• Stream: Psank – Ataxia

    July 11, 2018 - By 

    We’re big fans of Feather Beds here at TTA. Now, the project’s Michael Orange has started something completely different in the form of Psank. Teaming up with Adam Browne AKA Plaice, the Dublin based duo delve further into the electronic landscape than either of them have before in this new project. Have played together previously in Autumn Owls, the pair are well used to working together and it shows in their debut EP Fabric which finds them branching into explorative ambience and melancholic dancefloor territory. While Orange has ventured into this kind of territory before with his superb Feather Beds releases, with Psank he and Browne explore even…

  • Stream: Arvo Party – Tired Eyes (fear. LARKS)

    July 10, 2018 - By 

    Ahead of making his solo debut performance at Mandela Hall’s curtain call on July 27, Belfast musician and producer Herb Magee AKA Arvo Party is back with collaborative new single ‘Tired Eyes’. Featuring sublime guest vocals from Fiona O’Kane AKA LARKS, it’s a first-rate, FM-flirting electro-pop gem that not only confines within its unfurling four minutes Magee’s keen versatility as a producer – it doubles up as a stop-gap ahead of the release of Arvo Party’s second album, which is pipped for release next month. Details to be announced. In the meantime, give this a blast or two.  

  • Naive Ted drops fierce new Magazines mixtape: Stream

    July 9, 2018 - By 

    Naive Ted is nothing if not one of Ireland’s most prolific and criminally underrated artists. Last year, for example, we were blown away by the Limerick-based scratch master and frenetic, experimental hip hop producer’s MuRli featuring The Minute Particulars // Episode I – The death of my trust is sincerely yours album and its subsequent instalments. Now, the masked producer has returned with yet another mixtape. This time, available for free via Soundcloud. It’s, as expected, absolutely buck wild. Wielding a sort of hectic poeticism throughout, Ted’s frenetic beats, sampling and machine bashing make for a chaotic but constantly exhilarating listen. You can also download the release…

  • Watch: VerseChorusVerse – Category

    July 5, 2018 - By 

    Just last week, we shared news about outro, the new third album from Belfast-based singer-songwriter Tony Wright AKA VerseChorusVerse. Now, the musician and and former And So I Watch You From Afar riff-slinger is back with the video for the release’s lead single, ‘Category’. Shot on location and “on a whim” in the beautiful commune of Casalattico in Italian region of Lazio, it features a solitary Wright mirror this wonderfully carefree, sun-tinted effort, all while offering up some contemplative lyrical subtext: He said, “The lyrics are a meditation on contradictions and the restrictive construct nature of labels in this age of fluidity, masked…

  • Stream: Remains of Youth – Settle West/South Africa

    June 28, 2018 - By 

    Back in July 2016, Belfast alternative quartet Remains of Youth returned after a long hiatus with There Is Hope Without Progress, a five-track EP we said brimmed the band’s “carefully-considered musicianship, strong sense of urgency and deft vitality”. One memorable, TTA-promoted gig at Lavery’s in Belfast later, the band dropped off the radar again but now, two years on, they’ve re-emerged with two of their strongest efforts to date, ‘Settle West’ and ‘South Africa’. Where the material that comprised the TIHWP EP struck a chord with us, these new tracks find the Adam Shirlow-fronted band at their most inspired and inspirited. Striking…

  • A Litany Of Failures Vol. II Announced

    July 3, 2018 - By 

    Following the limited release of cross-Ireland Little L Records compilation, 2016’s A Litany of Failures – featuring Oh Boland, Shrug Life, That Snaake and Junk Drawer – an expanded second edition has been confirmed for release on July 13. Set to be released on 180g gatefold double vinyl, as well as through Bandcamp, Spotify and the usual outlets, it features 18 acts from Belfast, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Dublin, Galway & Limerick. The DIY, co-op endeavour aims to provide an opportunity to perform outside each of their hometowns, shortening the mental distances between bands, and encouraging a cross-pollination of musical communities. Splitting costs between artists and the organisers, a sense of…

  • Premiere: Peter J. McCauley – Where Do We Belong

    June 22, 2018 - By 

    We last heard from Belfast singer-songwriter Peter J McCauley when he released his five-track EP Liminals back in 2016. Two years on, the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist — who previously released music under the moniker Rams Pocket Radio — is back with one of his most nuanced and carefully-crafted single efforts to date. Threaded with some subtle electronic ambience, it’s a wonderfully sparse piano-and-vocals paean to the eternal conundrum of not knowing where one is going, but taking solace in both perspective and faith in que será, será. Have a first listen to the single below.

  • VerseChorusVerse – outro

    June 20, 2018 - By 

    Former ASIWYFA axeman Tony Wright’s VerseChorusVerse has surprise released his third album, outro, to accompany the news of his debut book later this year. Blending the literary & theatrical prowess displayed on last year’s The Tragedy of Dr Hannigan with the folk & blues he’s become known for under the VCV moniker, outro marks his return to Big Guitar Anthems, indulging in the alt. rock edge and dynamic he gave to ASIWYFA. The LP was minimally by Wright & Andrew Coles in a mansion on the North Coat, assisted on backing vocals & bass by Arvo Party/LaFaro’s Herb Magee. Stream it here: outro by VerseChorusVerse As explained in the following video, proceeds…

  • Stream: SPIES – Uriah

    June 20, 2018 - By 

    Three months on from making a triumphant return with ‘Young Dad’ – a single we eagerly deemed “the band’s strongest single effort to date” – Dublin five-piece Spies are back with its follow-up ‘Uriah’. Propelled by Motorik groove, it’s a four-minute gem layered with balmy synth textures and the band’s evolved widescreen alt-pop. Mirroring themes of friendship and betrayal, vocalist Michael Broderick called the song, “A reflection on the story of Uriah and King David.” ‘Uriah’ is taken from Spies’ forthcoming debut album, Constancy, which is expected to drop later this year.

  • Stream: Silverbacks – Dunkirk

    June 12, 2018 - By 

    Six months on from featuring them as one of our 18 for ’18 acts, Dublin five-piece Silverbacks are back with their strongest single effort to date, ‘Dunkirk’. Released on Friday (June 15) via their own PK Miami Records, the track – which was produced by Girl Band’s Daniel Fox – is a swiftly sprawling three-minute raid melding art-punk tangentialism with purified indie rock sensibility (the latter of which is something we’ve happily banged on about for some time now.) Speaking about the track, the band said: “It is about a character who is questioning the life they have been dealt. They find…