RIP The Indie Hour
Aoife Mc in the Dublin City FM studios with Brazilian guests
Hello there. I think this may be my last post on this blog.
Sometime between debating whether to eat the brussel sprouts or not and having my seven millionth mince pie over Christmas, I decided that, what with the New Year and all, it was perhaps time to let go of The Indie Hour on Dublin City FM.
I’ve been putting on the show every Thursday night since June of 2004. In that time, I’ve had an absolute blast. I got to witness first hand the most recent growth of our own home-grown music scene. Although I’m sure it’s the same for anyone who is involved in music during a certain time frame, I felt that I witnessed a pretty exciting time in Irish music.
When I started the show, all those many moons ago (gather round children), we were at the tailend of our tolerance of singer-songwriters. Some of the better singer-songwriters (like Robotnik then known simply as Chris Morrin) found Korgs somewhere and started making bleepy noises to go along with the tales of heartbreak. I got a demo from a band called Super Extra Bonus Party who had a bleedin’ Brazilian MC and sent hilarious letters with their CDs. I had a really funny show with The Butterfly Explosion where EVERYTHING went wrong (I only realised when we were on air that I didn’t have any headphones, two of the mics weren’t working, and I played a track from their EP which was the one they had planned to play live in the studio. Big time cringe).
Jinx Lennon visited us on average once every year to talk about bubble electricians, Fight Like Apes came down after the release of their first EP and again before the release of their album, The Jimmy Cake came in for a chat (well, not ALL of them obviously) and RSAG blew me away both times he came on. Mumblin’ Deaf Ro provided us with what is still my favourite interview of the whole four years. Then there was the Adebisi Shank and BATS of this world, who were LOUD. And deadly. And The Vinny Club gave out to me live on air for not listening to all the demos that I got in the post.
Through the show I’ve met some great people and got to talk a whole load of shite in front of a microphone (after about the first year I kind of forgot that people were actually listening). I made the decision to call it a day really because I felt that personally I’d taken it as far as I could. It was starting to feel like a teeny weeny bit of a burden and I never, ever wanted it to be like that. It has been the most fantastic and fun and brilliant hobby and I wanted to stop when I still felt like that.
However, those of you who simply can not live without hearing my bizarre trans-atlantic dulcet tones (I grew up in Saudi Arabia, that is my explanation for my accent) fear not, as I plan to pop up on various podcasts here and there.
You can of course check out the monthly nialler9 podcasts, and I hope to be moving the indie hour format to a monthly podcast to be hosted on nialler9 as well. How does that sound?
Before I sign off here, although I will still be blogging in some form or other – I was toying with the idea of starting a food blog – I’d just like to thank a few people for their support of the indie hour, as a show and a blog:
Ian Oliver, Mary Healy, Niall, unarocks, Fenster, sinead gleeson, nay, the good people at CLUAS, Allen from The Ballroom of Romance, Barry ‘Stress 7 inch’ Lennon from The Richter Collective, Cillian, Declan and Richie at Kaboogie!, Damien Mulley, The Lovely Girls at Entertainment Architects, the lads over at EgoEccentric, Thrill Pier, Darragh and Loreana, Jim Carroll, The New(ish) Journalism and Rapture Ponies. There are lots more people but I’ll stop there.
One last big massive thank you to all the bands who made the effort to come down to the East Wall Studios and have a chat about their music. Without them, the show wouldn’t have been as good as I like to think that it was.
The archives from the shows from the last two years are up on the web, and I’d be really happy to think that people would like to peruse and listen to them for some time to come.
The last show I did with guests was before Christmas with the bloody amazing Heathers, who released my favourite Irish album of the last four and a half years last year with Here, Not There. Between Christmas, moving house, the recession, and going to the gym, I haven’t managed to put that up on the blog yet, so I’ll get that up on our podcast archive as soon as I find which unpacked cardboard box it is in. Word.
So, it’s not really goodbye…it’s see you later. *sniff!*
Aaaaand…we’re back!
nialler9 and The Indie Hour do their bit to save The Celtic Tiger. Damn shame how men age better than women.
Sometime in early November after the Kill Krinkle Club interview, I was walking down O’Connell Street when, suddenly, I became aware of all the beautiful, shiny, twinkling Christmas lights. Before I knew what had come over me, I was wandering – dazed and confused – down Henry Street laden with bags full of yuletide bric-a-brac. It seems that clever government of ours had duped me into shopping by turning on the Christmas lights early this year! That’s why we elected them into power, isn’t it? I mean, what a clever stunt to pull on a nation made up quite largely of (soon to be unemployed) Arts graduates who have a quite fair grasp of consumer psychology! We didn’t have a clue. And look at that, now we’re all broke before Christmas, but sure, at least the country’s economy’s safe. I’ll drink mulled wine to that.
