The launch of this year’s KnockanStockan at Dublin’s Lost Lane, featuring THUMPER, Luka Palm, Shookrah, SENU and a DJ set from Caoimhe Barry from Wyvern Lingo. Photos by Ciara Brennan
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Looking back at the sheer breath and wealth of EPs that were released from artists across the country this year made us giddy with joy and excitement. The boundless evolution of style, diversity, experimentation and confidence on display in 2017 was as momentous as we had ever seen or heard and, as such, narrowing this list down to 15 was no easy task. The following is a list of artists who we felt pushed themselves to new, ambitious heights and creative territories this year, who delivered both on record and in live settings and who proudly represented the fecund growth…
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Loah with support from Shookrah at Galway’s Roisin Dubh as part of this year’s Galway International Arts Festival. Photos by Ciaran O’Maolain.
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Having featured in the sixth issue of our magazine back in early 2015, Cork RnB maestros Shookrah have evolved into something quite special over the last couple of years. Following a memorable set at Body&Soul at the weekend, Senita Appiakorang and Emmet O’Riabhaigh open up about process, metamorphosis, new material & their peers. Hi guys. First thing’s first: for those not in the know, how did you Shookrah first come about? When and where were the seeds sown? Senita: We all loosely knew one another from college and mutual friends. There was a glory period we called “the holy trinity”…
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A featured Inbound act in the fifth issue of our physical magazine, Cork six-piece Shookrah have always brilliantly blurred the lines between R&B and throwback soul with a decidedly more forward-thinking approach. Taken from their forthcoming Cliches EP, ‘Gerascophobia’ falls under that bracket, blending psych-soaked textures with a first-rate prog-tinged pop groove. Check out the brand new video for the single below.
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A few months back I had an idea for a radio piece. It was an odd one but I had ample inspiration to follow through on it. The subject was a little tricky to talk about and I didn’t take it on lightly. If anything I concerned myself with how to treat the subject. I knew that I needed to get the tone right and the discussion open-ended. The piece is about Irish music created by a generation of so-called ‘new migrants‘. I guess my personal inspiration was no mystery. I have been a huge admirer of groups like Bisect,…
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After last week’s column promising more music and such didn’t materialise, this week’s is a wee bit of a catch-up. However – plug, plug, plug! – we’ll kick off by putting in a shout for our Cork launch on Saturday at the Crane Lane for the mag. Issue 5 of the mag (the cover pictured) features a full-length piece on the Altered Hours, from their beginnings and debut release ‘Downstream’, to their upcoming album and time in Berlin. We’ll also have an Inbound on Leeside multi-piece groove ensemble Shookrah, among so, so much more, and it’ll be available exclusively at…
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FRIDAY The excitement is palpable throughout the city’s creative communities in the run-up to the Block Party, and even before your writer gets to his relatively late start on proceedings, word filters through that the Structures and Strategies meeting will lead to more events in its vein, a forum for local creatives to air ideas and exchange thoughts. People’s gears are grinding already, it seems. We’re waiting outside the Gate Cinema for a few minutes and the small group outside is already conjecturing about what they’ll see out of charismatic American performer Kate McGrew (below), as well as plotting and…
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Cork’s varied and vital cultural communities have always been a pillar of life in the city, but the past year or so has seen exponential growth, despite setbacks. Next year looks set to be a cracker, with a bumper crop of albums and EPs in the pipeline for release, and the announcement of the Quarter Block Party festival, taking over the venues and businesses of North and South Main Street for a weekend, from February 6th to the 8th. Run as a collaboration between The Makeshift Ensemble (the force of nature behind the Quarter arts all-dayers at the Triskel) and…