• Premiere: Ordnance Survey – Chrome feat. Sean Mac Erlaine & Kate Ellis

    April 25, 2019 - By 

    Next month, Dublin’s Neil O’Connor aka Somadrone will re-emerge with a new collaboration album titled Relative Phase. Recorded at the National Concert Hall Studios in Dublin throughout 2017 and 2018, the album – which is released under the collaborative moniker Ordnance Survey – features O’Connor on various instruments (see the full impressive list below), Kate Ellis on cello, John McEntire (of Tortoise, The Sea & Cake et al.) on drums, Sean Mac Erlaine on alto sax, bass clarinet and electrics, and Linda Buckley with vocal processing. Across eight tracks, it’s a fully-realised, synth-worshipping triumph of dense textures and widescreen extemporization that attempts…

  • Premiere: Oisin o’ Scolai & The Virginia Slims – Vacation

    March 22, 2019 - By 

    Backed by the Virginia Slims, Belfast-based Donegal musician Oisin o’ Scolai has been on our radar since last July. Signed to Black Tragick Records – a label founded by none other than Kilrea’s finest Robyn G Shiels – he creates folk-pop brimming with pathos, heart and nuance. Exhibit A is new single ‘Vacation’. Taking from o’ Scolai’s forthcoming debut album, Vacant Sea, it’s a heart-stung, lo-fi effort tussling with social cul-de-sacs and growing fernweh. Officially out on April 5, ó Scolaí launches Vacant Sea alongside An Auld Lad, Hatchetfield, Franklyn and more at a Black Tragick night at Belfast’s Voodoo on April 4. Pre-order it…

  • Premiere: Alpha Chrome Yayo – Cerberus 3000 (Killing Time)/A Sweet Car Named Demented

    March 21, 2019 - By 

    Last month, we had the pleasure of premiering ‘Breakfast in Daytona’ by Belfast producer and musician Alpha Chrome Yayo. It was, as we saw it, “soaked, SEGA-leaning gem” from an artist who, alongside the likes of the equally mysterious Danny Madigan, are flying the chequered flag for Belfast’s surprising, yet thriving synthwave scene. A self-proclaimed “hi-octane hellride”, new single ‘Cerberus 3000 (Killing Time’) ups the ante from ACY. Building on previous releases, the track – just like shorter, but no less inspired b-side ‘A Sweet Car Named Demented’ – is a pure-cut dose of synth-drenched, shred-heavy retromancy from the producer.…

  • Watch: The Man Whom – Nothing Gained (Live)

    March 20, 2019 - By 

    Ian Doyle aka The Man Whom is an artist whose craft weaves together acoustic balladry with an ambient-folk sensibility. Having been quiet since 2011’s The Greatest Event LP, the Wexford singer-songwriter has returned with a gossamer tale that delves into the mind of the songwriter struggling with the devastating effects of recession. “I wrote Nothing Gained in the middle of the last recession in Ireland when its full effects had become apparent,” Doyle said. “Working in the construction sector up to that point the recession hit hard. Luckily for me and my family, we managed to struggle through. Unlike others around us who had…

  • Premiere: RUNAH – Shame

    March 20, 2019 - By 

    Tara May is a Dublin musician who makes mesmeric art-folk in the guise RUNAH. It’s something that’s on full display on her new single, ‘Shame’, which we’re pleased to premiere today. Conjuring the likes of Cat Power, Lana Del Rey and Kimbra, May said the song is “based on the changeable feminine divine being painted as shameful, but also how shame is constantly perpetuated in society. “We are ashamed of sexuality and sexual expression, we endure shame around self-expression, we endure shame for the space we take up, always coming from a feeling of lack. In a society where we are…

  • Premiere: Larry – Liar

    March 7, 2019 - By 

    You may have caught wind: we’re very excited for the release of the forthcoming self-titled debut album from Dundalk three-piece Larry. Set for release via Pizza Pizza Records on April 26, the nine-track release was recorded by none other than Steve Albini at Electrical Audio, and mastered by the one – the only – Bob Weston. A track we called a “fervent, four-minute paean to freedom and psychic wanderlust” lead single ‘Cocker Spaniel’ packed a big punch. ‘Liar’ goes one further. Capturing the band’s increasingly distinctive and implosive push-and-pull, its skeletal dynamics brilliantly mirror frontman Joey Edwards’ confessionalism. Have a first listen to…

  • Video Premiere: Jake Regan – Over It

    March 5, 2019 - By 

    On Friday night, the packed-out downstairs venue of Dublin’s International Bar played host the first ever music video exhibition by C-47. As well as delivering a stellar debut solo set on the night, Dublin singer-songwriter’s Jake Regan’s ‘Over It’ proved a highlight among the various videos that were screened. Produced by C-47, directed and edited by John D Breen, produced by M.A.K and featuring cinematography by Helton Nóbrega, the video – which features Regan and Eilish Malon from Girlfriend among others – was shot on Wicklow beaches and in the Dublin mountains over two days. While many will know Regan from Dublin band Segrasso, ‘Over It’…

  • Premiere: Slyrydes – Mental Health

    March 1, 2019 - By 

    We’re pleased to present a first look at the video for the debut single from Galway band Slyrydes. A self-proclaimed “frank take on the shambolic Irish Health Service”, ‘Mental Health’ is a potent and necessary first offering from the quartet. It’s something the video, which you can view below, taps into to and then some. This is vital music from a band we’re sure are destined for big things in 2019 and beyond. Slyrydes play Galway’s Roisin Dubh on March 23 and Dublin’s Grand Social on March 29.

  • Stream: Slouch – Day Half

    February 20, 2019 - By 

    We’ve been singing the praises of Slouch to anyone who will listen for an age now. Comprising guitarist and vocalist Conor Wilson, bassist Kev Shannon and drummer Malachy Burke, the Dublin trio’s shapeshifting, scuzzed-out sounds defy easy categorisation more than the vast majority of Irish bands all-too-swiftly referred to “alt-rock”. In truth, Slouch have also felt like a genuine alternative – a riff-wielding, face-searing, psychogroove-pedalling flipside – in a scene heavily saturated with FM-flirting, Award-Winning-Music-Blogger-appeasing guitar rock. The lead single from their forthcoming “very nearly finished” debut album, ‘Day Half’ sublimates the very best aspects of Slouch’s craft to five masterfully unpredictable minutes. Marrying dizzying riff…

  • EP Premiere: May Rosa – Waxwork Sweetheart

    February 14, 2019 - By 

    Having confidently marked her arrival with debut single ‘Dancing in the Debris’ back in 2017, Belfast artist May Rosa establishes her as a fully-formed alt-pop contender on Waxwork Sweetheart. Across four tracks – from slow-burning lead single ‘All The Ways’ to the release’s Julee Cruise-summoning title track, it sees the London-based chanteuse’s finely-woven and phantasmal craft refined to seventeen all-too-fleeting minutes. Have a first listen to the EP – and a first look at the video for ‘All The Ways’ – below.