• Stream: REPLETE – Líle

    January 31, 2017 - By 

    Less than a month on from dropping Zizek at the Discotheque, Kilkenny producer Peter Lawlor AKA REPLETE is back with new deep house cut ‘Líle’. Released via Paper Recordings’ Project Fear compilation (which you can check out in full here) the single comes accompanied with three remixes from Dublin-based producer Sean Arthur AKA Kobina, Berlin-based Kilkenny producer David Sheenan AKA Vogelbat (whose new-born daughter Líle inspired the title) and Foreign Affair. This is a sturdy release with real variation over the four tracks.

  • 17 For ’17: Gaze is Ghost

    January 30, 2017 - By 

    What is the distinction between a songwriter and a composer? Where is the line drawn and indeed, what does it mean? Just one listen to Strabane-born, Cambridge-based Gaze is Ghost will tell you that sometimes one of these descriptions alone is not enough. Since announcing herself onto the world with the outstanding mini-album Plume back in 2013, a sepia-toned ode to her temporary Parisian home, her reputation has been quietly on the ascendancy. Racking up support slots for Mancunian anti-punks Crywank amongst others, Laura McGarrigle’s ever growing fan base is no mean feat for an artist undoubtedly out of love…

  • Stream: New Jackson – Electric Blue

    January 30, 2017 - By 

    Including a fair few Irish artists, 2016 expectedly saw a deluge of Bowie tributes in the form of various covers, remixes and collaborations. Now, just over a year on from Bowie’s passing, David Kitt has offered up his own tribute in the form of ‘Electric Blue’. Produced under his New Jackson moniker and set for release in collaboration with Elliot Lion via Cin Cin Records on February 10, the single takes the basis of ‘Sound of Vision’ for a stellar, unravelling 10-minute dancefloor trip that really rewards a full (and indeed repeated) listen. Photo by Dorje de Burgh

  • Watch: Participant – Your Better

    January 25, 2017 - By 

    Dublin’s Stephen Tiernan AKA Participant has been riding a well-deserved wave of momentum recently, cropping up on end of year and “ones to watch” lists left, right and centre. Capitalising on that drive, new single  ‘Your Better’ is a real statement of intent, conjuring the hushed intimacy of Sparklehorse with a sparse delicacy all his own. Taken from his second EP, Content, the single is masterfully propelled by Bob Gallagher’s video, an accompaniment that highlights its darker undertones with a powerful narrative metaphor. Tiernan said,”‘Your Better’ was one of those songs that seemed complete from the moment I uttered the first lyric over the…

  • Inbound: MUNKY

    January 25, 2017 - By 

    If you’re becoming slightly jaded with run of the mill music and want to expand your ear to something different, MUNKY are the antidote. Today, the Dublin quartet released the video for their new single ‘Hunter Gatherer Blues’, four minutes of infectious disco-infused rock. Zara Hedderman spoke to their frontman, Zac Stephenson about the video, their influences and their forthcoming debut headline gig in Whelan’s on February 1. Who are MUNKY? MUNKY are Zac Stephenson (lead vocals, guitar),  Sam Russell (drums), Conor Lawlor (lead guitar) Niall Donnelly (bass). What brought you guys together to form the band? Zac: I met Conor…

  • Stream: Eoin Dolan – I Can Make You Hurt at Will

    January 25, 2017 - By 

    An unused track from his 2016 self-titled debut album, ‘I Can Make You Hurt at Will’ by Galway singer-songwriter Eoin Dolan is a subtle, masterfully sombre surf-folk single touching on nocturnalism, the long winter and the hidden laws of love. Released in association with Citóg Records, the track – featuring Patrick O’Toole on lead guitar and Robin Van Der Klooster on bass – is short but sweet testament to the fact Dolan is a master craftsman of tales that confront the innate fragility of relationships and personal becoming. I CAN MAKE YOU HURT AT WILL by Eoin Dolan

  • Stream: Kid Karate – No Way

    January 25, 2017 - By 

    Describing themselves as “Mike Tyson serenading his wife with a heavy metal cover of Abba’s ‘Waterloo'” (hey, why not?) Dublin trio Kid Karate evolved many moons ago from a two-piece jam in a Crumlin shed. Ever since, the band – comprised of Kevin Breen, Steven Gannon and Ian McFarlane – have grown into a formidable beast with their earworming, slightly left-of-centre craft. Having had their heads down creating some new sounds, the trio have unveiled their single, ‘No Way’, a four-minute alt-pop anthem set for official release on February 20 that’ll be lingering in your inner ear for hours. Don’t believe…

  • 17 for ’17: Bad Sea

    January 25, 2017 - By 

    There’s nothing rough about the waves that Bad Sea have been making in the Irish gig scene. Their dreamy folk-country combo has seen them playing everything from Castlepalooza to Other Voices to the recent Therapy Sessions at the Workman’s Club (as part of the First Fortnight Festival). The duo, Ciara Thompson and Alan Pharrell, met on Tinder, and managed to form a powerhouse of a musical relationship out of a dating site. All that’s available for listening online at the moment is the band’s poignant debut single, Solid Air, which offers the perfect juxtaposition between Thompson’s unique and gentle swaying…

  • 17 for ’17: Our Krypton Son

    January 25, 2017 - By 

    Our Krypton Son’s ethereal sounds may seem bathed in “the glow that flashes red” from the sun of Superman’s home planet, but we don’t really need to look as far as the celestial bodies. Those auroras closer to home should take just as much responsibility for where Chris McConaghy’s melodies emanate from, piercing every so often through the coastal skies to inspire and ignite. Written in the small village of Creeslough in northwest Donegal, the sonic themes of Fleas and Diamonds swell and meander like the landscape of the county that birthed it; impenetrable yet so welcoming once breached, a…

  • Watch: For Foresters – Towels

    January 23, 2017 - By 

    Having been playing together for the better part of six years, Donegal/Dublin trio For Foresters are a self-proclaimed theatrical, poetic and expressive act comprised of Gabriel Paschal Blake, Conal Doherty and Gary Hamilton. Presenting themselves as “not just musicians but storytellers who recite their pro’s through raw, rustic tunes” their debut single ‘Towels’ is a strong and summoning effort that – whilst certainly a long time coming – has been worth the wait. Accompanied a sublime – albeit rather bleak – video courtesy of Charlie Joe Doherty featuring Michael Kennedy, the single is a swelling cloud of first-rate experimental ambient…