• Stream: Leo Drezden – A Place For You and I/Neo Tolkien

    April 7, 2020 - By 

    It’s been a while since we heard from Leo Drezden. Comprising Rian Trench, Steve McKinney, Dan Le Bolloc’h and Chris Con, the band’s shapeshifting brand of heavy prog instrumentalism has long defied comparison, which is why their return – not least in such trying and unprecedented times – comes not a second too soon. Comprising two tracks clocking in at just over ten minutes, Leo Drezden Present is a suitably emphatic brace from the Irish quartet. While opener, the wonderfully widescreen ‘A Place For You and I’ marries jazz, prog and electronic for a first-rate, Brainfeeder-y trip, ‘Neo Tolkien’ is an ambitious and equally interstellar effort that,…

  • Stream: Squarehead – Radiation Vibe (Fountains of Wayne cover)

    April 2, 2020 - By 

    Among the many tributes pouring in for Fountains of Wayne bassist Adam Schlesinger, who has tragically passed aged 52 from coronavirus, Roy Duffy of Dublin indie-rock threesome par excellence Squarehead has offered up something special. Recorded in memory of Schlesinger, Duffy’s rendition of Fountain of Wayne’s debut single, ‘Radiation Vibe,’ feels like the sonic equivalent of a perfectly drawn-out embrace with someone you thought you’d never see again. “I came late to the realisation that I was a big fan of Adam Schlesinger’s work,’ Duffy said. “Maybe about 10 years ago when I began writing my own “song songs” in earnest I delved into anything that…

  • Bleeding Heart Pigeons Announce New Album ‘Stir’

    March 27, 2020 - By 

    Four years on from the release of their acclaimed debut album Is, experimental pop trio Bleeding Heart Pigeons have announce its long-awaited follow-up, Stir, accompanied by lead single, the prescient ‘Real Connection’. Written and recorded in their converted farm-shed in rural West Limerick, the band have been together for twelve years, having signed to Virgin Records as teenagers in 2013 and since moving on to their own new imprint Hlym Records. Stir is set for release on May 22. In contrast to the “album-oriented” process of Is, the band described their approach in Stir as being more song-focused – “each song is its own little world”. Infectious and…

  • Ciaran Lavery Announces New LP, Unveils ‘Count To Ten’

    March 27, 2020 - By 

    Not exactly one to rest on his laurels, TTA favourite Ciaran Lavery has been extra busy as of late. Quite likely the only musician from the small Co. Antrim parish of Aghagallon currently active and based in Brighton, the 33-year-old has just revealed details of his forthcoming fourth album, Plz Stay, bb. The follow-up to 2018’s inspired Sweet Decay, it is, we are reliably informed, a full-length release bearing the imprint of everything from Thom Yorke’s The Eraser and Mitski’s Be The Cowboy to Beastie Boys classic Ill Communication. To accompany the news, Lavery has unveiled easily one of his compelling singles to date. Bolstered by…

  • EP Stream: Perlee – Slow Creature

    March 27, 2020 - By 

    Late last year, we were pleased to host Maija Sofia’s introduction to Saramai Leech and Cormac O’Keefe aka Perlee. An Irish-bred dream-pop duo based in Berlin, the fast-rising duo’s creative process and broader impetus as a recording duo came to the fore in a revealing exchange. Five months on and the pair have officially released their debut EP, the sublime, and suitably slow-burning Slow Creature. Including new single and opener ‘Conditions to Thrive’, it’s singularly elegiac release, melding minimalist alt-pop songwriting with balmy textures and nigh on filmic lyricism. If you’re fond of artists like Mazzy Star, Julee Cruise, Low, Weyes Blood and Portishead at their most restrained, expect…

  • Brand New Friend Virtual Tour Kicks Off Tonight

    March 27, 2020 - By 

    One of the many acts hit with a postponement were Brand New Friend, who were to play one of their biggest headline shows at the start of the lockdown. Johnson siblings Taylor (vocals/guitar), Lauren (vocals/synth) and Logan (bass) will be streaming a series of intimate live acoustic performances on their Instagram & Facebook. Fans can decide setlists by voting via social media channels, and this Monday, March 30, they’ll perform their debut album Seatbelts For Aeroplanes in its entirety. You can catch them on the following dates at 8pm, starting tonight – with Gerry Norman, aka Tour Alaska ‘opening’ at 7.30pm:

  • EP Stream: Vivamagnolia – Queen of the Rodeo

    March 27, 2020 - By 

    If there’s one thing we learned from hosting packed-out tributes to U.S. musician Mark Linkous aka Sparklehorse back in 2017 it’s that there is still a sizable audience for brooding, Americana-tinged indie rock here in Ireland. Better still, beyond the likes of Tom McShane, Pixie Saytar, The Mad Dalton and Heliopause (all of whom faithfully covered the music of Linkous as part of the aforesaid tribute ensemble) there are musicians here crafting equally earworming and inward-peering sounds in a similar vein. One such example is Vivamagnolia aka Belfast-based alt-country singer-songwriter Patrick J. Hodgen. Tipping his stetson hat to lo-fi indie luminaries such as Linkous, Bill Callahan, Will…

  • Mixtape Premiere: Acid Granny – Just Be Hoors

    March 27, 2020 - By 

    One of a handful of Irish acts that we recently singled out as being destined for special things in 2020 and beyond, Dublin’s perfectly unpigeonholeable Acid Granny have wasted no time in making their very own brand of face-searing, genre-flaunting shock-and-awe heard. Stocking more bangers than a mid-Ulster fireworks dealer come October, their freeform explorations via the time-untested medium of drum kit and electrified shopping trolley will, if you allow them, yield demented patterns and ecstatic locked grooves à la Afrika Bambaataa on sneachta and Zach Hill being flung down a flight of stairs. Intrigued? Daunted? Barely keeping it together after a couple of weeks in the gaff? Look no further than…

  • Video Premiere: Gnarkats – Dreamers

    March 27, 2020 - By 

    Among the many Irish acts to give us some insight into how they’re coping in this unchartered era of self-isolation, Belfast trio Gnarkats know a thing or two about looking on the bright side. On singles such as ‘Take Me Away’, ‘War Cry’ and ‘Enigma’, the band’s slick brand of indie-pop has always felt unapologetically optimistic and forward-looking to its core. Rather than wallow or peer collectively inwards, Louis Nelson, Jordan Evans and Stuart Robinson instead opt to wield hope via their craft. Which is to say, their thoroughly idealistic new single ‘Dreamers’ couldn’t have arrived at a better time. Distilling Gnarkats’…

  • Islander Announce Live From Home Concert Set For This Friday

    March 25, 2020 - By 

    Islander draws together four of the finest singer-songwriters in Ireland for a special 2-hour online concert on Friday, March 27. Performing – in half hour increments – are Choice-nominated Maija Sofia, the ambient experimental folk of John Francis Flynn, bouzouki, guitar & piano player Anna Mieke and Junior Brother, who wrote our Irish album of 2019, Pull The Right Rope. Viewers are encouraged to donate whatever you can, if you can, to these artists who have lost at least a month of work, with events cancelled and weekly gigs gone for the foreseeable future. All donations will be split evenly between the artists – you can donate here. Links…