POSTS TAGGED : Irish

Sal Dulu – ‘Buzzcut’

Dublin-based producer Sal Dulu established a rep for fabulous hip-hop flavoured electronic productions with a string of stellar singles last year; ‘Duluoz Dream’, ‘Antasma’ & ‘Tyko’.

Opening his 2019 account with the atmospheric ‘Xompulse’, the Dubliner indicated a continuation of form and Sal Dulu is back with a new offering called ‘Buzzcut’.Joined by Atlanta-via-Memphis emcee staHHr, who takes command of vocal duties as Sal Dulu weaves together a breezy, dreamy atmosphere, lush cinematic strings, erratic breaks and choral-esque chants. It is an elegant arrangement that glistens and flickers with tranquillity as it stutters with a somewhat fidgety progression, that beneath staHHr’s vocals, only adds to the captivating nature. An atmospheric beauty; an engrossing and transfixing blend of rich, warm sounds.

Sal Dulu’s previous releases have been stellar and ‘Buzzcut’ is up there alongside the very best of them; of his or anyone else’s singles from so far this year – one of 2019’s finest.

Listen to ‘Buzzcut’ below:

Buí – ‘Something Else To Think About’

Formed in May 2017, Buí is a collaborative musical project established by musician and singer-songwriter Josh Healy, who, with Eoin Johnson, Adam Sloan, Ronan McQuillan and Amy Nolan recorded and released debut album, Eugene, before the close of 2017.

Now, 18 month on, the Belfast indie outfit are back with wonderful double a-side ‘Something Else to Talk About / People Don’t Think’ – and there is an irresistible alchemy at work. ‘Something Else To Think About’ is a gently meandering, scuzzy, soul-consuming guitar jam. It is charming and melodic, as brazen retro synth riffs, subtly dissonant guitars and introspective lyrics and beautiful lilting vocals, combine amid layers of warm fuzz and distortion. In just over three-minutes, ‘Something Else To Think About’ captures the very essence of Buí’s ear-pleasing appeal; warm and fuzzy sounds mingle with catchy harmonies, melodies and pop hooks, and stunning retro synth-work.

The double-a side single is out now and you can listen to the beautiful ‘Something Else To Think About’ below.

Also, you can catch them live across Ireland over the next few days starting with Dublin tonight:

30.05 – Dublin (The Workman’s Club, Dublin)
31.05 – Galway (Róisín Dubh)
01.06 – Limerick (Pharmacia)

Gadget and the Cloud – ‘Quiescence’

Gadget and the Cloud is the moniker of Cork-based producer Kelly Doherty who has a clear preference for the experimental, pushing electronic sounds into ever more interesting settings.

The Cork native emerged on our radar in 2017 with singles ‘And I Told You Something True’ and ‘3600 Seconds’, and followed those with debut album Songs for Sad People to Dance To last year, and Doherty is back with a new track called ‘Quiescence’. Forming part of a compilation on Dublin-based Bandcloud, the track is a swirling blend of textures and soundscapes, with touches of ambient and drone. Opening with a deep bass hum, ‘Quiescence’ seeps to the foreground filling all available space with sound and feeling. It simmers with a rich emotive allure as gentle crisp, focused beats propel us forward though a world of lush synths, warm textures and dreamy vibes. While it is exquisite and gently ambient, it is not one of carefree abandon as the space afforded to reflective mood allows for contemplation and a darker tone and mood. It is a majestic track, its progression feels organic and the emotion real – exquisite.

Listen to ‘Quiescence’ below – if you like what you hear, why don’t you check out Songs for Sad People to Dance To from last year? It can be found here.

The Pickled Onions – ‘Room’

Dublin indie-pop outfit The Pickled Onions aka Paddy McGovern has quite a knack for bright, breezy and joyous bouts of effervescent indie-pop.

Back in 2016, debut EP The Woods was brought into the world and close to three years on, McGovern’s project returns with news of a new EP The Mines, and accompanied by taster track ‘Room’. A charming and melodic two minutes of garage indebted indie-pop, ‘Room’ is both scuzzy and sweet, as it whizzes and fizzes through a blend of rumbling guitars, rambunctious and rattling percussion, smiley melodies, lashings of fuzz and McGovern’s soothing and breezy vocal floating up top. This is an infectious, sun-kissed sound dripping with melody, overwhelming sense of nostalgia and sparking with an irresistible charm – just divine.

Listen to ‘Room’ below and keep an eye out for new EP The Mines later in the summer.

Munky – ‘One in Five’

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Having spent the guts of 2018 on the road gigging tirelessly around Ireland and Britain, Dublin-based post-punk outfit Munky returned home and hit the studio towards the end of last year.

The Dublin outfit shared the first fruits of their labour in the studio with the raucous ‘You’ve Got Male’ and Munky are back with another new track called ‘One in Five’. A thrilling five-minutes-plus assault, a sensory overload, of relentless, caustic post-punk and psych fuzz as Munky take victim blaming to task. An unrelenting, furious and feverish song, like a pent up spring, it recoils, unleashing a sprawling barrage of noise; searing riff, spiralling guitars and pounding drums, topped off by a caustic croon and screeching vocal.

