Tag Archives: new Irish music

1393832_522358601190513_977541888_n

ZASKA – Got to Go

What you may need to know…

1. Led by and named for frontman Max Zaska, this Dublin outfit has been garnering high praise for jazzy, forward-thinking funk and soul, and continues the momentum with new single Got to Go.

2. The accompanying video, streaming above, features a Countdown theme with a DIY vibe, and lots of Post-Its. Co-imagined, shot, and edited by Patrick Ryan.

3. The band launches Got to Go this Saturday with a date at The Sugar Club. Support from Kojaque. Tickets available here.

4. Fun fact, fact fans: people coming and going through the ranks over the years include Karen Cowley (Wyvern Lingo), Dylan Lynch (Little Green Cars), and some other obscure singer-songwriter… Hozier, or somesuch.

Verdict: Big grooves for them what wants them, even if they are little overly sunny for this time of year.

ZASKA

a3332892046_10

Not Earth – released self-titled LP last week

What you may need to know…

1. Neither a band nor an album in the traditional sense, Not Earth comes about from a single four-hour recorded improv session in Cork’s Big Skin studio, featuring the trio of Dan Walsh (drums), Darren Keane (bass) and David O’Máthúna (synth).

2. Says Darren: “We’ve played in various bands over the years but first played together as a trio in 2014 at an improv night run by Dan. Something clicked then and we jammed a few times culminating in the recording session.”

3. Recorded, edited and engineered by Walsh, who cut the jams down to an album’s length, the resulting LP was mastered by Tim Fitzgerald (fka Twin Lights).

4. The album launched last night at Gulpd Cafe in Cork’s TDC, as part of Record Store Day weekend shenanigans, and is available for download from Bandcamp. This Sunday sees the Cork Improvised Music Club, under whose auspices the project’s initial jams occurred, host an open workshop in the same venue.

Verdict: Some fairly wild jams picked from the ether of improvisation. Spontaneity meets density and dexterity.

Cork Improvised Music Club

slow-moving-clouds

Slow Moving Clouds – embarking on the Os Tour throughout April and May

What you may need to know…

1. Drawing on both Irish and Nordic traditions, Dublin-based Slow Moving Clouds present a rich fusion of sound and influence.

2. Comprised of Aki (vocals, nyckelharpa), Danny Diamond (fiddle, Strohviol) and Kevin Murphy (cello, vocals), Slow Moving Clouds adds Murphy’s depth and penchant for experimentation to an already-successful creative partnership.

3. Last November saw the band release debut record Os to critical acclaim, and recognition of their twist on the trad template leading to comparisons to contemporaries Lynched. Streaming above is the video to instrumental piece Devil’s Polska.

4. The band heads on tour to support the record in April & May: April 30th at the Triskel in Cork, May 5th in Dublin at Bello Bar, May 20th in Galway at The Crane Bar, and May 28 at Belfast’s Duncairn Centre.

Verdict: Slow Moving Clouds draw from individual and collective musical lexicons to create fearless and inventive music, binding the traditional with the experimental.

Slow Moving Clouds

10622842_10153330380894644_4991920516529559377_n
https://www.youtube.com/embed/lCHTvcBk_OA>

The Mighty Stef – playing farewell gigs in May

Here’s what you may need to know…

1. The Mighty Stef are a band, led by namesake Stefan Murphy. But after four albums, two EPs and a decade of gigging, they’re about to call it a day, announcing their final live dates earlier this year before assuming other projects.

2. Most recent album Year of the Horse, released in September 2014, picked up critical plaudits, and distribution via London tastemakers Rough Trade. The entire Mighty Stef discography is streaming here, a patchwork of punk, alternative, and assorted influences that maps the changes the band has undergone over the years.

3. Onward and upward for the band, however: the titular Stef is working on the debut album of new project COUNT VASELINE, Gary Lonergan is developing a live set for his solo electronic compositions, while Daniel Fitzpatrick is recording solo material with Tom Cosgrave (The Minutes) and running O’Donoghue’s Open Mic, one of Dublin’s oldest open-mic nights.

4. The band wind it up at the Empire Music Hall in Belfast on May 12, and say their goodbyes to the city that inspired the band’s existence on May 13 at Dublin’s Button Factory.

Verdict: Come out and show support for one of Irish music’s most enduring fixtures before they head for pastures new.

The Mighty Stef

caoimhinbyconkelleher

Caoimhín O’Raghallaigh – playing Carlow and Cóbh this month

Here’s what you may need to know…

1. Plying his craft on a 10-string violin known as the hardanger d’amore, Caoimhín treads the world’s stages as part of a variety of duos, as well as with trad outfits The Gloaming and This Is How We Fly.

2. Among these stages have been the Sydney Opera House, London’s Royal Albert Hall, and the Lincoln Centre in New York..

3. O’Raghallaigh recently became the artist-in-residence at the National Concert Hall, Dublin and will be working with collaborators on monthly live shows ’til June. All the info here.

4. Among a spate of upcoming gigs with The Gloaming and his NCH residency are a smattering of once-offs, including a May 14 show in Visual Carlow with Iarla O’ Lionáird, and a solo show on May 23 at Cobh’s Sirius Arts Centre.

