• 15 For ’15: Oh Boland

    January 5, 2015 - By 

    Set to feature in physical form in our forthcoming January magazine, we continue 15 for ’15, a feature looking at fifteen Irish acts we’re absolutely convinced are going places in 2015. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll going to be previewing each of those acts, accompanied by words from our writers and an original photograph by our wonderful team of photographers. Next up is Galway garage-pop trio Oh Boland. Photo by Sean McCormack. What with ‘garage rock/pop’ being one of the three/four musical styles currently en vogue, Tuam’s Oh Boland are likely to leap on most of these ‘to watch’ lists as a matter…

  • Stream: Lantern For A Gale – Captain

    December 15, 2014 - By 

    Taken from their forthcoming debut album, From Adversity, Belfast-based hardcore five-piece Lantern For A Gale are streaming the blistering ‘Captain’. Stream the track below and make sure to catch them at Atlantic Lounge, Portrush on December 23 with 7.5 Tonnes of Beard and PigsAsPeople. Photo by Tom McGeehan.

  • Premiere: BeeMickSee – We Took a Dive

    September 22, 2014 - By 

    Ahead of its official launch on September 27, we’re happy to present an exclusive first listen of ‘We Took a Dive’ by Belfast-based rapper Brendan Seamus AKA BeeMickSee. Featuring Seamus’ best friend and colloborator Paul Danver, the track – telling the “tale of my harrowing relocation to Belfast in the mid 90s” – will feature on the forthcoming BeeMickSee album, The Belfast Yank. Seamus will launch ‘We Took A Dive’ at Queen’s Student’s Union, Belfast, with a full band in tow, on Saturday, September 27. Support on the night comes from Aggressors BC, The Late Twos, Hot Cops and a Wonder…

  • Inbound/exclusive remix stream: SlowPlaceLikeHome

    July 23, 2014 - By 

    A self-proclaimed “cosmic forest-dweller”, fast-rising South Donegal musician Keith Mannion AKA SlowPlaceLikeHome has spent the last two years increasingly beguiling us with his sublimely somnambulant craft. Following on from a string of wonderful EPs last year – collectively bookending his extremely promising debut album, There Go The Lights Again – Mannion is set to release the ten-track Romola next month, an albums that us all but seduced already, thanks to singles, ‘She Comes In Colour Stereo’ and ‘Luna’. Accompanied with an exclusive remix stream of John Daly’s take on the former track (below), Brian Coney chats to Mannion about the inspirational value of isolation, the…

  • FLAWS – Harsh Words Through Tangled Wires

    June 19, 2014 - By 

    On Wednesday, June 25, The Menagerie, Belfast, plays host to the new project of ex-Mojo Fury member Thomas Camblin, FLAWS. The three piece from Belfast are releasing their new EP Harsh Words Through Tangled Wires through Thomas’ new label OLD FANG which has given us the EP from Little Rivers amongst other singles. Their new record deals with “the rawness of human relationships, from broken friendships to loss and regret – peeling back appearances to show the cracks underneath”. They’ll also be supported by Michael Mormecha of Mojo Fury who will be playing his new solo material on the night. Entry…

  • Astralnaut – Thieves, Beggars and Swine

    May 27, 2014 - By 

    Northern Irish stoner rock five-piece Astralnaut will launch their pummelling new EP, Thieves, Beggars and Swine, at Belfast’s Menagerie on Thursday, May 29. Supported by Bad Boat and Aquatamp, the show will mark the release of the band’s five-track follow-up to In The Gaze Of The Gods. Largely recorded by Alan Hanlon at Hi-Tone Studios and Clark Phillips (Great Northern Productions), Thieves, Beggars and Swine was mixed and mastered by the band and Clark Phillips over the last four months.   Stream the EP in full via Soundcloud below and hit up the Facebook event page for the launch here.   Thieves,…

  • Watch: Meltybrains? – Green, Yellow & Purple

    January 7, 2014 - By 

    Dublin weirdo/electro-pop five-piece Meltybrains? have long been a band that have piqued our interest. Becoming less a mere curiousity, that interest has blossomed into full-blown excitement with the release of the band’s latest single, the ten-minute ‘Green, Yellow &Purple’. Created by Louise Gaffney (of Come On Live Long, no less), the video for the single is a decidedly tripped-out accompaniment that nicely weaves around the track – a skittered, blissed-out mini-odyssey that forges the eccentric with the stellar in thoroughly confident fashion, unravelling to become something of a prog/electro masterstroke. Immerse yourself in the video below.

  • Watch: Out Krypton Son – I See A Sadness

    December 10, 2013 - By 

    Off the back of the release of his stunning ‘Can’t Make You Come Back’ (not to mention a sublime cover of Willie Nelon’s ‘Pretty Paper’) Derry singer-songwriter Chris McConaghy AKA Our Krypton Son has unveiled a live video of a sublime new track, ‘I See A Sadness’. Filmed in Smalltown America’s studio in Derry, the video – edited by Paul Brown and his team from In Your Steps – is, according to the STA blog on the video, “delicate in every sense of the word and is sure to pull on the heart strings and bring a tear to a…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2013 (100-75)

    December 10, 2013 - By 

    It’s that time of year again: End Of Year” lists are steadily rolling in from every conceivable direction, many of us are still debating the BBC Sound of… verdict for next year and we’re all silently pondering our own favourite albums and EPs of the last twelve months. Closer to home, it’s been yet another ridiculously impressive year for Irish music, both North and South. Since January 1, right up until the writing of this article (December 10), a single week hasn’t gone by that wasn’t soundtracked in some way by the very best in new, homegrown music. As such –…

  • Ciaran Lavery – Other People Wrote These

    September 25, 2013 - By 

    Having released one of the finest Irish albums of last year – his mesmerising debut full-length release Not Nearly Dark – Aghagallon-based singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery is an artist who clearly lives and breathes his craft. When he’s not honing and delivering his own uniquely longing brand of alt-folk he refers to the tales of others and revisits the sweeping imprint of influence that has helped shape his own wonderfully distinctive sound. A four-track manifestation of this, Lavery’s aptly-titled new covers EP, Other People Wrote This, offers a ideal opportunity to re-assess his talents from a totally new and interesting perspective. Starting…