Month: November 2019

Having worked extensively all decade with a wide variety of labels and publishers, including Sony, Ultra, Feel Good Lost, Good Soldier Songs, Universal, and Warner, producing music for critically and commercially successful acts such as Talos, Daithí and with Young Wonder, Irish music producer Ian Ring recently unveiled his debut solo project Boku.

Introducing Boku, Ian says: “Over the years of producing and writing music for different artists I always found myself moulding my creative mindset to suit the artist and musical realm/genre that they live in.

Boku means “l” and it is music that is personal to me. In essence, I want to create music people can dance too when I DJ but also something that can musically sit on its own outside the world of DJ sets and clubs. The music falls under the electronic umbrella I guess, but I hope my music never really fits into one specific type of genre too comfortably.“

Speaking about the release of his new single ‘Game’, BOKU says: “ ‘Game’ has a lot of different moments that took me time to carve out and mould together correctly. It started by building a euphoric rave melody with different atmospheres behind it, I wanted it to start somewhere very simple and humble but then build into a place of tension and chaos. I played with a lot of synthesis on this one, it was about developing the sounds as the song progressed.”

Ian Ring is a Cork-based music producer, who recently unveiled his debut solo project, Boku, along with his debut single ‘Rise’.

Ian has worked extensively all decade with a wide variety of labels and publishers, including Sony, Ultra, Feel Good Lost, Good Soldier Songs, Universal, and Warner, producing music for critically and commercially successful acts such as Talos, Daithí and with Young Wonder.

His work has received multiple Choice Prize nominations, and achievements include BBC Radio 1 single of the week, Hype Machine number 1 plus has been used in adverts by the likes of Calvin Klein and MTV. It has also been featured on sites like Pitchfork, New York Times, Pop justice, Brooklyn Vegan and Pigeons & Planes.

He has played support to ALT J at the 02 Shepherds Bush plus other big artists such as Toro y Moi, while other notable live performances include big slots at the Heineken stage at the Electric Picnic, Longitude in Ireland, Latitude in the UK and many more.

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Movember continues its commitment to change the face of men’s health by partnering with trending, independent musicians to create covers of moustachioed, musical legends and mobilise their fast-growing audiences behind the men’s health crisis.

One of Ireland’s brightest future talents, Curtis Walsh, was honoured to have been invited to take part.  He decided to pick a song written by one of Ireland’s most legendary names in music: the late, great Phil Lynott. FrtyFve, the label behind last year’s UK Christmas #1, has come up with ‘Mo Sounds’ – a global collaboration to create the ultimate Movember playlist, released on Friday 1 November 2019. All of the recordings will raise funds and create conversations that matter. Artists participating will donate 50% of the profits from the recordings to benefit Movember’s cause areas.

Having turned 19 in August, and having amassed almost 10 million streams across all streaming services on his debut EP: ‘Breathe’, Curtis Walsh passed two major milestones in August 2019.

From an early stage Curtis has been championed by outlets such as CLASH, KOALA and numerous other tastemakers internationally. His first four singles to date have been added to several thousand playlists and are being supported on BBC Radio 2, Amazing Radio and several prominent Irish stations including RTÉ 2FM, and having supported artists such as Tom Walker, Omar Apollo, JC Stewart, New Rules and James TW,  Curtis played some European festivals this summer – including INDIE and Electric Picnic – and is now delighted to announce his own headline show in Whelan’s, Dublin on 8th December.

Curtis Walsh will play Upstairs at Whelan’s on Sunday December 8^th 2019 with tickets from €14.45 on sale through Ticketmaster / MCD.

Facebook / Instagram: @curtiswalshmusic

Twitter:           @CWalshMusic

Rising Irish neo-soul star Nnic returns with an acoustic live video of her recent single ‘The Place’ ahead of her Dublin show at The Sound House. This stripped back version of the ambient electro ballad gives you an up close and personal experience of the singers raw vocal range. Nnic came second place in the annual Christie Hennessy competition for the original version of ‘The Place’. The acoustic version of the place was recorded live with percussion and piano played by Dan and James Smith of Gypsies On The Autobahn. The track was sound engineered by James Smith.

Nnic is set to play her second headliner at The Sound House on November 29th with support from Jackie Beverely. The acoustic audio of ‘The Place’ will be available on all streaming services from November 8th.

