• Download: Fixity – FIXITY 2 & Live In What Used To Be A Church

    August 29, 2016 - By 

    Cork drummer maestro Dan Walsh AKA FIXITY likes to keep himself busy. From his work and creative endeavours with The Great Balloon Race, Cork Improvised Music Club, jazz night Blue Note and many musical projects, there’s a forward-moving momentum to his multifaceted musical trajectory to date. With his first, self-titled album as FIXITY released via Cork tape imprint Kantcope in July, Walsh has just released two new releases: FIXITY 2 and Live In What Used To Be A Church, the latter released featuring Emil Nerstrand, Kevin Terry, Fortune, Declan O’Shea and Dan Walsh. A restless, six-track release, FIXITY 2 is a perfectly…

  • Premiere: Scenery – Howlin’

    August 25, 2016 - By 

    Early days though it is, Derry’s Scenery have already established themselves on the live front as an act that won’t likely be slotted into a neat box any time soon. With a sound confidently traversing progressively-minded rock, soul, jazz and blues, the Stephen Whiteman-fronted band’s debut single ‘Howlin” is a feverish effort weaving wanton sax and vocals over a creeping chord progression that burrows deep. For a band proudly wearing throwback sounds on their collective sleeve, it’s a first gambit that edges into forward-looking, decidedly urgent territory. Taken from their debut EP, Far Out, exclusively stream ‘Howlin” – and check out forthcoming Scenery…

  • Stream: I Am Karate – Swayze

    August 30, 2016 - By 

    Scandinavia has been at the helm of what could be called Pop music’s glorious renaissance of the past couple of years. From artists like Denmark’s MØ to Sweden’s Rabbii, Ji Nilsson, and Julia Spada there is a plethora of acts currently doing a terrific job of bringing out the synth-pop fan in even the most hard-hearted listeners. Another act that fits comfortably into this realm while still operating with a wealth of individuality is Stockholm’s I Am Karate. The duo, made up of Erika Soldh Ahlström and Marta Pettersson, released their debut EP In Thin Air (I mean, how couldn’t we talk about them?) back in July and now unveil…

  • Premiere: Carriages – Moving Parts

    August 24, 2016 - By 

    Dublin duo Harry Bookless and Aaron Page AKA Carriages aren’t an act to shy away from idiosyncratic process. Following on from the stellar ‘Like a Child’ – released back in March – their latest single, ‘Moving Parts’, began life as a recording of Harry’s nephew Alex, who was 3 years old at the time, singing as he played with some percussion instruments. According to the pair, “A short loop was cut from the recording and a chord sequence was written around it and this became the basis for the song. Aaron wrote the lyrics and melody around Alex’s singing and the main hook…

  • Girls Names Announce Remix EP, stream ‘Zero Triptych’ (Mikey Young Remix)

    August 24, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of a new string of live dates that sees them zig-zag around European from the end of August to early October, Girls Names have announced Revisionism, an EP of remixes featuring the likes of Total Control’s Mikey Young, Broken English Club, Shift Work, Group Zero and The Horrors’ Tom Furse. The first track to be lifted from the release, Young’s re-workin of the band’s 2016 single ‘Zero Triptych’ is a blissed-out effort that re-frames frontman Cathal Cully’s words in a new guise. Revisionism is set for release via Tough Love on September 16. Check out forthcoming Girls Names dates, the artwork for Revisionism and…

  • Premiere: Son of the Hound – I.O.U

    August 23, 2016 - By 

    Not one to rest easy on one particular sound or approach, it’s safe to say there are many strings to Michael McCullagh AKA Son of the Hound’s proverbial bow. From his days as guitarist in Colenso Parade right through to his outfit in his previous musical nom de plume Meb Jon Sol, the Omagh musician is back with yet another change of direction in the form of 60s influenced indie rock n’ roll single ‘I.O.U’. Speaking to TTA, McCullagh said: “I.O.U was recorded in Milbank studios, with Mike Mormecha doubling up on drum and recording duties. It was recorded live initially and then cleaned…

  • EP Premiere: New Gods – Weird War Tales

    August 22, 2016 - By 

    A self-proclaimed “sleazy punk/rock n’ roll junk” band, Dublin’s positively scuzz-infested New Gods will play their swansong alongside the likes of Murder and Overbite at Fibbers in Dublin this Saturday night. But before bowing out in a blaze of old school punk abandon (a highly recommend proposition in and of itself) the five-piece will release their latest and last four-track EP, Weird War Tales, on Thursday. Tipping its pissed-off hat to everyone from Dead Boys, Sex Pistols and The Wipers, the EP – which we’re pleased to premiere here – offers up just over nine minutes of breakneck, begrimed brilliance.

  • Watch: Katie Kim – Salt

    August 22, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of its release on Friday, October 14, Waterford artist Katie Kim has unveiled a Sean Zissou-directed promo video offering a curious behind the scenes look at the making of her forthcoming album, Salt. Encircling ever-thick like a flourishing curl of mist, its accompanying track evokes everything from William Basinski’s starker works, early Labradford and the that landscape of loss so masterfully soundtracked by the likes of Aidan Baker, Tim Hecker and Stars of The Lid (who play Cork’s Triskel on Saturday, October 8).

  • Exploded View – Exploded View

    August 19, 2016 - By 

    Formed in somewhat Atoms For Peace-esque circumstances, Exploded View came together in 2014 when ‘UK-born, Berlin-based political-journalist-turned-musician’ Anika put a band together in Mexico to tour her solo work there, before finding that her and her new group, made up of local musicians and producers Martin Thulin, Hugo Quezada and Amon Melgarejo, had a natural chemistry that deserved to be committed to tape. The resulting self-titled album, released on the ever reliable Sacred Bones label, is cut from similar cloth to Anika’s 2010 solo album – a collaboration with Portishead side project Beak – but is infinitely more accomplished and…

  • Premiere: Drown – Drown EP

    August 19, 2016 - By 

    Having formed less than a year ago, Galway noise-pop outfit Drown have quickly emerged as a group you’d be foolish to ignore. Following their lo-fi post-punk debut single ‘Descent’, released earlier in the summer, the five piece now unveil their full debut EP, a feast of melancholic pop that steers resolutely toward the grittier, unpolished realms of post-punk and shoegaze. ‘Narcos’ sounds like a West of Ireland interpretation of Turn on the Bright Lights era Interpol while ‘Tao’ is a teasing, woozy goodbye to close the release, leaving the path ahead unlit and open to change. While the group’s nods to Joy Division and…