Friday
Richmond Fontaine
Cyprus Avenue Cork 9pm €17.50
cyprusavenue.ie
All good things, they say, come to an end, and so it is with this Portland, Oregon, band that has so brilliantly turned lean prose and stark storylines into some of the most compelling alt.roots/rock music of the past 10 years. Primary songwriter Willy Vlautin will surely go on to do other things (notably in the writing of books and screenplays), as will other members of the band, but for now it's a fond farewell to a band that will be missed.
Zoë Conway, Dónal Lunny and Máirtín O'Connor
Black Box, Galway 8pm £10
wegottickets.com
The clean-lined beauty that defines this trio's gorgeous recent recording, Faoi Lán Seol/In Full Sail, is likely to be even more pristine in a live setting, as they wend their way around the country, airing traditional, folk and original compositions with alacrity. Richard Thompson's Crazy Man Michael sidles up alongside Coinleach Ghlas An Fhomhair as if they were lifelong bedfellows.
Bernard Shaw's 10th birthday
Bernard Shaw Dublin 6pm adm free
thebernardshaw.com
It's a decade since Bodytonic took over a rundown boozer called Bambrick's in Portobello and turned it into the all-singing, all-dancing, all-action Bernard Shaw, a buzzing pub with something going on in every nook and cranny. They celebrate 10 years on the go with an all-star cast including Mr Saturday Night's Eamon Harkin representing New York and Derry, Glasgow's Optimo, London's K15 and the capital's Adultrock and Bodytonic's Ben Bix & Feather. Get there early as admission is free and this one will be jammers.
Blawan & Psyk
District 8 Dublin 11pm €20/€18/€15
district8dublin.com
Both Blawan and Psyk are men noted for making a sublime racket. Jamie Roberts is the dude behind Blawan's cuts of distinction with tracks like Getting Me Down, What You Do With What You Have and Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage creating a clatter for labels like R&S, Clone and Hessle. From Madrid, Manuel Anós is Psyk, the producer behind the Non Series label and whose releases for Tresor and Mote-Evolver have found favour with connoisseurs of quality techno.
Room 19
Wah Wah Club Dublin 10pm €10
wahwahclub.ie
A new venue for the city as Hidden Agenda and This Greedy Pig join forces to transform part of the Grand Social into a new clubbing space. For tonight's event, they've got Robsoul label kingpin Phil Weeks at the top of the bill, the house purist whose label has released tracks from Derrick Carter, DJ Sneak and tons more. He's joined by Washerman, aka Swiss producer and former Azuni member Gianna Siravo, Dublin duo Long Island Sound and Oisin Egan.
Sean Mac Erlaine/Valgeir Sigurðsson
Fumbally Stables, Dublin, 8pm, €16
note.ie
Note Productions' inventive duo series, which asked reeds-meets-electronics pioneer Sean Mac Erlaine to choose his dream collaborators, continues with a tantalising summit with Valgeir Sigurðsso. Musician, composer, producer and founder of hip Icelandic label, Bedroom Community, Sigurðsso is adding MacErlaine's name to a stellar list of collaborators that includes Björk, Brian Eno, Bonny Prince Billy and Damon Albarn.
Saturday
Basement Project
Electric Garden Galway 11pm €8/€5
electricgalway.com
Esther Duijn tops the bill tonight. Aside from being a resident at Berlin's Tresor club, Duijn is also the bosswoman at Another Earth, a venture which combines label, podcast and events and which has showcased acts such as Moritz Von Oswald, Tom Ellis and Anton Zap. Support tonight from Maedbh O'Connor (DIE, 909, Gutter) and Basement Project resident Micky B.
Nocturnes
Model Arts Centre Sligo 7pm €12/€9/€6
themodel.ie
Folk/ambient noir music via Sligo and Dublin, Nocturnes is one of the creative alter egos of musician and songwriter Pearse McGloughlin (left). There is cool soundscape support from Belfast's The Darkling Air, and DJ collective Turn It On provide pre- and post-gig music. The gig is part of the music series Beneath the Air, which is co-curated by Bluestack Records and Art for Blind Records.
Listen
Arthurs, Thomas St, Dublin, 8pm, €10
listen.ie
Composer Dylan Rynhart's monthly music salon is a chance to cast off the genre blinkers and let some new music into your life. This month's terpsichorean smorgasbord features Canadian singer-songwriter Erika Kulnys; Dublin's best Italian guitarist, Julien Colarossi; compositions by Brahms, Schubert and Kenneth Edge from clarinettist Paul Roe and pianist Aileen Cahill; and a screening of a short film by Seamus Hanley. Check your prejudices at the door.
Sunday
Holy F*ck
whelanslive.com
I often get the feeling that we should be paying much more attention to Holy F*ck. Their approach to making music seems frankly deranged. They slip neatly into no single genre. And their albums give up their secrets with Mafia levels of reluctance. If you haven’t got your head around Congrats, give it another listen, and live they have a solid reputation of putting the music first, and the usual show trappings – lights, showmanship, conversation – a distant second. But with music as intriguing as this, that’s as it should be.
