My Sad Captains - Great Expectations

Ah so cute and mildly surprising that they’ve sprung from Camden. Imagine they’d have been beaten up back when Britpop was at full throttle but then they could have just as easily hung out with Blur. This is the opening track from My Sad Captains debut and sounds like a cross between Luna and Apples In Stereo. Ultimately though it should easily assumes staple status on the most pristine indie pop jukebox known to geek. Warm melodies abound, we all clap in unison at the chorus and reach for the soft spectacle cloth when we fog up rendering even timid hip shaking manoeuvres deathtrap like potentiality. KD

My Sad Captains - Great Expectations

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: My Sad Captains
Year: 2009

In Motion - Until My Dreams Come True

Ah the big bowl of shamrock arrives and I’m slightly relieved because after a week of local acts I think the well may be well and truly dry. To finish on an imperious high here is a track from In Motion’s ‘The Language of Everyday Life’. This is in our top 3 Irish albums of all time so you can imagine the goosebumps when we got to re-release in on Indiecater just last year after a decade long slumber. This is a piece of work that never fails to bring out my tearful side because it is at once so sad yet utterly redemptive. I've had this track as my ringtone since I first got a mobile that could handle such things. Beannacht Lá Fhéile Pádraig. KD

In Motion - Until My Dreams Come True

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: In Motion
Year: 1994 & 2009

The Foamboy Deluxe Arkestra - Honestly

Oh how totally abstract, some Irish music for an alternative Paddy’s eve. Nope, there’s not a fiddle in sight and for much of ‘Honest’ Foamboy mainman Geoff Topley sounds like he’s up to his neck in binary theorems masquerading as alien abductors. Topley is based in Portadown and spends his time flitting between about half a dozen musical projects that are unlikely to ever trouble the charts. That said his Foamboy Deluxe Arkestra peddles fine tunes which are almost to a man partially hidden in a salmagundi of ethereal backdrops. KD

The Foamboy Deluxe Arkestra - Honestly

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: The Foamboy Deluxe Arkestra
Year: 2008

8ball - Fear I'm Falling

I’d imagine they couldn’t care less what I think given that we’re not talking anymore but from this chair 8ball remain one of our brightest lights especially when they wallow in sweet electronica. ‘The Big Blue’, ‘The Whoop Whoop Song’ and ‘Fear I’m Falling’ came out prior to their largely disappointing second venture of last year but the evidence points to beings of higher sonic capability. The latter presents vocals as superficial asides with clouds of wispy melodies dispersing and reforming in increasingly elegant patterns. It could almost be Death In Vegas circa their most successful album ‘The Contino Sessions’. KD

8ball - Fear I'm Falling

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: 8ball
Year: 2005

Kowalski - Phil Kansas

Bangor, population 50,000, sporting not one but 2 of the coolest new bands on the island. Everyone is getting to know Two Door Cinema Club but Kowalski should be running them close soon. This is as good as I’ve heard from the 4-piece; it’s taken from a 2008 compilation called the Oh Yeah Sessions, a lo-fi jangle pop affair that’ll appeal to Sarah Records aficionados. It’s pretty delightful, from the xylophone to the boy/girl vocal interactions. The band are about to release their second EP so here’s hoping something good will work out for them. KD

Kowalski - Phil Kansas

More Info: Official
Year: 2008

Sacred Animals - Chosen Seed

He’s back but travels incognito until the time is right to take off the dark shades. What went before promised much but then what is emerging could be even better. Sacred Animals discography consists of 3 demo songs (a 4th is in the offing) which can be consumed for free over here. ‘Chosen Seed’ is the pick of the bunch, a gentle piece of melancholy that belongs at the table from which the angels dine. Bolstered by a small orchestra this could be epic in its sweep. The seas may yet realign. KD

Sacred Animals - Chosen Seed

More Info: Official & Myspace
Year: 2010

Hunter-Gatherer - Left For Dead

Orbital remain the benchmark for thoughtful bleepages down our way. They were purveyors of albums with songs that only truly came alive in the context of their siblings. And that very thought struck me as I sat through Hunter-Gatherer’s debut long player ‘I Dreamed I Was A Footstep In The Trail Of A Murderer’. To look at it one way this could just be a collection of indistinct ambient asides but a bit of careful nurturing reveals a cerebral artist reinventing snivilisation. And the rewards are worth hanging in there for because although they never sound calculated the ideas always seem to add up. I keep returning to ‘Left For Dead’ because it was the one that initially intrigued. The kernel of the tune sports a recurring melody that softly gnaws until you relent, after which it never fails to outlast its welcome. Hunter-Gatherer is at present writing the Serbian entry for our World Cup compilation. KD

Hunter-Gatherer - Left For Dead

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: Hunter-Gatherer
Year: 2009