• Irish Tracks of the Week – 17th November

    It’s another stacked week for new Irish music. Delve into the best albums and singles of the last seven days from Joel Harkin, Nealo, pôt-pot, Akrobat, Stefan Murphy and more Joel Harkin – Sham Supermarket Sham Supermarket by Joel Harkin Nealo – November Medicine November Medicine by NEALO pôt-pot – No Friends Akrobat – Verlaine Stefan Murphy – Athlete of Seoul Sprints – Shadow of a Doubt Moon Landing – Blink Once and Miss the World Go By Blink Once and Miss the World Go By by Moon Landing Aoibha – Muddy Water

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – December 3

    On this, the final Bandcamp Friday of 2021, we’ve been landed with a wealth of fascinating singles from emergent acts, plus new albums and mixtapes from the likes of Kineograph, Hilary Woods, Arthur Itis and the North Cork Organic Group. Dig deep, and maybe support a few underground artists, if you fancy? Hilary Woods – Feral Hymns Feral Hymns by Hilary Woods Kineograph – CAPRICORN CAPRICORN by KINEOGRAPH FIXITY – [Do The] Bits and Pieces Arthur Itis – Am I Dancing? North Cork Organic Group – Blackwater Valley High (Landscape Mixtape) Blackwater Valley High (Landscape Mixtape) by North Cork Organic Group Me…

  • Watch: Stefan Murphy – Dry Cider

    We’re very lucky to call Stefan Murphy one of our own. Based in Atlanta, GA, the Dublin artist’s mottled career to date has taken in the triumphant garage rock of The Mighty Stef, exploratory solo sounds as Count Vaseline and far beyond. Murphy is now performing under his own name, making music that he tells us “aims to reconnect with the art of earnest, heartfelt songwriting, while also flirting with his back catalog in the live setting.” If lead single ‘Dry Cider’ is anything to go by, success is both realms is assured. A self-proclaimed tale of youthful misadventure, dedicated to…

  • Stefan Murphy Set For Dublin Return

    Hands down one of the most incisive and naturally-gifted songsmiths that the island of Ireland has ever produced, Atlanta-based Dublin artist Stefan Murphy will return to play upstairs in Whelans on Thursday, January 24. It’s a new tour from a rejuvenated artist whose output and shows over the years, – from Subtonics and the Mighty Stef to his fertile solo guise Count Vaseline – speaks for itself. Better still, a forthcoming solo album (his first simply as Stefan Murphy) bears the imprint of some of his all-time big influences, including Velvet Underground, Van Morrison, Jonathan Richman and Townes Van Zandt. Tickets for…

  • Stream: Count Vaseline – They Stood Up/Silver Drugs

    It wouldn’t an overstatement to say when Dublin’s The Mighty Stef called it a day back in May we lost one of the country’s most loved bands. But, with the dust having settled on that chapter, the band’s main man Stefan Murphy has re-emerged with ‘They Stood Up/Silver Drugs’, two tracks that will be given away to those order his forthcoming debut album as Count Vaseline. Written, performed, produced, edited and mastered by Murphy with assistance from Gerritt Hessler and Peter Furgiuele, Yo No Soy Marinero  is, according to the Count Vaseline Bandcamp page accompanying the release “a complex dream in which The Count wishes for…

  • Monday Mixtape: Stefan Murphy (The Mighty Stef)

    In this special Easter Monday installment of Monday Mixtape, Stefan Murphy of Dublin rockers The Mighty Stef (above, middle) selects and talks about some of his all-time favourite songs, including Neutral Milk Hotel, Echo and the Bunnymen, FIDLAR and the Strypes. Desireless – Voyage Voyage Decadent french pop from the 80’s. An abstract song about traveling eternally. Something of a personal anthem since I was young. I have reconnected with this track in a big way recently. I long to cover it.   Garland Jeffreys – Wild In The Streets This recreates the feeling of a New York summer. A hot sticky…