• Ministry w/ Chelsea Wolfe @ Tivoli Theatre, Dublin

    July 26, 2018 - By 

    In case you had any doubt in your mind, witches are indeed real and they can cast powerful spells as Chelsea Wolfe proved on Tuesday evening. As the 34-year-old Californian takes to the Tivoli’s stage, she seems awkward, or even a little clumsy at first. As she walks to the front of the stage, with the lights still up, she gives a small wave and smile to the audience. She seems more shy than one might have imagined. Then, the lights go down and that shyness is devoured by the waves of noise that follow. As the pulsing terror that…

  • Premiere: Slouch – Petty Sounds

    July 25, 2018 - By 

    One of our must-see acts at this year’s KnockanStockan in Co. Wicklow this weekend, Dublin threesome Slouch are in a league of their own here when it comes to fuzzed-out, curveballing alt-rock that hits that rare sweet spot between scuzz, low-end groove, intricacy and abandon. A textbook case in point, brand new single ‘Petty Sounds’ – which we’re pleased to premiere below – will be familiar to anyone who has caught Conor Wilson, Kev Shannon and Malachy Burke live over the last couple of years. Littered with submerged arpeggios and eruptions of amp-choking noise, it’s the sound of walking through a…

  • Watch: Our Krypton Son – Falling In Love Is A Suicide Mission (Ryan Vail Mix)

    July 24, 2018 - By 

    A highlight from his critically-devoured second album Fleas & Diamonds, ‘Love Is a Suicide Mission’ by Derry artist Chris McConaghy AKA Our Krypton Son captures his elegiac, carefully-woven craft in under four minutes. Now, fellow Derry artist and producer Ryan Vail (pictured) has delivered his own curveballing take of the single, which was originally released back in May. Mining the track’s heart-rending melodic twists and turns, it evolves from skeletal, contorted electronica to a reveal a simmering, low-key dancefloor jam.  

  • Body/Head – The Switch

    July 24, 2018 - By 

    “Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting” – Brian Eno, Music For Airports linear notes If you’re a fan of mid 1990s, alternative rock bass players named Kim, then this year has been a real treat. Kim Deal released the wonderful All Nerve with The Breeders and now Kim Gordon, formerly of the parish Sonic Youth, has gifted us her latest broadcast: Body/Head’s The Switch. The group, completed by Bill Nace, are an experimental noise duo whose work is focused on…

  • Panic! At The Disco – Pray For the Wicked

    July 23, 2018 - By 

    Remember that ‘I Like Me’ song from the Simpsons episode with Hank Scorpio? Imagine if Frank Sinatra collaborated with the Chainsmokers to make a Broadway version of that song. Once you imagine that, you’ll have a bit of an idea as to the level of absurdity we’re dealing with here. Pray for the Wicked is the sixth studio album from Panic! At the Disco. Riddled with pop culture references and sabotaged by extraneous high notes, this effort – which comes 13 years after Bradon Urie and co’s breakthrough A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out –  is basically everything we’ve come…

  • Festival Mixtape: Arcadian Field

    July 25, 2018 - By 

    One of the most scenic, intimate music festivals in Ireland returns for its third year over the weekend of August 4 & 5, Arcadian Field. Taking place at Bellurgan Park at the foot of the Cooley Mountains just outside Dundalk – its manor house woven into the festival area – it’s a celebration of all that’s culturally rich in Irish music, art, spoken word, poetry, theatre, comedy, workshops & in nature – with a Burning Man-esque fire ritual on the final night, as well as candlelit drawing room performances and nature walks. There are several new programming additions on offer this year. As well as…

  • Premiere: Eoin Dolan – Superior Fiction

    July 23, 2018 - By 

    The title cut from an EP that he will release at the end of August, ‘Superior Fiction’ is a self-proclaimed ode to truth” that finds Galway songsmith Eoin Dolan in particularly inspired form. Equally parts breezy and incisive, its forward-moving surf-pop sway melds woozy keyboard lines with a harmonic and lyrical sensibility that continue to make his lo-fi, sci-fi-tinted craft a joy to behold. Featuring Conor Deasy on guitar/backing vocals, James Casserly on drums and Adam Sheeran on bass, Superior Fiction was self-recorded, mastered by Fergal Davis and will be released in association with Citog Records. Have a first listen to its title track below.

  • Premiere: Girlfriend – Spitkissing/Small Smile Grow

    July 21, 2018 - By 

    Boasting one of the most compelling live shows around, Dublin alternative quartet Lahela Jones, Lisa Rogers, Hana Lamari and Sophie Dunne aka Girlfriend have gone from strength to strength over the last couple of years. New recorded material has been in the pipeline for some time, but some things are worth the wait. The follow-up to 2016’s 3AM Rituals, the foursome’s new double-single ‘Spitkissing/Small Smile Grow’ captures the heart, craft and intensity that is setting them apart in five blitzing minutes. While the former track is a harmony-driven, masterfully lo-fi paean to the private codes of intimacy, the latter effort is a fierce, fist-clenched…

  • Album Premiere: Elephant – 88

    July 20, 2018 - By 

    We’re pleased to present a first listen to 88, the second album from Dundalk artist and multi-instrumentalist Shane Clarke aka Elephant. Released today, both digitally and on 12″ vinyl via Pizza Pizza Records, Clarke has called the album “a soundtrack to my childhood and young adult life.” From the gossamer folk-pop spell of opener ‘Summer’ to the album’s glitchy closer ‘All These Dragons’, Clarke brilliantly filters bygone times, Proustian moments and lucid epiphanies of the past through a lens that always see melody and – the album’s crowning achievement – his vocals take centre-stage. Speaking about the release – which is dedicated to the…