JANGLY GUITARS and sweet harmonies make for great summer listening – and one album that has all of the above is the just-released Crowns by Ginnels.
It is one of the records featured on this month's NewFound Sounds podcast, available now for download at irishtimes.com, and will be released in association with the Dublin-based Popical Island collective on August 10th. A launch gig will be held that same night in the Little Green Street gallery, Dublin. Live, you'll find members of other Popical Island bands playing in Ginnels, but essentially it is a solo project by Mark Chester.
The album features 20 songs and will be released on limited edition double cassette, keeping with its lo-fi theme. See ginnels.bandcamp.com
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Many of us mourn the finishing up of the Richter Collective, but bands such as Croupier are here to remind us that lots of Irish musicians were influenced by its work. Croupier's new track Creo Beast has that familiar angular sound and gives a taste of their self-titled debut album, released on the Eleven Eleven label on August 24th and launched the same night in Whelan's, Dublin. See eleveneleven.ie
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Celebrate the revolutionary spirit of the artist Frida Kahlo with a listen to the sweet sounds of Frida Kahlo's Delight by Ríona Sally Hartman (above). Hartman's sound is self-assured, with a beautiful touch of jazz. Listen at
soundcloud.com/riona-sally-hartman
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Galway band Milan Jay are curious in that they seem to have a different sound for every release. Their latest track, In the Shadows of Footsteps, is harsh, pounding electro-tinged rock. See facebook.com/milanjaymusic
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Cork's Carried by Waves also have an electronic sound, but in this case it's more soft and sweet. Their debut album, Softly Held Together, is available to download for free from carriedbywaves.bandcamp.com
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The current podcast is rounded off with Snapshots by EleventyFour, which will hit the (virtual) shelves on August 10th. Quirky, sentimental and a little twee, it’s very sweet indeed.
