• Festival Preview: Beyond The Pale 2023

    As expertly-curated boutique music festivals go, Beyond the Pale takes some beating. Returning for three days of top-tier sounds, art and food at Glendalough Estate in Co. Wicklow across 16th-18th June, the festival is well and truly doubling down on last year’s stellar first outing. Better said, it’s this year’s most unmissable Irish summer festival. First, and of course foremost, Beyond The Pale sets itself apart with its first-rate musical curation. Where last year more than delivered on a wonderfully diverse, genre-spanning bill, this year’s edition comfortably inhabits a space that can’t be rivalled on these shores. As well as era-crossing, genre-distilling world-beaters in the form of this…

  • Richard Dawson at Empire Music Hall

    Alright, here’s the craic: Richard Dawson isn’t just in a league of his own when it comes to trend-flattening experimental folk: he is easily one of the greatest living musical artists. He first confirmed that fact with the release of Nothing Important back in 2014, and to the contrary, it felt very important; seismic even. On that album and follow-ups Peasant and 2020, the Newcastle artist took the imprint of everything from Kenyan folk traditions and Captain Beefheart, to Sun Ra and Sufi devotional music to fathom a careening, unfuckwithable folk genius all his own. See also: last year’s sprawling opus The Ruby Cord. During that time, Dawson had few more…

  • Autechre Set For Dublin Return

    Autechre have announced their first Dublin show in half a decade. The English electronic innovators, comprised of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, will play Vicar Street on 29th October. Presented by Foggy Notions in association with u:mack, the show comes five years after the duo play the National Concert Hall. Tickets for the show cost €40.00 and go on sale this Friday, 26th May at 10am.

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 19th May

    It’s been another stacked seven days on the new Irish music front. Here’s the best tracks and releases of the week, from Elaine Howley, Roger Doyle, Shiv, Swimmers Jackson & more Elaine Howley – Live As I Saw It Roger Doyle – Skin Care Swimmers Jackson – Borrow Sorrow Shiv – Heavy Water Anna’s Anchor – Hotel Dom Pancho Anderson Nightmare – Sleep Exhalers – Meat Clown MEAT CLOWN by Exhalers Drew Makes Noise – Hey Christian Cohle – Wetlands WETLANDS by Christian Cohle Stik Figa & The Expert – The Green Monster Stephen Shannon – Fathoms Sasha Samara –…

  • Omni Selassi Weekender at Anseo

    This weekend, Dublin’s soundest independent imprint and promoters Little Gem host the debut Irish shows by Swiss trio Omni Selassi. Taking over Anseo on Camden Street from Saturday 20th to Monday 22nd May, expect three evenings of top-tier experimental sounds including Little Gem Band on Saturday, Neitherman on Sunday and Feral Kittenz on Monday — plus special guests. Very accurately described by Little Gem “as Björk meets Beefheart on a NEU! trip,” delve into Omni Selassi’s catalog here and pop by Anseo this weekend. Doors are at 8pm each evening with a suggested donation of €10. What We Talk About: Omni Selassi by…

  • Track Record: Elaine Malone

    From Nico and Elliott Smith, to Suicide and Scott Walker, Cork-based psych-folk artist Elaine Malone, aka Mantua, selects ten records that have left an indelible imprint on her music and life Photo by Celeste Burdon Nothing is Real by Elaine Malone is out now via Pizza Pizza Records Nothing is Real by Elaine Malone Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood – Nancy and Lee The triumphant unity of Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra – finding mutual success in each other’s waning stars. Nancy was told by Lee to discard her saccharine pop persona and to “sing like a 14-year-old girl who…

  • The ddr. Radio Logs – Entry #4: Cosmetic Plague x Sources of Uncertainty

    In the fourth installment of the ddr. Radio Logs – a monthly series by Dublin Digital Radio residents, exploring their practice and the craft of radio-making – Decy Synnott of Sources of Uncertainty and Karen Browett of Cosmetic Plague delve into everything from multimedia practice + participatory engagement to Ireland’s frankly punk af DIY community Decy: Hey Karen! Thanks for agreeing to do this. I figured we’ve had versions of this conversation in person multiple times over the years. You chat to a friend about what they’re up to, accidentally go off on an existential tangent for an hour, and…

  • Dream Baby Dream at Lighthouse Cinema

    No longer just simply one of the greatest tracks by one of the greatest acts of all time, Dream Baby Dream is one of the most downright unmissable marriages of sound and vision that you’re likely to encounter on these shores. Co-curated by Letterkenny’s Regional Cultural Centre and promoter, broadcaster and all-round champion of forward-pushing sounds Leagues O’Toole (Foggy Notions), it’s an event of new short film and live music that will take over Dublin’s Lighthouse Cinema on Thursday, 11th May. Kicking off at 7pm in Screen One, the showcase features three world-beating Irish filmmakers – Bob Gallagher, Laura Quirke and…

  • Video Premiere: NIMF – A Ballad for Looking into Time

    Within the space of four months last year, we featured Arklow musician Aoibhín Redmond aka NIMF as one-to-watch and her sprawling, ten-minute single ‘A Ballad for Looking into Time’ as our outright favourite Irish song of 2022. Six months on – and one year to the day since the release of the single – we feel ever surer that she’s on the path to further genre-defying brilliance. Premiered here today, the video for ‘A Ballad for Looking into Time’ is a perfect opportunity to get acquainted. Initially created for NIMF’s Master’s Project on the concept of the uncanny in Music…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 5th May

    It’s Bandcamp Friday once again, and it’s been yet another banner week for Irish releases. Dig into the best of them from The Bonk, Adjunct Ensemble, Chalk, Elaine Mai & MayKay, Pôt-Pôt and more The Bonk – The Blueshirt Shuffle The Blueshirt Shuffle by The Bonk Adjunct Ensemble – Sovereign Bodies/Ritual Taxonomy Chalk – Conditions Elaine Mai & MayKay – 3am Alpha Chrome Yayo – Hidden Earth Hidden Earth by Alpha Chrome Yayo Asi Nisi Masa – Cobweb Thread Daniel Luke – Shadow Dance Shadow Dance by Daniel Luke Raja Baal – I Will Never Be Cool (You Can’t Make Me)…