• Premiere: The Bonk – Chore Loops

    April 15, 2021 - By 

    The Bonk, formed some years ago by erstwhile O Emperor man Phil Christie, was conceived as an vessel by which to explore jazz, classic pop, psychedelia and garage, via loose, minimalist song structure and recursive rhythms – and across a string of our favourite Irish releases in recent years, they’ve done so with aplomb. Self-written, performed and produced by Christie himself, their new EP Chore Loops comes out tomorrow. Developing upon the kind of tension-building meditations of composers and artists like John Barry, and The Incredible String Band, it conures a feeling not unlike discovering a saloon in aspic in some bucolic future after ambling…

  • Watch: Lilac – Remember, No Regrets

    March 25, 2021 - By 

    Scuzzy, unpretentious power-pop with a panache for irresistible jangle, fuzz & hooks is something that’s trickled into the water in Ireland, forming a fine cultural lineage – look no further than Good Vibrations Records and Thin Lizzy, and more recently, Pillow Queens. Trim-based sibling duo Oisín & Cian Walsh form the creative hub of Lilac, and today released their earworm of a new single ‘Remember, No Regrets’, which filters Ty Segall-esque saturated fuzz with 90s indie & psych-pop – completely self-produced in the band’s home studio. Initially set to be released pre-pandemic, they’ve pressed the record to 7″ vinyl, and it’s available…

  • EP Premiere: Poor Petal – zzz

    March 24, 2021 - By 

    After a three year gestation period, Polish-born, Dublin-raised Mateusz Koznik, AKA Poor Petal has only in the last month started to drip-feed his own blend of tripped-out, yet subdued melancholic hip-hop, woozy bedroom pop and lo-fi indie rock, imbued with found sounds and homespun charm. At turns hopeful and inward-looking, debut EP zzz – written, produced & mastered by Poor Petal – horizontally floats and drifts along, picking up, peering at, and ultimately casting aside personal flotsam across its six somnambulant tracks. Mateusz told us more about its creation: “zzz took me almost 3 years to finish. Before this project I was always writing music and making beats, but I felt caged in with my inability…

  • Premiere: Vivamagnolia – 990 Miles

    March 23, 2021 - By 

    Sharing a certain Appalachian sentiment, Ireland’s footing in Americana-steeped rock has traditionally been solid. Someone very much making his imprint on the next generation is Patrick J. Hodgen, AKA Vivamagnolia. The last few years have yielded a string of excellent singles that variously recalled those indie and alt. country masters of the late-90s/early-00s like Mark Linkous, Will Oldham, and Jason Molina, none of whom shied away from experimentation within the form. Following up on his debut EP, new single ‘990 Miles’ sees his work pared back into the kind of soft-focus, vulnerable, Westward-facing indie rock that made Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot an era-definer, elevated by gospel-tinted, George Harrison-worthy slide guitar as Hodgen reflects upon…

  • Stream: M(h)aol – Asking For It

    March 18, 2021 - By 

    Given the length of time they’ve been around for in one form or another, it’s hard to believe that M(h)aol had, before today, only released two singles – their last being 2020’s ‘Laundries‘, concerning the historic systematic oppression of women in Ireland. The power and economy in saying precisely what to needs to be said, when it needs to be said, is what has seen the five-piece labelled as the most vital voice in Irish punk – and  post-punk, for that matter – pushing discourse forward with songs as razor-sharp as their message. Currently based between Dublin, London and Bristol, M(h)aol’s new single ‘Asking For It’  – originally set…

  • Premiere: Zizou – After It’s Done

    March 17, 2021 - By 

    You might have come across Mathieu Doogan’s Zizou project last year when we waxed lyrical about debut single ‘Living On A Plateau‘. The Dublin-based artist is back with the contemplative ‘After It’s Done’. Charmingly homespun and low-key unpredictable, it recalls the indie folktronica of Chad VanGaalen or something from the early noughties years of Merge & Matador Records. Resplendent with Doogan’s signature baritone, freewheeling indie-jazz guitar noodling, organic keys and a range of acoustic textures, it begs for repeat listening. He told us more: “The song came about when I was experimenting with acoustic and electronic instruments, trying to make banjos, violins and synths complement each other. Lyrically, the…

  • Stream: The Disco Participation Matrix – High Rise [Kevin Blake Remix]

    March 17, 2021 - By 

    Taking the DIY ethos into the 21st century are The Disco Participation Matrix, whose singular blend of molten electronics, punk and drone fuse together into what they describe as ‘party drone’. Their excellent Guerrilla Sounds-recorded debut EP, Rave Gravely came out in early 2020, recalling the driving, jolting, dissonant likes of No Spill Blood and Sex Swing. With its release, the band made the unique step of releasing their Elektron synth project files on GitHub as open source, and made stems available on FreeSound.org. The band asked some of their favourite Irish electronic artists to produce remixes with the stems, and The Person, Spectac and Molotov Ape had so far produced tunes. Today, the…

  • Inbound: SORBET

    March 12, 2021 - By 

    Over the last few years, you might have spotted Chris Ryan’s name on the credits of any number of Ireland’s most essential musical releases, in just about any capacity. Producer of work alongside the likes of Just Mustard, Careerist & the rising NewDad, and the beating heart of jazz-punk ensemble Robocobra Quartet – most recently namechecked on The Guardian in the same breath as Slint & Tortoise as an influence on ‘post-genre’ outfit Black Country, New Road. Last year, under the SORBET pseudonym, he released the Life Variations EP via Bureau B – home of experimental & electronic pioneers like Faust & Cluster – and…

  • Landless Presents: Two Miles Of Earth For A Marking Stone

    March 8, 2021 - By 

    As part of International Women’s Day and the Capital Irish Film Festival, and commissioned by Solas Nua, traditional vocal quartet Landless have crafted a free concert film of traditional songs in collaboration with experimental visual artists Ruth Clinton and Niamh Moriarty, titled Two Miles of Earth for a Marching Stone. Brigid, the Irish pre-Christian goddess of poetry, is the inspiration for a psychic vision exploring feelings of intangible longing arising from experiences of emigration. Film clips set in the North-West of Ireland will appear as interjections through the music, with the themes of the songs mirroring each corresponding scene in the saga. The songs will follow…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – February 26th

    February 26, 2021 - By 

    We’ve been pleasantly inundated with phenomenal new Irish music just as Spring has landed. Check out our pick of the bunch, including tracks from Æ Mak, Fears, Cherym, [indistinct chatter], Kyoto Love Hotel, Jackie Beverly, Ye Vagabonds, LAOISE, Carrie Baxter feat. Nealo, and more. Æ Mak – Jamie [Indistinct Chatter] – Your Excitement Fears – Vines Kyoto Love Hotel – Saithnín Saithnín by Kyoto Love Hotel Jackie Beverly – Headlights Cherym – Kisses On My Cards Carrie Baxter – Without You (feat. Nealo) TANOKI – Loading Midnight Wayne – It’s Alright Hold On Tight Rebekah Fitch – Loose Ends Ye…