• Remembering Lyndon Stephens (Sound of Belfast 2020)

    November 11, 2020 - By 

    One of the highlights of this year’s Sound of Belfast is a special online event celebrating the life and legacy of much-missed Belfast artist manager, label boss and mentor Lyndon Stephens. Taking place on November 11th, Remembering Lyndon Stephens will pay tribute to an industry titan and gentleman who left an indelible imprint on the landscape of Northern Irish music. Available to watch via the Oh Yeah Music Centre’s official YouTube page from 9.30pm, the event will feature a special set by Malojian with Christopher Coll and more. Sound of Belfast 2020 concludes with the Northern Ireland Music Prize on Thursday, November 12. Photo…

  • Help Musicians Announce Phase Three of Their Coronavirus Financial Hardship Funding

    November 11, 2020 - By 

    Having went above and beyond in 2020 to successfully help those in the music industry most in need, Help Musicians has announced a third phase of funding, targeted at self-employed musicians who do not qualify for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and unemployed professional musicians unable to make ends meet throughout the UK. For those who are eligible, to the extent that funds allow, HMUK will offer grant payments from the moment their application is successful to March 2021 to top-up Universal Credit payments where relevant. Where an applicant does not qualify for Universal Credit but is still experiencing significant financial hardship, an assessment, and…

  • Other Voices Announce Digital Festival Bringing It All Back Home

    November 11, 2020 - By 

    Other Voices have announced a new digital festival. The Irish live music institution today revealed details of Bringing It All Back Home, a five-day festival coming in December. Though full dates and acts are yet to be confirmed, organisers have already confirmed appearances from For Those I Love, Niamh Regan, Luz, Nealo, Rhiannon Giddens, Francesco Turrisi, Peter Broderick and Pillow Queens. As ever, sets will be performed via St James church in Dingle, West Kerry. In a statement, Other Voices founder Philip King said, ‘We are absolutely delighted that Other Voices will be going ahead in Dingle again this year,…

  • Paddy Hanna – The Hill

    November 11, 2020 - By 

      Paddy Hanna is not someone to sit still. Nor is he someone who likes to be predictable. The Dublin-based songwriter’s sophomore album, Frankly, I Mutate, was not only a masterclass in retro-flecked, baroque pop, but, with the beauty of retrospect, was a clear blueprint of his personal mantra.  For his third album, released on Strange Brew (Autre Monde, Squarehead, Slow Place Like Home), Paddy notches up the experimentation, whisking away Girl Band’s Adam Faulkner and Daniel Fox, as well as Daniel Fitzpatrick (Badhands, The Mighty Stef) to west Cork. “We lost ourselves on the Hill, Daniel, Daniel, Adam and…

  • Banríon – Airport Dads

    November 10, 2020 - By 

    With a refreshing youthful energy, and a clear sense of care and purpose, Dublin band Banríon’s debut EP, Airport Dads, slots them firmly into the Irish music scene as ones to watch.  Singer-songwriter Róisín Ní Haicéid fronts this indie-rock outfit, completed by drummer Michael Nagle , bassist John Harding and guitarist Ivan Rakhmanin. The three track EP was entirely mixed and produced in Nagel’s home in Connemara, and you can hear a dedication to craft in its charmingly lo-fi sound, calling to mind the likes of Snail Mail, Soccer Mommy and Julia Jacklin. Opening track, ‘Yesterday’s Paper’ is a strong…

  • Irish Releases of the Week – November 6th

    November 6, 2020 - By 

    On another hallowed Bandcamp Friday, we’ve got an extra-long list of new releases this week, from JaJa Studios’ fundraising compilation, debut albums from Bitch Falcon and Silverbacks’ Kilian O’Kelly, and more from Arthuritis, 7.5 Tonnes of Beard, Ghost Office, Joshua Burnside, Zizou, Wyvern Lingo and more. Various Artists – The Lost Sound Vol. 1 The Lost Sound by JaJa Studios Joshua Burnside – Under The Concrete Bitch Falcon – Staring At Clocks Staring at Clocks by Bitch Falcon Skelocrats – City of London Boy Bitten by a Lizard by Skelocrats Kilian O’Kelly – Luzhny’s Layer Luzhny’s Layer by Kilian O’Kelly…

  • LP Premiere + Q+A: Kilian O’Kelly – Luzhny’s Layer

    November 6, 2020 - By 

    It’s been a busy couple of years for Dublin-based guitarist, Kilian O’Kelly. In between joining Girl Band for a few dates on their 2019 tour, releasing a critically acclaimed debut record Fad with his band Silverbacks this past summer and setting up an independent label, Central Tones, he somehow managed to find time to write and record an exceptionally dynamic solo album entitled Luzhny’s Layer. The instrumentally-led body of work contains multitudes across nineteen immersive arrangements. Within, O’Kelly conveys a myriad of moods via floating guitar riffs, unnerving string accompaniments and utterly magical piano lines all masterfully performed. It ventures…

  • Adrianne Lenker – songs/instrumentals

    November 6, 2020 - By 

    In April, Adrianne Lenker retreated to an isolated cabin in the midst of two crises: one public (the coronavirus pandemic) and one personal (a tough breakup).  Two albums, ‘songs’ and ‘instrumentals’, were recorded concurrently during this period, and feel at once like separate entities and like something whole. Comprising a collection of the lyric-based tracks we’ve come to know for Lenker, and two long instrumental pieces, they compliment each other perfectly, while offering many of their own charms. Had ‘instrumentals’ been released on its own, it would have risked being sidelined as a minor side project, but when paired with…

  • Video Premiere: Elaine Malone – You [1000 Beasts Remix]

    November 5, 2020 - By 

    Back in 2018, Elaine Malone‘s alt. psych-pop ditty ‘You’ was a thrilling introduction to one of TTA’s longstanding favourites, and today we’re pleased to unveil its reimagining by prolific Cork-based producer & multi-instrumentalist 1000 Beasts. Masterfully reframed into an even more warbling, tripped-out slice of lo-fi hip-hop – one of 1000 Beasts’ raisons d’etre – it matches the pull Malone’s trajectory has had toward psychedelic in the past two years. 1000 Beasts told us: “I first discovered ‘You’ way back in 2018, when Elaine first released it ahead of her debut EP Land. It always struck a chord with me so I reached out to Elaine…

  • Premiere: JaJa Studios – The Lost Sound Vol. 1

    November 5, 2020 - By 

    Having provided Dublin musicians and various other creatives with a vital hub over the last seven years, Stoneybatter DIY music and art space JaJa Studios recently lost its home on Cowper Street to a developer. Dusting themselves down, the collective have wasted no time in looking for a new HQ – and ways to make that a reality. Cue The Lost Sound Vol. 1, a new, 22-track cassette tape compiled to raise proceeds for a new space. A self-proclaimed (and entirely accurate) slice of the Irish music underground from some scene stalwarts, it’s a wonderfully eclectic release, featuring Flowers at Night, Declan…