• Q+A: Jesca Hoop

    June 30, 2017 - By 

    Ahead of her slot in Mitchelstown Cave as part of this year’s Clonmel Junction Festival on Saturday, July 8, Californian singer-songwriter Jesca Hoop talks to Zara Hedderman about inspiration, collaboration and aesthetic as a form of fuel. Go here for more info about the show You’re set to perform in a cave for your appearance at Clonmel Junction Festival. Will this be the most unusual stage surrounding that you will have performed in? Are you looking forward to perform in a cave? Well, if this cave is as reverberant as others I have been in then yes, I am very much looking…

  • BadBadNotGood @ The Sugar Club, Dublin

    June 29, 2017 - By 

    Seven months ago, BadBadNotGood performed to a modest crowd during the early part of Metropolis Festival’s inaugural evening. Earlier this week, having recently played at Bonnaroo and Glastonbury, the Canadian quartet played two sold-out shows in The Sugar Club, taking time out of festival slots to put on a show where their music was the sole focus. BBNG are known for their innovative approach to composing intricately textured, experimental jazz infused hip hop instrumentals that speak to even the staunchest purist of either genre.  Their debut release on Bandcamp, I, caught the attention of Odd Future leader Tyler, The Creator…

  • Loah and Behold: Catching Up With Sallay Matu Garnett

    May 25, 2017 - By 

    Sallay Matu Garnett has been steadily honing her musical style as Loah, over the last five years. During this time she has collaborated extensively with some of Ireland’s prominent musical figures such as Hozier, Glen Hansard and Bantum. Quickly, critics and audiences became increasingly interested in the music she was writing and releasing as a solo artist. Garnett’s music is informed and inspired an eclectic mix of genres that she was exposed to growing up in both Sierre Leone and Ireland. Where there are traces of traditional West African harmonies you can also hear Western influences throughout her repertoire. Such…

  • (Sandy) Alex G – Rocket

    May 25, 2017 - By 

    When Philadelphia based multi-instrumentalist Alex Giannascoli was eight years old his older brother, also a musician, enlisted the youngster to play drums in his band. This early exposure to performing persisted into adolescence and Alex would eventually turn his hand to writing and composing his own songs. Giannascoli revealed in a recent interview that he found it extremely difficult to be himself around his peers, growing up. He concluded that the only time he felt truly comfortable in his skin was when he was making music. In 2010, Giannascoli transformed into Alex G and he released his debut album Race…

  • Father John Misty – Pure Comedy

    April 12, 2017 - By 

    Josh Tillman is a multi-faceted character. You have to regard him as such when considering his work because what he does as a musician he does so with an elusive persona, an alter ego. There are many angles to consider when deconstructing his songwriting, which can often make for interesting debate with friends and among critics. He conjures a similar reaction to Marmite in that you either love him or loathe him. Nonetheless, he has managed to dispel the disdain his personality ignites by making his music the central element of his existence and by exercising thought provoking content throughout…

  • Real Estate – In Mind

    March 29, 2017 - By 

    It has been a busy three years since Real Estate’s third album, Atlas was released. Firstly, founding member Matt Mondanile decided to leave the band with the intention to focus primarily on his band, Ducktails. Meanwhile, in 2015 frontman Martin Courtney took some time away to record his solo debut, Many Moons. Now, with the addition of Julian Lynch on lead guitar, Real Estate’s return with In Mind maintains the lyrical themes that has defined their output up to this point: the metaphorical utilisation of nature as a reflection of relationships; romantic as well as familial and platonic. And while the…

  • Tennis – Yours Conditionally

    March 21, 2017 - By 

    Making sweet sweet music with your significant other can go one of two ways. The chemistry you have as a couple (good or fractious – Rumours, anyone?) can translate effortlessly when improvising with lyrics and arrangements, eventually expanding into solid soundscapes. It’s akin to building a life or home together, it is a gradual journey that unfurls to represent the couple. On the contrary, a musical duo brought together in matrimony can spawn songs that are, at times, uncomfortable to listen to, presenting a sort of audio PDA. Tennis often waver between these scenarios. In the past they have written…

  • Grandaddy – Last Place

    March 9, 2017 - By 

    There are very few bands that can take a song and transform its tapestry multiple times within a four minute period. There are even fewer bands that execute this boldness in experimentation successfully. This impulsion to deviate from compositional convention is oft cited as self-indulgent or messy. Grandaddy, a band that have thrived on the lo-fi and literal homemade music have mastered the art of rogue arrangements. They have become known for creating a musical landscape populated by straightforward analogue instruments that co-exist with newer devices and effects to pave a route of meandering melodies. On paper, Last Place – Grandaddy’s…

  • Dirty Projectors – Dirty Projectors

    February 28, 2017 - By 

    Last week Dave Longstreth, founder of American indie outliers Dirty Projectors, made an announcement; “It’s been 4 years, 7 months and 11 days – long enough.” With that Dirty Projectors, the most revealing album of the project’s discography, was shared online three days earlier than its original release date. Everything about Dirty Projectors is new, it signifies a journey of coming to terms with a new identity. Longstreth is solo – both professionally and personally – for the first time since the infancy of this project, which he began in 2003. None of the previous members of the band are present…

  • Molly Burch – Please Be Mine

    February 22, 2017 - By 

    Love hurts and yet all you need is love. The myriad of feelings that love rouses – infatuation, euphoria, inner-peace, anguish, despair, heartache – is steady inspiration for songwriters. Beautiful songs have been written about the splendour of being in love but even better songs are been born from a lovelorn place. Patsy Cline enjoyed incredible success singing about feeling lonesome and driven to despair by love. Commercially, if you were a female vocalist (solo or in a group) to sing about an unrequited or prematurely ended romance meant that you were relatable and accessible. It’s an ageless and universal…