• Chad VanGaalen – Light Information

    September 21, 2017 - By 

    After a decade in the business and with seven full-lengths under his belt, Chad VanGaalen is starting to show his wear. The Canadian indie rocker has been a darling in certain circles for an age so any new material is normally a cause for celebration. Sadly, his latest LP, Light Information, is pretty by the numbers stuff; a record with a handful of quite nice moments and interludes that are primarily punctuated by stretches of tedium. The man can spin up a very fine tune when he needs to and knows how to twist in a hook in such a way…

  • Festival Mixtape: Hard Working Class Heroes 2017

    September 21, 2017 - By 

    Right up there with the country’s leading celebrations and showcases of homegrown, independent music, Hard Working Class Heroes will take over several Dublin venues once again across September 29-30. With the line-up whittled down to a rounded 50 acts this year, here’s the full day-to-day and venue breakdown and a playlist featuring our 20 must-see acts this year, including Loah, Bad Bones, Jafaris, Sleep Thieves, Frankenstein Bolts, Soulé, Rocstrong, Brand New Friend, Shookrah and more. Tickets are still available to buy right here.

  • Midland – FABRICLIVE 94

    September 20, 2017 - By 

    There’s a point early in Midland‘s FABRICLIVE mix where the swooping synths of Daphni‘s ‘Vulture’ are followed by the sparse ‘Demented Drums’ of Tres Demented, a Carl Craig alias from 2003 – the year Midland fell in love with dance music, according to the text that accompanies this release). It’s easy to picture a crowd’s reaction to that transition, the primal energy of those rolling drums, the track’s booming sub-bass evoking feelings of a dance floor brimming with tension, eagerly following the DJ’s direction. Midland, a UK DJ who occupies a curious space that covers “serious” heads-down club music as much…

  • Premiere: Carriages – Hardest Mile

    September 21, 2017 - By 

    Dublin duo Harry Bookless and Aaron Page AKA Carriages are an act that we’ve followed closely over the last few years. Spearheading an experimental folk aesthetic that comprises nature, open spaces and facets of the modern world, their music masterfully blurs the lines between the external world and internal processes, as well as electronic textures and organic sounds. Doubling up as the debut release on Homebeat Presents (an imprint we’re very excited about looking ahead to next year and beyond), the pair’s forthcoming new EP Movement is a five-track masterstroke melding Bookless’ found sound electronic atmospherics and elemental production with the inimitable soulful and…

  • Kingsman: The Golden Circle

    September 20, 2017 - By 

    Golden shower, more like. The unpleasant, unrelenting Kingsman: The Golden Circle drenches viewers in water-thin spy adventuring for a demanding two hour twenty session, before zipping up and flipping the bird, leaving a faint funk hanging in the room. 2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Service, Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman working off Mark Millar’s comic, pursued its ‘Bond, but chav’ conceit with a comic bravado that was often ridiculous or annoying but at least showed some chutzpah, subverting Her Majesty’s Service niceties with its vein of laddish nastiness. Vaughn and Goldman return for the sequel, the former directing again, and the…

  • Pulling Their Weight: An Interview with Elder Druid

    September 20, 2017 - By 

    Last week we premiered ‘Witchdoctor’, the lead single from Belfast sludge doom band Elder Druid’s forthcoming debut album, Carmina Satanae. With the album – a fist-clenched, eight-track statement of intent – set for release at Belfast’s Bar Sub on Friday, October 6, we chat to the band about influence, evolution, dark lyricism and why Ireland punches above its weight when it comes to the low-end. You’ve recently been in the studio recording your debut album, Carmina Satanae. How was the experience? Dale (Hughes, bass): I think it’s safe to say that from start to finish the environment was easy going enough that…

  • Stream: Bad Bones – You

    September 20, 2017 - By 

    Since featuring her as an Inbound act in our physical act last year, Dublin based producer and visual artist Sal Stapelton AKA Bad Bones has been busy on the live front, including slots at Electric Picnic, Body & Soul, Forbidden Fruit Festival, as well as shows with All Tvvins and Talos. Mirroring this upswing is the sheer grit and confidence of new single ‘You’. Set for release via DiaXDem on Friday, the single is a labyrinthine blast of nuanced beats, layered samples and a host of effects-soaked textures and vocals that coalesce as an infinitely listenable whole. Where previous single including ‘Lang’, ‘Beg’ and…

  • Lisa Hannigan Set For Irish Mini-Tour

    September 20, 2017 - By 

    Having played a string of festivals in the Summer – as well as a short set at Sounds from a Safe Harbour in Cork last week – Lisa Hannigan has announced an Irish mini-tour in October and November. With tickets on sale at 9am this Friday, Hannigan will play the following dates, which include three earlier, all-ages shows: October 25: Wexford Spiegel Tent Festival (5pm All Ages Show 9pm Night Show) November 1: Glór, Ennis, Co. Clare November 2: Dolan’s Warehouse, Limerick November 4: The Duncairn, Belfast (3pm All Ages Show/ 8pm Night Show) November 11: Live at St. Luke’s, Cork (3pm All…