• Okami (Capcom, Multiformat)

    February 4, 2018 - By 

    Capcom may continue to mine their back catalogue for titles to re-release, but if that means that a wider audience will get to enjoy this beguiling adventure, it would be churlish to complain too much. As most gaming folk know, Okami draws heavily on Nintendo’s superlative RPG The Ocarina Of Time, although the nods are more homage than plagiarism, but pushes the genre in a bold direction thanks to the inclusion of several innovative touches. Firstly, there is the influence of Japanese mythology and culture. Playing as Amaterasu, a sun deity incarnated as a white wolf and tasked with ridding the land of…

  • Various Artists – Quare Groove Vol. 1

    February 2, 2018 - By 

    In the late 70s and early 80s the Irish charts were rife with blokes brandishing electric guitars, the likes of Queen, Dire Straits and The Police all consistently taking the top spot in singles charts. It was clear that rock music ruled the roost. Meanwhile over in the states, Americans were by and large still enjoying funk and R&B laced pop from the likes of The Bee Gees and Stevie Wonder.  Although this groove based music didn’t make half as much of a dent in the Irish charts, a new collection of underground Irish groove tracks from the Dublin based record label All City shows that Irish music in the late 70s and early 80s…

  • Interview & Label Mixtape: Exploding In Sound Records

    February 7, 2018 - By 

    Formed in 2011, and based in New York City, Exploding In Sound Records is a tapestry of idiosyncrasy. Pile, for example, are regularly cited as the world’s greatest rock band. Big Ups’ Before A Million Universes was very possibly 2016’s finest noise rock record. The bubbling, emotional cacophony of Ovlov’s 2013 Am has developed its own posthumous devoted cult following, leading to the band reuniting for a second album; not to mention the label’s ability to function as an early outlet and jumping point for Speedy Ortiz, Porches, LVL UP and Palehound. It’s a community. Bands share members, shows and tours together, and there’s a very genuine…

  • Exhibition: Like Me @ The Dock

    February 19, 2018 - By 

    Alice Hanratty – Handsome Youth at Public Assembly I Carrick-on-Shannon’s The Dock is currently showing the work of three Irish artists: Alice Hanratty, Kian Benson Bailes and Eleanor McCaughey, in their latest show Like Me. This exhibition is the third in the gallery’s continuing series of group shows that feature artists at varying stages of their careers and practices. Hanratty, a member of Aosdána, has exhibited extensively both nationally and internally since the 1990’s and here presents etching work that reference here travels abroad; while Benson Bailes, whose has recently shown in Tulca, Galway and CCA Derry-Londonderry, presents work that interrogates the notion of queer identity in modern…

  • Jeff Tweedy @ Vicar Street, Dublin

    February 6, 2018 - By 

    ‘I need to feel uncomfortable’ explains Jeff Tweedy, when asked about his long hair. He hasn’t cut it since the 2016 election he says, and hates it. At the beginning of a year-long hiatus for Wilco, the very same reasoning could be applied to his decision to embark on this short solo acoustic tour across the UK and Ireland. Bookended by ‘Via Chicago’ and ‘Shot In The Arm’ from 1998’s sugar-coated bitter-suite Summerteeth, tonight’s setlist criss-crosses Tweedy’s back catalogue from Uncle Tupelo to recent Wilco release Schmilco, with some surprising omissions along the way. There’s nothing from 2014’s solo/family affair…

  • Stream: Perish – Terror Swimming

    February 1, 2018 - By 

    While Cork has no shortage of hazed-out, psych-leaning rock bands at the minute, the new-fangled – and potentially quite brilliant – Perish have instantly grabbed our ear here at TTA. Led by Australian musician and producer Ciaran Corcoran, the band – which started as a recording of Corcoran’s – will release a four-track EP, Inertia, on download and cassette via Cork’s Sunshine Cult Records on February 4. Lead single ‘Terror Swimming’ hints at something special in the making. A hazed-out trip bursting with submerged, starry-eyed guitar shapes and a wondrous wall of reverb-soaked noise, the single conjures Flying Saucer Attack…

  • Watch: All the Luck in the World – Contrails

    February 1, 2018 - By 

    All The Luck In The World are set to release their third album The Blind Arcade on February 23. The Berlin-based Irish trio formed in 2011 and have since developed quite the following both at home and abroad thanks to their brand of atmospheric, emotional alternative-folk and carefully crafted stories. ‘Contrails’ is the third track to be shared from the album and once again shows the band’s increasing maturity and dedication to their craft. Like ‘Landmarks’ and ‘Golden October’ before it, ‘Contrails’ invokes the likes of Frightened Rabbit, Mutual Benefit and Little Green Cars in its execution of a acoustic pop sensibilities without any corners cut…

  • A Slice of the Action: Meet Ireland’s Newest Record Label Pizza Pizza Records

    January 31, 2018 - By 

    With their aim of filling the void of independent bands having their music released on vinyl, Cal Byrne talks to Shane Byrne of Dundalk’s new-fangled Pizza Pizza Records about wax, big plans, keeping it DIY, world domination and – very important – favourite pizza toppings. What’s your favourite pizza topping? Plain cheese with a garlic dip is always a good call. Difontaines, Dark Horse Pizza (who sponsored our recent fundraiser by the way) or Tonys in Dundalk. Their garlic dip is class. That, or spinach & feta. 10/10 What inspired you to make Pizza Pizza records? I really like vinyl, and…

  • Beck, Manics and More Set For BBC Music’s The Biggest Weekend in Belfast

    January 30, 2018 - By 

    As part of BBC’s The Biggest Weekend – a new series of events set to be held across the UK – Belfast’s Titanic Slipways will play host Beck, Courtney Barnett, Manic Street Preachers and Public Service Broadcasting across May 25 and 26. Priced £18 per person (+£4.50 booking fee) per day, tickets go on sale on Monday, February 12 at 10am. Go here for more info. See the full Biggest Weekend line-up – also taking place in Perth, Swansea and Coventry – below.

  • 18 for ’18: Any Joy

    January 30, 2018 - By 

    We continue 18 for ’18, our feature showcasing eighteen Irish acts we’re convinced are going places in 2018. Throughout January we’re going to be previewing each of those acts, accompanied by words from our writers and an original photograph from one of our photographers. Next up, Any Joy. Photo by Silvio Severino We’ve written platitudes on Cork’s tendency to function as Ireland’s bastion of cosmically-inclined guitar music, and its latest export is Any Joy, who, while tinted with the hue of its primary contemporary export, simultaneously demarcate themselves from the trappings of being a genre band, forever doomed to lay in…