Now anyone can release an album in any fashion, albums released often go under the radar. Whether that's a lack of planning (this is more frequent than it should be), an impulse (ditto), a lack of press (we try), or the timing of the release (don't release an album in December). It could be the sheer volume of releases getting lost in the musical ether too. Every day brings yet another album to digest that's been heralded. Christmas is a good time to look and listen back to those albums and give albums your undivided attention. Here are 10 suggestions.
Mongoose – Mongoose
The four-piece female folk band stand apart from the zeitgeist with a harmony-lead collection of rambunctious folk pop music that draws from a jazz influence. Highlights include the whistle solo-featuring
The Bottom Line
and the bright love song
Two Birds
. A charming debut.
The Mighty Stef – Year Of The Horse
Stefan Murphy and band's latest record is the under-appreciated rock'n'roll album of the year. Recorded with producer Alain Johannes in LA, Stefan Murphy anchors it all with a commanding baritone, and the album's has a richly-detailed rock arrangement. It begins with the anthemic
Everybody Needs A Grave
and takes in spiked country rock'n'roll of
The Nightwatchman Of The Iveagh Flats,
the singalong pop of
Stella
, the psych-rock of
Vampire, Hold Me Tight
and the long and languid penultimate song
The Hardship
Augustus & John – Against Water Hull
The Galway-based duo of Mike Smalle & Matteo Grassi quietly released their full-length debut in November, but it's the kind of album more people should be shouting about. Featuring adeptly-constructed vocal-lead cinematic music, the album has headnodding and foot-moving electronica (
Crosslines
), dense synth-pop (
Lennon in America
), Chemical Brothers-style dance (
There Goes My Train
) and wistful instrumentals (
Atur
). Get on this wave.
Lakker – Tundra
Fans of Aphex Twin's
Selected Ambient Works
will find much solace in
Tundra
, its sonic explorations flit between a subconscious style of dance music (
Milch, Three Songs, Halite
) with nods to house and techo rhythms and a towering column of industrial hypnotic noise (
Mountain Divide, Pylon
). This isn't music for the club but it shakes and shudders the body and brain just as much.
Evvol – Eternalism
The half Irish/half Australian yet Berlin-based duo of Jon Dark and Julie Chance changed their name from Kool Thing last year and in the process moved from music that was indebted to 1990s indie, and 1980s electronic music to a less obvious honed-in sound that takes more of an inspiration from their home city's fertile dance scene. The result can be heard on
Eternalism
, the rejuvenated duo's debut which takes in melodic synth-noir landscapes and heady dance textures.
The Hedge Schools - At The End Of A Winding Day
The second album from Pat Barrett and producer Joe Chester, both once of Ten Speed Racer, is as pensive and as elegant as you'll get from these shores. Restrained in its execution, the team keep it minimal and moving – a reverbed piano rings out, a trumpet harks or a guitar is picked gently, while Barrett sings in a relaxed and emotional style. Don't be in a hurry going anywhere listening to
At The End Of The Winding Day.
Donnacha Costello - Love from Dust
Having sold his equipment five years ago after a career of releasing music since 1996, it was a surprise to have Dublin producer Donnacha Costello release three albums in quick succession this year. The allure of a vintage analogue synthesizer (Buchla Music Easel) was too strong to resist. The instrument's real-time manipulation informed the albums released, starting with the gorgeous explorations of June's
Love From Dust
.
Brian Deady – Non-Fiction
The Cork soul singer returned with his second album last month, his first in six years. What he's mastered in the intervening years is clear. Not only does he play soul the genre, he bares it too on
A Darkness
, about a failed romance, and
Dad
, about his relationship with his parent. Deady's also found a new branch to explore in the radio-friendly CeeLo-style pop of
Clap Both My Hands
and in songs like
Tape
, a rewarding bluesy gospel style is revealed. Substantial soul music.
Alarmist – Popular
Demain Dublin post-rock band Alarmist found a new audience at the 12 Points Festival for contemporary jazz acts over the last couple of years. It's easy to hear why jazzers took the band to their hearts, when you hear their wild time signatures, spacious live recording and zig-zagging song structures. That's all evident on the band's debut album of complex instrumental music. Its stunning vistas are conjured by players with a highly skilled musicianship. Embedded in the impressive music are wistful electronic textures that permeate the atmosphere and create an impression of Alarmist as outliers of rock, jazz and electronica.
.
The Cujo Family – Pigs In The Pen
This Bray band hit 10 years active in 2015 and released their third album further defining their own 'hard folk' sound. Recorded with Rian Trench in The Meadow Studios in Wicklow over five days, the album perfectly meshes country, folk and blues with an independent spirit and employs a Hammond organ to tie all those disparate sensibilities together with a classic feel.
