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Millions Like Us Podcast – Episode #8

We’re thrilled to share the first Millions Like Us podcast of 2016. It’s great to back and the latest, the eighth, of music podcasts hosted by Justin & I, in conjunction with Vancouver news & culture site 604now.

On a bi-weekly basis we aim to please, providing relief from all life’s toils* with lively and entertaining chat and eclectic selection of fabulous music from metro Vancouver and BEYOND. There’s plenty in there, well over an hour in fact, of new tunes, reflection on 2015, anticipation for the forthcoming year and more.

You can read more on it here and listen below, and the tracklist (with links) is after the jump too. You can subscribe to ‘Millions Like Us’ on iTunes & Podcast Republic or find us on Facebook & Twitter. Or you can email us at millionslikeuspodcast[at]gmail[dot]com.

Thanks for listening as always, enjoy!

Podcast #8 Tracklist:

2015 According to Oisin McCole

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                                                                                                                                                                                   Image via Unmade In Ireland

One of my proudest achievements on the blog last year, or any year for that matter, was the release of GruffWuff; a 19 track compilation of new, previously unreleased and exclusive recordings from some of my very favourite acts over the past 5 years of blogging.

It was a truly fantastic way to mark 5 years of BarryGruff and I am incredibly grateful to everyone involved and the overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic response. 2015 may have drawn to a close, but I enlisted the various people who made the compilation what it was, to chat about their favourite moments and sounds from year, and last but not least, is Oisin McCole.

An outstanding and undeniably talented folk singer and songwriter, Oisin McCole has managed to remain rather illusive outside his native Dublin. McCole’s lo-fi blues / folk blend is refreshingly humble and entirely devoid of ostentatious. His songs are beautifully written and constructed, never sounding contrived or over-produced, and posses an incredibly intimate sound and personal touch. A seriously talented songwriter, deserving of far greater attention.

Before we take a look at his 2015 sound selections, you should check out McCole’s excellent back catalogue  here, and his GruffWuff inclusion, ‘Far From The Sea’ (w/ Desperadow)  – of which you can download here for FREE.

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End of Season Roundup & Favourite tracks of 2015 Spotify Playlist

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Season’s greetings to everyone who follows, reads, sends music, helps or writes for the site etc. Somehow everything’s been kept on between the ditches for close to six years now and it weren’t all of you, the site would be pretty useless, so thanks a million – it’s very appreciated.

It’s been quite a year if I’m honest, so many great albums, lots of new musical discoveries and some splendid gigs (not enough of the latter, on my behalf). I got to interview two musical heroes of mine, namely Conor from Villagers and Cian Ciaran from Super Furry Animals, which was fantastic to say the least. I finally managed to take the plunge into podcasting, creating music podcast ‘Millions Like Us‘, with Mr. Justin Beats for 604now. It’s been lots of fun and very interesting so far, and hopefully we can kick it up a notch in the new year.

Personally speaking, the high point of the year from a musical standpoint, was the release of GruffWuff; a 19 track compilation of new, previously unreleased & exclusive tracks from some of my favouorite artists to celebrate 5 years of BarryGruff. It was amazing to to work with so many artists that hold a special place in my heart and, importantly to pull everything together and get it released on time – a lot of thanks for that goes to Stevie Moon who was yet again, a huge part of another Gruff project. Not only was it an amazing experience to be involved with but the response was phenomenal, it was heartwarming and made all the hard work which everyone did, worth it. A special thanks to everyone involved, and everyone who supported it, you know who you are. I think this will warrant a dedicated post in future.

So, for 2015, that’s almost that but before assuming radio silence over the festive period (with normal service resuming in the New Year), we’ll just have a quick round up of links and the small matter of my 100 track strong Spotify playlist of favourites from 2015 (and a sly Christmas tune below that). ICYMI, let the roundup of links commence…

My Top Albums of 2015

2015 according to members and artists from the GruffWuff Family: here

Johnny Feeney’s Albums of 2015

You can download GruffWuff for Free from here.

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BarryGruff Albums of the Year (2015)

BGs Albums of the year 2015So it is that time of year again, lists, lists and more lists. Well, not be out done, here are my 41 (yes 41, and yes it’s a weird number) albums of 2015.

It has been such a good year for new albums, probably the best since I started the blog back in 2010. So much so that there is very little difference between the top 5, top 10, top 15 and so on. So without further ado, here are my favourite records from 2015:

There is also a Spotify playlist of the Top 20 albums, to save you time and hassle (it’s here).

