• The 8 Best Sets at KnockanStockan 2018

    July 31, 2018 - By 

    KnockanStockan has long established itself as one of of Ireland’s biggest small festivals and with a line up of amazing homegrown Irish talent from all genres and movements, it appears to have exceeded expectations. While the line-up is stellar and the festival is endlessly appealing in terms of appearance and size, Knockanstockan 2018 struggles with one major stumbling block: disorganisation. With many stages running towards hours late, a lack of security around ensuring safety in campsites and production room, problems with clear signage indicating who is playing where and when and issues around officially booked transport to and from the…

  • Stream: Toby Kaar – Promises

    April 18, 2017 - By 

    London-based Cork producer Toby Kaar has returned with the beat-driven, vocoder-heavy strut of ‘Promises’. The follow-up his debut EP, last year’s Gumbrielle, the single – which Kaar said was recorded “some time ago” – is deceptively earworming in its reiterative patterns and woozy, cyborg-like vocals, not least via its closing refrain: “I just want to know, what happened to our love? We used to be best friends, where did it go wrong?” We dig.

  • MMOTHS, Toby Kaar & Daithi @ Roisin Dubh, Galway

    July 25, 2016 - By 

    I was really looking forward to this gig. Between them, Toby Kaar, MMOTHS and Daithi released some of the most exciting Irish releases of the past twelve months, each of them showcasing the versatility and dedication that exists amongst the country’s young musicians who ditched guitars and drums for adventures into electronics. In the context of these artists’ significance to the country’s music scene, that versatility is paramount, from Toby Kaar’s disjointed, franticly emotive beats, to MMOTHS’ encompassing soundscapes, to Daithi’s infectious, melodic floor fillers. So on paper this bill looks terrific right? What I guess I forgot was that…

  • Track Record: Toby Kaar

    July 14, 2016 - By 

    In the latest installment of Track Record, Cork producer Toby Kaar talks us through some of his all-time favourite records, featuring Kanye West, Warieka Hill Sounds and Fleetwood Mac. Various Artists – No Oil Crisis This is a really funny record. A New Thing album in response to the Gulf Oil crisis. I’ve never understood that kind of contrived connection between music and current events. Like the time they sent Rahzel out on a boat to beatbox about melting icecaps. Anyway, I got this in a second-hand record shop in Bristol. The album is a great cross-section of the kind of…

  • Toby Kaar Announces Debut EP Release Date, Streams New Track ‘SnapDragon’

    January 12, 2016 - By 

    The above photo of Cork producer Toby Kaar couldn’t be further representative of our reaction when we discovered today he’s set to released his debut EP, the interestingly-titled via Dublin imprint Music Is For Losers on March 18. Having been weaving some magisterial electronic sounds for the last few years, the news will be very happily-received from Kaar, who also released the spiralling ‘SnapDragon’ from the release today. Speaking about the release, Kaar said, “The EP was made on a 9 year old computer, which has started to pack in. A lot of the samples were things I found in libraries, pretty basic…