Fifteen-Love
For this week's Human Recommendation radio show on Flirt FM I tried to squeeze in as many acts as possible, into the hour long set.
The show included 15 super tracks from bands from Dublin, Donegal, the UK, Chicago, L.A., Toronto, Brisbane, Melbourne, Nova Scotia and Quebec City.
I’m still trying get the balance of sufficient introductory words before the music right, without talking over what's important… the music!
So in this newsletter, I took the opportunity to try add some further context for the listener to the amazing independent artists out there, playing their hearts out.
These independent acts just don't get enough exposure from mainstream music outlets.
From Down Under 🇦🇺
Australian band Floodlights opened the show with a song called “Buoyant” from their excellent ‘Underneath’ album. An A. O. T. Y contender for sure.
They also performed a wonderful, stunning full set of the album at Northcote Uniting church in Melbourne. It is available on YouTube and definitely worthy of your full attention.
Another Aussie band I'm enjoying right now are Fragile Animals. They are embarking on a European tour which includes a couple of dates in Ireland thankfully and they have a new single called “Worldview”.
I spoke to lead singer and bassist Victoria Jenkins about their early years releasing two EPs 'Light That Fades' and 'Only Shallow // Only More', their highly successful and popular debut album 'Slow Motion Burial' which dropped in 2023 after coming out of the difficult Covid 19 pandemic, life in Brisbane, the excitement of touring Europe. She was super friendly to talk to and the interview is available on Mixcloud:
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The Human Recommendation interview #25, Fragile Animals by The Human Recommendation | Mixcloud
The Human Recommendation is a biweekly radio show on Flirt FM 101.3 in Galway city showcasing the best of indie & alternative music from Ireland and around the globe. But in this special interview side project, host Damien had the opportunity to chat with Victoria Jenkins from Aussie shoe-gazers Fragile Animals. Victoria spoke about the early years releasing two Eps 'Light That Fades' and 'Only Shallow // Only More', their highly successful debut album 'Slow Motion Burial' which dropped in 2023...
Far Caspian is Irish multi-instrumentalist and producer Joel Johnston and he has released a follow up single called “An Outstretched Hand / Rain From Here To Kerry”, I’m really looking forward to hearing the upcoming album ‘Autofiction’, it is due for release on Tiny Library Records July 25th.
Chicagoans
The Dead Bolts are true Chicagoans, from the south side and are passionate people, proud of their city, their sports and their music.
They played a Audiotree live session with songs from their excellent ‘Bèau Mondè’ record. I picked “For the night” for inclusion in the show.
The Dead Bolts are destined to kick down the door and make their presence felt, they have a sort of siege mentality against a music industry that has done them no favours. Front man Eddie Hennessy was a great guest to interview and you can read a bit more on the band in our interview on my Medium.com music blog:
I don’t care, if you don’t care!. A conversation with Eddie Hennessy… | by Damien Joyce | Medium
A conversation with Eddie Hennessy, front man of Chicago’s rock band The Dead Bolts
Audiotree are a music discovery platform based on live performances that are recorded in the company studios in Chicago.
OK Cool have also played a session for Audiotree in the past. They are from a different part of the windy city but this EMO band also pack a punch. Their single “Waawooweewaa” is from the forthcoming record ‘Chit-Chat’
The resurgence of EMO, potentially on it's fifth wave at this point continues to fascinate me. It was Denver EMO band A Place for Owls that rekindled my interest in the genre.
Wed to the Moment
Metò is a Quebec based artist, who plays indie folk music blending ambient rock elements. His musical compositions traverse a diverse range of tones and textures. This is the third track from his record I have included, called “I’m on a Cave Riding Home“
In a wide ranging thoughtful interview, he spoke to me about making his debut album 'Wed to the Moment', which was recorded in part from spontaneous improvisations captured on a portable Tascam recorder!
