• Watch: FONDA – Dreaming

    August 4, 2016 - By 

    Few things can compete with that fuzzy feeling you get discovering a band – particularly one close to home – that just instantly tick all the boxes and hit home on first listen. A three-piece garage band from Limerick, Galway and Glasgow, FONDA are one of those bands. Having drawn comparisons to the likes of Crystal Stilts and the Go Betweens, the three-piece recorded their debut EP, Social Services with So Cow’s Brian Kelly last Summer. Now they’re back with ‘Dreaming’, a wonderful, perfectly understated new single that wields hard truths and major-minor chord transitions with a knack normally reserved for acts that have been around the…

  • Watch: Morrissey & Marshall – Stand Down

    August 3, 2016 - By 

    Set for release on August 26, ‘Stand Down’ by Dublin rock n’ roll duo Morrissey and Marshall is a track inspired “by those poor unfortunates (politicians) who tend to stop at nothing when striving for success… They will lie, mislead, instil fear and do whatever it takes to get the people on side, without any true regard for the people. This song sparks the idea that there will eventually come a time when we’ll come together, rise above the fear and use truth, honesty and love to start fixing all of the things that need to be fixed.” An admirable,…

  • EP Stream: Dott – Beverly Baldwin

    August 3, 2016 - By 

    Long-time TTA favourites, Dott first appeared on our radar back in January of 2012 via a demo of ‘Leave Tonight’. Four years a bit on, the Galway garage-pop quartet are back with a four-track EP distilling exactly what has kept us firmly interested in their trajectory to date. Set for release via NYC’s Mirror Universe Tapes on Friday, Beverly Baldwin was written and recorded by Anna and Evan of the band during a year spent in Toronto following their marriage in 2015. Titled after the part of Toronto where they recorded the EP in their tiny apartment, the release marries subtle…

  • Stream: Chris Hanna – And All Shall Be Well

    August 3, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of playing Sunflowerfest this weekend, Belfast producer Chris Hanna shared this track on SoundCloud. A bright and bouncy affair, it’s part of a live set he’ll be playing next month, made entirely of new material — having lost all his work he’s making everything again from scratch. Hanna describes it as “a wee Songs of Praise house tune”, and it’s not hard to see why. Hands in the air.

  • Electric Picnic Reveal Hazel Wood Area

    August 1, 2016 - By 

    The constant evolution and expansion of Electric Picnic has long been one of the annual Laois festival’s biggest draws. Set to return to Stradbally Estate from September 2-4, organisers have revealed its latest extension: a new area called Hazel Wood that offers “mesmerising storytelling through interactive theatre, immersive hauntings, shadow puppetry, visual displays, commedia dell’arte workshops, visual art and much, much more”. And to mark the new area’s debut outing, festival-goers will be given the opportunity to hear Cathy Davey’s forthcoming new album live and in full on the Friday night. Davey said, “Because this album was written in the forest I had fairly…

  • EP Stream: Remains of Youth – There is Hope Without Progress

    July 29, 2016 - By 

    Bringing together new material with complete re-workings of older songs, There is Hope With Progress is an EP that marks the return of rejuvenated Belfast post-hardcore/alternative quartet Remains of Youth. With key influences in the likes of Idlewild, At The Drive-In and Derry’s Jetplane Landing (acts always proudly worn on their sleeve without ever feeling overbearing) the Adam Shirlow fronted-band have forged a five-track release that, largely ruminating on the passing of time – often in relation to the band’s own extended hiatus – brims with carefully-considered musicianship, strong sense of urgency and deft vitality. Stream the EP – recorded by Rocky O’Reilly…

  • Ash To Be Awarded Oh Yeah Legend Award

    July 21, 2016 - By 

    With previous recipients including Therapy? and The Divine Comedy, it’s been revealed that Northern Irish alt-rock trio Ash will be awarded this year’s Oh Yeah Legend Award at a special presentation at Belfast’s Mandela Hall on November 11. Followed by a live performance of their classic debut album 1977, the event will be preceded by another award, the NI Music Prize, which aims to celebrate the very best Northern Irish album of the year previous, as selected by an academy of local media and music industry professionals. Charlotte Dryden, CEO the Oh Yeah Music Centre says: “Ash have played a major…

  • Watch: Hilary Woods – Sabbath

    July 14, 2016 - By 

    Back in May, ex-JJ72 bassist and solo artist Hilary Woods released easily one of our favourite Irish of the tracks of the year in the form of ‘Bathing‘. Following on in perfectly sanguine repose, ‘Sabbath’ – the second track taken from her forthcoming Heartbox EP – is a masterfully meditative six-minute effort from the Dublin musician, melding sparse rhythms with a serene fog of softly swirling piano lines, synth and more. Accompanied by wonderful visuals courtesy of Joshua Wright, it’s a spectral combo that burrows deep. Heartbox is released on 7″ vinyl on Monday, July 18. Pre-order here.

  • Watch: Talos – Your Love Is An Island

    July 14, 2016 - By 

    After a weekend that saw Cork’s Eoin French AKA Talos perform with his band in the unique and magnificent concert setting of the Mitchelstown Caves, the Feel Good Lost artist has just revealed the video for brand new track ‘Your Love is an Island’. The song, a ballad which follows the trajectory Talos has been on since his 2014 debut ‘Tethered Bones’, features subtle, crisp acoustic guitars, warm keys and plenty of ambient backdrops for French’s brittle, captivating vocals.  There are elements that seem cut from the same ambient cloth as MMOTHS Luneworks and Sigur Rós‘ Valtari, but there remains a folk sensibility to it that keep French’s lyrics and…

  • Another Love Story Reveal Final Line-up

    July 13, 2016 - By 

    Easily our favourite small Irish summer festival, Another Love Story returns to the sublime Killyon Manor in Co. Meath from August 19-21. With just over a month to go until this year’s outing, organisers Happenings and Homebeat have revealed their final line-up, including their first ever international act, Sweden’s Badlands. With a host of live acts and DJs including Talos, Slow Skies, SlowPlaceLikeHome, Lastertom, Somadrone, Carriages and Ships set to make an appearance, the return of The Library and a veritable cornucopia of theatrical and artistic happenings (see full line-up poster below) will take place over the weekend. Tickets are priced…