• Watch: Windings – You’re Dead

    September 7, 2016 - By 

    Limerick’s well-loved and broadly respected outfit Windings returned yesterday with ‘You’re Dead’, the first track to be unveiled from their forthcoming fourth album Be Honest and Fear Not. Four years since the release of their quietly triumphant I Am Not the Crow, the five-piece has never been the type to operate on anyone else’s timeline or rush releases, instead always opting to operate at their own pace. After showcasing two new tracks, ‘Stray Dogs’ and ‘Helicopters’, some time ago, ‘You’re Dead’ is paired with a delicate video by Stephen Boland featuring psychedelic colouring over monochrome backdrops, floating along perfectly with the songs flow. Like a strong…

  • Watch: Rusangano Family – Soul Food

    September 5, 2016 - By 

    Having released their triumphant debut LP Let the Dead Bury the Dead in April and having taken festivals both at home and abroad by storm all Summer, Limerick’s Rusangano Family returned today with the aptly charismatic video for album track ‘Soul Food’ directed by Dave Tynan. The film depicts the trio and troupes of friends having more fun than you somewhere in The Burren, the vibrant colours they wear and the energised movements in contrast with the stark landscape symbolising this group’s endless capacity to bring soul and vigour to the most dramatic and grey situations and places. Oh, and there’s a “Make Ireland Grand…

  • Factory Floor – 25 25

    September 1, 2016 - By 

    Factory Floor’s 2013 debut record on DFA records was a feat of vicious genre blending: the hammering of analog synths together with frenetic live percussion, the creeping noise and post-punk vocals being layered on top of metallic guitars. From the tribal drums and robotic vocal echoes on ‘Turn It Up’ to the frenzied synths and disharmonious mantra of ‘Two Different Ways’ it was a debut that assaulted the boundaries between techno and punk, feeling industrial and at times cold but simultaneously enveloping and remarkable. It triumphed in its disjointedness, in its chaotic sultriness, as capable of triggering a mosh pit…

  • Stream: I Am Karate – Swayze

    August 30, 2016 - By 

    Scandinavia has been at the helm of what could be called Pop music’s glorious renaissance of the past couple of years. From artists like Denmark’s MØ to Sweden’s Rabbii, Ji Nilsson, and Julia Spada there is a plethora of acts currently doing a terrific job of bringing out the synth-pop fan in even the most hard-hearted listeners. Another act that fits comfortably into this realm while still operating with a wealth of individuality is Stockholm’s I Am Karate. The duo, made up of Erika Soldh Ahlström and Marta Pettersson, released their debut EP In Thin Air (I mean, how couldn’t we talk about them?) back in July and now unveil…

  • Premiere: Drown – Drown EP

    August 19, 2016 - By 

    Having formed less than a year ago, Galway noise-pop outfit Drown have quickly emerged as a group you’d be foolish to ignore. Following their lo-fi post-punk debut single ‘Descent’, released earlier in the summer, the five piece now unveil their full debut EP, a feast of melancholic pop that steers resolutely toward the grittier, unpolished realms of post-punk and shoegaze. ‘Narcos’ sounds like a West of Ireland interpretation of Turn on the Bright Lights era Interpol while ‘Tao’ is a teasing, woozy goodbye to close the release, leaving the path ahead unlit and open to change. While the group’s nods to Joy Division and…

  • Watch: MO-TWO – Bastard Loop

    August 16, 2016 - By 

    Surreal and ever intriguing hip-hop group Mo-Two comprised of Alan Fitzmaurice and Paul Hargreaves have just unveiled a new video for their track ‘Bastard Loop’. Taken from their forthcoming album Judgement Day, the track sounds like it has as many musical loyalties to the likes Primus and Mr.Bungle as it does to its various hip-hop influences while lyrically the allusions are as daft as you like – when have you ever heard someone rhythmically spit “Pack of Quavers”?. Check out the video below:

  • Overhead, The Albatross w/ New Pope @ Roisin Dubh, Galway

    August 15, 2016 - By 

    There’s been plenty said over the past couple of years about the over-reliance on particular tropes and techniques in Post-Rock, Math-Rock and, from other camps, in movie and TV soundtracks. There are always, of course, exceptions to this who manage to keep these realms of music interesting and exciting, from Battles to Adebisi Shank, from This Will Destroy You to Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein (the men behind the marvellous soundtrack for Netflix’s Stranger Things). The ways in which artists or composers avoid the traps and pitfalls of complacency and the rehashing of the same sounds and tricks over and…

  • Stream: Colour Canyon – Neon

    August 16, 2016 - By 

    Having been members of the delightful indie-pop outfit Little x’s for Eyes for several years, Michelle Considine and Harry Bookless recently began a venture down a more electronic, synth paved route with their new project Colour Canyon. Having already released the italo-disco infused ‘Home’ earlier in the year and releasing a cover of The Human League’s ‘Open Your Heart’ as part of 2015’s Record Store Gay compilation, the duo have just unveiled their third outing. ‘Neon’ is a delicate number with its smooth, smoky keys and gentle harmonies, the casio-reminiscent percussion clicking away in the back drawing the listener toward a quiet room to sway…

  • Watch: Majia Sofia – Stains

    August 19, 2016 - By 

    In Novemeber of last year, Galway native and then London based musician Maija Sofia released her captivatingly stark The Sugar Sea EP, a collection of four icy, brittle folk tunes with a lo-fi crispness purveying throughout. Having since relocated to Dublin, the songwriter this week revealed the brand new video for ‘Stains’. Directed by Ciarán O’Brien, the video shows Sofia on an overcast Sandymount beach, the natural greyness of the early morning scene complimenting the lyrical and musical themes of the song which she has described as confronting “. . . the universal feelings of inadequacy and insecurity that come with being in a…

  • MMOTHS, Toby Kaar & Daithi @ Roisin Dubh, Galway

    July 25, 2016 - By 

    I was really looking forward to this gig. Between them, Toby Kaar, MMOTHS and Daithi released some of the most exciting Irish releases of the past twelve months, each of them showcasing the versatility and dedication that exists amongst the country’s young musicians who ditched guitars and drums for adventures into electronics. In the context of these artists’ significance to the country’s music scene, that versatility is paramount, from Toby Kaar’s disjointed, franticly emotive beats, to MMOTHS’ encompassing soundscapes, to Daithi’s infectious, melodic floor fillers. So on paper this bill looks terrific right? What I guess I forgot was that…