Month: April 2019

Irish electronic-pop duo, Le Boom, comprising of Christy Leech and Aimie Mallon, and fellow Dubliner Æ MAK (Aoife McCann) are today sharing the video for their new BBC Radio 1-supported collaborative single, ‘Dancing Bug’. The new music is shared alongside news of Le Boom’s largest headline to-date, a stop at the 1250-capacity Olympia, Dublin on October 11, 2019 – tickets available now . The new date will follow a summer of festival touring and a brief May run, taking in stops at Thousand Island, London on May 3, 2019 and further dates at Live At Leeds and Hit The North – all dates below.

Following the impeccably choreographed ‘Just Want To’, the compelling melodies of ‘Dancing Bug’ – which visually finds Leech, Mallon and McCann gliding through the streets of Stoneybatter, Dublin City – is the latest cut from the forthcoming EP, ‘All Of My Highs’, set for release May 3, 2019. “‘Dancing Bug’ is about falling into your bedroom after a bad day and dancing like fire to your favourite song; to escape the stuff you just had to deal with,” says McCann. “That energy taking you off into the other world that you’re visualising as you dance.”

Speaking about the musical coming together, McCann continues: “I’d always loved Le Boom’s live shows – myself and my mates dancing ourselves into the ground, high energy and love. Myself and Christy met at The Great Escape last year and got on like a house on fire. We were both like ‘I like your music – I like your music, cool’. We wrote ‘Dancing Bug’ in a couple of hours late last year. Loved every minute.” 

2018 signposted an exciting milestone for Le Boom, it was a year that found the pair performing across some of Europe’s largest festivals, including Primavera, Longitude, Body & Soul and Electric Picnic, whilst also taking their eccentric live show to Reykjavik, New York and Bilbao. The year also found the duo selling out an Irish headline tour – including a stop at Dublin’s 1000-capacity District 8 venue – and achieving playlist success at Spotify, attaining spots on ’New Music Friday’ & ‘Hot New Bands’ amongst others.

UK/IRE Tour Dates

ALL DATES WITH BUY LINKS:  https://weareleboom.com/tour

May 03 | Thousand Island, London, UK *
May 04 | Live At Leeds, Leeds, UK *
May 05 | Hit The North, Newcastle, UK *
May 10 | It Takes A Village, Cork, IRE   *
May 25 | South Central, Portsmouth, UK
May 26 | Life Festival, Westmeath, UK
Jun 21 | Sea Sessions, Donegal, IRE
Jul 26 | Y Not Festival, Derbyshire, UK
Jul 28 | Coronas Big Top, Galway, IRE
Aug 03 | Indiependence, Cork, IRE  *
Oct 10 | Duke of York, Belfast, NI
Oct 11 | Olympia, Dublin, IRE
Oct 19 | Dolan’s, Limerick, IRE
Oct 25 | Glassworks, Derry, NI

• with AE MAK performing Dancing Bug

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Photo: Tim Shearwood

A couple of years ago – feeling a bit worn down by city life – My Tribe Your Tribe (aka George Mercer) decided that moving home to Portarlington would give him the vigour and incentive to write and record the album he could feel bubbling under his skin’s surface, and so he set up a studio in his grandmother’s house and began teaching himself the skills to record an album. 

Somewhere along the way, isolation crept in, quickly followed by imposter syndrome. George started questioning himself; wondering why certain things weren’t landing; certain collaborators were no longer interested; and why half of his friends had suddenly up and left Ireland for seemingly brighter pastures. After a while, these factors started having an impact on George’s mental health and he found himself half way through the album feeling entirely burnt out. 

Recollecting the process, George describes looking at the world as if he were a goldfish in a bowl, lacking entirely in a sense of identity. He recounts a moment of almost giving up: ‘Somewhere along the way, you realise that you’re not Mac DeMarco or Tame Impala, and maybe this DIY recording style can be a bit over-romanticised’. The freedom and ruggedness which originally attracted George to DIY music was now a barrier for him completing the album.

After this, things slowed right down and George took a step back from the recording process, embarking on a journey of discovery; spending long afternoons perspiring in steam rooms with middle-aged men, willing the penny to drop; running to festivals to dabble with narcotics, pleading for an epiphany of sorts; meditating in the woods, imploring the countryside to saturate him with genius. But the solution was much more obvious than he had anticipated.

The closing track of the album ‘Life On Loan’ features the refrain “I Learn A Lot From You”. When mixing this track, George had his lightbulb moment. “Like a voice from the future was being channeled telling me that everything is going to be ok, and there is meaning to all the madness that I was putting myself through.” Maybe this had all been a learning experience.

And so the album that may never have been finally has its release date. ‘I Learn A Lot From You’ will be released on June 14th, launching that night from The Grand Social.

The latest single ‘Imposter’ is out today April 26th.

From forming initially to perform at house parties, to being hailed as “Dublin math-rock revival” and named as one of the Top 50 Acts of 2018 by Nialler9, experimental three-piece tribal dance are turning heads due to their abrasive and unconventional sound.

