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.

Hear Something You like?

Then Why Not Own It Forever?

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.

Well it’s finally here! The lengthy preamble is over and it’s time to let the music do the talking. I hope you enjoy the 10 tracks on this collection. Just click on the buy icon below to purchase indiecater volume one for the princely sum of €4.50! If you don't have a paypal account or a credit card just email me and we can sort something out.

Here is the track listing:

1) Burning Codes - It's Alright (Belfast)
2) Slushco - Astronaut (Atlanta)
3) Storkboy Choons - Rockfield Symphony (Kells)
4) The E.L.F. - Cockroaches (Sydney)
5) Foreign Slippers - Packed The Car (Norrkoping)
6) Beaten Awake - You Remind Me of Me (Kent, Ohio)
7) Call To Mind - (Untitled) (Inverness)
8) Empty Rooms - We've Been Waiting for You (San Francisco)
9) Cymbals Eat Guitars - Share (New York)
10) Michael Knight - Dumbshow (Director's Cut) (Dublin)

If you'd like to listen to the compilation before you purchase click here.

Please remember you will need to use Winrar to extract the mp3s, information sheet and artwork from the file you have purchased. If you don't have Winrar you can download it for free from the Winrar website.

If you are having any problems purchasing or download the compilation please give me a shout.

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 Lorna’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.