• Hyperbolex with Ray Wingnut: Tommy & The Big Guns

    September 15, 2015 - By 

    Always meet your heroes. Especially if they have proven their dedication to groundbreaking underground music time and time again. What I admire most in my heroes is that they have never compromised their integrity and dedication to creating or promoting truly great art. A couple of weeks back, my hero (and friend) Billy Jam contacted me and requested that I do him a favour; to record a radio interview for his show ‘Put The Needle On The Record’ on WFMU. I leapt at the opportunity. WFMU is broadcast in New York and New Jersey and is a world leader in…

  • Monday Mixtape: John Kowalski (Solar Bears)

    September 14, 2015 - By 

    Having just received test pressings for their forthcoming third album, Dublin electronic twosome Solar Bears are on the brink of re-confirming their reputation as one of our very finest outfits (not that necessarily needs doing, of course). Ahead of some more announcements, John Kowalski from the duo delivers this week’s wonderfully diverse, suitably esoteric Monday Mixtape, featuring tracks from Plaid/BDP, The Emotions, Claude Marbehant, The Remarkable Earth Making Machine and more. Photos by SCAN

  • Q+A: Spires That in the Sunset Rise

    September 11, 2015 - By 

    Psych-folk exponents Spires that in the Sunset Rise have been on the road and in various configurations for the better part of fifteen years. Next week, they’ll be hitting Ireland for only their second excursion here in that time, touring new record ‘Beasts in the Garden’. TTA caught up with one half of the duo, Taralie Peterson, and talked albums, labels and touring… You came together musically over ten years ago, after growing up together in Decatur, IL. Can you tell us about growing up together and how that played into your becoming musicians? Growing up in D-town greatly influenced…

  • Premiere: Cat Palace – Slime EP

    September 10, 2015 - By 

    Having positively kicked our ass (in the perfectly non-physical realm of being smitten) with the release of his ache-laced, quasi-mystical debut self-titled EP back in February, Dublin artist David Blaney AKA Cat Palace elicited the following rather grandiose words from yours truly:  “… an Irish singer-songwriter doing something very singular indeed.” In relatively recent hindsight, it transpires we were so on the money we may as well have been resting on a goldmine – a fact doubly confirmed with Slime, Blaney’s second, four-track EP. Whilst continuing in the generally hushed, lo-fi leaning vein of Pedro The Lion, Jason Molina and Bonnie Prince Billy, Slime sees Blaney’s decidedly…

  • Smalltown America All-Dayer: Carnivores

    September 10, 2015 - By 

    The first in a two-week series of videos capturing Derry label Smalltown America’s recent, hugely successful sixth All-Dayer, we very much start as mean to go on in the solid company of Scottish alt-rock trio Carnivores. Illustrious headliners at the eight-act showcase at the tail-end of July, the STA-signed band went one further and seized the opportunity to record their entire performance as a live album, the aptly-titled Live at Smalltown America. A self-proclaimed “glimpse of three men lost in a primal blur of musical electricity, swimming in seas of violent noise”, the nine-track release is available to download for two weeks…

  • Visual Arts Outlook (8/9)

    September 8, 2015 - By 

    The main event to be aware of this week is the Dublin Gallery Weekend. If you’re based in Belfast you should definitely consider heading down on either Friday Saturday or Sunday to soak up the experience. Many of Dublin’s main galleries will be taking part including the IMMA, the Douglas Hyde the RHA and many, many more. Lots of the spaces will be offering up artist and curator talks, walkthroughs and events throughout the weekend so check out the website for all the details.http://www.dublingallerymap.ie  The event has been planned to coincide with the launch of the new Dublin Gallery Map…

  • Rave New World w/ Timmy Stewart Mix

    September 4, 2015 - By 

    In what’s probably long overdue, we’re proud to introduce the Rave New World mix series. We’ll be hosting mixes from some of our favourite DJs and artists from the island of Ireland. First up we have a legend around Belfast, Timmy Stewart. Timmy’s been DJing around Belfast for ages and his knowledge of house, techno, disco, the lot, is unmatched in the city. He’s been the in-house booker for Shine and Stiff Kitten as well as taking up monthly residencies in Yello, Love & Death, Aether & Echo and The Hudson as well as co-running the Extended Play imprint. To…

  • Playlist: 30 Unmissable Acts at Electric Picnic 2015

    September 3, 2015 - By 

    Befitting tradition, this year’s Electric Picnic is set to be another weekend-long congregation of some of the very best sights and sounds. From the Little Big Tent and Rankins Wood to Electric Arena and the Body & Soul stages, every corner will reveal a cornucopia of the beautiful and brash, restrained and rapturous, up-and-coming and positively established. Having ran our eye over this year’s line-up a few times, we reckon the following thirty acts are worthy of the collective title “unmissable”.  Have a listen and make sure to check them all out if you’re lucky enough to be gracing Stradbally Estate this…

  • Sounds from a Safe Harbour: Five to Watch

    September 2, 2015 - By 

    While Sounds from a Safe Harbour brings many high-profile and international acts to Cork City as part of a wide-ranging ticket, the real gems of the festival lie in the presence on the bill of some of the city and country’s independent bands and artists, once again mostly placed on a “music trail” as a secondary attraction (see also: MTV “hitting” Cork). Never fear, though: TTA’s got you covered with a look of some of the ones to watch. All events listed here are free. Rusangano Family: Friday 18 September @ The Bodega Formerly known by their individual names of…