A meaty, muscular and raucous post-punk juggernaut, 100% of the proceeds of ‘One in Five’ will go to the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (songwriting royalties, sales, streaming etc. you name it).

‘One in Five’ will also take its place alongside previous single ‘You’ve Got Male’ to form the bones of an as-yet-untitled, forthcoming five-track EP.

Listen to ‘One in Five’ below:

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Swimmers Jackson – ‘Believe’

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London-based Dubliner Niall Jackson aka Swimmers Jackson is probably best known for his bass-wielding duties with indie-rock quartet Bouts but aside from that, he’s also known to sporadically serve some sublime sounds via his solo guise, Swimmers Jackson.

Jackson has just released his fourth solo single ‘Believe’; a passionate, heartfelt and stripped back acoustic ballad – his finest release to date. A carefully-crafted tale, imbued with honesty and realness, it revolves around a gently melodic acoustic strum and Jackson’s fervent and deeply touching vocals as he tells a tale of refusing to give up on love and an unwavering belief that things can be worked out. ‘Believe’ is an emotive, compelling and beautiful three-and-a-half minutes that wields a powerful spell.

Listen to ‘Believe’ below

Orla – ‘Dream’

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Orla is an 18 year old Irish musician and producer from Co Meath who has a preference for dreamy, elegant and atmospheric sounds; as demonstrated with exquisite finesse on her debut single ‘dream’.

The aptly titled ‘dream’ is an elegant and calming instrumental track that weaves its way through a dreamy world of truly captivating atmospheric soundscapes. It moves slowly, drifting elegantly with a weightlessness, lulling us into a state of blissful tranquillity as gentle guitar chords chime and reverberate, and keys twinkle amid a rich haze and dripping melody. As the atmospheric mist clears, like clouds parting to reveal the sun following a downpour, ‘dream’ shifts to a brighter, shimmering tone revealing an added layer of wistful heart-strung emotion. A simply gorgeous track.

You can listen to ‘dream’ below now.

NOGYMX – ‘Nakatomi Plaza’

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It’s fair to say that Galway-based producer NOGYMX (pronounced no-gimmicks) has a slight infatuation with the synthesizer sounds of the ’80s and synth-based cinematic film scores.

Of course, this is not a bad thing at all, and it is from this base that NOGYMX’s sleek, slick and cinematic vision of synth-pop takes shape, as evidenced by ‘Nakatomi Plaza’. Retro yet futuristic, ‘Nakatomi Plaza’ is a fascinatingly imaginative and richly developed electronic excursion to a place where dreams and reality can coexist in the same space as ’80s video games, and sci-fi and adventure movie scores. Propelled forward on a wave of driving beats, kicks, slow-motion chord changes and neon-bright synths, it is smooth, oozes cool and feels a little dangerous. Masterfully pieced together from start to finish, colourfully creating an incredible sense of wonderment and adventure it excels unequivocally in producing a severe case of nostalgia while feeling forward thinking and futuristic too.

Listen to ‘Nakatomi Plaza’ below now & if you like what you hear, there is more where that came from on NOGYMX’s latest album NO EMPERORS – tune in here.

TPM – ‘Fuck RTÉ’

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TPM are brothers Charles & Andrew Hendy from Co Louth, who you may remember from previous singles ‘Eat That Curry’ and especially, ‘All The Boys on the Dole’.

The sibling duo are back with another masterclass of no-fucks-given hip-hop in the shape of ‘Fuck RTÉ’. On this occasion, it is the law, courts, national broadcaster RTÉ and the TV licence who are in receipt of their ire and firmly in their satirical cross-hairs. Backed by eerie, Beastie Boys-esque production, the pair’s signature humorous lyrics and slick wordplay combine perfectly with infectious beats and a punk attitude; they are, as they say themselves “the only MCs are saying Fuck The Law and Fuck RTÉ”. This is just superb, humorous no quarter given stuff of the Captain Moonlight and Jinx Lennon ilk, it should have you (like me) playing it on constant rotation for weeks.

Listen to ‘Fuck RTÉ’ below:

PS – As seen in Newbridge, these two brothers are serious merch sales people, you have been warned!

HAVVK – ‘Birds On A Wire’

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Formidable Berlin-based Irish outfit HAVVK will release their debut album Cause & Effect later this year and following from ‘Always The Same’, released late last year, ‘Birds On A Wire’ is the latest track lifted from the forthcoming record.

Dark, chilling and compelling, a sense of of impending doom is never far away on ‘Birds On A Wire’. Pulverising drum beats combine with razor sharp guitar licks as Hawk’s stunning, searing vocals soar above to create a thunderous backdrop of pent up rage and and fury unleashed. A powerful, a fierce, uncompromising and compelling slice of searing grunge-filled indie-rock, ‘Birds On A Wire’ is a formidable follow-up to ‘Always The Same’, and it ratchets up the anticipation levels for the album.

You can listen to ‘Birds On A Wire’ below and keep an eye out for the debut album later this year – is a hell of a way to kick off 2019.