• Inbound: Arborist

    April 7, 2014 - By 

    Ahead of the release of their debut album, we talk to Mark McCambridge, frontman and songwriting core of Belfast-based band Arborist about the evolution of the project, the thematic foundations of the release and the many benefits derived from the freedom to experiment in the studio. Photos by Dave Timlin. Hi Mark. Arborist has just finished recording your debut album, Home Burial. Before talking about that, how has the journey been getting to this stage? Arborist began in Christmas 2012 and the goal was always to get to this point. A lot of the songs were already there – they…

  • Gig of the week: Farriers, Anthony Toner & more @ Empire Music Hall

    April 7, 2014 - By 

    Headlined by alt-rock band The Farriers, our Gig of the Week for this is a special fundraising show for disaster relief in Syria at Belfast’s Empire Music Hall on Friday, April 11. Not merely totally laudable for the great cause – aiding the afflicted caught up on the Syrian crisis – the line-up has all the makings of one of those all-too-rare “I was there” shows, with Anthony Toner, Master & Dog and Seven Summits (pictured) also amongst the acts set to perform. Tickets are £5 and it’s £6 at the door. Go here for the show’s Facebook event page.

  • Watch: The Altered Hours – Dig Early

    April 7, 2014 - By 

    Ahead a string of Irish dates starting at the end of April, Cork psych-rock maestros The Altered Hours have unveiled their debut video, for the single ‘Dig Early’. Created by Mary Kelleher, Izabella Szczutkowska and Elaine Howley, the video is an entrancing collage of warped black-and-white footage of the band performing in Cork’s Triskel Arts Centre majestically intercut with a hyper-speed, decidedly dream-like coastal trawl in Co. Clare. The track itself – brilliantly bearing the hallmarks of the band’s intent-drenched live shows – was recorded and produced in Cork with Chris Somers and will be released as a 7″ on Art for…

  • Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival Line-up Announced

    April 3, 2014 - By 

    Set to take place from May 1 to May 11, the programme for this year’s Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival has been announced. As with every other installment of the annual Belfast festival, variety and eclecticism is at the heart of this year’s line-up. From Wilko Johnson and the Mercy Lounge, De La Soul, Channel 4 news anchor Jon Snow, The Handsome Family, Simon Amstell, Shonen Knife and everything in between, there is a hugely impressive roster running the gamut from music and comedy to spoken word, theatre, visual art and more. We’re also getting involved in this year’s programme, hosting a…

  • Watch: Bouts – Novelty

    April 4, 2014 - By 

    Ahead of a string of Spring live dates, Dublin indie-rock band Bouts have unveiled the video for their latest single, ‘Novelty’. The first track from the quartet’s debut album, the superb Nothing Good Gets Away, this song is an accurate distillation of Bouts’ sublimely starry-eyed craft. The video for the song features the band, ever zealous (as you would be), writing and recording the album. Check out the poster for those Spring dates (including supporting none other than Yuck at this year’s Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival) and the video for ‘Novelty’ below.

  • Video exclusive: Sullivan & Gold – Glory

    April 2, 2014 - By 

    A week on from premiering the video for their exquisite cover of ‘Nobody Loves You’ by Reuben, we’re very happy to present an exclusive of ‘Glory’, the newest single by Derry singer-songwriter duo Sullivan & Gold. Shot in the charming, coffee-scented surroundings of Lost & Found Bar and Cafe on Queen Street, Coleraine, the video was shot by PIGMINTFILM. A song about “the little things in life, that seems to grow in stature every time the boys perform it live”, it is the second single to be taken from Sullivan & Gold’s debut album, For Foes. Sullivan & Gold will…

  • Stream: Planet Parade – Before & After

    April 2, 2014 - By 

    Having first reared their head back in 2009 with their four-track EP, Ghosts To People, Kildare indie-pop duo Michael Hopkins and Andrew Lloyd AKA Planet Parade have released their latest track, the lulling narcosis of ‘Before and After’. With tracks ‘Prick’ and ‘You and the Devil’ proving equally immersive last month, the two-piece have returned with a three-minute gem, propelled by a hugging, synth-led nocturnalism, gently chopping rhythms and suitably entrancing vocals. Stream the track via Soundcloud below.

  • Gig of the week: Documenta – The Happening

    April 2, 2014 - By 

    A stand-out highlight of this year’s Belfast Film Festival, our gig of the week for the first week of April is The Happening, a very special, one-off performance by Belfast drone pop outfit Documenta. Taking place on Friday, March 4 at Belfast’s Black Box, the performance will see the Joe Greene-fronted band perform two specially-composed, never-played-before forty-five minute sets accompanied by a multi-screening of Andy Warhol’s Empire, Blowjob and Kiss. Rounding off the event in typically fine fashion will be a Factory-esque DJ set by Joe Lindsay and Ryan Fitzsimmons. Doors are at 8pm, admission is £6. Alternatively, buy a ticket…

  • Track Record: Dan Walsh

    April 1, 2014 - By 

    In the latest installment of Track Record, our photographer Brid O’Donovan meets with Cork musician Dan Walsh – primarily a drummer, who performs with Cork-based bands including Grave Lanterns, Elastic Sleep, The Great Balloon Race and STINK! – to have a look at some of his favourite records. Some fantastic music awaits. Billy Joel – The Stranger This is a record I got off my Dad. I’ve been listening to this since I was tiny but it took me years to come back to it and realise that it wasn’t just background noise. I knew all the songs from having them…

  • Album stream: Ginnels – A Country Life

    March 31, 2014 - By 

    Just over three years on from the release of his self-titled debut album, Grand Pocket Orchestra and No Monster Club guitarist/bassist Mark Chester AKA Ginnels has returned with his fourth album, A Country Life. Released via the wonderful Popical Island, the fourteen-track release was recorded, mixed and mastered by Chester at Rialto Cottages and The Pop Inn during the winter just passed. With the likes of ‘Car’s Parked’ and ‘God Botherers’ standing out on first listen, the record is seemingly a more fleshed-out and less (albeit wonderfully-woven) haphazard concoction of sounds, all propelled Chester’s instantly recognisable brand of restless, somewhat melancholic indie rock.…