The Goo 1
Albums Reviews MILES ANDERSON / NIALL MCGUIRK ALA
N MONNELLY / ADHAMH O CAOIMH PAUL MCDERMOTT / DAVID CARR Gregory Alan Isakov - Appaloosa Bones In his first album in five years Grammy nominated musician Gregory Alan Isakov comes out swinging with his new album Appaloosa Bones. Starting out with ‘The Fall’ and ending with the toned down and melancholic ‘Feed Your Horses’ the album takes a winding route through the spectrum of human emotion. Incorporating elements of indie, folk, and americana the album is hard to categorise but the switches between genres are seamless and they come together to form an album best categorised as melancholy and grounding. This is an album that makes you feel the sublime of the American Great Plains bordering the Rocky Mountains, like you’re standing on a mountainside looking over hundreds of miles of plains without another person in sight. There’s a majesty in the production, each instrument and Isakov’s vocals build on one another to create a collage of modern folk music. Isakov’s lyrics evoke a deep sense of warmth and nostalgia for bygone times as his soft voice pairs beautifully with the feelings invoked by the instrumentation. Being from the American Midwest, this album feels almost familiar to me, reminding me of driving through the country and staring out the window at the quickly passing landscape and livestock. Appaloosa Bones is a gratifyingly nostalgic mix of folk, americana, and indie which, to sum up colloquially, is pretty dang good. MA Parker - Never Let This Go Parker is the brainchild of Derry based musician Dylan Bradley during those lonely Covid days. Along the way he hooked up with 2 old friends and they fleshed out his ideas of punky tunes with glorious hooks and roaring choruses. Once they could hit those concrete open roads the band set about playing anywhere and every that would have them. In true DIY and punk rock fashion they just believed in getting out there and letting people hear their glorious tunes. Right from the opening of ‘Never Miss’ it is the catchiness of the tunes that grab you. They are songs to make you move, to nod your head to and generally feel good about. They wouldn’t feel out of place on a bill A WINDING ROUTE THROUGH THE SPECTRUM OF HUMAN EMOTION PAGE 12 alongside Blink-182 or Weezer but equally would be at home in that empty garage down the road that should house community gigs. I saw them last year in Monos Bar in Bohs and wondered how this band wasn’t more popular. Soaring tunes galore that will help you smile but always feel part of something. What’s not to like? NmcG Aphex TwinBlackbox Life Recorder 21f There’s a defiance and complexity about Aphex Twin’s new offering, the EP Blackbox Life Recorder 21f. It shuns regular form and method in favour of a tangential cacophony of beats, effects and propulsion. The music has pace and aches with the sinister undertow that Aphex Twin is renowned for. The tracks on this EP are sonically dense and they create energies that in turn reflect emotional states. Songs that if they were disassembled, it may be impossible to put them back together such is the multitude and intricacy of their components. The title track boasts sonorous organs that are scaffolded by layered drums, combining melody, rhythm and punch. As an opening track, it may have an ominous sound, but it invites you into the journey with promise. The second track ‘zin2 test5’ maintains the sinister feel, sounds tightly wound and combines ambient tones with more cursive beats. ‘In a room7 F760’ sounds like a speeded up Floating points track mixed with Autechre and Four Tet. It has brilliant energy and is significantly brighter in hue than the rest of the EP. Its complex construction may be the highlight of this selection. Blackbox Life Recorder 22 ends this EPdense and rhythmic, like a musical game of solitaire with the overlaps and juxtapositions of sounds, when it ends it leaves you feeling like you need more, which you probably do. AM Rónán Ó Snodaigh & Myles O’Reilly - The Beautiful Road There is something wonderfully authentic, genuine and timeless about this offering from Kíla founder, Bodhrán revolutionary and esteemed composer Rónán Ó Snodaighs collaboration with Myles O’Reilly, once of Juno Falls and presently, maker of impeccable film and the only reason I have a TikTok account. The dexterous, nimble guitar work outlining opening track, and lead single from the record, King of The Kingdom (Ri A Riocht), alongside Ò Snodaighs