• Other Voices Announce Digital Festival Bringing It All Back Home

    November 11, 2020 - By 

    Other Voices have announced a new digital festival. The Irish live music institution today revealed details of Bringing It All Back Home, a five-day festival coming in December. Though full dates and acts are yet to be confirmed, organisers have already confirmed appearances from For Those I Love, Niamh Regan, Luz, Nealo, Rhiannon Giddens, Francesco Turrisi, Peter Broderick and Pillow Queens. As ever, sets will be performed via St James church in Dingle, West Kerry. In a statement, Other Voices founder Philip King said, ‘We are absolutely delighted that Other Voices will be going ahead in Dingle again this year,…

  • Premiere: JaJa Studios – The Lost Sound Vol. 1

    November 5, 2020 - By 

    Having provided Dublin musicians and various other creatives with a vital hub over the last seven years, Stoneybatter DIY music and art space JaJa Studios recently lost its home on Cowper Street to a developer. Dusting themselves down, the collective have wasted no time in looking for a new HQ – and ways to make that a reality. Cue The Lost Sound Vol. 1, a new, 22-track cassette tape compiled to raise proceeds for a new space. A self-proclaimed (and entirely accurate) slice of the Irish music underground from some scene stalwarts, it’s a wonderfully eclectic release, featuring Flowers at Night, Declan…

  • Premiere: Martin Rössel & The Dum Dum Boys – Pablo Picasso

    November 4, 2020 - By 

    This Friday, November 6th, Belfast’s independent imprint par excellence Touch Sensitive release Hearts of Champions, the second volume of London-born producer, DJ and archivist Gareth Goddard aka Cherrystones‘ acclaimed Critical Mass series. In Goddard’s own words, the comp is “not a rare-for-rare-sake appendix of bands designed to showcase exclusivity and superiority”. Instead, we’re treated to an excavation of eighteen pure-gems from the post-punk and new wave era, featuring the likes of Konec, Loco Lotus, Siglo XX, Neon and more. Ahead of the compilation’s release via gatefold double vinyl, CD and digital on Friday, we’re pleased to present a first listen to Martin Rössel & The Dum…

  • Premiere: Andrew McGibbon – We’ve Got Horns

    November 4, 2020 - By 

    As one-half of acclaimed Northern Irish garage blues duo The Bonnevilles, Andrew McGibbon has spent the last few years underscoring his status as one of the island’s most captivating frontmen. After zig-zagging across Europe once again with The Bonnevilles back in 2018, McGibbon found himself burnt out and staring into a creative abyss with a self-described “PTSD – post touring stress disorder”. It kickstarted a period of creative metamorphosis that has resulted in Northern Gothic, a wonderfully idiosyncratic debut solo release that reveals the full breadth of his songwriting voice. “I’d get quite blue on the run up to leaving for…

  • Watch: CATALAN! – Ungoogleable

    November 2, 2020 - By 

    The solo vehicle of Belfast-based, North Coast musician Ewen Friers, CATALAN! is also a project that is wonderfully collaborative at its core. On his recently-released debut album, Veritas, Friers is joined by a veritable cast of familiar faces, including Cheylene Murphy and Ryan McGroarty of Belfast dream-pop twosome Beauty Sleep. If you’re yet to experience that particular ensemble live, new single ‘Ungoogleable’ captures just how well this collaborative spirit goes. Bombastic and earworming in equal measure, have a first look at the song’s brand new video below.

  • The Thin Air’s Alternative Halloween Playlist

    October 30, 2020 - By 

    Dire though it is we can’t get all get together for a big old Samhain soirée this year, the thinning of the veil is very much upon us. To mark the occasion, as per tradition, here’s our annual seventy-five track alternative Halloween Spotify playlist, featuring everyone from John Maus, Broadcast and The Cramps to Flying Lotus, Suicide and Throbbing Gristle.

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – October 23rd

    October 23, 2020 - By 

    Tragically, it’s not a Bandcamp Friday. But it is a Friday, which means a rake of first-rate new music from right across the land. Here’s our pick of the lot from today and the rest of the week, featuring Seamus Fogarty, LAOISE, Kyoto Love Hotel, Arborist, JyellowL, For Those I Love, Eve Belle, Amy Montgomery, Sal Dulu, Wyvern Lingo and more. Kyoto Love Hotel – You Unfold You unfold by Kyoto Love Hotel Arborist – The Mountain Will Come to You/A Heart in Minor The Mountain Will Come to You | A Heart in Minor by arborist LAOISE – Healthy Seamus…

  • Video Premiere: Ferals – Separate

    October 23, 2020 - By 

    As with myriad other bands this year, Northern Irish alt-rock trio Ferals have had to navigate the pangs pitfalls of coronavirus over the last few months. Without question, the sudden reality of severance is right up there with the toughest of all. Today, the self-proclaimed “loudest band in Belfast” have re-emerged to take square aim at what being apart – both in the age of social distancing, but also on a much more personal level – feels like. Accompanied by a video splicing recent news coverage with original footage, new single ‘Separate’ is trouncing and earworming in equal measure. Lyrically,…

  • Details of NI Music Prize 2020 Revealed

    October 20, 2020 - By 

    This year’s Northern Ireland Music Prize will go ahead with an online broadcast on November 12. Due to covid-19, the annual award ceremony celebrating Northern Irish music will take place at Belfast’s Oh Yeah Music Centre and streamed live via their YouTube channel. As well as performances from shortlisted acts Arborist, Careerist, Joshua Burnside, Kitt Philippa, Phil Kieran and Sasha Samara, it will feature live announcements for four awards: Best Album, Best Single, Best Live Act and the Oh Yeah Contender Award. The event is scheduled to take place during the Sound of Belfast 2020 virtual festival, which runs November…

  • Stream: Foolish Mortal – Ghost Wipe

    October 20, 2020 - By 

    “Ectoplasm sleight/Anchored down in your chasm right/Next he’s binning your bones/On the coast by your parents’ home”. Yes, Samhain is upon us once again and, as you can see by the opening lyrics to their new single ‘Ghost Wipe,’ Cork garage rock trio Foolish Mortal are already in the holiday spirit.  Comprising Mark Waldron-Hyden, Dan O’Sullivan and Laurie Shaw, the Cork band’s howling, amp-blown Halloween single delves into “the behaviour of a love rival who sucks the life essence from his partners”. The result is a spooked-out, all-too-short salvo that will have you reaching for that repeat button.