Disclosure

Surrey brothers, Disclosure, effortlessly combine the 2-step garage rhythms and dubstep basslines of their locale with their own rich musical heritage of soul, jazz and 90s hip hop. Crafting their own lo-fi dream-dub sound, Disclosure released their d..

Pulp

Formed 1978 in Sheffield, England and originally called "Arabacus Pulp", Pulp achieved sudden success some thirteen years after their formation and became known during the Britpop era as much for their music as for frontman Jarvis Cocker's antics (notably conducting a stage invasion during Michael Jackson's performance of Earth Song at the 1996 BRIT Awards). The band has gone through several changes, with the best known and most stable lineup being Cocker, keyboardist Candida Doyle (the longest tenured member aside from Cocker, joining in 1984), bassist Steve Mackey, drummer Nick Banks, guitarist/violinist Russell Senior and guitarist Mark Webber.

Achieving little success off the back of a Peel session in 1981, Pulp were finally able to release their debut album, It, in 1983. This album and its 1986 follow-up, Freaks, showcased a Pulp keen on Nick Drake (notably on the single My Lighthouse), with strong folk roots and little sign of the tendencies for storytelling and acid house music which would eventually bring forth success. After the release and commercial flop of Freaks, the band disbanded for a year, though formed a year later to record a third album, Separations. Delayed for three years after its recording, Separations showed Cocker's increasing exposure to acid house, featuring multiple synths, and a hit single, My Legendary Girlfriend, which helped Pulp's career start to rocket.

Their next single, Babies, which would eventually feature on 1994's commercial breakthrough His 'n' Hers, was the first example of the Pulp sound most listeners associate with the band--cheap synths, rolling guitars, and Cocker's deadpan vocals telling a story. His 'n' Hers, in sound, was lumped in with the Britpop movement of the time, receiving commercial as well as critical acclaim. However, it was the 1995 single Common People, awash with Britpop guitars, catchy keyboard lines and that trademark Cocker vocal performance, which finally saw them become known, eventually charting at number 2 in the UK charts. A successful appearance at Glastonbury that summer cemented their fame, and their success was subsequently confirmed by the album Different Class, which arrived at the peak of the Britpop movement and featured the UK hits Common People, Disco 2000 and Sorted for E's & Wizz.

Their last two albums, 1998's darker This Is Hardcore, an album that marked the end of the Britpop era, and 2001's more downbeat We Love Life were commercial successes, but Pulp were no longer as famous or as trendy as they had been in the height of Britpop, and following their curation of a music festival, Auto, in 2002, the band announced that they would be embarking on an "indefinite hiatus". Cocker has since announced that he is to embark on a solo career, making an appearence as the lead singer of the fictonal band The Wyrd Sisters in the fourth Harry Potter film, calling time on Pulp.

In 2003 former Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker and British electronica artist Jason Buckle started a side project called Relaxed Muscle. This began as "a laugh" between Pulp rehearsals, but developed once Jarvis realised he could have more fun with a new alter ego than he did as the public figure who could leap on stage to terrify Michael Jackson. In early 2003 Relaxed Muscle began playing gigs. They maintained anonymity by assuming the alter-egos "Darren Spooner" and "Wayne Marsden", respectively. Billing themselves as "the sound of young Doncaster", "Darren" claimed to have met "Wayne" while doing community service ("planting flowers") for burglary. Their fictional criminality fit the project well, with their songs about sex, gambling and domestic violence complementing the depraved character of Relaxed Muscle.

Cocker’s transformation into a violent, wife-beating drunk is ironic when you consider his trademark bookish, slightly effeminate image. When guesting on the celebrity television quiz Shooting Stars, Bob Mortimer jokingly called Cocker "the weed in tweed" and insisted that when throwing mini Babybel cheeses at a giant blow-up poster of Judy Finnigan for cash prizes, that he must do so "in the style of a girl". Cocker continued to avoid detection and, while on-stage as Darren Spooner, took to karate-chopping balsa wood and breaking sugar-glass bottles on other band members.

However, soon Cocker and Buckle's cover was blown while playing a gig in London, despite wearing full eye make-up and skeleton suits. Even with their identities revealed, the band continued playing gigs, capitalizing on their electronic sound to play the likes of Trash club on 20th October, 2003.

