• Stream: Skymas – BubbleDub

    April 26, 2017 - By 

    Back in September last year, Belfast duo Martin Corrigan (ex-Alloy Mental) and Nick Todd AKA Skymas released one of our Irish tracks of 2016 in the form of ‘No Easy Way Out‘. Seven months on, the pair are back with its follow-up, the equally virulent electro-rock blast of ‘BubbleDub’. Featuring none other than Stephen Leacock (Franklyn/ex-General Fiasco) on guitar, it’s a typically propulsive – and masterfully bombastic – banger from the pair, released a day ahead of supporting K-X-P at Belfast’s Voodoo as part of this year’s Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival. Propelled by Corrigan’s chorus refrain of “solution in destruction” the…

  • Premiere: SKYMAS – No Easy Way Out

    September 2, 2016 - By 

    One of the country’s most compelling live outfits, Belfast duo Martin Corrigan (ex-Alloy Mental) and Nick Todd AKA SKYMAS are an act that aim straight for the sonic jugular. With their aim to create tracks that “can channel the fundamental, super physical energy from beyond our everyday world” their new Dave Lievense-produced single ‘No Easy Way Out’ bears the hallmarks of their propulsive electro-rock craft to date: pounding rhythms, powerful textures and brazen lyrical gusto. Tipping their hat to musical and philosophical forerunners ranging from Fela Kuti, Steve Albini and John Lydon to David Bohm, Robert Anton Wilson and Alan Watts, Corrigan and Todd’s…

  • The Thin Air Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2014 (100-75)

    December 30, 2014 - By 

    Twelve months, a billion tracks (probably) and a ridiculously impressive crop of new, emerging musical talent the island of Ireland over: yes, 2014 was been very generous indeed on the ol’ new music front. In a year when (the altogether sonically disparate) Girl Band and SOAK signed with Rough Trade, Adebisi Shank broke hearts in parting ways and Hozier “did a Kodaline” by going positively stratospheric – more on that later – innumerable lesser-known acts have also been slogging away in the garage, creating some of the very best sounds here or anywhere else on the face on the planet. In the first of a two-part feature,…

  • Watch: Skymas – Build

    August 8, 2014 - By 

    Having been steadily established themselves on the live circuit over the last few months, Belfast electronic trio Skymas have released a new track, ‘Build’. The follow-up to their Primer EP – released in October last year – the track is a typically gyration-inducing, rhythmically propulsive effort; main man Martin Corrigan’s refrain, “They give you tools to build your own prison. These are the walls with which you live in.” burrowing right into the inner ear and lingering long after the song’s five minutes. Watch the video to the track below.

  • Gigs of the Week: Arcade Fire, Hands Up Who Wants To Die, Wellington Weekender

    June 23, 2014 - By 

    The World Cup has proven to be quite the entertaining sporting event thus far (even if it hasn’t been very kind to England). If you can manage to pull yourself away from the spectacle, there are the usual host of gigs and festivals happening right across the country throughout the week, so let out Gigs of the Week help you out in finding the best football alternative. The Wellington Weekender: Delorentos, Girls Names, Lisa O’Neill and more – The Workman’s Club, Dublin; Friday June 27 – Sunday June 29 Well, how about this for an absolute cracker of a festival? Check…

  • Watch: Skymas – Hey Porter

    June 5, 2014 - By 

    Having recently kicked into gear on the live front, Belfast-based electronic-rock trio Skymas have unveiled the animated video to their pounding second single, ‘Hey Porter’. The follow-up to the Martin Corrigan-fronted three-piece’s debut single ‘This River’, the video for the track features an series of interesting characters busting shapes to the song’s wonderfully propulsive rhythm. Having formed last year, Skymas will play the following shows over the summer: Saturday, June 28: Craft Village, Celtronic Festival (3pm, admission free) Saturday, July 5: Aether and Echo, Belfast Saturday, August 9: Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh Go here to read our Inbound interview with the band here…

  • Inbound: Skymas

    November 7, 2013 - By 

    In the latest installment of Inbound, we talk to Martin Corrigan, main man with new-fangled Belfast-based electronic three-piece Skymas. With collaboration at the heart of the project, Corrigan tells us about the band’s musical manifesto, the influence of philosophy and the band’s debut double A-side, Primer. Hi Martin. Firstly, how did Skymas come about? Did you all know each other before getting together as a musical unit? Nick owned a clothes shop that I was buying a T-shirt in. He was standing behind the counter playing air bass to ‘Elephant Talk’ by King Crimson. We started talking. Three weeks later…

  • EP Stream: Skymas – Primer

    October 8, 2013 - By 

    Belfast-based electronic rock band Skymas have unveiled their two-track debut EP, Primer. Led by former Skint recording artist Martin Corrigan with Nick Todd on bass and Andrew Dunbar as operator, the trio “aim to build tracks that will affect both the body and brain”. The EP – featuring the tracks ‘This River’ and ‘Hey Porter’ – is the band’s first release on their own label, OBR. Live dates are soon to be announced. Stream the tracks via Soundcloud below.