• Electric Picnic Reveal Salty Dog Stage Line-Up

    With just over a week to go, Electric Picnic have unveiled the line-up for its shipwreck-like Salty Dog Stage. Set to perform at the stage over the course of September 2-4 are Bronagh Gallagher Band, Le Galaxie Soundsystem (above), David Kitt, Dr Strangely Strange, Kormac, R.S.A.G, The Eskies, Stomptown Brass, Prison Love, Buffalo Sunn, Mongrel State, Old Hannah, The Pete Pamf Sextette, The Trinitones, The Square Pegs, The Cronins, Mick Pyro and the Blues Cartel, Áine Cahill, My Fellow Sponges, Emma Lou & the Agenda, Leila Jane & the Healers, Gavin Glass, Manden Express, Mutefish, Third Smoke, Five By Five, Ross Breen, Sion Hill, Swords and Portside Hootenanny.  At this point we’d normally link…

  • More Acts Announced For Metropolis

    With the likes of Grace Jones, Moderat and DJ Shadow already announced, Groove Armada, Floating Points (3 hr DJ set), Clams Casino, Shura, Novelist, Klangkarussell and Mall Grab have all been added to the bill for the second annual Metropolis in Dublin from November 3.5. Presented by POD and Hidden Agenda, this year’s festival will return to RDS at the end of the year after a sell-out first year. Set in the industrial array of warehouses and venues with the RDS complex, the indoor event offers a tapestry of music, art installation performance and conversation over 6 days. With more acts and…

  • Premiere: Son of the Hound – I.O.U

    Not one to rest easy on one particular sound or approach, it’s safe to say there are many strings to Michael McCullagh AKA Son of the Hound’s proverbial bow. From his days as guitarist in Colenso Parade right through to his outfit in his previous musical nom de plume Meb Jon Sol, the Omagh musician is back with yet another change of direction in the form of 60s influenced indie rock n’ roll single ‘I.O.U’. Speaking to TTA, McCullagh said: “I.O.U was recorded in Milbank studios, with Mike Mormecha doubling up on drum and recording duties. It was recorded live initially and then cleaned…

  • EP Premiere: New Gods – Weird War Tales

    A self-proclaimed “sleazy punk/rock n’ roll junk” band, Dublin’s positively scuzz-infested New Gods will play their swansong alongside the likes of Murder and Overbite at Fibbers in Dublin this Saturday night. But before bowing out in a blaze of old school punk abandon (a highly recommend proposition in and of itself) the five-piece will release their latest and last four-track EP, Weird War Tales, on Thursday. Tipping its pissed-off hat to everyone from Dead Boys, Sex Pistols and The Wipers, the EP – which we’re pleased to premiere here – offers up just over nine minutes of breakneck, begrimed brilliance.

  • Watch: Katie Kim – Salt

    Ahead of its release on Friday, October 14, Waterford artist Katie Kim has unveiled a Sean Zissou-directed promo video offering a curious behind the scenes look at the making of her forthcoming album, Salt. Encircling ever-thick like a flourishing curl of mist, its accompanying track evokes everything from William Basinski’s starker works, early Labradford and the that landscape of loss so masterfully soundtracked by the likes of Aidan Baker, Tim Hecker and Stars of The Lid (who play Cork’s Triskel on Saturday, October 8).

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

    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

    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)

    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

    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…