• 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…

  • Fears Announces Debut Album and Releases New Single ‘vines’

    February 25, 2021 - By 

    At long last, one of TTA’s consistent favourite acts of the last few years, experimental pop artist Fears has announced the release of her debut album, Oíche, on Friday, 7th May through TULLE. Accompanying the announcement is the second single taken from it, ‘vines’. Its accompanying video was directed by Fears and shot by Colman Keane, it’s a broadening panorama that perfectly compliments the transformative single. Seamlessly weaving the ancient with the new, and the rural with the familiar, she emerges from the sea, ultimately reaching the 2500 BC Megalithic portal tomb, Ballybrack Dolmen at sunrise. “This place holds particular significance to me” Fears says. “It’s…

  • Cherym Sign To Alcopop! Records & Release New Single

    February 11, 2021 - By 

    In the second exciting Irish international record deal announcement in as many days, we’re delighted to see Derry pop-punk trio Cherym have officially signed with UK label Alcopop! Records – home to all manner of the finest indie-pop, including the likes of Dream Nails, Bo Ningen and DZ Deathrays. This accompanies today’s brand new pre-Valentines single ‘Kisses On My Cards’, arguably their most accomplished, earworming single to date, from a young band who’ve worked hard and consistently made it look effortless over the last few years. Listen below: Kisses on My Cards by CHERYM

  • Watch: Pixie Cut Rhythm Orchestra – I didn’t love you when I said I did and I don’t now

    February 14, 2021 - By 

    On this, a day of unilateral disappointment and self-loathing, we’re delighted to share some reprieve in the form of a new single from one of the most exciting guitar bands to pop up on our radars in the last year, Dublin trio Pixie Cut Rhythm Orchestra. ‘I didn’t love you when I said I did’ more than delivers on the promise of their prior two singles, as the band increasingly look to be held in the same breath with the likes of the fast-rising Pillow Queens and Maija Sofia. Recorded & mixed by Sean Montgomery Dietz at Annesley House, its understated wooziness is enveloped in a maelstrom of crushingly…