Dublin
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The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock: ‘History Rarely Repeats, But Often Rhymes’
Retelling the story of the 1913 Strike and Lockout with an eighteen-piece guitar orchestra was always going to be a big ask. Allen Blighe and Enda Bates of Dublin folk-rockers The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock discuss the endeavour. For over a decade now, Dublin-based five-piece The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock have been fusing…
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Loah: Staying True to This Heart
Ahead of taking to the stage in Cyprus Avenue next week, Sallay Matu Garnett, aka Loah, speaks with Mike McGrath-Bryan about her work and her journey. For some, music is entertainment, a safety blanket amid the mundane or the chaotic. For others, it is catharsis, a means of coming to terms with life experiences and…
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Ye Vagabonds: Not All Who Wander Are Lost
The brothers MacGloinn and their cohorts have finally unveiled their debut long-player. Ahead of Ye Vagabonds’ Live at St. Luke’s excursion this month, Mike McGrath-Bryan talk to Diarmuid MacGloinn about recording, releasing and touring. Carlow outfit Ye Vagabonds have been something of a hot commodity in recent years, bringing a hint of Americana, specifically Appalachian…
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Soulé: What Do You Know?
After a busy debut year, Dublin singer-songwriter Soulé is ready to take on the world, and it starts with a headline slot at the Jazz. Mike McGrath-Bryan finds out more. It’s been just over a year since the debut show of singer-songwriter Samantha Kay, under the nom-de-plume of Soulé and, propelled forth by a wide…
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Irish Indie Label Day: “Just Getting Off Your Arse and Doing Anything is Worthy of Support”
This coming Saturday, October 14th has officially been declared Irish Indie Label Day in Ireland by a coalition of independent and DIY record labels dotted around the country. An initiative kicked off by Cork’s Penske Recordings and Sligo-based Art for Blind label, it entails a day-long record fair in Whelan’s in Dublin, featuring over a…
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Shrug Life: “There’s a Small Victory in Articulating Absurdity”
Observers of the mundane, be-moaners of the grind and fond custodians of lo-fi pop propulsion, Dublin trio Shrug Life have been doing the rounds for a few years now, and with 2014 E.P. The Grand Stretch long since committed to the review pages, the long-term project of putting down a full-length has finally come to fruition. Recorded in 2015-2016,…
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Le Galaxie: A Galaxie of Stars
Ahead of their upcoming appearance at City Hall, Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with Le Galaxie frontman Michael Pope about the band’s Cork connections, their last album, and wild saxophone takes. One of the sleeper success stories of Irish independent music in the past two decades, synthpop outfit Le Galaxie emerged in the late 2000s from the…
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Gavin James: No Bitter Pill
On the eve of his return to Cork after the biggest year of his career so far, Mike McGrath-Bryan talks with Marquee-bound singer-songwriter Gavin James. Gavin James cuts an excitable figure as your writer greets him at his room in the Clayton Hotel on the quays, ahead of his date at the Marquee. Part nervous…
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Fangclub: Baring Their Fangs
Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks with Fangclub’s Steven King about the band’s upcoming Cork shows. It was a busy 2016 for Dublin rock revivalists Fangclub – their Bullet Head E.P. released through Universal Music Ireland after signing a rare domestic deal with the major-label office in May, the Coma Happy E.P. following shortly in September of last…
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Bitch Falcon: Coming In to Land
Alt-rock power trio Bitch Falcon head down to Cork for a double-header in Connolly’s and Cyprus Avenue this weekend. Mike McGrath-Bryan speaks to drummer Nigel Kenny and bassist Naomi McLeod. The growing pains of any new-ish band are numerous, and a tough slog to varying degrees: finding a sound, establishing a live presence and generally…
Mike McGrath-Bryan 