• SWANS’ Norman Westberg Set For Solo Irish Tour

    September 28, 2021 - By 

    Best known as the primary guitarist with SWANS, Norman Westberg is nothing short of a titan of heavy avant-rock. More generally, the Detroit-born musician’s output has traversed a remarkable amount of territory, most recently in solo LPs including the sublime ambience of Bedroom Off, After Vacation, and First Man In The Moon, his collaborative LP with Jacek Mazurkiewicz. As Lawrence English once put it: “What Norman has created with his solo works is an echoing universe of deep texture and harmonic intensity. His solo compositions generate an affecting quality that drives the listener towards reductive transcendence.” Next month, Westberg stops off in Ireland for a…

  • Full Capacity Indoor Seated Events Set For NI Venues

    September 27, 2021 - By 

    The Northern Irish executive has tonight announced a relaxation of social distancing, while will allow NI’s music venues, theatres and conference venues to host full capacity indoor seated events from 6pm on Thursday, September 30. With 100% capacity live events to be allowed both indoors and outdoors in the Republic from October 22, the news has come as a relief to venue owners and gig-goers in the north. “We welcome the NI Executive’s decision to remove Social Distancing for indoor seated venues,” said Joe Dougan of the Limelight. “This is a progressive step which will enable many businesses to get back…

  • Tool Set for First Irish Show in 15 Years

    September 27, 2021 - By 

    Tool have announced their long-awaited return to Ireland. The acclaimed, Maynard James Keenan-fronted quartet will play Dublin’s 3Arena on May 6, 2022. Tickets go on sale this Friday (October 1) at 10am. The show – which takes place as part of a forthcoming UK and European arena tour – marks the band’s first show in Ireland since 2006. Revisit a stone-cold Tool classic below.

  • Parquet Courts Set For Dublin Return

    September 23, 2021 - By 

    Parquet Courts are coming back to Dublin. Having last played the city back in 2018, the New York indie-rock quartet will play the Helix in Dublin on Saturday, June 11. The announcement comes as part of news of the band’s forthcoming seventh album Sympathy For Life and its accompanying world tour. Tickets for the Dublin show cost €29.80 and go on sale on Friday, September 24. Watch the video for the band’s new single ‘Black Widow Spider’ below.

  • Stream: A Ritual Sea – A Ritual Sea

    September 24, 2021 - By 

    A Ritual Sea launch their self-titled debut album today through Parisian post-punk record label, Icy Cold Records complete with a livestream performance from their YouTube channel at 8pm tonight featuring album tracks engineered by Daniel Fox (Girl Band) at Sonic Studios. Their debut album explores themes of love, adversity and the personal experiences of singer/songwriter Donna McCabe and composer/guitarist Florian Chombart in their relationship as both a couple and bandmates. They focused on completing the record during the first lockdown, working with Paris-based musician and sound engineer Nicolas Subreìchicot (Vagabond, Lou Doillon) and they also received arts council funding via the Dept. of Culture and Tourism to…

  • Dublin Digital Radio Announce Alternating Current

    September 22, 2021 - By 

    The country’s most essential radio station, Dublin Digital Radio, have announced details of a new city festival. Originally planned for March 2020, but delayed for obvious reasons, Alternating Current will finally take place via radio broadcasts and in-person events from October 26 to October 31. Marking five years on the air, the festival’s schedule wonderfully mirrors the commitment of ddr. to representing the country’s more peripheral and experimental musical traditions. In their words: “This is the alternating current, the one that seeks to give voice to the other island, the sounds less heard, the other traditions. The sounds of the hinterlands…

  • Stream: M(h)aol – Gender Studies

    September 22, 2021 - By 

    Back in March, Róisín Nic Ghearailt, Constance Keane, Jamie Hyland, Zoe Greenway and Sean Nolan, otherwise known as M(h)aol, returned with one of the most emphatic singles of the year. Six months on from ‘Asking For It’, the band – who are based between Dublin, Cork, London and Bristol – are back with the no less powerful ‘Gender Studies’. Clocking in at 1 minute and 50 seconds, it’s a brief and masterfully understated effort taken from the band’s forthcoming debut EP of the same name. “Gender Studies weaves past and present in an exploration of how the construct of gender shapes our lives,” said lead…

  • Maija Sofia, Mhaol, Pretty Happy, Elaine Malone & More Set to Perform 30th Anniversary Tribute To Nirvana’s Nevermind

    September 21, 2021 - By 

    Friday, 24th September marks the 30th anniversary of one of the finest, most essential albums in recorded music history – Nirvana’s breakthrough album Nevermind. To mark the occasion, a selection of Irish acts from across the island have come together in celebration of its release and ongoing influence, each performing their own takes on track from the album in an event which will be live-streamed this Friday. The line-up, consisting of Maija Sofia, Havvk, Alien She, Cruiser, Laurie Shaw, Junk Drawer, Uaim, Aoife Wolf, Pretty Happy, Elaine Malone, Mob Wife and Mhaol will be a combination of videos performed and recorded in Dublin venues Sin É and…

  • Pillow Queens Re-Release ‘Rats’, Sign to Royal Mountain

    September 16, 2021 - By 

    What a year it’s been for Pillow Queens. Six months on from signing a publishing deal with legendary Seattle label Sub Pop, the Dublin quartet have announced that they have signed to Royal Mountain Records, the Canadian indie imprint that is home to the likes of Alvvays, Mac DeMarco and others. To mark the occasion, the band have also released a re-recorded version of one of their very best tracks, ‘Rats’. Originally released back in 2016, ‘Rats’ 2.0 now features stellar visuals courtesy of Michael Maxxis. Check it out below. All the best to the band on what’s sure to be an…

  • Premiere: Peter Sumadh – Parting Wounds

    September 16, 2021 - By 

    Over the last few years, Belfast-based singer-songwriter Peter Sumadh has set out his stall under the moniker The Mad Dalton. Releases such as ‘Timebomb’, ‘Skeleton Waltz’ and 2018 LP Open Season found him carve out a consistently rewarding niche in a saturated alt-folk scene in the North. Today, Sumadh makes a break, and ventures out under his name to present his strongest single to date, ‘Parting Wounds’. Accompanying by a sublime video courtesy of Belfast videographer Richard Davis, it’s an entrancing, wonderfully woven effort that confronts disunion and the power of moving on. Recorded by Mojo Fury’s Michael Mormecha at Tree Song…