• Open Ear announce Roger Doyle, Áine O’Dwyer, The Cyclist, Crevice and many more for 2018 edition

    January 23, 2018 - By 

    Open Ear today announced the first wave of acts for their sensational looking 2018 edition. Taking place from 31 May to 3 June, the festival is ringing its third year on the picturesque Sherkin Island with a stellar line-up of acts, from esteemed Avant-Garde composers Roger Doyle and Áine O’Dwyer to experimental techno producers Lakker and The Cyclist.  Other live sets will come from the likes of Crevice, Vicky Langan, Autumns, From The Bogs Of Aughiska and  Somadrone while DJ sets will come from festival regulars and key players in the Irish electronic music community, Barry Major Problems, Breen, Byron, Davy Kehoe and more. One of the most unique and diverse festivals in Ireland,…

  • Stream: Sal Dulu – Tyko

    January 22, 2018 - By 

    Sal Dulu emerged from the undergrowth and into our inboxes last week and we were immediately absorbed. The Dublin-based producer/multi-instrumentalist’s new track ‘Tyko’ is a stunning work of delicate balearic percussion, field recordings and found sounds, warm synths and vocals by one Xao. It is only the third track that the 25-year-old producer has made available, with ‘Antasma’ and ‘Duluoz Dream’ nestling quietly on Soundcloud and displaying the same level of subtle –often jazz based – intricacy, great pacing and quiet emotion. We’re not sure what to expect from Sal Dulu in future but with three tracks of this quality we could…

  • Stream: Maija Sofia – Flowers

    January 22, 2018 - By 

    Maija Sofia has teamed up with ambient folk songwriter Kerry Devine for a split 7″ released via Trapped Animal. ‘Flowers’ is the first new music we’ve heard from the Dublin-based, Galway native songwriter since last summer’s ‘Persephone’. One of our 17 for ’17 picks last year, Sofia’s brand of literary, emotive folk music is given a dynamic lift this time round with the aid of a full band, a new venture for the artist that has paid off massively. In describing the song and her decision to bring in some more players, she said, “The lyrics of ‘Flowers’ came to me…

  • Premiere: Warriors Of The Dystotheque – Hashtag feat. Tony Jarvis & Si Hayden

    January 22, 2018 - By 

    Warriors Of The Dystotheque are a trio of sound engineers, musicians, producers and DJs based in Derry, Coventry and New York respectively. Infusing dub electronics, jazz, psyche and garage, they are about to release their new album Madness in the Method. The group have been a quiet presence in the scene they find themselves in for years, having played DJ sets and touring gigs among the likes of Orbital, The Prodigy, The Happy Mondays, Pop Will Eat Itself, Saint Etienne and DJ Food. On this album then, they seem to be taking elements and stylistic flourishes from all of those contemporaries and…

  • Quare Groove: New compilation features rare Irish funk, soul, post-punk and electronics from 70s and 80s

    January 16, 2018 - By 

    Inimitable Dublin label and record store All City recently announced an exciting compilation, set for release on 2 February. The wonderfully titled Quare Groove Vol. 1  features eight cuts of rare, re-mastered and frankly thrilling ‘groove’ music produced in Ireland during the 70s and 80s. Artists and bands featured on the compilation include The Pumphouse Gang, Those Nervous Animals, Barry Werner and Micro Disney. As the All City crew explain: “Irish music of the 1970s was simply not synonymous with groove music in any way. Avid music aficionado’s were totally ‘rockist’ then (to use an old tag from the same time!)” The funk, disco, post-punk, electronic and experimental music featured…

  • Watch: Daniel John Paxton – Morning Crow

    January 9, 2018 - By 

    Dublin singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Daniel John Paxton has shared the first of a series of solo recordings made in his home over the past few months. ‘Morning Crow’ finds the front man of cosmic-Americana rockers Buffalo Sunn in more stripped back territory. Embracing his folkier side, Paxton’s touching, bittersweet lyricism is given plenty of room to breathe in this short acoustic number. With more new material promised to be on the way, we’ve plenty to look forward to from Paxton in the coming year. Have a look/listen to the video for ‘Morning Crow’ below, directed by A. Parkes

  • The Thin Air’s Top 15 Irish EPs of 2017

    December 22, 2017 - By 

    Looking back at the sheer breath and wealth of EPs that were released from artists across the country this year made us giddy with joy and excitement. The boundless evolution of style, diversity, experimentation and confidence on display in 2017 was as momentous as we had ever seen or heard and, as such, narrowing this list down to 15 was no easy task. The following is a list of artists who we felt pushed themselves to new, ambitious heights and creative territories this year, who delivered both on record and in live settings and who proudly represented the fecund growth…

  • Track-by-Track: Feather Beds – Blooming

    October 26, 2017 - By 

      Ahead of the release of his second album Blooming, Dublin’s Michael Orange AKA Feather Beds has been kind enough to give us a track by track rundown of the record. Set for release this Friday 27 October on Montreal-based label Moderna Records, Blooming is a dreamy alt-folk venture written and recorded when the songwriter was living in Canada. Following his debut LP in 2015, The Skeletal System, Blooming is mixed and co-produced by Stephen Shannon (Adrian Crowley, Strands) and is a dreamy, multi-layered a that evokes the likes of The Antlers and Mutual Benefit‘s Love’s Crushing Diamond in its ambient folk atmosphere, but owes just as much to the hypnotic, minimal compositions of Steve Reich and to the…

  • Album Review: And So I Watch You From Afar – The Endless Shimmering

    October 19, 2017 - By 

    As they embark on a vast European tour in support of their fifth album, The Endless Shimmering, it is nice to make the note that it was as a result of a decade’s worth of extensive, ubiquitous touring and ferocious dedication that North Coast instrumental behemoths And So I Watch You From Afar got to where they are now, holding a place as one the island’s best and widely loved acts. It’s something that saw them play over 300 shows between 2009 and early 2011, venturing on sprawling tours across continents and countries rarely travelled by independent and relatively niche acts –…

  • Stream: Marcus Woods – Frequency

    October 13, 2017 - By 

    Clondalkin’s Marcus Woods – Ryan Cullen to his mates – is a 17 year old beatmaker who has coined his own genre: The charmingly self-deprecative “Chill Trash”. Modest, lo-fi hip hop beats combed with dusty melodies and plumes of mood make up the bulk of his limited output to date, with his dreamy for you mixtape having landed just six months ago. Cullen’s use of light sampling and a sincere sense of bedroom production value creates a sort of melancholy that is worth relishing in. He is set to release his next tape polychrome on November 24 via Wooden Spoons (the same bunch who put out one…