• Premiere: Arvo Party – Null Set

    July 6, 2017 - By 

    Although many of you won’t need told, Belfast-based musician and producer Herb Magee is a jack of all trades, master of many. A current or past bassist for several stellar Northern Irish acts including three-piece GOONS and riffmasters general LaFaro, Magee has also been drip-feeding us varyingly-shaded electronic and ambient sounds as Arvo Party since early last year. A handful of original efforts and various first-rate covers later, Magee will release his brilliantly inspired, self-titled debut album on Friday. Traversing ambient, drone, neo-classical and experimental electronic sounds – as well full-on, straight-up electronica – the release is an 11 track, 50-minute masterstroke from an…

  • Album Stream: Blake’s Fortune – Hello World

    July 6, 2017 - By 

    In March of this year, Dublin based musician John Lennon aka Blake’s Fortune quietly released Hello World, a modest collection of contemporary folk that is at once charming and nostalgic for summers long past. Aptly described by the man himself as a “road trip” album, there is more than a light dusting of the quintessentially “Dublin” early naughties folk trend in this album, a tone that soundtracked many’s the gravelly, bumpy drive in a packed Ford Fiesta along the Irish coast. Think drinking cheap tins while your mate scrambles to build a dodgy fire on a beach, all to the tune of David Kitt‘s The…

  • Watch: JyellowL – ‘Cold In The Summer’

    July 5, 2017 - By 

    One of many shining lights that make up Dublin’s Word Up Collective, Dublin-based rapper JyellowL has just unveiled the new video/short film for his new seven-minute single ‘Cold In The Summer’. Bolstered by its masterfully lax pace and slick production, the song – which is a socially-conscious and nicely earworming effort – tackles the issues that affected him as a young man of Nigerian/Jamaican heritage growing up in Ireland. Speaking of the release, the young artist said, “The title is a euphemism for racism, black oppression, police brutality and death. “It is an artistic reminder that racism still ever present and has been an…

  • Richard Dawson To Play Dublin and Belfast

    July 5, 2017 - By 

    Let’s cut right to chase: Richard Dawson is one of the greatest living solo artists. A truly inimitable proposition, the Newcastle-upon-Tyne folk musician will play Dublin’s Whelan’s and Belfast’s Black Box on November 22 and November 23 respectively. With the former – which will also feature Katie Kim -presented by Enthusiastic Eunuch Promotions and the latter by Moving On Music – who have hosted Dawson on these shores below – tickets for shows, which will feature Dawson and full band, are priced €16.50 and £15 (£10 concession) via here and here.

  • Shellac Announce Irish Shows

    July 5, 2017 - By 

    Chicago post-hardcore masters Shellac will return to Dublin to play a show at Tivoli Theatre on Saturday, September 30. Supported by special guests Il Sogno Marinaio (featuring the almighty Mike Watt), the trio of Steve Albini, Bob Weston and Todd Trainer last played the city back in 2013. Tickets for Tivoli go on sale this Friday here. Update: the band will also play Galway’s Roisin Dubh on Friday, September 29 and Belfast’s Black Box on October 1. Tickets €25/23 and £18.

  • Premiere: Gnarkats – Something To Say

    July 5, 2017 - By 

    We’ve been closely following & supporting the rise of Belfast-based quartet Gnarkats over the last couple of years. Having proved real contenders via the fuzzed-out alt-rock of their Waves Collide EP back in November, the foursome are back with a stellar new single, ‘Something To Say’. An equally earworming and riff-fuelled effort, have an exclusive first listen to that and learn more about the track – as well as the band’s plans for the rest of ’17. Hi guys, the release comes off the back of last December’s Waves Collide EP. Was it written before or after that release? It…

  • Album Premiere: Wild Rocket – Dissociation Mechanics

    July 5, 2017 - By 

    Following our stream of lead single ‘The Future Echoes‘, we’re delighted to exclusively premiere the fuzzed-out, low-end heft of Dublin quartet Wild Rocket‘s second LP, Dissociation Mechanics, released through the perennially reliable Irish independent Art for Blind on July 7. Already respected for their distinctive amalgam of groove-strewn heavy psych, sludge and space rock after debut studio album Geomagnetic Hallucinations, they’ve seemingly a complete grasp of the art of kosmische repetition. Disassociation Mechanics is an even more fully-realised and beautifully produced iteration of the band’s sound, with the album being recorded by Ireland’s Deaf Brothers – also known for their work with No Spill Blood, Alarmist and Meltybrains?. Unsurprisingly, given the monolithic sprawl of the…

  • The Breeders Set For Dublin Return

    July 4, 2017 - By 

    Four years on from a memorable show in the same venue, alternative rock legends The Breeders will play Dublin’s Vicar Street on October 16. Having recently been in the studio recording the follow-up to 2008’s Mountain Battles, quartet of Kim Deal, Kelley Deal, Josephine Wiggs and Jim Macperson will stop for the show as part of a forthcoming European tour that kicks off in Glasgow and culminates in Paris. See the full dates below. Tickets for Vicar Street are priced €35 and go on sale this Thursday, July 6 at 9am.

  • Liam Gallagher to Headline Samhain Festival

    July 3, 2017 - By 

    Currently experiencing a revival via his debut solo album and last week’s set at Glastonbury, it’s been announced that Liam Gallagher will headline the Sunday night of this year’s Samhain Festival at Weston Airport in Dublin on October 29. With Annie Mac headlining the Saturday night, Gallagher will be supported by The Strypes and Touts. Tickets are priced €59.50 and go on sale this Friday at 9am.

  • Album Stream: The Jimmy Cake – Tough Love

    July 4, 2017 - By 

    Experimental kosmiche post-punks The Jimmy Cake have released their sixth album Tough Love through respected Irish indie label Penske Recordings. Formed as a 10-piece in Dublin back in 2000 from the ashes of experimental noiseniks Das Madman, they’ve had a revolving lineup, recording – the last being 2015’s Master. Tough Love was written for a one-off performance in Dublin arts space The Joinery in 2015, with two distinct movements and styles – blending their usual Krauty psychedelia with some stoner groove. Delve into the ambitious and brilliantly realised forty-two minute masterstroke below.