• Hilary Woods – Colt

    April 25, 2018 - By 

    Some artists are just destined to wind up on certain rosters. One such act is Dublin’s Hilary Woods, an artist whose solo craft we’ve followed with a certain glee over the last couple of years. On June 8, the musician, ex-JJ72 member and multi-instrumentalist will release her debut full-length album, Colt, via Brooklyn’s Sacred Bones, an indie imprint whose discerning (and, so far, pretty impeccable) penchant for repping acts such as Zola Jesus, Jenny Hval, David Lynch, John Carpenter, Blanck Mass and Marissa Nadler runs directly parallel with Woods’ very own crepuscular craft. Her minimal composition & otherwordly layered atmospherics follow two acclaimed EPs and recent scoring of a horror film for IFI’s Weimar…

  • Young Fathers – Cocoa Sugar

    April 2, 2018 - By 

    Words are hard. Try as we might as we attempt to translate thoughts into words, we inevitably truncate the infinite. We’ve spent millennia desperately trying to communicate with one another the depth and breadth of the things we feel and how external stimuli affect us. Think of all the experiences you’ve had and everything you’ve ever felt and then wonder if you’ve ever been able to truly express yourself to another without losing some level of definition. That’s the reason behind the elation of discovering a new metaphor. Occasionally though, you’re faced with an experience or piece of art whose…

  • EP Stream: The Altered Hours – On My Tongue

    March 9, 2018 - By 

    Two years on from the release of their triumphant debut album, In Heat Not Sorry, Cork five-piece The Altered Hours‘ brand of snaking, crepuscular psych-rock sounds more more singular and vital than ever. Released via Art for Blind/Penske Recordings on 12″ vinyl and digital, the band’s new EP, On My Tongue, is an equal parts murky and prismatic four-track re-affirmation of something we have have always maintained: the Altered Hours are not merely one of the country’s very best bands, they continue to push headlong into a masterfully dazed realm all their very own. Stream the EP in full via Bandcamp below. On My Tongue by…

  • Women of Note by Rebekah Fitch

    March 8, 2018 - By 

    I draw a lot of inspiration from artists who can create an entirely new world from their music. Their art becomes more than the songs, almost like an alternate universe that acts as a physical manifestation of their art, extrapolating and illustrating it in different artistic mediums. I think that this is something that’s done in an incredible way by so many female artists. People like Florence and the Machine and Björk. It’s exciting, it transports you, and it pushes the boundaries of their art. These are also women whose age can never define them, which I think is such…

  • Niamh Farrell – A brief History of HamsandwicH

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    “So, what’s it like being the only woman in band with all guys?” This question is one that I have been asked time and time again, over the many years I have sang in HamsandwicH. It’s a question that always confuses me. Whenever I am asked, the answer is always “No different I’m sure, to a band with all guys or all girls. We are just a bunch of friends having a laugh and making music.” And yet I have often felt that wasn’t the answer they were looking for. They want something maybe more along the lines of: “Oh,…

  • Triona Farrell – Colouring Outside the Lines

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    Growing up, I was enamoured by nerd culture. From video-games to comic books, my hobbies were diverse and engaging. This culture was primarily a male dominated space however. From the comic book fan that sneered at me for wanting to get into Batman, to the many micro-aggressions down through the years, I learned that my gender was on the fringes, a minority in a larger ‘boy’s club’. In Ireland, the nerd culture was sparse, but I still felt it from young men who hid behind social awkwardness, or sleazily attempted to get uncomfortably close. I was closely involved in this…

  • Autonomy: A book about taking our selves back

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    What is bodily autonomy? What does it feel like when it’s taken away? This is a women-led collection of stories, poems, memoirs, essays and more exploring what it means to have bodily autonomy. Read it if you don’t understand why no-one should ever be forced to stay pregnant against their will. Read it if you do understand, and would like to be part of the change. I’ve been attending pro-choice street stalls for years now.  It’s changed so much: I’m hardly ever verbally abused any more, people want to know how they can help.  But there are still too many…

  • Tipping the Scales – Supporting the Work of Women in the Music Industry with Sinead Furlong of MNÁSOME

    March 7, 2018 - By 

    Name five current, prominent Irish acts – prominent, as in acts that have reached international acclaim, who are touring the world with platinum selling albums. Who are the first five names that bubble up in your mind when you think of prominent Irish musicians? Take a minute to think before reading ahead… How many of the names that came to mind were women or involved women as part of the act? I know when I think of current multi platinum, world touring, prominent Irish musicians, the first names that automatically come to mind are mainly male acts. This imbalance in…

  • Ink for Thought: Female Tattoo Artists of The North Unite

    March 7, 2018 - By 

    Our photographer Sara Marsden meets up with five strong Northern Irish female Tattoo artists to take their portraits and allow them to discuss their work and goals in their own words. I got my first tattoo in July 2014; an outline of an anchor on my right ankle. Highly original, I know, but I was in love with all things nautical for some reason and it just felt right. I had always been obsessed with tattoos and itching for the day I would get one. Since then my skin has become more and more adorned with artwork, and I have…