• Watch: The Twenty – Have You Seen Her

    May 19, 2014 - By 

    The follow-up to their cover of ‘You Can’t Be Lonely Forever’ by Derry punk veterans Bam Bam and The Calling, Belfast-based garage-punk band The Twenty have unveiled the video to their new single, ‘Have You Seen Her’. Filmed and directed by Colm Laverty and Nikki McRae on location at Belfast venue the Limelight, the video features the Colm Warren-fronted band playing in front of fans whilst a suitably tied-in storyline unravels around them. The Twenty play Belfast’s Voodoo Bar on Friday, June 27. You can stream and download both ‘Have You Seen Her’ and ‘You Can’t Be Lonely Forever’ via The Twenty’s…

  • EP Stream: Hannah McPhillimy – Freedom Songs

    May 19, 2014 - By 

    Six months on from her Freedom Songs event in November last year, Northern Irish singer-songwriter Hannah McPhillimy has released a three-track EP of the same name. Fully a cappella, the three tracks – including a cover of spiritual ‘Wade In The Water’ – brilliantly illustrate McPhillimy’s vocal range and tonal ingenuinity. The EP, which you can stream/purchase via Bandcamp below, will see all proceeds going to anti-slavery charity No More Traffik. Read James Magill’s review of McPhillimy’s Freedom Songs at Crumlin Gaol here. Freedom Songs by Hannah McPhillimy

  • Neutral Milk Hotel @ Vicar Street

    May 19, 2014 - By 

    Indie cult legends Neutral Milk Hotel paid Dublin a visit on Friday night. As elusive and mysterious as ever, they banned the presence of photographers and indeed any photo-taking devices whatsoever; the absence of tiny bright lights among the crowd proving a startlingly refreshing experience. Jeff Mangum himself is an enigmatic presence, skulking at the side of the stage, hiding behind his bushy beard and a cap that concealed his eyes. He barely speaks a word all evening, but that’s to be expected from a man who has shied away from the spotlight throughout his career, and it’s the music that…

  • Classic Album: Talk Talk – Spirit Of Eden

    May 16, 2014 - By 

    Mark Hollis sits alone in his front room. He is tall, shaggy haired and slightly stooped. Frameless glasses are perched on the tip of his long nose as he flicks through a library hardback on the workings of the inner ear. In the corner of the room is a piano draped in grey oil cloth. It resembles a stunted pygmy elephant with unnaturally dainty feet. The piano is covered with books and the books are covered with dust. Hollis hasn’t played it in years, in decades. Not since he perfected music, in fact. Not since he finished it. Mark Hollis…

  • Watch: Ciaran Lavery – Left For America

    May 15, 2014 - By 

    Taken from his forthcoming EP, Kosher, Northern Irish singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery has unveiled the video for his wonderful new single, ‘Left For America’. Having first caught a visual glimpse of the song in a BalconyTV session last year, we’re very impressed (and rather charmed) by the accompanying visuals for the single, filmed by ROC and stars Ro Graham. Lavery launches Kosher at the Belfast’s Black Box on Thursday, June 19 as part of this year’s Open House Festival. Go here to buy tickets.  

  • Final acts announced for Forbidden Fruit 2014

    May 14, 2014 - By 

    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.  

  • The Horrors – Luminous

    May 16, 2014 - By 

    It’s safe to say most of us are probably glad The Horrors have, over time, evolved towards the more psychedelic end of the spectrum of nonchalance. Looking back to their 2007 album Strange House, it’s as though they are a completely different band. What we see now is a fully developed group without the trappings of their earlier (one would hope) record-label-enforced Goth gimmickry. Their career is almost a reflection of the transition from one’s adolescence to one’s mid-twenties (or am I projecting?). Strange House was full of blatant attitude, angst, hair-dye and eyeliner; and if you listen carefully, amid…

  • Stream: Solar Bears – Last To Leave Morning Dawn

    May 14, 2014 - By 

    Dublin electronic two -piece Solar Bearshave released ‘Last To Leave Morning Dawn’, a brand new track taken that might well feature on their forthcoming third studio album. Titled from cult 1973 surf film called Crystal Voyager, the three minute track shows a definite progression in the duo’s approach, melding samples with bobbing bass work, shimmering synth arpeggios and splatterings of cymbals. Emerging from a brooding, Broadcast-esque intro, the song surges forth for three minutes, fading out and leaving the listener wondering if it will find its place on the forthcoming full-length, which is still being recorded in The Meadow, located…