• Comrade Hat – Ho Ho Hum

    December 13, 2017 - By 

    After the year we’ve had, it’s quite honestly surprising we’ve not reached another Gary Jules moment of collective despair, but fear not: Comrade Hat has it covered in a typically loungey, subversive fashion. Following up on his five previous Winter ‘festering season’ releases between 2009 & 2015, this latest EP, Ho Ho Hum, manages to smirk through winter’s grimace. It proffers five sunnily low-key ditties that dabble in jazz muzak, apocalyptic calypso [see ‘Driving Home for the Apocalypse-oh’] and and some swooning Stevie Wonderesque turns that bely its sinister undertones, offering another glimpse at the singular, surrealistic, oneiric sonic tapestry woven by Derry-based experimental pop songwriter and avant-crooner Neil Burns. To help set the scene, here’s the…

  • Watch: And So I Watch You From Afar @ The Live Room Belfast

    December 11, 2017 - By 

    Having just returned from a mammoth European tour and ahead of their biggest hometown show to date, our very own world-beating instrumental titans And So I Watch You From Afar play the inaugural session at The Live Room Belfast, following the release of their massively acclaimed fifth album, The Endless Shimmering. Having transcended their reputation as not just an internationally-respect math-rock outfit, but one of the cornerstones of contemporary Irish – specifically Northern – subculture, the north coast quartet are in many ways they’re the only band who could’ve fittingly kicked off this series of sessions Start Together Studio‘s Live Room, where four of their five albums have been…

  • Wyvern Lingo – Wyvern Lingo

    December 12, 2017 - By 

    It’s been a long time in waiting as the Bray trio have traipsed across the world, dominating stages in clubs, arenas and festivals alike in support of fellow Irish icons like Hozier & James Vincent McMorrow, but it looks like Wyvern Lingo are set to arrive, when they unleash their eponymous debut album on Friday, February 23. Out through Rubyworks on vinyl, CD & digitally at the usual outlets, it was primarily recorded in Dublin by producer James Kelly, as well as in Donegal, London & Cologne. The trio of Karen Cowley, Caoimhe Barry & Saoirse Duane released their debut EP The Widow Knows back…

  • The Altered Hours – On My Tongue EP

    December 8, 2017 - By 

    In many eyes the country’s best band, Cork’s The Altered Hours have just announced details of a forthcoming new EP, On My Tongue, and an accompanying European tour. The follow-up to their stellar 2016 full-length In Heat Not Sorry, the five-piece will release the four-track On My Tongue via Art For Blind Records and Penske Recordings early next year. A typically first-rate effort from the band, lead single ‘Open Wide’ premiered over on Clash. To coincide with the release, the band will also embark on a nine-date European tour across February-April, which incorporates shows on March 29th at Dublin’s DBD Venue, Letterkenny’s Regional Cultural Centre on 30th. Yours truly will…

  • Premiere: Aural Air – The Torpor of Minds

    December 6, 2017 - By 

    It’s released this Friday, December 8, but we’re pleased to premiere today The Torpor of Minds, the debut EP from Aural Air, the project of Sligo native Laura Rai. This EP follows up on her 2016 debut two-track, Edinburgh – both of which are included on this release. The EP is propelled by the pairing of dreamily soaring, ethereal vocals with the kind of ethereal, off-kilter guitar chime you’d hope for on an Angel Olsen, Anna Calvi or Jeff Buckley record. Following a productive 2017 that saw her play the likes of Stendhal Festival and Sligo’s own Live On Air, The Torpor of Minds looks to propel her further again in 2018. With artwork by Tom Doig, it…

  • Five to Two – How Tall Do You Think You Could Grow (If You Wanted To Be So Tall)

    November 25, 2017 - By 

    Dublin jazz outfit Five To Two have just released their debut album at Workman’s Club through Dublin-based indie, Soft Boy Records. The trio, comprising Matthew Breen on piano, Jonah Byrne on double bass & Finn Mac Anna on drums, lean towards a traditional piano-led jazz combo sound, with some of the progressional hallmarks and playfulness of the likes of Kamasi Washington & other contemporary jazz that’s allowed the influence of hip-hop & r’n’b to seep into its blend. It’s out now, available to stream on Spotify, Bandcamp, iTunes and the usuals. Stream it below: How Tall Do You Think You Could…

  • Le Guess Who? 2017

    November 24, 2017 - By 

    Photo by Tim van Veen You can’t help but admire the audacity of Le Guess Who? After an almost household-friendly 2016 lineup, they made a point of aiming their powers of tastemaking further toward the underground, with a broad range of curators that give as accurate a microcosm of the festival as you’d hope – Perfume Genius, Jerusalem In My Heart, Grouper, James Holden, Han Bennink, Basilica Soundscape & Shabazz Palaces. This comes accompanied by everything a fan of music & the arts could dream of, including the world’s largest record fair, the smaller Le Mini Who? festival. Every festival…

  • Buí – Eugene

    November 20, 2017 - By 

    There’s not much to beat a cathartic wallow from an earnest dose of honest-to-goodness indie rock, so if that’s what you’re after, look no further than Eugene, the album that emerges from singer-songwriter Josh Healy, aka Buí. Released on November 27, accompanied with a launch show, the LP was recorded at Earth Music Studios by Vic Bronzini-Fulton, and features appearances from a range of local names like Joel Harkin, and members of Colonel Chocolate & the Justice Triangle. Healy is also, in this project, joined by Eoin Johnson & Rónán McQuillan of his previous project, Josh The Human. Written throughout 2014-2017, Eugene is dripping with emotion, sincerity and character;…

  • Forbidden Fruit Festival 2018

    November 20, 2017 - By 

    The June Bank Holiday weekend returns, and with it comes Bulmers Forbidden Fruit Festival, which runs from Saturday, June 2 until Monday, June 4. Amongst the first wave of indie-heavy announcements are Monday headliners, mellowed-out stadium-fillers The War On Drugs. This follows the release of their latest album, A Deeper Understanding. Sharing the bill on Monday are Grizzly Bear – just off the back of 2 tremendously well-received sold-out dates at Vicar Street – Warpaint, Thundercat, Spoon and Superorganism. Stay tuned for more announcements. Tickets for 1, 2 & 3 days are available from Ticketmaster, priced from €64.50, €109 & €162.50 respectively.

  • Alien She – Feeler

    November 6, 2017 - By 

    Dublin’s Alien She have been dazzling us with their snappy, experimental art-punk since the start, and have lifted the cloche on their much-anticipated debut LP, Feeler, released through Sligo DIY distro, Art For Blind Records (Altered Hours, Wild Rocket, I Am The Cosmos). Musically, the trio play a blend of agit. punk, shoegaze and alt. pop, tied together with an in-the-moment sense of experimentalism and febrile live energy, giving weight to Alien She’s politically & socially conscious impulse. The artistic inclination of founding members Katie & Aoife, both of whom are heavily Dublin’s art & poetry community in Dublin, first came together at a feminist meeting, and having spent the last two…