Primavera Day One
Had a ball yesterday at the first day of Primavera. Barcelona is lovely. Such a great city. Looking forward to having more of a look-see on Sunday after the festival.
I would write a longer post with a run through of what I got up to yesterday, but you can just read it here and here! I’ll try get to the laptop before nialler tomorrow morning to tell you what we get up to today.
Can’t wait to see Holy Fuck at 4.30 in the morning!
The Vinny Club and The Best Album Ever Lolz
Do tune in this Thursday from 9 to 10pm on Dublin City 103.2FM when we will be joined by The Vinny Club.
In fact, I am heading to Primavera in Barcelona tomorrow (whoop!) and myself and Vinny pre-recorded the show this morning, pretending it was Thursday night. It was kinda surreal. But lots of fun.
Unfortunately, there will be a delay of the podcast on the blog. I’ll get it up here as soon as I return from Barcelona.
The Vinny Club is launching his debut album Rocky IV Reckyrd this Saturday night in Andrew’s Lane Theatre in Dublin. I’m gutted I’m going to miss this one, as I’ve only seen Vinny perform as the bass player of Adebisi Shank. Support comes in the form of DJ sets from Rupert BATS, Leagues Foggy Notions and Gav Super Extra Bonus Party. It’s 10euro in, which also gets you a copy of the Reckyrd. Class.
So do tune in on Thursday night at 9pm to 103.2FM or listen live on the web. Until then, I’m off to Barcelona. If I get to a compooter on the way I’ll blog some updates of the festival.
Yipeee!
I’m excited.
Stolen from UnaRocks…
Just in case you missed it on Una’s blog:
Cooooool!! I love Alice in Wonderland so much.
And the mp3 is here.
New Amusement and Heathers
Last night on the show was a little bit sad, as The Lovely Mary Healy has had to say goodbye to the gig guide and the indie hour. Due to work commitments, her visits with us have been less and less frequent, so she decided to knock it on the head all together. I’m sad because she has been a part of the show for two years and she has been a huge help to me. I’ll miss her. Above is Mary, Robotnik and myself in happier times. *sniffle*
We were joined in studio by a rather amused New Amusement. Brian, Darragh and Alan giggled their way through a half hour chat on the indie hour. They told us about their mini album Any Port In A Storm, from which we heard three tracks. They told us about recording the tracks, their energetic live set, and plans for an album later in the year. Keep in touch with them through their myspace to find out when they’ll be playing near you.
We also spoke to Ellie from Heathers, who are releasing their debut album Here, Not There tonight in Eamonn Doran’s in Dublin. I’ll see you down there if you’re going. We had a great chat with Ellie about (among other things) how her and her twin sister Louise started writing together, about going on a US tour with Ghost Mice a week after they finish their Leaving Cert next month, about their writing process, and the possibility of me going back in time and joining their band. The doors for the launch tonight are at 7.30pm, it’s €10 in, and also playing are Reuben Teskey, Hooray for Humans and DJs 2Pac 2Furious. Class.
We started the show with Remember When from Heathers’ debut album Here, Not There, and we finished the show with What’s Your Damage, also taken from Heathers’ debut. Kind of a full circle sort of show.
Nialler9 recommended the Modeselektor remix of TTC & Ghislain Poirier’s track Blazin’. Ghislain Poirier is DJing tonight in Traffic on Abbey St, courtesy of !Kaboogie. Also DJing are Dublin’s PCP and DJ Halfdutch. Check out DJ Halfdutch’s excellent jumpjive, reggae, ska and funk mix she did a while back for State. Perfect for sippin’ a beer in the back garden to. Or walking to work in the rain. Whatever. It’s deadly. Doors are at 10pm tonight and it’s €10. I’ll be heading there after Heathers for sure.
Have a good weekend whatever you’re at – hope you enjoy the podcast.
MP3
New Amusement and Heathers Thursday 22nd May
New Amusement tonight!
Do tune in this evening at 9pm to 103.2 Dublin City FM when we will be joined in studio by New Amusement, who’ll be telling us about their mini-album (epblum if you will) entitled Any Port In a Storm.
We will also be talking to one half of Heathers over the telemephone about the release of their debut album tomorrow night in Eamon Doran’s.
If you miss the show live, you can of course download it as an mp3 from this very blog in the next day or two. Huzzah.
There IS a Spook of The Thirteenth Lock!
We were joined last Thursday by the thoroughly gentlemanly man Allen from The Spook of The Thirteenth Lock.
Singer and banjo picker Allen came on the show to tell us about the recording of the tracks in Westland Studio, about battling egos in the band (or lack of therein), dismissive critics in Italy, The Ballroom of Romance, upcoming tours and the story behind the spook of the thirteenth lock.
