• 16 For 16: Apartments

    January 12, 2016 - By 

    In the latest installment of 16 For ’16 – a feature in which we preview sixteen of our favourite Irish acts that we’re certain will do great things in 2016 – Stevie Lennox introduces Belfast duo Apartments. Photo by Liam Kielt Fast-becoming the strongest single noun pluralisation-monikered emotional hardcore band on the island, Apartments released their 6-track official debut EP, Rush, in October, following a promising 2014 demo. Their sound is rooted in the kind of math-rock-tinged American Midwestern sound that’s been gestating in Ireland for the last couple of years, channelling, loosely, American Football, Cap’n Jazz and a ferocious sense of…

  • Stream: exmagician – Job Done

    January 8, 2016 - By 

    If there’s one Irish album we’re nigh on pant-wettingly excited for this year it’s Scan The Blue by Belfast’s exmagician. A titular (and slight member) shift from the embers of Cashier No. 9, the project has had us quietly agog since the release of their debut EP Kiss That Wealth Goodbye via Bella Union in November. A perfectly crafted, psych-laced alt-pop gem, the band’s new single ‘Job Done’ distils Danny Todd and James Smith’s prismatic mastery to four all-too-fleeting minutes. As you might have guessed, we’re big fans. WordPress code More options

  • 16 For 16: Owensie

    January 7, 2016 - By 

    In the very first installment of 16 For ’16 – a feature in which we preview sixteen of our favourite Irish acts that we’re absolutely convinced will do spectacular things in 2016 – Brian Coney lauds Dublin lo-fi folk singer-songwriter Michael Owens AKA Owensie. Photo by Tara Thomas With his sublime third album, Dramamine, having very deservedly ranked at number two in our Top 50 Irish Releases of 2015, Dublin songsmith Michael Owens AKA Owensie taps into a introspective realm betraying the hallmarks of a master in the making. Released via Out on a Limb records in November, his latest release is – as we said in…

  • Second Quarter Block Party Line-up Announced

    January 7, 2016 - By 

    Having made their first announcement back in December, Cork’s Quarter Block Party have revealed a slew of new acts and events set for their 2016 outing from February 5-7. Amongst the new additions is Cathy Walsh’s Running Up That Hill, a celebration of feminism equality and solidarity. Provoked by the #wakingthefeminists movement and inspired by Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’, the people of Cork City will march through the streets and dance together in celebration on North Main Street, the historic spine of the city. Elsewhere, Abigail Conway’s participatory installation Time Lab will ask visitors to “dismantle a wristwatch or clock and reconstruct…

  • 2016 Choice Music Prize Shortlist Announced

    January 6, 2016 - By 

    With The Gloaming proving well-deserved victors last time round, the shortlist for this year’s Choice Music Prize has been announced. Set to be selected by an industry judging panel at Dublin’s Vicar Street on Thursday, March 3, the following albums are all vying for the prize: Girl Band – Holding Hands with Jamie (Rough Trade) HamsandwicH – Stories From The Surface (Route 109A Records) Gavin James – Bitter Pill (Warner Music Ireland) Jape – This Chemical Sea (Faction Records) Le Galaxie – Le Club (Universal Music Ireland) Colm Mac Con Iomaire – And Now The Weather (Plateau) Roisin Murphy – Hairless…

  • Inbound: Bagels

    January 5, 2016 - By 

    Dublin’s Bagels have got no time to waste. Having spent the guts of half a decade honing their craft, the group are ready to make 2016 their year. Having recently released their first single, The Cast of Cheers inflected ‘To An End’, we had wee sit down with the band’s own Adam Redmond to talk about influences, the trappings of youth and the group’s curious choice of name. Words by Will Murphy. How long has it been since your first started playing together? It’s been the best part of five years now. Jaysus, aren’t we old. We started when we…

  • EP Stream: SENIOR INFANTS – LIFE IS GOOD

    January 5, 2016 - By 

    Featuring some of our favourite Bandcamp tags ever – “ringo starr, soundtrack, good life, ringo starr lower road, ireland” LIFE IS GOOD by inscrutable Irish noise duo SENIOR INFANTS is likely to feature on the Hollyoaks soundtrack any day soon. Marrying sparse blips and sunless splurges of sound with the odd melodic stream and percussive dance, it throws caution to sonic wind, expectant of nothing but itself in fine and mad fashion. LIFE IS GOOD by SENIOR INFANTS

  • EP Streams: Arvo Party – Beep/Tintinnabuli

    January 5, 2016 - By 

    From Joy Orbison, Camper Van Beethoven and Chet Faker to Truman Peyote, Ringo Deathstar and Joanna Gruesome, punny musical monikers range from the positively inspired to the downright cringeworthy. Falling very much into the former camp, Arvo Party is the new-fangled electronic-leaning appellation of Belfast’s Herb Magee of kaput riffmasters general LaFaro and three-piece GOONS. Diametrically at odds to said heavydom, Magee has unveiled two EPs of sublime throwback minimalist electronica: four-track release Beep and the five-track Tintinnabuli, which features two re-imaginings of (the actual) Arvo Pärt’s ‘Für Alina’ and ‘Solfeggio (Excerpt in C Major)’. Back to back, it’s an exceptional double curveball from the Belfast-based bassist and…

  • Stream: Sea Pinks – Yr Horoscope

    January 4, 2016 - By 

    Launched at Belfast’s Lavery’s this Friday night (January 8) Soft Days by Sea Pinks sees the Neil Brogan-fronted trio in rudest of health. A highlight from the album – their fifth to date – the band have unveiled single ‘Yr Horoscope’, a twanging, surf-laced earwormer. Read our review of Soft Days here. Stream ‘Yr Horoscope’ below.

  • Album stream: Allez Bartoli – Everything.Forever

    January 4, 2016 - By 

    Almost two years on from their last release, three-track EP Space is an Ocean, Belfast-based experimental electronic twosome Allez Bartoli are back with Everything.Forever, a mini-album very tidily imbued with the pair’s penchant for post-rock leaning soundscapes. DIY at its beating heart, the seven track release was recorded throughout 2014 and 2015 and further reveals AB’s reluctance to aspire to anything even remotely resembling linear imitation. Ahead of our review of the release, stream/download it now via Bandcamp. Everything.Forever by Allez Bartoli