Music Features

The Electric Picnic line up is here, and while it’s not the seismic shift we saw with Longitude, the acts on display are yet another sign of the Irish festival’s embrace of hip-hop and R’n’B as well as their move away from the guitar. The…

To celebrate International Women's Day 2018, music editor Andrea Cleary hosts a special episode of the HeadStuff Podcast. Andrea chats feminism, pop music, and the Irish music scene with some of the journalists, musicians, DJ's and critics…

"If you know what's good!"  So goes the opening line to Justin Timberlake's single "Filthy", the first off his upcoming album Man In The Woods and his first since the dull yet catchy hit "Can't Stop The Feeling!". There was a time when no…

When searching for gifts during the festive period, we are subject to the Christmas music emitting from the shop speakers. Love it or hate it – it's there and it won't go away. However, have you noticed how the playlist never changes? From…

When the announcement of the 2007 Choice Music Prize for Best Irish Album came over the loud speaker many were left bemused. A troop of misfits took to the stage to claim their award. Super Extra Bonus Party had won. They were fast becoming…

My youth, like anyone else’s, is a story in which certain artists are inseparable from the telling of that story. Some of these artists are perennial features of most people’s lives, universally appreciated as integral to their respective…

On Thursday 24th of May 2012, a little-known yet extremely buzzy band with an unusual name took to the stage at Dublin’s Academy 2, the smaller basement venue at Middle Abbey Street’s Academy. Alt-J’s debut album An Awesome Wave wasn’t…

“No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me.” Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time. The above quote is one…

In May of 2016, the breezy, indie rock troupe Real Estate announced that one of their founding members, Matt Mondanile, would be departing from the band. At the time, an official statement had implied the somewhat surprising departure was…

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…