We heard The Hare and Pimlico from the album and Allen played us a rather gorgeous live version of In Country Dark. If you’re a fan of both The Pogues and The Dirty 3, The Spook…could well be the band for you. I like their music because it’s a deceptively dark take on traditional folk. I love the themes of ghost stories and legends and myths that run throughout the album, and I love the way some of the tracks such as The Hare get really heavy. Heavy enough to give Luke Kelly a bit of a fright. Head down to Road and pick up a copy of their Record of The Week – the eponymously titled The Spook of The Thirteenth Lock.
We started this show with May Your Enemies Never Find Happiness from Halves’ EP Haunt Me When I’m Drowsy. Halves were so brilliant on Saturday night in Whelan’s. I’m still trying to process the gig a little bit and pinpoint the exact qualities that made it so good, and when I do I want to write a little note about it on this blog.
Nialler9 recommended the rather stunning Flume from Bon Iver, who featured on nialler’s blog last week.
We finished up the show with a chat with Jon Averill from Shock about last Friday night’s gig in Crawdaddy with John Cooper Clarke. Keep in touch with Shock through their blog to find out who they’re bringing over this summer. We finished the show with Beasley Street from Mr Clarke.
I forgot to press ‘record’ on the mini-disc at the start of the show so the first link is missing. It’s okay, it was just me doing the gig guide and getting very out of breath in the process. In almost every show I do, I say something silly that makes me cringe when I listen back. Sometimes, they’re so bad that I have to edit them out. This week my Tony Blackburn/Alan Partridgesque moment comes at the end of my chat with Allen when he was talking about the possilibity of touring in Japan. And I said ‘Aha. Big in Japan, eh?’
Fernando – you’re 22 years old and you’re spending your saturdays in bed with a girl – you’re wasting your life!
Keep in touch with The Spook of The Thirteenth Lock to see when they’re playing near you. Hope you enjoy this mp3 as much as I enjoyed making it.
MP3
The Spook of The Thirteenth Lock Thursday 15 May
Heathers
Photo by Alex Sinclair
Like Una before me, I’ve fallen for Heathers. Their track Remember When has been on repeat since I got it a week or two ago.
They’re releasing their debut album this Friday the 23rd of May in Eamon Doran’s, and we’ll be speaking to them over the phone on the indie hour this Thursday. Hooray for Humans and Reuben Teskey will be supporting them in Doran’s on the Friday for €10 so it should be a good show.
I hope to get them in to the studio for a chat after they’ve finished their Leaving Cert and before they head off on their first US tour for the entire month of July.
I wish I had gone on a US tour after my Leaving Cert. I went to Bundoran for a week and drank Buckfast. Sure, I played the guitar on a beach but…sigh.
Anyway, head to the girls’ myspace page and have a listen to Remember When.
No Age competition
D Spunt and R Randall of No Age
Oooh! I had a great weekend. Between playing my first gig in two and a half years, seeing Halves in Whelan’s last night, and having my first FLYING LESSON this afternoon – it was great. A more indepth post may have to be written about it…
We have two pairs of tickets to give away to see No Age upstairs in Whelan’s this Tuesday. All you have to do to get your hands on a pair of the tickets is send me an email to maffimushkalla[at]hotmail[dot]com telling me your favourite underage drinking memory. Best story gets a pair of tickets!
The mp3 of the interview with The Spook of The Thirteenth Lock will be up tomorrow evening.
Halves tonight
Giant poster. Yeah.
I’m off to Halves tonight for the launch of their Haunt Me When I’m Drowsy EP. I only saw half of their set at The Electric Picnic last year, and I was blurry eyed and hungover. So I’m looking forward to seeing them tonight in…wait…just about the same state. Just kidding. Doors are at 8pm and it’s €10 in.
After Halves, I’m heading to RedRum in McGruders to catch Milanese, who released one of my favourite tracks of last year Caramel Cognac. Have a look at (the rather brilliant) Hype Machine for a listen. Check out the Sixfoot Apprentice Dizzee Rascal/Milanese mash-up as well. Quality. As you can see from the poster above, there’s a load of people playing. It’s starts at 8pm, it’s €20 and it should go on until the early morning light.
Hope you have/had a good night whatever you’re at.
Is there a Spook on the 13th Lock?
Join us tomorrow evening from 9pm on Dublin City 103.2 FM when we will be finding out everything there is to know about The Spook Of The Thirteenth Lock. Allen from the band will be in studio to talk about the band’s debut album, which they released earlier this month.
We will also be talking to one of the gentlemen behind Shock, who have been kind enough to offer us one pair of tickets to see John Cooper Clarke who is playing in Crawdaddy this Friday night.
As well as that giveaway, we have two pairs of No Age tickets to give away. The LA based experimental punk poppers that are No Age are playing in Whelan’s next Tuesday 20th May, brought to you by the rather wonderful Forever Presents.
Do tune in to win! And remember, if you can’t tune in the traditional way, the show will be up as an mp3 podcast on this very blog in a few days.
The Indie Hour 
