• Download: Aaron Shanley – Bedroom Tapes: Swiss Cottage Teal Roses

    December 2, 2013 - By 

    Lisburn lo-fi acoustic singer-songwriter Aaron Shanley has unveiled a new nine-track “bootleg” release, Bedroom Tapes: Swiss Cottage Teal Roses. Ahead of a fully-recorded studio release in the pipeline, Shanley said the release featured “generally unheard stuff that won’t ever be recorded again or featured on future albums” and ranges from the brilliantly understated – ‘Dear No One’ and the Death Cab For Cutie-esque ‘I Hope So, Laura’-  to more buoyant tracks including ‘She’s So Easy To Hold’ and ‘Trouble’, a track that evokes the heartfelt Americana of Foy Vance. Stream (or pay what you like for) Bedroom Tapes: Swiss Cottage Teal Roses below.

  • Stream: Fight Like Apes – Carousel

    December 2, 2013 - By 

    Ahead of a handful of pre-Christmas shows, Dublin four-piece Fight Like Apes have unveiled a new track titled ‘Carousel’. A typically urgent number from the electro-indie-punk-popmakers – propelled by scurrying synths, Books-esque sample and MayKay’s voracious vocal – it feature on the band’s from their forthcoming new album, set for release at some point in 2014. Fight Like Apes play Distillation 07 at Belfast’s Oh Yeah Centre on Saturday, December 14. Go here for the Facebook event page. They also play Roisin Dubh in Galway on December 5, Whelan’s, Dublin on December 20, and Cork’s Cyprus Avenue on December 27th. Check out the track below.

  • Stream: Benihana – Patterns EP

    November 26, 2013 - By 

    Kildare electronic duo Will Molloy and Billy Archbold AKA Benihana have unveiled a stream of their debut EP, Patterns. Having released a couple of tracks throughout the year – including the spectral ‘Vanish’ – the pair’s five-track release veers between understated techno and synth-driven electronic pop, serving as a brief but brilliant introduction to a duo likely to concoct great things over the next while. Stream (or pay what you like for) the EP via Bandcamp below.

  • Stream: Go Wolf – Voices/Even God

    November 25, 2013 - By 

    Belfast indie pop band Go Wolf are streaming their latest single,’Voices’ and its b-side, ‘Even God’. Whereas ‘Voices’ was featured on the fifteenth compilation by French electronic label Kitsuné last month, the version of ‘Even God’ is a re-recorded version from the version released last year. Here’s the artwork for the double single, created by Paul Irwin: Stream ‘Voices’ and ‘Even God’ via Bandcamp below.

  • Watch: Jetplane Landing – Beat Generation… Ha!

    November 19, 2013 - By 

    Taken from their fourth studio album, Don’t Try, Derry alt-rock quartet Jetplane Landing have unveiled the video to their forthcoming single, ‘Beat Generation… Ha!’ Referencing beat literature exponents such as Gregory Corso and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the video features cut-and-paste text from the likes of Corso’s poem ‘I am 25’, poetry works including A Coney Island Of The Mind by Ferlinghetti and press articles on the literary pioneers. ‘Beat Generation… Ha! is released on December 2nd via Smalltown America. Watch the video below.

  • Stream: My Tribe Your Tribe – Vol. II EP

    December 2, 2013 - By 

    Dublin-based singer-songwriter and producer George Mercer AKA My Tribe Your Tribe is streaming his second solo EP, the aptly-titled Vol. II. Formerly of Boy Lights Fire, Mercer released Vol. 1 back in April. Vol. II is mainly comprised of material written since the musician moved to Dublin from Laois in June. Speaking of the release Mercer said “My direction felt like it was changing. A lot of the previous influences and styles of music I has been listening to over the past couple of years were surfacing in my writing.” “I wanted to bring the immediacy of folk and popular music into play,…

  • Watch: We Cut Corners – YKK

    November 18, 2013 - By 

    Having released a stream of it last month, Dublin indie rock duo We Cut Corners have unveiled the Eoin Heaney-directed video for their new single, ‘YKK’. Filmed in black and white, the minimalist video features the pair performing the track in front of supremely seizure-inducing visuals from Dublin-based projection/visual artist collective LeTissier. ‘YKK’ is released via Delphi on November 25 and is set to feature on We Cut Corners’ second studio album, which will be released next year. Watch the video below via Vimeo.

  • EP Stream: Chocolate Love Factory – Pickle & POG

    November 14, 2013 - By 

    Ahead of its launch at Belfast’s Radar tonight, Thursday November 14, Belfast-based four-piece Chocolate Love Factory have released a digital stream of their latest EP, Pickle & POG. A six-track release featuring the single ‘Motivator’, the EP was recorded between Clark Phillips and Ben McAuley over the last year and a half. Following the departure of bassist Pearse McClelland, the band have recently expanded to a four-piece, incorporating members of the equally progressively-inclined Yellow Car No Return and The Institute* into the fold. Go here for the event page for the band’s EP launch, also set to feature The Big…

  • Stream: The Rupture Dogs – Feral

    November 12, 2013 - By 

    Ahead of its launch at Belfast’s Mandela Hall on Saturday, November 16 as part of Belfast Music Week 2013, The Rupture Dogs have released a stream of their debut album, Feral Recored by James Lyttle at Millbank Studios and mixed/mastered by Neal Calderwood at Manor Park Studios, the twelve-track release is also available to purchase via the band’s Bandcamp page. Go here for the event page for the Ferali album launch (a show doubling up as the official launch of The Difference Between by Mojo Fury and featuring several more acts) here. Stream Feral below.

  • Gary Lightbody releases feature-length statement on NI Music Prize

    November 12, 2013 - By 

    Ahead of its inaugural launch at Belfast’s Mandela Hall tonight as part of this year’s Belfast Music Week, Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody has released a feature-length statement about the NI Music Prize. The Bangor singer-songwriter – also frontman with supergroup Tired Pony, who are vying for the annual album prize – wrote: “Firstly I’m delighted that Tired Pony have been nominated for the Northern Irish Music Prize. I am gutted that I’m not going to be there tonight to see who wins. Now let me make the case for everyone else but us on this fantastic and diverse list….…