‘The Place’ has garnered attention from Spotify’s  The Most Beautiful songs in the World playlist, amassing over 260k streams .Nnic accompanied the tracks success with a home video esque music video, emotionally illustrating the importance of friends and family.

Dublin native Nnic (pronounced Nick) is an upcoming female solo artist with a neo – soul/electronic edge. Her artist name is inspired by the Irish word ‘Nic’ meaning Daughter of. With over 10 years of classical vocal training under her belt, Nnic’s sound and songwriting passion brings a mixture of ballad-like melodies with fresh electronic sampling. Nnic has garnered over 850,000 plays on Spotify. Nnic has received national and UK radio support from BBC, Radio X, Today FM, 2FM 

Video directed by Alex lynch and shot by Oliver Kelly.

LIVE

29th November – Headline Show, The Sound House, Dublin

Tickets: https://www.ticketmaster.ie/nnic-sound-house-dublin-tickets/venueartist/199793/5294182

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Peter Whelan and the Irish Baroque Orchestra explore the music in Ireland from the 1750s to 1770s – a revolutionary moment where the structures of baroque music break-down and we see the emergence of the classical style.

Many trailblazing early classical composers visit Ireland during this time including Van Maldere, Pasquali and Giordani (some even incorporate Irish traditional melodies into their symphonies). Perhaps the most famous visitor at this time was the super-star castrato, Giusto Tenducci, who had works especially written for him by Mozart, Haydn and JC Bach.

Tenducci caused a huge scandal by eloping with the 15 year old daughter of a nobleman from Limerick and was for a time locked up in jail in Cork. His story is compelling, with drama and intrigue running through the tale of this man whose standing in society was so tremendous that he was painted twice by Thomas Gainsborough.

To tell his swashbuckling tale, the Irish Baroque Orchestra are joined by present-day superstar Irish mezzosoprano Tara Erraught, performing works which would have been sung by Tenducci in Ireland including modern-day premieres from the collection at the National Library of Ireland on Friday 7th February at 1.00pm. Tickets availale from eventbrite.ie

The Irish Baroque Orchestra receives principal funding from the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon. It is a resident company of the National Concert Hall, Dublin and a partner organisation of the National Gallery of Ireland.

Girls Rock Dublin are thrilled to announce the first GRD Open Mic Gig!
Hosted as part of the Valkyrie Comic And Craft Con 2019, “GRD Open Mic!” will give camp graduates, workshop attendees, users of the GRD Gear Library and their friends the opportunity to take to the stage and perform.
The gig is free and all ages are welcome.

The two-hour event will kick off at 3pm and will combine music, poetry and a raffle with great prizes courtesy of Girl Band, Naoise Roo, Bitch Falcon, Girlfriend, Shrug Life, MusicMaker, Temple Lane Studios, Damn Fine Print, Moondot, Workmans Club and more.

The event marks the end of a particularly fruitful year for Girls Rock Dublin, with their biggest achievement being the recent launch of The GRD Gear Library, the gear loan service for teenagers run in partnership with Dublin City Libraries.

Any teenager who is a member of Dublin City Libraries can borrow Girls Rock Dublin music gear through the Libraries booking system. The service is free and is the only of its kind in Ireland.

The GRD Gear Library is a collection of 70+ instruments, amplifiers and musical accessories that Girls Rock Dublin use for their summer camps and events and since September 2019 have made available to teenagers all year round through the homonymous loan service.

More details and the gear gallery can be found here: www.girlsrockdublin.com/gear-library

All the instruments used in the GRD Open Mic gig are donated gear from the GRD Gear Library.

Other highlights of 2019 include the pop-up music making and recording experiment “Tune-Weavers” ran in May as part of the Irish Youth Music Awards, the 10-piece band improvisation and performance event “Electric Lady Jam Big Band!” featuring SOAK and run as part of the Dublin Fringe Festival, “Instrument Carousel”, a 2-hour long musical take-over of the Pearse St Library for a guided exploration of the GRD gear and a performance as a 16-piece band at Culture Night, and of course our Girls Rock Dublin Summer Camp.

Come and support this new generation of awesome musicians and the work of Girls Rock Dublin.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2452289554853727/
Info: girlsrockdublin@nullgmail.com / www.girlsrockdublin.com

Irish music Luminaries, The Pale release their new EP ‘Young Caesar’ on November 22nd. The title track is the lead track from the EP which is taken from their critically acclaimed album ‘Merciful Hour’, along with the previously released singles, ‘Loser Friends’, ‘Ursa Major’ and ‘Such Dumb Luck’.

