Kevin Courtney's guide to singles, downloads and free audiostreams
ARCADE FIRE Intervention Sonovox *****
For the handful of doubting Thomases who haven't yet surrendered to Montreal's musical messiahs, here's a pipe organ-drenched song about hypocrisy. After you've heard the fire-and-brimstone beats and such lines as "working for the church while your family dies", you will be saaaved!
STELLARSOUND FT PAULA FLYNN Let's Dance EMI **
Armagh girl Paula recorded this breathy Bowie cover for a laugh and it ended up on the Ballygowan ad. She's now doing her debut album in between lectures at DCU; expect the advertising execs to snap it up.
AMP FIDDLER FT CORINNE BAILEY RAE If I Don't Wall of Sound ***
The keyboard-tinkling Detroit funkateer goes back to the 1920s for this jazzy little number, and does the Charleston with Corinne ("Wot, you calling me a flapper?") Listen to more fab, funky stuff, including a cover of Hendrix's Hey Joe, on www.ampfiddler. com.
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM All My Friends DFA ****
As a linchpin of the Brooklyn indie-dance scene, James Murphy's not short of friends, and if they all came back to his house, there'd be no room for Daft Punk. Sounds like John Adams wrote the repeated
piano line on this frantic tune. Hear clips from the fab album, Sound of Silver, on www. lcdsoundsystem.com.
!!! Must Be the Moon Warp ***
Unlike fictional band And And And from The Commitments, the US electro-funk collective have no trouble deciding where to put the exlamation mark. Here's a lunatic tune about trying to pick up a babe with the chat-up line "I'm in Chk Chk Chk". Hear it on www.chkchkchk.com
THE FLAWS Sixteen Arrivals Records ****
For a small backwater some- where east of the M50, Dublin is producing some pretty good bands lately. OK, these guys have their flaws, but this fan favourite is a pristine indie tune, as is the B-side, the vacantly pretty Punk. Catch these guys on the 2FM 2moro 2our, rolling into your big town any day now.