• Master & Dog – Things You Should Know

    April 8, 2014 - By 

    Opening on a languidly strummed major chord in the vein of Sparklehorse and Low, pronounced gently like a first breath awakening from sleep, the lead track from Things You Should Know by Master & Dog is a brief but exquisitely restrained tale delicately marrying terse admissions of self-doubt with a pervasive ghost of hope. From the off, repose and self-contemplation feels directly conducive to the effect, the opening prologue-like tale very much setting the tone for the quartet’s latest EP. “I’m scared of what you’re capable of,” parts the alt-folk band’s vocalist and guitarist Walter Thee Goon, the release’s rather refreshingly unambiguous…

  • EP Stream: ABandcalledboy – Abandcalledboy

    April 8, 2014 - By 

    The follow-up to last year’s promising Dead Academics EP, Northern Irish schizo-punk trio Abandcalledboy have released their seven-track self-titled EP. Including the release’s lead single ‘Cliff Richard‘, the EP features the brims with the Ryan Burrowes-fronted trio’s now fully-formed grasp of fusing earworming melodies with pummeling weight. Over the course of seven tracks, and most impressively on ‘Serotonin’ and ‘Mirrorlover’, drop-tuned riffs meld with deceptively contagious vocal hooks and an unrelentingly impassioned delivery that confirms the arrival of one of the country’s most promising alt-rock bands of a generation. Abandcalledboy kickstart a string of UK dates in Glasgow this evening…

  • Inbound: Arborist

    April 7, 2014 - By 

    Ahead of the release of their debut album, we talk to Mark McCambridge, frontman and songwriting core of Belfast-based band Arborist about the evolution of the project, the thematic foundations of the release and the many benefits derived from the freedom to experiment in the studio. Photos by Dave Timlin. Hi Mark. Arborist has just finished recording your debut album, Home Burial. Before talking about that, how has the journey been getting to this stage? Arborist began in Christmas 2012 and the goal was always to get to this point. A lot of the songs were already there – they…

  • Gig of the week: Farriers, Anthony Toner & more @ Empire Music Hall

    April 7, 2014 - By 

    Headlined by alt-rock band The Farriers, our Gig of the Week for this is a special fundraising show for disaster relief in Syria at Belfast’s Empire Music Hall on Friday, April 11. Not merely totally laudable for the great cause – aiding the afflicted caught up on the Syrian crisis – the line-up has all the makings of one of those all-too-rare “I was there” shows, with Anthony Toner, Master & Dog and Seven Summits (pictured) also amongst the acts set to perform. Tickets are £5 and it’s £6 at the door. Go here for the show’s Facebook event page.

  • Watch: The Altered Hours – Dig Early

    April 7, 2014 - By 

    Ahead a string of Irish dates starting at the end of April, Cork psych-rock maestros The Altered Hours have unveiled their debut video, for the single ‘Dig Early’. Created by Mary Kelleher, Izabella Szczutkowska and Elaine Howley, the video is an entrancing collage of warped black-and-white footage of the band performing in Cork’s Triskel Arts Centre majestically intercut with a hyper-speed, decidedly dream-like coastal trawl in Co. Clare. The track itself – brilliantly bearing the hallmarks of the band’s intent-drenched live shows – was recorded and produced in Cork with Chris Somers and will be released as a 7″ on Art for…

  • Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival Line-up Announced

    April 3, 2014 - By 

    Set to take place from May 1 to May 11, the programme for this year’s Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival has been announced. As with every other installment of the annual Belfast festival, variety and eclecticism is at the heart of this year’s line-up. From Wilko Johnson and the Mercy Lounge, De La Soul, Channel 4 news anchor Jon Snow, The Handsome Family, Simon Amstell, Shonen Knife and everything in between, there is a hugely impressive roster running the gamut from music and comedy to spoken word, theatre, visual art and more. We’re also getting involved in this year’s programme, hosting a…

  • Watch: Bouts – Novelty

    April 4, 2014 - By 

    Ahead of a string of Spring live dates, Dublin indie-rock band Bouts have unveiled the video for their latest single, ‘Novelty’. The first track from the quartet’s debut album, the superb Nothing Good Gets Away, this song is an accurate distillation of Bouts’ sublimely starry-eyed craft. The video for the song features the band, ever zealous (as you would be), writing and recording the album. Check out the poster for those Spring dates (including supporting none other than Yuck at this year’s Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival) and the video for ‘Novelty’ below.

  • Video exclusive: Sullivan & Gold – Glory

    April 2, 2014 - By 

    A week on from premiering the video for their exquisite cover of ‘Nobody Loves You’ by Reuben, we’re very happy to present an exclusive of ‘Glory’, the newest single by Derry singer-songwriter duo Sullivan & Gold. Shot in the charming, coffee-scented surroundings of Lost & Found Bar and Cafe on Queen Street, Coleraine, the video was shot by PIGMINTFILM. A song about “the little things in life, that seems to grow in stature every time the boys perform it live”, it is the second single to be taken from Sullivan & Gold’s debut album, For Foes. Sullivan & Gold will…

  • Stream: Planet Parade – Before & After

    April 2, 2014 - By 

    Having first reared their head back in 2009 with their four-track EP, Ghosts To People, Kildare indie-pop duo Michael Hopkins and Andrew Lloyd AKA Planet Parade have released their latest track, the lulling narcosis of ‘Before and After’. With tracks ‘Prick’ and ‘You and the Devil’ proving equally immersive last month, the two-piece have returned with a three-minute gem, propelled by a hugging, synth-led nocturnalism, gently chopping rhythms and suitably entrancing vocals. Stream the track via Soundcloud below.

  • Gig of the week: Documenta – The Happening

    April 2, 2014 - By 

    A stand-out highlight of this year’s Belfast Film Festival, our gig of the week for the first week of April is The Happening, a very special, one-off performance by Belfast drone pop outfit Documenta. Taking place on Friday, March 4 at Belfast’s Black Box, the performance will see the Joe Greene-fronted band perform two specially-composed, never-played-before forty-five minute sets accompanied by a multi-screening of Andy Warhol’s Empire, Blowjob and Kiss. Rounding off the event in typically fine fashion will be a Factory-esque DJ set by Joe Lindsay and Ryan Fitzsimmons. Doors are at 8pm, admission is £6. Alternatively, buy a ticket…