• Premiere: The Hipshakes – Attention Spans

    Set to headline the last ever (and downright unmissable) Retro Revival Club at Dublin’s soon-to-be-departed Sweeney’s, Manchester garage punk quartet The Hipshakes recently released their blistering, new album, Snake, via Sligo independent label par excellence, Art For Blind records (The Number Ones, September Girls, The Altered Hours, Perfect Pussy, No Ditching, etc.) An outright highlight from said release, we’re pleased to premiere the video for ‘Attention Spans’ – a breathless, Harmacy-era Sebadohesque throwdown – below.

  • Premiere: Warriors of the Dystotheque – Just Breathe

    The follow-up to their March EP Return To Coney, ‘Just Breathe’ is the new single from multi-national outfit Warriors of the Dystotheque, founded by Derry’s Jonny Mac. Featuring vocals from Coventry singer Bella Deanie, it’s a slick, impressively produced soundscape relaying “the state of not giving up when everyone else has let you down.” Accompanying the release are remixes from the likes of Ubblahkan, Ken Fab Re and Brothers Nylon, each further revealing the track’s textural, cinematic prowess. According to Jonny Mac, the track – which we premiere in full below – came about “in a tiring drive home to Derry from a festival…

  • Premiere: SlowPlaceLikeHome – Tiger Lilly

    Written, recorded, and produced in the forests of South Donegal, where all his previous releases have originated from, the new Double A-side single by Keith Mannion AKA SlowPlaceLikeHome reveals the workings of an artist constantly evolving his craft. Set for 10″ release on May 23, ‘Tiger Lilly/Friday’ sees Mannion move more toward the live setting with production. Where 8 minute B-side ‘Friday’ tells the tale of a self-styled magician and Coulrophobic called Friday, the former – which we premiere here – is a burrowing electro-pop gem that tells the story of reflective delinquency from the eyes of a night owl. Nice. SlowPlaceLikeHome play…

  • Video Premiere: Tuath – Existence is Futile

    A self-described multilingual experimental, progressive psych rock/shoegaze band”, Donegal’s Tuath (or tribe in Gaelic) have quickly established themselves as one of the country’s most singular propositions. With a heavy-metal influenced rhythm section and hints of jazz fusion woven throughout their sound, they are far from in the business of seeking slick categorisation – a fact impressively confirmed on their forthcoming second EP. Set for digital release on June 15, the lead/title from Existence is Futile is a downtempo gem that sits somewhere between a lamenting Madlib instrumental and a trip-hop inspired Praxis jam. Directed by Raymond McBride, the track’s accompanying video proves a suitable hallucinatory backdrop here. Check out our…

  • Video Premiere: BAD BONES – LANG

    In a short amount of time BAD BONES (Dublin-based producer Sal Stapelton) has carved out both a unique and mysterious sound and image. Her eerie, infectious beats and experimental-pop composition style have earned her comparisons to FKA Twigs, Arca, Maya Jane Coles and Robyn. At the same time her video work has cultivated a minimalist, yet enigmatic image. Her new single ‘LANG’ gives us a new glimpse into the dark and beautiful netherworld that Bad Bones seems to inhabit. The track takes its title and integral samples from David Lang’s piece ‘I Lie’ (written for the unforgettable opening Paolo Sorrentino’s…

  • Premiere: Oh Joy – Habits & Recreations

    Recorded with Liam Mulvaney at Bow Lane Studio, the forthcoming self-titled EP by Dublin alt-rock band Oh Joy faithfully throws back whilst keeping a fixed eye on the present-day, fuzzed-out ruminations. Counting the likes of Pixies, Elliott Smith and DIIV amongst their main influences, there’s an authenticity to the trio’s intent-drenched throwdowns, not least on the EP’s lead single ‘Habits & Recreations’, which we’re pleased to premiere here. Oh Joy will be released at the end of the month.

  • Video Premiere: Come on Live Long – For The Birds

    Last week, Dublin based group Come on Live Long returned with their first track in several months; the lush, smooth, R’n’B infused ‘For The Birds’. The song makes good use of the band’s known strong suits, from Louise Gaffney’s hypnotic vocals, Daithi O’Connor’s subtle yet ear pricking guitar licks, to their overall penchant for tremendous dynamic shifts which lead to a feeling of both ease and empowerment when listening. ‘For The Birds’ is taken from Come on Live Long’s second LP Move As One which is due to be released this Summer. Speaking of the writing process for the new album, Gaffney…

  • Premiere: Hazing – Nervous Signals (Soil Creep remix)

    Released back in February, Joy Void by Dutch/Irish artist Hazing is a debut EP that demands your our attention from the get go. Evoking the likes of Wild Nothing and Ariel Pink over its four tracks, there is a somnambulist glow woven throughout the release, conjuring late-night city traipses, head down, hands in pockets, driven forth by wayward thoughts of belonging and connection in a sleeping urban jungle.Two months after it dropped, Dublin producer Aidan Wall AKA Soil Creep has re-imagined lead single ‘Nervous Signals’ in superb fashion. Excavating beats and bleeps from the track’s placid fabric, it re-frames the track in such a…

  • Premiere: The Wood Burning Savages – We Love You

    If their last few shows are anything to go by – not least their thrilling performance at our Tuesday Throwdown at Lavery’s in last month – Derry’s Wood Burning Savages are a band coursing forth with a huge amount of momentum right now. Recorded by Rocky O’Reilly at Belfast’s Start Together Studio, their new single, ‘We Love You’, is breakneck two and a half minutes that sees frontman Paul Connolly at the peak of his steadfast and ever-increasingly silver-tongued powers. Speaking of the release, Connolly said, “It’s not a love song. It’s a song about youthful dreams and hope being…

  • Video Premiere: Edward F Butler – Joke Until Caught

    Having spent the last few years making his mark in Belfast with HOWL and solo adventures, audio-visual maestro Edward F Butler is currently back home in Norfolk, working in a wood and home studio having recently returning from recording material in Berlin. Ahead of recording with LCON in Canada in May and playing shows in Toronto, New York and Montreal in May/June, Butler is releasing 12 releases in 2016, the second and latest of which, ‘Joke Until Caught’, distils his very prismatic craft to four consuming minutes. Keep up to date with Butler’s 12 releases in 2016 here. Created by Butler, check…