Artist: Kowalski Release: Take Care, Take Flight (EP) County of Origin:  Down Genre:  Indie-Disco The Freshly Squeezed Rating: 3.5  drops out of 10

Kowalski are the epitome of well-polished - although 'Get Back' seems slightly discordant to me - but entirely uninteresting music. Their music is occasionally good, sometimes original - but never both at the same time. 

This particular brand of Indie, entirely lacking personality or bravery, especially irritates me. The very essence of Indie music is the struggle for independence and individuality, and this band is the type of timorous conformity and of seeking the centre. Kowalski offends me by its excessive desire not to offend anyone at all. The death of Indie lies in this sort of pathetic appeasement of the musically ignorant.

I think that my distaste...

Artist: Boa Morte Release: The Dial Waltz (album) County of Origin:  Cork Genre:  Downbeat Alt Folk The Freshly Squeezed Rating: 8.5  drops out of 10

When I began to listen to this release, my first thought was that the music was too modest, that the band only needed to expand a little, to muster a little courage and to come out with a really powerful album. Having listened to it a number of times, however (and it definitely needs time) I've decided this band is perfectly mature: their style isn't assuming, but it's still very powerful, in its own slow but momentous way. Citing Neil Young and Leonard Cohen as their influences, they remind me of a melancholic Yusuf Islam.

Boa Morte formed in Cork in 1998, but haven't released anything for a number of years....

Album: Mellow Funk County of Origin: Galway Genre: Mellowtronic The Freshly Squeezed Rating: 6 drops out of 10

Milan Jay (is it really his name? Doubtful, but you never know) supposedly spent 18 months putting this, his debut album, together. I can't vouch for its originality - although in an interesting twist the artist proclaims that he isn't really into Electronic music, 'it's just what he came out with'. 

The album isn't bad, and in fact it's great background music, it has energy, and the artist himself has it spot on when he describes it as "music for 10 hours at 30,000...

 

Welcome to Freshly Squeezed Irish, the new CLUAS blog penned by Philip McDonald! The focus here will be on bringing you the best new Irish music you've never heard. Bands who would like to featured on this blog should drop Philip a line via this dedicated page. Be sure as well to sign up for the Freshly Squeezed Irish RSS feed!

 



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