Chet Faker

Australian-born vocalist, songwriter and producer Chet Faker first endeared himself to a devoted international following with his haunting cover of Blackstreet’s “No Diggity”, which catapulted him into the spotlight in 2011 and featured on his debut EP, Thinking In Textures. He followed that up with a much-lauded collaborative EP with Flume and his 2014 platinum-selling debut album Built on Glass, which cemented him as a world-class talent and earned him a slew of ARIA Awards. In the years since, he's continued to build a critically acclaimed discography – including 2021 album Hotel Surrender and multiple releases under his birth name Nick Murphy – and has toured the world over playing sold out headline shows and stages including Coachella, Lollapalooza and countless more. In a story of constant reinvention,  his upcoming album A Love For Strangers – featuring new singles "Far Side of the Moon", "Can You Swim?" and "This Time For Real" – is shimmering proof that this evolution is far from over.

Mogwai

Mogwai formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar) and Martin Bulloch (drums). Since 1997, the band have released ten studio albums, with their most recent, 2021’s As The Love Continues, being a commercial and critical success, reaching number 1 on the Official UK Album Charts, amassing a Mercury Prize nomination and winning the Scottish Album of the Year award.

The band have also contributed to and written scores for projects with Amazon Prime and Apple TV+. Earlier this year, it was announced that Blazing Griffin, Adler Entertainment, Rock Action Records and Screen Scotland had completed post-production of Mogwai: If The Stars Had A Sound, a first documentary about the band, directed by longtime collaborator Antony Crook. The documentary had its World Premiere at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, in March 2024 and is currently being shown at film festivals across the world.

Mogwai have recently been in the studio recording new music.

Underworld

Underworld – the British duo Karl Hyde and Rick Smith – have been one of the most pioneering and influential electronic acts in the world for more than twenty years.

Friendly Fires

Friendly Fires comprises singer Ed MacFarlane, drummer Jack Savidge, and guitarist Edd Gibson.

Formed out of the ashes of 'First Day Back', the St Albans hardcore band they formed while still at school, Friendly Fires make razor-sharp post-punk that burns through the memories of all the dismal, skinny jeaned ‘80s revivalists you’ve been hearing these past few years. Sounding brittle, knotty and urgent, Friendly Fires are the real deal. With no fat or padding on them at all, their songs possess an elegant sparseness. As guitarist Edd Gibson notes: “The hardest thing I think is to know what to leave out, to know when something is enough.” But amongst all the strpped-back twists, there are also moments full of deep, blessed-out melodies. “I love lush, massive, tingly chords; the My Bloody Valentine sound,” says bassist and singer Ed MacFarlane.

Barrington Levy

OFFICIAL PAGE FOR BARRINGTON LEVY

Ezra Collective

Femi Koleoso - Drums

TJ Koleoso - Bass

Joe Armon Jones - Keys

Dylan Jones - Trumpet

James Mollison - Saxophone

Greentea Peng

GREENTEA SENSI OPEN YA EYE.

Mall Grab

love is everything

Joy Orbison

RA: Resident Advisor

Kae Tempest

RA: Resident Advisor

Dry Cleaning

As soon as Dry Cleaning finished their debut album New Long Leg – critically acclaimed across the board and number four in the UK album charts – they immediately set about moving fowards. Having already started writing their second record before their first was released, they proposed to producer John Parish that they spend twice as much time on the follow-up, Stumpwork.

Listen to the album and you can feel that increased boldness - vocals which coil tightly around deft and complex riffs, great meshes of instrumental texture and the willingness to launch into full-on abstraction. It is a heady mix that is entirely Dry Cleaning’s own, distinguishing from their contemporaries. “We felt more confident,” says guitarist Tom Dowse. “We could see the bigger picture and knew where to focus our energy more efficiently.”

Ultimately, what defines Dry Cleaning’s second album is the breadth of its scope. Their music is bolder and more expansive.

Alabaster Deplume

Music, words and behaviour, London and Manchester.

New album ‘A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole’ Out Now

https://international-anthem.lnk.to/ABladeBecauseABladeIsWhole

Christy Moore

This is the official Christy Moore Fan Page - for more see: www.christymoore.com

Kneecap

Hip-Hop Threesome as

Witch

Kerri Chandler

Kerri 'Kaoz' Chandler one of deep house music's originators, has been injecting soul into music since the early nineties.

