• MINDS Festival

    June 21, 2018 - By 

    On July 5, Belfast venues the Art Department, Blaklist and the Bear and The Doll will play host to MINDS, a ten-hour, one-day festival that will bring unite DJs, artists, musicians and fashion designers in the aim to raise money for local mental health charities. Festival founder Adam Magill has asked those involved to put forward their idas for charities to donate to, with one being PIPS (Public Initiative for Prevention of Suicide), due to the founders personal connection with them. With more to be announced, the DJ roster currently includes Bobby Analog, Jordan, Marion Hawkes and Phil Lucas of Twitch. Running from 6pm to 3am…

  • Lost in the Forest: An Interview With James Holden

    June 21, 2018 - By 

    Few artists have taken such a personal journey as James Holden. The electronic artist’s transformation is not subtle; Holden, now a practised bandleader, ties together jazz, folk, psychedelia and world music with an ideology rooted in trance. The Animal Spirits, one of 2017’s most interesting and colourful releases, threw these experiments loudly in the face of the listener with an unrivalled fervent energy. As a result of the critical acclaim, Holden is now in the thick of a cross-continental festival trek, including an appearance at Ireland’s very own Body & Soul this weekend. Despite this, Dom Edge had the pleasure of…

  • Deadline Approaching for Help Musicians NI Transmission Fund

    June 21, 2018 - By 

    Music charity Help Musicians UK’s Transmission Fund is approaching the first round deadline of June 29 for applications. Although the scheme is UK-wide, we’re both heavily encouraging Northern Irish artists to apply – in recent years they’ve supported the likes of Joshua Burnside & Rebekah Fitch. In the words of Help Musicians UK: “The Transmission Fund is designed to help you build your career by providing grants of £500 – £1500 to fund opportunities allowing you to focus on developing your artistic and professional development at a crucial point in your career. We can support opportunities such as short courses, workshops, training and time limited periods of…

  • Angélique Kidjo – Remain In Light

    June 21, 2018 - By 

    To describe Talking Heads’ Remain In Light as one of rock music’s sacred cows would not be unfair. It’s a seminal album for a good reason. Over its eight songs, it manages to capture the best of Brian Eno’s kitchen sink experimentalism, David Byrne’s existential mania, and improbably groovy rhythms. It manages to do all of this while successfully fusing the group’s post-punk roots with a wide array of Afro-Carribean influences to create profound and stridently individual, one of the 1980s greatest idiosyncrasies. So when the Benin-born artist Angélique Kidjo announced her intention to reimagine the album and reclaim it…

  • Video Premiere: Solkatt – Nocturne

    June 21, 2018 - By 

    In 2017, Peter Lawlor (AKA Replete) and Leo Pearson (whose worked with David Holmes, Shit Robot, more) were commissioned to create 90 minutes of original music for a 46-speaker geodesic dome at Electric Picnic. The installation, a part of Red Bull’s Soundome Stage, found the pair embracing sounds on a grand, cinematic scale that nonetheless maintained a danceable groove. Now, having release a couple of stellar singles over the past couple of months, the duo are readying the release of their debut album. With their third single ‘Nocturne’, the pair revive themes that gleamed through on first single ‘Je Suis’:…

  • Set It Up

    June 21, 2018 - By 

    A romantic comedy designed from the stuff of nightmares for HR departments, Set It Up is an entertaining if slight story about workplace romances, demanding bosses and overworked employees. The main romance is between two overworked assistants who decide to set their demanding bosses up in the hope of spending less time in the office. Harper (Zoey Deutch), a sports and popcorn obsessive, wants to write and date but struggles to do either because of the hours she puts in at the office. Charlie (Glen Powell) is looking to secure a promotion to increase his salary while maintaining his relationship with his model girlfriend…

  • VerseChorusVerse – outro

    June 20, 2018 - By 

    Former ASIWYFA axeman Tony Wright’s VerseChorusVerse has surprise released his third album, outro, to accompany the news of his debut book later this year. Blending the literary & theatrical prowess displayed on last year’s The Tragedy of Dr Hannigan with the folk & blues he’s become known for under the VCV moniker, outro marks his return to Big Guitar Anthems, indulging in the alt. rock edge and dynamic he gave to ASIWYFA. The LP was minimally by Wright & Andrew Coles in a mansion on the North Coat, assisted on backing vocals & bass by Arvo Party/LaFaro’s Herb Magee. Stream it here: outro by VerseChorusVerse As explained in the following video, proceeds…

  • Stream: SPIES – Uriah

    June 20, 2018 - By 

    Three months on from making a triumphant return with ‘Young Dad’ – a single we eagerly deemed “the band’s strongest single effort to date” – Dublin five-piece Spies are back with its follow-up ‘Uriah’. Propelled by Motorik groove, it’s a four-minute gem layered with balmy synth textures and the band’s evolved widescreen alt-pop. Mirroring themes of friendship and betrayal, vocalist Michael Broderick called the song, “A reflection on the story of Uriah and King David.” ‘Uriah’ is taken from Spies’ forthcoming debut album, Constancy, which is expected to drop later this year.

  • Win Tickets to Curfew Festival 2018

    June 19, 2018 - By 

    Returning after a ten year hiatus, Curfew Festival will take over Belfast’s Voodoo and Black Box on Thursday, July 12 for one to mighty, genre-spanning alternative to the Twelfth. Speaking about the festival, organisers Solid Choice Industries said, “A lot has happened, a lot has changed, but the reasons for it’s existence still hold as true as ever – the want and need to normalise the city of Belfast over the July marching season, specifically the 12th. There is a wide cross section of people across Northern Ireland who would rather spend their day enjoying themselves watching bands, seeing friends…