Their 1992 UK and Ireland hit single ‘Dogs With No Tails’ is included in the new season of BBC/RTE’s hit TV show ‘The Young Offenders’, which will feature the song in Season 2, Episode 3 of the popular show, not once, but twice during the episode.

Next year will see The Pale celebrate their 30 year anniversary in the music industry, releasing 13 albums and numerous tours across the world in that time. Expect some very exciting announcements regarding the celebrations to follow in the new year.

“Young Caesar’ is a song about trying to make sense of a society that has become over saturated with media, commentary and opinion. To feel like a minnow in an ‘Ocean of information. The song was influenced by the 1970’s movie ‘Network’, George Orwell’s novel ‘1984’, Aldous Huxley’s novel ‘Brave New World’ and a classic Bill Hick’s stand-up routine” – Matthew Devereux

The Pale started life in Dublin’s Northside in the early 90’s but drew their influences from far beyond. the band cut their teeth busking on Dublin’s Grafton street, along side fellow Irish musicians like Kila, Paddy Casey, Mic Christopher and Glen Hansard. For some they are best remembered for their hits ‘Butterfly’ and ‘Dogs With No Tails’. That is only the tip of the iceberg for a band that has steered clear of the beaten track, releasing a string of albums the effortlessly skip between style and genres, all the while retaining a strong lyrical focus. Flirtations with chart success, forays into alternative circuses, tours way off the beaten path in Russia, Japan, Eastern Europe and beyond are all par for the course for a band that have refused to trade off past glories. 2019 has seen them release their 13th studio album to date ‘Merciful Hour’, followed by shows across Ireland, as well as Electric Picnic and closing the Friday night of Feile 19 in Tipperary.

“Never ones to truly stick to a genre, Dublin band The Pale are back with a hodgepodge of musical influences on their 13th studio album, and – true to form – they continue on in the same vein that they always have in that you never know what tricks they have up their sleeves.” Louise Bruton – Irish Times ****

“The great thing about The Pale is that just when you think you have them pegged down and labelled, another track sends you off course yet again. Irish music fans should treasure them”. Rob McNamara – Golden Plec ****

“It has been said that you don’t release 13 albums without displaying a chameleon-like ability for change, and it is true of this release – from song to song, you never know which course it’s headed. This tactic of misdirection has served them well in the past and does so again”. Colin Sheriden – Hot Press ****

The Riptide Movement have released the brand new video for their latest single ‘Is This What We’re All Living For?’ which is out now. 

Off the back of a blistering headline performance at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre and in the middle of their extensive ‘Something Special’ tour, four-piece The Riptide Movement are flying high on the success of their latest EP ‘Something Special’. A triumphant return to form for The Riptide Movement, to date the EP has over 170,000 streams on Spotify since it’s release with current hits ‘I’ll Be There’ & ‘Something Special’ blasting out across national radio.

Like fire and brimstone coming out of your speakers, ‘Is This What We’re All Living For?’ is an electrical storm of thundering, glistening riffs AND lyrics we can all relate to.

With four studio albums to their name – most notably The RTÉ Choice Music Prize nominated, Gold selling, Number 1 Album ‘Getting Through’- Dublin four piece The Riptide Movement are renowned for their phenomenal live shows and soaring, guitar driven, energetic tracks. Having toured extensively throughout the world on the back of critically-acclaimed releases ‘All Works Out’, ‘You & I’, ‘Elephant in the Room’, ‘Changeling’, ‘I’ll Be There’ and latest release ‘Something Special’ the Dublin four piece also released an environmentally conscious web series called “Plastic Oceans’ in association with Clean Coasts, which can be streamed from their website www.trm.ie.

‘Is This What We’re All Living For?’the brand new single from The Riptide Movement, is available on all streaming platforms and digital formats now.

