• NI Music Prize – Best Single (Public Vote)

    September 11, 2018 - By 

    Set to take place at Belfast’s iconic Ulster Hall on Thursday, November 15, we’re pleased to team up with the Northern Ireland Music Prize for the Public Vote for the Best Single award. This year, twelve singles – from Arvo Party’s ‘Liberté’ to The Wood Burning Savages’ ‘I Don’t Know Why I Do It To Myself’ – are vying for the prize and £1000 on the night. Check out the full list of shortlisted singles and the voting form below. Go here for full information about this year’s Northern Ireland Music Prize. Arvo Party – Liberté Ash – Buzzkill Brand New Friend…

  • Video Premiere: VerseChorusVerse – Chord (Gunn Laws)

    September 13, 2018 - By 

    Tony Wright is going through the most fertile creative stretch of his career right now. Unanimously positive reviews have accompanied the release of the third VerseChorusVerse album, outro, while his new, much-anticipated memoir Another Dickhead (On The Road) is to be launched at Belfast’s The MAC on October 17 – more details on that here – where he also currently happens to be the resident artist. Oh, and he just put in an organic performance co-starring in the heavily relatable Belfast-based short comedy series The Also Rans, the (only partly-fictionalised) tale of a pair of failed musicians. And after all that preamble, we’re today premiering the video for possibly the LP’s finest cut, ‘Chord (Gunn Laws)’. Something…

  • Premiere: Sun Mahshene – Tales of Fiction

    September 10, 2018 - By 

    Eight months on from being featured as one of our 18 for ’18 acts, Dublin collective Sun Mahshene are back with the video for their strongest single effort to date, ‘Tales of Fiction’. Blurring the lines between the band’s hazy brand of psych-speckled indie, the July single is brought to life via director Gerard Walsh’s narrative-driven video, which stars Ieva Grigaite and Desmond Eastwood. Have a first look below.

  • Premiere: Milky Teeth – Waiting Up For You

    September 10, 2018 - By 

    Last year we had the pleasure of premiering the first two singles from Milky Teeth AKA Robbie Barron of The Shaker Hymn and John Blek & The Rats. Some sixteen months on, the Cork musician returns in his solo guise. During some downtime from Shaker Hymn commitments over the summer, Barron put the final touches on the debut Milky Teeth album, which is set for release within the coming months. Produced, engineered, and mixed in his home studio, new single, the sublime ‘Waiting Up For You’ is another wonderfully crafted dose of alt-pop from Barron, and a taste of what to expect from his forthcoming full-length solo LP. A montage of…

  • Shortlists Revealed for Northern Ireland Music Prize 2018

    September 10, 2018 - By 

    The shortlists for this year’s Northern Ireland Music Prize has been announced. Set to take place in Belfast’s iconic Ulster Hall on November 15, the event – which is now in its sixth year – returns with three categories that formed part of the first NI Music Awards back in 2011: Best Live, Best Single and the Oh Yeah Contender Awards for best emerging act. Over 80 industry and media cast their vote for all four categories over the last few months. The winners of each category will be awarded a cash prize. Best Single, Best Live Act and Oh Yeah…

  • The Murder Capital Announce Irish Tour

    September 6, 2018 - By 

    Fast-rising Dublin band The Murder Capital have announced details of a two-part Irish tour across November and December. The James McGovern-fronted five-piece – who impressed at various Irish festivals this summer including Electric Picnic – will play Galway, Limerick, Cork, Belfast and Derry. Check out full dates below.

  • Watch: O Emperor – Girl

    September 6, 2018 - By 

    Having re-emerged back in January with their first single in two years, ‘Make It Rain’, Waterford five-piece O Emperor have just gone one better and released one of our Irish tracks of the year in the form of ‘Girl’. Featuring some first-rate dreamscape-like visuals courtesy of director Paul Savage, it marries doo-wop croon and psych-tinged dream-pop textures with slack hip-hop influence.  Ahead of full details about the band’s forthcoming new album, due this year, delve in below.

  • Stream: Documenta – The Blue Sleep

    September 6, 2018 - By 

    We recently snuck a sneak peek of the forthcoming new EP from Belfast’s drone-pop septet Documenta and let it be known: we’re in for something very special indeed. Featuring the inimitable Will Carruthers of Spacemen 3, Spiritualized et. al, the five-track Lady with Ring will be released on vinyl EP and digital formats via Touch Sensitive Records on Friday, October 12. A release that doubles up as a departure from the band’s Drone Pop trilogy, the EP revolves around the story of Margorie McCall. We’re told: “McCall lived in rural Ireland in the early 18th century. She succumbed to a fever and…

  • Julia Holter Set For Dublin Return

    September 6, 2018 - By 

    Alongside details of her forthcoming fifth studio album, Aviary, it’s been revealed that Julia Holter will play Dublin in December. Having played the city twice in 2016, and once in 2012, the L.A. artist will return to play the Button Factory on Saturday, December 8. Tickets cost €24.00 and on sale this Friday at 10am. A described “cacophony of the mind in a melting world”, Aviary is out via Domino on October 26th. Read our 2016 interview with Julia Holter here.

  • HWCH Stage-Times and Conference Schedule Announced

    September 5, 2018 - By 

    The stage-times and conference schedule for this year’s Hard Working Class Heroes has been revealed. Taking place across September 27-29 in various venues across Dublin – with the conference taking place in the Chocolate Factory – full details for this year’s showcase are below. Tickets for HWCH 2018 can be bought here.