• Brian Jonestown Massacre Set For Belfast and Dublin Shows

    September 2, 2024 - By 

    Hold on to your love beads: one of the all-time greats, Brian Jonestown Massacre, are coming back to Ireland next year. Having stopped off in the cities early last year, the Anton Newcombe-fronted psych-rock masters will return to play Belfast’s Ulster Hall on 11th February 2025 and the 3Olympia in Dublin on 12th February. The shows are part of an 18-stop tour across Europe in January and February, kicking of off in Hamburg on 28th January and finishing at Cardiff on 20th February. Check out the full dates below. Reflecting on BJM’s recent output, 2022’s Fire Doesn’t Grow On Trees…

  • Monday Mixtape: And So I Watch You From Afar

    September 2, 2024 - By 

    In this installment of Monday Mixtape, Ewen Friers of North Coast post-rock heroes And So I Watch You From Afar takes us on a guided tour of the music that soundtracked the band’s recent U.S.—from Peach and Blue Whale, to Real Terms and Junk Drawer. I thought that seeing as I’ve spent the summer travelling in support of ‘Megafauna’, a nice framing device for my mixtape might be basing it around some of the bands and artists I’ve encountered along the way, some new, some well established, some I’ve been a fan of for years, some I’ve just discovered! Whilst…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – August 30th

    August 30, 2024 - By 

    Dive into the very best tracks and albums of the week from AONAIR, Or:la, Pat Lagoon x RikShaw, Ciaran Lavery, Kex x Alex Gough, Adjunct Ensemble, Gaptoof, Big Sleep and more AONAIR – Love/Fiction Adjunct Ensemble – Habits of Assembly Habits Of Assembly – Live at Cafe OTO by Adjunct Ensemble Or:la – Sea Slugs Pat Lagoon x RikShaw – Posture Kex x Alex Gough – The Follower Ciaran Lavery – Ctrl Alt Del Really Good Time – Pension Fund Gaptoof w/ Mushkilla & Danny Sanchez – all i wanna do Big Sleep – Go Orla Gartland – Late to…

  • Pixies w/ SPRINTS at Custom House Square, Belfast

    August 31, 2024 - By 

    In June 2013, just a day after it was announced that Kim Deal had left Pixies, nine years into one of the unlikeliest of reunions (yes, maybe even more than you-know-who), The Breeders stopped off at the Limelight in Belfast. In my review, I noted that the latter alt-rock heroes—helmed, of course, by Deal and her sister Kelley—delivered a “momentous, altogether unforgettable trip into the recent past.” Fast forward to 2024—on the very day Pixies return to the city after five years, with their latest bassist, Emma Richardson, in tow—news of Deal’s long-awaited solo debut LP lands in my inbox.…

  • Ciaran Lavery Set For Lyric Theatre Show

    August 21, 2024 - By 

    Ciaran Lavery has announced details of a new live music experience at the Lyric Theatre. One of the highlights from this year’s Belfast International Arts Festival programme, which takes over the city from 16th October until 23rd November, Light Entertainment follows the acclaimed Northern Irish artist as he battles against crippling creative self-doubt and the allure of procrastination-inducing distractions in a last-ditch attempt to create his next hit record. Sound familiar? Collective consciousness within the sphere of self-doubt and so much more aside, Lavery – who you’ll know as one of the island’s finest, most reliably shapeshifting artists – is…

  • Premiere: Adjunct Ensemble – How Dare You Be Free!

    August 21, 2024 - By 

    In a sonic flash that feels both fleeting and eternal, Adjunct Ensemble’s ‘How Dare You Be Free!’ emerges as a six-minute sorcerous effort – a masterful act of improvisational conjuring featured on the forthcoming Habits Of Assembly – Live At Café OTO. Under the direction of fêted Belfast composer and musician Jamie Thompson, whose radical improvisational instincts are matched by his uncompromising political commentary, the project assembled a world-class lineup: Stephen Davis on drums, John Pope on bass, Sam Comerford on tenor sax, and Thompson himself on piano and electronics. Recorded live at the legendary Café OTO, their session transforms…

  • Premiere: TRAMP – The Birds (Lowered Suspension)

    August 21, 2024 - By 

    TRAMP’s music is pure-cut alchemy. Since forming in 2019, the Donegal/Derry quartet has become a singular force in our cross-border DIY scene, packing out venues and nabbing the prestigious Artist of the Year Award at the 2023 Northern Irish Music Prize along the way. Comprised of Siânna Lafferty, Ellie McFadden, Fionnbarr Doran, and Ciaran ‘Steamy’ McCay, TRAMP returns this Friday, 23rd August, with their most incisive effort yet, ‘The Birds (Lowered Suspension).’ Off the back of their stellar fundraising track ‘Postcard from Poland‘ and a series of blistering shows across the island, the single doubles as a statement of intent…