerald Armada amongst others. Tickets for the festival’s debut showcase – the centrepiece of the ‘Ards 1613’ festival – are available to purchase here, priced at £20.00 (children under 12 go free).

  • Young Echo – Nexus

    July 22, 2013 - By 

    Musical collectives are an odd thing. Operating as a halfway house between supergroup and a solo act, they give the artist the freedom to flex their guns whilst also allowing them to drop in and out of the equation whenever they please. Hip-hop and electronic musicians seem to favour this format moreso than others with the excellent Wu Tang Clan and Doomtree being prime examples. So how do the bright upstarts of Brixton’s Young Echo fare with their debut release, Nexus? Not terribly well. Before we begin, I need to stress something: I really love ambient music. Brian Eno’s Music…

  • Blondes – Swisher

    July 19, 2013 - By 

    Blondes are Sam Haar and Zach Steinman, a Brooklyn-based electronic duo that met while studying composition at Oberlin Music College. Blondes have quite a following, and this reviewer’s reason for delving into their back catalogue followed a conversation with a rather prolific Irish electronic producer who claims he “only listens to Blondes” – sold. Prior releases include the seriously awe – inspiring Touched EP and a series of 12” singles, as well as their 2012 self-titled debut. The duo have been classed as “hipster-house”; perhaps a little debasing considering the brilliance behind their discography to date. Swisher is their latest…

  • Watch: Rachael Boyd – You Need To Stop Looking

    July 18, 2013 - By 

    Video hand-painted and arranged by Sarah Winters, Belfast-based electro-acoustic singer-songwriter Rachael Boyd has unveiled the video to her superb new single, ‘You Need To Stop Looking’. A clear-cut progression from her 2011 EP Back In Your Box, the track is set to feature on Boyd’s forthcoming EP Too High, which is released on August 6 via Abandon Building. Stream Sun Glitters’ excellent remix of the track here and watch the video to the original below.

  • Everything Sucks #002: Sweet ’95 – The Retortening

    July 19, 2013 - By 

    Looking at Dan Hegarty’s column on 1995 recently here on this site, I found that, for all the reminiscing on things like Britpop (which sucked, by and large, not that we knew better) and the WWF of the day (more on that later), it was summarily A Very Good Time for Irish music. Not as fervent and fertile as today’s jubilant mass of DIY gigs and indie labels, but a far cry from the marginalisation of independent and non-commercial music that had gone on a generation previous, where people like Phil Lynott were thrown out of the showband system that…

  • OST: Ciaran Lavery

    July 18, 2013 - By 

    In the latest installment of OST we get totally enchanting Aghnagallon singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery to select and talk about ten tracks that have irrevocably altered his music listening, loving and making life; everyone from Tom Waits to Travis. ___ The Band – ‘It Makes No Difference’ The Band are a special collective I felt personally proud enough to have ‘got’ in my late teens. Their back catalogue is frightening but the amount of heartbreak in this song has always grabbed me, maybe due to Rick Danko’s vocals or generally the story of possibly one of the most under-rated bands to ever exist. I…