I receive a number of new albums in the post each week – many from unsigned artists looking to be heard. Many of them are awful, most of them are unpolished and red raw and occasionally there’s a glint of potential greatness shining through. In the last couple of days I’ve been listening to two albums, two very different albums with opposing sensibilities and both have surprised me. Iama’s self titled debut is an album of some instrumental and some vocal tracks by Cavan men Ciaran O’Neill and Jamie Byrne. This raw acoustic collection is at times too basic (tracks like Shepherd don’t go anywhere and feel vacant compared with the rest of the album), but at times inspired. The instrumental tracks such as the opening Touch Wood, Odie and Happy People Happy Animals are beautiful. It’s easy to drift away into your daydreams with these tunes acting as the … There’s more →