• Track Record: Zoë Gough (Dreaming of Jupiter)

    March 23, 2018 - By 

    Guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Zoë Gough from Dublin alternative pop/soul trio Dreaming of Jupiter chats about the work of ten female artists who have inspired her over the years. Photos by Kristina Hajdu. Kate Bush – The Kick Inside My Dad introduced me to this album when I was very young. I think it may well have been the first music I ever heard! I knew every word to every song by the age of 6 or 7 and remember sitting in the back of the car on the way to school and miming along. I love all of Kate’s…

  • Political Partying: An Interview with Room For Rebellion

    March 8, 2018 - By 

    Ahead of its next takeover in London, Belfast and Dublin on March 23, we talk awareness, action and momentum with Jess Brien, Anna Cafolla, Isis O’Regan, Hollie Boston and Cait Fahey of Room For Rebellion, a “political party” who host synchronised events in aid of Abortion Support Network. Go here to buy tickets for Room for Rebellion Hi guys. Take us back to the roots of Room for Rebellion. When and how did it come about? Room For Rebellion was first set up by Isis who felt implored to do something about the state of women’s healthcare in Ireland. Anna and…

  • Being a Woman, Singer & Vocal Coach in the Music Industry by Nichola Hegarty

    March 8, 2018 - By 

    I’m a 31 year old female singer and musician with 16 years’ experience performing music on stage and 5 years’ experience in vocal coachin, and like a lot of performers, I’ve been singing from a very early age. My father was a musician, lead guitarist and lead singer in numerous showbands back in the 60s and 70s. At the time when my dad was in the height of gigging, there were no iPads, iPhones or laptops to look up lyrics to a song, so you had to rely on your memory, a well-inked pen with plenty of paper to write…

  • Exclusive Track-by-Track: Paddy Hanna – Frankly, I Mutate

    March 2, 2018 - By 

    As we see it, the release of Frankly, I Mutate by Dublin’s Paddy Hanna today is something every single person with the slightest interest in Irish music should stop and pay attention to. Hanna is no flash-in-the-pan sycophant. He hasn’t came up the Liffey in a dingy sponsored by Smirnoff. He hasn’t got by on the coat-tails of more talented music-making peers. He is the coat-tails. Paddy Hanna understands the craft, and the hidden trials that later manifest as a single turn of phrase in a single song. His brand of confessionalism has never opted for the easy way out, either. It takes the scenic…

  • Crowdfunder launched for Invisible Britain: Portraits

    February 28, 2018 - By 

    A new photography book showcases cutting-edge documentary portraits from across the UK. Independent film director Paul Sng has launched a crowdfunding campaign for Invisible Britain: Portraits, a unique book of documentary images from more than 30 award-winning photographers including Belfast’s James McCourt. Co-curated by Chloe Juno and Laura Dicken, the book features stories and portraits from across the UK, showing the sharp edge of austerity and cuts to public services. The book arises from the documentary Sleaford Mods: Invisible Britain, co-directed by Sng in 2015, and follows the success of follow-up film Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle. “Negative and…

  • IMRO Live Music Venue of the Year Winners Announced

    February 21, 2018 - By 

    Always a significant event in the Irish music calendar, last night saw the 2017 IMRO Irish Live Music Venue of the Year Awards recognise some of the island’s best live music venues. Held at the IMRO HQ in Dublin, the following venues were awarded the top prize for their respective region: Dublin – Whelan’s (pictured) Rest of Leinster – The Set Theatre Connacht – Roisin Dubh Munster – Connolly’s Of Leap Ulster – Leo’s Tavern Coming out on top as the National Live Music Venue of the Year was Mike The Pies in Listowel, Co. Kerry. Elsewhere, Electric Picnic won the…

  • The Thin Air’s Alternative Valentine’s Playlist

    February 14, 2018 - By 

    Sure, every second song is about love (or the lack of it) but that hasn’t stopped us from compiling our annual Spotify playlist of 30 songs that sum up the sometimes transformative, other times crushing realm of love pretty succinctly. Featuring Mojave 3, Elliott Smith, Nick Cave, James Blake, Grizzly Bear, Yo La Tengo, My Bloody Valentine, Big Star, Father John Misty, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Magnetic Fields, Radiohead and more, you can stream and subscribe to it below.

  • The Breeders, Orbital, Ash and More Added to BBC’s Biggest Weekend in Belfast

    February 7, 2018 - By 

    The final acts to play at BBC’s Biggest Weekend in Belfast across May 25-26 has been announced, and it’s pretty special. Joining the likes of Beck, Courtney Barnett and Manic Street Preachers are The Breeders, First Aid Kit, Goldie, Orbital, Little Dragon, Franz Ferdinand, Young Fathers and Ash. We’re going out on a limb here: this is probably the strongest line-up for a festival in Northern Irish music history. Don’t pass up the chance to get tickets when they go on sale this Monday at 10am.

  • Preview: Brilliant Corners 2018

    February 5, 2018 - By 

    Returning for its sixth year, the country’s finest jazz festival, Brilliant Corners will take over various venues in Belfast across March 3-10. Programmed by the ever tasteful team at Moving On Music, this year’s bill is a wonderfully diverse patchwork of jazz and first-rate sonic digression. As well as films including Sidney Lumet’s The Pawnbroker being screened in association with Belfast Film Festival at the Bean Bag Cinema, this year’s programme boasts Belfast’s experimental rock masters Blue Whale, the singular guitar explorations of Jim Mullen alongside the Ronnie Greer Organ Band and a homegrown showcase featuring Joseph Leighton Trio, Sue Rynhart…

  • Premiere: Cranky Face – Vultures

    January 13, 2018 - By 

    Galway rock outfit Cranky Face have shared their new single ‘Vultures’. Taken off their forthcoming EP set for release early this year, it’s a rollicking guitar number for fans of Queens of the Stone Age’s recent output, The Raconteurs and Pixies. With a host of festival appearances under their belt in 2017 and big plans lined up for the coming year, this is not one to be missed.