Tag Archives: new Irish music

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Cian Nugent – Things Don’t Change That Fast

What you may need to know…

1. Finding his voice on third full-length Night Fiction, Dublin guitarist and composer Cian Nugent taps into his long-running appreciation for ’60s and ’70s singer-songwriters and the blues after stints with instrumental experimentation and psychedelia, both as a soloist and with accompaniment from his band The Cosmos.

2. Streaming above is Things Don’t Change That Fast, a moody, pensive rumination taken from the aforementioned long-player, released this past January.

3. A man of eclectic influences to say to least, from the aforementioned singer-songwriter oeuvre, to surf-rock, to jazz, Nugent has made a playlist for The Thin Air with some of the tracks he’s used as reference points on the new record.

4. Nugent plays Cobh’s Sirius Arts Centre on May 7, while their next Dublin show is Whelan’s on May 12, sharing a bill with Canadians Nap Eyes.

Verdict: Having been one of the most forward-thinking people in Irish music the past few years, Nugent has really come into his own on the new LP. Not all who wander (creatively or thematically) are lost.

Cian Nugent

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The Sunshine Factory – Cruelest Animal

What you may need to know.

1. Beginning to garner praise, Leeside young neo-psychedelic four-piece The Sunshine Factory arrived in February when they packed out the Cork Community Print Shop, launching an eponymously-titled tape EP in the process.

2. From said cassette comes Cruelest Animal, streaming above. The band’s Soundcloud is also full of rough demos, painting a picture of a band that’s been slowly putting the pieces together over the course of the past year.

3. Next gig is on April 16, supporting Dublin shoegazers September Girls (launching album Age of Indignation) in Cyprus Avenue, Cork, presented by Leeside rock raconteurs Alliance Promotions.

4. The band have the biggest break of their young run so far next month, touring in support of English psych-rock legends The Telescopes. Thursday 12 at Brewery Corner in Kilkenny, Friday 13 (!) at The Thirsty Scholar in Waterford, Saturday 14 at the Crane Lane Theatre in Cork, and Sunday 15 at Dublin’s Workman’s Club.

Verdict: With inflections of post-punk and psychedelia amid the band’s noise, The Sunshine Factory will appeal to genre enthusiasts, as well as anyone of lo-fi/possible C86 sensibilities.

The Sunshine Factory

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Gavin Prior – Between Breaths

Here’s what you may need to know…

1. Guitarist/producer/improv veteran Gavin Prior returns with latest solo LP All Who Wander, available now for preorder on Bandcamp via Deserted Village. Single Between Breaths is streaming in the widget above.

2. Currently of free jazz/metal lads Tarracóir and acapella group The Primal Barber Trio, he’s also been part of folk outfit United Bible Studies and improv group Murmansk.

3. Among the host of musicians he’s improvised live with are Can vocalist Damo Suzuki, world-renowned cellist Okkyung Lee, and London reductionist-school harpist Rhodri Davies.

4. Previous solo works The Avalon Suite (inspired by examples of second-language English while teaching in Korea), and Babbleon Cork (a series of field recordings completed while resident in Shandon’s Guesthouse) are now available for free download.

Verdict: A man with an extensive and intriguing body of work across original compositions, improvisation, and field recordings continues his journey.

Gavin Prior

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Wild Rocket – touring Ireland in April

Here’s what you may need to know…

1. Here’s that unfathomably heavy dose of psychey, synthy, doomy, spacey noise you ordered, courtesy of Dublin four-piece Wild Rocket, an amalgam of all manner of weighty musical matters and celestial themes.

2. 2014 saw the release of debut LP Geomagnetic Hallucinations, back in very limited stock again on 12″ at their Bandcamp page (track Interplanetary Vibrations streaming above). While you’re there, get your lugholes on a free live album from 2015’s Siege of Limerick: Earrach, for a dose of the band in their natural environment.

