Ciaran Lavery and Ryan Vail are two of the most interesting solo artists around these parts, but it’s fair to say they inhabit different parishes.

Lavery is a folky troubadour of the old school: someone soaked in the influences of Neil, Townes, Gene and the like.
Ryan, on the other hand, is an electro purist, a producer of sublime electronic music for more than a half-decade.
When there are local showcases, the pair would probably both sit high on the invite list. But they’d also most likely end up playing in different venues.
Which is daft, of course. But which also makes the news that they’ve been working on a record together all the more intriguing.
Sea Legs – the resulting mini-album – is a collection full of mood, heart, mystery and nuance.
What’s striking is how neither man seems to be braying for superiority or top billing.
The found sound and recorded monologues make it seem like a piece in itself, something they’ve both committed to and allowed themselves to be led by.
It sounds like a first trip too. Hopefully it will dredge up enough interest for a longer voyage in the near future.
Speaking of unlikely alliances – who ever imagined a pact forming between Mark ‘Arborist’ McCambridge and Kim Deal?
Yes, the Kim Deal. Hats off to the Ballymena singer: whatever his ‘in’, the strength of the beautiful ‘Twisted Arrow’ proved to be draw enough for the Breeders star.
The result is a lovely, ebb-and-eddy duet that should hopefully propel Mark onto many more playlists. He’s accumulated enough songs of quality to make himself at home in any library, but like most of his contemporaries has found it difficult grabbing the attention of strangers.
This song, though, will make lots of people sit up and take notice.
Another nice pairing is that of Malojian and Richard Davis, on the promo film for the former’s ace ‘Communion Girls’.
Stevie has crowd-sourced enough funding to release his remarkable album, Southlands.
It’s a top-of-the-tree kind of record, so it’s only fitting that the lead-off track is backed with a film full of wit and invention. Richard – a notable songwriter in his own right – has established himself as a filmmaker to watch over the last few years. So, try to watch this film he’s made.
Eoin O’Callaghan (aka Best Boy Grip) has one unlikely collaboration in the bag (on the song ‘Sharks’, which he co-wrote with Guillem Ballague, the Spanish football pundit), but all his focus at the moment is trained on the debut album he’s releasing in the summer.
He’s using the single ‘Sharks’ to secure the beachhead. Neil Hughes, Bee Mick See, The Answer and the brilliant Documenta all seem to be emerging from a spell of hibernation too.
Who said spring was in the air?