This month’s Irish pick for Music Alliance Pact has an interesting back story. Comrade Hat – better known as Neil Burns – is a central part of the Derry music scene, and has conjured up some unique opportunities along his road so far. Not least, he headed out to the Rockies to collaborate on a musical project that found inspiration in areas like the echo of trains travelling through the mountains. This particular track sounds like a Moby-inspired effort – it could be fresh from The Beach soundtrack despite finding its inspiration in somewhat colder climes. One to indulge in on a happy, quiet night…

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 19-track compilation through Dropbox here.

IRELAND: Hendicott Writing
Comrade Hat – One Of Them
Multi-instrumental, multi-talented member of multiple Derry acts, Neil Burns – known in this particular guise as Comrade Hat – will throw that hat over anything that catches his fancy. One Of Them is a fine example of his work, designed on piano and guitar but constructed using a delicate touch on synths. Think Moby’s blissful corners constructed using the Rockies for inspiration. This is out of sync with the zeitgeist and all the better for it.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
El Gnomo – Suicidas Melodías
This new musical project by Martin Reznik (La Filarmonica Cosmica) almost started as a game in 2012, when he recorded several songs on a weekly basis. Some time afterwards, while reviewing the material, Martin realised he had an album in his hands, so he spent the next months polishing the songs and re-recording some instrumental tracks. He also invited musical friends to participate in what became a folk album with a soft psychedelic vibe. Suicidas Melodías is one of these collaborations, in which singer-sonwriter Sofía Viola lends her wonderful voice. You can download the full album from Bandcamp.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Arvo Tanty – White Hum Valley (Hello)
Arvo Tanty is an introduction to producer Michael Dolan’s solo material, following his work with electronic outfit Perth. White Hum Valley (Hello) is a grandiose, cinematic Casiotone orchestra track where slow, effacing rhythms pulse and dissolve at surface break. Dolan says the song was inspired by Joni Mitchell, Mort Garson’s Plantasia and his yearning to make a “Nintendo soundtrack of some kind”.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Otis Trio – Montag’s Dream
Montag’s Dream, the opening track of Otis Trio’s debut album 74 Club, probably refers to the main character of the novel Fahrenheit 451. The dark jazz they create fits perfectly with the despair related in the book.

CANADA: Ride The Tempo
Nina Bowz – Bone
Toronto artist Nina Bowz specializes in artful electro-pop that has quirky twists at every corner.