Category Archives: Music

Every kind of sound imaginable.

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HARE SQUEAD – debut major-label single If I Ask, upcoming festival shows

What you may need to know…

01. More Irish hip-hop, this time from Dublin-based trio HARE SQUEAD.

02. Having racked up the laundry-list of Irish independent music milestones, including appearances all over the festival circuit and the gamut of TV and radio appearances, the lads signed to major label Columbia (an imprint of Sony) in January, joining a small but growing list of independent Irish acts to have been courted by the bigs (see also: Le Galaxie, All Tvvins).

03. Streaming above is the video for debut major-label single If I Ask, available now across all digital platforms, and currently on rotation on MTV, of all channels.

04. Catch ’em next at Castlepalooza on June 2, and Longitude on June 15.

Verdict: One of Irish music’s real success stories of the past few years, HARE SQUEAD have it all ahead of them.

HARE SQUEAD

 

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What you may need to know

01. Decent Irish hip-hop with an avant-garde tinge from young, Cork-based producer SCOUNDRELL.

02. One of a multitude of projects emerging from one of an innovative and prolific group of young musicians/meme-peddlers in Cork City, SCOUNDRELL takes grime and hip-hop and puts them through some very odd filters.

03. Streaming above in its entirety is Black Box Renaissance, a collection of demos and other bits assembled from quick-and-dirty productions from the past few weeks.

04. Also available is the Lithic EP, a rather more concise exercise in darker electronics.

Verdict: A mad confab of low-key beats and experimentation, well worth the trip for anyone so inclined.

SCOUNDRELL

Photo 1 by Iza Szczutkowska 2014

Sky, Horse and Death – debut album released last week

What you may need to know…

01. Sky, Horse and Death is an outfit for Altered Hours guitarist Kevin Terry and collaborators’ sonic investigations into the paranormal.

02. Debut album Music for Karla Turner is a tribute to the late academic, author and (alleged) abductee.

03. Streaming above is the album in its entirety, available now online via KantCope records.

04. Cassettes also available, as with all KantCope releases, from their Bandcamp and instore at PLUGD Records.

Verdict: Intense stuff to say the least, but another reason to pay attention to Cork music’s fertile and wildly imaginative outer reaches at present.

Sky, Horse and Death

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Bitch Falcon – new single Clutch, appearing at Body & Soul

What you may need to know…

01. Alt-rock trio Bitch Falcon emerge from writing & recording-induced hibernation.

02. Forming in January 2014, and turning initial heads for their fusion of grunge’s dirtier take on pop with their own stellar musicianship, their string of singles early last year helped put them front and centre in Irish independent music in short order.

03. Streaming above: brand new single Clutch, which premiered on Nialler9 yesterday.

04. Get an earful tomorrow night at Body & Soul festival if you’re about – they’ll be playing the Midnight Circus stage at seven bells. Failing that, they’ll also be at Sea Sessions and Indiependence.

Verdict: Clutch tackles tough subject matter with a purpose and aplomb that’s fast outgrowing the whole “grunge/pop” label. Glorious.

Bitch Falcon

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Low Sea – touring Ireland in support of new album

What you may need to know…

01. Ireland-resident duo Low Sea draw on ’80s synth-pop influences and their own experiences/internal narratives.

02. Second album Remote Viewing is now available online and physically thru Dell’Orso Records.

03. Streaming above is the video for leadoff track When I’m Feeling Down.

04. Playing next at the Crane Lane Theatre in Cork on July 21 and Brewery Corner in Kilkenny on the 23rd.

Verdict: Noirish pop with a synth-laden sheen and emphasis on “noir”.

Low Sea

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FIXITY – Cork percussionist leads sonic explorations

What you may need to know…

01. More improv from Leeside courtesy of drummer extraordinaire Dan Walsh and an assortment of collaborators.

02. He of The Great Balloon Race, Cork Improvised Music Club, jazz night Blue Note, and formerly of a million other bands and outfits, both as composer and session performer, of course.

03. Streaming above in its entirety is his new album Fixity, released on tape label KantCope.

04. Appearing last night as part of the label’s triple album launch at St. Luke’s in Cork, Fixity “represents the beginning of a project that will manifest itself in many ways”, according to Walsh himself.

Verdict: One of the country’s most prodigiously talented percussionists continues to explore his and his collaborators’ horizons.

Fixity

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Meltybrains? – rearranging the national anthem as part of Rising Against Homelessness

What you may need to know…

01. Dublin post-rock/experimental five-piece Meltybrains? have been garnering serious momentum in recent times.

02. The masked marauders’ journey has taken them around the world and back, including appearances at SXSW and Electric Picnic. Following 2013 EP, Attention! Now That We Have Your Attention, the band turned heads with last year’s Donegal/IV double a-side. Naturally, the next step was a mad tropical tune (and accompanying dance!) called The Vine, which has broken out en masse at subsequent live outings.

03. Streaming above is the band’s take on Amhrán na BhFiann, recorded for the Rising Against Homelessness fundraiser compilation. A bold move to say the very least, the band builds a longform, experimental piece around the anthem’s lyrics. CD available at (evil-empire record shops) and (corporate coffee) around the country.

04. Proud inheritors of the question-mark-suffix tradition in great Irish alternative music, also.

Verdict: One of the country’s most forward-thinking and fearless outfits. Capable equally of breathtaking sonics and moments of unbridled derangement.

Meltybrains?

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Pleasure Beach – on the festival rounds

What you may need to know…

01. Belfast dream-pop five-piece Pleasure Beach are busy on the summer’s festival bills.

02. Signed to local label Faction, the band emerged late last year with debut single Go, which quickly made radio rounds, and got a Choice Music Prize nomination for Song of the Year.

03. Streaming above is the video for Go, taken from their Dreamer to the Dawn EP, released this past February.

04. Catch them next on the 25th at Sea Sessions, Longitude on July 15th, and at Indiependence on July 30th.

Verdict: Their EP is one of the strongest by a debuting Irish band in recent years. Ramshackle songcraft with much to like for shoegazers and synth nerds.

Pleasure Beach

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All Tvvins – touring and playing the Marquee

What you may need to know…

01. Unlikely to have flown under very many radars in the past year or so, Dublin/Wexford duo All Tvvins‘ DIY pedigree makes their polished pop all the more of a departure.

02. Emerging properly from their former bands in late 2013, they’re comprised of a core membership of Lar Kaye (Adebisi Shank) on guitars and Conor Adams (The Cast of Cheers) on bass/vox, and joined live by Lewis Hedigan (Elk and Guilty Optics) on drums.

03. Streaming above is the video for most recent single Unbelievable, a big aul’ pop tune with more than a few hat-tips to their math-rock roots.

04. Obligatory soccer reference for the week that’s in it – the band appeared on the soundtrack to this year’s instalment of the annual FIFA videogame, with single Darkest Ocean.

05. Playing the Marquee in Cork on July 5th in support of Foals, the band come back in October from extensive UK/EU touring to play Dolan’s in Limerick on the 29th, and Belfast’s Limelight on the 30th.

Verdict: An adjustment, admittedly, for fans of the lads’ previous outfits, All Tvvins has grown over the last year or two into very much its own beast, and you can expect bigger things from the Warner-signed group in the years to come.

All Tvvins