• Video exclusive: Seven Summits – Little Twist

    November 11, 2013 - By 

    Just over a year since the release of their stellar second album Fossils, Belfast-based indie rock band Seven Summits have unveiled their ridiculously infectious new single ‘Little Twist’ – and we have an exclusive first look at the video. Directed by the band’s guitarist and keyboardist Dominic Coyle, the black and white video features, among other things, some of the most hypnotising slow-motion flapping of the lips that has ever been committed to film. The single – released as part of Belfast Music Week – was recorded by Phil D’Alton and mastered by Jon Moorehead. You can stream/buy it via…

  • Stream: Hunk – Precipice

    November 7, 2013 - By 

    Dublin lo-fi rock duo Sundara O’Higgins and Niamh Hegarty AKA Hunk have unveiled a brand new track, ‘Precipice’. Taken from their forthcoming debut EP, Fledgling – set for release on November 22 – the track is a wonderfully fully-formed effort with swathes of nocturnal noise, slightly off-kilter harmonies and a general air of Grass Widow about it (far from a bad thing in our book). Stream the track via Soundcloud below.

  • Inbound: Skymas

    November 7, 2013 - By 

    In the latest installment of Inbound, we talk to Martin Corrigan, main man with new-fangled Belfast-based electronic three-piece Skymas. With collaboration at the heart of the project, Corrigan tells us about the band’s musical manifesto, the influence of philosophy and the band’s debut double A-side, Primer. Hi Martin. Firstly, how did Skymas come about? Did you all know each other before getting together as a musical unit? Nick owned a clothes shop that I was buying a T-shirt in. He was standing behind the counter playing air bass to ‘Elephant Talk’ by King Crimson. We started talking. Three weeks later…

  • Alarmist – Pal Magnet EP track-by-track interview

    November 1, 2013 - By 

    On the day of its official release, Dublin instrumental quartet Alarmist talk us through each track on their brand new – not to mention exceptionally good – EP Pal Magnet. Read their words and stream each track individually below! Aztec Dreams In this song we were trying to be quite intense but in an unconventional way, with these old-school guitar tones and blippy melodies rather than heavy rock riffs. A couple of us had gotten really into the 1950s producer Joe Meek and his albumI Hear a New World, which is full of these twangy slapback sounds and primitive early synths, and that…

  • Gig of the Week: Bouts, Hurdles, Go Swim

    October 29, 2013 - By 

    Off the back of the release of their stellar debut album – Nothing Good Gets Away – our gig of the week this week will see Dublin indie rock band Bouts return to Belfast for a special album launch party on Friday, November 1. Supported by two of the North’s finest indie bands, Hurdles and Go Swim, the four-piece will play the wonderfully tucked-away Menagerie in the heart of the Holylands –  their first show here since they supported Amateur Historians in the same venue early last year. Go here for the show’s event page, check out our interview with Bouts…

  • Stream: Darling – Echoes

    October 24, 2013 - By 

    One of the downright catchiest songs we’ve heard from a new Irish act in ages, Dublin duo Gary Harding and James McGuire AKA Darling have unveiled their debut single, ‘Echoes’. A starry-eyed, three-and-a-half-minute hit in the making – calling to mind everyone from Two Door Cinema Club to Ed Zealous – the track was produced by Stephen Lipson, an English producer/engineer who has worked with the likes of  Annie Lennox and Pet Shop Boys. Check out the Feel Good Lost-directed video to the song below.

  • EP Stream: A Bad Cavalier – Ex Libris

    October 23, 2013 - By 

    Ex-Panama Kings frontman and current And So I Watch You From Afar guitarist Niall Kennedy has unveiled his wonderful debut solo EP under the music-making moniker A Bad Cavalier. Having been recording songs for the project the last 14 years, the four-track Ex Libris is the first A Bad Cavalier release, recorded in Belfast and largely mixed and mastered on the road in Europe and America. Stream or pay a minimum of £3 for the EP below.

  • Stream: Alarmist – Bunda Internacionale

    October 16, 2013 - By 

    Having kept their collective head down over the last few months, Dublin band Alarmist have resurfaced in fine style via their new single, ‘Bunda Internacionale’. The lead single from the band’s forthcoming new EP Pal Magnet, the song’s bobbing, shifting instrumentalism strikes a wonderful balance between the warped textures of Tera Melos and the Ethio-jazz groove of Mulatu Astatke. Pal Magnet is available for digital download on November 1st. Stream ‘Bunda Internacionale’ via Soundcloud below.

  • Stream: We Cut Corners – YKK

    October 14, 2013 - By 

    Taken from their forthcoming second album – set for release at some point next year – Dublin indie-rock duo We Cut Corners have unveiled their excellent new single, ‘YKK’. Set for release via Delphi on November 25, the short track is a simple but characteristically infectious little slice of the two-piece’s craft. To coincide with the release – the band’s first single in over a year – We Cut Corners are set to play four dates over the next while: Thursday, October 17: CMJ showcase, Fat Baby, Rivington St, NYC Friday, October 18: The Planetary/The Great Escape Party @ CMJ, Pianos, Ludlow…

  • Track Record: Crayonsmith

    October 23, 2013 - By 

    For the latest installment of Track Record, the Crayonsmith lads arrived at my house armed with their favourite records, brownies and plenty of stories of why these albums mean so much to them. All three of them agreed that Public Strain by Women is one of the best albums ever. We chatted about the others over tea and here’s what they had to say: Women – Public Strain Ciaran Smith: “This record has everything and is a good example of where our three tastes meet. Amazing lo-fi recording job by Chad Van Gallen and loads of killer hooks. ‘Venice Lockjaw’ has…