• Festival Mixtape: Electric Picnic 2015

    June 3, 2015 - By 

    With Blur, Grace Jones, FKA Twigs, Mac DeMarco and more added to the bill yesterday, this year’s Electric Picnic is shaping up to be one of the best outings for the annual Co. Laois festival in years. With many more acts yet to be revealed, Interpol, Jurassic 5, Manic Street Preachers, Belle and Sebastian, Battles, The War on Drugs, Jon Hopkins and Future Islands are also amongst the acts already announced to play this year’s festival, taking place from September 4-6 at Stradbally Estate. Go here to buy tickets to Electric Picnic 2015 and check out our Festival Mixtape for EP 2015 below.

  • Stream: Tomorrows – The Circle

    June 3, 2015 - By 

    With the turn of summer rather precariously around the corner, Dublin band Tomorrows have offered up a sun-kissed, melancholy-tinged one-track soundtrack in the form of ‘The Circle’. Conjuring the likes of the Spinto Band and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, the track follows on very nicely from the equally impressive ‘Another Life’ and ‘Free’, going that bit further and hitting home with its simple, warped pop wanderlust. We’re big fans.

  • Exclusive EP Stream: Heroes in Hiding – Decorated Absence

    June 3, 2015 - By 

    Ahead of its official launch on Friday, we’re pleased to present an exclusive first listen to Decorated Absence, the second EP from Heroes in Hiding. Produced, recorded and mixed by Philip Magee, the three-track release is all-killer, no-filler folk-pop from the Dublin four-piece, fresh from their performance at Forbidden Fruit at the weekend. Ahead of an in-studio The Record with the band tomorrow – featuring an insight into the recorded and release of the EP and featuring candid shots from our photographer Tara Thomas – stream Decorated Absence in full below. Photo by Tara Thomas

  • Stream: Girls Names – Reticence

    June 1, 2015 - By 

    Three months on from the release of eleven-minute post-punk odyssey ‘Zero Triptych’, Girls Names have re-emerged with one of the their strongest tracks to date, ‘Reticence’. With guitars returning to centre-stage from the off, the track unravels from a scourging intro to reveal a band exuding an air of confidence in the latest manifestation of their constantly evolving yet always instantly recognisable sound. Stream the track – taken from the band’s forthcoming album Arms Around a Vision – below.

  • Monday Mixtape: Elaine Howley (The Altered Hours)

    June 1, 2015 - By 

    Since we kick-started out Monday Mixtape back in January, we’ve had some truly excellent playlists courtesy of Niall Kennedy of ASIWYFA, Ciaran Lavery, Pavement’s Bob Nastanovich, Girls Names’ Claire Miskimmin, Ciaran Smith of Crayonsmith, Quasi’s Sam Coomes, September Girls, No Spill Blood’s Ror Conaty, Ricki O’Rawe of Not Squares, Sargent House’s Cathy Pellow, The Mighty Stef’s Stefan Murphy, Dara Kiely of Girl Band, Built to Spill’s Doug Martsch, Ryan Vail and Autumns’ Christian Donaghey. Today, we continue that altogether tasteful tradition with none other with Elaine Howley of Cork psych-rock wizards The Altered Hours, who selects ten of her all-time favourite songs…

  • Watch: Paddy Hanna – Camaraderie

    May 29, 2015 - By 

    The b-side to his earworming ‘Austria’ single, ‘Camaraderie‘ by Dublin singer-songwriter Padda Hanna is a decidedly more reflective, inward-looking affair, touching upon Hanna’s struggles with intense depression. A swooning, Americana-tinged jangle-pop evoking the likes of Pedro The Lion and self-titled-era Elliott Smith, the track is accompanied by a touching, equally static and stoic video by Luke Byrne. Speaking of the track, Hanna said, “Last summer I was crippled with depression, to the point where I was physically and mentally too sick to stand. I spent many weeks alone in my cottage growing ever more paranoid of the outside world and the joyful cheers…

  • Liverpool Sound City 2015

    May 29, 2015 - By 

    Thanks to the likes of Emerald Armada, Raglans, Pat Dam Smyth (above), The Clameens, His New Atlas and others, there was yet another strong Irish presence at this year’s Liverpool Sound City. Photos by Christopher Flack. Thanks to the generous, becoming chaps at Getintothis.