FRIDAY
Canalaphonic
Various venues/times, Dublin Adm free canalaphonic.com Also Sat/Sun, Dublin
It's a big welcome back to this community-based music/arts festival that is focused around the bustling spaces of Rathmines (but which is now spreading slightly beyond). Across numerous venues and stages (including Whelans, Bernard Shaw, Leinster Cricket Grounds), there will be more than 120 indie music acts (including Mongrel State, Barq, Word Up Collective), art exhibitions, and much more. All events free, too, folks!
Republik
Project, Waterford 10.30pm €20/€18/€15/€12 republikmusic.net
Tonight sees Wicklow pair Niall Mannion and Mark French, aka Mano Le Tough and The Drifter, hit the southwest. Mannion and French established the Berlin-based Maeve label with Baikal back in 2012 and have seen the label's releases, as well as their own work for other imprints (such as Mannion's Trails album from last year), find favour with many tastemakers. Both also play a Maeve Records showcase with New Jackson at Dublin's District 8 tomorrow.
Skirmish
AMP, Cork 10pm €10 facebook.com/skirmishblog
The Skirmish crew prepare to make merry with bass, bleeps and wonky beats from guests Trevor Wilkes and Nez on a busy weekend for techno fans in Cork. Wilkes has been spreading his bleepy gospel far and wide from a base in Hamilton, Ontario with the Bleep Radio show and Fun In the Murky label. Nez is the Belfast selector whose Computer Controlled Records label has already brought out releases from Mark Forshaw, Chris Moss Acid and TX Connects. Support from Skirmish regulars Shiv, Benswan and Brophy.
Limerick Jazz Festival
Dolans, Limerick limerickjazzfestival.com
Also Sat & Sun
Shannonside gets its jazz on this weekend with a small but high-quality programme, including Dublin City Jazz Orchestra with impeccable UK vocalist Norma Winstone, influential London four-piece Partisans (see also Saturday); New York-based guitarist David O'Rourke (see also Thursday); Spanish Latin jazz ensemble Atchere; and closing gala featuring "guitar masters" O'Rourke, Joe O'Callaghan, Hugh Buckley & Tommy Halferty.
SATURDAY
Choose to Dance
Filmbase, Temple Bar, Dublin, facebook.com/events Adm free. From 4pm until late
Like all good protests, there is a strong musical element to today's March for Choice. The After Party will feature a range of performances in theatre, song, spoken-word and comedy. From the rich bluesy vocals of Trish Nolan and the provocative slam poetics of Clara Rose Thornton to the choral rhythms of All We Need is Love Productions with laughs courtesy of comedian Gráinne Maguire – remember her? She was the woman who tweeted updates on her menstrual cycle to Taoiseach Enda Kenny. You may have the time of your month.
State Lights
The Workman's Club, Dublin 8pm €10 theworkmansclub.com
All the hard work is paying off for this young Dublin act, which convened between classes at Dublin's BIMM Music College a couple of years ago. The band's aim is straight and true, and the ambition is to play venues much bigger than the Workman's Club. We won't be surprised if that happens, frankly.
Byron the Aquarius
Bar Tengu, Dublin 10pm €12/€10 facebook.com/ByronTheAquariusMusic
You'll know Alabama native Byron Blaylock as Byron the Aquarius, an accomplished beatsmith who has previously worked with Flying Lotus and Eminem. He's been making serious waves in 2016 with EPs for Theo Parrish's Sound Signature and Kyle Hall's Wild Oats labels. A man with a great handle on jazz-rinsed house, Blaylock has the mark of someone really coming into their own. Support from the All City and Chain Gang crews.
Bastardo Electrico
Cyprus Avenue, Cork 11pm €12.50 facebook.com/bastardoelectricorecordings
One of Ireland's longest-running techno nights turns 14 and welcomes Tripeo to the party for his Irish debut. As Tripeo, Darko Esser has become one of underground techno's leading lights, the Dutch DJ and producer from the Doornoosje club in Nijmegen whose releases for Clone, Theory and Polegroup such as First Trip have spiced up many sets in the last few years. Support from Tom Long and Bastardo residents Jamie Behan and Lee Holman.
Martin Taylor, Paulo Morello, Ulf Wakenius and Andreas Dombert
Button Factory, Dublin 8.30pm €30 buttonfactory.ie
Bringing jazz guitarists to Dublin is a coals-to-Newcastle sort of thing, but no doubt the local axemen will be out in force for this Night of Jazz Guitars, featuring the UK's Martin Taylor, one of the world's leading stylists in the noble and enthralling art of solo jazz guitar. Add Scandinavian guitar wizard Ulf Wakenius and noted German six-stringers Andreas Dombert and Paulo Morello, and you have enough six-string pyrotechnics to burn the whole city down.
Partisans
Wigwam, Middle Abbey St, Dublin 8.30pm €15improvisedmusic.ie
London four-piece Partisans have been making fresh (and frequently quite loud) sounds together for the last 20 years, and it shows in the deep rapport between the musicians – guitarist Phil Robson, saxophonist Julian Siegel, bassist Thaddeus Kelly and drummer Gene Caldarazzo. Gnarly grooves meet harmonic adventure in a sound that flies by the genre nets.
SUNDAY
If the Ground Should Open . . .
Jaki Irvine. Irish Museum of Modern Art, The Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin Until January imma.ie
Jaki Irvine's new installation stems from her novella Days of Surrender, inspired by the experiences of Elizabeth O'Farrell, who delivered the Easter Rising surrender in 1916, and her lifelong companion, Julia Grenan.
They were among the 100-plus women whose historical roles were downplayed or entirely ignored. The new work uses the letters of their names to produce a musical score for nine musicians.
