• 12 Irish Acts Set for SXSW ’17

    January 10, 2017 - By 

    Ahh, South By Southwest. Fully indispensable festival and conference or overly hectic annual industry circus? The jury still seems to be out on that one but, as far we’re concerned at least, it’s firmly slotted in the former camp. Set to return to Austin from March 10-19, this year’s outing will see 12 of its 500 acts – including several TTA favourites – flying in from the Emerald Isle. With the likes of Enemies, Rusangano Family and Saint Sister featuring last year, SXSW ’17 will see Robocobra Quartet, Ryan Vail, LOAH (pictured), Silences, Birds of Olympus, Jealous of the Birds, A.S Fanning, The Academic, Picture…

  • Watch: Cloud Castle Lake – Genuflect (Live)

    October 15, 2015 - By 

    Currently over in the States playing some shows for CMJ, Dublin quartet Cloud Castle Lake have long been one of the country’s more idiosyncratic and consistently innovatory acts. Having teamed up with Dublin-based collective This Greedy Pig, the band have unveiled the video for ‘Genuflect’, a seven-minute capturing the latest – nigh on beatific – stage of the band’s forever forward-thinking evolution. Tapping into something profound across its sleep and release, the track fuses Mingus-esque brass with totemic percussion, effects-soaked guitar, lead-like bass work and Daniel McAuley’s ever impressive, range-defying vocal acrobatics. If you’re in NYC, don’t miss them at Routh Trade on Saturday…

  • Cloud Castle Lake w/ Willow Sea – Roisín Dubh, Galway

    April 1, 2015 - By 

    Sound problems from the get-go don’t stop local multi-instrumentalist Willow Sea from dishing out his usual generous helping of genre crossing fun in his support slot for Cloud Castle Lake on Thursday in the Roisín Dubh. Combining clunky electronica, cheeky sampling and shredding guitar work, it’s always a pleasure to watch Mr. Sea having fun on stage as he piles the blocks of his soundtrack – ready tunes on top of one another and engaging the bar in some charming, self-deprecating banter; “That’s the depressing shit out of the way, time to get obnoxious”.  Unfortunately though, the dynamic in the…

  • Watch: Cloud Castle Lake – Glacier

    March 11, 2015 - By 

    Last month, we called ‘Glacier’ by Dublin trio Cloud Castle Lake “a wonderfully-layered effort, beautifully disentangling over five-and-a-half minutes, that sees Daniel McAuley’s high falsetto vocals take centre-stage yet again – and how.” Now the Rian Trench-produced song – set for release via Happy Valley Records on March 16 – has a suitably intense video to accompany it. Directed by Cáit Fahey, the video is a shadowy, contorted affair, nicely interspersed with bursts of light and colour. Cloud Castle Lake will play Galway’s Roisin Dubh on March 26, Dublin’s Workman’s Club on March 27 and Limerick’s Kasbah Social Club on March 28.

  • Deep Down South: Mag Launch, Busy Town, Streaming Sounds

    March 2, 2015 - By 

    After last week’s column promising more music and such didn’t materialise, this week’s is a wee bit of a catch-up. However – plug, plug, plug! – we’ll kick off by putting in a shout for our Cork launch on Saturday at the Crane Lane for the mag. Issue 5 of the mag (the cover pictured) features a full-length piece on the Altered Hours, from their beginnings and debut release ‘Downstream’, to their upcoming album and time in Berlin. We’ll also have an Inbound on Leeside multi-piece groove ensemble Shookrah, among so, so much more, and it’ll be available exclusively at…

  • Stream: Cloud Castle Lake – Glacier

    February 6, 2015 - By 

    Firmly commanding our attention with their debut EP, Dandelion, last year, Dublin trio Cloud Castle Lake have returned with ‘Glacier’, a tracking evoking Radiohead, Sigur Rós, Cinematic Orchestra and Do Make Say Think. A wonderfully-layered effort, beautifully disentangling over five-and-a-half minutes, the track sees Daniel McAuley’s high falsetto vocals take centre-stage yet again – and how. Recorded and mixed by Solar Bears’ Rian Trench, the track will be released via Happy Valley Records on March 16. With shows also taking place in England, the band will play Galway’s Roisin Dubh on March 26, Dublin’s Workman’s Club on March 27 and Limerick’s Kasbah…