• Exclusive: Fight Like Apes New Album Artwork

    April 15, 2015 - By 

    We’re pleased to exclusively reveal the artwork for their Fight Like Apes‘ forthcoming third self-titled album, created by our very own deputy editor/photo editor, Loreana Rushe. Released on May 15 through Alcopop records, we will have a full review of the album in our May issue and MayKay from the band will also be discussing the recording of the album in her column. Tracklisting 1. I am not a Merryman 2. Crouching Bees 3. Pop Itch 4. The Schillaci Sequence 5. Didya 6. Numbnuts 7. Pretty Keen On Centerfolds 8. The Hunk And The Funplace 9. I Don’t Want To Have…

  • Premiere: Swimmers – Body Ahernia

    April 15, 2015 - By 

    A week on from the release of stellar debut track, ‘Lose Myself’, Dublin band Swimmers have given us an exclusive first look at the video for its equally impressive follow-up, ‘Body Ahernia’. According to Niall Jackson from the band, it is “a track about getting death out of the way in order to enjoy living. The sooner we all die the sooner we can stop worrying about it, so I died a few years ago and have had a ball since. The title track is a tribute to the late Bobby Aherne who isn’t dead at all but rather instilling a very…

  • Stream: And So I Watch You From Afar – Redesigned A Million Times

    April 15, 2015 - By 

    A few days on from playing new material to a handful of fans and friends at a secret show in Belfast, And So I Watch You From Afar are streaming the triumphant ‘Redesigned A Million Times’. Taken from their new album, Heirs, is track has a distinctly more linear, pop-centric feel to previous material, whilst maintaining some of the classic hallmarks of the Northern Irish quartet’s sound. ASIWYFA play Dublin’s Olympia on June 19 and Belfast’s Mandela Hall on June 20 as part of a massive European tour. Go here to win tickets to the former show.

  • Watch: SOAK – Blud

    April 15, 2015 - By 

    With her debut album, Before We Forgot How To Dream, set for release via Rough Trade on June 1, SOAK has unveiled the video for ‘Blud’. Capturing different aspects of the Derry’s artist’s recent skatepark tour and more, the release is the second version of the video, the first, pre-Rough Trade video being released last year. Win tickets to SOAK’s Belfast show at the Empire on June 10 here.

  • Ben Howard @ 3Arena, Dublin

    April 15, 2015 - By 

    Returning to Dublin after four months on from two-night run at the Olympia, Ben Howard’s sold-out performance at 3Arena would normally indicate momentous progress for a second-album tour. October 2014’s I Forget Where We Were marked a piquant shift toward the sultrier side of Howard’s folk bearings and has captured coveted spots on charts the world over, including number 1 in the singer’s own UK. And yet, as a set list for an arena tour, Howard’s new material simply falls short. The packed crowds of Dublin’s stunning 3Arena broke into wild applause as the house dimmed to welcome Howard’s humble…

  • Bookmark: Bennie & Davey (little xs for eyes)

    April 15, 2015 - By 

    In this installment of Bookmark, we hang out with Bennie Reilly and Davey Moor from little xs for eyes to discuss some of their collective and personal favourite books.  Photos by Abigail Denniston. Gary Shteyngart – Super Sad True Love Story Davey: Our protagonist, Lenny Abramov, loves books.  He loves all kinda other antiquated old stuff too.  In our western reality he might be what we understand as a hipster, but in the (very) near future of this 2010 novel, he is a fish thoroughly out of water.  The young woman he loves, Eunice Park – a recent graduate with…

  • Insert Coin: Benny Smiles

    April 17, 2015 - By 

    In our second installment of Insert Coin, Eoghain Meakin chats to Ross Fortune AKA Benny Smiles about being featured in the Hotline Miami 2 video game soundtrack and the major influence games have on his music. Photos by Aaron Corr. Mr. Ross Fortune is a busy man these days. When not racking up a no.1 single as a member of Vann Music he fills the rest of his time as the electronic solo artist and producer Benny Smiles. As the latter he’s accumulated a strong following and critical response to his achingly pretty, synthy, sparkling musical output. It is also as Benny…

  • I Am The Cosmos Set for Belfast Debut

    April 16, 2015 - By 

    Dublin electronic duo Cian Murphy and Ross Turner AKA I Am The Cosmos have announced their debut Belfast show on Saturday, May 23. The pair will play the free-entry Chromatic at the new-fangled Woodworkers. Choosing to make rare live appearances and having signed a deal with Faber Music, IATC are working on a follow-up album in Dublin’s National Concert Hall as part of the Artists in Residence project. Establishing itself as one of the city’s finest regular gig nights, Chromatic has already played host to Girls Names, Sleep Thieves, Jape, Go Wolf and Sleep Thieves. Photos by Dorje De Burgh.

  • Sea Sessions Announce New Acts

    April 14, 2015 - By 

    Ireland’s self-proclaimed “biggest beach party”, Sea Sessions returns to Bundoran from Friday 19 to Sunday June 21. Joining the likes of already-confirmed acts including Seasick Steve, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Le Galaxie, Jape and R.S.A.G. are new additions The Riptide Movement, Black Grape, Interskalactic, Little Hours, The Whereabouts, The Winters and Half of Me. Ray O’Donoghue, Festival Director says, “We’re thrilled with the latest announcement. The Riptide Movement are one of the hottest live acts out there and Shaun Ryder’s Black Grape have a 20th anniversary tour happening. This will be his second time at Sea Sessions. Alongside all the great…