• 18 for ’18: Pillow Queens

    January 22, 2018 - By 

    We continue 18 for ’18, our feature of 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 is Pillow Queens. Photo by Ciara Brennan, taken at plantlife.ie Queer, feminist, socialist. How does one encapsulate the pulsating movements of culture and ideals that are currently sweeping across the world, and furthermore, how does one do so colloquially and naturally? Dublin based Pillow Queens have the answer, using more than just their…

  • Stream: Maija Sofia – Flowers

    January 22, 2018 - By 

    Maija Sofia has teamed up with ambient folk songwriter Kerry Devine for a split 7″ released via Trapped Animal. ‘Flowers’ is the first new music we’ve heard from the Dublin-based, Galway native songwriter since last summer’s ‘Persephone’. One of our 17 for ’17 picks last year, Sofia’s brand of literary, emotive folk music is given a dynamic lift this time round with the aid of a full band, a new venture for the artist that has paid off massively. In describing the song and her decision to bring in some more players, she said, “The lyrics of ‘Flowers’ came to me…

  • Premiere: Warriors Of The Dystotheque – Hashtag feat. Tony Jarvis & Si Hayden

    January 22, 2018 - By 

    Warriors Of The Dystotheque are a trio of sound engineers, musicians, producers and DJs based in Derry, Coventry and New York respectively. Infusing dub electronics, jazz, psyche and garage, they are about to release their new album Madness in the Method. The group have been a quiet presence in the scene they find themselves in for years, having played DJ sets and touring gigs among the likes of Orbital, The Prodigy, The Happy Mondays, Pop Will Eat Itself, Saint Etienne and DJ Food. On this album then, they seem to be taking elements and stylistic flourishes from all of those contemporaries and…

  • Hostiles

    January 22, 2018 - By 

    Scott Cooper (Black Mass) is a writer/director who always delves into the gritty underbelly of the US, casting an unflinching eye over its history and social traits. With Hostiles, he moves into the Western genre, and right from the shocking opening sequence, you know you are not in for a good ole boy, John Waynesque movie. And while he does occasionally move into the realm of cliche and generic storytelling that lurks in all his movies, I can’t help but admire his take on Donald E. Stewart’s (Patriot Games) manuscript and this much-flaunted genre, as he’s taken great pains to…

  • First Aid Kit – Ruins

    January 22, 2018 - By 

    Written predominantly in the wake of a break-up, the aptly named fourth album from Swedish folk-duo First Aid Kit wades through the aftermath of heartbreak, self-doubt and loneliness, in the search to find something among the ruins. Lead vocalist and guitarist Klara Söderberg had just broken up with her fiancé when she reunited with elder sister Johanna in Los Angeles to write their fourth record. She described the record to HMV as being about the ruins of a relationship, “How sad it is, but also how beautiful it was. That’s all you have left at the end.” It’s a perfect…

  • Porches – The House

    January 21, 2018 - By 

    There are few conflicts greater than those fought at home. These contests are never about the things themselves but more about the idea of what home should be. Should it be a place to relax or a place to play; a place to laugh or a place to learn. Aaron Maine addresses these inner/outer conflicts with his latest album The House. It’s an incredibly honest piece from the New Yorker and the logical next step from 2016’s Pool. Lyrically speaking, Maine has left the pool in name only. Everywhere you go there are references to water on this record. The…

  • The Academic – Tales From the Backseat

    January 20, 2018 - By 

    One of the most hotly tipped young indie-bands in Ireland,The Academic have released their debut album; a ten-track LP so radio friendly that you have probably heard most of the tracks already after months of extensive airplay. These four lads – all still in their early 20s – appear to have have risen from the rubble of the bygone era of rock boybands (The Vamps, 5SOS) with a charming debut that holds its own amid waves of similarly inclined young bands. Tales from the Backseat thrives on its own simplicity, along with their precocious gift for creating infectious earworms. The…

  • Video Premiere: Malojian – Beard Song

    January 19, 2018 - By 

    Of the various Northern absentees from this year’s Choice Music Prize, Stevie Scullion’s Malojian (for last year’s This Is Nowhere) was perhaps the most notable. Thankfully, Scullion isn’t one to focus on such things. Having always embodied a forward-moving spirit, his latest album, Let Your Weirdness Carry You Home, is a remarkable effort, confining within its 11 tracks boundless heart and carefully-crafted, collaborative depth. Blurring the lines between wry and sincere, new single ‘Beard Song’ conjures Grandaddy at their most stripped-back and – as we’ve mentioned in relation to Scullion before – the intelligent, economical pop finesse of latter-day Beatles (No one will need reminding that is far from a…

  • Tune-Yards – I can feel you creep into my private life

    January 20, 2018 - By 

    Timely is the return of Merill Garbus, better known as the bandleader behind Tune-Yards. For a variety of reasons. None more that Garbus’ almost elastic vocal range that is fit to bring out a  green eyed monster in just about anyone. Tune-Yards have consistently cram effervescent colour and fun into every note of their three LPs to date, so to get a fresh dose of that in the form of I can feel you creep into my private life should be able to finally get the ball rolling on an otherwise grey, bleak January. There are few other bands you’d want around…

  • Glen Hansard – Between Two Shores

    January 19, 2018 - By 

      Given that Glen Hansard’s live band tends to contain various members of his old band The Frames, it’d be easy at first glance to wonder what exactly differentiates his solo career from the band he made his name with. On closer inspection though, his solo records so far have marked a gradual divergence from that band’s stock in trade. Though 2012’s Rhythm and Repose wasn’t a huge departure, it gave him the freedom to collaborate with various new musicians in the studio, and 2015’s Didn’t He Ramble saw him both further mine his long standing interest in Irish folk…