• Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival Line-up Announced

    Set to take place from May 1 to May 11, the programme for this year’s Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival has been announced. As with every other installment of the annual Belfast festival, variety and eclecticism is at the heart of this year’s line-up. From Wilko Johnson and the Mercy Lounge, De La Soul, Channel 4 news anchor Jon Snow, The Handsome Family, Simon Amstell, Shonen Knife and everything in between, there is a hugely impressive roster running the gamut from music and comedy to spoken word, theatre, visual art and more. We’re also getting involved in this year’s programme, hosting a…

  • Watch: Bouts – Novelty

    Ahead of a string of Spring live dates, Dublin indie-rock band Bouts have unveiled the video for their latest single, ‘Novelty’. The first track from the quartet’s debut album, the superb Nothing Good Gets Away, this song is an accurate distillation of Bouts’ sublimely starry-eyed craft. The video for the song features the band, ever zealous (as you would be), writing and recording the album. Check out the poster for those Spring dates (including supporting none other than Yuck at this year’s Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival) and the video for ‘Novelty’ below.

  • Kasabian Announce Irish Tour

    Here’s a bit of a surprise for you folks; English rockers Kasabian are heading off the beaten track with an Irish tour. The news only came out of the Kasabian camp through their website and facebook page, and the band have Cork, Limerick, Galway and Derry in their sights. There are no details of any shows in the more established cities of Belfast and Dublin it sure is refreshing to see a high-profile band playing at some smaller venues around the country. Tickets went on sale at 12, and the ticket details can be found on the band’s website: http://kasabianlive.com/2014/04/four-irish-dates-announced-presale-live-12pm-today/…

  • Video exclusive: Sullivan & Gold – Glory

    A week on from premiering the video for their exquisite cover of ‘Nobody Loves You’ by Reuben, we’re very happy to present an exclusive of ‘Glory’, the newest single by Derry singer-songwriter duo Sullivan & Gold. Shot in the charming, coffee-scented surroundings of Lost & Found Bar and Cafe on Queen Street, Coleraine, the video was shot by PIGMINTFILM. A song about “the little things in life, that seems to grow in stature every time the boys perform it live”, it is the second single to be taken from Sullivan & Gold’s debut album, For Foes. Sullivan & Gold will…

  • Stream: Planet Parade – Before & After

    Having first reared their head back in 2009 with their four-track EP, Ghosts To People, Kildare indie-pop duo Michael Hopkins and Andrew Lloyd AKA Planet Parade have released their latest track, the lulling narcosis of ‘Before and After’. With tracks ‘Prick’ and ‘You and the Devil’ proving equally immersive last month, the two-piece have returned with a three-minute gem, propelled by a hugging, synth-led nocturnalism, gently chopping rhythms and suitably entrancing vocals. Stream the track via Soundcloud below.

  • Paul Weller Announces Dublin Show

    Legendary singer-songwriter Paul Weller will be paying Dublin a visit this summer when he calls over to the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham on Monday, June 24. Tickets are €44.50 and go on sale this Friday, April 4 at 9 am. The fast-rising Tom Odell will be providing support on the night.  

  • Westport Festival announces new acts

    Dublin indie rock band Little Green Cars will be paying a visit to the Mayo town this summer for Westport Festival 2014, alongside the likes of Morrissey & Marshall and Tinariwan. Tickets for the event are priced at €76 for one day, and €131 for the weekend, with under 17s able to enter for €41. The latest acts will be joining the likes of Bryan Adams and Kool & the Gang on the 28th and 29th of June.  

  • Album stream: Ginnels – A Country Life

    Just over three years on from the release of his self-titled debut album, Grand Pocket Orchestra and No Monster Club guitarist/bassist Mark Chester AKA Ginnels has returned with his fourth album, A Country Life. Released via the wonderful Popical Island, the fourteen-track release was recorded, mixed and mastered by Chester at Rialto Cottages and The Pop Inn during the winter just passed. With the likes of ‘Car’s Parked’ and ‘God Botherers’ standing out on first listen, the record is seemingly a more fleshed-out and less (albeit wonderfully-woven) haphazard concoction of sounds, all propelled Chester’s instantly recognisable brand of restless, somewhat melancholic indie rock.…

  • Stream: Master & Dog – Candlelight

    The long-awaited follow-up to their 2012 self-titled debut album, Belfast-based alt-folk band Master & Dog are streaming the wonderfully delicate and understated ‘Candlelight’, the first song to be taken from their new EP, Things You Should Know. Recorded and mixed at the band’s Graham House Studio, the full four-track EP is currently available to download as a digital release for £5 via Bandcamp. ‘Candlelight’, the first track on the release, is a paced and weaving ode evocative of early Elbow and the more placid tales of Wilco and Sparklehorse. Following a string of German dates in April, the band will play two…

  • First Tennents Vital Show Announced

    The Killers will be coming to Belfast to perform as part of the Tennents Vital series of gigs. The show will take place at the Boucher Road Playing Fields, Belfast on the 21st of August. And if the prospect of the American band doesn’t have you excited enough already, Bastille will also be playing on the night. Tickets for the show will cost €49.50 and will go on sale next Monday, March 31 at 9am.