• Idles – Joy As An Act Of Resistance

    September 3, 2018 - By 

    Urgent. Vital. Important. Essential. Interchangeable words that are denoted to music or artists that are deemed to be definite of the mood of the times. Albums and previously unseen and untold stories that break boundaries down, songs that transcend their form, artists whose messages become immortalised. Punk music and its offshoots have their fair share of such acts, but these words’ meanings have become denatured over time. Now, anything even vaguely resembling depth or that is tangentially outspoken is commonly misconstrued as politically charged or timely (sorry, not sorry, Macklemore, Justin Timberlake). Idles, a five-piece Bristol band who navigate the furious simplicity…

  • Stream: Toucan – Toucan EP

    August 14, 2018 - By 

    Following the success of their single, ‘We Fell For Miles’, Waterford based soul-pop duo Toucan have released their self-titled debut EP. The brainchild of singer-songwriter Conor Clancy and multi-instrumentalist Martin Atkinson, Toucan is a project that highlights the talents of both musicians. Clancy’s ear for quaint yet infectious melodies and Atkinson’s full-bodied arrangements result in a collection of songs alive with rhythm and charm. The band’s style is positively upbeat, reminiscent of the likes of Stevie Wonder complete with riffing brass sections and memorable choruses. While most of the EP follows in the footsteps of ‘We Fell For Miles’, ‘Gold’…

  • Laurel Halo – Raw Silk Uncut Wood

    July 18, 2018 - By 

    Somewhere in Apple Music headquarters, an employee, perhaps under the instruction of watchful label publicists, or not, input “techno” as the genre tag for Laurel Halo’s latest project, Raw Silk Uncut Wood. The Berlin-based experimental producer has spent the past eight years pivoting from frenetic, full-bodied techno and unconventional club electronics to dense, sentient ambient-pop, and back. Admittedly then, it is difficult to keep track. Her breakout album, Quarantine, released in 2012, was disembodied pop simmering beneath an off-kilter electronic surface—spearheaded by her drifting voice. It was, above all else, her ability to synthesise anxiety into quivering, twitching soundscapes that gave…

  • Snail Mail – Lush

    July 4, 2018 - By 

    Snail Mail’s Lyndsey Jordan has spoken about her frustration at the media’s lingering focus on her age and it’s easy to understand her consternation. Barely 19, the poison chalice of being a young female musician irritatingly ensures that her music is often viewed through a very particular lens and often described in qualified terms: “Full of potential rather than fully realised”, “Precocious rather than simply gifted” etc.  Bearing this in mind it’s important to break that pattern and clearly state plainly that Snail Mail has made one of the brightest, most insightful and coolly understated albums of the year – No ifs,…

  • SKIBUNNY Set For 20th Anniversary Show

    July 3, 2018 - By 

    Fire up the indie disco DeLorean: legendary Belfast DJ duo Tanya Mellotte and Mark Gordon AKA Skibunny will make their long-awaited return for a 20th anniversary show at Voodoo on Saturday, July 28. Back for one night only, the pair will DJ alongside an unmissable live set from Torgas Valley Reds/Backwater. Spinning the very best in indie rock, hip-hop, DIY, Krautrock, folk, northern soul, electronic and everything in between, Skibunny acquired nigh on mythical status in Belfast in the early 2000s. From secret shows to well-known guest DJs, aftershows and the sweatiest of most memorable nights, it brought out the very…

  • Florence and The Machine – High as Hope

    July 2, 2018 - By 

    Life is often polarised; Elation, devastation, swirling endlessly around us like the walls of a great hurricane. When we find ourselves in the eye of the storm serenity takes a hold, but with lengthened stays it can become stale, and we may once again crave to feel the chaotic winds around us. High as Hope, the fourth release from Florence and The Machine, is an intimate exploration of Welch’s most haphazard and vulnerable years, synchronised with homespun instrumentals and soaring vocals to magnificent effect. To reflect is to see, and in seeing we are immediately and irreversibly bestowed with responsibility.…

  • Nine Inch Nails – Bad Witch

    June 30, 2018 - By 

    Trent Reznor has been throwing shade at practically everybody on this most recent press tour. The Nine Inch Nails frontman has railed against Trump, Kanye and the contemporary state of music. At times, there have been well-formed ideas spoken with a confidence and authority that implies a level of consideration and forethought. At others, it’s amounted to little more than “Old man yells at cloud”. With all this bluster, the release he was promoting got lost in the fold. In fact looking back at this coverage, the most interesting aspect of this current mini-album, Bad Witch, is that it was, in…

  • Festival Mixtape: KnockanStockan 2018

    June 24, 2018 - By 

    KnockanStockan returns to the shores of Blessington Lake in Co. Wicklow across July 27-29 and brings with it the finest homegrown summer festival bill of the year. With exactly four weeks to go (nab your tickets stat) here’s some of our must-see acts at this year’s outing. Go here for the full line-up, info and to buy tickets

  • Nas – Nasir

    June 23, 2018 - By 

    Nas prefers a raucous homecoming to the sanctum of a rustic ski-resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, it appears. Beneath a constellation of NYC lights, in the imperialistic surrounds of Queensboro Bridge — a staple of hip-hop iconography made famous by MC Shan in 1987 — lay double-decker speakers blasting amid a sense of godly reincarnation. It’s the first-listen party for Nas’s latest full-length record, Nasir. One time wunderkid, Nasir Jones, chose his city, his borough, to celebrate this album’s release; where he spoke, for the first time, his tightly-wound, unadulterated, street-scholarly truth. Where he first etched his name into hip-hop…

  • Lykke Li – so sad so sexy

    June 17, 2018 - By 

    Lykke Li knows how to write a pop song. We all know this – every nightclub still religiously plays the Magician remix of ‘I Follow Rivers’. What the Swedish songwriter really knows though, is a sad pop song. Her latest release, so sad so sexy is no different. This follow-up to 2014’s I Never Learn, which saw her swing more toward the acoustic side of things, dips instead into R&B and hip hop spheres and feels like a matured throwback to her debut album, Youth Novels, released a decade ago now. However, while it’s an evolved departure musically, lyrically, it’s…