i presume you're taking about the "smaller" acts sneaking their way up as opposed to the big established ones that have made it on home turf and are looking beyond - like bell x1, future kings of spain etc www.cpu.ie is a very good site with a load of artists and tunes to stream/download, unfortunately the quality of bands isn't too consistent but it's refreshing when you do come across true talent, you'll find links for these three in the artists section: Jessie & Layla ...have the album, v good Me In The Park Soviet Filter 66e must check out the album, getting lots of plaudits, and the mention of explosions in the sky in an article i read is enough for me don't catch many gigs myself, saw Polar a couple of times last year and they're excellent

He's hardly new whack but he doesn't get away from Dundalk much it seems. This week he did by all accounts..on a mini tour. It's Louth punk poet Jinx Lennon...the Bukowski of the Cooley Mountains!

you should check out thumped.com and trustmeimathief.com. on these sites you will find out about alot of the good new bands. thumped especially is a great site for info and has a good forum.

have a read through the review section here, you'll find out a little about most of the decent local bands. www.cpu-records.com is also good to have a listen to.

Heres a pretty good site hosting some great Irish Bands. Click on the radio section and you can listen to sample songs.... http://www.trustmeimathief.com/

Check out Pony Club, very good live, recording their 3rd album at the mo I believe, have seen em bout 6 or 7 times live over the last say 3 years and they are rather marvellous to say the least, plenty to check out and listen to on their site here www.ponyclub.tv

A few Irish bands to check out: The Frames www.theframes.ie Bell X1 www.bellx1.com Republic Of Loose www.republicofloose.com Nero www.nero-official.com 66e www.66earehome.com KB Band www.thekbband.com Mainline www.mainline.moonfruit.com Jove www.jove.ie Wallmark www.wallmark.ie Polar www.polarofficial.com Redneck Manifesto www.trustmeimathief.com Turn www.turn.ie Life After Modelling www.lifeaftermodelling.com The Chapters www.thechapters.com Mike Got Spiked www.mikegotspiked.com U2 www.u2.com The Immediate www.theimmediate.tv Alphastates www.alphastates.com Tychonaut www.tychonaut.com The Chalets www.thechalets.com Acidtone www.acidtone.net Hal www.halmusic.com Berkeley www.berkeley.tv A few sites with good reviews and regular updates: www.cluas.com www.irishmusiccentral.com www.cpu.ie www.musician.ie www.entertainmentireland.com A few Irish solo artists/singer-songwriters to check out: Mark Geary www.markgeary.com Brendan O'Shea www.brendanoshea.com Jenny Lindfors www.jennylindfors.com Declan O'Rourke www.declanorourke.com Stewart Agnew www.stewartagnew.com Nina Hynes www.ninahynes.com Gemma Hayes www.gemmahayes.com Damien Rice www.damienrice.com Una Keane www.unakeane.com Roesy www.roesy.net Paddy Casey www.paddycasey.com Sean Needham www.seanneedham.com Ann Scott www.annscott.net Elaine K www.elainek.com Mighty Stef www.mightystef.cjb.net Neosupervital www.neosupervital.com Martin Finke www.martinfinke.com Mic Christopher www.micchristopher.co.uk Cathy Davey www.cathydavey.com Cara Dillon www.caradillon.co.uk Damien Dempsey www.damiendempsey.com Fionn Regan www.fionnregan.com You should spend quite a while scouring through these sites!!!!

...yes, Neosupervital www.neosupervital.com some cool tunes, try "alternative day" - fking brilliant does he drum with bellx1 too or did i get confused when hearing him on a Fanning show recently? Drumer looks like him anyway. The Chalets wirth checkin too a couple more that could be added to Gar's list... God Is An Astronaut www.superadmusic.com/god/god.html (electronic/instrumental rock) try "The End of the Beginning" future kings of spain www.fkos.com

have a listen to delorentos: www.delorentos.net

You're right Butt, Tim drums for Bell X1 and IS Neosupervital, I also believe that he used to play ina band called Settler.

Deffinately back up "Butts" recommendation of Soviet Filter http://artists.cpu.ie/bands/31/ Uganda is my personal fav of theirs at the moment but it's all pretty decent stuff! I can also recommend CH-1 who have some awesome tunes on CPU aswell.

Oh, the rags are also an up and coming band worth checking out. Has any one seen them? Any good live?

Saw The Rags once live, they were ok. Think they have a Crawdaddy gig coming up highlighting the release of an Ep.

Try Davecouse.com , genius songwriter who was the main man in A House. Anyone who saw his performance on the Blizzard of Odd would already have downloaded his new single free from his site, but those who haven't, here it is.. ( Loads more songs too, including the Orchestral re-working of Here come the good times and a lot of Edwyn Collins collaborations ) ......... http://www.designbyte.net/couse/index.htm

cheers deadian! definitley check out hoovers and sledgehammers, jinx lennon, ch-1 and delorentes on www.cpu.ie, this site, and www.roadhousemag.com are good for the odd review and download as well.

some good irish s**t www.thedudleycorporation.com : LEGENDS(also check out label-mates Large Mound) www.ianwhitty.net, excellent singer/songwriter www.placidrecordings.com, electronica in kerry www.stanleysuper800.com, madness from cork thumped.com and ahem, (self-promo moment) www.outonalimbrecords.com

jesus, all of these bands are so awful. The only things I would vaguely recommend listening to: The Immediate - Don't Get Lost EP Rollers/Sparkers Red Neck Manifesto 8Ball Neosupervital - Use What You've Got The Chalets double A side Lost double A side (Incomplete/Colder) Little Ghetto Boys radio release single (Birth/Static) Overall though, such a low standard.

...can't be all bad, other great tunes i discovered v recently, loving them both... Ch-1 - Fun Radio www.channelonesound.com/audio.htm ..electronica Dry County - lost now www.drycounty.org ...bit of lo-fi new order buzz