• Stream: The Wood Burning Savages – Boom

    September 8, 2014 - By 

    Ahead of setting off on their first UK at the end of the week, Derry quartet The Wood Burning Savages are streaming their brilliantly urgent new single ‘Boom’. Something of a stand-out from their live shows, the Motorik-driven release is a heady three-minutes, evoking the likes of Patti Smith, Can and Mission of Burma, whilst retaining the band’s own increasingly-distinctive brand of alt-rock.  See below for the band’s forthcoming UK dates and a stream of ‘Boom’, officially released on September 29.

  • Gigs of the Week: TWINKRANES, Freebase, Duke Special, Jun Tzu Album Launch

    September 9, 2014 - By 

    With the new semester upon us, more and more new shows are sprouting up in the gig calender over the next few months. Focusing on the absolute immediate future, however, here’s our comprehensively genre-spanning pick of must-see gigs taking place throughout the country over the next seven days. Seven Quarters: Twinkranes, Halves – Whelan’s, Dublin; Saturday, September 13 The third installment of Dublin gig night Seven Quarters at Whelan’s on Saturday night will see boundlessly intriguing Dublin trio Halves play their last Irish show of the year alongside critically acclaimed experimentalists TWINKRANES. If you are in any way inclined towards exceptional, forward-driven homegrown music, this is not a show…

  • Watch: His New Atlas – Pillars

    September 7, 2014 - By 

    The follow-up to the recently-released ‘His Young’, Armagh singer-songwriter Eoghan O’Hagan AKA His New Atlas has released his sitting new single, ‘Pillars’. Fast becoming his custom, O’Hagan’s latest heart-rending tale is accompanied by simple but stunningly shot video, created by Belfast-based videographer and photographer Colm Laverty. Brooding and evocative, calling upon the depths of distant childhood and lost innocence, the video culminates in a particularly wistful tone. ‘Pillars’ is taken from O’Hagan’s debut full-length EP, Torn Out Lungs, which you can stream/purchase here. Watch the video below.  

  • Stream: Matua Trap – Cleave

    September 3, 2014 - By 

    Comprised of members from Belfast bands Kasper Rosa and Affleck, new-fangled alt-prog trio Matua Trap have been penning and practice their first batch of songs for the last year. Their first effort from what they promise to be very busy project, ‘Cleave’ is a suitably tangential, idiosyncratic affair, hinting at some fine things in the making. Matua Trap make their live debut at Belfast’s Voodoo on Wednesday, September 17. Stream – or buy for at least £1 – ‘Cleave’ via Bandcamp below. Cleave by Matua Trap

  • Watch: Girl Band – De Bom Bom

    September 3, 2014 - By 

    Dublin noise rock quartet Girl Band have been very active as of late. As well as having the slightly daunting honour of supporting both Metz and Slint on recent tours, they also been on the road on the their own right, as well as delivering nothing short of an unforgettable performance on the Friday night of Electric Picnic. The latest milestone on their altogether upward journey is the release of ‘De Bom Bom’, a single that perfectly embodies the manic fury and almost touchable neurotic majesty of their current material. The accompanying video, created by Second Frame Films, mirrors the aforementioned…

  • Stream: Slow Skies – Ice Field

    September 3, 2014 - By 

    Having been featured in our Instatour feature earlier this year, Dublin dream pop duo Slow Skies have dropped ‘Ice Field’, the first track to be taken from their forthcoming EP, Keepsake. The duo – comprised of singer-songwriter Karen Sheridan and producer Conal Herron – are joined by Richie Egan and Glen Keating from Jape on the track, delicately propelled by sparse instrumentation and Sheridan’s meditative vocals. Slow Skies are set to play The Sugar Club, Dublin on Wednesday, October 8. Stream ‘Ice Field’ via Soundcloud below.

  • Exclusive: Meb Jon Sol – Leave All Your Troubles With Me

    September 3, 2014 - By 

    Having reared his head at the start of the year with his debut single, ‘Captain of This Ship’, Belfast-based singer-songwriter Michael McCullagh AKA Meb Jon Sol has released the touching trad-folk of ‘Leave All Your Troubles With Me’ – and we have a first look at the video. Filmed and edited by Colm Laverty, the video, giving the effect of an old 8mm film, features McCullagh performing the track in the Titanic quarter of Belfast, spliced with footage of various people across the world. ‘Leave All Your Troubles With Me’ is available to buy via Bandcamp for £1 or the option to donate…

  • Gigs of the week: No Tomorrow, Marissa Nadler, David C Clements, Elastic Sleep

    September 2, 2014 - By 

    With Electric Picnic been and gone in a flash, the habitual final chapter of the (occasionally) great Irish summer begins. Things are still a bit quiet on the gig front but, as ever, here’s our pick of shows well worth checking out over the next days. No Tomorrow: SlowPlaceLikeHome, Somadrone, Documenta DJs – Voodoo, Belfast; Saturday, September 6 The next installment of our monthly gig/club night at Belfast’s Voodoo, No Tomorrow returns on Saturday night with a tremendous triad of cosmically-inclined acts from across the country. Just back from playing the Body & Soul stage at Electric Picnic at the…

  • Jim Jarmusch: The Essential Independent @ QFT

    August 28, 2014 - By 

    From September 19-25, Belfast’s Queen’s Film Theatre will showcase a slice of the nigh on incomparable oeuvre of a truly singular and independent figure in cinema, Jim Jarmusch. Marking the 30th anniversary of his cult breakthrough film, Stranger Than Paradise, the mini-season will see six of Jarmusch’s finest films screening across six days. They are: Dead Man, a majestic revisionist Western featuring Johnny Depp, considered by many as Jarmusch’s masterpiece. Down By Law, an exceptional and eccentric prison movie featuring Tom Waits, John Lurie and Roberto Benigni. Mystery Train, a film “following a small group of strangers in a strange land…

  • Culture Night Belfast 2014 programme launched

    August 28, 2014 - By 

    With the heady success of last year still lingering fondly in the memory, the programme for this year’s Culture Night Belfast has been launched. Set to transform Belfast city centre into bustling and kaleidoscopic cultural celebration of arts, music, craft, theatre, spoken word, poetry, dance and much more, this year’s showcase will take place on Friday, September 19. Next week we will present our Must-See events at this year’s Culture Night but at a first look, Rhinos (pictured), Cruising and Go Wolf at the Oh Yeah Centre, Culture Night Radio IMPRINT at Sort Design and live theatre shorts at the Sunflower Public…