• Open Ear announce Roger Doyle, Áine O’Dwyer, The Cyclist, Crevice and many more for 2018 edition

    January 23, 2018 - By 

    Open Ear today announced the first wave of acts for their sensational looking 2018 edition. Taking place from 31 May to 3 June, the festival is ringing its third year on the picturesque Sherkin Island with a stellar line-up of acts, from esteemed Avant-Garde composers Roger Doyle and Áine O’Dwyer to experimental techno producers Lakker and The Cyclist.  Other live sets will come from the likes of Crevice, Vicky Langan, Autumns, From The Bogs Of Aughiska and  Somadrone while DJ sets will come from festival regulars and key players in the Irish electronic music community, Barry Major Problems, Breen, Byron, Davy Kehoe and more. One of the most unique and diverse festivals in Ireland,…

  • Stream: Sal Dulu – Tyko

    January 22, 2018 - By 

    Sal Dulu emerged from the undergrowth and into our inboxes last week and we were immediately absorbed. The Dublin-based producer/multi-instrumentalist’s new track ‘Tyko’ is a stunning work of delicate balearic percussion, field recordings and found sounds, warm synths and vocals by one Xao. It is only the third track that the 25-year-old producer has made available, with ‘Antasma’ and ‘Duluoz Dream’ nestling quietly on Soundcloud and displaying the same level of subtle –often jazz based – intricacy, great pacing and quiet emotion. We’re not sure what to expect from Sal Dulu in future but with three tracks of this quality we could…

  • Stream: Maija Sofia – Flowers

    January 22, 2018 - By 

    Maija Sofia has teamed up with ambient folk songwriter Kerry Devine for a split 7″ released via Trapped Animal. ‘Flowers’ is the first new music we’ve heard from the Dublin-based, Galway native songwriter since last summer’s ‘Persephone’. One of our 17 for ’17 picks last year, Sofia’s brand of literary, emotive folk music is given a dynamic lift this time round with the aid of a full band, a new venture for the artist that has paid off massively. In describing the song and her decision to bring in some more players, she said, “The lyrics of ‘Flowers’ came to me…

  • Premiere: Warriors Of The Dystotheque – Hashtag feat. Tony Jarvis & Si Hayden

    January 22, 2018 - By 

    Warriors Of The Dystotheque are a trio of sound engineers, musicians, producers and DJs based in Derry, Coventry and New York respectively. Infusing dub electronics, jazz, psyche and garage, they are about to release their new album Madness in the Method. The group have been a quiet presence in the scene they find themselves in for years, having played DJ sets and touring gigs among the likes of Orbital, The Prodigy, The Happy Mondays, Pop Will Eat Itself, Saint Etienne and DJ Food. On this album then, they seem to be taking elements and stylistic flourishes from all of those contemporaries and…

  • Video Premiere: Malojian – Beard Song

    January 19, 2018 - By 

    Of the various Northern absentees from this year’s Choice Music Prize, Stevie Scullion’s Malojian (for last year’s This Is Nowhere) was perhaps the most notable. Thankfully, Scullion isn’t one to focus on such things. Having always embodied a forward-moving spirit, his latest album, Let Your Weirdness Carry You Home, is a remarkable effort, confining within its 11 tracks boundless heart and carefully-crafted, collaborative depth. Blurring the lines between wry and sincere, new single ‘Beard Song’ conjures Grandaddy at their most stripped-back and – as we’ve mentioned in relation to Scullion before – the intelligent, economical pop finesse of latter-day Beatles (No one will need reminding that is far from a…

  • Album Premiere: Laurie Shaw – Weird Weekends

    January 18, 2018 - By 

    Based in Cork, 23-year-old Wirral artist Laurie Shaw has self-released approximately 75 albums – as well as one record each on UK imprint Sunstone Records and Dublin’s Little L – over the last few years, steadily establishing himself as a prodigious artist with a strong DIY ethic. Tomorrow he releases his latest full-length, Weird Weekends. A self-proclaimed “nostalgic trip back to teenage-hood, a love letter to the small town of Kenmare where all these narratives originate from”, it’s a brilliantly-realised effort that veers between Bill Ryder Jones-conjuring indie (‘Shatterproof’), inward-looking ballads and laments (‘Skipped Period Blues’, ‘Pink Lightbulb’), as well as straight-up riff-slinging guitar rock. Conjuring…

  • Stream: Paddy Hanna – Toulouse The Kisser

    January 18, 2018 - By 

    Though we’re not short of a first-rate alt-pop troubadour on these shores, Paddy Hanna has tread his very own increasingly compelling path in that realm for some time now. The Dublin songwriter – who is also a member of Autre Monde – will release his new album, Frankly, I Mutate, on March 2. Lifted from that that, new single ‘Toulouse The Kisser’ is a real gem that Hanna has called “a travelogue of drunken misadventure, watching your future waste away and accepting you will become the person to whom people say, “at least I’m not that poor fool”. But what a poor fool. Produced…

  • Keynote Speakers Announced for Output Belfast

    January 18, 2018 - By 

    Following on from the likes of Steve Albini and Bob Lefsetz, the keynote speakers set to close this year’s Output Belfast at the MAC on Thursday, February 8 have been announced. Marking a change of format from previous years, Ireland’s largest one-day music conference will end with a panel discussion around scoring for horror/thriller films and television shows. On the panel will be LA composer Rich Vreeland AKA Disasterpiece, Mogwai founder and guitarist Stuart Braithwaite (pictured), composer Carly Paradis and And So I Watch You From Afar guitarist and composer Rory Friers. The panel will be moderated by director and Belfast…

  • Stream: Elephant – Waiting Game Part II

    January 18, 2018 - By 

    Dundalk artist and multi-instrumentalist Shane Clarke AKA Elephant has been a TTA favourite for some time now.  Bounding with harmonic finesse and a masterfully earnest touch, his shapeshifting alt-pop craft will get the full-length treatment later this year. Ahead of that, ‘Waiting Game Part II’ is a subtle yet slick homespun effort, marrying balmy synths with the song’s stripped-back slow rock surge. At the forefront, once again, is Clarke’s neatly harmonised vocals, quietly bursting with massive heart. Elephant’s strongest single to date? We reckon so. Delve in.

  • Eels Set For Iveagh Gardens Show

    January 17, 2018 - By 

    Having last played the city back in July, 2014, Mark Oliver Everett’s Eels‘ will play Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens on Friday, July 6. The announcement accompanies the news of the band’s first album and tour in four years. The new album, The Deconstruction, will be Eels’ twelfth studio album. It’s released on April 6. Tickets for the Iveagh Gardens show go on sale on Thursday, January 25 at 9am.