• Atlantic Sessions 2016

    January 10, 2017 - By 

    In a slightly delayed review we take a look back at Atlantic Sessions 2016 and look forward to the next session. Words and Images by Chris Flack, additional images by Tim Swart courtesy of Atlantic Sessions. With waves crashing against the shoreline, a relentless Atlantic wind, a canopy of snow on the hills and a decidedly vicious chill in the air, Atlantic Sessions rolled into the North Coast in November for its 8th year. And what a year it was, a near-perfect way to see out the shitstorm that was 2016. Hosting over 50 artists in 20 venues across the…

  • New Pope – Love

    January 31, 2017 - By 

    Galway’s New Pope AKA David Boland, hasn’t been around long, but he doesn’t waste any time. Released with little fanfare on New Year’s Eve – evidently caring not for making his way into any album of the year lists – his second album Love comes along just a year after his debut Youth. Much like the debut – an album steeped in childhood nostalgia – the single word title again serves as a theme for the album’s lyrical content, the word ‘love’ appearing in the titles of three of the seven tracks alone, and being at the heart of all the…

  • Playlist: Philip Glass at 80

    January 31, 2017 - By 

    No living musician can challenge the joint eclecticism and influence of Philip Glass‘ five-decades-and-counting career. From his countless solo piano releases, string quartets, operas and symphonies to his towering soundtrack work and collaborations with the likes of Bowie, Patti Smith, Aphex Twin, Brian Eno, Allen Ginsberg, Ravi Shankar and David Byrne, the Baltimore master hasn’t as much left his stamp on contemporary classical music than irrevocably altered the course of it. To celebrate his 80th birthday today, we’ve compiled a 30 track, decade and genre-spanning Spotify playlist featuring some of his greatest moments.

  • Stream: Joshua Burnside – Tunnels Pt. 2

    January 31, 2017 - By 

    Long one of our favourite Irish singer-songwriters, Joshua Burnside has been experiencing a real lease of life over the last few months. Having recorded his long-awaited debut album, Ephrata, with the likes of Smalltown America in Derry, Lisburn’s Millbank Studios and producer Phil D’Alton last year, the Belfast-based musician will set it loose via Quiet Arch on May 5. The first single to be taken from the release, ‘Tunnels  Pt. 2’ sees Burnside effortlessly adopt a slicker, more fleshed-out alternative folk aesthetic than material of yore, delivering a propulsive and impassioned ode that puts his tale-telling centre-stage once more. Make sure to…

  • Stream: The Thin Air’s Death Culture Blues #7

    January 31, 2017 - By 

    Hey, you know what was fun? The most recent installment of Death Culture Blues, our show of experimental, cosmic and ambient sounds on the most excellent Dublin Digital Radio. Miss it? Not to worry: listen back to the show and check out its playlist in full below. We’re back with DCB on DDR this and every other Thursday night from 8-10pm. Check out their full schedule of programmes right here. 1. Polymorphie – Suite NC Part 3 2. 4treck – Pong Ping 3. The Soundcarriers – Low Light 4. Guitar Red – Disco From a Space Show 5. Rodion G.A.…

  • EP Stream: Tuath – Things I Don’t Know

    January 31, 2017 - By 

    While it falls under the overarching “Alternative Rock” category on Soundcloud, Things I Don’t Know by Donegal’s Tuath is an EP that comes from a place far beyond your standard alt-rock fare. Marrying blissed-out ‘gazey textures with sax, verb-drenched vocals and a droning fog of psych fuzz over four tracks, the twenty-five minute release sees the Robert Mulhern-fronted outfit occupy a sonic plain that resists convention in favour of inspired overcast escapism. The following blurb accompanies the release: “A few songs about the boring numb reality we all live in and the effect it has on us when part of…

  • Mac DeMarco Set For Vicar Street

    January 31, 2017 - By 

    Having recently announced that he’s finished recording This Old Dog, the forthcoming follow-up to 2015’s Another One, indie rock chill-out king Mac DeMarco will stop off at Dublin’s Vicar Street on November 22. With previous Irish dates at Electric Picnic 2015 and the Workman’s Club in Dublin back in 2013, tickets for the Vicar Street show – priced €25 including booking – go on sale this Friday at 9am. This Old Dog is out via Captured Tracks on May 5.

  • 17 for ’17: Maija Sofia

    January 31, 2017 - By 

    Maija Sofia was reared in remote Connemara, lived in London and now resides in Dublin. Places with their own unique idiosyncrasies and experiences awaiting the inhabitants of such diverse environments. Experiences that inform the decisions we make and the things we create. Maija Sofia’s songs – soft, melancholic compositions guided by the harp and guitar –   encapsulate the creative output born from a wonderment spurred by isolation, something that is omnipresent. She has been compared to Kate Bush, Pj Harvey and Elliott Smith and there are traces of those great artists in her sound but Maija Sofia is a true…

  • 17 for ’17: ELLLL

    January 31, 2017 - By 

    Ellen King AKA ELLLL is a Cork City native who started a music degree with a background in classical piano. When the opportunity arose she immersed herself in every available course on tech and minimal composition, and around 2011 she started performing as ELLLL. She was soon supporting acts like Bee Mask, Vessel and Tim Hecker in venues across Ireland, as well as travelling abroad to support Carter Tutti Void in London. A slow but steady stream of cuts on SoundCloud have become gradually less abstract and more beat-focused, retaining the singular character that’s driven her approach over recent years. A…