• The Horrors Announce New Album, Irish Dates

    June 28, 2017 - By 

    Three years on from the release of the exquisite Luminous, Essex’s finest indie/gaze post-punk revivalists The Horrors have announced its follow-up, V. Produced by Paul Epworth, the album will be released in September and followed by a string of UK and Irish dates, including Belfast’s Mandela Hall on October 16 and Dublin’s Tivoli on October 17. With the band exploring new sonic territory on the release, keyboardist Tom Cowan said, Tom Cowan continues: “It’s natural, if you do see yourself as an artist, to progress and not play it safe. Bowie pre-empted the modern condition of not being able to…

  • Mark Lanegan Set For Irish Dates

    June 28, 2017 - By 

    Having recently released his stellar tenth solo album, Gargoyle, it’s been announced that Mark Lanegan will return to Ireland for dates in December. The Seattle alternative rock legend and former Screaming Trees frontman will play Belfast’s Mandela Hall on December 5 and Dublin’s Academy on December 6 respectively. Support on both nights come from The Icarus Line’s Joe Cardamone. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 9am, priced £22.50 and €28.00. Definitely worth hitting up if you gave Slane a miss.

  • Twin Freaks Festival

    June 28, 2017 - By 

    Unless you’ve been living under a considerably large rock recently, you will know that Twin Peaks has returned and has comfortably re-asserted itself as quintessential (and brilliantly batshit) water-cooler conversation TV. With the North having its own celebration via last month’s Belfast Twin Peaks Fest, the stunning Ballyhook Hill in Grangecon, Co. Wicklow will play host to Twin Freaks Festival on August 12. The one-day Lynchian inspired event will be a celebration of music, art, film and performance, and will feature contributions from Katie Kim, Paddy Kelleher, Cobra Truth, Brian Conniffee and more. Fancy dress encouraged and rewarded. Limited earlybird tickets are priced…

  • Premiere: Mosmo Strange – L’etrange

    June 25, 2017 - By 

    Having ascended to the higher (and notably more well-attended) ranks of the live scene in the North over the last couple of years, Belfast quartet Mosmo Strange are a band that have always been as much indivisible with the low-end as they are lo-fidelity. A particularly spartan and stripped-back case in point can be found on the band’s new single ‘L’etrange’ – the lead track from their forthcoming Strangetapes release – is an untreated blast of strutting, desert-inflected rock featuring saxophone from Peter Howard of Derry’s Scenery. Have a first listen to the single right below.

  • Stream: Wyvern Lingo – I Love You, Sadie

    June 25, 2017 - By 

    Hands down one of the real musical success stories in Ireland of the last couple of years, we have firmly enjoyed following the rise and rise of Bray alt-pop Wyvern Lingo. With a launch party set for Dublin’s Grand Social on Friday, August 25, new single ‘I Love You Sadie’ is another instant gem bursting at the seams with the threesome’s slick marriage of exquisite, RnB-inflected harmonies, groove-laden patterns and their collective ear for a killer hook. Be prepared to the hit that repeat button as soon as those initial three minutes run out. Tickets for the Grand Social show are…

  • Video Premiere: Waldorf & Cannon – Omit The Logic

    June 23, 2017 - By 

    Like very others in these parts, Derry/Donegal alternative multi-instrumentalist duo Waldorf & Cannon make a little go a very long way. With both members on vocal duties, Philip Wallace AKA Walford playing a Farmer Footdrum kit, guitar and harmonica, and Oisin Cannon on bass, their sound – bearing the imprint of the Pixies, Devo, Link Wray and Beck – is testament to the fact that the song, no matter how it’s wrangled or performed, reigns supreme. A highlight from their consistently idiosyncratic debut album, Old Dogs New Tricks, new single ‘Omit The Logic’ is an infectious beast featuring a guitar solo from Cahir…

  • Submissions Open For Hard Working Class Heroes 2017

    June 20, 2017 - By 

    The country’s leading annual celebration of homegrown, independent music, Hard Working Class Heroes will return to Dublin from September 28-30. With less acts set to appear this year, the festival are now taking submissions via here. According to the festival, “HWCH is an event with a proven pedigree when it comes to showcasing new and exciting talent. The key difference is that international agents, festival bookers, record labels, publishers, managers, event curators, journalists, editors, radio DJs and taste-makers come to HWCH to find new Irish acts only The closing date to apply is July 14.

  • Festival Mixtape: Another Love Story 2017

    June 20, 2017 - By 

    Another Love Story returns to Killyon Manor for its fourth Summer Festival outing this August 18-20. Organised by Happenings and Homebeat the almost otherworldly festival promises terrific Irish and International live music and DJ sets (including a set by yours truly), colourful instalments and plenty of room to explore. Ahead of what’s set to be another unforgettable weekend, stream our fifteen track ALS Festival Mixtape, featuring the likes of Katie Kim, Bantum, Tomorrows, ELLLL, Replete, Beach, I Am The Cosmos, Hilary Woods and Overhead, The Albatross. Go here to buy tickets to Another Love Story 2017.

  • Watch: SlowPlaceLikeHome – When I See You… Ice Cream

    June 19, 2017 - By 

    Having graced the cover of the fifteenth issue of our soon-to-return physical magazine, Keith Mannion’s SlowPlaceLikeHome have long been one of our favourite Irish acts. The follow-up to 2016 single ‘Tiger Lilly’, new track ‘When I See You…Ice Cream’ is a playful burst of electro-pop betraying SPLH’s signature brand of somnambulant wonder but with an evolutionary twist. Released today via Strange Brew Rekkids, the single was written between Knather Woods, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, and the Algarve in Portugal. It was recorded and produced in its entirety by in Keith’s bedroom studio in Donegal and mastered by Antony Ryan (Morr Music label)…