ONE of Ireland's great creative hubs is getting some much-deserved time in the limelight and Belfast City Council wants your help, but more of that later.
THIS year started off with a bang of new releases, and this is a trend that's carried into the next week. However, even with this flurry of new activity, we're not yet done celebrating the records released last year. With news of new albums and award season already creeping in, 2023 is setting up for another particularly strong year for Irish musicians.
WITH the creative sector slowly emerging from its winter break, news has begun to emerge of what albums to expect this year and guidelines for how we can improve the night-time economy for artists and punters alike.
AS we emerge from a sleepy Christmas, wherein our creative sector enjoyed some much-deserved rest, we enter the New Year with a flourish. It’s a quiet time of year for new releases, but there is plenty to look forward to in the coming year and some of the best live events are just around the corner.
AS we enter the new year, one filled with possibilities as our first full cycle removed from the headaches of Covid, at Northern Winds we're here to help you narrow down your cultural choices for the year. Here is our Top 10 list of bands and artists to check out in the coming year.
Welcome to Listmas! Bring me your tired and hungry record collections as we dive into the LPs and singles that hit home the most with Northern Winds this year. As always, we're keeping it local and highlighting the best albums and single from Irish artists, North and South, that reached public ears in the last 12 months. Without further ado, lets jump right in;
WELCOME to Listmas! Bring me your tired and hungry record collections as we dive into the LPs and singles that hit home the most with Northern Winds this year. As always, we're keeping it local and highlighting the best albums and singles from Irish artists, North and South, that reached public ears in the last 12 months. Without further ado, let's jump right into the second part of our end of year feature.
AS we approach the end of the year, we enter my favorite and most dreaded period of the year. LISTMAS. The time in which all music listeners arrange their albums, singles, and gigs in an ascending/descending order is entirely dependent on preference. No issue if it's staying in your head, but with some faithful readers out there, the task becomes all the more daunting for your faithful Northern Winds columnist.
OUR homegrown acts get some well-deserved time in the spotlight this week, we receive more festival news for next year, December events start rolling in and we put a spotlight on some of the best independent Irish releases of the week.
PLENTY of new releases, the first line-up announcement from one of Ireland's best festivals and news from the Choice Awards are all forthcoming this week on Northern Winds.
REPORTS come in this week from two of Ireland’s largest award ceremonies and a local advocacy group put their plan for a better nightlife to the public.
IT’S been another bumper week of releases and news over at Northern Winds HQ, with over 60 new songs dropping this week alone, as well as live news from some of Ireland's cultural mainstays. Luckily your trusty columnist is here to help you discern the best of the best. Fresh off a very successful cultural exchange in Cardigan, Wales, the Irish festival Other Voices will return to its home this December. Dingle, County Kerry will once again play host to the festival and over 50 native acts from December 2 to 4.For those not in the know, Other Voices operates thus: take over an entire town and turn every possible private space into a venue. Now in its 21st year of continuous performance (including some spirit saving live-streams mid-Covid), organisers announced the full roster of acts as well as the headliners for their fabled IMRO Other Room sessions, which will be professionally filmed. Representing the North is an absolute deluge of talent across a broad spectrum of genres. Derry producer and DJ Cartin, Belfast rapper Emby, Newcastle based indie-psych songwriter Lemonade Shoelace and post-punk/jazz outfit Robocobra Quartet are just some of the names that will carry the torch this festive season. The IMRO Other Room meanwhile is equally laden with talent. Atlantic Records-signed act Selló will bring his Gaelic-themed drill sound to the St James’ church alongside the grunge pop of songwriter Kynsy. However, it’s hip hop/jazz group Bricknasty who have most of my attention. We've covered them extensively over the past year, but after an ecstatic performance at Ireland Music Week this year, the Dublin group are absolutely on fire. One to watch going forward. News also broke this week of the programing for next year’s TradFest in Dublin's Temple Bar. Taking place at the end of January and with tickets on sale now, the festival aims to celebrate Mná na hÉireann, featuring a number of female-led and curated trad and folk performances.
PROMOTERS announce some of their largest festival shows to date this week, a legend is honoured and we get another round-up of some of the best music the island has to offer on this week's edition of Northern Winds. Belsonic, a now long-standing institution within the Irish festival circuit, announced its biggest-ever headliners for next year’s show at Ormeau Park and other select venues around the city. Thanks to the work of SHINE promotions, punters can expect performances from chart toppers like Florence and the Machine and Sam Fender, as well as the return of legends like Van Morrison and Lionel Ritchie. Belfast continues to grow as a viable performance hub for internationally touring acts. On the subject of international acts, this week it was announced that one of the most acclaimed Belfast musicians of his era would be honoured with a special award – and you more than likely wouldn’t recognise him if he walked past you on the street. Composer Sheridan Tongue, a native of the city, multi-instrumentalist and renowned composer, has likely soundtracked some of your favourite moments on television. And this week, the NI Music Prize announced that they would recognise his work with the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Music’ award at this year's ceremony. Sheridan is hugely successful on the global stage, having scored some of UK television’s most prestigious drama series, including Silent Witness, DCI Banks and Spooks, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA. Last year, he picked up a prestigious EMMY for his work on the quirky film The Last Artifact from the North West Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. His documentary scores are also highly memorable, including Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking, as well as the landmark BBCNI Spotlight series, The Troubles: A Secret History. On being selected and honoured, Sheridan said: “It is a huge honour to be recognised for this award by PRS for Music and the Northern Ireland Music Prize. I am really looking forward to being back in Belfast for the awards ceremony on the 16th of November, it is always a wonderful evening of music and I wish all those shortlisted for awards which will be announced on the night every success.
WITH November typically being one of the busiest months of the year for live music and the last bastion of performance before Christmas rolls in, October has become the de facto release month for some of the best music we’ll get in a 12-month cycle.
AMIDST a rough year for venues, the North’s newest city gets a cultural influx that will serve this and the next generation of musicians. Meanwhile, Irish musicians get the silver screen treatment and some of the best music of the year drops this week on Northern Winds.