• Cork Music Trail: Ones to Watch

    November 18, 2014 - By 

    It would seem that MTV have remembered what their (previously-orphaned) acronym stands for, turning their attention away from mouth-breathing reality-show nonsense, and on to music, of all things. With the announcement of the Shepard Fairey-directed Rebel Music calling attention to youth subcultures around the world and the transcendent tunes that soundtrack their lives, the idea hits that the floundering music-channel grandfather has either finally realised the error of its ways and is earnestly trying for relevance, or has just been subject to the law of diminishing returns. Either way, the cable & satellite success story of the 1980s wobbles its way to Cork…

  • Premiere: North Side Drive – Snow//Sea//Sky

    October 17, 2014 - By 

    Snow//Sea//Sky, the new release from North Side Drive, the “quiet” solo project of math-pop lads Former Monarchs‘ singing sticksman Jonathan Pearson, is, by his own admission, “weird”. In itself, though, that’s no deviation from the norm in an ever-evolving soundscape, moving from post-rock-inflected piano/cello pieces, to a stint at solo piano in honour of his grandfather in his last EP. His third EP under the name, the release invokes weather and the elements, and the moods Pearson conveys in his songs reflect this perfectly. ‘Snow’, for instance, is a beautiful piece, stark in its beginnings, before building up in a…