The experimental Irish festival Open Ear is presenting a night of Irish music in Cafe OTO in London.
Connemara post rock / trad group Trá Pháidín, Dublin-based industrial pop duo 7of9, and experimental dub producer t-woc have got the call up on what promises to be a great night of alternative-leaning underground Irish music,
It will be Open Ear’s first time hosting in London, after its regular excursion to Sherkin Island this summer and previous gigs in Dublin.
The show is presented in partnership with Ensemble Music, and with support from Culture Ireland.
Listen to our podcast with Open Ear.
Trá Pháidín
Trá Pháidín is a contemporary folk and experimental music project drawing from traditional Irish influences, blending acoustic instrumentation with modern sonic textures. Their work has received praise for its atmospheric, storytelling-driven approach, earning airplay on Irish radio and coverage in folk and alternative music publications.
7of9
7of9 duo of Osaro and Lizzie is the infusion of industrial pop with sulphuric-gore vocals seeping into your wanting earlobes. Osaro and Lizzie decided to get together for an exclusive show in 2022. Since that show the love for 7of9 has grown and it extended its lifespan from a ‘one show’ performance to a fully fledged performance duo. Lizzie Fitzpatrick (aka coolgirl) has been making darkwave over the past few years under her own stage name and Osaro is a respected spoken word artist in the Dublin Art scene. The pair joined up to write hypnotic and abrasive art pop that is capturing the hearts of Irish audiences.
t-woc
t-woc is an Irish producer who works with wildly different sample sources, building psychedelic beats from records plucked from extended digging trips, and mixed with analogue synths using classic dub studio techniques. His varied releases include Sentinelas (2016) — a soundtrack to a children’s storybook found in the same warehouse as the records sampled for the release — and Pantangle (2021), released on Strangelove Music, which features 80s Caribbean drum machine workouts blended with Anatolian melodies played on steel pan. He has collaborated with a broad spectrum of artists, including Mufutau Yusuf, Afrikan Simba, DJ SoFa, and Brother Culture.
Open Ear
Open Ear came to life in June 2016 on the remote island of Sherkin, off the south west coast of County Cork. Originally envisioned as a showcase for the overlooked and by-passed of Irish experimental and electronic music, in the near 10 years since that first weekend Open Ear has slowly but surely become one of the most essential celebrations of Irish artistry, spearheading an ever growing recognition of Ireland-based musicianship on home soil. As Open Ear has grown and developed the festival now takes place across multiple venues and locations all ensconced in the incredible environs of Sherkin Island, and with the recent addition of like-minded international artists to the programme OE continues to develop as an important weekend not only in the Irish music calendar but also internationally.
Open Ear at Café OTO is the first but most certainly not the last international showcase for the festival.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
