The Point of Everything

Chosta aka Conor Kelly is a Dublin artist who releases his debut album Twilight Transmission on Friday, February 17. He launches the record with a show at the Workman's Cellar that night. Twilight Transmission is a concept record about a fictional network of interconnected radio stations, inspired by the outliers of radio station programming, including Donal Dineen, NTS and Dublin Digital Radio, i...

Dublin-based three-piece Crowhammer released their eight-plus-years-in-the-making debut album Vol 1: Tales from Vertexia on New Year's Day 2023. Mixing kraut, prog, stoner, and space rock together, it's a wild concept album that you'll want to play very loudly as you parse the story. Here's what Crowhammer say of the concept: In a far off galaxy an evil wizard has unleashed a deadly virus on the p...

The long-awaited debut album You from Dublin five-piece Meltybrains? was released on January 25 via Strange Brew records. Brian Dillon talks about what took them so long, their various acquaintances and sideprojects along the way - Micheál Quinn drums for Dermot Kennedy for example, Sim Simma is always one of the best parts of festival season, while Brian and Ben Bix also helped make the music, wi...

On the first episode of 2023, Damien Tuit, guitarist in the Murder Capital, joins to talk about their great second album Gigi's Recovery - and being from Rosscarbery, West Cork. We talk about how the band started, the impact of debut album When I Have Fears, and making the new album amid Covid lockdowns. Murder Capital play Vicar Street on February 26. 34.23: Graham Patterson is the director of Ou...

Trad duo Ispíní na hEireann are the hardest working band on the island of Ireland and have just released their debut album called.... The Hard Working Men. On a wet Wednesday afternoon in the back of the Cobblestone bar in Smithfield, Dublin, we talk about the protests last year to save the pub and Ispíní's role in it. We also discuss how they got together and why the seisúin is so important. Then...

10.11: Kate Ellis, artistic director of Crash Ensemble, talks through their 25th anniversary celebrations, involving a new album, [REACTIONS], an installation, and a couple of shows at the NCH (more info below). Plus we talk about Kate's journey to this point, how a tap on the shoulder as she was walking down Grafton Street changed everything for her. We hear three Crash tracks from [REACTIONS]: O...

3.55: Andrew from the Mary Wallopers on 'ooh ahh up the Ra', politics, Irish unity - oh yeah, and music. We talk about their brilliant self-titled debut album and why it took so long to release it (and why they said no to the music labels) https://marywallopers.bandcamp.com/album/the-mary-wallopers-2 New Irish music 37.39: Alain McFadden aka All The Brave Hunters on his debut single Rising https:/...

5.32: Belfast-based artist Clara Tracey on her brilliant debut album Black Forest, recorded with Daniel Fox (Gilla Band) and released on Pizza Pizza Records. Clara talks about her album launch, cakes, how her homeopath forced her to contact Daniel Fox, influences and more New music section: 35.49: Ways of Seeing - Every Night https://waysofseeing.bandcamp.com/album/end-comes-to-light 39.56: Dashod...

3.56: Dublin singer-songwriter Rosa Nutty on her debut album World Still Blue, taking a four-year break to make it, almost getting stuck in Utah at the start of the pandemic, space, living away from Dublin (she's currently in Cavan) and lots more https://rosanutty.bandcamp.com/album/world-still-blue 52.53: Cork producer ActualAcid aka Jack Corrigan on his debut album Boredoms 400, Hausu Records, l...

5.00: Cork five-piece God Alone on their brilliant second album ETC, released on Prosthetic Records. We talk about influences, from Talking Heads to Foals, and melding their various sounds with metal, how the band started, Cork (!), and their goals with ETC https://godalone.bandcamp.com/album/etc 47.36: Sligo artist Brídín chats about her self-titled debut album, her job as a funeral director and...

3.55: Cork pop star Lyra talks about her new single '29 Box' and her upcoming tour - plus supporting Westlife on their UK arena tour. Lyra coined the term ‘29 Box’ herself - it references the most common size dimension of Snapshots used to create the perfect aesthetic on social platform sites. She says: "While social media is an invaluable tool and networking system, it can consume you and a small...

2.12: Gilla Band singer Dara Kiely and guitarist Alan Duggan talk about their criticially acclaimed third album Most Normal. Gilla Band play the National Stadium in Dublin on December 9 and Belfast's Empire Music Hall on December 15. https://gillaband.bandcamp.com/album/most-normal 48.41: Bantum aka Ruairi Lynch is back on the show to talk about his new single 'On The Double', his new project The...

6.19: Sixth-generation Cork fiddle player Clare Sands talks about her self-titled debut album and how it was inspired by the west coast of Ireland. We also talk martial arts, getting punched in the face in the middle of the night, and the white Russian cocktails... https://claresands.bandcamp.com/album/clare-sands 1.11.35: Farah Elle chats ahead of the release of her debut album Fatima, released o...

