• Stream: O Emperor – Switchblade

    September 21, 2015 - By 

    Back in 2013, Brendan Fennessy from Waterford five-piece O Emperor took part in our Track Record feature, selecting the likes of Tame Impala and The Stooges as some of his most treasured records. Two years on, his band have distilled the spectral psych-pop of the former and the pounding punk panache of the latter on their new single ‘Switchblade’. Set to feature on the band’s forthcoming, Trout Record-released EP Lizard, the track is a prismatic slice of throwback alt-pop, suggesting we might well be in for something rather special with the new release. O Emperor play the following shows over the next few months:…

  • Stream: Le Galaxie – Love System (Young Wonder Remix)

    September 17, 2015 - By 

    Having took on the guise of an unofficial anthem for the Irish Marriage Equality referendum earlier this year, Le Galaxie’s ‘Love System’ has received a new, rather brilliant reworking courtesy of Cork’s Young Wonder. With a new video for the original mix set to be unveiled to accompany its re-release on September 25, the single will also feature a remix of ‘Put The Chain On’ by John Gibbons Speaking about the remix of ‘Love System’, Ian Ring from Young Wonder said, “I really loved the sonics and 80’s feeling that Le Galaxie had in the original. I wanted to pay tribute to that in the…

  • Stream: EMBRZ – ‘Lights’ (Feat. pennybirdrabbit)

    September 14, 2015 - By 

    Sprawling in its own delicate way, ‘Lights’ by Kildare producer Jack Casey AKA EMBRZ is a deftly composed slice of electro-pop. Featuring wonderfully warped vocals courtesy of Los Angeles singer pennybirdrabbit, the new single was released on Friday via Slow Down Records. Stream the track below and keep up with Casey’s future stirrings here.

  • Stream: Mons Olympus – Incognito

    September 10, 2015 - By 

    Let it be known: Mons Olympus don’t exactly shy away from the riffs. With an ever metamorphosing hybrid of space prog and funk, the latest phase of the Belfast-based three-piece’s evolution has taken form in the punchy, groove-laden ‘Incognito’, a track that sees the Rory Dee-fronted band trimming the proverbial fat and aiming straight – and most tenacious – for the jugular. Featuring some wonderfully subtle violin work by Aidan Kelly of Affleck, the track – the purest distillation of the band’s vision to date, including their previous incarnation as Chocolate Love Factory – was recorded, mixed and mastered by Stephen O’Hagan and…

  • Watch: Abandcalledboy – LA Dick (Keian Remix)

    September 3, 2015 - By 

    Back in May we introduced Lia, the debut EP by Dublin-based Irish-Iranian songwriter and producer Keian Roohipour AKA Keian. Four months on, the Co. Down man has worked his shuffling, unravelling wizardry on ‘LA Dick’, the latest single by Abandcalledboy. Warping the original to a barely recognisable state, it makes for five odd minutes of wonderfully tangential electronic nocturnalism, hinting at some great things in the pipeline. Watch the video for the original track here and check out Keian’s remix below.

  • Stream: Little Xs For Eyes – Funk Island

    September 2, 2015 - By 

    Funk Island: not only where James Brown desperately (possibly) wanted to see in his retirement, but also the tropical-tinged new single by Dublin indie-pop band Little Xs For Eyes. While they’re just a little late in capturing the sound of the great (cough) Irish summer, they’ve certainly fused a whole plethora of sun-kissed sounds on the new release, which is accompanied a remix of ‘Logical Love’ by Rory Grubb. It’s not quite as radiant but we’re fans. Funk Island by little xs for eyes

  • Stream: Contour – Rearrange & Realign

    August 26, 2015 - By 

    One of our favourite Irish acts at the minute – and arguably the jewel in Belfast imprint Champion Sound’s crown – Dublin’s Contour has returned with ‘Rearrange & Realign’, a six-minute track bursting with the pair’s increasingly distinctive brand of electro-pop. Taken from their forthcoming second EP, the brilliantly titled Blessed With Weird Things, you can stream it below now via the Champion Sound Soundcloud page.

  • Premiere: Robocobra Quartet – Mizaru

    August 13, 2015 - By 

    Set for their first touring traipse to the UK next month, Belfast-based jazz-punk quartet Robocobra Quartet will also make their debut Electric Picnic appearance in Co. Laois at the start of next month. Do your very best not to miss them if you’re bound there this year. “Lyrically exploring two of the three proverbial ‘wise monkeys'”, the latest self-produced release from the Chris Ryan-fronted band, ‘Iwazaru/Mizaru’, “finds the personal tangled with the social. This comes in the form of Mizaru’s melancholic re-appropriation of an MP’s 1932 speech and Iwazaru’s self-deprecating look at “speaking no evil” that brashly pairs a lyrical call-back…

  • Stream: Girls Names – A Hunger Artist

    July 9, 2015 - By 

    Having just returned from a string of European dates, Girls Names have unveiled ‘A Hunger Artist’, the latest single to be taken from their forthcoming third album, Arms Around a Vision. Assumingly taking its title from Franz Kafka’s 1922 short story of the same name, the track – quite possibly our favourite Girls Names effort to date – sees frontman Cathal Cully confront a life lived “hand in mouth.” Elaborating, he said, “Most guitar music now is just a playground for the rich middle classes, and it’s really boring and elitist. We’re elitist in our own way, in that we’re on our own…

  • Stream: Come On Live Long – Speak Up

    June 26, 2015 - By 

    Having positively enamoured with their previous single ‘Trough’ (which we premiered back in January) Dublin’s Come On Live Long have returned with a fluttering, kaleidoscopic, seven-minute alt-pop gem, ‘Speak Up’. Recorded in August last year, the recording of the track was “an opportunity for the band to try out a new way to collaborate, adopting a different approach to communicating and arranging the piece”. We’re big fans. Stream the track below.