• Watch: Our Krypton Son – Falling In Love Is A Suicide Mission (Ryan Vail Mix)

    July 24, 2018 - By 

    A highlight from his critically-devoured second album Fleas & Diamonds, ‘Love Is a Suicide Mission’ by Derry artist Chris McConaghy AKA Our Krypton Son captures his elegiac, carefully-woven craft in under four minutes. Now, fellow Derry artist and producer Ryan Vail (pictured) has delivered his own curveballing take of the single, which was originally released back in May. Mining the track’s heart-rending melodic twists and turns, it evolves from skeletal, contorted electronica to a reveal a simmering, low-key dancefloor jam.  

  • Final Mandela Hall Show Announced

    June 18, 2018 - By 

    You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t forged a key memory in Mandela Hall since its 1986 naming, so the announcement of its closure – due to the development of the Student’s Union – came as a blow to many. Fortunately, the good people of the SU have invited And So I Watch You From Afar to headline and curate its final ever bill – a genre-spanning tapestry of some of the finest and fast-rising artists from here – taking place on Friday, July 27. On the bill are Mojo Fury, playing their first show in years, Robocobra Quartet – who’ve just put out one of the albums of…

  • Stream: Ryan Vail – As It Tears

    February 14, 2018 - By 

    Earlier this month, Derry producer Ryan Vail revealed that after two years of recording and mixing, his new album Distorted Shadows is set for release in April. The second single be lifted from that, ‘As It Tears’ is a woozy, deep electronica gem, full of skittering beats, cello courtesy of Laura McCabe, Rachael Boyd on violin and Vail’s trademark hushed vocals. Fancy catching it live? With more TBA, Vail plays the following shows in February, March and September. Sebright Arms – London – 26th February AVA festival – London – 16th March Oscillations And Modulations Festival – 21st March Kantine Am Berghain – Berlin –…

  • Stream: Ryan Vail – Shadows

    September 13, 2017 - By 

    Having released one of the finest Irish electronic albums of 2016 in For Every Silence, Derry’s Ryan Vail is back with one of his strongest single efforts to date, ‘Shadows’. Released via Belfast imprint Quiet Arch, the track’s warm synth lines and glitchy textures forge strong bed for Vail’s words to hit home with masterfully restrained force. Released via Belfast imprint Quiet Arch, the track’s warm synth lines, glitchy textures and subtly propulsive beats create a quietly rapt bed for Vail’s words to hit home with typically restrained force. Sealing the deal is an outro blending the aforementioned with cello courtesy of Laura…

  • Stream: Ryan Vail – We Drift We Wake/East Berlin

    March 29, 2017 - By 

    To mark this year’s World Piano Day – an annual celebration of the ivory keys, spearheaded by Nils Frahm – Derry producer and musician Ryan Vail has released two new tracks. As well as a sublime rework of his own ‘East Berlin’ (which was selected for Nils Frahm’s playlist for World Piano Day back in 2015), ‘We Drift We Wake’ makes for a wonderfully meditative, delicately sprawling piece that doubles up as an audio visual collaboration. with artist Hohxx_. Better still, both efforts reveal the sheer tonal and emotional range of Vail’s ever-growing musical palette. Featuring everyone from Martyn Heyne and Olafur Arnalds to…

  • Premiere: Jealous of the Birds and Ryan Vail – Love Is A Crow (DIE HEXEN Remix)

    February 24, 2017 - By 

    Whether teased out via whim or intention, collaboration is often the key to unearthing untested majesty. In the case of Jealous of the Birds and Ryan Vail, ‘Love is a Crow’ recently saw two worlds collide in perfectly curious fashion with the former’s spoken word spirals and vocals melding with the latter’s bubbling electronica and chopping rhythms. Taking the collaborative buzz one step further, Dee Lucille AKA DIE HEXEN’s remix of the track is a spectral masterclass, quietly dragging the original through a velvet netherworld of Badalamentian synth-work, heaving textures and warped vocal refrains. Have an exclusive first listen to that below.

  • AVA Festival 2017 Line-Up Announced

    January 25, 2017 - By 

    Returning for its third annual outing, grassroots Audio Visual Arts festival and conference AVA will return to Belfast’s iconic T13 for an expanded two-day line-up on June 2-3. Set to feature the UK and Irish debut of Jeff Mills and Guillaume Marmin’s collaboration, Marcel Dettman, Bicep, Ben UFO, Fatima Yamaha, Midland, Rebekah, Job Jobse, Denis Sulta, Or:La, Hammer, Saoirse, The Cyclist, Ryan Vail, Jordan, JMX and much more, tickets for the festival are available to buy here priced £50. The festival says, “Alongside a solid roster of incredible artists playing across the two days, there’s an emerging DJ and Producer…

  • Stream: Jealous of the Birds and Ryan Vail – ‘Love is a Crow’

    January 25, 2017 - By 

    Having received airplay on Lauren Laverne’s BBC 6Music show yesterday, ‘Love is a Crow’ is a one-off collaboration from Derry’s Ryan Vail and Portadown’s Naomi Hamilton AKA Jealous of the Birds. Melding a trickle of sublime spoken word from the latter and a bobbing flurry of beats and spectral synth-work from the former, the single is accompanied by remixes from The Cyclist and Belfast’s Dee Lucille AKA DIE HEXEN. Dig below.

  • Other Voices 2016

    December 11, 2016 - By 

    Saint Sister, Cry Monster Cry, Æ MAK, Fangclub, Rusangano Family, David Kitt, Overhead The Albatross, Roisin O, Ryan Vail and more at Other Voices 2016 in Dingle. Photos by Tara Thomas.

  • Bullitt Presents: Ryan Vail [Live]

    October 13, 2016 - By 

    Belfast’s Bullitt hotel on Church Lane runs a free admission performance as part of a new series of events, kicking off with a free live show from Derry electronic musician Ryan Vail in their bar on Saturday, October 15. Combining electronic, classical & folk, amongst other genres, Vail (above) has released three EPs and a collaborative album, Sea Legs, with Ciaran Lavery, and just released his debut album, For Every Silence, nominated for an NI Music Prize. Check out the video for ‘Wounds’ from earlier this year below. Admission is free and doors open at 8pm. DJ duties come from Girls Names‘ Cathal…