Announced just last week, two of Belfast very best bands, Girls Names and Sea Pinks played a memorable show at Belfast’s Menagerie on Friday night. Photos by Sara Marsden.
-
-
With the launch of their debut album, Birth, taking place at London’s Electrowerkz tonight (May 7), Cork electro-pop duo Young Wonder are an Irish act very much on the up. Having released a stream of the original a couple of weeks ago, the pair have now unveiled a wonderfully understated remix of ‘Sweet Dreaming’ by London’s Tusks, a re-working that really drives home the track’s darkly, earworming melodic flourishes. Where the original is a dusky, beguiling effort, Tusks’ remix is a much more nocturnal affair; something for soundtracking that solitary headspace back home after a night out. Win tickets to the duo’s…
-
Far beyond bustling venues of the capital and endless streams of self-congratulatory press releases, Ireland is home to some decidedly more furtive, sub-rosa artists. Conjuring the intimate post-rock solipsism of Hood and Blue Aeroplanes with the wispy, inward-working bedroom electronica of World’s End Girlfriend, Lia by Dublin-based Irish-Iranian songwriter and producer Keian Roohipour AKA Keian falls under the aforementioned bracket, proving an initially unassuming yet very promising triptych of considered alt-pop. At the root of the material is an experimental knack that transcends sub-genre which, along with the music’s altogether charming lo-fidelity, coalesces to deliver something that proves encouraging for future material. Keian’s debut release, Lia was recorded, produced…
-
Presenting one of the leading International Festivals of photography in the UK and the Visual Arts Festival of Northern Ireland, Belfast Photo Festival will return to the city from June 4-30 with an extraordinarily varied programme. With a whole host of exhibitions, workshops, masterclasses, talks, tours, screenings and portfolio reviews on the cards over the four weeks, the festival – which has been two years in the making – will include work by major international photographers alongside Northern Ireland’s finest photographic talent. Highlights from this year’s outing for the festival include To Camera, a group exhibition at the Golden Thread Gallery,…
-
Kicking things off nicely is Paddy Hanna with his introspective, delicate folk. His greatest, and most striking strength is his voice, reminiscent of BBC’s Jack Steadman, Alt-J’s Joe Newman and even our own Conor O’Brien. His mellow, gossamer guitar playing may be lost on the early crowd who are yet to break from their tight circles and shadowy corners. But in Paddy, though no stage master, there’s clearly something to like for lovers of the genre. The crowd begins to grow. Mid week gigs are all the thing it seems. But then again, who wouldn’t want to get out of…
-
Released as a stream back in March, Belfast-based folk songsmith Mark McCambridge AKA Arborist has unveiled the video for his new single, ‘Twisted Arrow’, featuring guest vocals from none other than Kim Deal. Directed by Stephen Agnew, it’s a suitably mellow accompaniment to the Americana-tinged single, which was officially released on Monday. Watch the video below.
-
Having laid low for a few months, Lisburn singer-songwriter Peter McAuley AKA Rams Pocket Radio has re-emerged with ‘Resevoir’, a strong, electronica-infused effort hinting at some very promising things in the making. Driven by McAuley’s immediately recognisable vocals and a wonderful string trio, the track was mixed and engineered by Rocky O’Reilly at Belfast’s Start Together Studio. Stream/download ‘Reservoir’ below. Reservoir by RAMS’ Pocket Radio
-
With many more acts yet to be announced, legendary English folk singer-songwriter Donovan and Kerbdog will play Ireland’s “Best Small Festival” Stendhal Festival in Limavady across August 7-8. With Donovan headlining the Friday night, DJ Format, Televisor, Kila, Ciaran Lavery, Robyn G Shiels and Ryan Vail are also amongst the first acts announced. Check out the current line-up below and go here to buy tickets.
-
A self-proclaimed “incredible party on the edge of the world”, Valentia Isle has unveiled a second wave of acts set to play the festival in July. With musician, DJ, broadcaster and founding member of Big Audio Dynamite, Don Letts topping the latest announcement, Dublin’s The Hot Sprockets, New Zealand indie pop musician Pikachunes and Cork dream-pop band Elastic Sleep also feature. A string of other Irish acts make up the remainder of the latest announcement: Dirty Dubsters, New Secret Weapon, Fox Jaw, Sounds of System Breakdown, Toy Soldier, Karma Parking, Mongoose, Collie Hz U, Strange Attractor, Markas Carcas, Cal Folger…
-
On Friday, May 8, the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival will host a free early evening screening of Beats Rhymes and Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest at Belfast’s Black Box. Having forged a 20-year run as one of the most innovative and influential hip hop bands of all time, the Queens NY collective have kept a generation hungry for more of their groundbreaking music since their much publicized breakup in 1998. Beats, Rhymes & Life (also the title of the band’s 1996 record) balances brutal honesty with a heartfelt devotion as it tracks A Tribe Called Quest’s mid-1980’s formation in…