• Watch: Ryan Vail – Wounds

    February 24, 2016 - By 

    Dropped when we were at crazy peak deadline for the latest issue of our magazine three weeks ago, we’ve been all but waking up in cold sweats in the middle of the night, terribly shame-ridden and sunken of pallor having missed the chance to share our thoughts on ‘Wounds’ by Derry’s Ryan Vail. Set to release his long-awaited debut album, For Every Silence, this Spring, Vail’s balmy, synth-laden electronica has long ensured his rightful ranking as one of our favourite Irish acts; each release betraying a confidence and command of his craft that always hinted at something sensational in the making. Essentially confirming that fact, ‘Wounds’ is classic Vail but with…

  • First acts announced for Body & Soul

    February 24, 2016 - By 

    Easily their most eclectic first announcement to date, Body & Soul have announced the first acts set to play their return to Westmeath’s Ballinlough Castle from June 17-19. With some of the very best Irish acts accounted for in the form of EMBRZ, Rusangano Family, Talos and Forrests, the big-hitters this year (so far) are Santigold, St. Germain, Mercury Rev, Wolf Parade, Floating Points, Badbadnotgood, Junior Boys and Mark Kozelek’s Sun Kil Moon. Tier 4 & 5 tickets for Body & Soul are available to buy here.

  • Stream: My Tribe Your Tribe – Garden Song

    February 23, 2016 - By 

    Having released one of the best Irish tracks of 2015 in ‘Will To Survive‘, Kildare trio My Tribe Your Tribe have returned with the daydreaming indie-pop of ‘Garden Song’. Once again tapping into some wonderfully subtle melodic glory, it’s a curiously abstracted, typically infectious effort from the fast-rising George Mercer-fronted threesome. MTYT play the following Irish dates in February and March: February 26: Sin É, Dublin March 3: Monroes, Galway March 12: The Village Pump, Rathangan, Kildare March 13: Crane Lane Theatre, Cork ‘Garden Song’ is the first track to be taken from My Tribe Your Tribe’s forthcoming four-track debut EP, which is set for release in…

  • First Acts Revealed for Live at Leopardstown

    February 22, 2016 - By 

    Set to return from June to August this summer, the first acts for this year’s Bulmer’s Live at Leopardstown series have been revealed. With several more acts to be confirmed, Bob Geldof’s Boomtown Rats will perform on August 11, The Strypes (frontman Ross Farrelly, pictured) will play August 4 and Booka Brass Band will make an appearance on July 21. Tickets – priced at a very reasonable €18 – and are on sale now.

  • EP Premiere: The Natural History Museum – Manmade

    February 22, 2016 - By 

    Following quick on the heels of their well-received debut LP, Attenborough, Dublin duo The Natural History Museum are all about momentum on their stellar new five-track EP, Manmade. Comprised of vocalist/writer Carol Keogh of The Tycho Brahe/The Plague Monkeys and producer/composter Dunk Murphy of Sunken Foal and Planet-Mu’s Ambulance, the duo’s pastoral compositions brood and placate in brilliantly musing unison. From lo-fi, funk-inflected opener ‘Jeweller’ to Kate Bush-esque closer ‘Little March Girl’, it’s an all-killer, immersive release that doubles up as a clear statement of intent. Stream our premiere of Manmade below and purchase your copy (out not on Countersunk) here. Manmade…

  • Video Premiere: Left With Pictures – Terra Firma

    February 22, 2016 - By 

    Having made fans out of BBC 6 Music’s Gideon Coe and Lauren Laverne amongst others, the music of London orchestral pop ensemble Left With Pictures is an exquisite proposition. Belying the classically-trained trio’s command of contemplative, layered textures, upon which vocals dance and harmonies entwine, their new single ‘Terra Firma’ summons a wall of gently swelling strings, ghostly church-pew background vocals and a gorgeous looped keyboard motif, evoking the quiet sanctity of Wild Beasts at their most ruminating. Taken from the band’s forthcoming album Afterlife – set for release on April 29 – have yourself an exclusive first peek at the video for the track, made by Jonathan…

  • Stream: Badlands – Echo

    February 22, 2016 - By 

    Badlands started off life as a duo, releasing an EP entitled Battles Within in 2012, before eventually becoming the solo project of Malmö-based musician and producer Catharina Jaunviksna. Things were quiet for a while after that first EP, but picked up last year as she began to air new material while touring in Ireland with Somadrone. Then everyone’s attention snapped back to Badlands when she dropped the first new single ‘Caramisou’, five and a half minutes of swooping synth-rush crafted into a soaring, widescreen soundscape. Her latest single, ‘Echo’, is a continuation of that streak. ‘Echo’, is an exercise in split…

  • Stream: VOXX – Glamour Puss

    February 22, 2016 - By 

    The wonderfully camp late 90s Bowie homage Velvet Goldmine credited Oscar Wilde as the original glam rock alien, so it seems appropriate that after the Star Man’s passing another Dubliner seems determined to pick up the flamboyant rock n roll flame. Enter VOXX frontman Conor Thornton, whose look channels so many androgynous rock legends he appears like the product of one of 70s Mick Jagger’s especially wild orgies. Debut single ‘Glamour Puss’ is an assuredly cocky introduction to the band: featuring a fabulously filthy Josh Homme-worthy riff, the band pile on T-Rex handclaps and sleazy piano to take the track into gloriously trashy retro nirvana. Thornton’s…

  • Premiere: Orchid Collective – Lay As Stone

    February 22, 2016 - By 

    Set to be launched at Whelan’s on March 11, ‘Lay As Stone’ by Dublin quartet Orchid Collective is an unwinding alt-folk meditation on weariness and reprieve that sees wonderfully-woven harmonies come to the fore across the track’s nigh on four minutes. Recorded by Mojo Fury’s Mike Mormecha at Lisburn’s Millbank Studios, it’s a similarly rousing, radio-seeking effort to previous singles including ‘Figure It Out’. Orchid Collective also play Belfast’s Eglantine this Thursday night (February 25). Have an exclusive first listen to ‘Lay As Stone’ below.

  • Stream: Slow Skies – Winter Night

    February 22, 2016 - By 

    The latest release on Dublin imprint Paper Trail Records, ‘Winter Night’ by singer-songwriter Karen Sheridan AKA Slow Skies wouldn’t sound entirely out of place on a high-budget, prime-time ad about a young couple, each battling their way through rush hour traffic, only to eventually – finally – fall into each other’s arms on a balmily-lit doorstep, before setting down a half a dozen John Lewis bags and petting an obedient little terrier called Alex that greets them upon arrival. Or something along those lines, anyway. According to Sheridan, the song – very deftly stripped back to her vocals and sparse piano work courtesy of Patrick O’Laoghaire of I…