Category: blog

Our favourite troubadour (must admit I never use this word in real life but on this page it looks lovely) is treading the boards for the first time since the arrival of his new son. Will he break down in paternal tears or instead just sing about livestock calving? Who knows, but one thing that is guaranteed is that Ro will lay on a splendid precursor to the main event William E. Whitmore in Whelan’s on April 20th (Monday). Have you heard his debut album yet (or the follow up for that matter), it’s brill so imagine the glee to be gleaned from hearing it live. We’ve got 2 pairs of tickets to giveaway so just get in touch to brighten up at least one Monday this month.

Update: Congrats to Claire & Stephen – enjoy the show!

Price: 8 euro (Currency Converter)

Fancy receiving your favourite indiecater releases through the post? Well now you can with the funky new indiecater USB memory key. The USB key costs €8 (which includes worldwide shipping) and comes with a memory capacity of 1GB. That should be more than enough to store over 150 high quality mp3s! It’s also plug and play, which means that once you stick it into your computer or stereo (if it has a USB port) it is a breeze to transfer the songs and artwork. And when you’re done you’ll be left with a cool USB key that you can use over and over again to move whatever files you like. And it’s really light and dinky (measuring: Length 64mm, Width 20mm, Height 8mm).

We think this little gizmo could suit you if you have a bad internet connection, are short on time or if you are sick of the download/unzip file merry-go-round. All you’ve got to do is add the USB key to your shopping cart and then select the albums you wish us to load onto it. Of course you’ll still be given the option to download the albums straight away as normal. Be careful that you include your full address with your order!

If you’d like to order more than one USB key at a time please give us a shout.

Spring EP & Remixes: 4 euro (Currency Converter)

Over the next few weeks you will start to see some ‘Spring’ revisions appearing about the place. That’s because we’ve passed the Very Most’s precious work to some brilliant minds. Their task will be to reimagine the tunes using nothing other than their own brainwaves (and probably some laptops). You’ll be able to hear the fruits of their labour on this very page.

12 Feb: We are delighted to present the first remix courtesy of Rod Thomas. It’s a wonderful take on ‘The Only Pretty Ring Time’ and for a limited time it will be free to all those who’ve already purchased the ‘Spring’ EP (give us a shout and we’ll send it on pronto). Hurry along now.

The Very Most – The Only Pretty Ring Time (Rod Thomas 4 Seasons Remix)
[audio: http://www.mp3hugger.net/indiecater/tvmspring/The Very Most – The Only Pretty Ring Time (Rod Thomas 4 Seasons Remix).mp3|titles=The Very Most – The Only Pretty Ring Time (Rod Thomas 4 Seasons Remix)]

22 Feb: Remix 2 is the work of Ben Ferris of Nonstop Everything and the Van Allen Belt. And it really does turn out to be a belter take on ‘Today It Is Even Better’. Only the keenest Very Most students will identify the original such is Ben’s radical reinvention of Spring’s opening track. This is free for a limited time to those who’ve already bought ‘Spring’.

The Very Most – Today It is Even Better (Nonstop Everything’s String Theory Mix)
[audio: http://www.mp3hugger.net/indiecater/tvmspring/The Very Most – Today It is Even Better (Nonstop Everything’s String Theory Mix).mp3|titles=The Very Most – Today It is Even Better (Nonstop Everything’s String Theory Mix)]

1 Mar: Jed from My Teenage Stride makes it a hat-trick of remixes and being the shoegazers that we we are we think it’s pretty great. Jed has put the brakes on the giddy momentum of the Very Most’s original and given us a glorious feedback drenched replacement. This is free for a limited time to those who’ve already bought ‘Spring’.

The Very Most – Today It Is Even Better (My Teenage Stride Remix)
[audio: http://www.mp3hugger.net/indiecater/tvmspring/The Very Most – Today It Is Even Better (My Teenage Stride Remix).mp3|titles=The Very Most – Today It Is Even Better (My Teenage Stride Remix)]