So that’s why I fell of the radar there for a bit, people. Time to get podcasting again! Below you shall find the mp3s for each indie hour in November under each of the bands’ photographs.
Kill Krinkle Club Thursday6th November
Elina and Justin of Kill Krinkle Club. Only slightly better looking than nialler and myself (see pic above)
MP3: Kill Krinkle Club on The Indie Hour
We were joined by the lovely Justin from Kill Krinkle Club who, as well as giving us an insight into he and his partner Elina’s musical mission to Kill Krinkle, played a few live songs for us and a few from the couple’s debut EP. We also spoke to Soper from The Hot Sprockets about the release of their EP Country Dirt and we listened to Sleep, Shake from that EP. As well as Kill Krinkle Club and The Hot Sprockets, we listened to 24 Stella from Moutpiece’s eponymously titled and rather deadly debut album, Jetta’s Palace from The Jimmy Cake and finished up with Geography from Messiah J & The Expert.
Mo-T Thursday 13th November
Golly! They seemed like such nice boys on the show.
This week we spoke to Mo, Paul and DJ Carnage aka The Weapon of Mo-T fame, who gave us a sneak preview of a few tracks from their forthcoming album. We had a bit of a giggle, and I’m looking forward to hearing the album in full in the new year.
We also spoke to our old buddy El from Noise Control about their new gaming life, as well as their up-coming gig in Crawdaddy on 13th of December, and we listened to Cities of Dreams.
We started off with Shackelton from So Cow, we listened to The Hare from Spook of the Thirteenth Lock, and we finished off with the ear drum busting Adebisi Shank’s tribute to their no 1 fan Colin Skeehan.
The Ambience Affair Thursday 20th November
MP3: The Ambience Affair on The Indie Hour
The truly charming Jamie and Marc from The Ambience Affair joined us this night of the show, and shared with us a few tunes as well as Jamie’s controversial theory of not listening to music from the past. I sort of got his point by the end of the show. They had a bit of a boo boo with their live tracks, as their set is basically founded on the use of loop pedals, which didn’t happen on air, but didn’t take away from the performance too much.
I was really delighted to see them perform live in Whelan’s the following Monday, and to see just how well Jamie uses the loop pedal to set his act apart from a more traditional singer-songwriter. It was really bloody good, and I enjoyed the bit of the set from support act Little Xs for Eyes that I caught. Keep an eye on The Ambience Affair’s myspace page for up-coming gigs and whatnot.
We also spoke to Paul G Smyth from The Jimmy Cake on the telephone about their Vicar Street gig – which was a good evening all round – and we listened to Haunted Candle from Spectre & Crown.
We started this show with Ornithopter from Chequerboard’s Penny Black, who played a captivatingly beautiful set at The Jimmy Cake’s Vicar Street gig. And we listened to Amberscence from Halves, who played a jolly good show on the following Saturday at Whelan’s. Dude, they did a bell routine which was like some kind of indie High School Musical. It was deadly.
Messiah J & The Expert Thursday 27th November
MP3: Messiah J & The Expert on The Indie Hour
We were joined once again by Messiah J, The Expert and their guitarist Frankie for another delightful visit on the indie hour. They’re such gentlemen. We had a good listen to a few tracks from their excellent third album From The Word Go, which really does get better on every listen. I have to admit on first listen, I was a bit hesitant. I was every inch the petulant fan and was like awww it’s different from Now This I Have To Hear and now I’m all ‘Turn the magic onnn, turn the magic onnnn, doo be doo wah!’ in the shower and on the bus, to the dismay of my flatmates and fellow Dublin Bus passengers. But, like, have you heard that track from the album? Turn The Magic On? It’s impossible not to do a little dance to it or at least a sit-down bop-of-head style thing. It’s ridonkulously catchy. That’s why it’s their next single I suppose. As well as Turn The Magic On, we listened to Megaphone Man and Panic Station from the album, and the lads treated us to a live version of Keep the Noise Down. Oh, and I said ‘willy’ on air. What a rebel.
We started the show with the pretty astonishingly gorgeous 27 Strangers from Villagers, who I caught supporting Halves in Whelan’s the Saturday before this show, and watched with my jaw to the floor this ‘new’ band playing like international indie superstars. They’ll definitely be on everyone’s Ones To Watch 2009 lists. They’ll be coming on the show in the new year so looking forward to that, as well as the release of their EP, expected early 2009. I have one tiny problem with the name of this track – I keep almost nearly calling it 27 Dresses, the anti-feminist flick about a girl who’s always the bridesmaid never the bride which (shame!) I watched from start to finish without vomiting. Anyway, you can kind of hear at the start of the mp3 below that I very nearly made the blunder on live radio. Now that would have been embarrassing. More embarrassing than admitting to have seen the flick even.
