The Goo 1
Albums Five Green Circle - Ghost Stories for Sulk
ing Witches - David Carr Five Green Circle is Donal Tierney, another product of the old school of Irish electronic artists who frequented The Funnel, bonded over beats and released music, in this case, on the famous D1 Recordings. Now based in Poland his output has ramped up since COVID. On this album you can really hear how Donal’s songwriting begins with an instrument in hand. It is no doubt electronic music but it’s very analogue, often lead with identifiable riffs in guitar and bass. There are obvious parallels with Warp records duo Plaid but perhaps more on soundtrack duty. ‘Hourglass’ has layers of acoustic guitars making it the most immediate track on the album and dance floor friendly. ‘The Lame Ghost’ is some dirty electro with a brilliant vocoder accompaniment that New Jackson would be proud of. ‘Double Woo Hairspray’ is a bass led track infusing ‘70s jazz and sampled beats to create something very cool indeed. ‘Sundial Turnstile’ is a lovely piece of textured electronica. ‘Cowboy Chords For Baritone Djinn’ is sublime, minimal and patient but full of character allowing the notes to decay. ‘Stopwatched The Third Knock’ has delightful hints of Zero 7’s smooth delivery and ‘Right There Cutty Sark’ provides an elegant closer. Decal - The Echoes Are Decoy - David Carr Alan O’Boyle’s creativity was rejuvenated when digging through the unreleased catalogue of his Trama label (the fruits of which were released on an Intrinsic Rhythm 12”). Next came the excellent Domains via his moniker Of One. Planned to be released under his old D1 alias, Decoy (the clue remains in the title) due to it’s more techno focus, but as the electro tracks latterly spilled out of his AKAI MPC, Decal became the most appropriate nom de plume. The way the beats hit on opener ‘Freekin Failures’ transported me back 25 years to The Funnel club. Alan confides the nostalgic feeling comes from the fact it was made from samples from his Rotter’s Golf Club release Freekin’ Empires “but with a modern edge”. ‘Wasted In Region’ has the dark synths of a Johannes Heil. The magnificent ‘All Night’ recalls the best of D1 Recordings combining the lushest of synths with Detroit underpinnings. ‘Oceans’ sounds massive like Jeff Mills playing through a storm on Jupiter. ‘Lateral Shift’ aptly ushers in the “Electro-y” sounds channeling peak Legowelt. Describing ‘In The Absence of Sense’ Alan explains it’s “very much an homage to that Giorgio Moroder, synth Pop ’80’s, Phil Oakey - Together in Electric Dreams”. It’s absolutely joyous. For Decal diehards, there are many fine slices of electro grit such as ‘Worms’ ‘Coast II’ and “Broken Bells’, while this superb album rounds out with ‘A Very Simple Cure’, a grizzled piece of Warp Records electronica. A harmonious blend of techno & electro sure to reverberate either camp. 10 Rise & Run - Miranda Faul - Aaron Kavanagh Miranda Faul is an up-and-coming singer-songwriter from Kildare who I believe will be one of the proverbial “next big things.” I think all she needs (as most artists do) is the right push, opportunities, and spotlight, so here’s me doing my part. On January 17th, Miranda released her debut EP, Rise & Run. Miranda was kind enough to give me an early copy to listen to, and here’s my pull quote: Rise & Run has something for those discovering Miranda for the first time and those who’ve known her for a while. It’s a bleakly vulnerable four-track piece, with each song complimenting an overall theme of growth and maturity through discovering self-worth from reanalysing toxic relationships. Working with producer Cian Sweeney (who the Irish Examiner claimed was “one of the brightest prospects in Irish pop”), the EP blends Sweeney’s electropop beats with Miranda’s acoustic-driven folk that she’s been playing since childhood to create a sound that’s fresh, calming and ethereal before breaking your heart when Miranda’s soulful, earnest and painful lyrics delicately run over it like a razor blade skipping along a scenic and tranquil brook. I really have no doubt that Miranda will eventually break big and, when she does, remember where you first heard of her!