Derry electronic duo Ryan Vail (comprised of Katie Cosgrove and Vail himself) have unveiled the video to their new single, ‘Free’. Directed by Giles Labarbe, the typically shadowy and nocturnal video is, in the director’s own words, “about the freedom that one might experience while losing a connection with someone close. Its aesthetics reflect the various styles blended in Ryan Vail’s track.” Watch the video for the song – released via Champion Sound Records – below.
As part of this year’s Belfast Music Week we will hold a special showcase featuring some of the country’s finest songwriting talent at Belfast’s Pavilion on Wednesday, November 13. Headlining by Derry-based singer-songwriter Chris McConaghy AKA Our Krypton Son (pictured), the bill will also feature fast-rising Belfast-based band Arborist, Derry quartet The Wood Burning Savages and frontman of Belfast indie rock band Seven Summits, Rory Nellis. Go here for the show’s Facebook event page. Doors at 8pm, £5 in.
Released via frontman Neil Brogan’s own label – CF Records – Belfast band Sea Pinks have unveiled their new EP, Exploded View. Featuring the double A-Side ‘An Exploded View’ and ‘Magpies Eyes’, the release also features the tracks ‘PST’ and ‘Pretty Pass’. The follow-up to last September’s fantastic Freak Waves, the EP is limited to 100 7″s. Purchase one here. Stream (or buy) the digital EP via Bandcamp below.
Ahead of their debut Belfast show at the Pavilion on Thursday, November 7 – supported by Sons of Caliber, no less – Brian Coney chats to Brooke and John from New Zealand dream-folk duo French For Rabbits about recent touring, sonic influence and their joint love of the sea. Hi guys. So, how did the band first come together? John: Hello! It all came about when we uprooted our lives in Christchurch in between earthquakes and moved to Wellington. The real reason for the move was because Brooke had decided she needed to start singing – in her previous bands she…
Just over five years on their resounding show at Laverys Bunker, Calfornian post-rock quartet Enablers’ show at Voodoo on Friday, November 8 is our gig of the week. Featuring the poetry and spoken word of frontman Pete Simonelli, the band are renown for their intense and altogether idiosyncratic live performances – think Slint meets Jack Kerouac. Better still, off the back of the release of 2011’s Blown Realms And Stalled Explosions, one of post-rock’s finest musicians, Doug Scharin – formerly of Codeine, HiM, June of 44, Rex and Mice Parade – is the band’s current drummer. Support on the night comes from…
On the day of its official release, Dublin instrumental quartet Alarmist talk us through each track on their brand new – not to mention exceptionally good – EP Pal Magnet. Read their words and stream each track individually below! Aztec Dreams In this song we were trying to be quite intense but in an unconventional way, with these old-school guitar tones and blippy melodies rather than heavy rock riffs. A couple of us had gotten really into the 1950s producer Joe Meek and his albumI Hear a New World, which is full of these twangy slapback sounds and primitive early synths, and that…
Silent Hill 2 is a masterpiece. It’s not a masterpiece in the traditional sense, where every aspect of the work is perfect. It’s a masterpiece in the sense that, despite being fundamentally broken in many ways, it still feels like a brutal, cohesive, human experience. Silent Hill 2 is not perfect – but it’s alive. This sequel is, for all intents and purposes, a reboot. Removing the B-movie cult storyline that the original was based on, Silent Hill 2 unshackles itself from the continuity of the franchise. The foggy town of Silent Hill is no longer the manifestation of tortured…
Belfast City Council have released a statement concerning the delegation of tickets for a Freedom of the City concert by Van Morrison at the Waterfront Hall on November 15. The statement has arrived following a backlash from some members of the public due to one fifth of the tickets for the free concert having been held back for “VIP” guests. Read the statement below: “Belfast City Council wishes to clarify its position in relation to the Van Morrison ‘Freedom of the City’ event at the Waterfront Hall on Friday, 15 November. This is an official ceremony to confer Freedom of the City…
Half way through their current tour Scottish indie rock band Frightened Rabbit have unveiled the video to ‘Holy’. A classic visual take on the general tediousness of modern life, the video features one woman’s kneejerk “return to nature”, culminating in a scene that will be familiar to anyone who has watched The Hours. The track itself is taken from the band’s fourth studio album, Pedestrian Verse. Frightened Rabbit will play Dublin’s Olympia on November 14 and Belfast’s Mandela Hall the following night. Watch the video below.
Ahead of its release tonight at Belfast’s McMordie Hall, we are delighted to present an exclusive stream of the spectacular Broken To Be Rebuilt, the eagerly-anticipated new EP from singer-songwriter Katharine Philippa. Co-produced, mixed and master by Matt Duke, the six-track EP features extra instrumentation from five different musicians, including Duke himself. The closing track is an orchestra quartet version of the album’s title track, bookending a release that perfectly captures Philippa’s spectral and sublime craft. Stream the EP in full below.