POSTS TAGGED : Cuinciu

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!

 

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.

Cuinciu – ‘Face Facts’

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Wicklow producer Ross McDonald’s output under his Cuinciu guise (formerly Sliab Cuinciu), has seen him impress no end with releases to date, and he’s proven to be a rather steady source of quality electronic music.

New leaner moniker aside, McDonald continues this positive trend, keeping the tunes coming thick and fast with new EP, Face Facts. The new three-track EP draws inspiration from a wealth of hip hop, synth pop, disco and electronic influences, as McDonald delivers yet another convincing effort, of which, opener ‘Cosmonaut’, sets the tone. Driving beats and synths combine to create a smooth, slinking and captivating sound, with a dusky dream character (Kavinsky meets John Carpenter if you will). ‘Dayglo’ meantime is more playful, bouncing along as it goes. Closer and title track ‘Face Facts’ is like a bridging point between the previous two, chirpy and cheerful, while keeping the driving groove going, in a captivating soundtrack kind of way. As has been mentioned prevously, it’s been both interesting and enjoyable to witness Cuinciu’s progress the past 12 months, which has firmly placed him in the top end of a rather talented bunch of emerging homegrown electronic producers. If the past is anything to go by too, we’ll be hearing more from Cuinciu before too long.

You can download the Face Facts EP for free from Cuinciu’s Bandcamp page.