Northern Ireland Tunes - Round-Up #30

We're in to August now in Belfast, which means that the summer is well and truly here. Well, we say summer, what we really mean is that the the usual Found Fossil grey skies are more of an Almost Oyster instead, at least if the Dulux Colour Scheme is anything to go by.

But anyway, you haven't came here to hear about multiple shades of grey, you want music, and new Northern Irish music at that. So here's a few new songs from here that are sure to float your Metaphorical Boat this month:
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Hit The B Button! - Martial

Belfast based trio Hit The B Button! seem to experiment with what alternative rock is expected to be on their interesting debut E.P "Apartments". The choice cut from the record is the opening track "Martial", which sees the band mix subtle elements of chiptune and other electronic interestingness into the sound. It reminds me a little bit of the band Gay Dad in places, which by the way is a good thing (despite that band being seen as a running joke for bands who were hyped to the high heavens but failed to deliver, I actually have a soft spot for them. After all, you'd have to be particularly begrudging not to admit admirable qualities in the songs "Joy!" and "From Earth With Love").

Note - "Martial" should not be confused with the song "Marshall" by Wonder Villains. It's pronounced the same, but spelt differently.


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Mons Olympus - Critical Mass

Formed from the derelict remains of Chocolate Love Factory, prog-rock trio Mons Olympus have unleashed upon us their epic debut single. "Critical Mass" is an 8 minute pummelling behemoth of a song, full of twists, turns and paranoia, a bit like Muse at their most bombastic and apocalyptic, albeit much, much heavier.


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Rebekah Wilson - One Day More

Anyone who is aware of the Northern Irish music scene will have came across Rebekah Wilson at some point - after all, she is probably the biggest supporter we have of local music. Whether it's being a part of the brilliant Volume Control initiative, banging on about the latest releases on her Twitter page or seemingly trying to cover every Northern Irish song ever on YouTube, her passion for the scene is something quite special.

But as well as being an uber music fan, she's also an artist in her own right, and has just released her first single, "One Day More". Quite impressively, despite being only 16 years old, not only has she played all the instruments on the recording herself, she also producing, mixed and mastered it as well. With such a prodigious talent, she is only going to get better and better over the next few years. And Northern Irish music will be privileged to have her with us.


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Tatsuhiro - 時計の針が (Valentine)

I don't think we've ever had any drum and bass on The Metaphorical Boat to date, so there's no time like the present to remedy that. Belfast based producer Daniel Carville has just released an E.P under the moniker Tatsuhiro, which mixes regular drum and bass with influences mined from J-Pop. Taken from the E.P is the single "時計の針が (Valentine)" (which apparently translates as "The Clock's Hands"), which is quite an interesting sounding track indeed.