• Quare Groove: New compilation features rare Irish funk, soul, post-punk and electronics from 70s and 80s

    January 16, 2018 - By 

    Inimitable Dublin label and record store All City recently announced an exciting compilation, set for release on 2 February. The wonderfully titled Quare Groove Vol. 1  features eight cuts of rare, re-mastered and frankly thrilling ‘groove’ music produced in Ireland during the 70s and 80s. Artists and bands featured on the compilation include The Pumphouse Gang, Those Nervous Animals, Barry Werner and Micro Disney. As the All City crew explain: “Irish music of the 1970s was simply not synonymous with groove music in any way. Avid music aficionado’s were totally ‘rockist’ then (to use an old tag from the same time!)” The funk, disco, post-punk, electronic and experimental music featured…

  • Premiere: Cranky Face – Vultures

    January 13, 2018 - By 

    Galway rock outfit Cranky Face have shared their new single ‘Vultures’. Taken off their forthcoming EP set for release early this year, it’s a rollicking guitar number for fans of Queens of the Stone Age’s recent output, The Raconteurs and Pixies. With a host of festival appearances under their belt in 2017 and big plans lined up for the coming year, this is not one to be missed.

  • Watch: Daniel John Paxton – Morning Crow

    January 9, 2018 - By 

    Dublin singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Daniel John Paxton has shared the first of a series of solo recordings made in his home over the past few months. ‘Morning Crow’ finds the front man of cosmic-Americana rockers Buffalo Sunn in more stripped back territory. Embracing his folkier side, Paxton’s touching, bittersweet lyricism is given plenty of room to breathe in this short acoustic number. With more new material promised to be on the way, we’ve plenty to look forward to from Paxton in the coming year. Have a look/listen to the video for ‘Morning Crow’ below, directed by A. Parkes

  • The Thin Air’s Top 15 Irish EPs of 2017

    December 22, 2017 - By 

    Looking back at the sheer breath and wealth of EPs that were released from artists across the country this year made us giddy with joy and excitement. The boundless evolution of style, diversity, experimentation and confidence on display in 2017 was as momentous as we had ever seen or heard and, as such, narrowing this list down to 15 was no easy task. The following is a list of artists who we felt pushed themselves to new, ambitious heights and creative territories this year, who delivered both on record and in live settings and who proudly represented the fecund growth…

  • Nava – Tapestry

    December 14, 2017 - By 

    On paper, it might not sound like the most symbiotic of sonic juxtapositions (depending on taste, obviously) – “a groundbreaking group of young musicians exploring the relationship between the ancient musical cultures of Ireland and Persia.” But in Nava’s self-released debut LP Tapestry, what could easily have fallen into cacophonous territory instead finds its feet in blissful euphony; as much in thanks to the unconventional folk outfit’s mixed bag of musical lineages as the sheer musicianship of its members. Half exploration of traditional expressions of Irish folk (courtesy of Paddy Kiernan and Niall Hughes) and half observance of traditional Persian folk mediums…

  • Mango & MathMan – Wheel Up

    December 13, 2017 - By 

    There’s a storm brewing on this island. For a nation of people who pride ourselves on our artists’ ability to twist and contort the English language masterfully, it’s surprising that our hip-hop scene has taken so long to come to fruition. Where in the past we would have had the likes of Messiah J and The Expert to represent us on the international stage, we’ve slowly but surely been building up a roster of top-tier artists. In recent years, Rejjie Snow, Kojaque, Hare Squead and Limerick’s Rusangano Family – to name but a handful –have proven without much doubt that we…

  • Watch: The Elephant Room – Naive Green

    November 26, 2017 - By 

    Dublin trio The Elephant Room have shared a new track ‘Naive Green’. Having formed in January of this year, the band comprised of singer and guitarist Frank Shortle, bassist Shane Martin and drummer Ian Hand have already a string of singles under their belt and have been honing a sound that will resonate with anyone with a penchant for 90s indie rock and the lo-fi charm of slacker styles. Earlier singles ‘Brisco’ and ‘Ashes’ showed us a band with a precocious knack for a hook early in their nascence as a group. We previously drew comparisons between them and the likes of Sparklehorse and Wilco and…

  • Stream: The 202s – Soul Don’t Boogie

    November 25, 2017 - By 

    Dublin’s The 202s have shared another single taken of their forthcoming second album From When The Future Was Yet To Hurt Us, set for release on 2 February 2018 via Difference/Repetition.  The trio of Mike Glennon, Steve Melling and Barry Smullen follow this years’ Up In Thin Air EP with more ventures into their new-wave, post-punk and krautrock influences. Along with its first single ‘Dash For The Exit (Real Love Doesn’t Lie)’, ‘Soul Don’t Boogie’ sees the group continuing to embrace grit, motorik groove and grizzly melodies. It’s done them a lot of favours, and finds them in territory they are more comfortable in than ever before, giving them chances…

  • Video Premiere: Trick Mist – Fraction

    November 11, 2017 - By 

    On last Thursday’s edition of our show on Dublin Digital Radio we debuted the new single from an artist we’ve become rather fond of in the past two years. Gavin Murray AKA Trick Mist‘s blend of skilled songwriting, atmospheric electronics and percussion, and looped violins make him a solo artist whose output has only improved since we first came across it. Now, the newly Cork-based artist who had lived in Manchester for the past number of years, delivers his most mature work to date in the form of ‘Fraction’, a track in two halves that blends echoed vocals and layers of violin and…

  • Stream: Robert John Ardiff – Lying in the Gutter

    November 1, 2017 - By 

    Being the big fans of Come On Live Long that we are, it’s with great pleasure that we share the latest single from guitarist and vocalist Robert John Ardiff‘s forthcoming solo album, Between The Bed and Room.  Following the brittle and really rather magnificent ‘Paint Your Nails’, ‘Lying in the Gutter’ is an even more delicate affair. The rich, vast textures of Come On Live Long’s sound are stripped away to leave Ardiff exposed and reliant on a self-trust and confidence in compositional simplicity. Luckily, in the singles preceding this and once again here, there seems to be no shortage of that. Seems we…