Say She She

Lambrini Girls

Fucking shit

Self Esteem

Management: louise@goldenarm.me & cherishkaya@googlemail.com

Live: Andy Duggan at Primary ADuggan@wmeagency.com

Instagram @selfesteemselfesteem

Anna Von Hausswolff

Sprints

SPRINTS have announced their debut album, 'Letter To Self', out January 5th 2024 on City Slang!

‘Letter To Self' embodies their substantial evolution over the past 3 years. Transforming pain into truth, passion into purpose and perseverance into strength, the Dublin four-piece, who formed in late 2019, have steadily grown in stature, releasing two acclaimed EPs and building a fearsome live reputation. Letter To Self is the sound of Sprints co levelling up once again, revisiting their most vulnerable moments and imbuing their visceral garage-punk with a palpable sense of catharsis that we can all benefit from.

Now, more confident in their opinions and identities than ever, SPRINTS have signed to the iconic label, City Slang and racked up sold-out shows across Ireland, the UK, and Europe as well as a run of shows at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

SPRINTS's debut AA side ‘Kissing Practice’/‘The Cheek’ immediately landed them a fan in BBC 6Music legend Steve Lamacq and, as the year went on, early support from the likes of DIY, NME, So Young and more. Cemented by the reception to the ‘Manifesto EP’ and 'A Modern Job EP', it’s allowed them to dig even deeper into their policy of honesty.

"Screw-you power, relentless motorik rhythms and impressively large choruses." - The Guardian

"The Dublin gang neatly package existential panic into a buzzy, punchy musical box." - DIY Magazine

"On course towards future raucous, beer-soaked headline festival sets." - NME Magazine

Getdown Services

An international artist from the UK.

Gilla Band

Irish noise rock band, releasing records with Rough Trade Records

The Mary Wallopers

New album "Irish Rock n Roll" out now!

https://linktr.ee/themarywallopers

Maruja

Artists in the truest sense of the word, Maruja’s ferocious combination of punk, harsh noise, and transcendent cosmic jazz is fast marking them out as one of the most exciting new acts in the country. The years spent relentlessly honing their craft are paying off in style, driven not just by passion but rather an all-consuming need to create and perform with a visceral intensity, they are both electrifying and terrifying.

Anyone who’s seen a Maruja show will know what drummer Jacob Hayes means when he talks about an atmosphere that’s “both feral and loving.” Maruja gigs are a spiritual experience – free-flow jams of uncategorisable music. Punk meets free jazz, with lyrics, rooted in rap, that are all about the message; vicious guitar loops, psychedelic bass, transcendent saxophone – and a voice, in Harry Wilkinson, that stretches from a Manchester version of Zack de la Rocha, to a call to prayer.

Their long-awaited debut album Pain to Power captures those moments in live performance when, as Jacob puts it, “things move to another level – the flow state”. The band compose in a unique way: their music is largely improvised, and they bring their personal feelings into every jam – so it was natural that contemporary politics bled into their songwriting. “Trump came in on 20 January, slap bang in the middle of our recording process,” says saxophonist Joe Carroll; and the band have followed the conflict in Gaza with grim attention, resulting in (as bassist Matt Buonaccorsi puts it) “that combination of heavy tragedy and hope. This is a tragedy that’s beyond horrific, it’s so oppressive that hope itself seems impossible to find.”

This cycle of tragedy and hope is there at the heart of Pain to Power. “It starts off brutal and turns into something powerful and expressive,” says lyricist, rapper and singer Harry. “We have to trust in that circle of life, and in our power to overcome pain.” The album follows the arc of a live show: an onslaught of energy, arriving at a place of transcendence, the music itself “rising from the ashes”.

Some of the most political music is the least prescriptive. At their heart, Maruja fight against an increasingly individualistic society. At the end of every show, Harry repeats the same mantra: “We wish you peace, prosperity and unity in these times of global oppression. Together we are stronger, please raise a fist for solidarity”. Everyone joins in, he adds.

Pain to Power was put together in an astonishingly short time – just two months, at the start of this year – and was produced by Samuel W Jones, already expert at giving Maruja records the feel of the crowd that wasn’t there.

The lead single Look Down On Us is a hair-raising critique of late-stage capitalism, morphing into a poignant meditation on the need for hope fuelled by plaintive sax.

