• Bibio – Sleep on the Wing

    July 22, 2020 - By 

    Warp’s finest acoustically-inclined son, Bibio (Stephen James Wilkinson), has returned with Sleep on the Wing. It’s another shining example of meditative, textured experiments in meandering psych-folk and echoing found-sound that, despite being a stylistic sum of the parts of its creator’s output thus far, is anything but an exercise in pastiche. How Wilkinson continues to craft compositionally intriguing records under the auspices of his tried and tested “sound” is difficult to ascertain but the results speak for themselves across the 10 tracks on offer here. Unlike the titular bird to which the EP is tied, Sleep on the Wing does anything…

  • Mount Palomar – The Perils Of Youth

    November 11, 2019 - By 

    For those with a finger on the pulse of Ireland’s eminently reputable electronic music scene, Neil Kerr’s Mount Palomar alias and output – though in its semi-infancy – should be fairly familiar by now. With a burgeoning homegrown fanbase and increasingly frequent overseas appearances in the likes of Panorama Bar, Kerr’s development as an authentic purveyor of the analog has been a refreshing expedition to observe. While his debut offering Black Knight’s Tango saw the Falls Road native looking up and gazing into the endless cosmos beyond the nocturnal orange haze of inner city Belfast’s streetlamp sky, The Perils of…

  • 18 for ’18: A Ritual Sea

    January 23, 2018 - By 

    We continue 18 for ’18, our feature showcasing eighteen Irish acts we’re convinced are going places in 2018. Throughout January we’re going to be previewing each of those acts, accompanied by words from our writers and an original photograph from one of our photographers. Next up, A Ritual Sea. Photo by Loreana Rushe Formed in 2016 and currently working on a highly anticipated debut full-length, Irish / French dream-pop prospect A Ritual Sea may be fairly fresh, but from what we’ve heard so far, the four-piece are far from ‘wet behind the ears’. Via ‘Serpentine’, seemingly the only public offering released to…

  • Nava – Tapestry

    December 14, 2017 - By 

    On paper, it might not sound like the most symbiotic of sonic juxtapositions (depending on taste, obviously) – “a groundbreaking group of young musicians exploring the relationship between the ancient musical cultures of Ireland and Persia.” But in Nava’s self-released debut LP Tapestry, what could easily have fallen into cacophonous territory instead finds its feet in blissful euphony; as much in thanks to the unconventional folk outfit’s mixed bag of musical lineages as the sheer musicianship of its members. Half exploration of traditional expressions of Irish folk (courtesy of Paddy Kiernan and Niall Hughes) and half observance of traditional Persian folk mediums…

  • The Cyclist – Sapa Inca Delirium

    November 9, 2017 - By 

    Derry’s Andy Morrison AKA The Cyclist has produced some of the most compelling home-grown club-ready cuts in recent memory and it’s arguably down to the fact that he’s so singularly focused. “Tape Throb”, a line of peculiar yet inviting analogue elements that Morrison has applied to his output since 2013’s Bones in Motion, typically exhibits a crackling warmth in tone and dulled melodic sheen. For the most part, this transformative “filter” morphs dance-floor orientated releases into sub-sonic grooves that bury themselves in your ear and refuse to leave – see 2014’s wildly unshakeable Flourish. With Sapa Inca Delirium, his first album…

  • Bicep – Bicep

    September 13, 2017 - By 

    As well known in recent years for their 4/4 bangers as their spacey, off-kilter musical segues from the dance floor to the chill-out room, it’s not entirely surprising that Belfast native, London-based duo Bicep have found a home for their eponymous debut LP on Ninja Tune. Historically, the label’s indie ethos has allowed those artists straddling experimental electronica and the left-field to develop a cult following before propelling them into the greater public depth-of-field. What’s interesting here is that Bicep, having already garnered such an intensely outspoken following on home soil in a relatively short space of time (all things considered),…

  • Talos – Wild Alee

    April 26, 2017 - By 

    In Wild Alee, Cork’s Eoin French, AKA Talos, has created a long player of considerable depth and uncomplicated beauty. A debut-proper, the record follows on from a series of releases that only delicately hinted at the kind of multi-tonal, meticulously constructed arrangements that French, and currently his extended Talos outfit, have now harnessed in all of their charming sheen. A result indebted, no doubt, to both the fact that Wild Alee was partly written and conceived of in Reykjavik with Valgeir Sigurðsson (Sigur Rós; Bjork), as well as in Ireland under the guidance / magic touch of Ross Dowling. From the off, it’s…

  • A Labour of Love: An Interview With New Pope

    February 15, 2017 - By 

    You mightn’t immediately peg David Boland AKA New Pope, as a “degenerate romantic”, but when delving into his expanding back catalogue, there’s enough substance of the sort to confirm that the Galway-based musician has had dealings with nostalgia far more cogent than his youth might suggest. His is a craft indebted to memory; the bittersweet, the humorous, and the kind that inherently shapes one’s outlook – for better and, at times, for worse. To hear it on record is to acknowledge the confessional nature of Boland’s songwriting; we become willingly and unapologetically complicit in his experiences – an increasingly rewarding transaction…

  • Bonobo – Migration

    January 24, 2017 - By 

    For over 16 years, Ninja Tune veteran Simon Green AKA Bonobo has been making the kind of music that seems to be able to frame every and any mood that a listener is capable of feeling. There was an invariable funkiness to Animal Magic; Dial ‘M’ for Monkey provided as much whimsy as it did downbeat introspection; Days to Come and follow-up Black Sands saw Green building upon his knack for constructing subtle yet arresting modal shifts; while The North Borders added guest vocalists and traditional leanings into the fray. Now, with Migration, his sixth studio LP, Green has taken his…

  • Tycho – Epoch

    January 23, 2017 - By 

    Scott Hansen’s take on electronica is one rooted as much in aesthetics as it is sound. A musician with a strong sense of visual communication, Hansen’s compositions have typically found a balance not unlike the space on an artist’s pad – colourful, contextually informative, and direct in all the right places, while sparse and minimalistic in others. It’s this balance that has resulted in a canon undetermined by fad or the changing tastes of an audience; Hansen’s work is signature and conforms to little else than a singular vision. This thread of idiosyncrasy can be traced back to 2011’s Dive;…