• Premiere: Agu – Ines

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    Originally from Poland, Agu is a Galway-based artist whose music embraces a variety of languages and musical influences. Premiered here, her new single ‘Ines’ is a wistful and nuanced confessional ode striking a midpoint between indie-folk, solo post-rock and ambient. Taken from her forthcoming new album – the Tony Higgins-produced follow-up 2015’s Ke Světlu (Towards the Light) – Agu has said of the single: “It reflects a period of my life that changed everything. It is about realising you are suffocating even though you don’t have to. All you need to do is to spread your wings and try to fly. Leave…

  • Red Sparrow

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    Based upon the book of the same name by ex-CIA agent Jason Matthews, Red Sparrow is a modern-day spy thriller by director Francis Lawrence (Hunger Games: Catching Fire, I Am Legend) that harks back to the days of the cold war thrillers of the 70s/80s but fails to update it appropriately, coming across as a piece of vitriolic propaganda and little else. Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone) and the rest of the top-notch cast try their damndest to give it some credibility but the story and premise make for a predictably silly and gratuitous affair on many levels. Dominika Egorova (Lawrence)…

  • Exhibition: Gaelic Fields @ The Library Project

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    Opening today in The Library Project is Paul Carroll’s new body of work Gaelic Fields. The project is the culmination of seven years work, that saw Carroll traverse the 32 counties of the island documenting local GAA pitches. These spaces are hubs of the communities and the artist’s capturing of these local landscapes speaks of the both the societal nature of sport and its impact on the land. The work is on show from today (Tuesday 6th) with the official opening this coming Thursday (8th). The exhibition will continue until March 25th, with a book also produced, full details are available online…

  • Stream: Cherym – Take It Back

    March 5, 2018 - By 

    If you’re not already familiar with Derry threesome Cherym, you will be soon. Hannah Richardson, Nyree Porter and Lauren Kelly – who we featured as one of our 18 for ’18 acts at the start of the year – will release their debut EP, Mouth Breathers, in April. Doubling up as their debut single, the release’s lead single ‘Take It Back’ is a catchy-as-all-hell burst of punked-out noise-pop that demands an instant second listen. Take it Back by Cherym

  • The The Announce Belfast Show

    March 5, 2018 - By 

    As part of their 2018 comeback run of shows that includes Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens on July 7, London post-punk/synth-pop legends The The have announced a show at Belfast’s Mandela Hall on Friday, July 6. October will mark the 35th anniversary of the band’s debut album, Soul Mining. The band last performed live as part of David Bowie’s Meltdown at London’s South Bank in 2002. Tickets for the Belfast show are £39 (including booking fee) and are on sale now.

  • Music Current 2018

    March 5, 2018 - By 

    Showcasing of the best of new Irish and international contemporary electronic music, Dublin’s Music Current will return for its third outing across April 12-14. Billed as the city’s annual contemporary music festival, the festival – presented by Dublin Sound Lab – will host concerts, panel discussions and a music commission at Smock Alley Theatre on Exchange Street Lower over three days. At the top of the agenda this year is a “distinct celebration” of piano and keyboard music, with several international artist performing in Ireland for the first time at the festival. On the bill this year is Belgium composer Stefan Prins,…

  • Stream: The Sunshine Factory – Exploding Head/Negative Light

    March 5, 2018 - By 

    One of our must-watch Irish acts for 2018, Cork five-piece The Sunshine Factory have been on a major roll recently. Having released Cruelest Animal, their four-track EP of first-rate slow-burning neo-psych, back in November, the band are back with a killer double-single, ‘Exploding Head’ and ‘Negative Light’. Recorded by Chris Somers live in Cork’s Crane Lane on October 30 last year, the new tracks – released via their DIY label Sunshine Cult and produced by Mark Waldron-Hyden from the band – present a masterfully claustrophobic brace of urgent, hazed-out sounds from the fast-rising Cork quintet. Negative Light/Exploding head by The Sunshine Factory

  • Premiere: The Shaker Hymn – Colour Of The Holy Sun

    March 5, 2018 - By 

    The follow-up to 2016’s gem-laced Do You Think You’re Clever?, Cork alt/psych-pop five-piece The Shaker Hymn will release one of the most anticipated Irish albums of 2018, Colour Of The Holy Sun, later this year Singer Caoilian Sherlock said of the album: “We don’t often write new songs out of an improv “jam” type of thing – but this started as a little two chords warm up at rehearsal a few months back. I went away and wrote a melody, and lyrically I was aiming for a joyous apocalypse kind of thing. A song to celebrate The Rapture heading our way.…

  • Cork Sound Fair 2018

    March 5, 2018 - By 

    A new, non-profit arts and music event set to take place across March 23-March 24, Cork Sound Fair aims to give local and international artists a platform to showcase experimental sound through installations and live performances. Over two days, the event will take over 12th century church St. Peter’s and Cork City Gaol with over 20 homegrown and international acts: African Fiction, Static, Robert Curgenven, Autumns, Isochronal, Kevin Callaghan and Thomas Penc, Davy Kehoe, Dream Cycles, Ellenberger Trio, Nadir, Soft Stone, Beatrice Dillon, Belacqua, Gadget and the Cloud (pictured), Little Movies, Kyteler, Warrior, Signal, OutOut and Baby, Red & Wolf.…

  • The Breeders – All Nerve

    March 3, 2018 - By 

    J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote that the compound noun cellar door was one of the most beautiful words in the English language. I’m not a linguist or etymologist by any stretch, but I’d like put forth a phrase which I think captures the same awe as Tolkien’s… Kim Deal has a new album. Those six little words when drawn together represent a powerful sentiment in the English language. This is the woman who made the Pixies what they were. One of our great songwriters, a person who can captivate, exhilarate and intoxicate with the most impossibly simple chord progressions, has returned.…