6 of the best Irish songs this week

Deathbed Convert

Kinnagoe Bay

I’m loving this “inverted field recording” album from Connor Dougan aka Deathbed Convert, released on Touch Sensitive.

Dougan, who has released music as Ai Messiah & Defcon recorded the album Inverse Field Vol.1, in the Donegal town of Inishowen, playing the music out in the environment and capturing both the output of his music, improvised live, through a portable speaker, and the nature and life happening around him simultaneously, so the sound of crashing waves, sea atmoshpere, dogs and even, a passing gospel musician.

It was inspired by the outdoor recording techniques used on John Martyn’s ‘One World’ and a clip of Pharaoh Sanders playing in an abandoned tunnel in San Francisco.

Connor sketched a plan to improvise electronic music outdoors, play it back through a portable loudspeaker and record it with a stereo microphone. The music and environmental sounds would be captured simultaneously in a single recording. With the idea hatched, Connor settled on Inishowen, Co. Donegal as the location for exploring his “inverted field recording” technique.

“Inishowen is a magical, tranquil area, ringed by a wild stretch of coastline strewn with secluded beaches, cliffs, forts and ruins. The whole place has a bit of an ‘edge of the map’ vibe to it.”

“Wind and rain was a persistent threat. Locals and tourists, animals and vehicles continually threatened to interrupt recordings. Ultimately, the only sane way to cope with these inconveniences was to incorporate them into the work. Perfection was never a possibility.”

Joshua Burnside

Good For One Thing

The Belfast based singer-songwriter has been seeping deeper into a folk sound of late, and it will be further evident on the forthcoming album Teeth Of Time, out February 28th via Nettwerk.

‘Good for One Thing’ is one of a double A-side release along with ‘Ghost of the Bloomfield Road’, with the latter concerned with Joshua in a state of new dad tiredness following the birt of his son, and the former the fictional story of a circus performer – “a young man whose worth is determined by his ability to pay bills, to entertain and amuse.”

A concept track that mirrors his own anxieties as a new father and a musician in a colder world. Originally written as a folk rock track, this stripped version gives more credence to the lyrics, allowing the tension and slow burn of Joshua’s sombre delivery to be fully felt.

Saoirse Miller

In The Smoke

I caught Saoirse Miller supporting Róis recently, and the Dublin artist’s set was filled with this sort of ethereal spacey music that reminds me of Julianna Barwick, suitable for as Miller pointed out – for the The Thinning of the Veil at Samhain.

Like Maija Sofia, the song is inspired by the life and death of Bridget Cleary, whose husband burned her alive in 1895 because he believed she was a changeling.

Dunny

Give It Up

Donnacha O’ Malley is one of the founding members of Dublin based experimental band Meltybrains?, and he’s just released a solo debut album called Schtum, produced by Ben Bix.

The record features vocal-lead experimental leaning songcraft, which is vaguely reminiscent of James Blake in its two-step machinations, as on this standout.

Josh Sampson plays Drums on the record, while Patrick King plays Clarinet and Sophia Malaika plays Cello.

Hazey Haze, 40 Hurtz

Wreck The Shop

The Limerick duo contrived to make a full-length album of hard AF industrial bangers recently, and it’s an indictment of my listening flow habits that because it was a Bandcamp only download, I totally forgot about it until it did appear on streaming recently.

So belately enjoy the booming dirty house vocal and bassline production of ‘Wreck The Shop’ as a highlight from it.

Negro Impacto

1800

“Do you want to skate around the city until the summer’s over?.“

Chi-Chi and Laurence catch that vibe with the smooth sound of ‘1800’ with Yves Tumor, Frank Ocean and Lenny Kravitz, cited as influences.

Upcoming shows: 

Nov 12th – Output Festival, Belfast

Nov 22nd – Prima Volta, Limerick