Beck is set for Dublin this summer. Marking his first Irish date since 2017, the multi-Grammy award winning artist will play an outdoor show as part of the Summer Series at Dublin’s Trinity College on July 5th. With support yet to be announced, tickets going on sale at 10am on Friday, February 14th, priced €49.90.
Released last week, A Northern View cements Mark McCambridge aka Arborist’s rep as one of the country’s most distinctive songwriting voices. Whether you look to opener ‘A Stranger Heart’, the sublime ‘Here Comes The Devil’ or, in fact, any one of the album’s eleven carefully-crafted tales, it’s a filler-free feat of mottled, forward-pushing folk-pop from the Belfast-based artist. Let’s go one further: for our money, it’s the Irish album of the year so far. Ahead of its official launch at the Menagerie in Belfast on February 28th, McCambridge gives us generous track-by-track breakdown of the release below. A Northern View by arborist A…
From Pixies to Lana Del Rey, Hannah Richardson, Nyree Porter and Alannagh Doherty aka Derry pop-rock trailblazers Cherym take us on a guided tour of their all-time favourite songs. Photo by Ciara McMullan Hannah Charly Bliss – Black Hole Charly Bliss are ultimately my favourite band. This was the first song I heard of theirs. I love how Evas sugary sweet vocals are complimented by the fuzziness of the guitars. The music video for this is everything you expect it to be, full of colour and glitter. Literally everything I have ever loved in a band. Tancred – Sell My Head…
Canadian singer-songwriter Andy Shauf invites listeners into a whimsical narrative with his latest album The Neon Skyline. This is Shauf’s sixth album, following his hugely successful 2016 outing, The Party. In similar style, The Neon Skyline incorporates casual conversation with friends into the lyrics, and with many of the songs we find him as a quiet observer in deep contemplation. The stories that are told throughout the tracklist all take place over the course one evening in the Skyline restaurant, after which the album is named, and loosely mirror the events in Shauf’s life in the aftermath a breakup. The title…
There’s timely releases, then there’s White Water Rafting by Dublin five-piece Panik Attaks. Clocking in under 10 minutes, it’s a searing and supremely fucked-off blitz, brimming with full-blown righteous indignation aimed squarely at Varadkar and other such paltry cunts clinging to power. A pay-what-you-like release on Bandcamp, the fury and fist-clenched bombast of tracks like ‘Fear’ and ‘Fire In The Hole’ is nothing short of thrilling to behold. Have a first listen to the release – and have a first look at the video to lead single and outright EP highlight ‘The Boom Is Back ‘ below. White Water Rafting by Panik Attaks
On Saturday, February 1st, Belfast Film Festival will host a one-off event exploring utopian and dystopian urban visions of Northern Ireland. Taking place at the former Masonic Hall on Rosemary Street – a three-storey stone building designed by Young & Mackenzie that was officially opened in 1956 – High Rise | Low Rise promises a playful, in-depth look at how modernist architecture and urban design was presented in media through the 1950s to the 1980s in Northern Ireland. Bringing that to life are two of Belfast’s best musical propositions: Blue Whale (above) and Philip Quinn aka Gross Net, who will be providing live soundtracks to…
Over the last few years, Ciaran Lavery has proven himself to be, in both song and approach, much more than your cut-and-dry, run-of-the-mill singer-songwriter. The globetrotting Northern Irish artist’s gestation as a songwriting voice, from the days of his old band, Captain Kennedy, via albums such as Sweet Decay and Let Bad In, right up until the present moment has been nothing short of remarkable. All along the way, his clear reluctance to kowtow to expectation has informed easily one of the most colourful and consistently rewarding trajectories of any Irish solo artist in recent years. Lavery’s new single ‘Can…
In the latest installment of Monday Mixtape, fast-rising Letterkenny alternative ambient folk artist Joel Harkin waxes lyrical on some of his favourite songs, from Phoebe Bridgers and Kitt Philippa, to John Martyn and SOAK. John Martyn – Small Hours I really like how if you didn’t know that there would be singing later in this song that it would surprise you, it doesn’t give you much indication from the start that there will be. It’s very relaxing and it feels very poignant. I love all of the ambient sound and the interesting vocal style. Kitt Philippa – Moth This song…
More than 40 Irish acts have been announced to play this year’s Output Belfast. Returning to various venues across the city on Thursday, February 13th, the county’s leading music conference will team up with the likes of The Thin Air, Nialler9, Music Venues Alliance, Pizza Pizza Records, PRS for Music and IMRO for its annual evening showcase. Running from 8pm-midnight, venues including Bullitt, the Black Box, Ulster Sports Club and the Oh Yeah Centre will host the likes of Silverbacks, Porphyry, Arvo Party, Sister Ghost, Tebi Rex and Cherym. This year, we’re teaming up with Sentric to host Son Zept, Junk Drawer, Fears and…
The full line-up for this year’s Quarter Block Party has been announced. Taking place in various venues across Cork City from February 6-9, Cork’s leading celebration of music and arts features 100 artists performing over 50 events across 3 days. Festival organiser Caoilian Sherlock says: “We are really delighted to have Jameson involved in the festival this year, it means that Quarter Block Party can offer more free performances to audiences throughout the weekend and that we can support even more talented young artists and bands that will I am sure we will hear a lot of over the course…