The ferocious Bloodsport (“Complicit! Crossfire! No Vision! Live wire!”) was finished in just two hours. The song started with a guitar loop and a pounding drum roll, but the boys realised it had the same BPM as many of the records in their vast drum and bass collection: “so this is drum and bass through a punk filter.”

Harry almost raps, even talking about the record, his words coming in a rhythmic flow of energy. Maruja have always been acutely aware of mental health, and Bloodsport takes world events and examines their corrosive effect on the individual: “We're swallowing our fears till our kids are overdosing… I'm an addict addicted to my bad habits…”

“How does someone feel when they have no power?” Harry says. “All they want to do is find a little bit of dopamine to release them from the oppressive cloud that hangs over their head. All of these narratives coalesce into mental health crises. How are you going to pull yourself out of that? It takes courage to try and find inner peace, to recognise our own flaws…”

Pain to Power identifies the frustrated energy of a disengaged populace, and of people who want to protest but are finding it harder and harder in the current climate. On a recent American tour, the band spoke with fans who have taken to wearing balaclavas on peaceful demonstrations, afraid of arrest and deportation.

Maruja have a strong message of spirituality and talk about it with an understanding that recalls John Coltrane and other jazz giants of the past. It is a sentiment captured in Born To Die (“We are universal spirits and our kingdom is this earth,”) which whirls into a storm of cymbals and industrial feedback.

“Music itself is healing,” says Harry, “and we should help other people in a culture that is very repressed. The only spiritual things left in the world are music and love. Spirituality is ridiculed – people would rather believe in nihilism, which shows how disconnected we are.”

The tension of Pain to Power – the rage that informs those heavy opening songs – is repeatedly built up and broken by sonics reproducing the euphoria at the end of Maruja shows.

Zaytoun, with its vocal cries like seagulls, is a fully-improvised free-jazz piece, named after the Arabic word for olive tree: a symbol of peace and resilience with connection to the land that is deeply rooted in Palestinian culture. “That’s what our jams are,” says Joe. “Coming together to release this energy. We can’t do it by ourselves, so it symbolizes our unity.”

Saoirse, meaning ‘freedom’, and inspired by the band’s own Celtic roots, is a showcase for sax and strings. This remarkable track looks at the ties between Ireland and Palestine, epitomised in the Irish protest slogan “Saoirse don Phalaistin”. Among his grandfather’s possessions in Sligo, Joe found a decades-old comic strip depicting a “Black and Tan” Irish soldier boarding a boat to Palestine. Lyrically the song speaks to the power of unity to combat division with frontman Harry Wilkinson’s deeply moving mantra: 'It’s our differences that make us beautiful’.

The exquisite nine-minute opus Reconcile, with an entrancing polyphonic interlude and a story all of its own in the drums, is about embracing love, being at peace with the cycle of destruction. “The hatred will always come,” says Joe. “Embracing love is the overall message.”

The shuddering metal of Trenches was inspired by one of Maruja’s regular messages to fans before gigs: “See you in the trenches!” The song is a nod to the band’s personal story – and to their belief in the power of music to effect change: “We use those words, see you in the trenches,” says Joe, “because the message of the band is about community – trying to make a difference.”

Does he think Maruja can make a difference?

“Yes. Music used to be a superpower – Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, all these artists were speaking to the Black Power movement, and music was at the height of culture. The world is crying out, especially on the left, for people to build from a place of community. For years it’s been your solo artists, your Ed Sheerans – but to have a band, a community… We see it at the shows, the countless personal stories we’ve heard.”

Maruja don’t hide their political feelings at gigs, but they have to be increasingly subtle at US shows at the moment; in Washington recently, Harry spoke about a kakistocracy – being governed by those who are unfit to lead.

“We have to be careful about the way we put things, in order to reach as many people as possible. It’s strange when you have world leaders out there committing atrocities and there are no consequences at all! But if it’s harder to say stuff, it means it needs saying more than ever…

Their music, their very dynamics, speak loud enough: and the four-way friendship at the heart of the band is a metaphor for the kind of unity they’re seeking.

Matt and Harry studied music and performance together in Manchester, before Harry transferred to electronic music production. In their early days, Maruja sounded as funky as Parliament. Joe pushed it further into jazz territory when he brought his sax into the picture: his playing can bring to mind the mesmerising loops of Sufi music.

