Truth be told, not every well-meaning stab at a festive cover comes off in a blaze of glory. Falling very much into the category of those that do, Belfast’s exmagician have re-imagined the Pretenders’ seminal Christmas cut ‘2000 Miles’ in very fine fashion indeed, conjuring a beautifully reflective netherworld edging nicely into the realms of dream-pop. Stream/download the track below.
Having had a very encouraging 2015, Dublin alt-folk four-piece Orchid Collective found some time when recording their forthcoming next single at Lisburn’s Millbank Studios last week to re-imagine and cover Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Christmas classic ‘The Power of Love’. A wonderfully paced, subtly spellbinding rendition of the 1984 original, their rendition is accompanied by a video by filmmaker Tiaran Larkin. Check it out below.
In the third and final installment of the feature, we count down from 30 to 21 in our annual Top 50 Irish Releases of 2015. Miss the first two installments? Check them out here and here. 30. Morning Veils – Her Kind Released at the tail-end of 2015, Her Kind by Cork outfit Morning Veils was a deserved late addition to the top-end of our countdown. We said: “Her Kind a release that channels bedroom solipsism, backwashed thoughts and psychic corners in perfectly phantasmal fashion. Comprised of members including Elaine Howley of The Altered Hours and Roslyn Steer, the band’s brilliantly burrowing bonerand of…
Glen Hansard stands at the edge of the stage, his dark attire all but blending in with the darkness, giving the strange appearance of a floating, disembodied head. He sings ‘Grace Beneath The Pines’, unamplified and accompanied only by a swelling string section, and his voice ghosts all around the interior of the concert hall. It captures the spirit of Josef Locke or John McCormack, namechecked by Hansard later on in the show, and as openings go, it is certainly an effective one. In fact, it sets the tone for the whole evening, which is more subdued than one might…
Following in the well-partied footsteps of Andrew WK, legendary Chicago recording engineer and Big Black/Rapeman/Shellac frontman Steve Albini has been announced as the next Keynote speaker at music conference Output in Belfast on Thursday, February 18. Also feted for his music writing, commentary and keynote speeches throughout the U.S. and further afield, Albini – best known for his work with Nirvana and the Pixies – is a bona fide music industry veteran, as well as a famous supporter of analog recording over digital. As with last year, Output – organised by Belfast City Council in partnership Generator NI – will feature panel discussions, music sessions, networking…
Following on from Monday’s first installment, we continue our countdown of our Top 50 Irish Releases of 2015, featuring glorious returns, new-fangled heroes. Go here to check out 50-41. 40. Lakker – Tundra “You should listen to it loudly, and try to get swept away by it.” So aptly concluded Pitchfork’s review of Tundra, the second album – and debut R&S full-length release – from Berlin-based Dublin electronic duo Lakker in a decade. Released back in May, it proved an immersive ten-track release inspired by No U-Turn Records, Arvo Part, Merzbow and early Human League. Now that’s a dinner party we’d pay good money to…
Having released one of our favourite Irish albums of the year in Southlands back in May, it’d be something of an understatement to say Lurgan singer-songwriter Stevie Scullion AKA Malojian has had a busy and quite brilliant year. As well as being nominated for the 2015 NI Music Prize, Scullion has keep us on eager toes with the steady release of three singles, the equally sublime ‘Bathtub Blues’, ‘No Alibis’ and ‘Communion Girls’, over the last nine months. The fourth and final of the year, the masterfully meditative lullaby folk of ‘Crease of Your Smile’ might well be our favourite of the lot, a…
Ahead of the fifth annual Popical Island All-Dayer at Whelan’s on Saturday (more info right here), Dublin’s Lie Ins are streaming their forthcoming double A-side, ‘Love In The Artic/Go Back To Billy’. Respectively described as “a post-apocalyptic hoe-down” and a “pop tune about returning to past follies”, the lo-fi indie trio recorded their tracks straight to tape by the threesome’s new bassist Mark Chester at Popical Island hub The Pop Inn. Officially released on January 25, stream the tracks below.
Having delivered and then some at its inaugural outing earlier this year, Cork’s Quarter Block Party have unveiled the music, pop-up performances and community events that will make up 2016 programme from February 5-7 2016. Presented by Makeshift Ensemble and Southern Hospitality Board, QBP is a three-day music and arts festival on the city’s North and South main street with community at the beating heart of its ethos. With much more to be announced, organisers have revealed that experimental folk-rock band Spooks of the Thireenth Lock, Daniel Knox – long known for darkly distorting traditional American popular song styles resulting in…
Ahead of our annual Top 100 Irish Tracks of the Year countdown later this month, we’re counting down our Top 50 Irish Releases of 2015 (that is to say EPs and albums) every day this week. And rather than giving the game away too soon, we’ve opted for the age-old descending option, starting with 50-41. Dig in. 50. Screamingparent – The Completist Back in April, Dudley Colley of Dublin’s Dudley Corporation AKA Screamingparent released his ten-track debut of “spare-room recorded bedroom classics”. Call it his first solo “misadventure”, it was recorded in between school runs and nappy changes. True story: The Guardian SC somewhere…