Something Special Tour 2019

4 Oct – The Islington, London.
11 Oct – Nochtwoche, Hamburg.
25 Oct – The Limelight, Belfast.
27 Oct – The Olympia Theatre, Dublin.
15 Nov – Mike the Pies, Kerry.
16 Nov – Cyprus Avenue, Cork.
22 Nov – Dolans Warehouse, Limerick.
23 Nov – Kavanaghs, Portlaoise, Laois.
29 Nov – Roisin Dubh, Galway.
13 Dec – Set Theatre, Kilkenny.

https://riptidemovement.com
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Ed McGinley—one-time songwriter, singer and guitarist with late 80s / early 90s contenders, The Dixons, steps out from his recent role as leader of The Winters to present a new collection of songs produced and played with deftness and versatility. This new release, ‘Tangled Roots & Twisted Tales’, has been described as, “exquisite lyrics sung with a plaintive eloquence,” and given the ‘Marty Recommends…’ on Marty Whelan’s RTE Lyric FM morning show.

Produced with Les Keye, tracked and mixed at his Arad Studios in North Dublin, Ed’s recording band includes some of Ireland’s finest musicians including bass player Garvan Gallagher, drummer Kevin Malone, James Delaney on organ and Darragh O’Kelly on piano. Guest artists on certain tracks include Percy Robinson on pedal steel, Banjo Bill Whelan, Adrian Hart on fiddle and horns, arranged and conducted by Michael Gallen.

With Ed’s voice and writing to the fore the album has a yearning quality, moving seamlessly back and forth across the Atlantic and from the hills to the city, supported all the way by the talent of his chosen players. It comes as no surprise that ‘Big Pink’ might be a favourite of the album’s creator. As well as his own songs, yet within Ed’s own style, the album highlights insightful renditions of ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’ by Hank Williams, ‘Shiloh Town’ by Tim Hardin and ‘Cannon’s Plain’ by lost London legend, Bill Fay.

Ed, life-long musician and graphic designer, was a member of the all-time fashionable late 80s / 90s band The Dixons with Alan Montgomery, Joey Pleass and Niall Toner Jr. They’ve been described as, “one of the innovators in the move towards country rock, folk and acoustic rock sounds in the late 1980s.”

More recently, in addition to his work with The Winters—their 2014 release ‘Riches’, was written and recorded with Lorraine McColgan, and also produced with Les Keye at Arad Studios—he plays guitar with Eileen Gogan & the Instructions and spent a couple of years playing pedal steel guitar with Eamonn Dowd & The Racketeers and regularly plays with Lynda Lucas.

www.edmcginley.com

Sharon Shannon’s new albums will celebrate 30 years and will feature 30 previously unreleased tracks. They will be released in two distinct parts starting with ‘The Winkles Tapes (1989)’ releasing November 8th 2019. Sixteen tracks from ‘The Winkles Tapes (1989)’ will form the first part of this release with a further 14 exclusive, tri-weekly tracks to follow that showcase the wide and diverse scope of Sharon’s incredible 30-year musical journey. All the tracks will then be compiled and on her 30th Anniversary album for release November 2020.

The Story Behind the Winkles Tapes

In May 1989, Sharon Shannon began work on her first album at Winkles Hotel Kinvara, Co Galway. This recording session lasted three days and featured guest appearances by some of the biggest names in Irish music including Donal Lunny, Gerry O’Beirne, Mary Shannon, Eoin O’Neill, The Waterboys’ Mike Scott and U2’s Adam Clayton.

In June later that same year, Sharon became a member of The Waterboys; toured and recorded with them for 18 months before returning to her debut album. By this time, Sharon had become very influenced by the variety of musical styles played by The Waterboys: the instrumentation in particular. Sharon had discovered drumkits, Hammond organ, brass and electric guitar, so when she returned to her debut album, the approach to recording was very different to ‘The Winkles Tapes’. 

And so these sessions went into storage for 30 years. In the intervening 30 years, Sharon has recorded and released 10 studio albums, 4 live albums, 4 Compilations and 4 Concert DVDs and has hit singles with Mundy, Imelda May, Dessie O’Halloran and Damien Dempsey. Sharon’s musical journey has taken her all over the world touring; sharing stages and collaborating with Shane MacGowan, John Prine, Willy Nelson, Johnny Depp, Jackson Browne, Christy Moore, Finbar Furey and Nigel Kennedy to name a few. 

Sharon was prompted to return to the Winkles Recordings in early 2019 by Waterboy Mike Scott, who worked tirelessly compiling and editing the work into The Winkles Tapes. Recorded live over 3 days direct onto tape, ‘The Winkles Tapes (1989)’ capture all the unpolished energy, spontaneity and authenticity of an Irish music session.

‘The Winkles Tapes’ is released on November 8th.