Aaaaand…we’re back!

December 9, 2008 at 4:30 pm (The Show)

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.

MP3: Mo-T on The Indie Hour

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!