IT IS unintentional, though quite fitting, that two of the bands featured on this month’s podcast have seasonally appropriate names.
Autumn Owls brought out their album at the perfect moment to showcase their chosen moniker, while Fern Floor evoke images of skeletal trees shedding their leaves.
* It is quite a busy month for album releases, which include the aforementioned Autumn Owls' Between the Buildings, Toward the Sea. Recorded in Chicago with Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine), it is out now. With its foreboding vocals and slow-building atmosphere, it is a perfect release for this time of year. autumnowls.com
* Clockwork Orchestra couldn't sound further from them. Friends Without Names shows off bedroom producer Paul Mangan's (below) quirky take on melody-driven electro-pop, which is refreshingly offbeat. clockworkorchestra.com
* Alias Empire release their single Lay Down on November 9th, with a launch gig on November 10th at Dublin's Twisted Pepper. This forceful electronic-driven track is a teaser for their forthcoming second album Safety In Numbers. aliasempire.com
* Soil Creep's music shelters its darkness under house-influenced synths and crunchy guitar lines, but new album Small Death eventually reveals this dark side. Find it at longlostrecords.bandcamp.com/ album/small-death
* Owensie's second album, Citizens, displays a new side to the musician. Recalling Elliott Smith with his fragile vocals and flamenco guitar-led songs, he's able to explore heavy themes (such as the current economic crisis) in a non-hackneyed way, while backed by an impressive band. outonalimbrecords.com
* There might be nobody else in Ireland making the music Fern Floor creates, which is all the more reason to pick up their album, Elder, from independent label Fort Evil Fruit. Think touches of pastoral folk, startling imagery and otherworldly vocals. fortevilfruit.blogspot.ie
