• Track Record: HAVVK

      Ahead of the release of their third album tomorrow, Julie Hough and Matt Harris from HAVVK select five records that have left a deep impression on their music and lives. Photos by Monika Ruman   Olafur Arnalds – Some Kind of Peace Matt: I have always enjoyed the Erased Tapes compilations. I went to see Lowli play and we started sharing some influences and she sent me link to a performance of ‘Oldurot’ which is a track from Island Songs, the previous album. It hit my emotions and then she got me Some Kind of Peace after we did…

  • Track Record: Alpha Chrome Yayo

    One of the island’s finest genre-spanning savants, Alpha Chrome Yayo takes us on a guided tour of his all-time favourite records, featuring Enya, Mort Garson, Mariya Takeuchi, Sigh, Tom Waits, Minako Yoshida and more Photo by Aislinn Mcginn Singles are great and all, but for me nothing compares to the experience of listening to an honest-to-goodness album, especially if it involves physical media. The ephemeral quality of music made somehow tangible, cloaked in artwork to luxuriate in, liner notes to pore over. Beyond that, listening to an album is like fulfilling an unknowable contract. One between the artists who made…

  • Track Record: Lucy Gaffney

    From Spacemen 3 and Serge Gainsbourg, to Beck, Air and Astrud Gilberto, Belfast alt-pop artist Lucy Gaffney selects eight records that have left an indelible imprint on her music & life   Photo by David McEneaney Beck – One Foot In The Grave This album brought something new into my life when I first heard it. I played it on repeat until I new every word and guitar riff like second nature. Each song blissfully brings with it a mood of off the cuff nonsense that resonated to the nth degree.  It changed my songwriting and allowed me the ability to…

  • Track Record: SHREM

    In this installment of Track Record, Dublin-based DJ and selector SHREM shares some of their all time favourite records from Glass Candy to Cocteau Twins. Photos by Monika Ruman Glass Candy – B/E/A/T/B/O/X Ida No and Johnny Jewel’s ‘B/E/A/T/B/O/X’ is the sonic flagship of the now-cult Italians Do It Better label. It’s also an album I own in most variations, 8 differently coloured vinyl editions and counting – I am an impossible nerd when it comes to collecting. It’s an album full of surprises and its own humour and inimitable sound. It’s such an engrossing mixture of italo disco, post-punk,…

  • Track Record: Feather Beds

    In this installment of Track Record, Michael Orange aka Feather Beds selects some of his favourite records, from Field Music to Omni. Photos by Ellen Pentony Field Music – Field Music I’ve gone for the first self-titled album. I can remember first hearing the song Working To Work, which is on their Tones Of Town album and I couldn’t believe it. I loved everything about it and then got really into the first album. I remember going to see them in Whelans in Dublin around 2007 and it’s still one of my favourite gigs of all time. This album is just…

  • Track Record: Finnian

    In this installment of Track Record, Dundalk singer-songwriter Finnian selects the records that have left a huge impression on his life from Creedence Clearwater Revival to Lauryn Hill. Photos by David McEneaney Creedence Clearwater Revival – Cosmo’s Factory I was pretty disappointed in John Fogarty’s recent concert in the 3Arena actually. It just didn’t hit the spot for a few different reasons. The opening cringy onstage video intro didn’t do it for me and the sound in the standing area was really bad. Gig critique aside, I can still say that I love this record. Few people could growl like…

  • Track Record: Kate Butler

    In this installment of Track Record, Dublin-based DJ Kate Butler selects the records that mean the most to her from Tchaikovsky to A Guy Called Gerald. Photos by Aaron Corr Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (Berlin Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alfred Van Weth) I ended up with my grandparents’ vinyl collection. I grew up next door to them: they had a lovely garden full of roses, snapdragons and grape hyacinth, where I spent a lot of time happily on my own. My granny, Molly, was born in 1910 and she learnt to play piano by ear. When she was a young woman,…

  • Track Record: Jinx Lennon

    In this installment of Track Record, Dundalk’s very own Jinx Lennon selects the records that have left a lasting impact on his life, from Television to Frank Sinatra. Photos by Sean McMahon Lou Reed – Street Hassle I’ve been trying to get my head around Lou Reed because so many of the bands I was into dropped his name. I bought Transformer and Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal – I hated them! I found pure gold with this one. Lou’s lyrics can be touching and ugly and the characters in the song ‘Street Hassle’ have a certain sensitivity that only Lou…

  • Track Record: Elaine Malone

    From Nico and Elliott Smith, to Suicide and Scott Walker, Cork-based psych-folk artist Elaine Malone, aka Mantua, selects ten records that have left an indelible imprint on her music and life Photo by Celeste Burdon Nothing is Real by Elaine Malone is out now via Pizza Pizza Records Nothing is Real by Elaine Malone Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood – Nancy and Lee The triumphant unity of Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra – finding mutual success in each other’s waning stars. Nancy was told by Lee to discard her saccharine pop persona and to “sing like a 14-year-old girl who…

  • Track Record: Oisin Furlong (Thumper)

    In this installment of Track Record, Oisin Furlong from Thumper and Anamoe Drive selects the records that have left a lasting impression on his life from Parquet Courts to Paddy Hanna. Photos by Kate Lawlor King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Mind Fuzz I remember around the time that King Gizzard’s third album came out I heard the lead single Cellophane and loved the repetitive garage psych vibe. When I discovered that the ‘single’ was just a 3 minute portion of a 10 minute long tune on the record with one unchanging bass-line, it was one of those moments…