3. The lads have a busy April ahead of them, playing Dublin’s Reverberation Weekend at the Grand Social on April 8th, alongside bands like Scots The Cosmic Dead and Dublin krautrock duo Twinkranes…

4. …before going on an excursion around the country, co-headlining with fellow Dubliners Venus Sleeps, on the grandiosely titled ‘Infinite Crossroads Tour’. April 28th, they’ll be playing On the Rox in Dublin, the 29th sees them playing Cork Community Print Shop, and on the 30th, they’ll be at Feasant Fest, in Emmett’s of Ballina, Co. Mayo. Finally, on the 1st of May, they’ll be at Galway’s Loft, as part of the venue’s Walpurgis Night.

Verdict: Ample riff worship for doom devotees, enough synths and oddness to intrigue prog and psych heads. Catch ’em live for best effect.

Wild Rocket

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Twin-Headed Wolf – released/gigging pre-debut album The Long Decay

What you may need to know…

1. Julie and Branwen are Twin-Headed Wolf, a pair of twin sisters from Lahinch, Co. Clare, specialising in wonky, playful folk, making heavy use of the pair’s way with vocal harmonies.

2. Having spent the last few years perfecting their offbeat, ethereal take on the folk oeuvre with an array of non-traditional instrumentation and charismatic live presence, the duo serves us a curveball with an acapella album of folk standards that functions as prelude to their upcoming debut LP proper: The Long Decay.

3. The record is named for its recording in the Emmanuel Vigeland Mausoleum in Oslo, back in January, a tomb/acoustic chamber with up to 14 seconds of echo.

4. With the record released in February and launched in Dublin’s Unitarian Church, the pair turn their live attention to Cork Community Print Shop, with a live engagement in the non-profit arts space on Friday, April 8th.

Verdict: Gleeful, joyfully demented folk antics with a bold experimental streak. Their impending debut LP of originals ought to be a treat.

Twin-Headed Wolf

Rusangano

Rusangano Family – launching album Let the Dead Bury the Dead throughout April

What you may need to know…

1. From an intersection of cultures, to the forefront of Irish hip-hop, Limerick/Zimbabwean outfit Rusangano Family have come into their own since assuming the name for their collaborative efforts in late 2014.

2. In keeping with themes of society, identity, belonging, and the celebration of difference and diversity, the trio specialises in a fusion of hip-hop and electronic sounds/sub-genres.

3. Comprised of DJ mynameisj0hn, and MCs GodKnows and Murli, the project came about from their collaborative work in 2013, which resulted in that year’s EP with producer Graeme S, and their first album (and namesake) Rusangano/Family in May 2014.

4. The resultant critical acclaim for their records and riotous live excursions led to supports for Snoop Dogg, Run the Jewels, Young Fathers and BadBadNotGood, as well as festival appearances all over the country. Most recently, they went Stateside to play this month’s SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

5. Second LP Let the Dead Bury the Dead releases this month, preceded by single Heathrow (streaming above, featuring Windings/Givemanakick man Steve Ryan on guitar), unveiled late last year.

6. The band explains the long-player’s somewhat cryptic title: “Let the Dead Bury the Dead can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. A phrase that conjures ideas of regret, remorse, hope, change, letting go and the resolve to follow one’s own path. To move forward, we must also leave things behind.”

7. The trio are launching the record with a string of dates around Ireland throughout April. Friday the 8th sees them hit The Kino in Cork with Lakerama in support, while on Saturday the 9th, they head for Dublin’s Sugar Club with support from Ben Bix and Feather. Friday the 22nd, they’ll be at Dolan’s Warehouse in Limerick, before playing DeBarra’s in Clonakilty on Saturday the 23rd.

Verdict: One of the country’s most exciting live acts, and one of our most vital and forward-thinking propositions, full stop. Get involved.

Rusangano Family

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The Frank and Walters – We Are The Young Men

Here’s what you may need to know…

01. As synonymous with the real capital’s culture as Tanora, Roy Keane, and music journalists reaching for lazy, obvious cultural touchstones in articles about the city the English Market, The Frank and Walters are one of the quintessential Cork bands, formed in 1990 and named after two local eccentrics of the day.

