Joshua Burnside - Platonia

This blog first came across Lisbane artist Joshua Burnside back in July, with the self-release of his highly inventive E.P "If You're Goin' That Way". He has since signed to newly formed Belfast label Broken Melody Records, who to-date have released two compilation albums of some of the most interesting music from Northern Ireland.

His first stand-alone release on the label is a double-A side single. One of the tracks, "Desert Wine", appeared in a different form on his last E.P, but "Platonia" is a brand new recording. Similar to his previous releases, the song is very much indebted to the folk tradition, yet he adds he own spin to the genre, with electronic noodling, shifting time signatures, and even some subtle tropical influences underpinning the song, creating a song that fits somewhere between Tunng and Neutral Milk Hotel.

"Platonia" is available to download now for a reasonable price.

Colourmusic - Horse Race

In most cases when a band says that they're experimental, what they are really saying is "we're trying to sound like Radiohead, but are failing miserably." So it's nice to see a band who really are experimental, like Yorkshire/Oklahoma gang Colourmusic. To date, the band have written songs based on Newton’s theory of colour, as well as songs written at the tempo people have sex, and have given us wonderful songs like "Put In A Little Gas" and "Yes!" as a result of these sojourns into the left-field.

With a third album due out in 2014, the band have released their first track of the year, the low slung "Horse Race", a song that seeks to answer the question mankind has been asking for ages: "Do we need Wal-Marts in Heaven"? Anyone looking for theological certainty in this song will be disappointed, but for those people who love slow, groove-laden alternate-rock, then "Horse Race" might be the answer to your prayers.

Colourmusic's album "May You Marry Rich" will be released on March 24, with "Horse Race" available to download as an instant grat track with pre-orders.

Joshua Burnside - If You're Goin' That Way E.P

Following on from yesterday's artist who has taken folk in interesting directions, it's time to looking at an artist a little closer to home who is deconstructing the genre. Well, as long as that home is in Northern Ireland, and more specifically Lisbane in Co. Down, for that is the location of singer/songwriter/producer Joshua Burnside. He's released two E.Ps over the past few years, debuting his most recent one, "If You're Goin' That Way", last month.

"If You're Goin' That Way" should act as a good introduction to Burnside's sound, a mixture of deceptively lo-fi folk and sonic experimentation. The E.P's short opening track "Desert Wine" sets the scene for the E.P, mixing plaintive vocals and guitar playing with deep beats and hi-hats which could be best described as "curiously mad indeed." This is followed by "Black Dog Sin", a track which takes Tom Waits' saloon rock archetype and gives it an Irish traditional twist.

"Little Blind", the E.Ps strongest track, is one that plays fast and loose with structure. The first 2 minutes follow the standard angst-y folk pattern, before taking two abrupt generic shifts, firstly into jaunty, Duke Special-esque piano-pop, then switching into a cataclysmic ending with distorted vocals, giving off a slight Grandaddy vibe. The final two tracks on the album are more standard fare, "August 1973" being a decent interpretation of Nick Drake circa "Pink Moon", and "Half Holmes" being a straightforward folk-rock song. Decent tunes, but nowhere near matching the interesting ideas of the first three tracks on the E.P.

There are a few decent ideas floating about on the E.P, and whilst it might not be to everybody's tastes, it is nice to see a local artist attempting to do something different within a genre which is slowly reaching saturation point.

"If You're Goin' That Way" is available to download on a pay what you like basis.

Ghost Estates - Forever or Never

Dublin based 5 piece Ghost Estates are purveyors of the finest indie rock this Emerald Isle currently has to offer, at least that's what their stunning 2nd single "Forver or Never" seems to suggest.

The song is an fine piece of Pains of Being Pure at Heart-esque guitar pop, mixed with the style of mid-00s indie, and with an extended synth outro that calls to mind some of the more experiemental side of Radiohead. Ghost Estates are surely a band to be reckoned with.

"Forever or Never" is available to download for free from the band's Soundcloud page.