• Irish Tracks of the Week – 5th May

    May 5, 2023 - By 

    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)…

  • Inbound: Yinyang

    May 3, 2023 - By 

    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…

  • Redefining Themselves for Themselves: An Interview With M(h)aol

    May 2, 2023 - By 

    Off the back of the release of their debut LP Attachment Styles, fast-rising feminist punk five-piece M(h)aol talk fierce storytelling, breaking taboo, and representing their truth to the world Words by Leigh Arthur Photos by Jane Donnelly “I didn’t imagine eight years ago when I shaved your head this is where we’d be, but there’s nowhere that I’d rather be.” Constance Keane (also known as Fears for her solo work) is emotive as are the other members of M(h)aol as they make affectionate dedications to each other onstage in a basement in Dalston. The strike of midnight marks the release…

  • Watch: The Return of Treehouse Live with Nerves

    April 28, 2023 - By 

    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…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 28th April

    April 28, 2023 - By 

    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…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 21st April

    April 20, 2023 - By 

    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…

  • Album Premiere: Perlee – Speaking From Other Rooms

    April 21, 2023 - By 

    Four years this October, occasional TTA writer – and acclaimed Irish in her own right – Maija Sofia introduced the sublime dream-pop of Perlee. Comprising Saramai Leech and Cormac O’Keefe, the Navan-bred, Berlin-based duo have since carved out their space via Half Seen Figure and Slow Creature, two EPs distilling their finely-woven dream-pop craft to four each tracks each. Today, the pair underscore the status as one of the country’s most singular talents. Exploring “unconditional love, the banality of a capitalist society, destiny and self-realisation,” Speaking from Other Rooms is a debut LP that feels widescreen and prismatic in equal measure. Featuring highlights including lead single ‘Lampshade’, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs-inspired ‘Reckoning’…

  • The ddr. Radio Logs – Entry #3: No Place Like Drone

    April 19, 2023 - By 

    In the third installment of the ddr. Radio Logs – a monthly series by residents of Dublin Digital Radio, exploring their practice and the craft of radio-making – Droid & Neil Dronovan, hosts of No Place Like Drone, give us the lowdown on their monthly show. Like many a wretched thing, it emerged from the muck of Laois, specifically, from a temporary car park in a field in Stradbally and an impromptu contest to find the best drone-related pun. Or we might rewind ten hours back through time, to the sight of dozens of spangled revellers laid out like wartime…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 14th April

    April 14, 2023 - By 

    From every corner of the island, here’s the very best new music of the week, from Junior Brother, ferna, Thom Southern, Caoilian Sherlock, Kean Kavanagh, Feather Beds and more Junior Brother – Junior Brother’s Favourite Thom Southern – Love Hz Love Hz by THOM SOUTHERN Moot Tapes’ Signs of Life Pt 5 (R Kitt and Richie Kaboogie Signs of life: Part 5 by R. Kitt/ Richie Kaboogie Cobra Truth – Purple Feathers Purple Feathers by Cobra Truth Jinx Lennon – Walk Lightly When The Jug is Full Walk Lightly When The Jug Is Full by Jinx Lennon ferna – understudy…

  • The Good DIY Young: An Interview With Belfast Promoters Asphyxia

    April 13, 2023 - By 

    Ross Cullen from Belfast’s newest independent promoters gives Cathal McBride the lowdown on the DIY spirit behind their packed-out shows across the city Photo by David McEneaney  For such a relatively small city, Belfast often punches above its weight in terms of live events, both in terms of big-name bookings from larger promoters and those on the more DIY side, like the brilliant Strange Victory or the now sadly departed Sizeable Bear. A newer name in the city’s DIY promoter circuit is Asphyxia. Helmed by Ross Cullen, Ethan Rea, Conall Coulter and Sienna-Lillie Munn, they have hit the ground running…