You’ve probably established by now that everything that has appeared on Indiecater thus far has been as a result of our begging, borrowing or stealing (pick the odd one out). Well, that’s all about to change because we’ve teamed up with our favourite new band the Very Most to work on a project that will be exclusive to the label! The project will be called ‘A Year With The Very Most’, not too clever you might say but it has a nice ring to it we think. Anyway, the whole thing is based around a very simple premise, namely the 4 seasons of the year. To expand, the plan is for the Very Most to record 4 EP’s (download only for the moment) in 2009, each to be named after the season in which it is released. So on February 1st the ‘Spring’ EP will make its entrance, on May 1st the ‘Summer’ EP will be hatched and so on. Each release will have 4 brand new seasonally tailored tunes, will bear the Indiecater logo (currently not in existence but come February…) and will cost a mere €2.50. So by December 2009 we’ll have a bevy of pretty new tunes and we’ll celebrate by doing something special. It’s giving us butterflies even thinking about it. As they say in all the best sci-fi yarns, watch this space!

To wish you all a peaceful and merry Christmas here is Nina Hynes’s song ‘Twinkle’ which you can download for free. We’d like to thank you all for making 2008 such a special one for us and we hope that next year can be even better. Nollaig Shona!

[audio: Nina Hynes – Twinkle.mp3]

Free Download: Nina Hynes – Twinkle

Just when you thought it was over
Just when you thought it was through
Some kind of magic like starlight is shining down on you.
Been searching that star for a lifetime it seems
But now there’s a twinkle
In the sky a light that beams.
Our wishes are just like pennies
Hope we can spend to make real,
Wishes are free and somehow it’s the key to believe is all that you
need.
The journey’s so long
Been so lost, so wrong
But now there’s a calling to sing out a new song.
A winter robin is in my tree and I’ll sing and sing ’til my heart is
free
I will sing and sing, I will sing
By the Christmas tree.

In an attempt to appear a little more swish we’ve just introduced a new shopping cart system on the site. Now you can buy as many products as you want in one go and view what’s in your shopping cart at the click of the button! It’s amazing the little things that get us excited so to celebrate we are introducing a discount for those who plump for more than 1 album. So if you decide to buy any 2 albums on the site just use the discount code ‘twindiecater’ to get 5% off your total price. For those who go a step further and pick up a hat-trick (or more) of indiecater’s finest there is a 10% discount available once you use the discount code ‘trindiecater’. Just type the relevant discount code in the discount section of the shopping cart and press the ‘update cart’ button. Not only will you have sweet sounds but you’ll also have more money for pints!

To Sum Up (or down as in this case):

twindiecater (2 items) = 5% off
trindiecater (3 items or more) = 10% off

Christmas comes earlier every year. Hooray is what I say. At this rate of progress Christmas will only have ended and the next one will swing into action. So it being late September don’t be giving out because I’ve mentioned it. I’m not trying to sell hampers you see, it’s much cooler than that, I’m trying to gather a collection of the coolest indie Christmas tunes together for the festive version of indiecater. There are some stellar tinsel flecked ditties lined up already but there are still some gaps. So if you/your band would like to submit a seasonal number for consideration please get in touch. The normal indiecater rules apply and the income from the compilation goes straight back to the contributing artists. So close the blinds, stick on the blinking fairy lights and record something that’ll be take Cliff’s place this yuletide.

A slight departure for indiecater but a change of direction that will pay dividends for your ears I promise. It all started out as a result of a random conversation but has since sprouted Bolt like powered legs. So in a short while you’ll be able to start buying albums that have been lost to the mists of time. Album’s that deserve to flood the internet byways with their unwavering genius. And as is customary ‘round these parts the presentation will be cheap and cheerful which means that you’ll have a brand new digital copy of a classic indie album on your music player within seconds and all for the slimline price of €3.50. It’s all very exciting for us and if you’ve liked the indiecater compilations thusfar we hope it will be just as smile inducing for you too. Of course all of this is not going to disrupt the main thrust of this adventure and Indiecater Volume 3 will be along as promised in late October. And putting December’s Christmas compilation together in September is making us all feel very seasonal well before even the dastardly shops contemplate that first out of place tarted up tree.

But that’s all you gotta wait until Volume 2 is unveiled. The shackles have come off a bit with this one in that the tracks won’t be confined to unreleased material. The reason being that it is quite a task trying to raid the archives and come back with something quality. I mean why would a band keep its jewels locked away in a dusty cupboard when the world could be trying them on? Choosing this path has inevitably led to more complicated arrangements with labels/bands because except for 1 track all the material has been previously released in some form. Despite the hurdles such was the rush of inspired music that flooded my inbox I already have enough tracks for a third release in October. That clears the way for what I am looking forward to most, namely an indie Christmas album! This will be a free gift to all those who have bought Volume’s 1 to 3 so start snapping up indiecater in an effort to make this December the most festive ever.

