• Irish Tour: Mitski

    June 12, 2017 - By 

    The mighty Mitski live at Belfast’s Empire Music Hall and Dublin’s Whelan’s. Words by Aoife O’Donoghue, photos by Sara Marsden and Pedro Giaquinto. Empire Music Hall, Belfast Photos by Sara Marsden Whelan’s, Dublin Photos by Pedro Giaquinto Fresh from her show in the Workman’s club last September, Mitski made a welcome return to Ireland this week, playing not one, but three locations; Cyprus Avenue in Cork, The Empire in Belfast, and finishing up in Whelans in Dublin. The New York-based artist has quickly grown to prominence and praise after four albums, her latest being Puberty 2, released last June, and…

  • Watch: The Hot Sprockets – Right Spots

    June 7, 2017 - By 

    Dublin’s blues rock dedicants The Hot Sprockets have shared a tripped-out new video for their recent single ‘Right Spots’. Taken from their forthcoming album Dream Mover which is set to land later this year, ‘Right Spots’ is an infectious and driving outing to watch a bar fight to. If there are no bar fights around, the visual accompaniment for the track curtesy of Little Beast founder Luke Sweetman, three animators and a 30-strong crew is a much more vibrant affair. A feast of hand-drawn psychedelia, neon lights and uncanny-valley choreography, it’s a lot to take in, but an awful lot of fun to…

  • Premiere: Rabble Babble – Joe’s Bust

    May 29, 2017 - By 

    Dublin young bloods Rabble Babble have shared the first of a trio of singles documenting the misadventures of protagonists Joe and Gal and their associates on a night out in Dublin. ‘Joe’s Bust’ is a straight spoken narrative written by bandleader Pa Ski and delivered by Molly Callan Cassidy detailing your standard undercover cop drug grab in a nightclub with enough fists flying and twists to keep us gripped, like we’re hearing the story through giddy ears on the next day’s rollover, mulled over a slow Guinness. Sonically it’s an affair that has as many funk and neo-jazz nods as it does post-punk and…

  • Stream: Fontaines – Liberty Bell

    May 23, 2017 - By 

    Dublin’s Fontaines have shared their debut single ‘Liberty Belle’ with the world, set for release this Friday 26 May. The track is as “Dublin” as it gets, with a snarky, heavily accented sensibility and a backdrop that will make fans of Is This It-era The Strokes very happy indeed. With equal measures of English 80s alt-rock lariness and post-punk playfulness, this is one of the most infectious Irish debuts we’ve heard this year, with a lo-fi nostalgic video to boot. The group have a host of live experience under their belt already, having impressed crowds at last year’s Hard Working Class Heroes and The Other…

  • Irish Tour: Angel Olsen

    May 23, 2017 - By 

    The one and only Angel Olsen and her band, live at Dublin’s Vicar Street and Belfast’s Empire Music Hall. Words by Joey Edwards and Ross Thompson, photos by Aaron Corr and Colm Laverty. Vicar Street, Dublin With Vicar Street nearing capacity, Angel Olsen’s return to Dublin tonight shows just what a difference three years can make to a fan base. Doubling up as her first show on Irish shores since releasing her new LP My Woman, the stage is modestly dressed with falling silver streamers that lace the back wall. Olsen and her backing band – who casually pick up…

  • Premiere: Via: Barvikha – Willie Woods

    May 17, 2017 - By 

    Today, we’re delighted to be able to premiere ‘Willie Woods’, the second single from Via: Barvikha‘s new EP, Chengdu.  The song sees songwriter Chris Leckey make some concessions about himself directly to an unknown listener (‘I moved away, or so I thought’), which take on a deeper profundity within the frame of the EP, written around a period of significant life change, namely songwriter Chris Leckey’s uprooting to a new home 5329 miles away – the titular Chengdu – and then coming back five months later. Channelling a brooding intensity never articulated as dynamically with his past hardcore outfit PigsAsPeople, Leckey has found a waypoint via common denominator Brand New to the…

  • First Acts Announced for Stendhal Festival

    April 28, 2017 - By 

    The first wave of acts have been announced for this year’s Stendhal Music and Art Festival. Set to return to Ballymully Cottage Farm in Limavady across August 11-12, Ash (pictured), Ulrich Schnauss ft. Nat Urazmetova and Ciaran Lavery are amongst the main names. With many more to be announced, here’s the full first line-up: ASH, Sharon Shannon, Ulrich Schnauss ft. Nat Urazmetova, Ginkgoa, Ciaran Lavery, The Four of Us, Anthony Toner, Jealous of the Birds, Ryan Vail, Ryan McMullan, Paddy Nash, Joshua Burnside, Rosborough, Susie Blue, No Oil Paintings, Roe, Hiva Oa, John Street Band, Emma Lusby, Bror, Chloe, McAllister, Basork, Conor Mason,…

  • Watch: Vernon Jane – Fuck Me

    April 27, 2017 - By 

    Holy moly! Don’t you dare sit down, gang, this is important. Dublin Jazz-Punk (or, psyjance as they like to call it) collective Vernon Jane are here to kick the living daylights out you and your loved ones and teach you a lesson while they’re at it. Following on from the 2016 EP The Inner Workings of a Damaged Nobody, the group have returned with a vengeance with new single ‘Fuck Me’. The abrasive, merciless track finds the band channelling influences from the brutally hard-rockin’ camps and those of frenzied jazz. Band leader and vocalist Emily Jane bellows lyrics that demand attention and which grapple…

  • Stream: Elaine Mai – The Colour of the Night

    April 25, 2017 - By 

    Elaine Mai will release her new EP The Colour of the Night on 19 May. Following ‘Enniscrone’ from October 2016 and a recent remix of Liza Flumes ‘Sheets’, the Dublin based producer and vocalist has now revealed the title track of the forthcoming release. Much in the same vein as ‘Enniscrone’, which also features on the EP, ‘The Colour of the Night’ is an atmospheric electronic number with a solid backbone carrying it to its peak. Mai’s ability to capture sincere emotion in simple, warm melodies is on full display here with the words of loss and of nostalgia being carried by chiming synths…

  • Stream: Participant – Next Year

    April 25, 2017 - By 

    Taken from his Sampler EP, Dublin’s Stephen Tiernan AKA Participant has unveiled ‘Next Year’. The EP, which was released exclusively on cassette in March, features five singles on Side A and a collection of samples and field recordings on Side B. A delicate slice of atmospheric folk, Tiernan’s acoustic guitar and tempered vocals are gradually joined by additional textures, keys and faint strings, giving the track a neo-classical edge with hints of Ólafur Arnalds creeping through. With candid lyrics confronting themes of complacency, self-worth and commitment, Tiernan said of the track: “‘Next Year’ is a song that for me deals with the idea of…