• Stream: Count Vaseline – They Stood Up/Silver Drugs

    August 22, 2016 - By 

    It wouldn’t an overstatement to say when Dublin’s The Mighty Stef called it a day back in May we lost one of the country’s most loved bands. But, with the dust having settled on that chapter, the band’s main man Stefan Murphy has re-emerged with ‘They Stood Up/Silver Drugs’, two tracks that will be given away to those order his forthcoming debut album as Count Vaseline. Written, performed, produced, edited and mastered by Murphy with assistance from Gerritt Hessler and Peter Furgiuele, Yo No Soy Marinero  is, according to the Count Vaseline Bandcamp page accompanying the release “a complex dream in which The Count wishes for…

  • Stream: Slomatics – Rat Chariot

    August 22, 2016 - By 

    With their admirable aim of crushing everything in sight with their monumentally heavy – surprisingly bassist-less – brand of sludge-doom, Belfast trio Slomatics will release their fifth studio album, Future Echo Returns, via Black Bow Records on September 2. The latest reveal of what to expect from that (and it’s safe to say no chins are likely to be rubbed) ‘Rat Chariot’ – featuring vocals from ex-Conan bassist/vocalist Phil Coumbe – bears all the alchemical traits of their flattening, fuzzed out craft. Ear-drum batteringly brilliant stuff. David Majury from the band said, “This was one of the first songs we wrote for Future Echo Returns and in…

  • Stendhal Festival of Art 2016 (Day Two)

    August 19, 2016 - By 

    Totally unimaginable up until very recently, this year’s Stendhal Festival of Art was framed by tragedy for so many. A year to the day on from delivering one of the Limavady festival’s truly great performances, news on Saturday night began to circulate that Stevie Martin AKA Rainy Boy Sleep – having been reported missing for three weeks days earlier – had passed. Hovering like an unseen spectre over good friends, fans, festival organisers and fellow musicians on the Friday, confirmation of our collective worst fears on Saturday evening sent a shockwave through Stendhal’s tight-knit, communal fabric. And yet, propelled by Stevie’s spirit, hope sprung up in dedication…

  • Hard Working Class Heroes Announce Line-up

    August 17, 2016 - By 

    Right up there with the country’s leading celebrations of homegrown, independent music, Hard Working Class Heroes have announced the line-up for its 2016 outing, which takes place in several venues in Dublin from October 6-8. With close to 700 bands applying to perform this year, 100 acts were chosen independently by “top Irish and international music industry professionals.” HWCH’s Industry Convention will once more also bring international delegates and domestic music industry professionals together for a host of conferences, mentor sessions, workshops and more. Another addition to this year’s showcase is the inaugural Conor Walsh Memorial Bursary, set up in honour of…

  • Irish Tour: Battles

    August 18, 2016 - By 

    Roisin Dubh, Galway The last time Battles played in the Roisin Dubh was in 2007, just after the release of their first LP Mirrored and just preceding the colossal cult acclaim of tracks ‘Atlas’ and ‘Tonto’. In the years since then that cult following has expanded and expanded, giving the band a listenership that extends to younger Math-Rock devotees, fans of experimental contemporary composers like Steve Reich, blow-ins from the band member’s old groups (Don Caballero, Helmet, Lynx) and, well, people that just like the way they sound. On a Monday evening in August the curious universal appeal of such…

  • Metropolis Announce Day-To-Day Breakdown

    August 17, 2016 - By 

    With less than three months to its return to Dublin’s RDS, Metropolis have announced the Day-to-Day breakdown of this year’s festival. Boasting some big-hitters in the form of DJ Shadow, Grace Jones and Solomun, Crystal Shadows, BADBADNOTGOOD, Crystal Castles and Girl Band are also amongst some of the highlights from the bill thus far. With more acts are yet to be announced, here’s the current Day-to-Day breakdown. Thursday (Opening Night) DJ Shadow Plus very special guests Friday Solomun Moderat SBTRKT (DJ Set) BADBADNOTGOOD Girl Band Saturday Grace Jones Booka Shade (Movements 10) Crystal Castles The Sugarhill Gang Fatima Yamaha Fakear With Weekend 2…

  • Watch: September Girls – Catholic Guilt

    August 16, 2016 - By 

    Imagine, just for one second, hopping in a time machine, zapping back to 1970s Ireland and telling someone there would one day be a 360-degree video on a thing called the internet for a song called ‘Catholic Guilt’. The distance we’ve come, man. The distance we’ve come. Made using a special 12-camera GoPro rig, the video for September Girls‘ new single was shot by the band’s director and guitarist Jessie Ward O’Sullivan in just one take. Pretty impressive. According to the band, “The video symbolises this force as over the course of the song, the band lose their autonomy as they are subjected…

  • Kate Tempest Set For Dublin Show

    August 16, 2016 - By 

    Few artists come in the mould of Kate Tempest. Having started out when she was 16, the London poet, spoken word artist, rapper and playwright’s career to date has a traversed a critically-acclaimed series of plays, being awarded the Ted Hughes Prize for her theatrical spoken word piece Brand New Ancients, a Mercury-nominated debut album in Everybody Down and more. A restless, trailblazing creator, the self-proclaimed poet-rapper-playwright will play Dublin’s Whelan’s on November 26 off the back of the release of her forthcoming new album, Let Them Eat Chaos, which is released on October 7 via Fiction Records. Tickets for her Whelan’s show are on sale…

  • Stendhal Festival of Art 2016 (Day One)

    August 15, 2016 - By 

    Growing stronger each year, there’s a pretence-dodging spirit about Stendhal Festival of Art that always puts creating experiences worth remembering firmly centre-stage. Tucked away in the beautiful, barley-bordered Ballymully Cottage Farm – a heart-skippingly scenic hideaway on the outskirts of Limavady – organisers have lovingly honed the many magical elements that collide to make it Northern Ireland’s most unmissable summer festival. Priding itself as much on its intimate rural setting as it does its family-friendly atmosphere – which is unparalleled – the many hidden corners of enchantment that hem the festival’s two large areas of stages, stalls and curious spaces ensures no creative stone feels left unturned. “We’re a punk band.…