41. Only Real – Jerk At The End of the Line’

40. Rozi Plain – ‘Friend’

39. Wildling – ‘Molecules To Moon’

38. The School – ‘Wasting Away And Wondering’

37. Sweet Baboo – ‘Boombox Ballads’

36. The Stammer – ‘Days In Between’

35. SexWitch – Sex Witch’

34. Faith Healer – ‘Cosmic Troubles’

33. Girl Band – ‘Holding Hands With Jamie’

32. Joanna Gruesome – ‘Peanut Butter’

31. Fort Romeau – ‘Insides

30. Soft Serve – ‘S/t’

29. Applescal – ‘For’

28. Zefur Wolves – ‘Zefur Wolves’

27. Hot Chip – ‘Why Make Sense?’

26. Drenge – ‘Undertow’

25. The Charlatans – ‘Modern Nature’

24. Gaz Coombes – ‘Matador’

23. Bill Ryder-Jones – ‘West Kirby County Primary’

22. Drinks – ‘Hermits on Holiday’

21. The Expert – Dynamic Drift

20. Boxed In – ‘Boxed In’

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Sweet Baboo – ‘Don’t Be Alone (This Christmas)’

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After releasing his third album The Boombox Ballads earlier this year, Sweet Baboo will release new EP Dennis, alongside a UK tour for 2016.

Out on February 26th, it shall feature three covers – of Daniel Johnston, The Exciters, The Beach Boys – and two previously unreleased tracks from his The Boombox Ballads’ album sessions, and a newly recorded Christmas song, ‘Don’t Be Alone (This Christmas)’. The latter is out now, which is only appropriate give the time of year, no? This new festive fayre is an absolute gem, and classic Sweet Baboo (aka Stephen Black). It’s a charming, easy on the ear,  mid paced, piano led, festive ditty. Blissfully melodic, it is adorned with some marvelous sleigh bells, saxophones, and an anti austerity message. Yes, you read the last piece correctly. Written in the height of summer, like all good Christmas songs, according to Black, the song was conceived around the time of the Labour leadership debate, and he imagined with Jeremy Corbyn as Father Christmas, so it has a vaguely political message. ‘Don’t Be Alone (This Christmas)’ is a joy-filled little beauty and caps off a very good year for all things Sweet Baboo, with one foot firmly forward into the next. Everyone needs someone to love.

You can check out ‘Don’t Be Alone (This Christmas)’ below, or, for a limited time, download the track for free from Bandcamp.

Live Dates:

2nd Feb – The Musician, Leicester
3rd Feb – Tom Thumb Theatre, Margate
4th Feb – Moth Club, London
5th Feb – Night and Day Café, Manchester
6th Feb – Picture House Special, Sheffield
7th Feb – The Fulford Arms, York
12th Feb – Neuadd Ogwen, Bethesda
13th Feb – Moles Club, Bath

 

BarryGruff Playlist October 2015

October 2015

A now regular monthly feature, whereby we round up all the blog action with a nice, neat and handy playlist of tracks featured during the month.

October was another busy month. We we’re introduced to Primitive World, Soft Serve, Auramics, Jade Statues, New Pope, Mesa Luna & Silver Matter. There were excellent new singles from Totalitarian, The Statics, Cuinciu, Juice, Martha Ffion & Queen of Jeans. And we had tunes from Field Music, Nancy Leticia & Fold ahead of their respective, new and forthcoming albums. There as also the not so small matter of an interview with Super Furry Animals’ resident electronic and keyboard wizard, Cian Ciaran – read it here.

Oh, and there were two new episodes of ‘Millions Like Us’, Justin Beats & I’s new music podcast extravaganza for 604now (if you missed them, why not check out episodes #3 & #4 here). You can also subscribe to ‘Millions Like Us’ on iTunes & Podcast Republic or find us on Facebook & Twitter.

Well then, that’s that for another month – listen to BarryGruff’s October 2015 playlist below. Enjoy!

 

Millions Like Us Podcast – Episode #4

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Delighted to once again to share a brand new episode of ‘Millions Like Us’, a music podcast with myself & Justin Beats, in conjunction with Vancouver news & culture site 604now.

A bi-weekly digest of music from metro Vancouver and beyond, the fourth installment has the usual chatter and top tunes, comprised from an eclectic mix of styles and genres. There’s also a chance of winning tickets for the excellent Girl Band, for their show in The Media Club, Vancouver on November 20th.

