• Interview: Paying Tribute to The Sad and Beautiful World of Sparklehorse

    March 27, 2017 - By 

    On Saturday, April 8 we will co-host a special, two-part event at The MAC as part of Belfast Film Festival celebrating the life and music of the sadly-missed Mark Linkous AKA Sparklehorse. Following a screening of Alex Crowton and Bobby Dass’ new documentary ‘The Sad & Beautiful World of Sparklehorse’, the evening will also feature a Q+A with the filmmakers, as well as a live, one-hour performance ‘A Night of Sparklehorse’ with Tom McShane, Peter Sumadh AKA The Mad Dalton, Richard Davis AKA Heliopause, Pixie Saytar, Jake Lennox and Brian Coney. Ahead of the one-off event, we chat with the organisers and…

  • SXSW 2017 Report

    March 24, 2017 - By 

    Split between fresh-faced and full of expectation to back home and a little jet-lagged, Irish acts Robocobra Quartet, A.S. Fanning, Jealous of the Birds, Ryan Vail, Ciaran Lavery and Birds of Olympus report back from this year’s South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. Chris Ryan (Robocobra Quartet) SXSW: The Land of 2000 Line-Checks I really like watching bands line-check. A line-check is like an extremely stunted sound-check. At festivals there’s literally no time other than 15 minutes before your set for you to plug in and hope everything sounds alright. Watching a band line-check is a true insight to the human condition;…

  • The xx, A Tribe Called Quest, Interpol and More Set For Electric Picnic

    March 23, 2017 - By 

    Set to return to Stradbally Estate in Co. Laois across September 1-3, the first names set to play this year’s Electric Picnic have been announced. Including headliners The xx, A Tribe Called Quest and Duran Duran, Chaka Khan, Interpol (pictured), Run The Jewels, Father John Misty, Parquet Courts, Pond and Car Seat Headrest were all amongst the announced acts. With more names set to be revealed, check out the full first line-up below.

  • Video Premiere: THUMPER – The Loser

    March 24, 2017 - By 

    Set to play their first ever all-ages gig at BIMM Institute’s showcase at Workman’s Club on April 1, Dublin quartet THUMPER unveiled their fuzzed-out latest single, ‘The Loser’, at the start of the month. Arguably the foursome’s finest effort to date, it’s a starry-eyed burst of noise-pop harking back to Blur’s more riotous earlier efforts, filtered through the the Dublin band’s own brand of bubblegum scuzz. The first single to be taken from the band’s upcoming POP! GOES THE WEASEL EP, have a first look at Alan McCarthy’s tripped out visuals for the track below.

  • Album Premiere: Clang Sayne – The Round Soul of the World

    March 21, 2017 - By 

    Conceived in London by Wexford artist Laura Hyland back in 2008 as a means to forge her interests in song, story and sound improvisation, Irish quartet Clang Sayne are an act that have been mentioned in the same breath as such alt-folk luminaries as diverse and inimitable as Tim Buckley and Jandek. Eight years on from their debut Winterlands – a brooding and emotionally potent release – the four-piece (in its current incarnation of in its current incarnation of Hyland on acoustic guitar and vocals, Judith Ring on vocals, Carolyn Goodwin on bass clarinet and drummer Matthew Jacobson) have been busy working on its…

  • Playlist: World Poetry Day 2017

    March 21, 2017 - By 

    To mark this year’s World Poetry Day we’ve compiled thirteen songs from the likes of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Cure, James Blake (above) and Talking Heads directly inspired by poetry. Check out the playlist and accompanying poems/poets below. 1. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Red Right Hand (Paradise Lost by Milton) 2. The Cure – How Beautiful You Are (The Eyes of the Poor by Baudelaire) 3. Talking Heads – I Zimbra (Gadji Beri Bimba by Hugo Ball) 4. Joni Mitchell – If (If by Rudyard Kipling) 5. Lana Del Rey – Body Electric (I Sing The Body Electric by…

  • Sunflowerfest Announce First Wave of Acts

    March 20, 2017 - By 

    Perhaps more than most small Irish festivals of its ilk, the evolution of Sunflowerfest has been notable over the last couple of years. Set to return to Tubby’s Farm at Hillsborough from July 28-30, the first acts revealed to play this year’s outing only serves to confirm that fact. With the theme of A Parallel Universe, Rubberbandits (pictured), Farah Elle, Damola, Le Galaxie, Malojian, R51, OR:LA, Ryan Vail, King Kong Company, Electric Swing Circus, Too Many T’s, JIKA! JIKA!, Ponyhawke, Beans on Toast and Mr B. The Gentleman Rhymer are amongst the first names to be confirmed, with yet more to be…

  • Watch: This Ain’t No Disco Episode II featuring Villagers’ Conor O’Brien, Nico Muhly & More

    March 19, 2017 - By 

    This Ain’t No Disco is an Irish music program for the times. The work of the equally tireless Donal Dineen and Myles O’Reilly, the first installment – which landed at the tail-end of 2016 – married music, visuals, discussion and collaboration in wonderfully-woven, beautifully intimate fashion. Featuring Brian Mac Gloinn of Ye Vagabonds, a collaboration between Villagers’ Conor O’Brien and Nico Muhly, Cormac Begley, Landless and more, episode two continues the trend, getting to the heart of what defines modern Irish music and its potent links to the past in filmic, typically evocative fashion.

  • Stream: Bad Sea – Over My Head

    March 20, 2017 - By 

    The B-side to their latest single, ‘Tell Me (What I Mean)‘, ‘Over My Head’ by fast-rising, and TTA-approved Dublin duo Ciara Thompson and Alan Pharrell AKA Bad Sea is a slow-burning ballad that, stripped back to its core subtle piano and Thompson’s exquisite vocal delivery, reveals the band’s prowess in the realm of taking a step or two back. Ahead of the band’s show with Beauty Sleep and Shrug Life in Dublin on Friday, stream the track below now.

  • Air, Mark Ronson and More Set for The Beatyard

    March 16, 2017 - By 

    Taking place across the weekend of August 5 & 6 is this year’s Beatyard Festival at The Beatyard of Dun Laoghaire Harbour with huge headliners Mark Ronson, in what will be an excellent DJ set from the tastemaker, as well as atmospheric French trip-hop channelling outfit Air. Continuing on from last year’s funk & soul-oriented lineup, the bill confirmed so far includes: Toots & The Maytals Bananarama Candi Staton Larry Heard aka Mr Fingers [in his first ever Irish performance] Mood II Swing Romare Rusangano Family [Well-deserved Choice Music Prize-winners 2017] Katie Kim Romare [with a full live band] Horse Meat Disco Fish Go Deep Kíla…