• Sound of Belfast 2015 Programme Announced

    October 1, 2015 - By 

    The programme for this year’s Sound of Belfast has been announced, with the events running from November 6-14 around the city, culminating in the presentation of this year’s Oh Yeah Legend Award to The Divine Comedy at the NI Music Prize event at the Mandela Hall on November 14. The festivities include many exhibitions from local artists & filmmakers, as well as conferences and masterclasses at the Oh Yeah Centre. These include the Belfast Urban Affinity 2015, aimed at hard-to-reach youths, and the Breaking Into Music Youth Conference, featuring the likes of Phil Taggart, who quickly progressed from BBC Radio Ulster to Radio…

  • Stream: Talos – In Time

    September 30, 2015 - By 

    The brainchild of Cork singer/writer/producer Eoin French, ‘In Time’, the latest release from Talos, has just been made available. His debut single, ‘Tethered Bones‘ came out last year, and his progressively strong singles since then have hinted at a wider ambition, tying together contemporary Irish singer-songwriter material with more ambient, atmospheric electronic panorama. He plays The Academy at 9.35 this Friday night as part of Hard Working Class Heroes in Dublin. Stream ‘In Time’ below:

  • Stream: My Tribe Your Tribe – Ghost With You

    September 30, 2015 - By 

    Following a packed summer schedule that included slots at Electric Picnic, Body & Soul, Valentia Isle, Spirit of Folk and Secret Village Festivals, eclectic Kildare duo My Tribe Your Tribe have released their third single this year, ‘Ghost With You’. With their debut album due in 2016, this cut fuses their anthemic pop sensibilities with jagged, alt. rock guitar lines and electro-pop synth use. They play The Academy Green Room this Thursday for Hard Working Class Heroes at 9pm, and you can preview the rest of their material on Bandcamp. ‘Ghost With You’ will be released on October 30, but you can stream it…

  • Watch: Blue Whale – Jack Irons

    September 25, 2015 - By 

    Ex-drummer for the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam and Eleven, Jack Irons has an interesting and illustrious CV – one which he can (yet probably won’t) now add, “Title of instrumental banger by Belfast-based experimental band Blue Whale” to. A collaboration between the band, filmmaker Tom Hughes and contemporary dancer Maeve McGreevy, the quartet’s new single is a potent, wonderfully emphatic audio-visual creation, fusing Blue Whale’s bombastic, Battles-esque experimental instrumental rock with Hughes’ sublime directorial eye and a truly compelling performance by McGreevy throughout. The track was recorded by Start Together’s Ben McAuley and is available to download here. Blue Whale play…

  • Premiere: SlowPlaceLikeHome – Cesare’s Principle

    September 25, 2015 - By 

    One of our must-see acts at this year’s Hard Working Class Heroes, Donegal producer Keith Mannion AKA SlowPlaceLikeHome has summoned some spectacular sounds over the last few years. “Finally the album it as supposed to be,” Mannion will released a rebooted version of his sublime debut album, Romola, on October 27. A largely re-recorded version of the original, Mannion says it will close the chapter on the album, with new material planned for early next year. The penultimate track on Romola, we’re very happy to premiere the latest incarnation of Cesare’s Principle, featuring guest vocals by the Masterson sisters. SlowPlaceLikeHome play Dublin’s…

  • Stream: Galants – Out of Sight

    September 24, 2015 - By 

    It comes as no surprise that the five artists listed under the “influences” section of Dublin noise-pop band Galants‘ Facebook page read as a veritable “who’s who” of the genre’s exalted heyday. Evoking the varyingly shimmering, feedback-soaked lulls and barrages of the aforesaid imperial quintet – Dinosaur Jr., Teenage Fanclub, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Swervedriver and Yo La Tengo – their new single ‘Out of Sight’ presents a fleecy levee of fuzz with perfectly languid vocals, throwing back and looking forward in wonderfully realised unison. Throw in Connor Walls’ guest guitar solo – knowingly reminiscent of Lord J Mascis’s more intent-drenched lead forays – and you are very…

  • Watch: Le Galaxie feat. Elaine Mae – Love System

    September 23, 2015 - By 

    Yet another visual masterstroke by Brendan Canty of Feel Good Lost, the brand new video for ‘Love System’ by Le Galaxie (feat. Elaine Mae) features an Irish couple delving headfirst into the throes of night and complete abandon, zig-zagging across the country, getting up to all kinds of badness in service stations, amusement arcades, greasy spoon diners and driving ranges. Le Galaxie’s Le Club will be available worldwide from November 6 via Universal Music Ireland. Watch the video for Love System below.

  • Video Premiere: Kate Quinby – Jack and Jill

    September 23, 2015 - By 

    Having recently resided in Belfast by way of Chicago and New Orleans, Kate Quinby is an artist who effortlessly marries jazz, soul and folk to create a sound very much her own. With her instantly striking vocals at the forefront of her craft, new single ‘Jack and Jill’ is one of the highlights from her sublime debut album, Tribute to Water. Filmed in Chicago – namely the beach at Lake Michigan during sunrise and an urban abandoned lot – the video for the track is a wonderfully radiant accompaniment featuring professional dancers and performers from the Chicago area. Better still, it’s all entirely improvised. Have…

  • Stream: Edward F Butler feat. Katharine Philippa – Futures Full

    September 22, 2015 - By 

    Ahead of premiering its (really quite brilliant) video tomorrow, we highly recommend taking five minutes out of your evening to stream ‘Futures Full’, the new single by Edward F Butler featuring Katharine Philippa. Easily two of Northern Ireland’s more idiosyncratic musicians over the last couple of years, a collaboration between the pair should come as little surprise to anyone who has kept up with their respective journeys to date. Having both featured in Oh Yeah Centre’s Scratch My Progress programme (NB: Butler in his previous outfit HOWL) ‘Futures Full – “a song about relationships, purpose and identity – melds the very best…

  • Watch: Runaway Go – Lover to Lover

    September 22, 2015 - By 

    Belfast indie-pop duo Fiona O’Kane and David Jackson AKA Runaway Go have long earned their stripes as one of the country’s finest purveyors of the genre. With their boundlessly compatible vocal styles, the pair’s music has always burst forth with a vitality and joie de vivre that’s never wanting in the realms of pathos and perspective. With their debut album, Alive, set for release in November, the duo have went down the PledgeMusic route with the aim to secure its release. In the meantime, they’ve given us a taste of what to expect from the record in the form of ‘Lover to Lover’, a wonderfully…