• Stream: And So I Watch You From Afar – Dying Giants

    October 2, 2017 - By 

    North Coast quartet And So I Watch You From Afar are nothing if not ambitious. Having spent the last few years carving out their very own path in the world of masterfully-crafted instrumental rock, the Belfast-based foursome will release their fifth studio album, The Endless Shimmering, via Sargent House on October 20. Having let the cat out of the bag last month via lead track ‘A Slow Unfolding of Wings’, new single ‘Dying Giants’ goes one further. Blending the band’s instantly recognisable brand of intricately-woven fretboard exhibitionism with a slew of face-melting passages and a sublime – and somewhat unexpected – outro, the song’s…

  • Stream: Other Creatures – Luxembourg

    September 27, 2017 - By 

    Ahead of this weekend’s Hard Working Class Heroes, Dublin three piece Other Creatures have released their first single, ‘Luxembourg’ from their aptly titled The First EP. The EP will be released by Trout Records where the band will be joining the likes of Saint Sister, Tandem Felix and Spies. ‘Luxembourg’ is the band’s first official release and is one loaded with jagged guitar chords and thunderous drums, giving it a post-punk flare that is brightened by the energised vocal melodies of Konrad Timon. This truly infectious track is an indie gem reminiscent of bands like Pavement, Interpol and Band of Horses. …

  • 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: Rory Nellis – Friend of a Friend

    September 11, 2017 - By 

    Over the last few months, Belfast singer-songwriter Rory Nellis has been releasing each track from his forthcoming second album – There Are Enough Songs In The World – as standalone singles. A bold move and no mistake, but the approach has served to isolate each song in its own right, building up and developing a narrative that is clearly threaded throughout the release. With previous singles largely drawing from quieter worlds and reflecting upon more intimate things, ‘Friend of a Friend’ is a straight-up burst of stellar indie rock, forging slick synth arpeggios with yet another steady slew of first-rate harmonic twists and…

  • Watch: King Kong Company – Involved

    August 29, 2017 - By 

    Photo by Tara Thomas The mighty King Kong Company have shared their first new music since last year’s self-titled LP. ‘Involved’ marks the drawing to a close of the band’s busiest summer to date, having become vital stalwarts of the festival circuit in the past couple of years. Recorded on the road, ‘Involved’ is a typically high-energy, melody strewn kicker that has been opening the band’s sets throughout the summer. It comes paired with a classic tour-video, comprised of videos taken on their travels and clips from gigs and festival slots sent in by people in attendance. King Kong Company will be capping of…

  • Stream: Rory Nellis – Gas & Air

    August 14, 2017 - By 

    Two years on from the release of his well-received 2015 debut solo album, Ready For You Now, Belfast singer-songwriter Rory Nellis will release its follow-up, There Are Enough Songs In The World, at the MAC on November 11. Having already released a string of singles from the release, new track ‘Gas & Air’ is a resounding alt-pop effort reflecting on the private thoughts and moments that accompany big life changes. Bolstered by Nellis’ all-star band of Phil d’Alton on keys, Herb Magee on bass and Peter J. McCauley on drums, it’s a wonderfully-crafted single whose harmonic tangents and wholehearted lyrical turns…

  • Stream: Elephant – Mirrors

    August 1, 2017 - By 

    Dundalk-based artist Elephant has shared ‘Mirrors’, the third single to be taken from his forthcoming second album. Following 2015’s promising debut Hypergiant and the subsequent singles ‘Stay With Me’ and ‘Waiting Game’, the project, lead by Shane Clarke, continues to move away from its indie-folk origins and ventures further into a more ornate, full-band sound. Where Hypergiant was a feat in atmospheric acoustics and tempered vocals, ‘Stay With Me’ saw Clarke veer down the same R&B infused path as James Vincent McMorrow. ‘Waiting Game’ then, from May of this year, was a full bodied, indie-rock masterstroke complete with a woodwind interlude, chunky guitars and textured vocals. Now,…

  • Stream: Autumns – Female Model/No More Luxury

    July 31, 2017 - By 

    Having first featured the project back in February of 2014, the music of Derry’s Christian Donaghey AKA Autumns has steadily mutated from shoegaze-inflected, willfully acerbic noise rock into a much darker, beat-orientated and industrially-inclined proposition. Following a string of single and EP releases, Donaghey is set to cement that gestation by unveiling his debut album, Suffocating Brothers, via Glasgow imprint Clan Destine Records on September 23. To accompany the new singles, two new tracks ‘Female Model’ and ‘No More Luxury’ are equally emphatic fist-clenched efforts that aim straight for the jugular. Featuring suitably stellar artwork from Belfast artist Claire Miskimmin (also of Girls Names/Cruising/New…

  • Stream: Ciaran Lavery – Everything Is Made To Last

    July 28, 2017 - By 

    If you’ve been in any familiar with what we’ve done over the last few years, you’ll know that we have a lot of time for Aghagallon’s Ciaran Lavery. A rare breed of artist who navigates sorrow, wanderlust, love and the borderline mystical hidden spaces that both join and keep us apart, his music comes from a place of a potent grasp of the human condition. Having been zig-zagging around the continent playing shows over the last few months, his new single ‘Everything Is Made To Last’ is a four-minute distillation of what has made all previous efforts so profoundly listenable. Triumphant…

  • Exhibition: SANDMAN @ The Complex

    July 27, 2017 - By 

    Tonight sees the opening of SANDMAN in Dublin’s The Complex. SANDMAN is the second exhibition from Stream, an artist-led project, and follows on from their successful first show in the same space in April. The brief for this show saw Stream ask “the artists involved to produce work which considers the human tendency to worship; to elevate objects, ideas or people to semi-divine or miraculous status. We would like the artists to contemplate the role of worship or superstition within our current Western culture and our future culture, from a religious or secular perspective” The exhibition’s theme also draws on elements of…