Sure, every second song is about love (or the lack of it) but that hasn’t stopped us from compiling our annual Spotify playlist of 30 songs that sum up the sometimes transformative, other times crushing realm of love pretty succinctly. Featuring Mojave 3, Elliott Smith, Nick Cave, James Blake, Grizzly Bear, Yo La Tengo, My Bloody Valentine, Big Star, Father John Misty, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Magnetic Fields, Radiohead and more, you can stream and subscribe to it below.
Since the inception of The Choice Music Prize – now in partnership with national broadcaster RTÉ – in 2005, the list of victors has been exceptionally varied making it close to impossible to cast a definitive answer on who will claim the bountiful cash prize and honour of releasing the best Irish album of the year. Over the last thirteen years, artists as diverse as Julie Feeney to Rusangano Family and The Gloaming to Villagers have won for their outstanding musical output. On paper, the ten albums nominated for 2017 can be broken down into as the following; seven hours…
Formed in 2011, and based in New York City, Exploding In Sound Records is a tapestry of idiosyncrasy. Pile, for example, are regularly cited as the world’s greatest rock band. Big Ups’ Before A Million Universes was very possibly 2016’s finest noise rock record. The bubbling, emotional cacophony of Ovlov’s 2013 Am has developed its own posthumous devoted cult following, leading to the band reuniting for a second album; not to mention the label’s ability to function as an early outlet and jumping point for Speedy Ortiz, Porches, LVL UP and Palehound. It’s a community. Bands share members, shows and tours together, and there’s a very genuine…
With their aim of filling the void of independent bands having their music released on vinyl, Cal Byrne talks to Shane Byrne of Dundalk’s new-fangled Pizza Pizza Records about wax, big plans, keeping it DIY, world domination and – very important – favourite pizza toppings. What’s your favourite pizza topping? Plain cheese with a garlic dip is always a good call. Difontaines, Dark Horse Pizza (who sponsored our recent fundraiser by the way) or Tonys in Dundalk. Their garlic dip is class. That, or spinach & feta. 10/10 What inspired you to make Pizza Pizza records? I really like vinyl, and…
We continue 18 for ’18, our feature showcasing eighteen Irish acts we’re convinced are going places in 2018. Throughout January we’re going to be previewing each of those acts, accompanied by words from our writers and an original photograph from one of our photographers. Next up, Any Joy. Photo by Silvio Severino We’ve written platitudes on Cork’s tendency to function as Ireland’s bastion of cosmically-inclined guitar music, and its latest export is Any Joy, who, while tinted with the hue of its primary contemporary export, simultaneously demarcate themselves from the trappings of being a genre band, forever doomed to lay in…
We continue 18 for ’18, our feature showcasing eighteen Irish acts we’re convinced are going places in 2018. Throughout January we’re going to be previewing each of those acts, accompanied by words from our writers and an original photograph from one of our photographers. Next up, progressive hardcore quartet Destriers. Photo by Colum O’Dwyer As a hardcore fan, you often find yourself fighting genre jadedness. By its nature, every latest trend can seem yet another vessel that fits the sonic requirements but lacks dynamism or the genuine sense of vocal or compositional conviction that the foundations of punk are built upon.…
We continue 18 for ’18, our feature showcasing eighteen Irish acts we’re convinced are going places in 2018. Throughout January we’re going to be previewing each of those acts, accompanied by words from our writers and an original photograph from one of our photographers. Next up, psychedelic jazz trio Electric Octopus. Photo by Joe Laverty Electric Octopus are an absolute delight who deserve as much time in 2018 as is available. Their modest mission statement to “take your mind on a weird and wonderful adventure” is surprisingly apt. Simply put, and this is meant in the kindest way possible, this is the…
Among the Irish nominations for the 90th Academy Awards, announced this week, was The Breadwinner, up for Best Animated Feature, from Kilkenny-based animation and design studio Cartoon Saloon. Based on Deborah Ellis’ novel, it follows a girl in late-90s Afghanistan whose father is unjustly arrested by the Taliban authorities, forcing her to pass as a boy in order to support her family. The film, which will receive its Irish premiere at the Dublin Film Festival next month and a wide release later in the Spring, is the company’s highest profile feature yet. In terms of Oscar nods, that makes it three out…
Ahead of playing alongside him at Bullitt in Belfast on Friday, February 9, DJs Jonny Carberry and Black Bones talk starting out, crate-digging, rare gems, returning home, imprints and more with Belfast-born, London based selector and DJ Brian Morrison AKA Brian Not Brian. I think I first heard one of your mixes back in 2014, for one my fav labels Blackest Ever Black – I remember seeing the ‘Brixton via Belfast’ tag somewhere and thinking ‘Belfast! Class!’. Can you tell us a little about your life (and musical interests) in Belfast, and when and why you decided to move to London? Well, I’m actually…
We continue 18 for ’18, our feature showcasing eighteen Irish acts we’re convinced are going places in 2018. Throughout January we’re going to be previewing each of those acts, accompanied by words from our writers and an original photograph from one of our photographers. Next up, The Sunshine Factory. Photo by Abigail Denniston The Sunshine Factory want to be as inescapable as The Brian Jonestown Massacre. At least, that is according to an interview with The Thin Air last November where they also name dropped the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Spaceman 3 and Joy Division as influences. Unlike so many other…