• Stream: F.R.U.I.T.Y. – U.P.S.

    July 15, 2021 - By 

    Arriving on the Belfast scene like a bucket of pink paint into white, Dan O’Rawe, aka F.R.U.I.T.Y. brings a chameleonic, singular blend of woozy, lo-fi electronica, hip-hop and experimental pop, underscored by the ingrained localised perspective of a queer person in Northern Ireland. Following up on his contributions to Bangers N’ Breakups, a darkwave cover of ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ and debut single ‘Not Quite Exceptional‘, new single ‘U.P.S.’ is the first single taken from F.R.U.I.T.Y.’s self-titled debut EP, out 5th August. It sees Tobacco & Eels-esque hazy, kaleidoscopic synth textures frame off-kilter, identity-exploring pop in the vein of Ezra Furman, Jazmin Bean…

  • Monday Mixtape: Tebi Rex

    May 24, 2021 - By 

    Just off the back of their excellent recent collaborative single with ROE, ‘Hanging With Trees’, and a slot at The Great Escape, alternative hip-hop duo Tebi Rex bring us eight eclectic choice cuts, spanning the global to their own backyard. Local Boy – Thoughts Probably the most believable Irish artist out right now. Believable in the sense that everything he creates just feels really earnest. It gets to the root of the thing that most people could spend a whole album trying to figure out. I often feel like I have Bees in my brain, and Thoughts captures that experience perfectly. It’s…

  • Video Premiere: Messying x Post Punk Podge – Still At The Music

    November 23, 2020 - By 

    “Are you still at the music? Are you making a few bob? Are you happy in yourself?”  Taken from the wonderful Litany of Failures Vol. III compilation, released last month, Kerry producer Messyng and underground Limerick mouthpiece par excellence Post Punk Podge have teamed up to deliver a spicy video – directed by Steve Savage – for their collaborative single, ‘Still At The Music’, featuring Podge’s Great Giveaway of a Antique Shitshow™. Its timing an act of serendipity, today has seen equal shares of elation and deflation with regards to the results of potentially career-changing musical project support grants for artists across the Irish music industry. As is Podge’s M.O.,…

  • Video Premiere: Elaine Malone – You [1000 Beasts Remix]

    November 5, 2020 - By 

    Back in 2018, Elaine Malone‘s alt. psych-pop ditty ‘You’ was a thrilling introduction to one of TTA’s longstanding favourites, and today we’re pleased to unveil its reimagining by prolific Cork-based producer & multi-instrumentalist 1000 Beasts. Masterfully reframed into an even more warbling, tripped-out slice of lo-fi hip-hop – one of 1000 Beasts’ raisons d’etre – it matches the pull Malone’s trajectory has had toward psychedelic in the past two years. 1000 Beasts told us: “I first discovered ‘You’ way back in 2018, when Elaine first released it ahead of her debut EP Land. It always struck a chord with me so I reached out to Elaine…

  • Watch: Post Punk Podge & The Technohippies feat. TPM – Hard Man

    September 22, 2020 - By 

    If there’s a scene in Ireland right now that best embodies the power of a diverse, unified voice for disseminating positive change, then it’s without a doubt the hip-hop community. An all-star pairing of independent acts, Limerick’s Post Punk Podge & The Technohippies have paired with Dundalk counterparts TPM to give toxic masculinity the acerbic skewering it needs in a collaboration that more than delivers on its ear-watering potential. Podge, no stranger to exploring personal and societal issues without filter or pontification, tells us: “it’s a comedic look at the nature of being a ‘hardman’, and how those who portray machoism in a very direct way are often masking their own vulnerability.…

  • Stream: DJ Limewire x Post Punk Podge – Stuck In The System

    February 7, 2020 - By 

    Photo by Eilis Walsh Talismanic Limerick rapper Post Punk Podge has a knack for cutting through to Ireland’s most uncomfortable truths, and one day ahead of the next Irish general election, the Direct Provision system – swept under the carpet by most leading politicians – is in his scope. ‘Stuck In The System’ is a collaboration with DJ Limewire – aka Cathal of Bleeding Heart Pigeons – whose beats accompany Podge with apt clautrophobia and dissonance. As many of you know, Direct Provision is essentially this generation’s Magdalene Laundries. A system in place for over two decades, asylum seekers become institutionalised, having been given just…

  • Nealo w/ C.o.B and Jeorge II @ The Grand Social, Dublin

    October 2, 2019 - By 

    In the crowded smoking area of The Grand Social, fans and members of Ireland’s Hip Hop scene have congregated for a triple threat from some of the community’s heavy hitters. Tickets are presented at the door, wrists are stamped and drink is confiscated from a few younger attendees. Starting off the evening is Cork native C.o.B. Blasting the audience with a blend of old school horrorcore and contemporary trap beats, C.o.B parades the stage thrashing about whilst illuminated by glaring red visuals. While it may not be everybody’s cup of tea, a select few audience members at the base of…

  • Inbound: Gracepark

    August 7, 2019 - By 

    Hailing from Artane in North County Dublin, Gracepark is an eight-piece art collective consisting of three rappers (Matthew, Conor and Dara), one singer (Femi), one producer (Charlie), two photographers/videographers (Cian/Luan) and their manager (Remi). It’s a project that combines aspects of visual artistry with numerous variants of the Hip Hop genre, creating a sound that is unheard of elsewhere in Ireland’s Hip Hop community. They are undoubtedly one of the most exciting collaborative efforts on the Irish music scene. Jack Rudden had the pleasure of meeting up with the collective to discuss Stephen King, the prolific nature of Hip Hop…

  • Video Premiere: Post Punk Podge & The Technohippies – Heavenly Tones

    June 19, 2019 - By 

    It’s been quite a year so far for Podge. More than delivering on the 19 For ’19 tip we gave him at the start of the year, he’s released a string of singles, made his first English appearances, and is set to play some of the biggest shows of his career to date in the next fortnight. Today, he unveils the video for last month’s single ‘Heavenly Tones’. The video, filmed by DJ Jurassic Park Two and Gavin Lyons, plays out as an HB ice cream-sponsored, ‘Visit Bundoran’ campaign, with a sun-kissed 90s Balearic house beat – feat. late-period Thom Yorke – fit for the optimistic, grey “Bord Failte advert…