From every corner of the island, here’s the very best new music of the week, from Super Extra Bonus Party, Caoilian Sherlock, Lucy Gaffney and more Super Extra Bonus Party – The Corpse Caoilian Sherlock – Teenage Jesus Teenage Jesus Album by Caoilian Sherlock Lucy Gaffney – Daydream in Tokyo Feather Beds – Saviour Saviour by Feather Beds HAVVK – Daylight Robbery A.S. Fanning – Mushroom Cloud Sasha Samara – Why Am I Still Here, I Never Learn EP Oba – Sequence EP Touch Excellent – Record
As expertly-curated boutique music festivals go, Beyond the Pale takes some beating. Returning for three days of top-tier sounds, art and food at Glendalough Estate in Co. Wicklow across 16th-18th June, the festival is well and truly doubling down on last year’s stellar first outing. Better said, it’s this year’s most unmissable Irish summer festival. First, and of course foremost, Beyond The Pale sets itself apart with its first-rate musical curation. Where last year more than delivered on a wonderfully diverse, genre-spanning bill, this year’s edition comfortably inhabits a space that can’t be rivalled on these shores. As well as era-crossing, genre-distilling world-beaters in the form of this…
It’s been another stacked seven days on the new Irish music front. Here’s the best tracks and releases of the week, from Elaine Howley, Roger Doyle, Shiv, Swimmers Jackson & more Elaine Howley – Live As I Saw It Roger Doyle – Skin Care Swimmers Jackson – Borrow Sorrow Shiv – Heavy Water Anna’s Anchor – Hotel Dom Pancho Anderson Nightmare – Sleep Exhalers – Meat Clown MEAT CLOWN by Exhalers Drew Makes Noise – Hey Christian Cohle – Wetlands WETLANDS by Christian Cohle Stik Figa & The Expert – The Green Monster Stephen Shannon – Fathoms Sasha Samara –…
From Nico and Elliott Smith, to Suicide and Scott Walker, Cork-based psych-folk artist Elaine Malone, aka Mantua, selects ten records that have left an indelible imprint on her music and life Photo by Celeste Burdon Nothing is Real by Elaine Malone is out now via Pizza Pizza Records Nothing is Real by Elaine Malone Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood – Nancy and Lee The triumphant unity of Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra – finding mutual success in each other’s waning stars. Nancy was told by Lee to discard her saccharine pop persona and to “sing like a 14-year-old girl who…
Formed during lockdown by producer, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and all-round Limerick indie king Chris Quigley, The Personal Vanity Project is a new proposition sourced from high-spec parts in drummer/vocalist Brendan McInerney (Bleeding Heart Pigeons) and James Reidy (His Father’s Voice) on keyboards/space FX. Quigley gave us the full scoop: “The starting point was me hearing about this rumoured Kevin Shields drum’n’bass record that was never released, which left me thinking, ‘Oh I wonder what that would have sounded like?’. Terrible, really bad. So I made a few bits, but gradually found myself drifting towards something more interesting – which was this…
It’s Bandcamp Friday once again, and it’s been yet another banner week for Irish releases. Dig into the best of them from The Bonk, Adjunct Ensemble, Chalk, Elaine Mai & MayKay, Pôt-Pôt and more The Bonk – The Blueshirt Shuffle The Blueshirt Shuffle by The Bonk Adjunct Ensemble – Sovereign Bodies/Ritual Taxonomy Chalk – Conditions Elaine Mai & MayKay – 3am Alpha Chrome Yayo – Hidden Earth Hidden Earth by Alpha Chrome Yayo Asi Nisi Masa – Cobweb Thread Daniel Luke – Shadow Dance Shadow Dance by Daniel Luke Raja Baal – I Will Never Be Cool (You Can’t Make Me)…
Part of a crop of artists from the North that are bending genre to break its confines, Yinyang is all about duality. Known offstage as Lauren Hannan, the artist’s select but ferocious string of five singles, culminating in last year’s booming, bass-heavy ‘Happy Money’, fuse together alternative hip-hop with pop-punk sensibilities. There’s a bit of GIRLI meets Biig Piig; a bold sense of self and delivery with a self-conscious edge. Huge production values mask the bite of scathing verses that you’d perhaps miss on a first listen, with subject matter tackling mental illness, antidepressants, down and bad days. Paired together…
Back in the mists of time (2020) Treehouse Live emerged as an essential online series shining a bright light on the far-too-often neglected North West scene. This year, the series returns for its highly-anticipated second season, shot and recorded by the tight-knit Treehouse team in an undisclosed location by the breathtaking beach of Rossnowlagh on the coast of South Donegal. Over the next while, the team will be drip-feeding some wonderful live performances from the series featuring artists spanning the North West and a little further afield. In the weeks to come, you can expect episodes featuring Donegal acts Neptune M. and…
It’s been another top-tier week for Irish music. Here’s the best singles and albums released over the last seven days, featuring The Mary Wallopers, Gash Collective, Brigid Mae Power and more The Mary Wallopers – The Holy Ground Gash Collective – Gash Trax Vol. 2 GASH TRAX VOL.2 by GASH COLLECTIVEa Brigid Mae Power – Counting Down Badhands – Head in the Clouds Nealo & Morgana – Forest Thom Southern – Love Hz Derek Ellard & The Future Business Model – The Future Business Model EP Loop Heavy & Daryl Bengo – Won’t Stop Keeley – Sees Everything Amy Ellen…
With new EPs and albums from the likes of Arborist, Æ Mak, Perlee, and some incredible new singles from CMAT, Trophy Wife, Banríon and more, get a look at our picks of the week. Arborist – An Endless Sequence of Dead Zeros An Endless Sequence of Dead Zeros by arborist Trophy Wife – Scully Perlee – Speaking From Other Rooms Speaking From Other Rooms by Perlee Robbie Stickland – Bug Under Your Heel Bug Under Your Heel by Robbie Stickland Æ Mak – Berlin Conchúr White – Atonia Banríon – Sugar Water Ailsha – Sleep CMAT – Whatever’s Inconvenient Stephen…