This is the first in a short series of Make Me An Island episodes chronicling the best new music released worldwide in 2022.In this opening chapter there's an ode to fresh electronic sounds in the shape of debut releases from Naty Seres from Berlin, Surusinghe from London and Deekapz out of São Paolo.There's proof of why Shygirl has been one of the year's stand-out artists and more essential sounds from her American peers, 070 Shake and Ela Minus.We discover why Pusha T is a contender for...

On this third Fresh Éire installment, Dónal goes digging for fire among a plethora of new Irish releases. There's a written response to Anna Mieke's magnificent sophomore album Theatre and a tribute to the independent Dublin label Where The Time Goes with a couple of examples of dynamic recent releases from them in the shape of Jennifer Moore and Seán Being.  There's also the return of Meltybrains? to celebrate, a glorious Captain Beefheart cover from Niamh Regan to marvel over and fresh...

On this episode, Dónal trawls through a significant bunch of homegrown releases in search of gold. Indicative of just how healthy a state Irish music is in 2022, he finds it aplenty. There's a wide range of styles to admire and enjoy from Lisa O'Neill's glorious return with Old Note to Eoghan O Ceannabháin's singular sound on his stunning solo debut to fresh and invigorating releases from a slew of artists whose careers are in their embryonic stage like CoEx, Trick Mist, LOSHH and...

Diving in at the deep end after a summer hiatus, Dónal Dineen presents a guide to the most essential new music and re-issues from around the world.   He strikes gold twice upon encounters with the enchanting song-world of Japanese artist Hatis Noit and the glorious amalgamation of sounds that comprises the compelling solo work of Californian violinist and vocalist Brittney Denis Parks who records as Sudan Archives.   There’s dispatches from the wild sonic frontier in the shape of the...

Recorded live on the All Curious Minds stage at the All Together Now festival in Waterford on July 31st, Dónal takes a deep dive into the music of Columbia with regular islander and all-round fount of knowledge, Brian Cross AKA B+.  

Dónal’s search for the perfect summer dancing soundtrack takes him to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe where he takes a deep-dive into the ancient Gwo Ka sound. The journey begins and ends in land-locked Zimbabwe however where we tune into the emotional sound of The Movers who are just about to have a comprehensive retrospective released by the ever-brilliant Analog Africa label.    We stop-over for another blast of Cape Verdean magic from Manuel Gomes before making land on Guadeloupe and...

  To compensate for the lack of actual sunshine, Dónal Dineen takes a trip closer to the equator in this episode to visit the Cape Verde islands and Haiti in search of the perfect summer soundtrack.   The journey starts off in land-locked Mexico where we hear an example of the Rebajada sound -  where the sonideros (sound-system operators) were fond of slowing down the Cumbia beat to make it more tangible music to dance to.   The temperature rises and tempo increases as we skip to the Sao...

  This week’s trawl through the megahertz begins at home with Dónal reviewing two new standout Irish releases.   There’s a radiant new single from Aoife Nessa Frances and the long-awaited sophomore record from Caoímhín O’Raghallaigh and Dan Trueman, The Fate of Bones.   We skip to northern Mali to marvel at the latest offering from desert blues royalty Terakaft and while we’re there we jump back in time to introduce a timeless dance floor anthem played on the Balafon by Neba...

This week’s trawl through the megahertz throws up some sizzling summer dance floor heat from Ireland, Germany and New Zealand.  First up is the collaboration between Icelandic queen Mr Silla and uncrowned Irish electronica king New Jackson. Five years in the making, Holding On was worth the wait. DJ Koze’s sound-clash with Sophia Kennedy is equally intoxicating as is the latest release from Eden Burns who has been making banging boom tunes from his bedroom on the South Island of New Zealand...

The long-awaited sophomore solo concertina album “B” from Cormac Begley is our album of the week/month/year and in this latest instalment of our series on new musical discoveries, Dónal explains why. We also get to marvel at some more instrumental virtuosity from saxophonists Alabaster dePlume and Patrick Shiroishi. There’s a pair of exciting dispatches from the new frontier of sound by Irish producers Kean Kavanagh and Lullahush as well as a reminder of why the name of London-based...

Some more examples of electronic experimentation from the wild frontier open this 8th instalment of our guide to new music. Firstly ELLES from Lisbon then Lyra Pramuk from Berlin and Okou & Casey MQ from Paris set the twilight reeling.  The intriguing rapping style of South London Vietnamese artist Triad God is just one of the things that set him apart. He also invents sound worlds all of his own as do the South African band John Wizards, London producer Apiento and New York sonic...

The DIY bedroom-producer stars of this episode are Joseph Kamaru from Nairobi recording in Berlin under the name KMRU, Tristan Arp from Mexico City and CARM out of New York. We celebrate the release of the wonderful new record from Inni-K which fashions a new sonic cloak for the ancient sean-nós form and re-visit the music of Nicolas Jaar and his deepest work yet, Cenizas. In between, there’s time to marvel at the powerful sounds of resistance coming from the alto-saxophone of Matana...

