Month: September 2018

Arthur’s Blues & Jazz Club, upstairs in Arthur’s pub, is based in the heart of the Liberites in Dublin. It hosts the top national and international blues and jazz acts 5-7 nights per week.

The venue is dedicated to having a variety of the sub genres in blues and jazz, from acoustic pre 1960’s blues to electric delta blues and big band jazz groups to smooth piano trios.

More Information and gig listings can be found here;

www.arthurspub.ie

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Dublin singer-songwriting Ciara Sidine releases single in aid of Tuam Home Survivors Newtwork. The single ‘Finest Flower’ is a tribute to the women and children who survived mother and baby homes and Magdalene Laundries.

The single will be launched at a concert on Remembrance Day for Ireland’s Lost Children, in Tuam on Saturday 29 September (irelandslostchildren@nullgmail.com)

The song ‘Finest Flower’ was inspired by the testimony of women who survived Ireland’s mother and baby homes and told their stories. 

Says songwriter Ciara Sidine: “I was deeply touched many years ago by the documentary ‘Sex in a Cold Climate’, the first of its kind to lift the lid on Ireland’s treatment of pregnant women outside marriage, at the hands of religious institutions. There was one story that haunted me. Christina Mulcahy was nearing the end of her life by the time she told it. It was beyond heart-breaking to hear of a young woman in an indifferent society, struggling to keep her baby boy and marry the father, whom she loved. But Christina’s wish was not to be, as she found out to her enduring pain when her beloved boy was ten months old. She was still a breastfeeding mother when she told unceremoniously one day to leave the home, as she was on her way to nurse her child. ‘Is there no time to say goodbye?’ she asked the nun. The answer was brutally clear. Her son was to be adopted, and Christina would have no say in it – nor even be given a chance to say her last goodbye to him.” 

Says Sidine, “When I came to write ‘Finest Flower’, I wanted to honour the love that each of these women had for their children, and the bond that could not be broken. I imagine Christina as the narrator of the song, a strong woman whose life was never the same again, but whose dignity and strength could not be erased; a woman who knew that love knows no shame.”

Me I guess that I was blessed/for I knew love/could know no shame/when I held you to my breast/and called your name.

Till the day I found/an empty space/the day I never let you go/

oh the weight of the love you have, but can not hold…

Sidine adds: “I’m pleased to donate proceeds from the sale of ‘Finest Flower’ to the Tuam Home Survivors Network, a group who are doing incredible work advocating for justice for the Tuam babies, and their families.”

Dublin singer-songwriter Ciara Sidine’s sound has been described as ‘Americana with an unmistakeably Celtic feel to its poetic lyrics and confident vocals’ (UNCUT). Her second album ‘Unbroken Line’ has garnered glowing reviews across the board, following on from her acclaimed debut ‘Shadow Road Shining’.​

Exploring themes from Ireland’s shadowy past, ‘Unbroken Line’ is a love song to lost voices – from the mothers who survived incarceration in Ireland’s mother and baby homes and Magdalene Laundries, whose babies were taken from them against their will (‘Finest Flower’), to those weighed down by the actions of a Catholic church more intent on self-preservation than truth (‘Let the Rain Fall’), to Ireland’s exiled women in the fight for reproductive rights (‘Trouble Come Find Me’).

The tracks on the new album, with their taut, poetic lyrics, draw from a wide spectrum of blues, country and folk, and combine a rich lyrical quality with an utterly unique vocal that lends itself equally to intimate acoustic expression or full throttle rock-out with a band. Sidine’s work has been described as combining shades of Gillian Welch, Maria McKee and Alison Krauss, but the singer-songwriter is very much her own voice.

www.ciarasidine.com 

www.facebook.com/ciarasidine 

@ciarasidine

A critically-acclaimed debut album, a summer of playing festivals, support slots with Le Galaxie and Ham Sandwich… it’s been quite a year for Dublin band Pursued by Dogs.

The four-piece, who have been described by press as ‘sophisticated’, ‘outstanding’ and ‘euphoric’, will release of their new single, ‘Swap Dimensions’, on Friday 19th October 2018.

