• Album stream: Alpha Chrome Yayo – 19th Hole

    April 17, 2020 - By 

    As prolific and idiosyncratic as they come, Belfast synthwave artist Alpha Chrome Yayo has spent the last couple of years exploring a whole heap of sonic terrain. Taking in After Dinner Cigar, Komorebi, Twirl, Choke, Grangeweird with fellow Belfast conspirator Danny Madigan and more, he’s long been a surefire bet for curveballing, genre-mutating, one-man retromancy. Which conveniently brings us to 19th Hole, ACY’s latest and arguably greatest LP to date. Across 15 tracks, the “virtual soundtrack to a golf-game that never was” promises (and fully delivers on) chillwave grooves, robot rap, crunchy chip and hot FM funk. As the main man succinctly put…

  • Premiere: Landers – Clear Blue Sky

    April 17, 2020 - By 

    Fronted by Dubliner Christopher Colm Morrin, Landers are a new-fangled, Berlin-based experimental folk trio with an incredibly promising future ahead of them. Today marks the release of the threesome’s first release. Following a couple of rehearsals, the band recorded live sessions in a large warehouse known as KAOS on the outskirts of Berlin with Aidan Floatinghome, a friend who has also worked with Perlee, Wallis Bird and Hundreds. Over four days, the trio recorded a series of tracks – the process loose, the set-up minimalist and, tellingly, the dynamic intuitive. Out via heyhowareya Records, Clear Blue Sky is a first…

  • Watch: Conchúr White – Lungs (Townes Van Zandt cover)

    April 17, 2020 - By 

    Off the heels of releasing his debut solo EP Bikini Crops last month, Northern Irish artist Conchúr White has returned with a sublime cover. White, who previously fronted the well-received Silences, is clearly at the peak of his powers at the moment. It’s something that’s written all over his take on ‘Lungs’ by legendary Texan singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. “I’ve been trying to write a little more over the last few weeks as I don’t want my future self being too hard on my present’s lack of activity,” he tells us. “It’s been difficult, however, as everything has felt a little forced. Over…

  • Irish Music Industry Covid-19 Emergency Relief Fund Launched

    April 16, 2020 - By 

    A new COVID-19 emergency relief fund for the Irish music industry has been launched. Set up by Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO), the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and First Music Contact (FMC), the fund has been created to assist Irish music creators who are currently experiencing the most financial need. It is open to songwriters, composers, performers, session musicians and arrangers who are currently trying to navigate through this challenging time. As well as financial contributions by IMRO and IRMA, Spotify is making a donation and is also matching donations made to the Irish Music Industry Covid-19 Emergency Relief Fund…

  • Premiere: Myles Manley – Aaa Episode 1: I Took on America and Won

    April 15, 2020 - By 

    Were it not for, y’know, the global pandemic laying waste to any semblance of normalcy in our lives, Myles Manley would be setting off on a tour next month. Ahead of those dates, the Dublin artist (who, for our money, is one of the most singular songwriting voices in the country) was also set to release a new music video series. While the planned live dates can’t feasibly go ahead, Manley is – thankfully – still releasing the video series, collectively called Aaa. A masterfully singular triptych, directed by the likes of Bob Gallagher and others, the series encapsulates precisely what has long set Manley apart as…

  • Stream: The Sky at Night – You’re So Cool

    April 14, 2020 - By 

    From the Altered Hours to DIY LK and far beyond, many Irish artists and collective are digging deep to raise funds for Irish charities that need a helping hand more than ever. Among them is Out on a Limb Records. With all proceeds going to Pieta House, the Limerick imprint today re-releases ‘You’re So Cool’ by Kilkenny-based musician Tim V. Smyth aka The Sky at Night. Originally released back in 2013, it’s a quietly spectral gem that marries lullaby-like refrains with drones that burrow deep. Stream/pay-what-you-like below. You’re So Cool by The Sky At Night

  • Stream: DIY LK – Bed Covers Vol. 1

    April 14, 2020 - By 

    A vital presence in the country’s ever-evolving independent scene, DIY LK tirelessly fly the flag for homespun Limerick sounds, all while going beyond the call of duty to accommodate artists and micro-scenes from beyond. It’s a rare breed of collaborative initiative that hasn’t faltered in the time of pandemic. The collective have just released Bed Covers Vol. 1, a new charity covers compilation in which seven Limerick bands (Anna’s Anchor, Bleeding Heart Pigeons, Casavettes, Cruiser, Hey Rusty, His Father’s Voice and Scenes) cover each other’s material in aid of Doras Luimní, a non-profit, non-governmental organisation that support the rights of…

  • Watch: Amy Montgomery – Jupiter 4 (Sharon Van Etten Cover)

    April 8, 2020 - By 

    One of many Irish acts spending their time wisely as of late, Amy Montgomery’s music carries with it a kind of intent and fervour that is increasingly hard to gone by. Via snarling, octaves-spanning vocals, the Lisburn singer and multi-instrumentalist has spent the last couple of years making a name for herself on the live front. It is, after all, a domain that she graces far more naturally than most. It’s something on full, Technicolour display on Montgomery’s brand new cover of Sharon Van Etten’s ‘Jupiter 4’. Across five minutes, it’s an equal parts sorcerous and unravelling rendition that sees the…

  • EP Stream: The Altered Hours – Immediate Believer

    April 7, 2020 - By 

    If you’re au fait with Cork’s finest The Altered Hours, you’ll likely know that Cathal Mac Gabhann and Elaine Howley from the band have been treating fans to some serious lockdown listening parties over the last while. And as luck would have it, the band are keeping busy in other music-orientated ways, too. A brand new “works in progress” EP, Immediate Believer is a perfectly homespun three-track release that finds the band at their most masterfully minimalist to date. Better still, it’s all for a very good cause. “All of the proceeds from the sale of this EP will go directly to the Simon…

  • Watch: Brigid Mae Power – Wedding of a Friend

    April 7, 2020 - By 

    If there’s a more effortlessly enchanting voice in Ireland than Brigid Mae Power’s, we yet to hear it. On The Two Worlds – a release which we singled out as the best Irish release of 2018 – the Galway singer-songwriter underscored her status as an artist wielding subtlety, candour and feeling like few others. Taken from her forthcoming third album, Head Above the Water, new single ‘Wedding of a Friend’ continues in that vein and then some. Accompanying by Rob Curry and Peter Broderick’s masterfully minimalist video – one that simply features Power singing the song – it’s a supremely serene folk-pop…