• Premiere: YARD – Lawmaker

    May 18, 2022 - By 

    Myriad acts earmarked as “ones to watch” have, by virtue of any number of factors – both real and imaginary – have ceased to exist since time immemorial. Such is the way of the music industry; that cripplingly fickle clusterfuck of a fever dream that many of us, for one reason or another, dedicate a sizable portion of our lives to with little to no recompense, fiscal, metaphysical, or otherwise. And frankly, we wouldn’t have it any other way, for it’s more or less all in the pursuit. Which conveniently brings us to YARD, a Dublin quartet kneeling (and very well at that) at the altar…

  • Premiere: Naoise Roo – Almost Perfect (Live)

    May 6, 2022 - By 

    Last month, Naoise Roo unveiled an expanded version of her sublime 2015 debut album Lilith. Featuring five bonus tracks remixed by John Agnello and Jerome Froese, it brought into sharp focus the Dublin artist’s enduring singular talents as a vocalist and songwriter. Having just been announced to play this year’s Latitude Festival, all while making her mark Stateside, Naoise looks set for a seismic few months. Ahead of that, we’re pleased to present a first look at a new live video of inward-peering Lilith highlight ‘Almost Perfect’. One part of a longer live video due for release later in the year, the performance…

  • Premiere: I Am The Main Character – GOLD (I Die at the End)

    April 19, 2022 - By 

    “Man is the microcosm: I am my world.” Wittgenstein knew the craic when he penned these words back in 1916. A few moons later, Dublin’s premier (only?) “solipsism-core” band I Am The Main Character have taken the essence of the inward-peering avowal in question to its natural conclusion on ‘GOLD (I Die At The End)’. Smudging the lines between thrash-hop, mutant pop, trap and post-punk (no, not that kind) it’s a masterfully mangled effort from the supergroup of sorts. Influenced by the likes of Gilla Band, Lightning Bolt, and The Knife, they’re made up of Dublin DJ/producer Ben McKenna (Ben Bix, Meltybrains?, Sim Simma), Jay McNamara (TTA…

  • Premiere: Jake Wallace – Sanguine feat. Clare Kearney

    March 25, 2022 - By 

    Released last June, Lacuna by Jake Wallace marked an inspired solo break from the pure-cut heft of his work with doom/sludge outfit Elder Druid. On 1st April, the Belfast musician doubles down on the five-track EP’s deft, contemplative explorations with the release of his debut solo album, Lustre of the Dark. Featuring seven new tracks alongside remastered versions of Lacuna, it traverses, in Wallace’s words, themes of self-discovery, isolation and the balance between light and dark. Lead single ‘Sanguine’ features one of the album’s two guest vocal appearances. Above a phantasmal weave of cyclical piano and guitar patterns, Clare Kearney…

  • Video Premiere: Wild Rocket – Formless Abyss

    March 3, 2022 - By 

    Few bands do obliterating quite as convincingly as Wild Rocket. On releases such as 2017’s Disassociation Mechanics, the Dublin space rock band wed masterful repetition with a slew of bludgeoning riffs to lethal effect. The title track from the band’s imminent new release, ‘Formless Abyss’ takes that unfuckwithable ratio and ups the ante a hundredfold. Across the perfect eternity of ten minutes, the band unshackle one almighty beast that’s equal parts trouncing and – as it crests, a bokeh shot of face-searing sludge – supremely acid-soaked. Big words, yes, but this is a big fucking song. Watch Rian Trench’s aptly tripped-out visuals for the track below. Featuring contributions by Colin Mifsud, Tommy O’Sullivan…

  • Video Premiere: wornoc – Deep Within

    December 15, 2021 - By 

    Via singles including ‘Signs’ and ‘Rising Tides’, Dublin-based artist Conor Walsh aka wornoc has carved out a niche in forward-pushing alternative-electronic sounds from these shores. At the heart of his craft is a sensibility rooted in the push-and-pull of post-rock – all gossamer phrases one moment and surging release the next – inspired by the likes of God Is An Astronaut, Olafur Arnolds and Bonobo. New single ‘Deep Within’ is a distilation of just that. Inspired by a memory of his time spent in Norway on the island of Stord, it’s a halcyon trip, building sparse synth and guitar motifs before a swelling finale. Accompanying the…

  • Premiere: Arthur Itis – Am I Dancing?

    December 1, 2021 - By 

    Arthur Pawsey aka Arthur Itis has long been a sonic law unto himself, and we couldn’t be more here for it. Having drawn comparisons to such esteemed meddlers such as Sun Araw, Ween and our actual Lord and Saviour, R Stevie Moore, the Cork musician releases his fifth full-length, Occam’s Razor, via Sligo’s finest Art For Blind tomorrow (December 3rd). Recorded and mixed by Pawsey at Non Space & The Pleasure Centre, the nine-track album features guest appearances by likes of Sara Leslie & Jamie Leipert aka These Are Atoms, Pretty Happy’s Abbey Blake, Sam Clague and the Altered Hours’…

  • Video Premiere: Fixity – [Do The] Bits and Pieces

    December 2, 2021 - By 

    One-man psych-jazz engine room Dan Walsh, aka Fixity, has just released a video for new single ‘[Do The] Bits And Pieces’ – no relation – taken from the latest LP, FIXITY7. The song itself, Walsh tells us, is “inspired by evil surf riffs, big band music, wrong notes and the hectic feeling of keeping up with the world while it turns, ‘Bits And Pieces’ is a direct expression of making things happen and living.” The video – directed by The Altered Hours’ Cathal MacGabhan – is a wonderful foil, manipulating time and expectation for the listener, mirroring the song as it at-turns burrows and upends the…

  • Premiere: Acid Granny – I Love the Brits & I Love the Queen

    November 22, 2021 - By 

    They don’t come more singular than Acid Granny. Over the last couple of years, the trolly-toting dealers of improvised electronic punk and abstract audio art have consistently reaffirmed our faith in the island’s more unapologetically radical sonic auteurs. Set for release via Ecstatic Intervals, a new label founded by Dublin producer qwasi, new single ‘I Love the Brits & I Love the Queen’ is a pure-cut distillation of what sets the group apart. Across two all-too-short minutes, it’s another masterfully mangled effort, rounded off with some of the more memorable visuals we’ve latched our eyes upon as of late. “The song was born…

  • Premiere: The Consequences of Breaking The Heart by Shaun O’Connor & Alan Daniel Tobin

    November 22, 2021 - By 

    Some creative unions simply seem fated to be. A sublime case in point is ‘The Consequences of Breathing The Heart’, a new, multi-disciplinary project by West Cork singer-songwriter Alan Daniel Tobin aka ADT and County Kerry filmmaker and writer Shaun O’Connor. Drawing on Irish folk tales of the Selkie, and based on a script written by award-winning Irish screenwriter Paul Cahill, it tells the Muirín and Tadhg, a young artistic couple living and working by the Irish coast. When Tadhg’s world is torn apart after Muirin suddenly disappears in the ocean, his search for answers leads him to a stunning…