• Listen to a New Four-Track Split From Out on a Limb and Strange Brew Records

    March 20, 2019 - By 

    Some collaborative releases were just destined to be. As two of the country’s finest indie imprints, Limerick’s Out on a Limb and Galway’s Strange Brew have spent many a long year championing the worthiest of homegrown sounds. Now, the labels have teamed up for Out On a Strange Brew, a new quadruple a-side collaborative release featuring two artists that we’ve loved from the start: Limerick quartet PowPig and Kerry experimental folk artist Ronan Kealy AKA Junior Brother. Kicking off with two new tracks from the former – the equally assured ‘Mayday’ and ‘Pretty Woman’ – the release culminates on two sublime efforts from the…

  • Last Podcast on the Left Set For Vicar Street

    March 19, 2019 - By 

    Spanning everything from Jeffrey Dahmer, werewolves and Jonestown to iconic hauntings, the history of war crimes and more, Last Podcast on the Left has established itself as a supreme go-to for all things horror in the world of podcasting. Hosted by Ben Kissel, Marcus Parks and Henry Zebrowski, the series will stop off at Dublin’s Vicar Street for a live show on September 4th. Tickets cost €30.00 and go on sale this Friday at 9am. Check out LPONTL here.

  • Knockanstockan Announce Second Wave of Acts

    March 19, 2019 - By 

    Knockanstockan have announced their second wave of acts for this year’s festival. Joining the likes of Just Mustard, Bicurious, Punk Podge & The Technohippies, Hot Cops, Cherym and Kitt Philippa, who were among the first names announced last month, include Robocobra Quartet, Slouch, Dowry, BATS, Jyellowl, Myles Manley, Rachael Boyd, No Spill Blood, Tebi Rex, Happyalone, The Wood Burning Savages and more. Returning to Blessington Lake in Co. Wicklow across July 19-21, tickets for the festival can be bought here. Watch the second line-up announcement video below.

  • Stephen Malkmus Set For Dublin Show

    March 18, 2019 - By 

    Stephen Malkmus will return to Dublin to play Whelans on Saturday, September 14. Set to take place almost a year after Malkmus (with the Jicks) played Vicar Street last October, the show is part of a series of solo shows in UK and Europe across September. Tickets go on sale on Friday at 9am priced €30 inclusive of booking fee. Revisit Zara Hedderman’s interview with Malkmus from October here. Malkmus recently released his latest solo album, Groove Denied. Stream it below.

  • Teenage Fanclub, Spiritualized and Anna Calvi For Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival

    March 15, 2019 - By 

    This year’s Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival in Belfast is already shaping up to be one of its strongest line-ups to date. With the likes of Echo & The Bunnymen already announced, today the festival has revealed three stellar bookings. On Saturday, May 4, Jason Pierce’s Spiritualized will play the Marquee. On May 7, Anna Calvi will play Custom House Square. And on Thursday, May 2, Scottish alternative rock heroes Teenage Fanclub will also play the Marquee. Go here to buy tickets. Take a bow, CQAF.  Take a bow.

  • The Specials Set For Open House Festival

    March 14, 2019 - By 

    English 2 Tone legends The Specials will play Bangor’s Open House festival in the summer. The Terry Hall-fronted band – who released their long-awaited eighth studio album, Encore, last month – will play the seafront as part of this year’s festival on Sunday, August 25. Tickets cost £45 and go on sale tomorrow (Friday, March 15) at 9am. Featuring 140 events, spanning music, theatre, comedy, books, spoken word, film, food & drink and visual art, the full programme for Open House 2019 will be announced in May. Previously announced, the Specials will also play three dates at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre across April…

  • EP Premiere: His Father’s Voice – Context and Perspective

    March 15, 2019 - By 

    The caveat with most ‘scenes’ tends to be that there’ll be some nadir to follow, once its signature sound has had a post-rock-esque fall into over-saturation and self-parody, but Limerick seemingly has no throughline other than its open ear and fiercely independent streak. The city has been responsible for galvanising a new school of Irish artists, and Blindboy seems to be very much emblematic of that. At DIY LK shows, we’ve borne witness to abstract field recording-based performances and 90s-recalling indie rock bands comfortably side-by-side in an idealistic cultural mindset that functions as a microcosm for how we’d love music to be widely presented. A great number…

  • Premiere: Angular Hank – I Don’t Always Like You

    March 14, 2019 - By 

    It’s been a pretty sweet year for idiosyncratic Irish indie rock thus far – look no further than releases from Hot Cops, Postcard Versions & Larry for that – and another name you can add to that heap is Dublin-based quartet Angular Hank. Having only played a handful of shows to date, debut single ‘I Don’t Always Like You’ seeps into the signature Popical Island-style Dublin bedroom jangle that comes pre-loaded with chorus pedals, with a wonderfully human baritone vocal from Mathieu Doogan. Kicking back with dissonance at the hint of a melody getting too cosy like its protagonist does at showing too much vulnerability, the single is a…

  • BBC Radio Ulster To Present New Homegrown DJ Series, In The Mix

    March 11, 2019 - By 

    BBC Radio Ulster is set to present a new series of live mixes from emerging homegrown DJs. Beginning on Tuesday, March 10 at 10pm with Hammer, aka Rory Hamilton, the series will feature four exclusively week mixes, later featuring one half of Schmutz, Kristian Woods, on March 19, co-founder of Belfast’s The Night Institute, Jordan McQuaig, on March 26 and fast-rising Armagh DJ Holly Lester (pictured) on April 2. All four exclusive DJ mixes will be live in the studio, simulcast in video at the BBC Music NI homepage and will be available to catch up via BBC Sounds.

  • Stream: The Claque – Hush

    March 13, 2019 - By 

    If you’re missing the gaping void in game-changing guitar music left by Girl Band in the last couple of years, here’s something to sate your appetite. The Claque comprises long-time friends in vocalist Kate Brady, Paddy Ormond – of Jet Setter & Postcard Versions, who released their wonderful debut album last month – and and Girl Band guitarist Alan Duggan. Debut single ‘Hush’ and its noise-pop flipside ‘Stray’ immediately bear Duggan’s inimitable, jarring sonic imprint, dragged into humanity by the oneiric warmth of synth layers & Brady’s soulful vocal – which could be incongruous in the hands of less masterful musicians. Produced by Girl Band bassist…