Local Heroes: Quarter Inch Collective

Quarter Inch Collective is a Dublin-based record label that is poised to release Quompilation, which features 13 of Ireland's finest indie acts covering their favourite track of 2010.

The song selections are varied, ranging from international megahits like Rihanna's 'Rude Boy' and Kanye West's 'Lost In The World' to homegrown compositions like Villagers' 'Becoming A Jackal' and Squarehead's 'Fake Blood'.

My personal favourite is the blissed out cover of Twin Shadow's 'Castles In The Snow' by Sacred Animals, and I also quite like Kid Karate's rawkin' take on Tinie Tempah's 'Pass Out'.

Castles In The Snow (Twin Shadow) by sacredanimals

Kid Karate - Pass Out (Tinie Tempah Cover) by Quarter Inch Collective

You can hear the full set of tracks here. Quompilation gets its official launch at The Lower Deck, Portobello on the 27th of January, with many of the featured bands playing. Entry is €10 and includes a free cassette, as well as a free download, of the compilation.

Tornadoes, Moons, Bridges and Balloons

Wispy dream-pop duo Muchuu are hard at work on their second album, the follow-up to 2009's 'Adventure We Go' but, to tide fans like me over, have assembled this swoon-inducing 'compilation cover' of sixteen of their favourite songs, entitled 'Tornadoes, Moons, Bridges and Balloons'.

The featured songs are:

The Smiths - There is a Light that Never Goes Out, Black Eyed Peas - Rock Your Body, Coldplay - We Never Change, Blonde Redhead - Magic Mountain, Rihanna - What's My Name?, Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone, CocoRosie - Noah's Ark, Jonsi - Tornado, Siouxsie and the Banshess - Cities in Dust, The XX - Islands, Beirut - Nantes, Echo and the Bunnymen - The Killing Moon, Joanna Newsom - Bridges and Balloons, Fragma - Toca's Miracle, Bon Iver - Skinny Love, Kate Bush - Army Dreamers

Take A Snapshot Inside Of My Soul

After releasing a slew of genius mash-ups last year and, more recently, this 'collaboration' with Deadmau5, it seems travelling circus performer-turned-popstar Neon Hitch is finally set to release some music of her own.

Two dub-infused remixes of a track called 'Am I Dreaming?' recently surfaced and now comes 'Get Over You', the first single from her debut album.

'Get Over You' is a soaring pop-ballad produced by Benny Blanco and written by Sia and, although I'm not entirely convinced that this is the song to break her into the mainstream, those credits make me optimistic for the calibre of songmaking on the album.

Neon Hitch - Get Over You

Neon Hitch feat. Liam Horne - Am I Dreaming (Easy Does It Remix)

Neon Hitch - Am I Dreaming (ROBOPOP Remix)

But My Heart Wants So To Scream

'Excuse Me' is a collaboration between Dublin-based performance artist Xnthony Keigher and media artist Patrick Hough.

Local Heroes: The Strutts

Last week, I ventured along to The Pint on Dublin's Eden Quay to get my fix of live music. There was a clutch of great bands playing but my primary concern was to see four-piece The Strutts in action and they certainly didn't disappoint.

Delivering a rousing set of sprightly guitar pop, their performance possessed a warmth that goes some way to explaining the ardent breed of supporters they attract, but was also underpinned by a resolve to impress that hangs the right side of ambitious.

I can happily report that The Strutts' energy and verve, which serves them so well in a live setting, is equally present on their eponymous EP. Singers Liam Gardner and Daragh O' Connell's tuneful vocals are wonderfully complementary and it's little surprise to learn that they've performed acoustically as a duo in the past.

However, the addition of bass and drums affords them a fuller sound best felt in the latter half of 'Easy To Forget', which descends into an instrumental jam that's tailormade to set audiences busting moves on the dancefloor.

The Strutts' trump card is perhaps their knack for pegging down a catchy pop hook. Tracks like 'Down', where cascading harmonies are pitched against a backdrop of jangly guitars, remind of The Beatles' early material but more contemporary influences are felt elsewhere.

Gardner's snarling delivery on 'People Talk' is reminsicent of Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner, and this track for me is the standout on an accomplished EP by a Dublin band whose star is firmly on the ascent.

The Strutts - People Talk



The Strutts' eponymous EP can be downloaded from iTunes here.

Don't Just Walk All Over Broken Hearts

Icona Pop are Stockholm-based electro fiends Caroline Hjelt & Aino Jawo. The pair are currently being touted as rising stars by trendy French boutique label, Kitsuné but, even if global domination eludes them, they've certainly conquered my affections.