Verdict: A unique instrument with rich, droning tones is Caoimhín’s tool of trade, and his mastery of it is testament to a true artistic calling, as he, among others including his The Gloaming bandmates and contemporaries, write a new chapter in trad’s history.

Caoimhín O’Raghallaigh

12976799_878986668878027_2664259451419484321_o

Ealadha – Hurricanes

What you may need to know…

1. Cork post-metal/post-rock trio Ealadha have quietly set about impressing a lot of fans of the genre in the past year…

2. Not the least of whom are 2FM/2XM’s Dan Hegarty, who’s been somewhat of a champion for the band, giving their past two singles regular airtime.

3. Sticking their heads above the live parapet, the band gigged consistently throughout 2015, including a featured slot of IndieCork festival’s new music programme, and making the trip to Dublin for the Mother Fuzzer’s Ball.

4. Hurricanes is taken from upcoming debut EP Limit of Our Sight, the artwork for which was revealed yesterday on the band’s Facebook. More details impending.

Verdict: Atmospheric, soaring stuff that doesn’t spare their own tendencies toward heavyweight tones and riffs in pursuit of beauty.

Ealadha

10254048_10154104033144474_360184519395548376_n

Land Lovers – Angeline

What you may need to know…

1. Dublin pop five-piece Land Lovers continue paying homage to the guitar pop of the ’50s and ’60s with upcoming third long-player The Rooks Have Returned.

2. Already firmly established as lynchpins of the city’s lo-fi/pop community, the band have also co-founded the Popical Island label and annual all-day gig, as well as circumnavigating the Irish festival scene and supporting Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, among others.

3. Streaming above is Angeline, the first single from the album, releasing May 13 via Popical Island.

4. The band launches the album at the Workman’s Club [Wellington Quay, Dublin 2] in Dublin on May 21, with Dinah Brand and Field Trip in support. Kickoff 8pm, €10 in or €15 including a copy of the new record.

Verdict: Taking a page straight out of a ’60s pop fanzine, Land Lovers add a thoroughly modern snark and a profound DIY sensibility to raucous early rock ‘n’ roll.

Land Lovers

11698598_10153413822683703_6835163852220126846_n

Hope is Noise – Bad Code

What you may need to know…

1. Hardy perennials of Cork’s DIY music community, four-piece Hope is Noise trade in noisy, heavy, hardcore-inflected, yet immediate and accessible alt-rock.

2. Last year celebrating ten years under their current moniker, the lads’ history extends all the way back to their secondary school days in the early ’90s, with the same core line-up remaining intact over the course of several bands over nearly 20 years. Eagle-eyed observers may remember them as The New Messiahs, among other names.

3. This year will see the release of fourth album Demons, and the completion of a documentary on their life and times both as a band, and as a group of lifelong friends.

4. Streaming above is Bad Code, a single taken from the upcoming album released back in November to coincide with their tenth-anniversary gig.

5. Next Friday, the band takes a rare sojourn to Waterford, where they play The Thirsty Scholar as part of the venue’s Voodoo Sessions. Kickoff at 9pm, support from The Smoking Giants.

Verdict: A furious, focused outfit that channels a wide range of influences, themes, and emotions into their music, and a formidable live proposition with a stage presence honed over the better part of two decades together.

Hope is Noise

19015_465184916996356_5595183809257186325_n

Here’s what you may need to know…

1. Limerick producer Graeme S. and vocalist Senita Appiakorang (also of neo-soul outfit Shookrah) are electronic/afrobeat duo Lakerama.

2. Coming together last year as a collaborative musical project, the band has stepped into the live sphere, including appearances at Dublin’s Bernard Shaw and Cork’s Quarter Block Party.

3. Debut EP One is streaming in its entirety in the widget above, including much-fancied lead off tune Take.

4. Catch them this Friday evening, supporting the mighty Rusangano Family, with whom Graeme has previously collaborated, at the Kino in Cork.

Verdict: A potent combination of ambient, house and Afrobeat influences, Lakerama’s standout quality is their command of dynamic, with Senita’s massive voice adding presence to Graeme S’ diversely informed electronica.

Lakerama

12418018_1701640766717798_5293686721601229566_n

The Bonk – Ancestor

What you may need to know…

1. Emerging from jam sessions in Cork’s Big Skin studios, The Bonk derive their moniker from a colloquialism for complete mental and physical collapse.

2. The band is headed up by Waterford man and O Emperor guitarist Phil Christie, and features several of that band’s members. They made their debut appearance under the name earlier this year, at the Quarter Block Party festival.

3. Last week saw the release of debut single Ancestor as a free download from the band’s Bandcamp page, streaming above.

4. The band’s next live excursion is April 16 as part of Cork record shop/community centre/institution PLUGD Records‘ celebration of five years at their current home at the Triskel Arts Centre’s TDC venue.

5. Also appearing are the impossibly promising Barchester Chronicles, prolific troubadour Laurie Shaw, singer-songwriter Roslyn Steer, with Cork hip-hop icon Stevie G spinning discs in the shop (upstairs, 12-6) beforehand and in GULPD Cafe (downstairs) all night.

Verdict: A bit early at this stage for hyperbole, but what’s here reminds your writer of Captain Beefheart’s more focused moments – swaggering, confident grooving that doesn’t necessarily skimp on the psychedelia.

The Bonk