• Stream: MMOTHS – Deu

    November 24, 2015 - By 

    Having long been one of the country’s most curious producers – an artist that has always felt right on the cusp of delivering something that little bit special – Jack Colleran AKA MMOTHS first grabbed our attention back in 2013 with his placating Diaries EP, a release full of restraint and cunning ambient power. Two years and a handful of impressive outings later, the Kildare artist has us smitten all over again with ‘Deu’, a warm, bewitching slice of electronica, taken from his forthcoming LP, Luneworks. Most definitely one for fans of Ulrich Schnauss, Baths and Boards of Canada, stream the track via…

  • Premiere: VerseChorusVerse & David Lyttle – Have Some Soul

    November 24, 2015 - By 

    Sticking to your guns and carving out your own path has many payoffs, least of all when it’s rewarded with some much-warranted recognition. Released via Lyte Records on Friday, Say & Do by North Coast singer-songwriter/ex-And So I Watch You From Afar guitarist Tony Wright AKA VerseChorusVerse and jazz maestro/drummer extraordinaire David Lyttle is a wonderfully instinctive and stripped-back collaboration that has seen the pair climb the charts this week, namely currently at 24 in the UK singer-songwriter charts, 28 in the UK new releases and no. 19 in the Irish charts. In an age when of varyingly soul-destroying, blitzkrieg-like PR campaigns, the duo’s…

  • Stream: Badlands – Caramisou

    November 24, 2015 - By 

    An artist who considers Ireland and Italy as two other home countries, Swedish producer Catharina Jaunviksna AKA Badlands‘ dusky and interstellar craft is very nicely pronounced on new single, ‘Caramisou’, the lead cut off her forthcoming debut album, which is set for release in Spring of 2016. Set to support Somadrone at his Oracle album launch gig at Dublin’s Unitarian Church on November 28 alongside Sorcha McGrath (Wounded Healer/Ships) and Danny Snow of Villagers, stream Jaunviksna’s latest effort below.

  • Watch: Rachael Boyd – Esoteric Path (Live)

    November 19, 2015 - By 

    Released in tandem with the single itself, Belfast contemporary/electronic musician Rachael Boyd has unveiled a live video of her performing ‘Esoteric Path’, a wonderfully woven post-classical mesh of piano, strings and enveloping rhythmic patterns. Written, performed and produced entirely by Boyd, it’s yet another brilliantly arranged and becalming effort from the artist, who last caught our attention back in February with live, four-track release Recordings.  As well as the studio and live video versions of the track, Belfast-based producer James Bruce AKA OAKS has also offered up an impressive remix of the track. Stream it along with the original and watch the…

  • Sense Prevails: Funding Restored for 32 Northern Irish Arts Organisations

    November 19, 2015 - By 

    Having been told that they were set to lose 7% of their planned funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, 32 of the biggest and most vital arts organisations in Northern Ireland have been informed that’s been reversed as part of the Stormont executive’s November budget. Amongst those organisations – a collective cultural beating heart in the North of the country – are the MAC, Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, The Ulster Orchestra, the Lyric Theatre and Derry’s With the Culture Minister Carál Nί Chuilίn having been criticised over cuts to the Art’s Council budget, the Department of Culture, Arts and…

  • Girl Band Announce String of New Dates

    November 18, 2015 - By 

    Having had to pulled out of European and Northern American dates due to “health issues in the band” last month Dublin noise-rock masters Girl Band have announced a string of new dates for 2016, culminating at their biggest show in Ireland to date at Vicar Street on Friday, April 1. The Dara Kiely-fronted band have also unveiled a live Rough Trade session version of ‘Baloo’, a highlight on the band’s critically-acclaimed debut album, Holding Hands With Jamie. Watch it and check out the new dates below. Fri 22nd Jan – Brewery Corner, Kilkenny, Ireland Sat 23rd Jan – Gabo’s, Castlebar, Ireland Wed 17th…

  • Stream: Vogelbat – Miw (feat. Sad Mermaid)

    November 18, 2015 - By 

    Evoking the likes of Arca and FKA Twigs in equal measure, Berlin-based Kilkenny producer David Sheenan AKA Vogelbat has unveiled a brilliantly burrowing new track, ‘Miw’. Featuring masterfully warped vocals courtesy of singer-songwriter Sad Mermaid – also based in the German capital – it serves as a strong introduction for newcomers to Sheenan’s aesthetic, in which “100% of [his] music created on a laptop with no external MIDI plugins, solid state synths or traditional instruments (as they “all reside [back] in Ireland”). Stream the track via Soundcloud below.

  • Low Amongst New Acts Set for Other Voices Live

    November 16, 2015 - By 

    Low are amongst a new wave of acts announced to play this year’s Other Voices Live in Dingle from December 4-6. Joining the Ohio slowcore pioneers are Jack Garrett, Keaton Henson, Glen Hansard and The Academic, whilst the acts set to play IMRO’s Other Room are Saint Sister, Talos, Gavin Glass Bitch Falcon and Hawk. Elsewhere, the following acts are set to play the free Music Trail across Dingle: Last week, Richard Hawley, Gaz Coombes, Gavin James, Lapsley and Otherkin were the first acts confirmed to play the annual showcase, which sees its 14th outing this year.

  • Robyn G Shiels Announces New Dates, Collaboration Album

    November 13, 2015 - By 

    When it rains for Belfast-based acoustic doom master Robyn G Shiels, it pours. As well as a downright unmissable “Alternative New Year’s Grieve Party” at Belfast’ Sunflower Bar with Hornby Ban Jovi AKA Hornby of The Continuous Battle of Order, Heliopause and a DJ set from Documenta’s Joe Greene,  Shiels will continue his excellently-titled November Reign Tour throughout November (see dates below), including a performance at the Jarman Award Whitechapel Weekend in London on November 21. Elsewhere, Shiels has teamed up with musician Steve Nolan to deliver an extraordinary, nine-track collaborative album titled sky drew near. Going under the dual moniker Rs.sN, Shiels…

  • Stream: Alana Henderson – Museum of Thought

    November 12, 2015 - By 

    Before globetrotting as a member of Hozier’s band, Dungannon cellist and singer Alana Henderson had established herself as one of the most promising Irish artists, masterfully meddling in the realm of alternative folk informed with a strong traditional presence. Almost three years on from her sublime Wax & Wane EP, Henderson has returned in her own right with ‘Museum of Thought’, a wonderfully stripped-back, lilting and lullaby-like track co-produced by Phil D’Alton of Master & Dog that positively confirms she has by no means abandoned her own craft and path. Watch the video for the track – featuring images courtesy of The British…