• Gigs of the Week: Young Fathers, Mark Lanegan, Come On Live Long & Sleep Thieves

    January 14, 2015 - By 

    OK, so we’re all broke. Big deal. Put that desire to eat to one side for another week in favour of hitting up one of the following. Trust us: you will not be disappointed – just very, very hungry, and possibly dangerously ill. You’re welcome. Out To Lunch: Young Fathers Black Box, Belfast Friday, January 16 An absolute credit to the ever-tasteful foresight of the organisers of the annual Belfast festival, 2014 Mercury Prize winning Edinburgh trio Young Fathers will play this year’s Out To Lunch festival on Friday night. “Where, like? The street?” you ask. Not at all: the Black Box.…

  • 15 For ’15: New Gods

    January 13, 2015 - By 

    Next Wednesday, January 21, we conclude 15 For ’15, our feature looking at fifteen Irish acts we’re certain – convinced, even – are going to make waves in 2015 and beyond. Make sure to check out the full feature in our forthcoming January/February physical magazine. Up today are Dublin punk five-piece New Gods. Photo by Isabel Thomas, words by Will Murphy. When it starts, you can feel it. This invisible touch sliding down your spine like finger of some long forgotten creature. Foot taps and gentle nods turn into body slams and head banging. This is what 1976 must have felt…

  • The Certain Three Tour Announced

    January 12, 2015 - By 

    With previous incarnations of the the tour featuring acts including The Altered Hours, O Emperor, We Cut Corners, The Lost Brothers, Alessi’s Ark and more, the sixth outing of The Certain Three Tour will see Joan Shelley, John Blek and Vikesh Kapoor take the road together together from February 22 until March 1. Presented by Word of Mouth Agency, the annual tour has grown to be a staple of the Irish music scene over the past few years, acclaimed for combining up-and-coming international and Irish acts and sending them out on the road, from West Cork to Northern Ireland and most places…

  • 15 For ’15: Princess

    January 12, 2015 - By 

    With their track ‘Molly’ (below) coming in at #1 in our Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2014, Dublin duo Princess are our next featured act in our 15 For ’15 feature. Their frankly irresistible brand of dream/noise-pop has had us hooked over the last couple of years, and we are absolutely convinced they’re going to concoct even bigger and better things in 2015 and far beyond. Words by Stevie Lennox. Photo by Isabel Thomas. The duo of Liam Mesbur and Aoife McCarthy – accompanied by various friends – are the core of Dublin experimental indie rock act Princess, who dropped their…

  • Stream: Skelocrats – Lyin’ Eyes

    January 12, 2015 - By 

    With their recently-completed new album, Charles II, set for released in March, Dublin quartet Skelocrats have released a self-proclaimed “yearning folk-rock ballad.” Having listened to it a handful of times already, that about perfectly sums it up in our ears. Driven forth by Bronwyn Murphy-White’s lamenting vocals, the track is a short and sweet 50s-echoing tale, all swooning and jangly and positively delightful. The last twenty seconds are particularly satisfying. Stream the track by the Popical Island band below.

  • Monday Mixtape: Niall Kennedy (ASIWYFA, A Bad Cavalier)

    January 12, 2015 - By 

    In the first of a new regular feature (weekly, in fact, would you believe?) And So I Watch You From Afar axeman and A Bad Cavalier main man Niall Kennedy delivers his wonderfully eclectic Monday Mixtape. Serious tunes ahoy – Niall, take the reigns… “This is the sort of playlist I’d make for a big drive. It includes a lot of my favourite tunes and is nice and varied. It’s good to keep things interesting so you don’t fall asleep when you’re driving – never good! It’s got some of my new favourite bands like PUP and Grouplove, some epic rock…

  • Seven Quarters Announce First Line-up of 2015

    January 12, 2015 - By 

    Having had a great first year in 2014, Dublin club Seven Quarters returns to Whelan’s, Dublin, for its fifth outing on February, 27 with Dublin instrumental quartet Alarmist (picturedd) and Neil O’Connor AKA Somadrone. Very much setting itself apart from other Irish club nights, Seven Quarters gives away two exclusive tracks on limited edition 7″  vinyl (hence the idea of the word “seven” referring to the vinyl – the “Quarters” part is based on the fact the club will happen four times a year. . Limited advance tickets are on sale now and the first 150 tickets come with a limited edition vinyl. Dig the poster for…

  • Premiere: Come On Live Long – Trough

    January 12, 2015 - By 

    Having spent the autumn and winter months carving out the follow-up to their critically-acclaimed debut, Everything Fall, Dublin five-piece Come On Live Long have returned with ‘Trough’, a four-minute spectral gem that hints at some extraordinary things in the making. Initially intended to be an ambient interlude on the album, the song began to grow organically as the band invited guest musicians and friends to lend their talents to the piece. Featuring Tadhg Byrne on violin, Matt Rafter on cello, Bill Blackmore on flugelhorn and trombone, and Michael Maguire on accordion, it combines a mini-orchestra of instrumentation, including a pedal organ…

  • 15 For ’15: Speed of Snakes

    January 9, 2015 - By 

    Set to feature in physical form in our forthcoming January magazine, we continue 15 for ’15, a feature looking at fifteen Irish acts we’re absolutely convinced are going places in 2015. Over the first two weeks of January, we’ll be previewing each of those acts, accompanied by words from our writers and an original photograph by our wonderful team of photographers. Next up: Dublin duo Speed of Snakes. Photo by Alessio Michelini. 2014 saw the end of a band called Adebisi Shank, but this year the vibrations of the two remaining hatchlings of the snakes whose trails are the cosmos will reverberate along your consciousness like never before.…

  • 15 For ’15: Axis Of

    January 7, 2015 - By 

    Set to feature in physical form in our forthcoming January magazine, we continue 15 for ’15, a feature looking at fifteen Irish acts we’re absolutely convinced are going places in 2015. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll going to be previewing each of those acts, accompanied by words from our writers and an original photograph by our wonderful team of photographers. Next up: Belfast-based three-piece Axis Of. Photo by Tom McGeehan. 2015 looks all set for take-off for the North Antrim act dubbed by Rocksound “the most exciting band to come out of Northern Ireland, possibly ever”. Axis Of launch into the New Year…