5.33: Sorcha Richardson gives us a track-by-track breakdown of her brilliant second album Smiling Like an Idiot https://sorcharichardson.bandcamp.com/album/smiling-like-an-idiot 1.06.22: R Kitt talks about the Give Us The Night campaign, what they expected and were hoping for in the budget, and what to look forward to at Haunted Dance Hall at the National Concert Hall this weekend. shorturl.at/dgM...

4.40: Derry artist Roe talks about her debut album That's When The Panic Sets In, which is released on Friday, September 23. She talks about releasing it in two parts, deciding to dump her debut album while in a Reykjavík supermarket late one night, recording with Tommy McLaughlin at Attica Audio, and takes us through some of the tracks on the record. https://roemusicofficial.bandcamp.com/ 32.56:...

5.24: Daithí returns to the show to chat about his third album I'm Here Now, released on September 9 on Galway's Strange Brew records and featuring collaborators Ailbhe Reddy and Sinéad White (‘Sunset’), David Tapley of Tandem Felix (‘Polypoly’), Uly (‘Like The Water’), and Neil Dexter (‘Keep It For The Next One’). We discuss his running of artists' hideaway the Beekeepers, recording samples of ga...

4.45: Junior Brother chats about his brilliant second album The Great Irish Famine https://juniorbrother.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-irish-famine 1.08.25: Katie Kim releases fifth album Hour of the Ox on Friday, September 9, the final one under the moniker. We talk about why she's ending it and how the album came together. Katie Kim plays the Button Factory on September 10. Tickets: https://www.e...

5.05: Galway composer and singer Anna Mullarkey talks about her debut album Falling, which has just come out on Strange Brew records. We chat about her journey from Inishturk as a five-year-old to get sung at on the streets of Sweden to her first foray with a band in the Fellow Sponges and composing for film and theatre. Features lots of talk about synths. https://annamullarkey.bandcamp.com/ 56.02...

1.01: Some thoughts on Another Love Story festival, which returned to Killyon Manor at the weekend. 6.32: Marketa Irglova on Lila, her first album in eight years and the third in a trilogy. She talks about her journey from Once to entering Iceland's Eurovision song contest, and some of the stories behind the tracks on Lila, and influences such as Bridgerton and other TV shows. https://open.spotify...

A mid-west special of the TPOE podcast this week.... 4.15: God Knows on his new EP We Move the Needle, out on Narolane Records, and the Denise Chaila show taking place at St John's Castle in Limerick City on Saturday, August 20 https://narolanerecords.bandcamp.com/artists 32.33: Elaine Howley discusses her debut solo album The Distance Between Heart and Mouth, released via Belfast's Touch Sensitiv...

We're fully recovered from All Together Now (just about), have listened to some episodes of WTF with Marc Maron and ready to go again. Coming up on episode 230 of the TPOE Podcast: 5:52 An interview with Thumper frontman Oisin Leahy Furlong about their debut album Delusions of Grandeur, which came out in March. We talk about touring, being a six-piece (and having two drummers), overcoming writer's...

We've just about recovered from a great bank holiday weekend in Waterford for All Together Now, returning for the first time since 2019. Nick Cave was the main attraction, delivering possibly the best performance ever seen at an Irish music festival. While reviewing ATN with a little help from some friends such as punters Tara Robinson and Niall Mac Suain, artist Ailbhe Reddy, and Grub Circus cura...

On this episode of the TPOE podcast, we go through some more underrated Irish albums before we chat with Aidan Hanratty who runs the Bandcloud newsletter. Bandcloud is a weekly roundup of releases on Bandcamp and Soundcloud selected and delivered by Aidan. Mostly house/techno/ambient/drone. Then it's an interview with Myles O'Reilly about his journey from making film as Arbutus Yarns back into mus...

1. Journalist Lauren Murphy joins to discuss the list she put together of 10 21st-century Irish albums that have been overlooked and underappreciated. Read the list at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/irish-albums-that-deserve-a-repeat-play-752n850zc 2. Ronan Leonard saw Arab Strap four times in the past week. He explains why he thinks they're the best band in the world. Follow Ronan on social...

The Choice Music Prize for best Irish album released in 2021 takes place this Thursday, March 3. The nominees are: Bicep – Isles (Ninja Tune) Mick Flannery & Susan O'Neill - In the Game (Rosaleen Records / Rosa Productions) For Those I Love - For Those I Love (September Recordings) Orla Gartland - Woman on the Internet (New Friends Music) HousePlants - Dry Goods (Bone China Records) Kojaque - Town...