• Other Voices Live Set For Austin

    September 12, 2016 - By 

    With a line-up set to forge a combination of Irish and international acts, the country’s leading live music series Other Voices have announced they will head across the Atlantic for the inaugural Other Voices Austin from October 7-9. With the line-up for the showcase set to be announced at the start of October, Other Voices founder Philip King said, “To head to Austin, Texas has been a life long dream. Other Voices has a great affinity with that spirit…. one that is intact in Austin and that lives in the iconic Arlyn Studios, which will be our home this October. It’s a real…

  • Low Announce Irish Christmas Shows

    September 12, 2016 - By 

    A band synonymous for Christmas for many (not least thanks to their 1999 album of the same name) Duluth indie rock trio Low will three Irish dates in December. Closing their A Christmas Performance tour, Alan Sparhawk and co. will play Belfast’s Empire Music Hall on Monday, December 12, Dublin’s Christchurch on Tuesday, December 13 and Kilkenny’s Set Theatre on Wednesday, December 14. The band last played Belfast in 2013, Dublin in 2012 and Kilkenny back in 2009. Tickets are on sale at 9am on Friday, September 16.

  • One Minute From Home: An Interview with Adam Wiltzie of Stars of the Lid

    September 11, 2016 - By 

    Few artists reign in their respective genre quite like Texan duo Stars of the Lid. Having released a string of stellar, deeply evocative albums via the likes of Kranky over the last 20 years, Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride have long established themselves as easily one of the most pioneering and influential drone/ambient outfits of all time. Ahead of highly-anticipated shows in Cork (Triskel Christchurch, October 8) and Dublin (National Concert Hall, October 9) as part of their first tour since 2008, Brian Coney talks to Wiltzie about new material, the legacy and future of Stars of the Lid, his work with Dustin O’Halloran as A Winged Victory For The Sullen and…

  • Lingo Festival 2016

    September 11, 2016 - By 

    Returning following the sold-out success of its second annual outing last year, Lingo – Ireland’s first and only spoken word festival – returns to Dublin from October 21-23. With more acts and full line-up info yet to be announced, the forefather of indie-hop Sage Francis (pictured), Rubberbandits‘ Blindboy Boatclub, Palestinian spoken word artist and human rights activist Rafeef Ziadeh and Galway poet Sarah Clancy will headline this year’s festival. Lingo Programme Manager Erin Fornoff said, “Irish Spoken Word has gone from being a practically unknown and underground movement to being an invigorating part of Ireland’s wider culture, you just have to…

  • Lisa Hannigan Set For Irish Tour

    September 9, 2016 - By 

    Having just released her stellar new album, At Swim, Lisa Hannigan has announced a new string of Irish dates in December. Also set for a UK and European tour in October and November, Hannigan will play the following 12 dates at home on the lead-up to Christmas. December 1: Galway, Seapoint Ballroom December 2: Wexford, O’Reilly Theatre, National Opera House December 8: Derry, The Glassworks December 10: Dublin, Vicar Street December 12: Cork, Cork Opera House December 16: Limerick, Limetree Theatre December 17: Drogheda, Beaulieu House and Gardens December 18: Dublin, Unitarian Church (All ages show, 2.30pm) December 19: Belfast, Empire…

  • David Holmes Announces Late Night Tales Album Launch

    September 8, 2016 - By 

    With support from several acts that feature on the release, David Holmes has announced details for the launch of his forthcoming Late Night Tales curated compilation. As well as a set from the Belfast DJ and producer, Barry Woolnough, Alain Maclean, the legend that is BP Fallon and Belfast drone pop masters Documenta will also perform at the launch at Belfast’s Maple Leaf Club on Saturday, October 15. To seal the deal, Stephen Hackett will be providing films/visuals on a 360 degree film projector and Joe Lindsay will compere the night. There will also be a limited edition free CD from Holmes…

  • Electric Picnic 2016

    September 7, 2016 - By 

    The Holy Grail of Irish music and the summer season is back again with the fastest selling ever Electric Picnic gracing Stradbally in its typically flamboyant style. Despite the speed with which tickets sold out, murmurs of disappointment have been rife all summer due to Picnic’s decision to pull the lineup back slightly from the massive names of the last few years in favour of a roll call of bands that would have been standard in the earlier years of the festival. This change is evident immediately due to the slightly older crowd strolling around on Friday afternoon pitching up…

  • Beat Root 2016

    September 5, 2016 - By 

    Presenting four days of wonderfully diverse roots music, Belfast’s Beat Root festival returns with yet another stellar bill from September 7-10. With all shows taking place in the city’s Crescent Arts Centre, this year’s schedule traverses Scottish psych folk maestros Trembling Bells with support from London-born, Galway-raised musician Brigid Mae Power (above), sublime psychedelic samba, distorted jazz and Afro-punk in the form of Metá Metá, English folk musician Chris Wood with support from Conor Caldwell and Danny Diamond, as well as Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh of The Gloaming and This Is How We Fly, with support from Amy McAllister. Whilst you can pay per gig,…

  • Premiere: SKYMAS – No Easy Way Out

    September 2, 2016 - By 

    One of the country’s most compelling live outfits, Belfast duo Martin Corrigan (ex-Alloy Mental) and Nick Todd AKA SKYMAS are an act that aim straight for the sonic jugular. With their aim to create tracks that “can channel the fundamental, super physical energy from beyond our everyday world” their new Dave Lievense-produced single ‘No Easy Way Out’ bears the hallmarks of their propulsive electro-rock craft to date: pounding rhythms, powerful textures and brazen lyrical gusto. Tipping their hat to musical and philosophical forerunners ranging from Fela Kuti, Steve Albini and John Lydon to David Bohm, Robert Anton Wilson and Alan Watts, Corrigan and Todd’s…

  • Mount Stewart Conversations 2016

    September 2, 2016 - By 

    Promising an inspiring, mind-expanding, one-of-a-kind weekend, 19th Century Co. Down country estate Mount Stewart will play host to a veritable feast of talks, debates, storytelling, art, ideas, music, food and drink, performances and house & gardens across September 17-18. With many wonderfully contrasting cultures converging across the weekend, the inaugural Mount Stewart Conversations is a festival built on the esteemed legacy of Ireland’s secret retreat for royals, leaders of state, influencers and aristocracy. For generations a powerhouse of great thinking, art, music, talks and deliberation, it’s an inspired venue for what’s set to be kaleidoscopic fete of ideas presented by…