• Premiere: JaJa Studios – The Lost Sound Vol. 1

    November 5, 2020 - By 

    Having provided Dublin musicians and various other creatives with a vital hub over the last seven years, Stoneybatter DIY music and art space JaJa Studios recently lost its home on Cowper Street to a developer. Dusting themselves down, the collective have wasted no time in looking for a new HQ – and ways to make that a reality. Cue The Lost Sound Vol. 1, a new, 22-track cassette tape compiled to raise proceeds for a new space. A self-proclaimed (and entirely accurate) slice of the Irish music underground from some scene stalwarts, it’s a wonderfully eclectic release, featuring Flowers at Night, Declan…

  • Premiere: Andrew McGibbon – We’ve Got Horns

    November 4, 2020 - By 

    As one-half of acclaimed Northern Irish garage blues duo The Bonnevilles, Andrew McGibbon has spent the last few years underscoring his status as one of the island’s most captivating frontmen. After zig-zagging across Europe once again with The Bonnevilles back in 2018, McGibbon found himself burnt out and staring into a creative abyss with a self-described “PTSD – post touring stress disorder”. It kickstarted a period of creative metamorphosis that has resulted in Northern Gothic, a wonderfully idiosyncratic debut solo release that reveals the full breadth of his songwriting voice. “I’d get quite blue on the run up to leaving for…

  • Irish Releases of the Week – October 30th

    October 30, 2020 - By 

    Another phenomenal week of Irish music, we’ve expanded this time around to feature full length releases, including Nealo’s long-awaited debut LP, Kobina’s phenomenal charity compilation -featuring Jape, Arvo Party and more – a Tuath & Lunch Machine collaboration, Bitch Falcon, Dunluvly, Rebekah Fitch, Mick Flannery, Jackie Beverly, Silent Ghost and more. Nealo – All The Leaves Are Falling Kobina – For Nora For Nora by Kobina Tuath & Lunch Machine – Mountains and Grooves Dunluvly – Something On My Mind Mick Flannery & Anais – Minnesota Rebekah Fitch – Game Over A.S. Fanning – All Time Jackie Beverly – Sea Glass…

  • Premiere: A.S. Fanning – All Time

    October 29, 2020 - By 

    We’re pleased to give a first listen to ‘All Time’, the lushly-textured new single from Berlin-based Irish singer-songwriter A.S. Fanning. A Nick Cave-ian gothic mini-fable, Fanning weaves personal neurosis through time and memory. Navigating the maelstrom’s dream logic, its subtly psychedelic layering and glistening production push toward briefly lucid moments of internal respite. Of the track, Fanning tells us: “‘All Time’ is a song about love and acceptance. Or maybe love and mercy, to borrow a line from Brian Wilson. I wrote it very quickly one night, it just sort of fell out fully formed, as sometimes happens. I was thinking about Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, and the idea of being…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – October 23rd

    October 23, 2020 - By 

    Tragically, it’s not a Bandcamp Friday. But it is a Friday, which means a rake of first-rate new music from right across the land. Here’s our pick of the lot from today and the rest of the week, featuring Seamus Fogarty, LAOISE, Kyoto Love Hotel, Arborist, JyellowL, For Those I Love, Eve Belle, Amy Montgomery, Sal Dulu, Wyvern Lingo and more. Kyoto Love Hotel – You Unfold You unfold by Kyoto Love Hotel Arborist – The Mountain Will Come to You/A Heart in Minor The Mountain Will Come to You | A Heart in Minor by arborist LAOISE – Healthy Seamus…

  • Stream: Foolish Mortal – Ghost Wipe

    October 20, 2020 - By 

    “Ectoplasm sleight/Anchored down in your chasm right/Next he’s binning your bones/On the coast by your parents’ home”. Yes, Samhain is upon us once again and, as you can see by the opening lyrics to their new single ‘Ghost Wipe,’ Cork garage rock trio Foolish Mortal are already in the holiday spirit.  Comprising Mark Waldron-Hyden, Dan O’Sullivan and Laurie Shaw, the Cork band’s howling, amp-blown Halloween single delves into “the behaviour of a love rival who sucks the life essence from his partners”. The result is a spooked-out, all-too-short salvo that will have you reaching for that repeat button.

  • Album Stream: The Zang – The Zang

    October 16, 2020 - By 

    Belfast-based musician Chris Molloy aka the Zang has unveiled his long-awaited self-titled debut album. Having won acclaim from the likes of BBC 6Music for singles including ‘Drugs’, ‘Drinking With You’ and ‘Football Sundays’, Molloy’s first first-length – which was recorded at Oiltape Studios in Belfast – underscores his growing reputation as one of the country’s finest alternative pop propositions. From the slow-burning indie balladry of ‘Sick Fantasy’ to the breezy alt-folk of closer ‘Time’, it’s a carefully-crafted, genre-spanning release from an artist on the rise. Stream the album in full below.

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – October 16th

    October 16, 2020 - By 

    It’s safe to say it’s been another stacked week for world-beating Irish music. Here’s the very best of the lot, featuring tracks from Rejjie Snow, Caoilian Sherlock, Paddy Hanna, Arborist, Tebi Rex and many more. Photo by Lloyd Pursall Rejjie Snow w/ Snoh Aelagra and Cam O’bi – Mirrors Paddy Hanna – Jog On Shall We The Hill by Paddy Hanna Comrade Hat – Cracking The Code Caoilian Sherlock – Sucker For Love Arborist – The Mountain Will Come To You Tebi Rex & Awkward Z – Aaaagh Ten Past Seven – Turf War IN-IS – Dark Light feat. Tom Adams…

  • Premiere: Ten Past Seven – Turf War

    October 15, 2020 - By 

    Since 2002, Kerry trio Ten Past Seven have peddled a singular brand of instrumentalism, striking an equal parts nuanced and face-melting midpoint between alternative, math rock and self-proclaimed “bog prog”. On November 27th, the band – comprising Rory O’Brien on guitar, Matt Shallow on bass and drummer Ger Mangan – will release their second full-length LP, Long Live the Bogwalrus, via pre-eminent Irish indie imprint Art for Blind Records. Recorded by two-thirds of TTA favourites Percolator, John “Spud” Murphy and Ian Chestnutt, at Guerilla Studios in Dublin, the album features guest vocals by Landless, fiddle by Lankum’s Cormac MacDiarmada and various other notable guest…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – October 9th

    October 9, 2020 - By 

    It’s only right that a week that gave us innumerable incredible performances at Ireland Music Week would also deliver on the releases front. We’re here with some of the best, including Loah & Bantum, Erica Cody, Tau, Ross Hamer’s Safe Neighbourhood, the returning M(h)aol, Nealo, Eve Belle, Lucy Gaffney, a kraut-punk Organs & Mike Watt collaboration, R.S.A.G., B.K. Pepper, Tolü Makay, and Owen Lamont. Tau – All That Is ft. Deirdre Mulrooney Safe Neighbourhood – Big Decisions In the Heart of the Heart of The by Safe Neighbourhood Loah & Bantum – NGLA M(h)aol – Laundries Erica Cody – Calculated feat. Hare Squead…