Episode Six starts off with some DIY magic from Budapest courtesy of Goshaven before relocating to the Parisian suburb of Montreuil to hear the freshest of Moroccan-Egyptian hybrid rap from TripleGo. Homage is paid to the all-powerful street-fired Kinshasa collective Kasai Allstars and to the electronic pioneer and unique musical spirit Beverly Glenn Copeland. Hats are tipped to perennial kings of the wild frontier The Bonk and introductions made to new sounds from Welsh electronic...

Dónal presents a fifth instalment to the rough guide to the year in new music 2021.   This leg of the journey starts with some instrumental wonders from Kuwait via Senegal before checking out some more DIY masterpieces from bedrooms in Brooklyn and Moscow. There's underground magic from the evergreen musical hotspots of Berlin and the East End of London as well as another slice of Canadian dance-floor heat from Eris Drew. There's also sublime lockdown music for strings made remotely by Kate...

Dónal presents a fourth instalment of the rough guide to the year in new music 2021.   This leg of the journey takes in more sounds of resistance from the streets of Philadelphia and Cleveland before celebrating some UK DIY masterpieces from Bristol, London and Glasgow. There's also another example of that particularly unique kind of magic coming from the Equiknoxx crew in Jamaica as well as a journey deep into Arabic soul courtesy of MSYLMA from Cairo and a reminder of the enduring power of...

Dónal presents a third instalment of the rough guide to the year in new music, 2021.   This leg of the journey includes some very modern takes on classical music from India and Guatemala via Mexico as well fresh rap sounds from Paris and Jamaica and an African percussion supergroup based in London. There's innovative electronic compositions from Peru, Belgium, Canada and South Africa as well as a whole bunch of more reasons why Chicago was on the edge of the new frontier once again in...

Dónal presents a sound map of the year of 2021 in new music.   This second instalment delves into the work of future guest islanders, Karl Jonas Winqvist and Mario Batkovic. It also marks the glorious return of Colleen in 2021 before celebrating the latest wave of fresh magic from the musical hotspot of Chicago in the shape of Noname, Angel Bat Dawid and Kahil El'Zabar. Support the music-makers on Bandcamp:   Helado Negro https://heladonegro.bandcamp.com/album/sound-and-vision Ralph...

In another singular twelve months for new sounds Dónal charts the year in tunes. The stated criterion is that it's new names only but some diversions are taken to include essential releases from familiar artists like Shirley Collins, Dean Blunt and Oneohtrix Point Never. Otherwise it's a voyage of discovery all the way from the frozen north in Norway to the beating heart of Niger.    Support the music-makers on Bandcamp:   Lighight...

An entirely incomprehensive review of another certifiably brilliant year for Irish music. Dónal guides us through a selection of this year's loves showcasing the extraordinary range of great sounds emerging from this island in 2021.    Support Irish music on...

In association with the National Concert Hall, a Make Me An Island Live special edition with Martin Hayes. To mark the release of his autobiography, Shared Notes, Martin gives Dónal an illustrated guide to the many twists and turns that have marked his singular journey into sound. From his first steps with the Tulla Céilí Band in East Clare through his ground-breaking collaboration with Dennis Cahill to giant leaps undertaken on the world’s greatest concert stages with The Gloaming and...

The ground-breaking album Tá Go Maith is one of the year’s finest. Recorded live at the Sugar Club on October 20th, Dónal gets a guided tour of the inspiration behind the record and the story of its creation from Rónán O’Snodaigh and producer Myles O’Reilly before listening to a selection of tunes played live in the room.   https://ronanosnodaigh.bandcamp.com/album/t-go-maith   ///  

Recorded live at the Sugar Club in Dublin on October 20th, 2021, this show is dedicated to the recently departed master box player and genius film-maker, Tony Mc Mahon.   Uilleann piper Louise Mulcahy leads the tribute with a stirring version of  Port na bPucaí before talking in-depth about her forthcomng film on Irish women pipers, Mná na bPíob.   Spoken word boss, Natalya O'Flaherty, gives her first live performance in over 18 months and talks about inspiration and the writing process. 

The last episode in our summer 2021 series was recorded at Mike and Gráinne O'Neill's Beach Cafe in the seaside village of Fenit in North Kerry.   We're conducting some more musical introductions in this edition as both Cathal Caufield and Killian O'Flanagan, recording as Kú, are at the beginning of their journeys into sound. We listen to their respective debut releases; Cathal's 'The Morning Trush' and 'Jack & Susan go for a drive' by Kú before enjoying a selection of tunes live from...

Donal travels to Ennistymon in County Clare to meet up with Anna-Mieke, Branwen and Zoe Basha who have taken their Rufous Nightjar project on the road for the first time.   We get to hear how they first got together and what's in store with their debut album which is nearing completion.   We also get to listen to some stunning live takes form their shows in the Oo La La creperie in Ennistymon and Levi's bar in Ballydehob County Cork.