Comprised of members of Jackalfeud and the Big Grizzly, Belfast-based five-piece MOLARBEAR have released their debut single, ‘Fierce Brosnan’. The track – clocking in at a rampant two and a half minutes – was recorded and mixed at Bearcat Studios and conjures the likes of Hawk Eyes, early Mastodon and fellow Belfastians Comply or Die. Stream the track via Bandcamp below. Fierce Brosnan by Molarbear
With over 500 bands having applied, the line-up for this year’s Hard Working Class Heroes festival has been announced. Having showcased some of the country’s finest breakthrough talent over the years – everyone from Hozier to Villagers – the line-up for this year is as follows: A Lazarus Soul / Acrobat / Affleck / Arborist / Atriums / Benihana / Benny smiles / Brian Casey / Buffalo Sunn / Buffalo Woman / Carriages / Carried By Waves / Cfit / Ciaran Lavery / Cloud Castle Lake / Clu / Codai / Color // Sound / Columbia Mills / Conor Walsh…
An annual fixture at Belfast’s Custom House Square, this year’s Belsonic – running from Friday, August 15 to Friday, August 22 this year – boasts some extremely big hitters. Whether you look to the likes of Nile Rodger’s Chic, Biffy Clyro or Queens of the Stone Age, globetrotting, genre-defining stadium-fillers are very much the order – with some select up-and-coming support acts thrown in for good measure. Check out the full line-up and buy tickets here. Stream our Festival Mixtape for Belsonic 2014 – featuring all fourteen confirmed acts – below.
Ahead of headlining the next installment of our gig/club night No Tomorrow, self-proclaimed “cosmic forest-dweller”/Donegal electronic artist Keith Mannion AKA SlowPlaceLikeHome has released his new album, Romola. And it’s very, very good. With our full-length verdict to come later in the week, the ten-track album was written, performed, recorded, mixed and produced by Mannion in Donegal’s Knather Woods. Go here to read our recent interview with Mannion, here for the Facebook event page for the No Tomorrow show (at Belfast’s Voodoo on Saturday, November 6 – also featuring Somadrone and Documenta DJS) and stream Romola via Bandcamp below. Romola by SlowPlaceLikeHome
All Tomorrow’s Parties have announced that Jabberwocky festival, set to take place this weekend, has been cancelled. Neutral Milk Hotel (above) James Blake, Darkside, Caribou and more were set to perform at the two-day London event. In a post on their Facebook page, ATP founder Barry Hogan wrote “It is with deep sadness we regret to inform everyone that as of today Tuesday 12th August 2014, ATP is being forced into cancelling this weekend’s Jabberwocky festival. Refunds will be available to all customers at the point of purchase. We have put everything into promoting Jabberwocky, and despite healthy ticket sales;…
Make no bones about it: the Glasgowbury-shaped hole in the Northern Irish summer festival calendar is indeed a sizable one. But as is equally apparent to those of us in eager search of its successor, it’s all very much a case of one door closes, another door opens. Teetering right on the precipice of ascending to the enviable rank of Northern Ireland’s singular unmissable two-day music and arts festival, Stendhal Festival of Art, with its glorious rural expanse and wonderfully kaleidoscopic eclecticism, is set to do just that this weekend. Here’s how things went down. Held on the barley-bordered fields of Ballymully Farm…
Conjuring desolate coastline nostalgia and streetlamp-lit, nocturnal traipses, Jack Colleran AKA MMOTHS has really hit home on ‘Santo’, a new five-minute track that has us positively hankering for his forthcoming debut album. Evoking a real submerged quality via washes of darkly, dense synth and masterfully rendered vocals, the track was posted on MMOTHS’ Facebook page with the message: “here’s something new i’ve been working on i know i’ve been quiet but more is coming soon thank you for sticking around x” Stream ‘Santo’ via Soundcloud below.
Taking place at Belfast’s Arthur Square from August 9 to August 30, Inside Out will see some of the country’s finest musical talent – everyone from Malojian (above) to Sons of Caliber – play a series of free, unplugged gigs. Culminating in a showcase event at City Hall, the gigs will last 45 minutes and take place every Saturday (1pm and 3pm) and Thursday (at 5.30pm) throughout the month of August. Here’s the full line-up and schedule: Malojian: August 9 Silhouette: August 9 Master and Dog: August 14 Zarah Fleming: August 16 The Hardchangers: August 16 Wookalily: August 21 Silences: August 23 Linley Hamilton: August 23 Emerald Armada: August 28…
Taken from their forthcoming debut EP, Back To School, Dublin quartet GANGShave unveiled the rather touching video for their single, ‘Daisy’. An impressively-shot, black-and-white visual accompaniment to the track, it was directed by Gansee Films and shot in Dublin. Back to School will be released via Reekus Records on September 26 (October 6 in the UK). GANGS play Derry’s Sandinos on August 15 and Belfast’s QUBSU the following night. Watch the video for ‘Daisy’ below.
Having been steadily established themselves on the live circuit over the last few months, Belfast electronic trio Skymas have released a new track, ‘Build’. The follow-up to their Primer EP – released in October last year – the track is a typically gyration-inducing, rhythmically propulsive effort; main man Martin Corrigan’s refrain, “They give you tools to build your own prison. These are the walls with which you live in.” burrowing right into the inner ear and lingering long after the song’s five minutes. Watch the video to the track below.