‘Swap Dimensions’ is a rousing, alcohol-fuelled rumination on the greed that caused Ireland’s economic crash and the resulting social damage. Andrew Brennan and Suzanne Purcell’s emotive harmonies rise over the backdrop of fuzzy synths, gritty guitars and minimalist keys that Pursued by Dogs have become known for. Just like the Ireland of the time that Andrew sings about, the song juxtaposes excess with sparsity.

Andrew says: “I wrote ‘Swap Dimensions’ at a time when I was definitely drinking too much and was feeling really disconnected from Ireland. A lot of my friends had left and I was angry about the legacy wrought by emigration. I look around now and, even though we see cranes all over the city, things haven’t changed all that much. There’s building happening and jobs being advertised, but there’s a whole subset of people who were failed by Ireland. The recent forced evictions we’re seeing in the news are testament to that.”

THUMPER are a noise-pop quintet from Dublin, delivering bubblegum pop through a wall of sonic death.

With a reputation for raucous and frenzied live shows, and penchant for howling feedback and pounding rhythm, each show is an exercise in unpredictability.

2017 and 2018 have seen THUMPER top several Ones To Watch lists and tour relentlessly – headlining Hard Working Class Heroes & Whelan’s Ones To Watch Fest, as well as joining Fangclub on a national tour and playing festivals across Ireland all summer long.

‘Down’ is a swaggering beast of a track starting with swoop and a holler and going upwards from there, whether the 7 minute long version or the snippier radio edit, it’s a winner every single second and shows a band growing into a world where riffs and pop hooks exist together manically but happily!

‘Down’ is out on 12th October 2018.

Irish punchy-rock outfit SICK LOVE release their debut single ‘Are You Ready?’ on 28th Sept. Excitement is building around the release with the band already picked up by international booking agents and management.

SICK LOVE deliver a high-energy, no holds barred rock show all wrapped up anthemic punky-pop songs lead by front woman Rebecca Geary. Described by Hot Press magazine as “ defiantly pushing against the grain of indie and folk bands in Ireland”, they broke through with sold out club shows as well as festival slots at Electric Picnic and Indiependence. The band were quickly marked by many as ones to watch, with the Irish Times praising them as “set to join the Super League of Irish rock bands”.

SICK LOVE are no strangers to the gritty, do-it yourself Irish music scene rising from the ashes of former band Sub Motion who delivered a number of successful self-released tracks and a series of support slots with Crazy Town, The Strypes, Fangclub, Otherkin etc

‘Are You Ready?’ was recorded in Herbert Place Studios, Dublin with James Darkin at the helm (Kanye, Will.i.am, Rihanna, Hozier).

Website – www.sicklovemusic.com
Twitter – @wearesicklove
www.facebook.com/wearesicklove
www.instagram.com/wearesicklove

SÍOMHA is set to play a headline show in Whelan’s Dublin this winter as part of her upcoming Irish Winter Tour. The Clare singer and her band will play shows in a host of venues across the country including dates in Cork, Belfast, Limerick and Galway.

SÍOMHA’s music truly does defy any conventional genres; she dances the line between folk, jazz and neo-soul e ortlessly, taking audiences on an unexpected and unforgettable journey with her soulful melodies. SÍOMHA has been making waves with her music recently, and is fresh o tour with the acclaimed contemporary American/ Irish band, The Olllam, featuring bassist Joe Dart of Vulfpeck. She is a regular opener for Paul Brady, having played support for his 2017 Irish tour and she has just completed a string of summer dates with her band across the country including Doolin Folk Festival, Clifden Arts Festival and Electric Picnic. SÍOMHA’s soulful voice and carefully crafted songs are made to be heard live and with her incredibly tight band, these musicians break free of conventional genres and put on a live show that transcends musical boundaries.

Tickets for SÍOMHA’s Winter Tour go on sale this Friday, September 28th at 9am. Visit www.siomhamusic.com for more information.

TOUR DATES:

Oct 26th Sligo Live Festival
Oct 27th Dingle Folk Festival
Dec 12th Cyprus Avenue, Cork
Dec 13th Whelan’s, Dublin
Dec 15th An Cultúrlann, Belfast
Dec 19th Monroe’s, Galway
Dec 20th Dolan’s, Limerick

www.siomhamusic.com

‘Horseshoe Tattoo’ is the latest single to be taken from songwriter/producer Gavin Glass’ career defining masterpiece ‘Opus Pocus’.

