• Premiere: Cal Folger Day – Apples + Reprise

    December 11, 2018 - By 

    Including ‘Homez-a-Place‘ and ‘Song From a Party‘, Dublin-based New Yorker Cal Folger Day has released a steady stream of sonically mottled and consistently compelling EPs and singles over the years. Her latest project is The Woods and Grandma, a verbatim pop-about Lady Gregory, which was recorded live in Dublin at Ailfionn by Christopher Barry and mixed/mastered in LA by Hans Zimmer engineer Forest Christenson. Set for broadcast on RTÉ Lyric FM on Sunday (December 16) between 6-7pm, the show – which scooped the Little Gem award at the 2017 Dublin Fringe Festival – will go on a two-week East Coast US tour with…

  • Stream: Gnarkats – Take Me Away

    December 10, 2018 - By 

    Gnarkats’ knack for blending burrowing, star-shaped melodies with low-end riffs saw them emerge as one of Ireland’s best alt-indie bands this year. Citing the likes of Fidlar, St. Vincent and fellow Belfast-based band, And So I Watch You From Afar, as key influences, Jordan Evans, Stuart Robinson and Louis Nelson are back with their final song of the year, ‘Take Me Away’. A re-recording of an old fan favourite, the single – which comes accompanied with a wonderfully DIY video, which you can watch below – was recorded and mixed by Stuart Robinson from the band.

  • Villagers and Aldous Harding for Iveagh Gardens

    December 10, 2018 - By 

    Conor O’Brien’s Villagers are the latest act announced to headline Iveagh Gardens next summer. Supported by Aldous Harding, the band – who released one of the Irish albums of 2018, The Art of Pretending to Swim, in September – will play the Dublin show on Friday, July 12. Tickets go on sale on Thursday, December 13 at 9am.

  • First Acts Announced For Forbidden Fruit 2019

    December 10, 2018 - By 

    Forbidden Fruit have revealed their first names for 2019. The annual festival – which returns to Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin across the Bank Holiday weekend of June 1-3 – will welcome Skepta, Danny Brown, Mura Masa, Elbow, First Aid Kit, Jon Hopkins, Paul Kalkbrenner, Maribou State, Mall Grab, Daniel Avery, Polo & Pan, Homeshake, Ross from Friends and Saint Sister. More acts are to be announced. Day and weekend tickets go on sale at 9am on Thursday.

  • Janelle Monáe Set For Dublin’s Summer Series

    December 10, 2018 - By 

    Janelle Monáe will play the Summer Series in Dublin on July 3, 2019. Monáe – who released one of the albums of 2018, Dirty Computer, back in April – is the latest act to be announced for the annual Trinty College gig series. New Order and Paul Weller have also recently been announced to play. Tickets for the show cost €54.65 and go on sale on Friday, December 14.

  • Video Premiere: Junior Brother – The Back of Her

    December 7, 2018 - By 

    Back in January, we featured Kerry experimental folk artist Ronan Kealy AKA Junior Brother as one of our ones to watch in 2018. From making his mark at Electric Picnic, Metropolis, Other Voices and elsewhere, to being lined up for a spin on Cillian Murphy’s BBC 6Music show on December 23, he has made good on the promise and then some Sealing the deal on a very busy year – one that was spun into motion via last year’s ‘Hungover at Mass‘ – is the serene and singular ‘The Back of Her’. It’s a wistful and unravelling heart-stung paean that distils the essence of Kealy’s craft to…

  • The National to Headline All Together Now

    December 7, 2018 - By 

    Having had an extremely strong first outing this year, All Together Now has announced that the National will headline the festival next year. When it returns to Curraghmore House in Co. Waterford across the August Bank Holiday (2nd-4th) weekend, the festival will now boast 16 stages, featuring natural amphitheatres, the iconic Spiegeltent, secret woodland stages and the All Together Now Bandstand, across a 3000 acre setting. General and family tickets for next year are on sale now, priced at just €199.50 until December 31. Installment plan options are also available. Revisit our top 10 sets for All Together Now 2018…

  • Output Belfast To Return in February

    December 6, 2018 - By 

    The country’s largest annual music conference, Output Belfast will return to the city for its fifth outing on Thursday, February 21st 2019. Organised by Belfast City Council, as ever, the conference will include various panel discussions, music sessions, workshops and speed networkinge events from various artists, managers and industry figures. In the evening, there will once more be various free, collaboratively-curated showcases in venues right across the heart of the city. The line-ups for each – including a bill co-promoted by yours truly – will be revealed in the coming weeks. Go here to sign up and be the first to hear about…

  • The Skibunny Christmas Carol Announced

    December 6, 2018 - By 

    Having made their long-awaited return back in July, legendary Belfast DJ duo Tanya Mellotte and Mark Gordon AKA Skibunny have announced details of the forthcoming Skibunny Christmas Carol at Belfast’s Menagerie on Thursday, December 20th. Featuring a live set from the Skibunny house and friends, the following acts will perform: Robyn G Shiels, LARKS, Tom McShane, Mark Gordon, Tanya Mellotte, Bro Dougan, Joe Greene and Roisin Stewart from Documenta, Girls Rock School NI, Rocky O’Reilly, Richard Hill and many more to be announced. As ever, Skibunny DJs will close the night out. Few festive events have unmissable written all over them –…

  • Video Premiere: Squarehead – Always On

    December 6, 2018 - By 

    Strange, desperate times call for great, defiant music. Fighting their corner, and sounding the best they have ever sounded, is the re-emergent Squarehead. Comprising Roy Duffy, Ruan Van Vliet and Ian McFarlane, the Dublin indie-rock heroes are back after a lengthy, self-proclaimed “mental-health break” (always a good shout, busy artists) with a brand new album in the can. Featuring sometime fourth member, Ruadhan O’Meara (No Spill Blood/Magic Pockets) on keyboards and synth duties, lead single, the sublime ‘Always On’ sees “the boys now men with crippling responsibilities and a feeling of bewilderment at the world around them.” It’s quintessential Squarehead and a latecomer for one of the Irish singles…