• Stream: No Monster Club – Sion

    January 24, 2016 - By 

    Set to feature on his eleventh album, I Feel Magic, next month, Dublin lo-fi wizard Bobby Aherne AKA No Monster Club is streaming ‘Sion’, a track recalling an unexpectedly fun Swiss traipse. “I came up with all of the composite parts during the Carnaval parade in Sion, Switzerland last Valentine’s Day,” Aherne said. “The next day, I stitched them all together into a rough, drunken Jack Torrance demo in the ancient and creepy Hotel Europa (where Verdi used to live and Napoleon once stayed) in Ferrara, Italy. The lyrics came later.” Effortlessly earworming and almost boyishly candid in its poise and delivery, it’s exactly the…

  • Savages – Adore Life

    January 22, 2016 - By 

    Revivalism – is that a dirty word? It is if you’re in a band, trying to forge your own sound while folk are sitting there spouting comparisons. As Ought have shown us Stateside, if you’re going to retread well-worn ground, you better lace up your assault boots and do so with conviction, stamping any glib reference points from the mind of the listener. Savages aren’t short on conviction. Nor are they short of muscle in the art of ratcheting up the tension within a track. Post punk was all about tension, though, wasn’t it? The London quartet’s debut, Silence Yourself,…

  • First acts announced for Longitude 2016

    January 22, 2016 - By 

    Kendrick Lamar, The National and Jamie XX are amongst the first acts announced to play this year’s Longitude festival at Dublin’s Marlay Park from July 15-17. With Lamar (pictured) headlining the opening night on Friday, July 15, Major Lazer leads the line up on the Saturday and The National close the festival on the Sunday. With tickets going on sale at 9am on Friday, January 29, Major Lazer, Father John Misty, Chvrches, Róisín Murphy, Action Bronson, Courtney Barnett, A$AP Ferg, MØ, All Tvvins, Rejjie Snow, Otherkin, Pleasure Beach and Saint Sister make up first announcement. Weekend tickets are €159.50 and…

  • Premiere: Strength – Northern Ireland Yes

    January 21, 2016 - By 

    Set to play our Independent Venue Week show at/with Belfast’s Oh Yeah Centre on Saturday, January 30, Derry band Strength are one of sixteen Irish acts we’ve handpicked for our current 16 For ’16 feature. Ahead of a string of shows to mark its 7″ release, we’re pleased to premiere the video for their positively singular new single, ‘Northern Ireland Yes’, along with a revealing Q+A with the band’s main man, Rory Moore. Dig in. Hi Rory. When and how did Strength come about? Strength came about at the tail end of Red Organ Serpent Sound. I felt we were losing a lot of the live, creative…

  • Album Premiere/Q+A: Bamboo – Prince Pansori Priestess

    January 21, 2016 - By 

    Comprised of Rachel Horwood and Nick Carlisle (originally from Northern Ireland) London duo Bamboo are a curious proposition in the most nonpareil sense of the term. Melding influence from various folk tradition with far-reaching synth-pop, their sound (and new debut album, Prince Pansori Priestess) is a feat of spirit and ingenuity. We chat to the pair about their craft and process. Hi Nick, Bamboo are based in London but you’re originally from Northern Ireland. Did you make music or play as part of any band(s) when you were based here? Nick: The first band I was serious about was Peepholes, a band I am (still) doing with…

  • David Bowie Tribute Night @ Limelight 1, Belfast

    January 21, 2016 - By 

    One of a number of special fundraisers spawned in the wake of his passing last week, Belfast’s Limelight 1 will celebrate the legacy of David Bowie with a special one-off event to raise money for the NI Cancer Fund for Children. Featuring Rebel Rebel – “Ireland’s premier Bowie tribute” – performing after a screening of Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell To Earth, the night will also feature host and DJ for the night Joe Lindsay, who will play the hits, obscurities, remixes, influences and influenced. Tickets go on sale on Friday, January 22 at 9am via here and here,…

  • I Heart Bowie @ Whelan’s, Dublin

    January 21, 2016 - By 

    With all money raised going to the Irish Cancer Society, Dublin’s Whelan’s will host I Heart Bowie on Wednesday, January 27, a night of celebration and song in which “friends of Whelan’s” will get together to perform some of Bowie’s best loved songs. Speaking of the line-up, Whelan’s said, “We’re finalising the line up at the moment but we have Choice Music Prize nominees, a really slick houseband and some very special treats planned! If you’re a Bowie fan (who isn’t) it’s unmissable.” Our curiosity is certainly piqued. Tickets are €15 and are available here.

  • IMRO Live Music Venue of the Year Awards

    January 21, 2016 - By 

    The eighth outing of IMRO’s Live Music Venue of the Year awards are set to take place at their HQ in Dublin on Tuesday, February 16. With two new awards being added to this year’s proceedings – the IMRO Outstanding Contribution to Live Music 2015 and Best Venue/Technical Crew 2015 – the annual awards celebrates the dedication and passion of those who work in Ireland’s live music venues. More than 11,000 IMRO members considered hundreds of venues across the country for the shortlist and venues were judged “on their commitment to providing the core elements that make for a great…

  • Stream: Goldie Fawn – Savages

    January 21, 2016 - By 

    Having launched the project back in early 2014, Belfast’s Katie Richardson AKA Goldie Fawn has never been one to conceal her outlook on the inner workings of what it means or feels to be an artist. Mirroring the largely contemplative nature of her electro-inflected pop craft, the accompanying proviso to her long-awaited debut single as Goldie Fawn, ‘Savages’, taps into the uncertainty and spectre of self-doubt that all often too creeps in uninvited. “On of the biggest frustrations of being a musician/artist can bee sitting on work for months or even years until ‘the right time,’” Richardson says. “Sometimes this magical…

  • Stream: Wyvern Lingo – Letter to Willow

    January 20, 2016 - By 

    Off the back of the release of their cover of Hozier’s Run (which we covered here), Bray trio Wyvern Lingo’s new single ‘Letter to Willow’ reveals a band brimming with confidence ahead of what’s almost certain to be a massive few months. Brilliantly bobbing and funk-inflected in all the right places, the song is driven forth with a nicely understated groove allowing exceptionally-crafted harmonies and the threesome’s seasoned musicianship to take centre-stage. ‘Letter to Willow’ is the title track from Wyvern Lingo’s forthcoming EP, set for release on March 4. The band play Dublin’s Button Factory on Friday, April 1.