Ray Recommends: June's Irish music picks from The Shift
Hello, Ray C here with another selection of newly released Irish music that has been featured on my show The Shift over the month of June. There were some amazing tunes out this month, some of the artists you may know and some you may only be discovering for the first time. Either way, Enjoy!
JisCo DaZz – Love Dancin EP
JisCo DaZz is Darren ‘Daz’ Dalton's solo project, one-half of Waterford’s biggest Djing exports, Get Down Edits. Daz has had a few releases this year under the JisCo DaZz moniker but this is his first full EP release. Daz has the honour of being the 100th release for the amazing Hot Digits Music. Their back catalogue is, to my ears, an outstanding contribution to the Nu-Disco scene. The Love Dancin EP is 4 tracks of head-bopping feet shuffling disco grooves and is worth having in your music collection. The title track also features Newbridge natives the unreal, Mix & Fairbanks.
Summer vibes guaranteed, details below.
Stream Love Dancin EP HERE
Sinead O’Brien – Like Culture
Limerick's own Punk Poet Sinead O’Brien is having one hell of a summer so far. Last month she performed on Later…with Jools Holland. In June Sinead released her debut album – Time Bend And Break The Bower. Sinead was also the opening act for 80’s legends Duran Duran in Dublin earlier this month. I was at this gig and Simon Le Bon came out on stage at the very start and introduced Sinead and said he would normally not do something like this but, Sinead is THAT good.
To top off the month of June, if you watched BBC at Glastonbury last weekend you may have spotted Sinead performing live. I do recommend listening to the entire album as it's pure class with a great variety of styles from track to track. I picked Like Culture as it a proper festival banger and the one she finished with at the Duran Duran gig which got the crowd ready for a great evening.
Stream Like Culture HERE
Cal Pacino – I’ve Been Away For Awhile
This is the first track from Déise Don Cal Pacino's forthcoming debut album Sowing Seeds.
I’ve heard a few tracks from Cal over the years. His style, not that it’s hard to describe, is a mash of elements from Hip-hop, Soul, Folk, Funk and so much more, he really can let the vibes flow in his music. Speaking of flow when it comes to lyrics, Cal can hit hard and gritty or he can be a charmer.
I’ve Been Away is something a little different than I’ve heard from Cal. It’s got all the music you’d expect to hear in his tracks but this one feels, he’ll probably kill me for saying this, a lot more pop sounding than what I’m used to from him. NOW this is NOT a bad thing, quite the opposite, it’s class and it’s a great way to introduce new ears to his music and to the new album.
Stream I've Been Away For a Little While HERE
Kormac – New Day Ft Jack O’Rourke (Narolane Remix)
Kormac has been a mainstay on the Irish club scene for many years. Starting out as out as a hip-hop scratch DJ he is now releasing music that goes beyond his roots but yet keeping that vibe. He’s had his music featured on TV shows for HBO and in movies. You can find out more about that here.
New Day is the first single from Kormac's new label Always The Sound. The original track features an artist who I’ve been playing on my show for many years, Jack O’Rourke from Cork. I think this is the first time I’ve heard Jack's vocals over a dance tune, and it sounds savage. The reason I picked the Narolane remix of the track over the original is simple really; they bring the elements of the original but add some urban spice. Narolane is a collective from Limerick whose founders are the very skilled Denise Chaila, God Knows and MuRli.
Stream New Day HERE
