Welcome to GoldenStereo Playlist 11, a selection of what the writers and photographers of GoldenPlec have been listening to this week.

It’s been a bittersweet time for Irish music - whilst we’ve seen the arrival of new music from BARQ and Funeral Suits, we’ve also heard the death knell of one of its biggest supporters, TXFM, whose closure was announced this October.

We wish all those affected directly and indirectly all the best in the future. Ireland needs an alternative voice on radio to represent the contemporary Irish musician, and we hope that the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland will create a new license that ensures the sustainability of alternative Irish music on the FM bandwidth.

Today’s alternative is tomorrow’s mainstream, and many of Ireland’s music stars got their radio-break on TXFM. A national license must surely form the bedrock of what comes next to ensure the next wave of alternative Irish musicians make it onto radio, or we will find ourselves in the same situation in several years’ time. Let’s hope it’s third time lucky.

The eleventh instalment of the GoldenStereo playlist contains new Irish music from BARQ, Funeral Suits, Solar Bears, State Lights and Fangclub. We are also delighted to finally include Sinead White in GoldenStereo after she finally decided to upload her album to Spotify. And The Eskies, who returned home from their European tour having been robbed of over €8000 worth of money and goods in Milan to a sold out show in Whelan’s. How do these guys not have a record deal?