Just a quick update on the state of play with Volume 2. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks writing to bands to see if they were interested in getting on board and the response has been brilliant. At this stage I almost have the full complement of 10 tunes and the standard is very high. As there is no restriction on the tracks (in other words they not confined to unreleased material this time) I was able to browse through the hugger archives and pick some of my favourites from the last few years. Again there will be a wide geographical spread in the artists contributing and this time you have may even have heard of some of them! As a bonus for those who bought Volume One there will a discount to reward your alarming blind faith. Expect the compilation to appear around this time next month.

3 days in and the sales and reviews are starting to pour in. The most satisfying thing has been the general thumbs up with which the music has been received. I spent a couple of hours over the weekend making submissions to several online music magazines and newspapers and although this is generally a hit and miss affair I am hopeful that one or two will take notice. If you have a blog or are involved in any online music resource that may be interested in featuring indiecater please give me a shout and I’ll send you on a copy of the album. Given how things are panning out I have decided to start work on its successor (!) which will be released in late August. Once again if you are in a band and would like to be considered for Volume Two please get in touch. This time all submissions will be considered, even previously released tracks, on condition you own the rights to them or have received permission from your label.

Yeah, the first compilation is not even in the can and already my head is drifting onto what will come after it. Time is almost out for Volume One and I think it will be an impressive release. The artwork is coming along well too thanks to Laura’s efforts. Volume Two is looking like a certainty now so if you are in a band and would like to contribute please get in touch. I think the unreleased side of things confused a lot of people so V2 won’t have this restriction. The only condition is that in submitting a song you have the rights to do so. Further down the line I’d like to release an indie Christmas album so if you have something that might fit give me a shout. More on this later.

Yep, strange that I can say that just 1 week on from that 3 a.m. thought that started all this. The songs have been flooding in and in the majority of cases have been truly wonderful. At this stage I am 90% sure about what the final 10 tracks will be but there are still some stragglers so the door won’t be closed until Friday week (27th June). After that submissions will be only be considered for Volume Two (he says confidently and with little idea about how Volume One will work out). I think we are looking at a release date of Monday 7th July. I am currently deciding on a promo track that will be given to bloggers/media who wish to review the album. Promo tracks are useful as they can be used as a free download in conjunction with a review to promote an album, for example Sigur Ros used ‘Gobbledigook’ as a promo track for their newbie. All of mp3’s on indiecater will be encoded at 256kbs which in layman terms means that they should be as good a quality as what you’d hear on a CD.

Seven great tracks have made the cut so far (I won’t reveal them yet as I’m not 100%) and I have spent some time ordering and reordering them so that there is a natural flow to the way they play in sequence. I’ve listened to the chosen ones quite a few times and none have become tiresome which is always a good test for a song. Thus far some of the submissions have surprised, some have disappointed and others have been as good as I expected them to be. It is going to be difficult making the final selection and I hope I don’t upset anyone who doesn’t make the cut. If things work out this could be just the start of a series of compilations so it is quite likely that some songs submitted, but not selected, for volume one could pop up down the line. Currently I am waiting on about a dozen other bands to submit their work. These songs will be either brand new recordings or reworked versions of previous releases. With a bit of luck I’ll have the final 10 tracks selected by the end of June with a release date not too long afterwards. All very exciting, my inner nerd is having a field day!

We are up to 15 tracks submitted, with about the same number promised! The quality has been outstanding and there is a nice variation in the tunes so far. The biggest issue now could be to choosing the final 10 songs! If it works out then this could perhaps be the start of a series of releases so those that don’t make it onto volume one could be part of a future collection. I can’t get over the generosity and enthusiasm of the bands, giving their work away to a blogger whom they’ve never met. Hopefully I can repay their faith and indiecater will turn out to be a success. I have been working on the backend over the last day, I wanted a nice clean pay-and-here’s-your-download process and thanks to the help from Simon at SVC I think I have something that will make buying the album a seamless process. You may be wondering how I’ve had so much time to do all this, well having a week off work helps. Music in the morning/afternoon and Euro 2008 in the evening, yep, it’s turning out to be the best week ever!