• Watch: Rory Nellis – Outdoorsman

    April 24, 2015 - By 

    One of Ireland’s most naturally gifted songsmiths, Rory Nellis‘ music betrays an increasingly tangible sense of conviction and candor. Where no lyric or phrase feels throwaway, no chord progression or melodic flourish seems kneejerk or unconsidered. This almost meditative attention to detail is something that has often set his music apart from many of his peers, something that’s more than evident on his forthcoming debut album, Ready For You Now. Recorded with Phil D’Alton of Master & Dog, the album – currently available to fund on Pledgemusic – features a cast of local musicians including Herb Magee (formerly of LaFaro, now of Goons), Pete…

  • Stream: Pleasure Beach – Go

    April 23, 2015 - By 

    Belfast dream-pop bands are few and far between. Deeming themselves just that – exactly 3,339 miles to the east of Baltimore’s Beach House – are Pleasure Beach, a new-fangled five-piece who met whilst working in the “estimable coffee shops of Belfast”. Featuring members of Northern Irish acts including Yes Cadets and In An Instant, the band’s debut single, ‘Go’, takes its cue from “pounding stadium Americana, hypnotic krautrock and blurry-eyed Scandinavian pop”, forging a self-assured and decidedly mesmeric four-and-a-half minutes of sun-kissed, wanderlust-driven pop. A self-proclaimed “part bruised break-up song, part existential post-apocalyptic horror story”, you can stream the track below.

  • An Evening with Susan Howe @ Belvedere House, Dublin

    April 23, 2015 - By 

    One of the preeminent poets of her generation, Susan Howe will take part in an evening of reading and conversation at Dublin’s Belvedere House on Sunday, June 14. Just two days before Bloomsday, Howe will read from her extensive body of work and delve into insight of her deep Irish roots and the contours of 20th and 21st Century poetry at the event, a highlight from this year’s Bloomsday Festival. Tickets are available to purchase here; times run from 6pm to 8pm.

  • Watch: Sleep Thieves – You Want The Night

    April 21, 2015 - By 

    A masterclass in woozy, nocturnal electro-pop, You Want The Night by Dublin three-piece Sleep Thieves is easily one of our favourite debut albums by an Irish band in… well, forever. A year on from its release, the Sorcha Brennan-fronted band have unveiled the video for its title (and arguably best track) ‘You Want The Night’ – and what a distance director Mike P. Nelson has gone to wonderfully, rather cinematically capture the song’s dark, marauding tangents.

  • Good Name: Krautrock Night @ The Bernard Shaw, Dublin

    April 21, 2015 - By 

    What do you get when you get when you round up members of this country’s most forward-thinking bands and put them on the stage together playing Krautrock style together? Something more than a bit different is what. On Thursday, April 23 at Dublin’s Bernard Shaw, see members of Girl Band and Meltybrains? jamming in a scene they’re huge fans of but is very far from their norm. Good Name DJ’s will be spinning on the night. Starts at 8pm; free entry.

  • Oliver Jeffers: Words & Pictures @ Liberty Hall, Dublin

    April 24, 2015 - By 

    Raised in Northern Ireland, New York-based Australian artist, illustrator and writer Oliver Jeffers is a jack of all trades, master of many. His picture books – including Lost & Found, Stuck, The Hueys and more – have been translated into over 30 languages, his distinctive paintings have been exhibited throughout the world and he won an Emmy in 2010 for his collobarative work with Mac Premo. Taking place as part of International Literary Festival Dublin 2015, Oliver Jeffers – Words & Pictures will take place at Liberty Hall on Tuesday, May 19 at 6.30pm. Tickets are priced at €8/€5 and are…

  • Album stream: Screaming Parent – The Completist

    April 20, 2015 - By 

    Tagged on Bandcamp with terms including “bad glitch” and “cubase disasters”, The Completist by Screaming Parent AKA Dudley Colley of Dublin’s Dudley Corporation is ten tracks of self-proclaimed “spare-room recorded bedroom classics”. Knowing self-deprecation aside, it’s most definitely not a “disaster” from the musician. With ridiculously infectious melodies, Of Montreal-esque harmonies and Postal Service-like beats melding very nicely across a collection of tracks, the album evokes, at different points, the likes of The Books, Pinback and Metronomy. According to Colley, the album – released in advance of The Dudley Corporation’s fifth studio album – is his first solo “misadventure”, recorded in between school runs and…

  • Exclusive: Stream Three Record Store Gay Tracks

    April 17, 2015 - By 

    Fast becoming an Irish music institution Dublin’s Record Store Gay has some obvious added import this year ahead of the forthcoming Marriage Referendum. Now in its fourth year, the self-proclaimed celebration of music and diversity will host a mini-music festival, poster exhibition and pop-up music shop for international Record Store Day tomorrow at Dublin’s Outhouse LGBT Community Resource Centre. Hosted in association with Little Gem Records, the annual Record Store Gay CD covers compilation will also be released on the day, featuring some excellent tracks from the likes of Hi Fashion, Kate’s Party, I Heart The Monster Hero, Florence Olivier, Katherine Lynch…

  • 12 Points festival

    April 16, 2015 - By 

    Running from April 15-18 at Dublin’s Project Arts Centre, 12 Points Festival will showcase 12 young European jazz ensembles, creating a unique networking opportunity for its participants. The schedule for this year’s outing – featuring the likes of Black Dough, Virta, Auditive Connection and Moskus –  is both impressively varied and extremely inviting for first-time attendees. Hit up the 12 Points Festival page here to check out the full line-up and to buy tickets.

  • Premiere: Swimmers – Body Ahernia

    April 15, 2015 - By 

    A week on from the release of stellar debut track, ‘Lose Myself’, Dublin band Swimmers have given us an exclusive first look at the video for its equally impressive follow-up, ‘Body Ahernia’. According to Niall Jackson from the band, it is “a track about getting death out of the way in order to enjoy living. The sooner we all die the sooner we can stop worrying about it, so I died a few years ago and have had a ball since. The title track is a tribute to the late Bobby Aherne who isn’t dead at all but rather instilling a very…