The Choice Music Prize 2015 launched last night at the Workman’s club in Dublin, featuring Daithi, Otherkin, Gavin James and The Academic. Photos by Isabel Thomas.
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Bahhaj Taherzadeh is the man behind the moniker We/Or/Me. Based in Chicago, the Persian-Irish musician has steadily yielded a string of self-produced releases that have drawn admiration from the likes of NPR, Vashti Bunyan, Glen Hansard, and producers Brian Deck (Nathaniel Rateliff, Iron and Wine, Modest Mouse) and Adam Selzer, producer his exceptional new album, Everything Behind Us is a Dream. Evoking the likes of Nick Drake and Hansard, his timeless, wonderfully restrained indie folk summons muted twilight wandering; each softly resonant track proving a meditation on ardor and spirit. Everything Behind Us is a Dream is released on Friday (January 29). Have an exclusive first…
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Ahead of their appearance at Cork’s Quarter Block Party next Saturday, sludge/hardcore four-piece Horse, led by ex-members of local hardcore outfits Terriers and Ghost of Medina, have unveiled their taut, tense video for new single ‘Dragging’, premiering here on The Thin Air. A thundering, downcast beast of a tune, its weight and heaviness is accentuated by crisp, polished production from Cork desk stalwart Eamonn Coleman, and accompanied by a blink-and-you’ll miss it procession of performance and found imagery courtesy of director Rob O’Halloran. Sharing the tiny, window-facing stage of North Main Street’s BDSM bar with an eclectic line-out, including Dublin grungers Bitch Falcon, Paddy…
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In this installment of Bookmark, we pop in to visit Dublin author and photographer Colin White, as he selects the books that inspire him the most. Colin has recently released two books, one on Dalymount Park and the other on Native Irish Dogs. Photos by Melanie Mullan. Strumpet City by James Plunkett Far and away my favourite Irish novel, Strumpet City paints Dublin in exactly the light necessary to accurately portray the lives of the city’s dwellers on all sides of the political sphere around the time of the 1913 Lock-out. The misery endured in the city’s tenements is evident throughout, as too is the resolute…
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Having had a triumphant first outing last year (check out our review here) grassroots electronic and conference AVA will return to Belfast’s T13 on Saturday, June 4. With more yet to be revealed, Rødhåd, Mano Le Tough, Bicep, Optimo and Phil Kieran and more are amongst the first wave of acts confirmed to make an appearance. With its implicit manifesto of “collectively celebrating, amplifying and devloping the strong current of electronic music and visual arts talent that has and is emerging from Northern Ireland”, tickets for the festival – which will also include live lectures, Ableton workshops, Q+A with artists, label showcase and more – are…
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Launching tonight at Dublin’s Workman’s Club ahead of the official ceremony just down the road at Vicar Street on March 3, the shortlist for this year’s Choice Music Prize Irish Song of the Year has been revealed. Having been previously won by the likes of Gavin James and the Original Rudeboys, the following ten songs will go to a public vote: The Academic – Different All Tvvins – Thank You The Coronas – How This Goes Daithi – Mary Keanes Introduction Fight Like Apes – Pretty Keen on Centrefolds Hozier – Something New Gavin James – Bitter Pill Kodaline – Ready Otherkin – Ay Ay Pleasure…
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Heavily informed by their nigh on savant-like love of film and film soundtracks, it’s no surprise the oeuvre of Dublin electronic duo Solar Bears to date has betrayed a decidedly filmic scope and air. With their stellar forthcoming third album, Advancement, very much continuing in said vivid vein, John Kowalski from the duo selects his top five Sci-Fi films, focusing on both the visual and musical. Photo by Dorje De Burgh. Je T’Aime, Je T’Aime (Alain Resnais, 1968) A tale of splintered timelines and despair full of haunting choral music by Penderecki. Echoes running side by side before diverting on tangents. From…
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Premiered at the Beckett International Season at London’s Barbican in June before being presented at the Galway International Arts festival, Dublin’s Project Arts Centre will play host to a four-night night run of the Irish playwright’s 1969 short story Lessness from January 27 to January 30. Set within a vast desert landscape, the performance features Olwen Fouéré, a beguiling physical presence with a phenomenal vocal technique, who invites the audience to reflect upon the many refractions of this profoundly evocative Beckett text. Tickets for Lessness range from €15 to €22 and can be purchased here.
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With their debut album teetering on the brink of release, Belfast’s exmagician are primed for a remarkable 2016. Cathal Mc Bride traces their formation, recent output and what lies ahead. Photo by Ruth Kelly Rising from the ashes of Cashier No.9, that band’s primary forces Danny Todd and James Smith have put their old project to bed and reinvented themselves as exmagician. The sunny sound of Cashier’s To The Death Of Fun has now been traded for something slightly darker, and although acoustic guitars are still a dominant force, it’s less folksy this time out, with a greater leaning on electronic…
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It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Dublin’s wanderlust-ridden Bouts. Five months on from the release of its lead single ‘Missteps’, the indie rock quartet have reappeared with their forthcoming debut EP’s emphatic follow-up, ‘Allies’. Featuring a brilliantly bizarre video courtesy of Eoin Heaney of Highly Stimulating Productions, the track is classic Bouts through-and-through, marrying urgent, starry-eyed melodies with noise-laced zeal. Bouts’ Unlearn EP will be released on February 29. Check out the artwork for the EP and watch the video for ‘Allies’ below.