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The Human Recommendation interview #20, indie-folk multi-instrumentalist Metò! by The Human Recommendation | Mixcloud
The Human Recommendation is a biweekly radio show on FlirtFm 101.3 FM in Galway city showcasing the best of indie & alternative music from Ireland and around the globe. But in this special interview side project, host Damien had to opportunity to chat to Quebec city native Metò, who is an indie-folk multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and producer. His musical compositions traverse a diverse range of tones and textures. In a wide ranging interview, he spoke about making his debut album 'We...
L. A.’s Mt Joy feature Gigi Perez on their new album ‘Hope we have fun’, on the track “In the middle”. The arrangement works so well and the track slotted nicely into the show sequence, alongside Metò.
Wunderhorse appeared on BBC’s Later with Jools Holland playing their awesome new single ‘The Rope’. It was such a stomping performance, I just had to include the song in the show.
‘Lame Horse' is a great track by Cut Cult from Canning, Nova Scotia. Brian Borcherdt, Loel Campbell, and Matt McQuaid are three of the forming, former, and current members of Holy F*** (XL Records, Kobalt). Their debut EP. P. 'First Three' is available from cutcult.bandcamp.com
More Irish acts
Tramp are from the North West of the country, they are a raucous live act and are releasing a physical release of their ‘Bimbofication’ EP and ‘Junkie’ is a belter! If you get a chance to see them play live, don't hesitate.. They are a like a northern cyclone, chaotic energy.
The Murder Capital need no introduction but I think they are often over-shadowed by D. C. Fontaines, And their ‘Blindness’ album contains some stellar tracks including “Words lost meaning”.
Pillow Queens’ album ‘Name Your Sorrow’ was one of my favourite records from 2024 and “Like a lesson” is one of the best tracks from it.
Instrumental music
I can't believe its something I wrote back in 2014, but I wrote a blog post on instrumental bands and genres like post rock
Crowd sourcing your music discovery • Buttondown
The human recommendation is still king While reading to my children, I came across a lovely line in one of the Lemony Snickett books, where it goes:...
Yuuf are a recent discovery for me and are awesome musicians who blend their diverse musical tastes into their sound. Their upcoming 5-track EP, 'Alma's Cove', is set for release on June 20th via Ninja Tune’s Technicolour imprint.
”Alma's Cove“ is also the first single from the E.P. I interviewed Yuuf last week, they're a great bunch of music nerds 🤓 and exceptional musicians who love to talk about music discoveries.
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The Human Recommendation interview #24, with Yuuf, an awesome four-piece instrumental band by The Human Recommendation | Mixcloud
The Human Recommendation is a biweekly radio show on Flirt FM 101.3 in Galway city showcasing the best of indie & alternative music from Ireland and around the globe. But in this special interview side project, host Damien had to opportunity to chat with Yuuf, an exceptional four-piece instrumental band. The band members are Andrin (Percussion), Oli (Drums), Hugo(Guitar), Anthony (Bass) and hail from Switzerland, Denmark, France, and England. These awesome musicians blend their diverse musical ...
Another 2024 Album I enjoyed was ‘On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System’ by Welsh indie band The Bug Club. They’re back with
LP number four called ‘Very Human Features’ which is available on June 13th and “Jealous boy” is a notable single from that and I dig it!
Tractor Beam closed out the show. He is a Toronto based producer/artist. I’ve been playing his Monoliths & The Early Reflections EPs a lot… and “Faded and Jaded“ is one of my favourite songs from it.
Sasha Balazic, (Tractor Beam) also mixed and recorded the debut E.P for Wiles ‘If You Can Hear Me Now You’re Not Far Enough Away’. Some of the members of Wiles appear on tracks throughout including Kate Cunningham.
“If You Can Hear Me Now You’re Not Far Enough Away” | by Damien Joyce | May, 2025 | Medium
Falling for Wiles, your next favourite Vancouver band
Unfortunately, Kate recently suffered a vocal chord injury and she can’t perform live at the moment. I'm hoping she bounces back quickly and makes a speedy recovery, get well Kate!
Until the next time, remember to support independent music and reject algorithmic curation.