02. Success found the indie-pop outfit quickly, signing for Setanta in 1991 and releasing EP1. EP2, featuring the enduring Fashion Crisis Hits New York, shortly followed. Following EP Happy Busman, debut album Trains, Boats and Planes hit the UK album chart, with single After All hitting number 11 on the UK singles chart and number 5 in the Irish singles chart.

03. Taking a sabbatical after a busy few years, the band returned in the mid-nineties and have been gigging and releasing records at a steady clip ever since. Having celebrated their 25th anniversary last year with a sellout performance at Cork Opera House (pictured above), the band is currently readying new album Songs for the Walking Wounded for release via drummer Ashley Keating’s FIFA Records.

04. Streaming above is the band’s new single, We Are the Young Men, released ahead of the album’s launch at the Cork Opera House on April 15th. In support are reunited Cork indie group Rubyhorse and The Smiths’ Mike Joyce on DJ duties.

Verdict: A seemingly jaunty, jangly tune, layered with subtle sarcasm (a Franks specialty) and casting a somewhat cold eye on youthful exuberance. Great stuff from a band that’s stood the test of time.

The Frank and Walters

Photo: Kieran Frost. Thanks to Peter Dempsey for corrections.

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Various Artists – Le Chéile (compilation in aid of mental health awareness)

What you may need to know…

01. Yeah Meng Records is the one-man operation of Drogheda man Ryan Carroll. Indie label, local shows, etc. based out of the Wee County’s capital.

02. Le Chéile (“together” as Gaeilge), is a compilation released this past month through the label, comprised of a book of mental health-related quotes & quips (as well as contact info on mental health services in Ireland), and a CD full of Irish and international punk, emo and folk acts (streaming above).

03. Among the many acts on the compilation include Dublin punks Chewing on Tinfoil, post-rock youngsters Megacone, Tipperary emo five-piece The Winter Passing and Limerick singer-songwriter Anna’s Anchor.

04. All proceeds go toward various mental health charities, and Bandcamp orders (€10 + €3 postage in Ireland) come with advance digital download of both audio and text.

Verdict: It’s our generation’s cause: striking up a conversation and national discourse regards mental health. Anybody looking to help facilitate that, and provide a point of focus for anyone that might be struggling in the form of the accompanying book, deserves the support.

Le Chéile (thru Yeah Meng Records)

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Race the Flux – Matty Rusko

What you may need to know…

01. Galway math-rock quartet Race the Flux premiered new single Matty Rusko on their social media yesterday. It’s available for streaming on Spotify and download from iTunes.

02. Having spent the last few years honing their sound, including debut LP Dutch Buffalo and last year’s more experimental Olympians EP, the lads have supported Tame Impala, And So I Watch You From Afar, and The Redneck Manifesto.

03. Rugger buggers may recognise their track Olympus Mons as Munster’s pitch walkout music, also.

04. The video, shot and edited by Limerick media veteran Shane Serrano, sees the band accompany a man who can’t get their them out of his head. Literally.

05. Having played Sweeney’s in Dublin last night, tonight they’re off to slaughter London’s Old Blue Last, a 317-year-old pub, formerly a brothel, now run by VICE Magazine. Grand.

Verdict: The evolution of the Tribesmen from electronicky alt-rockers to the forefront of Ireland’s enviable math-rock scene has taken definite shape. Matty Rusko continues the process in fine form.

Race the Flux

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Come On Live Long – For The Birds

What you may need to know…

01. Luscious, luxuriant electronic-inflected stuff from Dublin four-piece Come On Live Long, in new single For The Birds.

02. Formed in 2011, and having run the gauntlet of Irish festivals as well as releasing a number of EPs and singles, the band’s currently gearing up for their second album Move As One, following on from 2013’s Everything Fall.

03. Over at The Thin Air, the band have been chatsky about the album’s creative and recording processes, which see the band get together in a cottage in Co. Roscommon. They also premiered the vid yesterday, which can also be seen above.

04. The band launches For The Birds Saturday week at Dublin’s Unitarian Church. Tickets available here. Tickets €10, kickoff at 7.30.

Verdict: A tune that’s equally sultry and strident in different places, it sees the band refine its focus on its strong points, and makes the most of them.

Come On Live Long