See the end of the post for the Weekly Playlist featuring all the songs I loved this week.
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Seamus Hyland, RF Chaney
Navan Road (R.F. Chaney 8va EDIT PT1)
It speaks to the proliferation and embrace of traditional music in the music community in Ireland recently that sees a trad accordion player and a contemporary electronic composer/drummer rub shoulders and collaborate more readily than they would have done in the past.
No silos here. RF Chaney reimagines a track from Hyland’s Maidin Domnhaigh album from last year, by attaching acid, electro and breakbeat sounds to treated and screwed sounds from the accordion on the original, unearthing a fresh context for the instrument to be heard.
Much like Lullahush and Rois are doing too at the moment, these artists are recontextualising age-old music in new ways, which is something that is always going to grab my ears.
Bricknasty
is é a locht a laghad
The celebration of tradition continues with this new track culled from Bricknasty’s forthcoming third mixtape Black’s Law on October 31st on FAMM, with a track that really reminds me of the trad-electronic sound collage fusion that Lullahush is operating with on his album ithaca.
This time, the source material is Willa Lee, who sings trad-style vocals on the track. Lee is a childhood hero of the band member Fatboy’s from the same Ballymun flats he grew up in, “whose story of potential, addiction and redemption parallels the frontman’s own.”
“This song is to me little sister Chloe and our time we spent in the blocks messing and getting into trouble. Me ma warned us to enjoy it as much as we could cause life changes when you get older. She was very correct, probably more than anyone realised now with how everything’s going at home and abroad,” Fatboy says.
“go get that blade” will also feature on the mixtape.
Bricknasty for biggest hometown show to date at 3Olympia Theatre
El Michels Affair, Rogê
Mágica
Hip-hop adjacent instrumentalists El Michels Affair are never far away from smooth groove, and their latest track has them slobbering all over such a thing, with Brazilian jazz soul touch and vocals from Rio throwback vocalist Rogê.
The band recently collaborated with Clairo on her recent album Charm and she has returned the favour on recent single ‘Anticipate’, one of a few singles from the forthcoming album 24 Hr Sports out via Big Crown Records on Friday, September 5th.
Kaytranada
Space Invader
Much of Kaytrananda’s output in the last 10 years has relied on vibe and bumping rhythms to do the heavy lifting and I found much of it lacking in recent checkins.
I am loving the recent single from new album AIN’T NO DAMN WAY!, whih has dynamic range and sonic treats galore.
‘Shine Your Light On Me’ is pure Dilla Donuts vibe.
Dijon
Another Baby!
Four years on from the release of his debut album Absolutely, the emotive Baltimore R&B indie singer Dijon released a second LP called Baby last week, after recent features on albums from Bon Iver and Justin Bieber, and a forthcoming starring role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film One Battle After Another alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
Soaking up the eclectic influences of his collaborators Justin Vernon, Bieber and MkGee, there’s a wider-range of sounds on this restless sonic record – with Prince affectations, funk and ’80s drums sounds to the fore on the standout ‘Another Baby!’.
Other songs I loved this week on the playlist :
Also added to this week’s playlist:
- Grant; Alex Albrecht – Tangible Dreams
- SLOUCHO; Curtisy – gimme it
- Adebisi Shank – Gröss Magic
- Just Mustard – WE WERE JUST HERE
- Slow Focus – Tidy Towns
- Leon Vynehall; TYSON – Scab
- Avalon Emerson; Moby – E After Next
- fakemink – Braces
- John Glacier; Wet – Couldn’t Get Back
- Negro Impacto – BLUE
- thredd – We Don’t Speak Anymore
- PLUS ONE – ONE EYE SHUT
- clipping.; Daveed Diggs; Jonathan Snipes; William Hutson – Forever War
- J Smith – Desireland
- Jordan Kelly – passat
- cosign – Limbo
Nialler9 Weekly Playlist
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Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
