Friday
Drop Everything
Inisheer, Co Galway/ Suggested donation
de16.eventbrite.com
The cultural biennial returns to the Aran Island for its third iteration, and encourages you to leave all your notions behind for the best arty buzz of your life. Highlights include Mr Silla, Zebra Katz and a purpose-built sauna on the beach. Who could resist?
Life
Belvedere House, Co Westmeath, Fri-Sun €139/€129
life-festival.com
Now in its 11th year, the Co Westmeath fest has assembled what may be their best house and techno line-up to date with Paul Kalkbrenner, 2 Many DJs, Laurent Garnier, Jeff Mills, John Talabot, Ben Klock, Hot Since 82 and more.
Riton
Button Factory, Dublin, 11pm €15/€12
soundcloud.com/ritontime
Newcastle DJ and producer Henry Smithson arrived on our radars after his Switch label attracted the interest of Mark Rae and Grand Central. Since then, he's had a prolific run as Riton, including collaborations with Ben Fat Trucker as Gucci Sound System, Soulwax and with DJ Mehdi. Recently, he turned up on Tame Impala's Daffodil track alongside Mark Ronson.
Sean MacErlaine & Unni Løvlid
Music Room, Christchurch, 8.30pm, €18
note.ie
Saxophonist Sean MacErlaine is an adventurer in the slipstreams between genres. His short duo series for Note Productions concludes with this tantalising meeting with the Norwegian folk singer, Unni Løvlid (above), whose ethereal sound is hugely valued by Scandinavians, and will remind Irish ears that we have a shared history.
Treelan
Ionad Cultúrtha, Ballyvourney, 8.30pm, €15/€10
ionadculturtha.ie
Crossing original Irish traditional music with African, jazz and a plethora of world music influences, Treelan in the shape of Martin Tourish (piano accordion), Congolese guitarist Niwel Tsumbu and percussionist Eamonn Cagney follows pathways largely uncharted.
Saturday
Robert Forster
Whelan's, Dublin, 8pm, €25
whelanslive.com
Back in Dublin for a solo gig, in support of last year's rather excellent album, Songs to Play, former Go-Between band member Robert Forster (right) also has an estimable back catalogue that he will no doubt dip into. Quality songwriting and wry quips assured.
Tw!tch
The Bunatee, Belfast, 10pm, £12
twitchbelfast.com
A cracking double bill from the Tw!tch crew for Belfast clubbers. Pearson Sound is the work of David Kennedy, a busy producer who has also operated in the past as Ramadman and Maurice Donovan and co-founded the Hssle Audio label which premiered acts such as James Blake and Untold. He's joined by Joseph Richmond-Seaon, AKA Call Super whose 2014 Suzi Ecto album for Houndstooth fizzed with warm, fascinating and exciting textures and tones.
Marissa Nadler
Button Factory, Dublin, 7.30pm €18/€16
buttonfactory.ie
Boston, Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter Marissa Nadler might run the risk of being too singular for her own good, but there's no doubting that she is something special. Influences include Townes Van Zandt, Kate Bush and Joni Mitchell, so to say she has classic songwriting techniques as well as a hint of engaging oddness is an understatement.
Sunday
Max Richter Ensemble
National Concert Hall, Dublin 8pm €40/€35
nch.ie
A rare outing in Ireland for this German-born composer, whose estimable back catalogue includes Sleep, an eight-hour (says the composer) "personal lullaby for a frenetic world". Before the concert, at 6pm in the venue's Kevin Barry Recital Room, there will be a public interview with Richter, conducted by someone whose initials are:
Sim Simma
Sugar Club Dublin, 4pm €15/€10
facebook.com/SimSimma
Sim Simma mark two years of parties chock-a-block with African, Latin and Caribbean music and vibes all over the city and country. The big name on the bill is DJ Tahira, the Sao Paulo dude who blends a slew of sounds for maximum dancefloor enjoyment. He's also a producer with a recent release for Far Out alongside Mental Abstrato. Aside from the reggae, soul and funk sounds, Sim Simma's birthday bash will feature food, art and reggae yoga.
Shit Robot
Bar Tengu, Dublin, 11pm, €10
facebook.com/shitrobot
Recent Ticket cover star Marcus Lambkin comes home to Dublin to show off his ace new album What Follows. Out now on DFA, Lambkin's third album is a record to revel in, where his skill with electronic grooves and collaborative smarts with folks such as Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip) and Nancy Whang (LCD Soundsystem) produced some dark, pulsating and intriguing tracks. Support for his launch party from New Jackson, who also features on the new album.