As for the jazz references, they have no training. It is more of an attitude, they say – a sense of possibility and freedom. “Jazz is having no boundaries,” says Harry, “and being completely free to express yourself. There is no formula, no rules. It comes from us loving what we do. We could improvise together all day and have the best day of our lives.”

“It’s about the energy of letting yourself go, something you can only achieve when you have been at it for prolonged hours,” Jacob adds. “You have to be really comfortable with one another emotionally so you can allow your unconscious to take over. We go into a trance-like state when we’re playing – an hour goes by, and you have no sense of time.”

“When we play, it’s always to do with getting things out that have been trapped in us,” says Harry. “Whether it’s war across the sea, relationships, society’s pressures – it’s always like you’re relieving some kind of pain. It’s about not being afraid of being vulnerable on stage, completely letting yourself go. People can see how free you are. I never felt as free in my life as I do on stage, jamming with the boys.”

“killer from front to back and I can’t wait for these guys to get into album mode….when these guys eventually go into full record mode, it’s going to be incredible” – Anthony Fantano

“will leave listeners breathless but begging for more” – DIY Magazine

Rose Betts

Sassy 009

Damien Dempsey

Official page for Damien Dempsey

Gurriers

As the end of the first quarter of the 21st century inches ever closer, our planet precariously teeters from one crisis to the next. Rather than passively sit back and watch, the high-energy Irish guitar quintet Gurriers are firing on all cylinders and confronting the ills of the modern world on their debut album, Come and See, a truly thrilling collection of razor-sharp progressive punk songs.

Come and See explores many themes, be they the end of the world, the disenfranchised youth of Dublin, emigrant friends, the rise of the far right, desensitisation to violence, a pope struggling with belief and love amongst other things.

Gurriers' first album is no ordinary debut, but an exhilarating statement of intent by five people fed up with tiptoeing politely around the chaos. Come and see for yourself.

“It’s impossible to overstate how impressive this album is. It’s not impressive for a debut; it’s not impressive for a punk album; it’s just impressive. It’s unambiguous, it’s unapologetic, it’s quite frankly unbelievable.” 5/5 Dork Magazine

“At Simple Things in Bristol Gurriers riotous art-punk threatens to collapse the venue’s bouncy floor“
5/5 NME

Moonchild Sanelly

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals

David Kitt

Soda Blonde

Following two successful introductory EPs (2019's “Terrible Hands” and 2020's “Isolation Content”), Soda Blonde released their debut album, “Small Talk”, in 2021. The LP was subsequently nominated for RTÉ’s Choice Music Prize for Album of the Year and received rave reviews from Paste Magazine, Atwood Magazine, and The Irish Times, who called it "a record so articulate and expressive that its title has to be a wry in-joke."

Dream Big - the second studio album from Irish band Soda Blonde, is far more than a collection of catchy and cathartic pop songs; it’s a mantra – a mission statement from four lifelong friends. It’s their promise to themselves, and a message to all who come along for the ride: A reminder that life is precious, fragile, and fleeting, so we might as well dream big and hold nothing back.

David Keenan

Itch

For Those I Love

Annie Mac

Sam Alfred

DJ/Producer

contact: scalfredd@gmail.com

Kean Kavanagh

Sophia Stel

Brògeal

Muireann Bradley

Hank

Seamus Fogarty

The New Eves

With an unusual lineup of cello, violin, flute, guitar, bass and drums, The News Eves DIY nature and fierce spirit seem to be conjuring some kind of folkloric punk revival. With a poetic honesty about who they are and what they love at the core, their rhythms are like galloping horses and were they on a mountaintop, their voices would ring for miles. Going to a New Eves show is like being complicit in some kind of ritualistic opening. They tear up rock and roll at its roots, expressing a journey through seance, strings and electric guitar. They’re a work of art to witness and a sensational climax to be felt.

The Orchestra (For Now)

An international artist from the UK.

Gently Tender

King Kong Company

King Kong Company are a band with “21st century swagger” (Irish Times), whose “live shows are events, built from sweat soaked late-night electronic buzz and rumble” (Last Mixed Tape) & recently crowned the Best Irish Live Act (2016 Pure M Awards).

Jyoty