• Irish Tracks of the Week – September 10th

    As things look set to gradually open again, this week sees some key releases from the likes of Sive, Thumper, This Ship Argo, Elaine Mai & Sinéad White, Lisa Hannigan & Crash Ensemble, Let’s Set Sail, Vale, as well as the long-awaited collaborative album from Mick Flannery and Susan O’Neill. Mick Flannery & Susan O’Neill – In The Game This Ship Argo – The Ornament of the Lovestruck Heart The Ornament of the Lovestruck Heart by This Ship Argo Elaine Mai – Go Slow (feat. Sinéad White) Lisa Hannigan & Crash Ensemble – MCMXIV MCMXIV by Lisa Hannigan & Crash Ensemble…

  • The Model, Sligo’s Art For Blind Curatorial Residency Kicks Off With Arthur Itis and Tuath Show This Saturday

    Sligo contemporary arts centre The Model is set to host a season of music and events curated by one of the finest imprints on the island, Sligo-based music and art collective, Art For Blind. The series – which will include music, film and printmaking – is part of the collective’s residency at The Model over 2021-2022. The first event is set to take place this Saturday, 11th September with two of the most forward-thinking acts in Ireland’s experimental underground. Making their debut in front of Sligo audiences are Cork-based, shapeshifting artist Arthur Itis, and Donegal-based establishment-bothering outfit Tuath, both of whom eschew easy genre classification. The experimental solo project of Arthur Pawsey, Arthur…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – August 6th

    It’s time to take another deep-dive into a Bandcamp Friday and beyond with some phenomenal releases across the board, including big album, and EP announcements and releases from the likes of Arvo Party, F.R.U.I.T.Y., Sorbet, Hannah Peel, Alpha Chrome Yayo, smallmint, God Knows and beyond. Arvo Party – Cyclism Corpus I by Arvo Party F.R.U.I.T.Y. – F.R.U.I.T.Y. EP FRUITY by F.R.U.I.T.Y. Lukewarmdaily96 – Poison Apple Sorbet – Born Purple Let’s Set Sail – Toledo God Knows – Glory [feat. Senita] Teishi-1 – The Outlander EP The Outlander by Teishi-1 Hannah Peel – Unheard Delia EP 1000 Beasts x Toucan – Sugar High…

  • Stream: F.R.U.I.T.Y. – U.P.S.

    Arriving on the Belfast scene like a bucket of pink paint into white, Dan O’Rawe, aka F.R.U.I.T.Y. brings a chameleonic, singular blend of woozy, lo-fi electronica, hip-hop and experimental pop, underscored by the ingrained localised perspective of a queer person in Northern Ireland. Following up on his contributions to Bangers N’ Breakups, a darkwave cover of ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ and debut single ‘Not Quite Exceptional‘, new single ‘U.P.S.’ is the first single taken from F.R.U.I.T.Y.’s self-titled debut EP, out 5th August. It sees Tobacco & Eels-esque hazy, kaleidoscopic synth textures frame off-kilter, identity-exploring pop in the vein of Ezra Furman, Jazmin Bean…

  • Premiere: Arthur Itis – Ahead Of The Curve

    Cork-based being Arthur Itis is back with more of his singular brand of esoteric, experimental bedroom-pop. Deconstructing any number of genres and effortlessly reanimating them in his own image in a lineage that traces lines through Beefheart, Devo, Ween and R Stevie Moore, he never fails to lean into the weirdness, even at his most accessible. Taken from his fifth LP, Occam’s Razor, earworming new single ‘Ahead of the Curve’ is no different, as Arthur’s character-inhabiting post-new wave gem marks his finest pop song yet. Set to feature appearances and contributions from Sam Clague, Altered Hours’ Cathal MacGabhann, Pretty Happy’s Abbey Blake, These Are Atoms’ Sara Leslie &…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – July 9th

    It’s been yet another banner week for Irish music. Dig into the best new sounds of the past seven days below, featuring new sounds from Aoife Nessa Frances, Elephant, Loah, HAVVK, Invaderband, Ciaran Lavery, ZALI and more Jack Name & Aoife Nessa Frances – Watching the Willows Burn Watching the Willows Burn by Jack Name & Aoife Nessa Frances Invaderband – Handcuffed Man Shoots Himself Handcuffed Man Shoots Himself by Invaderband Elephant – Envy Loah – Your World (Georgia Douglas Johnson) Parnell March – Therapy HAVVK – Automatic Soda Blonde – Small Talk Small Talk by Soda Blonde NNic –…

  • Monday Mixtape: Meljoann

    Having just released her self-directed video for 90s-pop bop ‘Overtime‘, Meljoann’s brand of experimental pop runs the gamut of classic and contemporary electronic pop. She takes us through some of her all-time favourites – in her own words: “I tried to make it not wanky, but unfortunately I failed and it’s actually 100% pure nerdy enthusiasm” Roger Doyle – The Iron Language Alphabet (Pt.1) Roger Doyle is a bit of a legend on the Irish experimental electronic scene. A friend had this sprawling, sci-fi inflected double album, and listening to it we were transported to another world. It took him ten years to complete.…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – June 25

    It’s another stellar week of high profile Irish album, EP and single releases from acts as far-reaching as CMAT, Mob Wife, Kojaque, Meljoann, Tuath, Joshua Burnside & Laura Quirke, Mick Flannery & Susan O’Neill, Paddy Mulcahy, VJ Jaxson, Bannered Mare, Smallmint, Roe, A Ritual Sea, Saint Sister & more. CMAT – 2 Wrecked 2 Care 2 Wrecked 2 Care by CMAT Mob Wife – Petri Dish Mick Flannery and Susan O’Neill – Chain Reaction Co-Living Culture – Renegador Joshua Burnside & Laura Quirke – Far Away The Hills Are Green Meljoann – Overtime Gaze Is Ghost – Sea Song Sea Song…

  • Stream: Tuath – Research and Development EP

    Following up on their ‘That Looks Like A Good Spot For Some Luxury Apartments‘, out earlier this month, Donegal psych outfit Tuath have turned their focus very much toward the socioeconomic concerns of the day – and today they release their new manifesto of sorts, the Research and Development EP. Recorded and mixed by Tadhg Kelly and Tuath, the Robert Mulhern-fronted band take influence from elements as disparate as Stereolab’s kaleidoscopic experimentalism, the post-new wave audiovisual cultural engineering of Psychic TV, the off-brown anarchy of Ween and Fat White Family and vaporwave. Particularly drawn to the latter’s politics and use of nostalgic motifs as a means to…

  • Monday Mixtape: Tuath

    It’s just two days until the release of Letterkenny psych outfit Tuath’s new Research and Development EP. Frontman Robert Mulhern gives us the lowdown on some key music that has shapes both his sounds, and his outlook on music. Soccer96 – I Was Gonna Fight Fascism I hadn’t seen any lyric-addled S96, but they came out with this track “I Was Gonna Fight Fascism” last year and we just couldn’t believe that someone out there was doing sarcasm so well. We love it – the whole band couldn’t stop listening to it for months. It made lockdown much more craic. It was…