• Watch: Arborist – Dreaming In Another Language

    January 19, 2023 - By 

    With his 2016 debut album, Home Burial, Mark McCambridge aka Arborist underscored his arrival as one of the island’s most singular considered songwriting voices. Four years later, A Northern View – which was Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios – doubled down on his sublimely-crafted indie Americana. In the between, McCambridge has had his head down, plotting a release worthy of continuing a story that has already sprawled out magnificent. The result is An Endless Sequence of Dead Zeros, a nine-track album that we’re sure will elevate Arborist far and beyond. Produced by Matthew E White at his Spacebomb Studios in Richmond, Virginia, it sees the Belfast artist explore…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 13th January

    January 13, 2023 - By 

    The first new track drop of 2023 already has already provided a few gems, with fresh cuts from exciting new records from M(h)aol, Meltybrains, modernlove and many more. Mhaol – Therapy Meltybrains? – Ease That Mind Curtisy x Cillian – 7PM Five to Two w/ JarJarJr – Song 50,000 modernlove. – Ruin Your Night Somebody’s Child – I Need Ya Abe Soare – Oasis

  • God’s Waiting Room: Panda Bear & Sonic Boom w/ David Holmes DJ Set

    January 16, 2023 - By 

    We know: it’s probably far too early to be asking the question “gig of the year?” but bear with us. Five months on from releasing of last year’s finest records, Reset, Pete Kember aka Sonic Boom and Panda Bear of Animal Collective will team up for a live show at David Holmes‘ legendary God’s Waiting Room at the Banana Black in Belfast on Friday, 21st April. Sealing the dealing and then some will be a DJ set on the night by none other than Holmes himself.  Tickets are sure to fly out for this one so be sure to snap…

  • Out of Place: Film Screening Tour

    January 13, 2023 - By 

    Off the back of being nominated for Best Documentary at the Irish Film Festival London last November, Féile na Gréine documentary Out of Place will hit the road for a selection of screenings later this month and into February. A self-described “meditation on the role music plays in building community, exploring the tensions that emerge when musicians struggle to carve out a space for themselves in their city,” the Graham Patterson-directed documentary features performances from Denise Chaila, God Knows, Hey Rusty, His Father’s Voice, MuRli, and Post Punk Podge & the Technohippies, providing an intimate portrayal of a local music scene…

  • Defying Gravity: A Punk Odyssey

    January 12, 2023 - By 

    On 16th March, Belfast’s punk-inspired fashion competition Defying Gravity: A Punk Odyssey makes its inaugural outing at The Banana Block, a thriving events space & living museum in East Belfast. A celebration of homegrown talent and a fashion competition honouring a true punk and style icon, the project was devised with its original guest judge, British punk icon Jordan Mooney – who sadly passed in April 2022 – as central to the premise of the show. Honouring her towering legacy while showcasing Belfast’s creative sector, it will give local fashion designers the chance to showcase their work and walk away with…

  • Premiere: peak hue – safe room

    January 10, 2023 - By 

    Few Irish artists have shapeshifted convincingly, or as consistently, as Phil Quinn. Over the years, the Belfast musician has offered up an abundance of first-rate sounds as – or as a member of – Charles Hurts, Gross Net, Girls Names, and Grave Goods, as well as recent collaborations with the likes of Aoife Wolf. It’s a winding and immersive path that leads very nicely to peak hue. A homophone for their initials, PQ, the new solo project’s first release, safe room, instantly hits like a clean, meditative break from the more ardent, beat-heavy post-punk they’re rightly lauded for. Ahead of the three-tracker’s release on 3rd February, its…

  • RTÉ Choice Music Prize Shortlist Revealed

    January 9, 2023 - By 

    The shortlist for the 18th annual Irish Album of the Year in association with IMRO and IRMA has been revealed, as well as the announcement of three new prizes. The nominees for the main prize are as follows: Anna Mieke – Theatre (Anna Mieke under license to Nettwerk Music Group) Aoife Nessa Frances – Protector (Partisan Records) CMAT – If My Wife New I’d Be Dead (CMATBABY) Dermot Kennedy – Sonder (Island) Fontaines D.C. – Skinty Fia (Partisan Records) Just Mustard – Heart Under (Partisan Records) Pillow Queens – Leave the Light On (Royal Mountain Records) Sorcha Richardson – Smiling Like An Idiot (Faction Records) The Mary Wallopers – The Mary Wallopers (The Mary Wallopers) Thumper – Delusions of…

  • Myles Manley and Aoife Wolf at McHughs, Belfast

    January 3, 2023 - By 

    Two years on from releasing one of the best Irish albums in recent memory, Cometh the Softies, we’re delighted to host Irish experimental popstar par excellence Myles Manley’s long-awaited return to Belfast at McHugh’s on Friday, 13th January. Taking place as part of his Wet January mini-tour of Ireland, and nine years on from his first show in the city (The Pavilion in 2013 – remember everyone?) the Sligo-raised, Dublin-based will perform a full-band show of new and some less-new material. Support on the night comes from fast-rising Co. Offaly psych-folk artist Aoife Wolf, songs from whose recent EP The Wetlands will get a special…