• Stream: Race The Flux – Matty Rusko

    March 11, 2016 - By 

    Reminiscent in different ways to El Ten Eleven, Axis Of and the elated instrumentalism of And So I Watch You From Afar, ‘Matty Rusko’ by Galway four-piece Race The Flux is the kind of prog and latter-day post-rock-leaning track we’re more than happy to wrap our ears around time and time again. Going at least one step further than some of their peers in said realm, the single is a masterstroke in sidetracking exhausted tropes of the genre, blossoming from purposeful instrumentalism to a single-minded, fist-clenched conclusion. Going one further: it’s right up there with the best Irish tracks released this year. Race The Flux play Dublin’s…

  • Stream: Deadman’s Ghost – Insula

    March 11, 2016 - By 

    Previously known as Deadman, Belfast producer Jason Mills AKA Deadman’s Ghost comfortably established himself as one of the country’s most ambitious and idiosyncratic musicians with his debut LP, The Broken Zoetrope. Drawing comparisons to the likes of Beck and David Holmes, it tapped into a magnificent mid-point between expansive post-rock terrain and exquisite electronic soundscapes. Very much a return worth waiting for, his new track ‘Insula’ instantly lured us to a realm in which Beak> and Tortoise got together to jam ‘All I Need’ by Radiohead. The result was delightful.

  • Watch: Sam Ojo – So Pro

    March 11, 2016 - By 

    It’s safe to say 17-year-old Dubliner Sam Ojo is a hip-hop artist with confidence and flow beyond years. Produced by Ignorvnce, his new single ‘So Pro’ is, in spite of being under two minutes in length, a heady, intent-drenched throwdown that doubles as something of a statement of intent from the hugely-promising wordsmith. The latest release as part of the new-fangled Word Up Collective – also featuring the likes of Damola, Katie Laffan, Anti-One and Stay Gold – watch the video for the track, directed by Steven BeatSmith, below.

  • Stream: Silences – There’s a Wolf

    March 11, 2016 - By 

    “Quite a touching song in its sheer bare-boned simplicity and sound. Great track – potentially brilliant artist.” So your writer scribed three years ago this June in reference to an early version of ‘There’s a Wolf’ by Co. Armagh’s Conchúr White AKA Silences. Having came on many leaps and bounds since that tentative first foray in 2013, White and his band have released a reworking of the track, revealing deft harmonies, wonderfully subtle pockets of sound and fleshed-out, full-band instrumentation that more than justifies the revamp. Silences’ forthcoming EP Luna will be released on April 15 will be released on April 15.

  • Belfast Film Festival 2016

    March 10, 2016 - By 

    Comprised of more than 133 films and events from 30 countries around the world, the programme for this year’s 16th Belfast Film Festival is their biggest to date. Set to return from April 14-23 in various venues across the city, an incredible range of premieres, guests, documentaries, shorts, discussions, music, film installations fall under categories including New Cinema, Documentary Panorama, Altered States, Talking Film, TV, NI Independents and Twisted Cornea. Launching with Deniz Gamze’s Mustang on Thursday, April 14 at the Moviehouse, the sheer medley and diversity of this year’s programme is nothing short of a thing of beauty. But don’t take our word for it: you…

  • Stream: Carriages – Like a Child

    March 9, 2016 - By 

    The third release from the pair, ‘Like a Child’ by Dublin’s Harry Bookless and Aaron Page AKA Carriages started as a percussion loop recorded using flower pots and a garden sweeping brush. A curious birth betraying the twosome’s wonderfully idiosyncratic leanings, the final product is a slick slice of minimalist electronica in which repetition (not least in the song’s chorus of “Like a child I run to you”) comfortably tunnels in one’s auditory cortex. Released on March 23 – and followed a week later with a remix by Bantum – stream ‘Like a Child’ via Soundcloud below.

  • Playlist: 15 Irish Acts at SXSW 2016

    March 9, 2016 - By 

    As positively hectic as any festival on the face of the globe, SXSW has long been established as a veritable cornucopia of film, music and interactive media from far and very wide. And with festivals of much smaller scale: where the excess of choice becomes something of a burden, planning ahead and knocking up a makeshift “must-see” guide is next to obligatory to ensure FOMO doesn’t become an all-consuming spectre during your festival stay. Just as important is getting some essential listening in before heading off in said sensory abyss. So if you’re SXSW-bound this year and want to check out some…

  • Watch: Jealous of the Birds – Goji Berry Sunset

    March 9, 2016 - By 

    In the seventh issue of our magazine back in May last year, TTA’s Stevie Lennox said of ‘Goji Berry Sunset’ by fast-rising Armagh singer-songwriter Naomi Hamilton AKA Jealous of the Birds: “The whimsy of its whistled intro might have you believe that you’re in for another young-girl-sings-naivete-strewn-intimate-acoustic-indie-folk; and perhaps on surface level it could be taken this way, but further listens reveal a deeper thread of melancholy.” Going on to extol the then huge promise of Hamilton, the piece offered a snapshot of an artist who has covered some remarkable ground in the time since. With her debut album, Parma Violets, set for…

  • Watch: DIE HEXEN – Siamese

    March 9, 2016 - By 

    Every once in a while a homegrown act will crop up, catch you completely off guard with and make you wonder, fist-clenched and all but tormented for eternity, just h0w they managed to pass you by up until that shameful moment of latter-day discovery. The latest to befall us comes in the form of Belfast dark ambient chanteuse DIE HEXEN, whose latest single ‘Siamese’ is a phantasmal brew of gothic influence and image, conjuring everyone from Grouper and Chelsea Wolfe to Gary Numan and Siouxsie at her most ensorcelling. A “ceremonial magic audio-visual created in response to a visually powerful mutual lucid and reoccurring dream…

  • Watch: Orchid Collective – Lay As Stone

    March 8, 2016 - By 

    When we shared the track two weeks ago we said ‘Lay As Stone’ by Dublin quartet Orchid Collective was “unwinding alt-folk meditation on weariness and reprieve that sees wonderfully-woven harmonies come to the fore across the track’s nigh on four minutes”. Having zig-zagged around the country playing shows in the time since, the band have released a video for the single directed by Cill Farrell, the moral of which we’ve deduced is: it’s often – if not always – advisable to drink a few glasses of milk before going on the rip. Orchid Collective launch ‘Lay As Stone’ at Dublin’s…