• Watch: Bouts – Love’s Lost Landings (Part 2)

    Next week, Bouts will release their highly-anticipated second album, Flow. It’s an release that finds the Dublin quartet distilling their star-shaped, and instantly recognisable brand of indie rock down to nine tracks. Doubling up as the long-awaited full-length follow-up to 2013’s Nothing Good Gets Away, the album – which was recorded by Fiachra McCarthy in Dublin – is an emphatic return effort at a time when carefully-crafted guitar music is experiencing a long-overdue renaissance. Coming off the back of singles ‘Face Up’ and ‘Love’s Lost Lost Landings (Part 1)’, the newly-released ‘Love’s Lost Landings (Part 2)’ is an irresistible shoegaze-leaning burst revolving around Barry Bracken’s…

  • Stream: Arvo Party – ouroboros

    Following a big 2018, a year that saw the Belfast-based producer and musicians release his second album, II, all while emerging as one of the country’s strongest electronic artists, Herb Magee AKA Arvo Party has returned with ‘ouroboros’. Across nine minutes, the track untangles as a masterfully propulsive effort, marrying ecstatic synth shapes, woozy ambience and drubbing rhythms. Better still – in a move that fully underscores the broad-minded spirit that’s setting Magee apart – there is, ladies and gentlemen, a sax solo. Delve in below. ouroboros by Arvo Party

  • Watch: JyellowL – True Colors

    Ahead of what we expect to be a strong year for Word Up Collective, JyellowL has unveiled the video for new single, ‘True Colors’. Taken from his latest EP, Me n Me Too, slick production and breathless bars meld for one of the strongest efforts from the Dublin-based rapper, aka Jean-Luc Uddoh, to date. We’re told, “The song is about becoming aware of the shadiness in the world and calling it as is but also exposing yourself for masking moments of vulnerability with exuberant confidence, hiding your true self behind the bravado.” Check out the video – and upcoming JyellowL tour…

  • EP Premiere: Fierce Pit Bosses – Sharks In The Bathtub

    The seed of Donegal emo-tinged alt punk trio Fierce Pit Bosses has been growing the North West for a while now. Starting out as the folk-punk vessel for Eoin Gillespie’s kitchen sink small-town listlessness, he hit early the emotional notes of the likes of Jeff Rosenstock, before the project grew into a righteously fierce (sorry) live outfit. With Tuath’s Robert Mulhern at the helm on production, their debut Sharks in the Bathtub EP captures the raw, fizzing energy of Hüsker Dü, as buzzsaw guitars, snare & cymbal clatter collide with pop sensibility, and the irresistible sound of a young band with a beating heart on their sleeves. The EP is launched at Letterkenny’s Central Bar this Saturday, January 19, with support…

  • The Antlers Set For Dublin Show

    Making their first appearance in Ireland in five years, The Antlers are set to play the Sugar Club on April 30 in what will be an appropriately intimate, subdued setting for the cinematic outfit. Having not played together since 2015, following the release of their last album, Familiars, the band has announced a vinyl reissue of their career-defining album, Hospice, on its tenth anniversary. The album, which featured Sharon Van Etten on vocals, was one of the finest to come from the emotive rock movement of the noughties. Of the reissue, primary songwriter & vocalist Peter Silberman said: “We’re reissuing the Hospice LP on March 8th, 2019, in honor of…

  • The Gloaming Announce Album Number Three

    The Gloaming have announced details of their forthcoming third studio album. The trad super band – comprised Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Thomas Bartlett and Matt Purcell – will release The Gloaming 3 on February 22 via Real World Records. Produced by Thomas Bartlett, the album was recorded last autumn at New York’s Reservoir Studios. See some thoughts on the release by Irish author Colm Tóibín – and check out the artwork for the venue – below. The Gloaming play Dublin’s The National Concert Hall on March 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, & 11th. “What you notice first…

  • The Workman’s Club Set for Tony Hawk’s Soundtrack Night

    On Friday, February 8, Dublin’s The Workman’s Club will host Story Mode, a night of Tony Hawk’s soundtrack nostalgia. Aimed squarely we who have whittled away countless hours playing the long-running skateboarding series throughout the 2000s and beyond, the night is presented as “a club night dedicated to celebrating [the] tunes” from its soundtrack, including The Violent Femmes, NOFX, NAS, The Offspring, RUN DMC, Dead Kennedys and more. Better still, slick skate visuals are promised on the big screen throughout the night, featuring classics such as Flip’s Extremely Sorry and CKY and Tony Hawk’s featured skaters like Eric Koston, Mike Vallely, and Bam…

  • The Cinematic Orchestra Set For Dublin Show

    The Cinematic Orchestra are set to make their long-awaited return to Dublin. Doubling up as their first Irish show in 12 years, the genre-warping British act will perform 20 years of career-spanning spanning classics at Vicar Street on March 25. Tickets – priced at €34.50 – go on sale this Friday at 9am. Revisit the band’s critically-acclaimed fourth studio album, 2007’s Ma Fleur, below.

  • Marcus Woods shares fast-paced electronic cut, ‘Saturn V’

    We first became aware Marcus Woods back in 2017 around the release of his polychrome via the ever elusive Wooden Spoons imprint. The now tape exclusive EP of self-proclaimed ‘Chill Trash’ was a fine introduction to the Dublin producer whose atmospheric, lo-fi beats have seen him evolving to be one of the country’s most sought after young producers. Last October, he released his debut digital album, demo, which you can check out here. Now, the 18-year-old beatmaker is embarking on his 2019 release schedule, launching proceedings with the fast-paced and percussive electronics of ‘Saturn V’. Shared via his own Burner Records, the track is named after…

  • Choice Music Prize Shortlist Announced

    The shortlist for this year’s RTE Choice Music Prize has been announced. Taking place at Dublin’s Vicar Street on Thursday, March 7th, the following ten albums will vie for the prize. The Academic – Tales From The Backseat (ROOM6 Records) Delorentos – True Surrender (Delo Records) Just Mustard – Wednesday (Pizza Pizza Records) Kojaque – Deli Daydreams (Soft Boy Records) O Emperor – Jason (Big Skin Records) Lisa O’Neill – Heard A Long Gone Song (River Lea Recordings) Saint Sister – Shape Of Silence (self released) Rejjie Snow – Dear Annie (BMG) Villagers – The Art Of Pretending To Swim…