• Arcade Fire announce 2018 UK and Ireland tour

    July 20, 2017 - By 

    Arcade Fire have announced a short string of headline dates in the UK and Ireland for 2018 with each show set to be performed “In The Round”. Though it may feel like they only just left, having won hearts in Belfast and Dublin in June (read our report here), the Montreal troupe will be returning to Dublin on April 6 to play in centre of the 3 Arena. Tickets go on sale on Friday July 28 at 9am. To get a taste of what such a show might look like, take a peek at the video below of their “In The Round”…

  • EP Stream: Porphyry – Ursa Minor​/​Coming Home

    July 19, 2017 - By 

    A quiet gem comes in the form of Derry songwriter Daryl Coyle’s new EP Ursa Minor​/​Coming Home.  Under the Porphyry monicker, Coyle produces a brand of psych-folk that brings to mind the likes of Midlake and Villagers but that, when least expected, veers into unexpected territory. With vocal inflections that could, at a push, summon Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle), and with ambitious instrumental reaches into the more colourful expanses of prog, ambient and psych, this EP is subtly surprising and earnestly bold. Have a listen won’t you? Ursa Minor/Coming Home by Porphyry  

  • Stream: EHCO – Raise It Up feat. Jessica Lord

    July 13, 2017 - By 

    Wicklow-based producer Eoin Whitfield has shared the first track from his new project, EHCO.  ‘Raise It Up’, a collaboration with vocalist Jessica Lord, is a crisp and bright electronic number that brings much of the same melodic nuance to the fore as Whitfield’s former band and sorely missed TTA favourites Enemies did. Given his production expertise and knack for a harmonic flourish, we’re very keen to hear plenty more from this project which, when brought to a live setting, will feature a six-piece live band.

  • Watch: SÍOMHA – July Red Sky (Live in the Burren)

    July 7, 2017 - By 

    Lahinch, Co. Clare based musician Síomha Brock has shared a striking visual accompaniment for ‘July Red Sky’. A fitting and really rather mesmeric pairing, the song’s neo-soul and jazz influenced flow brings the marvellous pinks, reds and oranges of the Burren’s coastal skyline to life. The performance, shot live at sunrise on what looks like quite a spectacular morning, is as natural and breezy as the landscape suggests, making for an intoxicating combination that puts you right there with Brock and her band, wind billowing through your very core. Irresistible.

  • EP Stream: No Monster Club – Kaluli – Mexico

    July 7, 2017 - By 

    Champion of rusty pop production with more than one knack for a catchy hook Bobby Ahern has shared the latest instillment of his encyclopedia collection. Kaluli – Mexico is the seventh EP to come from the No Monster Club camp since January and is yet another serving of witty and infectious indie pop with lyrics that are equally so. Proving once again that he is one of the country’s most precious, odd and necessary musicians, ‘Factor 50’ and ‘Scouts Anthem’ are the perfect accompaniments for the summer days that are not-that-sunny-but-sunny-enough-like. As the man himself has said: “If you have any respect whatsoever for the summertime…

  • Album Stream: Blake’s Fortune – Hello World

    July 6, 2017 - By 

    In March of this year, Dublin based musician John Lennon aka Blake’s Fortune quietly released Hello World, a modest collection of contemporary folk that is at once charming and nostalgic for summers long past. Aptly described by the man himself as a “road trip” album, there is more than a light dusting of the quintessentially “Dublin” early naughties folk trend in this album, a tone that soundtracked many’s the gravelly, bumpy drive in a packed Ford Fiesta along the Irish coast. Think drinking cheap tins while your mate scrambles to build a dodgy fire on a beach, all to the tune of David Kitt‘s The…

  • Stream: Kieran O’Brien – Only A Dream

    June 14, 2017 - By 

    Last October we wrote about Galway ambient-folk artist Kieran O’Brien‘s After The Storm EP, a heartfelt, raw and honest exploration of personal rediscovery, nature and memory. Returning now with ‘Only a Dream’ taken from his forthcoming EP, O’Brien continues to explore similar themes with an added verve and a wealth of vibrant atmosphere. Stylistically, the track shifts slightly from the folkier leanings of After The Storm and instead takes a swing at the dream-pop pace and textures of Real Estate, The War on Drugs and fellow Galway artists like New Pope. It is a path that is well-trodden by upcoming artists and one that is all too often…

  • Stream: Rejjie Snow – Purple Tuesday (feat. Joey Bada$$ & Jesse Boykins III)

    May 9, 2017 - By 

    Rejjie Snow has released the first track off of his forthcoming free mixtape The Moon & You, set for release May 18.  ‘Purple Tuesday’ is a subtly jazzy cut of laid back G-Funk featuring a verse from Joey Bada$$ and a soulful refrain Jesse Boykins III. The track follows from a sold-out homecoming show in Dublin last month as part of his UK and Ireland tour as well as the overcast homage to the capital that was the excellent video for ‘Flexin’. Speaking of The Moon & You to The Fader he has explained that, more so than a mixtape, the release will be “. .…

  • Watch: Come On Live Long – In The Still

    May 5, 2017 - By 

    Ahead of the release of their sophomore album In The Still on May 19th, Come On Live Long have released a video for the title track. With additional production duties from Solar Bears’ Rian Trench, it’s a cut that showcases the group’s penchant for  tempered atmosphere with Louise Gaffney’s vocal carrying it through to its conversely distorted peak, all brash Kalimba and agitated drums. The track is accompanied by an equally excellent video directed by Albert Hooi and starring Robyn Byrne and Laragh McCann.

  • History Repeating Itself: An Interview With William Basinski

    April 26, 2017 - By 

    William Basinski has just gotten back from running an errand. Sitting on the sunlit porch outside his home in Los Angeles, the setting, along with his demeanour, could not betray anything further from the melancholic, introspective shades of the music he has been composing for over 30 years. In fact, far from being the naval gazing artiste that one may naively expect a composer of such poignantly abstract music to be, Basinski radiates nothing but disarming warmth and good humour. Utterly forthcoming, he jokes about the dread of needing to move home within the year for fear of the effort:…