Harmless Noise
A music blog from Ireland.
A music blog from Ireland.
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Usually emails with the option to ‘Reply All’ give me crowdfright but it was a nice way to start the new year when, on 4 January, Ray from Wingnut Records sent an email explaining that Epitonic had shown interest in a playlist of Irish tracks and would I throw a few ideas into the mix? Also on board were Albert Twomey, Billy Kemp, Ciarán Ryan, John Lillis and Keith from Club HeadBangBang. For the next few days we zipped track names across, and the discussion even spread to reddit…the quality of bands discussed was so high and these are the names that kept cropping up. Ten tracks to stream or download whether it’s just one or all you want.
Epitonic, in case you’re not aware, “was one of the first curated music discovery sites in the ’90s. We provide carefully selected free and legal MP3s and customizable playlists for streaming and download”. On Twitter Mick Roe from Richter Collective said “as a kid I always checked @epitonic to find new bands, discovered J. Robbins, hot snakes and loads more”…that’s the J. Robbins who went on to work with Adebisi Shank for the first album. I’ll just leave it there. For more RC connections on Epitonic, check out their big sister Sargent House.
Considering the range of sounds that the playlist has to represent in tacking to ‘New Irish Music’ as a theme, with only ten spots it’s just a strong scratch at the surface. You know Katie Kim should be revered, that Cian Nugent is the finest guitarist, that Adebisi Shank and BATS are the two best post-sub rock bands in the country. That turntablism is the secret skill of the west. But have you ever listened properly? Try it. If it’s just something different you were looking for, this is what would be recommended. Here, you’ve got the picks of people working in record stores, promoting gigs and working with labels but depending who was involved it could have taken any different form.
I’m quite refreshed by the lack of electronic tracks for a change because I get bored of talking about my own taste in music sometimes. Even with that diversity, all the artists in the Epitonic mix have featured on this blog before, from Cubs to Rites, Katie Kim and Windings. It’s a leafy, verdant crop of songs that will travel well, and you know what the best thing is? They’re all for keeps.
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