• AVA Festival Announces Conference Details

    February 27, 2015 - By 

    Set to take place at T13 in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter on Saturday, May 30, the first wave of details for the conference end of the inaugural AVA Festival has been revealed. With talks, panel discussions and workshops set to feature throughout the day, Keynote speakers will feature DJ Nu-Mark of Jurassic 5 and Adam Smith, long-term AV collaborator with The Chemical Brothers. Industry leaders and key partners including Ashley Howard of Hospital Records, the Vice President of Beatport, Terry Weerasinghe, Paul Hamil AKA Psycatron and more will make an appearance. Go here to read details of the acts performing at…

  • Watch: No Spill Blood – El Duurto (Live)

    February 26, 2015 - By 

    Hands down Dublin’s most intriguing and enthralling dystopia-evoking trio, No Spill Blood have released a live video of their performing the aptly-titled ‘El Duurto’. In typical NSB fashion, it’s furious and frantic, where doom and space-rock merge in a heady battle of the wills. The video – full of claustrophobic close-shots – was shot and edited by Neil Hoare in Dublin. ‘El Duurto’ will feature on the band’s forthcoming Sargent House-released debut album, Heavy Electricity.

  • Tour Diary: Ciaran Lavery in Kansas

    February 26, 2015 - By 

    Head of Belfast-based imprints Champion Sound and Quiet Arch, Lyndon Stephens reports back from Northern Irish singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery’s recent industry festival jaunt in Kansas Thursday Accompanied by yours truly, Ciaran Lavery flew to Folk Alliance festival in Kansas City, Missouri last week four days of intense industry showcase gigs. Famous for Dorothy, Toto, Union Station, The Liberty Memorial, BBQ and as the State where the Civil War started, Kansas hosts this industry event with a difference. Everything takes place over four days in two interconnected hotels. Labels, management companies, agents, magazines and government agencies rent rooms or suites (depending…

  • Death From Above 1979 @ Limelight 1, Belfast

    February 23, 2015 - By 

    When Toronto dance punks par excellence Death From Above 1979 announced they were calling it a day back in the good old days of yore (2006), every second twenty-something rued through tear-soaked eyes somehow managing to miss arguably one of the finest duos of a generation live. And so, as has happened innumerable times before, in precisely the same fashion, the seeds of legacy were well and truly sown, reaped, a whole decade on, by an expectedly agog congregation of newcomers and “I was there, man” thirty-somethings at Belfast’s Limelight 1. Will the well-documented tension between Sebastien Grainger (drums/vocals) and Jesse Keeler (bass) – apparently resigned…

  • A Celebration of Slint @ Pavilion, Belfast

    February 23, 2015 - By 

    On Wednesday, February 25, we will host a celebration of iconic U.S. post-rock pioneers Slint at Belfast’s Pavilion. As well as screening Breadcrumb Trail, Lance Bangs’ wonderful, downright unmissable documentary on the band, we will also be playing the band’s landmark 1991 album Spiderland in full, as well as encouraging local musicians to talk about the impact of Slint on their lives and music. Admission is only £3, doors are at 8pm.

  • Monday Mixtape: Bob Nastanovich (Pavement/Silver Jews)

    February 23, 2015 - By 

    Ok, we admit it: our predisposition to mid-Nineties American indie rock is pretty marked. Now that we’ve combined forces and shoved the elephant out of the room, let’s get down to business. Following in the ridiculously tasteful footsteps of Quasi’s Sam Coomes, as well as our very own Ciaran Lavery, Niall Kennedy from And So I Watch You From Afar, Ciarán Smith from Crayonmith and Girls Names‘ Claire Miskimmin, U.S musician and all-round good guy Bob Nastanovich is next up for this week’s Monday Mixtape. A glaringly charimastic member of Pavement and Silver Jews, Nastanovich selects some of his all-time favourite songs from the…

  • Watch: Malojian – Communion Girls

    February 23, 2015 - By 

    Stevie Scullion AKA Malojian has long been one of our favourite songsmiths from these shores. A real master of the hushed, understated acoustic lullaby, he has an extraordinarily for bringing a room to a pin-drop silence with a few softly-strummed chords and a repartee or two of plainly-sung truth. Directed by the equally gifted Richard Davis, the video for Scullion’s new single, ‘Communion Girls’, is a touching, darkly humorous and beautifully rendered piece, one that we couldn’t recommend you any more highly for giving the once over. ‘Communion Girls’ is taken from Malojian’s forthcoming album Southlands. Get involved in its…

  • Le Galaxie present Le Club @ The Academy, Dublin

    February 23, 2015 - By 

    Ask any man and his dog, “What are Le Galaxie?” and they (ok, just the man) will invariably respond with a giddy spiel about a neon-soaked, party-starting machine, with the utmost collective ability to make even the most shy and retiring maladroit splay and flail like Techno Viking having a series of seizure-induced fits.  And he would be right. Yes, with their profound, cosmically-inclined fondness for hip and happening one-off happenings, Le Galaxie are very much at it again, with the announcement that they’re bringing Le Club to Dublin’s Academy on April 24 and 25. Set to coincide with the…

  • Watch: Girl Band – Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage? (NSFW)

    February 23, 2015 - By 

    Falling rather comfortably under the “absolutely mental” category, Girl Band have unveiled the positively NSFW video for their eight-minute cover of Blawan’s ‘Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage?’ Needless to say, we mean “absolutely mental” in the best possible sense, and shall divulge no more information at the risk of marring the twisted intriguing of the stark, surreal visual accompaniment to one of the Dublin band’s best live cuts, which is set to feature on the band’s The Early Years EP on April 21 – their first release on Rough Trade. Make sure to check out the March issue of…

  • More Acts Announced for Longitude

    February 20, 2015 - By 

    Joining the likes of headliners Hozier, Alt-J and The Chemical Brothers, seventeen new acts have been confirmed to play this year’s Longitude Festival. Taking place in Dublin’s Marlay Park over the weekend of Friday, July 17, the festival has revealed the following new additions to the schedule, with more still to be announced: James Blake, The Vaccines, Metronomy, Pusha T, Todd Terje, Danny Brown, Glass Animals, Everything Everything, Toro y Moi, Daphni, Jose Gonzalez, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Years & Years, Ibeyi, Benjamin Booker, Tove Lo, The Districts. Tickets are on sale now.