• Castlepalooza Add More Acts

    April 26, 2016 - By 

    With the likes of Caribou (pictured), Jurassic 5, Villagers and Cat Power already announced, Castlepalooza have added a host of new acts to its 2016 bill. Set to take place across Friday, July 1 to Sunday, July 3 at Tullamore’s Charleville Castle, the following acts making up the latest additions: Lisa O’Neill, Son Lux, Lynched, Policia, Steve Davis & Kavus Torabi (DJ & pool set), Little Scream, Slow Reader’s Club, Daithi, Hare Squead, New Jackson, Daphni, Field Music, I Am The Cosmos, Prins Thomas, Let’s Eat Grandma, Jarbird, Toby Kaar, I Have A Tribe, All the Luck in the World, Paddy…

  • Carlow Arts Festival Reveals 2016 Programme

    April 25, 2016 - By 

    Set to make its grand 37th outing – a surefire feat in itself – the programme for this year’s Carlow Arts Festival has been revealed. Celebrating all the very best of cultural Carlow, this year’s festival – which runs from June 10-19 – is divided into three strands: the Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas from June 10-12, floating mini-festival Barges on the Barrow from June 14-16 and the festival latest addition, The Big Weekender, which runs from June 16-19. With family fun at the core of this year’s festival, Le Galaxie DJs, Hothouse Flowers with Lisa Lambe, David Kitt,…

  • Sometimes It Snows In April: Remembering Prince.

    April 21, 2016 - By 

    There will never be another artist like Prince. And ‘artist’ is the only word that one can use to describe him. Whether it be in his visionary approach to recording music, his concept of himself as a multi-media master, conquering the stage and screen, or his almost perfect grasp of song craft, Prince approached every aspect of his life as if it were art. First garnering attention as a boy wonder, writing, producing and performing every instrument on his debut album, the first signs of Prince’s genius were exposed when he performed the incredible trick of unearthing the very magma…

  • Stream: Colour Canyon – Home

    April 20, 2016 - By 

    Michelle Considine & Harry Bookless of Dublin indie pop outfit Little xs for Eyes have unveiled ‘Home’, their first original single under the name Colour Canyon. ‘Home’ follows their Record Store Gay cover of ‘Open Your Heart‘ by The Human League, with the duo having been working on new original material in the months since. The synths are very much in soft focus on this dusk-emulating slice of ’80s disco-pop, with swirling, verb-drenched vocals that would make Elizabeth Fraser envious. ‘Home’ is out now. Stream it below:

  • Stream: El Grey – My Names A, Your Names Zed

    April 20, 2016 - By 

    Well this is pretty mind blowing – Bray-based singer-songwriter project El Grey has released an 18-minute stream-of-consciousness odyssey. Despite being known to be one for creating atmospheric pop soundscapes, cinematic in scope, her ambition had never reached heights of magnitude until ‘My Names A, Your Names Zed’ – available to purchase on Bandcamp. The recording was completed with no pre-production or strict composition in place beforehand, and was recorded live in one take. Much like El Grey’s process in writing – alternatively: channelling – the song, it’s one to sit back and let happen to you, as it accomplishes that feat of tapping into something deeper entirely. It’s…

  • Stream: Roisin Murphy – Mastermind

    April 19, 2016 - By 

    Having just announced her new album, Take Her Up To Monto – due for release on July 8 through Play It Again Sam – Roisin Murphy has unveiled the LP’s lead track, ‘Mastermind’. The album was recorded along with long-time collaborator Eddie Stevens, during the same sessions as its predecessor, the Choice & Mercury Prize-nominated Hairless Toys. Never one to ignore the bigger picture of her art, Murphy is also to self-direct each video from the record. Stream ‘Mastermind’ below:

  • Record Store Day 2016

    April 18, 2016 - By 

    In the early years of Record Store Day, depending on where you lived in Ireland your choice of independent record shops to visit may have been limited or even nonexistent. But despite the growth of downloads and streaming in the eight years since the day started, while some old shops have died away, many more have sprung up in their place, and many of those who had nowhere to go in 2008 are now spoiled for choice. As the number of limited edition releases grow and major labels further muscle in on the event it’s easy to grow cynical and…

  • Free Download: Dott – Heroes for RSD 2016

    April 15, 2016 - By 

    Our favourite twee-pop band Dott have recorded their version of Heroes by David Bowie and to celebrate Record Store Day 2016 they are offering a free download of the track. Dott moved from Galway, Ireland to Toronto, Canada this year and have evolved into a two-piece band comprising of Anna and Evan. They have been experimenting with drum loops and home-recordings which will very soon culminate in the release of new material. In the meantime, they will perform at the Bowie Tribute Night in The Cracker Factory, New York on April 29

  • Picture This: Your National Visual Arts Guide- Future & Past

    April 15, 2016 - By 

    As we tentatively approach the summer galleries are beginning to launch their summer shows and draw their spring endeavours to a close. This looking ahead while checking back is one of the key themes across the exhibitions chosen for this edition of Picture This. The future of Ireland, her art and the wider contemporary art landscape is discussed in shows such as 2116 in Cork, EVA International in Limerick and Phototropism in Dublin. Casting our minds back forms the centrepiece of the Peter Dressler show in Belfast as the work or the late German photographer takes centre stage, this revisionary…

  • Video Premiere: Wastefellow – Wonder

    April 15, 2016 - By 

    Off the back of his excellent collaboration with MC Bobby Basil of hellish rap duo Dah Jevu, Wastefellow links up with director Conor Donoghue to create a beautiful digital haze to accompany the dazed and confused video for ‘Wonder’, the first single from his upcoming Amazed, A Maze! EP. Wastefellow is Dublin based experimental producer Diolmhain Ingram Roche. Citing influences from Flying Lotus to Sunn O))) and back via Tim Hecker, Wastefellow’s work is densely layered and innovative and placing slick hooks and honest vocals over unworldly synths and chewed up samples. On ‘Wonder’, a forlorn lead line, spacious beats…