We also heard the stunning Radio from Katie Kim from her album Twelve, which is another beaut. Go forth to your local indie record store (ie Road) and seek its wintery loveliness out. You won’t regret it.
I played Lumpy Dough from Fight Like Apes‘ debut album – they were great at The Academy last Friday. They were a bit like super stars really. They played a thoroughly accomplished set and some of the new tracks displayed sounded very promising indeed. I just wish they’d change the lyrics to the Fish and Chips song – the music is deadly but the words are kinda stupid. But whatever, maybe it’s better their way.
We finished off this show with a chat with Allen from the Ballroom of Romance, and we decided that he has definitely been the most frequent indie hour guest over the years! Glad to have him, he’s a legend. He was talking about the Dalek gig which was on in ALT the following Saturday, and we finished the show with the frankly scary Asylum from Dalek’s forthcoming album Guitar Tactics.
Phew. That should keep you going for a while, but I will be back shortly with the mp3 from last week’s show when we talked to the dasterdly duo that is Mail Order Messiahs. Tune in this week when we’ll be joined by my favourite band ever, Heathers. Yipeee!
Kill Krinkle Club…
Join us on Thursday on 103.2 Dublin City FM between 9 and 10pm when we will be joined by Kill Krinkle Club. We’ll be finding out exactly who Krinkle is and why one should want to kill him.
The show will be up as an mp3 download in a few days if you miss us on the wireless. Til then, adieu!
Moutpiece…
Gary Moutpiece and his lucky jocks. Bananas?
Last Thursday we were joined on the indie hour by Gary and Derek Moutpiece, who told us everything there is to know about the 26 minute audio wake-me-up that is their debut album. And they did so with only a sprinkling of expletives used. It was a fun show, and you’ll enjoy the interview as well as the tunes methinks.
We started the show with a track called 16tuns by Irish dubstep artist 16Hz (I got the name really wrong on the show – sorry) and we listened to Daedelus’ For Withered Friends. We also spoke to Rob from The Kybosh and listened to the lead single from their mini-album Until We Are Lost.
At the end of the show we spoke to Laura from Hat’s Off about their night last Friday in The Morrison Hotel. We finished up the show with Rhodes / Bells / Vibes from Halfset’s album Another Way Of Being There.
I’m taking a night off from the show tonight as I’m a bit poorly. The Moshpit will be on from 9 to 11pm this evening so tune in for the best in rock and metal.
Without further ado – below is the mp3 for your downloading pleasure.
MP3
Tonight and tomorrow night…
As I said in the post below, there’s loads to be at this weekend. Apart from DEAF, The Hat’s Off folks will be in The Morrison Hotel tomorrow night for an evening with a difference. This night with a difference includes free cocktails. Now that’s recession chic. Do tune in later on this evening to find out more about the night as we will be talking to one of the organisers and giving away a pair of tickets. Huzzah!
Also on the show, which you will find at 103.2 Dublin City FM between 9 and 10pm, we will be talking to Rob from The Kybosh, and we’ll be joined in the studio by the inimitable Gary from Moutpiece.
Here’s Gary Moutpiece in action with Stella.
Beautiful.
DEAF…
There’s lots to be doing this weekend what with the seventh annual DEAF festival. Have a look here for the full line-up and details of workshops and whatnot. You can download the mp3 below of last week’s show when we were joined by DEAF’s Karen Walshe and Sunil Sharpe who will be part of the DEAF Junior workshops. I’m going to be heading down to the !Kaboogie workshop on Sunday in Anseo to learn myself some beat-making.
We were joined on the latter part of the show by Sunken Foal aka Dunk Murphy, who played a few tracks from his debut album Fallen Arches. From the album, which was released on 29th of September on influential Planet Mu label, we heard Can’t Fuck The Moonlight, On Platinum Rays and Triplehorn.
To celebrate this weekend’s DEAF festival, we have a few tickets to give away. First of all, we have a pair for the opening night with Nurse With Wound tonight in Andrew’s Lane Theatre. Send me an email before 4pm today to the address at the top right of the blog if you’d like to go.
We also have a pair of tickets for tomorrow night’s Vicar Street show with Channel One and M83. I’ve seen both bands before. Both are ace. This is going to be a good one. Again, send me an email to the top address and I’ll throw a pair of tickets your way.
Enjoy the mp3!
MP3
DEAF Special and Sunken Foal Thursday 16th October
Orphan Code
Last Thursday the 9th October, we were very happy to be joined by Rob from Orphan Code, to talk about the band’s pending single No Armour as well as their debut album Inside the Optimist, which is to be released in the New Year.
