• Brilliant Corners 2016

    February 1, 2016 - By 

    One of the country’s most reliably consistent and forward-thinking jazz festivals, Brilliant Corners will return to various venues in Belfast from March 5 to March 12. As expected, the bill for this year’s festival – hosted by Moving on Music – is as delightfully idiosyncratic as expected; Vein Trio will bring Latin Rhythms to the Belfast Parge, recently-passed jazz legend Ornette Coleman will receive due tribute, the synth-soaked free jazz of OKO and Tim Berne will illuminate the Black Box, whilst Dinosaur and Alarmist will team up for what’s set to be a highlight of the festival. Elsewhere, artist-in-residence David Lyttle will co-ordinate…

  • 16 For ’16: A Bad Cavalier

    February 1, 2016 - By 

    As we edge ever closer to the end of our 16 For ’16 feature, in which we’ve been eagerly profiling sixteen Irish acts we’re putting good money on doing great things in 2016, Brian Coney envisions big things for ASIWYFA guitarist Niall Kennedy’s A Bad Cavalier. Photo by Joe Laverty When he’s not trotting the globe with North Coast post-rock maestros And So I Watch You From Afar, ex-Panama Kings main man Niall Kennedy is honing his wares at the helm of A Bad Cavalier. Whilst certainly echoing the varying triumphant stupor of the aforementioned outfits, the effortlessly tight alt-pop of…

  • Monday Mixtape: Cian Nugent

    February 1, 2016 - By 

    Released on Saturday, Night Fiction by Dublin’s Cian Nugent was praised to no end in Garrett Hargan’s review of the album, published earlier on TTA earlier today. To accompany its release, Nugent has kindly took some time out to reveal and talk about some of his all-time favourite songs, including Fred Neil and Cass McCombs. Cian Nugent launches Night Fiction on Friday, February 12. Event page here. Fred Neil – Dolphins Fred Neil maybe better known for writing ‘Everybody’s Talkin” which Nilsson famously did on the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack but for me this is where he really takes off. Love the band…

  • The Record: Robocobra Quartet

    February 1, 2016 - By 

    In the latest installment of The Record, we eavesdrop and follow-up on the recording of ‘Kikazaru’, the superb new single from Belfast’s Robocobra Quartet. Photos by Colm Laverty. Hi Chris. ‘Kikazaru’ is the third “part” of the three-wise-monkeys songs you’ve written and recorded. Can you shed some light on the thematic/conceptual narrative threading the three installments? Chris Ryan (drums/vocals): It’s pretty loose. The lyrics were leaning that way for this collection of three songs and so the concept came in retrospect. It’s not strict by any means. For me, it helps not to get too lost in the process of…

  • 16 For ’16: Planet Parade

    February 1, 2016 - By 

    Our feature profiling sixteen Irish acts we’re very confident will do great in the months ahead, we continue 16 for ’16 today in the company of Kildare’s Planet Parade. Words by Brian Coney. Photo by Brian Mulligan. Striking a shrewd balance between the blither side of Tame Impala, Vampire Weekend and Mac Demarco, Maynooth duo Michael Hopkins and Andrew Lloyd AKA Planet Parade admittedly caught us napping back in August with the release of their impossibly earworming single ‘Blue Sky’. Something of a should-have-been late Summer classic, its chilled and billowing quasi-tropical indie groove laid bare the pair’s ever-assured command of pattern and texture,…

  • Premiere: Warriors of the Dystotheque – Return To Coney (feat. Ella Joy – Candi Bianca Remix)

    January 31, 2016 - By 

    An aptly-coined “dystopian journey deep into the heart of modern trip hop and gloomtronica” the forthcoming Return To Coney EP from Warriors of the Dystotheque is a sublime statement of intent set for release via Tigre Fair on March 4. Having formed via Facebook, the four members – including Derry’s Jonny Mac – have coalesced to create a release inspired by cult 70s film The Warriors and in particular, one of the final moments of the film, where The Warriors return to their home turf, Coney Island. A slick maze of lo-fi trip-hop and darkly soundscapes, the upcoming five-track EP evokes the like of Massive Attack,…

  • Friday Mixtape: Ken Griffin (August Wells)

    January 29, 2016 - By 

    In a one-off diversion from its usual Monday slot, Ken Griffin from August Wells chooses and selects some of his favourite tracks for this special Friday Mixtape (see what we did there?) August Wells playing the following Irish shows this weekend: Friday, January 29: Thirsty Scholar, Waterford Saturday, January 30: Levis’ Corner House, Ballydehob Sunday, January 31: DeBarras, Clonakilty Nina Simone – Suzanne I first heard this sitting in a bar. I immediately asked the barman to play it again. It was my first time ever hearing Nina Simone. I had no idea what was happening. Was it a man? A woman?…

  • Album premiere: We/Or/Me – Everything Behind Us is a Dream

    January 27, 2016 - By 

    Bahhaj Taherzadeh is the man behind the moniker We/Or/Me. Based in Chicago, the Persian-Irish musician has steadily yielded a string of self-produced releases that have drawn admiration from the likes of NPR, Vashti Bunyan, Glen Hansard, and producers Brian Deck (Nathaniel Rateliff, Iron and Wine, Modest Mouse) and Adam Selzer, producer his exceptional new album, Everything Behind Us is a Dream. Evoking the likes of Nick Drake and Hansard, his timeless, wonderfully restrained indie folk summons muted twilight wandering; each softly resonant track proving a meditation on ardor and spirit. Everything Behind Us is a Dream is released on Friday (January 29). Have an exclusive first…

  • Bookmark: Colin White

    January 27, 2016 - By 

    In this installment of Bookmark, we pop in to visit Dublin author and photographer Colin White, as he selects the books that inspire him the most. Colin has recently released two books, one on Dalymount Park and the other on Native Irish Dogs. Photos by Melanie Mullan. Strumpet City by James Plunkett Far and away my favourite Irish novel, Strumpet City paints Dublin in exactly the light necessary to accurately portray the lives of the city’s dwellers on all sides of the political sphere around the time of the 1913 Lock-out. The misery endured in the city’s tenements is evident throughout, as too is the resolute…