There are sparse details about the pair, who are presumably pursuing that 'endearing' strategy of shrouding themselves in mystique, and I've only been able to track down a couple of tracks. Even so, I've heard more than enough to know they're very much 'my bag'. I'm particularly fond of 'Manners'.

Manners (Extended)

Still Don't Know



Icona Pop - Manners (Elof Remix)

Local Heroes: Bitches With Wolves

Bitches With Wolves (aka James O' Neill) is someone I've posted about on the site before. As I said previously, James represents a breed of popstar of which we haven't really seen the likes since Samantha Mumba inexplicably 'pulled a Houdini' from the charts and our hearts.

The colourful costumes and high-energy performances are all well and good, but James's trump card is his flair for pegging down a contagious pop melody.

Last year, Broken Hearts became Bitches With Wolves' biggest hit to date and there's every chance that new single, Strictly Pleasure, will achieve similar success.

A fine slice of electropop that sees risqué lyrics pitched against stabbing synths and pulsating drumbeats, the track is sure to get an emphatic reception when Bitches With Wolves play Whelans, Dublin on February 3rd.

Bitches With Wolves - Strictly Pleasure



Bitches With Wolves - Broken Hearts



[Image: Peter Fingleton]

Local Heroes: Heathers

Although their 2008 debut album, ‘Here, Not There’, made Heathers (Blackrock sisters Ellie and Louise MacNamara) darlings of the Irish music scene, it wasn't until their track 'Remember When' was featured in a Discover Ireland advertisement last year that their music began reaching a mass audience.

For their sophomore release, due later this year, the girls have expanded on the simple but effective formula of tuneful harmonies and guitar accompaniment to more intricate arrangements, adding percussion, electric guitars and cello into the mix.

I was lucky enough to catch the girls debut some new material at a gig before Christmas and can happily report that the new material is pretty special. A live version of one of the tracks, Find A Way, has surfaced online and is every bit as good as I remembered it being:



Here's another couple of tracks of theirs I really love:

Heathers - Margie



Super Extra Bonus Party featuring Heathers - Comets



[Image: Sara Devine]

Welcome To The Neighbourhood

Over the next few days, I'm hoping to do a number of posts about Dublin-based bands. The Hype Machine recently revamped their site and applied various labels to each of the blogs they list and it got me thinking about the kind of music I post on the site.

One of the tags applied to my own blog is 'British' and, when I think of it, it's very true that I tend to post about a lot of UK acts, but rarely about the equally talented musicians I regularly encounter gigging around the fair city of Dublin.

The 'Local Heroes' series, which I hope to intersperse with (more regular) posts about artists from further afield, is my attempt at kickstarting a habit of sharing some of the glittering gems the Emerald Isle has to offer.

Should I fail, well I guess this post is going to look a bit embarrassing in a few weeks' time. If not, who knows, maybe The Gods of Hype Machine will consider bestowing an 'Irish' label upon my plot of cyberspace next time they stop by?

Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls

Lykke Li's sophomore effort is shaping up to be quite something. First single 'Get Some' was one of my favourite tracks of 2010 and now comes another gem in the form of 'I Follow Rivers', which features more of the tribal beats and sensual delivery that made its predecessor such an intriguing listen, albeit with fewer references to solicited sex.

The track comes flanked by a disco-tinged remix courtesy of The Magician, which works surprisingly well.

Lykke Li plays Dublin's Tripod on April 16th. Book tickets here.

Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers

Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers (The Magician Remix) (Radio Rip)

Yes, I've Been Black But When I Come Back

To begin with, I was a firm supporter of Frankmusik and tried to force his early Frankisum EP release on anybody that crossed my path.

However, the majority of his releases since then have fallen short of that standard, with the exception of his excellent collaboration with Computer Club, 'Losing Streak'. When his debut album, Complete Me, finally surfaced, the magic from his early demos was strangely absent and the whole project seemed a little overcooked.

Earlier today, however, he unleashed his 'Long Live Frankmusik' EP, which you can download free of charge here.

The EP's four tracks remind me of the reasons why I first took to his music so enthusiastically and suggest that album number two might be the one that changes everything:

Frankmusik - Warrior by thebubbleboy

Frankmusik - Our Discovery (Tribute to Daft Punk) by thebubbleboy

This is an older track I stumbled across in my iTunes today. Probably not to everyone's tastes, but I kind of dig it.

Frankmusik - Rehab (Amy Winehouse Cover) by thebubbleboy

Here We Go Again

Piggy Minaj, Coming Through...

Kanye West's 'Monster' video, featuring an all-star line-up of Rick Ross, Jay Z and Nicki Minaj alongside several scantily clad corpses leaked online last week and didn't disappoint.



Better yet is this genius mash-up of the song to footage from Muppets and Sesame Street, with Piggy Minaj stealing the show.

Utterly. Obsessed.