With a Dublin date expected to be announced, it’s been revealed that the consistently reliable Strange Victory will host Japanese noise legends Melt Banana at Belfast’s Voodoo on June 21. Formed in Tokyo in 1992, the band – now currently a duo in – have released ten studio albums via the likes of A-Zap, Gold Standard Labs and Skin Graft. Tickets for the Belfast show – which are available to buy here – are priced at the very reasonable £11.00.
Taken from his Love Scenes album, Dundalk native, London based musician Jim O’Donoghue Martin AKA Video Blue has released a video for ‘Dusk Moves’. A snappy slice of indie-guitar pop and post-punk electronics, Video Blue has developed a sound that is infectious and effortlessly charming since his debut in 2015. With all the endearing qualities of bedroom pop, Love Scenes boasts a particular polish to lure us in like magpies to something shiny. ‘Dusk Moves’ sits somewhere in the camp between Radiohead’s poppier moments and Future Islands. The video, directed by Dara Carrol, is a fitting companion: a solitary dance in a pub, an insular trip in insecurity…
Following his support of Bruno Mars at 3Arena on Sunday, April 30, Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals will perform a special live PA at Dublin’s Academy. Head’s up: the appearance is a short, three-song set including a DJ set. Still worth it, right? Tickets, which are priced at €26 (inc. booking fee) go on sale Thursday at 10am. Sitting on the fence? Watch this.
Formed late last year, Dublin indie-pop quartet Claudia Verdecchia, Shell Dooley, Aoife, Hester and Karima Dillon El-Toukhy AKA Montauk Hotel have hit the ground running via their self-titled debut EP. From opener and lead single ‘Black Dress’ to harmony-driven closer ‘In The Land’, there’s a real earworming charm to the band’s streamlined, chorus-drenched jangle-pop. We expect impressive things from these guys throughout 2017.
Ever since the release of their self-titled debut EP (one of our Irish releases of 2015, no less) we’ve been keeping a close eye on Dublin’s Cat Palace. The music-making moniker of David Blaney, his output to date has struck a keen balance between perfectly sardonic social commentary and coded personal revelation, framed by his incredibly listenable brand of darkly alt-folk ruminations. With a band in tow, Blaney has returned with another stellar offering in the form of ‘Peddle It’, a single whose tropical, a e s t h e t i c-soaked visual accompaniment is perfectly at odds with the single’s shadowy tone and…
Wicklow based ambient hip-hop duo Gumshoe have returned with ‘Forgotten Weapons’, their fourth release since they breezed into existence last year. The track is another glistening slice of spacious, throbbing electronics and sliced up vocal samples. The pair’s penchant for lush atmosphere is once again on display here as it was on their previous cuts ‘Yom Kippur’ and ‘Ninbasu’. It is accompanied by a suitably trippy and at points unnerving video directed by Sean Gallagher and starring Miriam Keegan. As she ventures through an eery forest, a darkened house and a hallucinatory mental landscape, the haunting flutes and bass create a sizzling…
One of our featured 17 for ’17 acts, Dublin quartet Precious, Solbas, Grooves, and Shek AKA Super Silly are the living, breathing definition of an act whose self-belief and natural musical chemistry will undoubtedly guide them to big things. Having only made their live debut in August of last year, the Word Up Collective foursome’s blend of modern RnB, hip-hop, soul, pop and gospel is as slick as it is downright earworming, and nowhere is that more on display than their new single ‘Not Ready to Leave’. Accompanied with a stellar video courtesy of Seán Clancy, the track – is a groove-laden slice…
Set to return to Garryhinch Woods in Portarlington across June 9-11, several new acts have been added to the bill for this year’s BARE in the Woods festival. As well as Akala, WhoMadeWho, Alvarez Kings, Jon Stevens (INXS), The Frank & Walters, RSAG, Chastity Brown and Bunoscionn, US alt-metal masters Helmet (pictured), The Rubberbandits and – wait for it – Right Said Fred have all been revealed to join the likes of the previously-announced Mike Skinner, House of Pain and more. With more acts still to be announced, check out the full line-up and go here to buy tickets.
Comprised of two core members in Stephen Houlihan and Christine Tubridy as well as three interchangeable live members, Belfast’s Hiva Oa have been riding a steady wave of acclaim and momentum over the last few months. A highlight from their sublime 2016 EP mk 2 (part 1) (which we premiered here) single ‘Jonny Brazil’ now comes accompanied with a video that very nicely reflects the song’s dominant themes of escapism and grasping for clarity. Ahead of the the release of mk 2 (part 1), check out the video below.
Featuring the likes of Trust Fund, Lower Slaughter and Milk Crimes, today sees the release of Put Ears on Yourself, the first in a new 7″ single series curated by Sligo imprint – and easily one of our favourite Irish labels – Art For Blind Records. Each 7” will feature 4 bands from Ireland and the UK and will be housed in a series of limited edition screen printed sleeves designed by emerging artists, designers and illustrators. Our favourite of the four tracks on Put Ears on Yourself is ‘Nice Guy’ by Dublin three-piece Sissy, which we’re pleased to premiere here.…