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Ham Sandwich – Illuminate
Rigsy: ‘I’m just a massive, massive fan of Ham Sandwich. I own their records on vinyl. If you love an album you buy it on vinyl.’
Niamh: ‘They’re just veterans of the Irish music scene and I haven’t really heard anything from them in a long time...It’s a lovely track, I love the production on it. Especially on the vocals.’
Bee Mick See - Awkward
Niamh: ‘ Who doesn’t enjoy a bit of BeeMickSee? I really enjoy his style and I’ve seen him live and he’s great. The video that goes along with it is hilarious too and I just love that he puts so much effort into the full package.’
Jee4ce - Time Of Our Life
Niamh: ‘I loved that, I can’t believe that’s a Northern Irish artist originally because I suppose you wouldn’t associate Hip-Hop with Ireland at all.’
Rigsy: ‘In the past we’ve had the SirroccoMCs and Olympic Lifts who were both brilliant. But in the past six months we’ve been inundated with this kind of stuff and it’s always really beautifully produced and super authentic.’
Black Mono - Prosecutor
Rigsy: ‘Big chunky tune, big riffs. It’s kind of raw with a bit of a sheen, and I know that sounds like a complete contradiction but that’s what I’m hearing.’
Niamh: ‘A lot of female fronted bands are doing really well like September Girls and Cave Ghosts… they’re the kind of bands you’d see touring internationally now rather than it being a male dominated scene.’
Neon Atlas - Where Are We Now
Niamh: ‘It’s actually members of a big metal band from Cork back in the day. These guys are in their infancy but they already have a Radio 1 session behind them…I’m curious to see where they go from here.’
No Spill Blood - No Retreat
Niamh: ‘I’ve been championing these guys from the start but people can be quite divided by them. Their new stuff is leaps ahead of their debut EP.’
Elastic Sleep - Leave You
Niamh: ‘Probably one of my favourite Irish acts of the moment.’
Rigsy: ‘‘Wall of sound’ vibes off that. Kinda like My Blood Valentine. I really enjoyed that.’
Plain Zebra - Sorry About Being Blocked
Rigsy: ‘It does sound a bit lo-fi but good for it. Obviously they must a home studio to be able to knock out the tunes but when they’re as good as that, there’s no need to wait to go into a big studio ’
