I spent a solid hour this morning watching dust motes suspended in a single shaft of sunlight, my entire nervous system held absolutely captive by Magdi Aboul-Kheir and his devastatingly immersive new album, "Slow Heat". The Germany-based journalist and classically trained pianist usually writes across a massive spectrum of genres, pivoting wildly from trance to late romanticism. Today, he has dropped an ambient, contemporary...

Move forward Joe Lington has the most modern R&B sound and is Cork's own musical gem. It's just as interesting to read about Lington's quick rise in the R&B scene around the world as it is to listen to his music, which is based on the emotional rhythms of the lively streets of Cork. As the saying goes, all artistic projects have to start somewhere....