Edit – Girl Band have unfortunately had to cancel all their upcoming shows, including Vancouver, due to health reasons. We wish them a speedy recovery and hopefully we’ll see them visit Vancouver in the future.

That#s about that then, we hope you enjoy episode 4. You can read more on it here and listen to episode #4 below, and the tracklist (with links) is after the jump. If you would like to get in touch the show, you email them at millionslikeuspodcast[at]gmail[dot]com.

You can subscribe to ‘Millions Like Us’ on iTunes & Podcast Republic or find us on Facebook & Twitter. Until Episode #5, here’s to good listening.

Episode 4 Tracklist:

Silver Matter – ‘Punks Grown Up’

Joanna Gruesome – ‘Last Year’

Knife Pleats – ‘One Step Too Far’

Girl Band – ‘De Bom Bom’

New Pope – ‘Christopher’

Martha Ffion – ‘So Long’

Mt. Wolf – ‘Hamburg’

BOUSADA – ‘Cast in Gold’

Lil Dicky – ‘Professional Rapper’

Auramics – ‘Founders of Time’

Fake Tears – ‘Second Wind’

Dead Soft – ‘The Wind’

Half Man Half Biscuit – ’24 Hour Garage People’

 

Cuinciu – ‘Radium Girls’

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For the best part of 2015, Irish producer Ross McDonald has been devoting most of his attention to his Open Window project but McDonald has returned to his Cuinciu guise with a brand new single.

Entitled ‘Radium Girls’, the Wicklow native serves up a wonderfully bright, upbeat and funky slice of dance, disco and electronica infused electro-pop. Constructed around a forceful, bouncy beat and infectious rythmic groove, it bobs along rippling synths, popping percussion and chiming guitars, as it moves along on its merry way with quite a swagger. It is a jovial and playfully natured tune that offers an intricately produced insight in the talent McDonald has at his disposal. Continuing to draw inspiration from a deep well of hip hop, synth pop, disco and electronic influences, Cuinciu delivers a cracking upbeat piece of electronica with a healthy dose of disco-infused ’80s electo-pop vibes. Yet another rather convincing effort from one of my very favourite producers in Ireland right now.

You can check out ‘Radium Girls’ for yourself below, and you can download it gratis, from here.

Introducing: Nancy Leticia

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Nancy Leticia is a Vancouver producer who has recently released her debut EP, Love Dream EP, through Hot Sugar’s new Associative Music collective, Noise Collector.

Leticia certainly has a preference for PC/computer sounds, creating a retro-futuristic vibe over the course of the wonderful and entirely instrumental EP. Employing a series of subtly integrated samples and sounds, familiar sounding hip-hop beats and Casio-borne pop melodies, she evokes moods, feelings and memories. It’s a magical trip through ethereal, mesmerizing and beautiful sounds; from the dreamy liquid flow of ‘Bitches’ or the synth strutting swagger of ‘Ur Pocket Mirror is Too Big’, or the slightly unnerving haunting twinkle of ‘I Like Your Fake Rose Tattoo’. Wondrous and entirely instrumental electronic jams with a softer and dreamier touch; this is music to get lost in.

There are some choice cut below. You can download Nancy Leticia Love Dream EP for free via bandcamp.

Introducing: Mollusk

Niall Murphy is best known for his vocalist and songwriter duties with garage rock trio Oh Boland, a name that may be familiar to some (if not, you need to check them out).

Murphy appears to be in the midst of a creative boom and has formed another band/side-project, Mollusk, to explore different avenues, sounds and styles, that perhaps don’t fit with the Oh Boland ethos. Our first introduction to Mollusk’s charms comes in the shape of self-titled, debut mini-album. From opener ‘Nothing Ain’t Nothing When It’s Something Or Other’, it is less muscular, rugged and abrasive than the rough and raw garage-punk of Oh Boland, preferring a mellower, rambling psych-tinged jangle. There is a pretty laid-back, almost slacker, west coast vibe that runs through the meandering melodiousness of ‘Ambulance Man’ to the free-spirited roving of ‘Cruisin’ Along’, complete with Status Quo-esque riffs and ‘Mollusk’, and its infectious indie-punk jangle that rivals anything from The Vaccines’ super catchy debut record. Similar but different, Mollusk is like a close relation to his previous output with Oh Boland, and of course, of an equally high standard.

You can sample some choice cuts from the 7-track, Mollusk mini-album below – and if those are to your liking – download the entire mini-album from here, just ‘name your price’.