Following on from the success of their sophomore release on Bad Soup Records and gaining praise from the likes of Nialler9, MCD and Dan Hegarty(RTE 2FM), tribal dance return to their house party origins on new single ‘You Can’t Swim’.

tribal dance have built up a reputation for their manic and unpredictable live shows combining techno inspired noise/krautrock with upbeat chaotic dance rhythms.

Having played a number of Irish showcases and festivals including Whelan’s Ones to Watch 2019, KnockanStockan 2018 and a Nialler9 showcase, tribal dance are set to headline The Grand Social, Dublin on May 4th in association with MCD Productions followed by a string of May dates and a performance at Knockanstockan Festival 2019.

Both the lyrics and video explore the contrast between unrealistic expectations and reality.

“We wanted to try and emulate the perfect one shot video that still had elements of human error to make it less perfect and more real…” says lyricist Adam Smyth, “what you get is this imperfect linear one shot take which highlights that the human aspect to making art sometimes aims to be ‘too perfect’ and can sometimes be unnatural or artificial”.

He continues by adding “…we always think our recordings are the somewhat ‘ideal’ version our music, but when you see us live it’s a lot more raw”.

The video was directed by Cillian Byrne, shot by Conor Dockery, edited by Leo Clarke and produced by Sarah Collins.

LIVE

Headline Show (w/ MCD) – The Grand Social – May 4th
KnockanStockan Festival – 19th – 21st July

Dublin stoner rock band Lugosi announce the release of their debut album ‘Rise From The Grave’.

“The lads have taken all their horror influences and their excellent musical ability to create one of the most original Irish releases of 2019 for heavier music” Burning Metal Ireland

With influences ranging from The Misfits, Black Sabbath, Fu Manchu and Clutch, coupled with a love of the macabre, Lugosi’s original songs range in subject matter from alien vampires, American Indian legends, horror and witchcraft, a sonic Ed Wood movie, delivered in rock-n-roll.

The band had a very busy 2018 recording in Trackmix studios and palying with a variety of visiting and local bands including Swedish rockers Scumbag Millionaire, England’s Terrorsaurs and Barstool Preachers as well as fellow Irish acts The Bonnavilles, Baleful Creed, Erosion, Hooligan, XSLF and many more. 2019 will see the band touring their album as well as getting back to regular Dublin appearances in Fibbers and The Thomas House and opening the Ilfracombe Rocks 2019 metal festival in Devon.

‘Rise From The Grave’ is now available on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, Pandora, Tidal, Napster, iHeartRadio, and more…

delush’s soulful new three track EP, ‘Live at JRS Studio’, with accompanying live videos, directed, shot and edited by Frederic Eiden, is out now.

After 3 years of facilitating other creators as a producer, writer, or collaborator, the Irish native Berlin-based musician, Enda Gallery, created delush to share his own deepest and truest experiences and realisations. delush creates to illuminate self-knowledge, inspire wonder, and help create a future he would love to live in, through meaningful soul and R&B melodies. It’s not all deep and serious though, “I also just make music for the sheer fucking joy of it” – delush.

The new EP consists of three tracks, ‘Don’t Let Me Win’ released in 2018, described by Cerys Matthews BBC 6 Music as “the kind of song that wheedles its way into your life, and doesn’t leave, and I keep returning to it’, ‘Slow Your Attention’, and ‘So Easy’ – a favourite of Enda’s. Speaking about the closing track, Enda says: “I would love to live in a world where we overstand the mind, not suffer it needlessly. Part of the journey is forgiving oneself every time we lose the presence – there are a million traps: fears, ambitions, anxieties, perceived threats, stress takes us easily out of presence and so on. A million things each day easily pull us into dream-like states or even nightmare states. The only thing you can do once you realise, is to come back to this moment without anger or frustration. Forgive yourself when you fall down cos it’s so easy to get caught up.”

The Live EP came about by chance, when Enda invited his friend Frederic Eiden to film on a fourth day of recording, to share a little of the process, after the main recordings were done. Enda says: “It turned out that the live takes in front of the camera sounded and felt wonderful to us. I decided they had to go out and they should go out soon, even before the “produced” versions in the case of ‘So Easy’ and ‘Slow Your Attention’. We felt we really channeled something through these videos. I hope you enjoy them and can feel a little of how it was for us.”

Featuring Derek Ullenboom on guitar, Tristan Henderson on drums, and Enda Gallery on piano and vocals, the ‘Live at JRS Studio Berlin’ EP is available now on all streaming platforms.

Experience delush live at Sham’s Speakeast Sessions, Allenwood IRE, in aid of Pieta House on June 1^st; Kenny’s, Lahinch IRE June 4^th; Harbour Bar, Bray, Wicklow IE June 6^th, Bello Bar, Dublin, IRE with October Fires and Strange Boy on June 7^th; Privatclub Berlin DE on June 13^th, plus more dates to be announced.

For more information, visit www.delush.life

‘Live at JRS Studio Berlin’ is now on all major platforms.

‘Club Kids’ is the latest single to be taken from Dublin born singer-songwriter Eoin Glackin’s new album, ‘Fires of Innocence’.

