• The Thin Air Podcast: Malojian

    September 21, 2018 - By 

    The Thin Air podcast returns with another delightful in-depth song dissection. This week Danny Carroll meets Antrim singer-songwriter Stevie Scullion AKA Malojian. Having recorded his last album with Steve Albini (this documentary is worth a watch when you have a spare hour), Stevie wound up home-recording his most recent LP ‘Let Your Weirdness Carry You Home’. Featuring contributions from Joey Waronker (Beck, REM), and Gerry Love (Teenage Fanclub), the album has recently been nominated for the Northern Irish Music Prize. From his home studio, Stevie talks about the album’s title track ‘Let Your Weirdness Carry You Home’.  Clocking in at nearly six…

  • Premiere: Galants – Follow

    September 20, 2018 - By 

    Of the countless Irish acts we’ve featured over the years, Dublin’s Galants remain one of the most assured. Striking a midpoint between swirling indie rock and blissed-out shoegaze worship, the David Kennedy-fronted quartet re-emerged back in June with ‘In Vain‘. Now, the band with another track from their forthcoming second EP – and one of their most emphatic efforts to date – ‘Follow’. Successfully capturing the band’s aim to meld the power pop of Hüsker Dü with the fuzzy miasma of Swervedriver and Catherine Wheel, the single “reflects on the psyche of the crowd and pressure to use the decisions of others as a…

  • Stream: Arvo Party – D a N S E’

    September 19, 2018 - By 

    Having bridged the gap with the equally masterful ‘Liberté’ and ‘D U S T’ (a track Resident Advisor called “surging but melancholy synth pop”) Belfast-based producer and musician Herb Magee AKA Arvo Party is back with ‘D a N S E’. The second single from his forthcoming second album, which is set for release next month, it finds the fast-rising multi-instrumentalist marry spectral electronica with a host of backwashed beats. Listen to the track – and watch its DIY visuals – below. Magee plays our co-hosted Culture Night Belfast bill at Oh Yeah Music Centre on Friday night (September 21).

  • Metropolis Announce New Saturday Acts

    September 19, 2018 - By 

    With just over five weeks to go to this year’s outing, Metropolis have announced new additions for its Saturday line-up. Off the back of Villagers recently being announced to headline and curate the Saturday at the festival, Friendly Fires, Booka Brass, David Keenan and Master of Ceremonies David O’Doherty have all been added. The fourth edition of Metropolis takes place at Dublin’s RDS across on Saturday, October 27th and Sunday, October 28th. Ranging in price, tickets are available to buy here now.

  • Wooden Shjips + Cian Nugent @ Empire Music Hall, Belfast

    September 19, 2018 - By 

    It takes a very special kind of band to, at least in the right setting, meddle with one’s most basic understanding of time. Wooden Shjips are one such band. Tonight at Belfast’s Empire Music Hall, the San Francisco psych rock alchemists’ reiterative, lysergic-dappled craft induces a trip that all but stretches the parameters of chronological perception. Laying the groundwork is one of the country’s most singular solo talents, Cian Nugent (below). Despite almost being consumed by the frankly shameful hubbub of tonight’s growing crowd, he casts a subtle, yet potent spell as tonight’s sole support. Stripped-back and drawn-out is the order of the day for a set…

  • Hozier Set For Irish Tour

    September 17, 2018 - By 

    As part of a wider European tour, Hozier will play five Irish dates in December. As well as a three-night run at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin across December 15-17, the songwriter and his band will play Belfast’s Ulster Hall on December 19 and Killarney’s INEC on December 20. Tickets for all shows go on sale this Friday, September 21 at 9am.

  • Incubus @ Ulster Hall, Belfast

    September 13, 2018 - By 

    Unlike many of their MTV2-approved peers whose day in the sun came to end many years ago, Incubus, it would seem, have aged surprisingly well. Having weathered getting older via a string of latter-era albums that aren’t (entirely) unlistenable, live, Brandon Boyd, Mike Einziger and co. still possess that which helped set them apart at the turn of the millennium. Doubling up as their long-awaited Belfast debut, tonight’s show at the iconic Ulster Hall is full testament to that. 27 years and eight albums in, the Californian band have long known what their fans have come to expect and deliver accordingly.…

  • David Duchovny Set For Dublin Gig

    September 12, 2018 - By 

    (The actual) David Duchovny will play Dublin’s Academy on Wednesday, February 20. Having released his debut album Hell or Highwater in 2015, and its follow-up, Every Third Thought, earlier this year, the actor, writer, director and – more recently – recording artist will make his Irish gig debut at this show. Tickets are €30 and go on sale on Friday at 9am.

  • Watch: Sweat Threats – Suffocate

    September 11, 2018 - By 

    London-based Irish duo Matthew Sutton (Tayne) and Niall Jackson (Bouts/Swimmers Jackson) AKA Sweat Threats know a thing or two about striking a balance between trouncing post-punk and pit-starting party music. The third single to be taken from their forthcoming EP, Sweet Treats, ‘Suffocate’ fits the aforementioned remit and then some. Accompanied with DIY visuals, it’s a typically pulverizing effort that doesn’t slack on the earworms. Sweet Treats is out via Wonky Karousel Records on October 13 (Cassette Store Day, no less.) Sweat Threats play tomorrow The Victoria E17 in Walthamstow tomorrow (Wednesday 12th) night.

  • NI Music Prize – Best Single (Public Vote)

    September 11, 2018 - By 

    Set to take place at Belfast’s iconic Ulster Hall on Thursday, November 15, we’re pleased to team up with the Northern Ireland Music Prize for the Public Vote for the Best Single award. This year, twelve singles – from Arvo Party’s ‘Liberté’ to The Wood Burning Savages’ ‘I Don’t Know Why I Do It To Myself’ – are vying for the prize and £1000 on the night. Check out the full list of shortlisted singles and the voting form below. Go here for full information about this year’s Northern Ireland Music Prize. Arvo Party – Liberté Ash – Buzzkill Brand New Friend…