• Gruff Rhys Announces Irish Dates

    May 10, 2018 - By 

    With his fifth solo album, Babelsberg, set for release via Rough Trade on June 8, Super Furry Animals main man Gruff Rhys has announced three Irish dates for December. Rhys will play Cork’s Live at St Luke’s on December 1, Galway’s Roisin Dubh on December 2 and Dublin’s Button Factory on December 2. Tickets – which go on sale on Friday May 11 at 9am – are priced €23, €20 and €23.50 respectively. His first record for Rough Trade since 2007’s Candylion, the tracks for Babelsberg were recorded in early 2016 across three days, alongside Kliph Scurlock (ex-Flaming Lips) and…

  • Stream: Shrug Life – Your Body (Acoustic)

    May 10, 2018 - By 

    Of all the songs written in the lead-up to this month’s Irish abortion referendum, ‘Your Body’ by Shrug Life strikes a particularly emphatic chord.  Originally released in September 2016, the song – with its refrain of “Your body is not your body/It’s the property of church and state” – has taken on a whole new sense of import with a new stripped-back version recently filmed in an abandoned Magdalene laundry by David Knox. Though the original has no dearth of impact, this version, featuring Shrug Life frontman Danny Carroll and vocalist Máire Carr delivering a sobering and masterfully poignant rendition of the…

  • Frank Turner – Be More Kind

    May 9, 2018 - By 

    With an uninterrupted streak of 20 years in the game, Frank Turner is undeniably an institution. Over that time, he’s tried on a number of different guises and styles with the most explosive being the proselytising political polemics of his earlier work. While over the last five years, the focus has been more on the introspective and personal, there was always a hope that the man would turn his acid tongue back to the multi-headed hydra of contemporary society.  With his latest effort, Be More Kind, those hopes seemed to have been fulfilled. This is a socially conscious and politicised…

  • Monday Mixtape: Arvo Party

    May 8, 2018 - By 

    Belfast musician and producer Herb Magee AKA Arvo Party selects and talks about some of his favourite tracks, including Jon Hopkins, Metronomy, Nine Inch Nails, Rival Consoles and more. Photo by Michael McKeegan Nine Inch Nails – Copy Of A I don’t think I would be a producer at all without having heard NIN. When I hear Downward Spiral it took me somewhere I had never been before. It is depression and anger distilled into a single format. That said, this track is from their Hesitation Marks album, which was just ok. ‘Copy Of A’ is the stand out track for me and it…

  • Nick Cave Set For Dublin Q+A Event

    May 8, 2018 - By 

    Ahead of his show with Patti Smith at Royal Hospital Kilmainham the following day, Nick Cave will take part in a special Q+A at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre on June 5. Speaking about the event – “So, What Do You Want To Know?” Conversations with Nick Cave – the musician said, “The more frank and intimate the questions, the more interesting the evening will be… ask me anything and I’ll do my best to answer.” Priced €25-€55, tickets go on sale tomorrow, May 9 at 12pm here.

  • Iceage – Beyondless

    May 4, 2018 - By 

    “Beyondless is the 4th LP from Iceage. This record radiates joy.” So claims Daniel Stewart, frontman of fellow post punk outfit Total Control, in Matador’s press release for the new Iceage record. As one would imagine from an album that owes it’s name to Samuel Beckett, this isn’t exactly true: frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt still snarls his way through tales of heartbreak, war and suicide, with a lurking, gothic menace underlying the band’s attack. They have, however, embraced a fuller and more emphatic sound, bringing in horns and further exploring the Americana elements of 2014’s Plowing Into The Field OF…

  • Privacy, Freedom, Bliss and Breadth: An Interview with Hilary Woods

    May 3, 2018 - By 

    Dublin native Hilary Woods found herself thrust into the public eye while still just a teenager, playing bass in the commercially successful alternative trio JJ72. Her tenure with the band saw her tour the world, grace the covers of music magazines and even appear on Top of the Pops. After two albums though Woods parted ways with her bandmates, ready to follow her own creative voice. The road to launching herself as a solo artist may have been a winding one but since 2013 fans have been treated to three darkly dreamlike releases showcasing Woods’ delicate voice and deft song…