Chances are you may have already heard ‘Horseshoe Tattoo’, blasting from car stereo across the nation as the song already has picked up some considerable airplay.

Glass’ razor sharp songwriting chops are perfectly matched by his unique approach to record production.

Berlin Era Bowie synths tangle and jangle with guitar chime hooks Johnny Marr would be proud of and there is a also a curve-ball key change thrown in for good measure, which Macca himself could have dovetailed on a Lennon tune.

‘Horseshoe Tattoo’ follows on from previous singles ‘Thirty Somethings’, ‘Matador’ and ‘Break Your Daddy’s Heart’ which all topped Irish radio charts.

‘Opus Pocus’ has picked up considerable praise and has bagged several album of the week spots on several broadsheets like The Sunday Times, The Independent & Sunday Business Post.

The record is twain in two: Side A is entitled ‘Opus Pocus’, Side B is ‘Algorhythm & Blues’. Gavin used the term ‘Opus Pocus’ in the studio (his office for the last ten years as one of Ireland’s most in-demand record producers) to describe the relentless, ofttimes impossible, artistic striving towards perfection, towards creating that magic work.

“It’s something I’ve come to realise only recently, we put too much emphasis on crafting the perfect record, the perfect piece of art, second guessing ourselves and wallowing in self-doubt. In reality, the beauty is always in the cracks, the perfection is in the imperfection, music is this great healer and ‘Opus Pocus’ is about learning to embrace that idea.”

The album is mixed in a way that bleeds each song into the next, using widescreen interludes designed to tempt the listener off the beaten track and in to the long grass.

“I wanted these interludes, the music in between the music, to represent the idea of technology, and how, despite its power to connect, it can leave us feeling alone and alienated. Judged, ranked and graded by our own volition.”

The lyrical content, the equal of Glass’s compositional and production skills, ranges from the enforced maturity brought on by parenthood to the realities of city life for Dublin’s Generation Xers as middle age encroaches, and the devastation wrought by a parent disappearing in to Alzheimer’s. If you’re after some ‘moon in June’ action, seek it elsewhere, although there are a few love songs thrown in, just in case.

Electronica project The Sei is made up of Irish / Swedish duo Stace Gill and Maria Nilsson Waller, with production by Ross Dowling aka DOS (Talos, James Vincent McMorrow). Having spent just over two years in studio developing and crafting material for their debut offering,  Autumn 2018 will see the release of a collection of beautiful compositions and songs by lead singer/writer Gill with this ambient / electronica outfit whose core unit sprang from the band that was formerly known as OCHO.

This music, and these songs, are an exploration of love, loss, life, death, natural intelligence and A.I.  The songs are reflections and questions coming to light from years of searching and listening, inspired by her own life and other artists, scientists and philosophers who have been consumed with questions, with an integral visual dimension shaping the material through the choreographic input of Maria Nilsson Waller.

The first single to be released from this suite of songs is ‘Metroma’ – Fri Sept 28^th.

‘Metroma’ – as described by Stace Gill, is:

“the first song from my dreams, and it began in Paris in 2016. There is only one kind of love, you choose love every moment or you don’t. Paris has been the home of so many dreamers, it would be easy to brush this off as a cliched romantic story, and it would be a shame. ‘Metroma’ is far more than romantic, it’s a true story of how we’re resisting the truth of who we are and how love is alive, working to spin us all together again, it is a choice we have every moment. This whole world is our dream, ‘Metroma’ is obsessively and endlessly dreaming of love, imagine if we all joined in?”

Live Dates:

Sep 27^th Dublin:                An intimate show at D-Light Studios to celebrate Metroma’s launch
Oct 7th Dublin:                  The Academy Dublin (with Talos)
Oct 25^th Sweden:             Riksteatern, Stockholm (with Flora Fauna)
Nov 1st Sweden:              Jamtli Excercishall,  Östersund (with Flora Fauna)

www.facebook.com/storyofthesei                           www.instagram.com/storyofthesei

www.youtube.com/storyofthesei                             www.thesei.ie