‘Club Kids” is an ode to a fleeting time in life when our entire world seems to revolve around a small group of close friends. When we huddle together with those chosen few and face the oncoming assault of creeping reality. Understanding things can’t stay the same forever but knowing the bonds we forge will always matter wherever life may lead.

Having spent the past year touring Ireland and the UK, including several stints with Irish rock icons Aslan, Glackin’s reputation as a captivating and energetic live performer continues to grow.

The album itself, ‘Fires of Innocence’, is an alt-country infused barn burner with a cinematic scope and ‘Club Kids’ is the perfect showcase of the depth of song-writing within.

Upcoming Irish Live Dates:

May 2 – Mullingar – The Chambers *
May 6 – Dublin – The Grand Social *
May 7 – Bray – The Harbour Bar *
May 8 – Slane – Boyle’s *
July 20 – Swords Castle – Swords Summer Fest

*with Dick Valentine

EoinGlackin.com

Her Royal Highness, Empress Michiko (84) of Japan has taken the lyrics to You Raise Me Up and translated them into a lyrical Japanese setting in the foreword to a newly published book of Japanese poems.

The just-published collection from Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun Publishing, features poems by the Empress herself, along with works by major Japanese poets, Nagase Kiyoko (The ‘Great Mother’) of Japanese female poets, Takeuchi Taruyo, Shinkawa Kazue, Mado·Michio, recipient of the Hans Christian Award in pair with English translations by the Empress, who has composed several poems, including in the Waka (和歌, “Japanese poem”) tradition of poetry in classical Japanese literature.

The Empress, who holds a degree in English Literature, has a keen interest in Irish culture is and apparently even speaks passable Irish.

You Raise Me Up in Japan

You Raise Me Up has enjoyed widespread success in Japan for a number of artistes in both English and Japanese.

Japan’s, Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medallist, Shizuka Arakawa skated to You Raise Me Up as her Gold Medal Exhibition performance at the 2006, Winter Olympics.

You Raise Me Up was the opening theme song from the Japanese TV Anime series of Romeo and Juliet as well as being the theme song from the Japanese TV series, Byakottai.

Mitsubishi, Panasonic and Yamaha have all used different versions of You Raise Me Up in Japanese TV national advertising campaigns.

You Raise Me Up has also been performed at  Jammin’ for Japan, and at the United Nations Charity Event – both major concert events to benefit Japanese Earthquake relief.

NELLA has just announced a live date on 2nd May in The Underground, Dame Street.

This will be NELLA’s first show in Ireland in over a year.

NELLA has been busy working with some of the world’s greatest producers and composers over the past year and touring Asia as the voice of World of Warcraft backed by a 100 piece orchestra for Video Games Live!

This will be the last chance to hear her in an intimate setting as she jets off back to Los Angeles soon after.

Join us for an intimate, acoustic night with NELLA. 

Support from Greg Clifford.

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nella-tickets-59716826636?ref=eios&fbclid=IwAR0rz6sZc8XydZ20W449QStBWxYKObLw5PpLp5xTK5qjzXaBkf9dJYC3F6M

Paj’s 2nd single ‘Yemanja’ draws from his world music experiences and is a high energy ode to Afro-Brazilian sea goddess Yemanja. Penned after her annual 3-day ritual drumming celebrations in Salvador, North Brazil, the lyrics contrast tension between feelings of ecstatic communal joy while holding onto internal baggage and ultimately hails Yemanja for her cleansing, rejuvenative powers. S

Paj is a ‘blue-eyed soul’ singer from Dublin now out on his own after 10 years industry experience as a backing singer & guitarist. He has shared the stage with Billy Idol, M People, Grammy nominees Hiatus Kaiyote, Taylor McFerrin & Thundercat as guitarist & vocalist for Loah, Fehdah, and currently Ensemble Eriu (Award winning trad group and collaborators with Martin Hayes of The Gloaming).

Leading his band, Paj was chosen by 2FM for the Play the Picnic stage at 2018’s Electric Picnic. His debut track ‘Friends Confused’ was placed 10 out of 50 songs on Spotify’s Irish playlist.

Paj toured Europe in 2010, performed in USA & Portugal with subsequent Eurovision Song Contest Winner & Universal Artist Luisa Sobral, and has lived in America, Brazil & West Africa, gaining a world-music influence and he now hosts a world music radio show on Dublin Digital Radio. Members of Paj’s band have performed with Hozier, Wyvern Lingo, Mary Coughlan, Zaska, Nava.

Paj released an a solo instrumental EP in 2016 under his own name, Paddy Groenland, well received by Nialler9:

“As a musician with Ensemble Eriu, RiZa and Fehdah, Groenland is no stranger to global sounds and new ways of using them. The lead track on his new Nativism EP (“a reference to the current global struggle for identity and ownership”), is a beautiful guitar piece that has an African, jazz, blues and folk in its DNA.” – Nialler 9

Yemanja is out now on bandcamp & will be released on streaming platforms May 9th

www.pajmusic.com
Facebook.com/pajmusic
Insta: @pajmahalia
Twitter: @pajmahalia