• Real to Reel: An Interview with Katie Gerardine O’Neill

    May 10, 2023 - By 

    Dublin-based artist Katie Gerardine O’Neill talks to Sophia McDonald about breaking new ground via a new-found love of techno and analog recording Photos by Loreana Rushe “It’s like hoarder levels. This is just an excuse for me to be a very strange person.” Katie Gerardine O’Neill is describing the masses of music files and field recordings that have accumulated on her laptop. Crumpling up paper and crunching tinfoil is all part of the process for the Dublin-based artist, whose new record, Into the Beyond, combines traditional analog tapes with more modern electronic elements.  Following her previous album, Message Green, O’Neill…

  • Elaine Mai – Home

    November 15, 2021 - By 

    The title of Elaine Mai’s long-awaited debut album, Home, holds a lot of weight. Living through a pandemic changed the way we understand the meaning of the word, with many people left to create their own sense of home with what they had. For Mai, who has been an active figure in the Irish music scene for 10 years now, these nine tracks feel like a homecoming in themselves. Inviting a host of female collaborators to contribute to the album, this record further solidifies Mai’s esteemed place within the scene, and the home she has found within it. Home’s arrangements…

  • Wolf Alice – Blue Weekend

    July 13, 2021 - By 

    Creeping back into the scene, Wolf Alice first teased the release of their third album, Blue Weekend, three months ahead of its arrival. In a world of surprise drops, the four-piece led by Ellie Roswell went for a more traditional album cycle, building anticipation with a string of singles, reminding us each time of their skills in simultaneously attacking your eardrums and playing with your heartstrings. After winning the Mercury Prize for the sophomore effort, Visions of a Life, there was a lot riding on Wolf Alice’s much-hyped return. Luckily, they’ve hit all the sweet spots across these 11 tracks. …

  • KMRU – Logue

    June 29, 2021 - By 

    Nairobi-born, Berlin-based KMRU’s Logue is a collection of ambient snapshots, compiling previously self-released individual pieces that chart his journey to date, and his rising prominence in the world of experimental electronic music. Where his three albums released in 2020,Peel, Jar and Opaquer, were cohesive, flowing works, the stitches in Logue are cut loose due to its loosely assembled nature. Nonetheless, it is an album of shining moments, thrilling ambience and transportive field recordings.  Following the legacy of his famed Kikuyu Benga musician grandfather, music is in KMRU’s blood. The 24-year-old artist, however, opts for a less traditional route. Teaching himself FL Studio while…

  • Bad Operator & Artois – 130 University Street EP

    March 9, 2021 - By 

    130 University Street acts as a wonderful tribute to Menagerie Bar, once the host of Belfast’s drum & bass night, Crilli. Artists Bad Operator & Artois collaborate to celebrate not just the venue, but the many nights that Crilli have hosted to showcase the best in d&b. With two tracks a piece, the EP is driven by jungle beats with a clubby flavour, capturing both the party highs and meditative lows of a night out.  Bad Operator’s ‘Smiley Faces’ welcomes you in, hitting you with a voice saying: “Hello everybody”. With the title being a subtle nod to the well-known…

  • Frog of Earth – Frog of Earth

    January 23, 2021 - By 

    Part of the wherethetimegoes label, experimental electronic artist Frog of Earth wants to lead you on a journey down the Other rabbit hole: one built from synth keys and effects knobs, and which is as much about the fall as it is about the landing. Frog of Earth, a mystical self-titled record, comes accompanied by a cryptic paragraph, which adds little context, but adds a deep sense of atmosphere to the listening experience. It describes the humble frog as it ponders its environment, overcomes panic in the face of a moving world, and examines the waterways and reeds that make…

  • The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You 

    December 21, 2020 - By 

    On We Will Always Love You, The Avalanches are like voiceless orchestra conductors, sharply gesturing their batons into the air as they direct hundreds of samples,  infectious rhythms and towering vocals into pristinely constructed tracks.  There were 16 years between the Australian outfit’s previous albums: the psychedelic hip-hop classic Since I Left You (2000) and the buoyant Wildflower (2016). It spoke to the monumental effort required to create and clear these sample-filled records. On this, their third album, the duo diverges from its predecessors in tone, structure and sound. Four years after their last album, The Avalanches have found a…