We also spoke to Ben from NoDisko, who told us all about the indie club every Friday in The Academy of Abbey Street. We gave away a bundle of tickets to some very happy indie kids last week to the club, and we’re very happy to say that we’ll be giving away two passes for the NoDisko club every week on the show from now on. Thank you NoDisko for that!
Apart from all the chat, we did of course listen to some pretty quality music. Click on the mp3 link to have a listen for yourself!
MP3
Orphan Code Thursday 9th October
DEAF Special tonight
Do tune in this evening when we will be having a bit of a DEAF special between 9 and 10pm on Dublin City 103.2 FM.
We will be talking to the folks behind the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival as well as electonic artist Sunken Foal and DJ Sunil Sharpe about what the festival means to them.
The mp3 of the show (and the mp3 of last week’s show) will be up shortly enough on this very blog if you won’t be near a radio tonight.
Until then…
RSAG…
We were joined by one of my favourite Irish acts and indeed favourite interviewees last Thursday on the show. Last year, RSAG aka Jeremy, wowed us by an unusual take on the live radio performance. This year he joined us again to talk about the release of Organic Sampler – yet another top quality album released in Ireland in 2008. It’s been some year for Irish music. Bring on this year’s Choice!
We talked to Jeremy about the one man band deal, the bonus disc on the album, about recording the album in a room in Kilkenny and about his incredible live show. We listened to It Over, Moving Images, Moon Moving Oceans, Days Go By, and Bad Seed from Organic Sampler.
RSAG will be playing this Friday 10th of October in Andrew’s Lane Theatre at the launch of Super Extra Bonus Party’s remix album. That’s going to be a brilliant night – click here for the line-up.
If you can’t make this Friday, the official launch for Organic Sampler is on 19th of October in Whelan’s and is a measly €5 in. RSAG is not to be missed live – if you haven’t seen him yet, be sure to make at least one if not both of these gigs!
We started the show with Another Way of Being There, the title track from Halfset’s album. We also listened to A Good Book by Lovvers, who were brought over from the UK by Skinny Wolves to play in Dublin last weekend.
We also spoke to Richie !Kaboogie about the excellent new K!Club, which takes place every other Thursday downstairs in Thomas Read’s of Dame Street and is completely free. We finished the show with Poison Dart by The Bug featuring Warrior Queen.
Here you have it then – enjoy!
MP3
Skinny Wolves and Halfset…
Over a week ago, on Thursday the 25th of September, we did our last double Indie Hour(s). We’re back to our one hour format, broadcasting from 9 to 10pm on 103.2 Dublin City FM.
Below is the mp3 from the 25th of September, when we were joined by Peter and Jaime from Skinny Wolves and Steve from Halfset.
Skinny Wolves told us about their label/promotions/art collective empire and shared with us some great tunes from various bands that they’re bringing over in the coming month. From their label or gig stable we listened to Telepathe’s Devil’s Trident, Scrape and Peel from The Creeping Nobodies, Mercury by Mahjongg, Mirror Rim by Effi Briest and Going South by Indian Jewellry.
We were also very pleased indeed to have a chance to play Cap Pas Cap’s up-coming single We Are Men. Cap Pas Cap will be in Hideaway House next Sunday the 13th of October, so head down to Deansgrange for that one.
Check out the Skinny Wolves site for all the up-coming gig and label releases. They’re busy folks, that’s for sure.
For the last part of the show, we were joined by Steve from Halfset and played through a number of tunes from their stunning second album Another Way of Being There. We listened to At This Moment, A Place to Stay, Desire Lines, Salmon, Work and the title track. We talked about the process of writing and recording the album, as well as about the bonus DVD disc which features a short film to go along with each track on the album.
I’ve had the pleasure to get stuck into the album, and indeed the DVD, since the show and have to say it’s another one for the Best Of…end of year list things. It’s truly stunning. The films help the listener to get more involved in the songs and really compliments the album as a whole. I was told their launch gig at The Sugar Club on the 27th of September was a great success, with a packed house and a great performance. The album was released last Friday 3rd of October and is available in all decent record shops. I can’t recommend it enough. You’ll love it. You can have a listen to quite a few of the tracks to hear for yourself just by downloading the below mp3.
Also heard on this show were You Me by Adebisi Shank – their launch gig at The Boom Boom Room on the 26th September for the album was amaaaaaaazing. I lost one of my earrings. Hardcore, wha? We also listened to Lumpy Dough from Fight Like Apes who I heard played a predictably brilliant gig in Whelan’s on the same night as The Shank. We also listened to Stick It To Your Line by RSAG, who joined us last week on the show, the mp3 of which will be up on the blog shortly.
And so, here it is, hope you enjoy.
MP3
Thursday 25th September Skinny Wolves and Halfset
The Indie Hour 
