• Album Stream: Group Zero – Structures and Light

    February 24, 2017 - By 

    Written, recorded and mixed intermittently in a Belfast bedroom over four years, Structures of Light by Girls Names’ Cathal Cully AKA Group Zero is an album that bears the hallmarks of an artist slowly unravelling and refining his prowess in a new realm. A project stemming from a deeply-resonant viewing of Heinz Mack’s Pyramid of Light, the album – which is released via Belfast imprint Touch Sensitive – traverses brittle cold wave gems, pre-dawn electro throwdowns and shivering industrial instrumentalism over ten tracks, each as commanding as the last. Order Structures and Light via Touch Sensitive on vinyl and cassette here.…

  • Brian Wilson Set For Galway International Arts Festival

    February 24, 2017 - By 

    Following news earlier this week that he’ll play Dublin’s Bord Gais Theatre on July 25, it’s been announced that Beach Boys’ legend Brian Wilson will stop off at Galway International Arts Festival on Sunday, July 23. Performing Pet Sounds along with rare cuts and greatest hits with special guests Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin, the show will take place live at the Absolut Big Top. Tickets are €65, which go on sale on Friday, March 3 at 9am.

  • Indiependence 2017 Launched, New Acts Revealed

    February 22, 2017 - By 

    With Manic Street Preachers, Sigma and the Coronas already confirmed, several new acts have been revealed to play this year’s Indiependence at the festival’s launch today. With more yet to be revealed over the coming weeks, All Tvvins, Tom Odell, Frank Turner, The Riptide Movement, Hermitage Green, Brian Deady, We Cut Corners, The Minutes, Overhead The Albatross, Fang Club, August Walk, Super Silly, Dagny, Eamon Walsh, Mandeville Beat Critics, Brass Phantoms, Penrose, Stephanie Rainey, Eve Belle, MindRiot, Beoga, Apella, Josiah Stone and Raglans have all been announced to play. Set to return to Deer Farm in Mitchelstown, Cork from August 4-6, tickets…

  • Stream: Bad Sea – Tell Me (What I Mean)

    February 23, 2017 - By 

    One of our featured 17 For ’17 acts, Dublin duo Bad Sea have, as expected, burst into 2017 with a head full of steam. Ahead of supporting Julia Jacklin at Whelan’s in Dublin on February 25 and playing London’s Notting Hill Arts Club on March 5, their swooning new single ‘Tell Me (What I Mean)’ melds Americana-tinged jangle with Angel Olsen-esque pop finesse. Most certainly worth a repeat listen, this one.

  • Premiere: Candice Gordon – The Laws of Nature

    February 22, 2017 - By 

    Evoking everyone from Anna Calvi and PJ Harvey to Le Butcherettes’ Teri Gender Bender and Grace Slick, Berlin-based Dublin artist Candice Gordon is a force to be reckoned with. Having previously recorded an EP with Shane MacGowan, she is set to release her debut full-length album, Garden of Beasts, via Proper Octopus Records on March 3. The lead single from that release (which is an exploration of human nature, the hubris of identity, dispossession, and the conflict between the allure of savagery and the desperation for salvation from that) ‘The Laws of Nature’ is an exceptional six-minute slice of throwback noir-pop, conjuring backwashed images…

  • SPECTRUM 2017: An Interview with IMC and HomeBeat

    February 23, 2017 - By 

    Presented by Improvised Music Company in association with Note Productions and HomeBeat, SPECTRUM is a new festival experience for fans of innovative music-making. Set to present three days of stimulating music “at the creative intersection where jazz, contemporary, rock and electronic music collide”, the Dublin festival – which runs from March 10-12 at Whelans and The Opium Rooms on Wexford St, Dublin – will have a focus on the live and improvised, complimented by a compelling programme of talks. In the first of a two-part feature, Brian Coney chats to Kenneth Killen (director of Improvised Music Company) and Emmet Condon of…

  • International Women’s Day: The Missing Voice

    February 20, 2017 - By 

    As part of this year’s International Women’s Day on March 8, Belfast’s the MAC will host The Missing Voice, a special two-part panel and performance event. Kicking off with the launch and live recording of a new podcast series ‘The Missing Voice’ produced by Belfast-based musician Isobel Anderson (pictured), the night will also feature performances from Anderson, DIE HEXEN and Little Green Cars‘ Faye O’Rourke. Joining the Missing Voice panel on the night will be all three performers, Oh Yeah Music Centre Chief Executive Charlotte Dryden and producer, DJ and founder of Body Fusion Bobby Analog. The Missing Voice series…

  • Watch: Talos – Odyssey

    February 20, 2017 - By 

    Having been on an increasingly impressive trajectory over the last four years, Cork producer Eoin French AKA Talos will release his highly-anticipated debut album, Wild Alee, on April 21. A new single taken from that, the lush electro-pop of ‘Odyssey’ makes for a nigh on five minute ballad of swirling textures and emotive incandescence. Speaking of the track, French said, ““In any endeavour we find ourselves at the point of doubt. Those moments where you question yourself. That’s what the line, ‘In this odyssey, it’s hard to leave…’ refers to. It’s a beautiful and testing cycle. “I was asking myself some pretty big questions.…

  • Ryan Adams Set for Irish Shows

    February 17, 2017 - By 

    Having recently released his critically-acclaimed sixteenth studio album, Prisoner, it’s been announced that Ryan Adams will play three Irish dates in September. As well as play Belfast’s Ulster Hall on September 8 and Cork’s Opera House on September 9, Adams’ tour will conclude at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre on September 11. Tickets go on sale next Friday (February 24) at 10am. See below for info. 08 Sept. Ulster Hall: Tickets from £35 incl. Booking fee. 09 Sept. Cork Opera House: Tickets from €44.05 incl. Booking fee. 11 Sept. Olympia: Tickets from €40.05 incl. Booking fee and restoration levy.

  • Sea Sessions Announce First Acts

    February 15, 2017 - By 

    The self-proclaimed biggest beach party in Ireland, Bundoran’s Sea Sessions have announced the first acts to play its 2017 outing across June 23-25. With more to be announced, the following acts will make an appearance: The Coronas, Primal Scream, Sigma, Foy Vance, All Tvvins, Badly Drawn Boy, Mr Scruff, Dreadzone, Brian Deady, Aine Cahill, Wyvern Lingo, Little Hours, Gurr, Kormac, Talos, The Cuban Brothers, Caravana Sun, Otherkin, Stomptown Brass, Touts, Soule, Bitch Falcon, Jack O Rourke, Jafaris, Le Boom, Penrose, Eve Belle, Apella, Tiz Mc Namara, Wolves of Youth and Keith Disconaut. Festival director Ray O’Donoghue says “It’s always great fun…