What is it about Vol. 2 and 8/10's? Not sure really but here is another one from the Clare People Newspaper.

8/10 ain't too shabby and that's what Volume 2 scores from the Clare People Interactive site, they also like the way it 'unearths some gems'.

Fresh Deer Meat prove that indiecater is certainly to their taste when they admit that 'few compilations this year will open your eyes to such a diverse range of quality artists'

indiecater gets its first review as gaeilge from slinky online mag nós* and in the process scores an impressive 4/5!

Matt Vinyl cuts to the chase and in the process hits the nail on the head 'reminiscent of old folk recordings in the way that it’s put together'.

'excellent tracks by some uniquely talented artists' is how our fav Danish blogger Stytzer puts it.

'a super affordable album of gleaming musical treasures' is how Gardenhead describes the album, extra points for acknowledging hugger's insatiable taste for punnery.

See what you hear likes what he hears 'the second part of this charming series has arrived'.


Other Mentions

5acts
Indie Limerick
Quiet Color
Side One: Track One
Silicon Republic
State Magazine
Tenacious T

indiecater achieves what appears to be a near perfect score, well 8/10 is pretty nifty don't ya think? from the newly revamped and now fully nationwide Analogue Magazine.

An ecstatic in-depth review from Tim at Tenacious T that culminates in ‘a good compilation is like sex and by god this one proves that point - the foreplay, the action and the sated yet yearning for more feeling at the end. God give me a cigarette now!’.

Album review which has comments on all 10 tracks from Pretending To Be Japanese.

From blogger come burgeoning record label Song, By Toad "a bloody good listen".

From the high priest of self-depreciation Matt Vinyl "a very diverse and wonderful range of music".

The Egocentric lads had this to say about indiecater "a compilation of underground music that's just too damned good to remain underground".

Jared from one of our favourite blogs 5 Acts had really nice things to say "I love it! And the best part: not one single track here is a letdown".

Danish Blogger Hits In The Car says "Now this could be very, very interesting!" in relation to indiecater.


Radio

mp3hugger was interviewed on Phantom FM on 29th July 2008 about the indiecater compilation, you can listen to some of it here hugger on phantom


Newspapers

The Clare People
The Irish Times
The Irish World & With Support From Emerging Mancs


Blogs

Asleep On The Compost Heap
The Bringer Of Song
The Devil Has The Best Tuna
Fabulist!
The Indie Hour
Indie Limerick
Keep Hope Inside
Largehearted Boy
Nialler9
Ohmpark
Pascal's Country Sounds
See What You Hear


Podcasts

Clare People Interactive

We have a lot to thank Conor Oberst for. First of all there’s the fact that his 2005 album ‘I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning’ is one of the years best. Secondly and perhaps more crucially he has been instrumental in giving Willy Mason a break by signing him to his label Team Love. 20-year-old Mason drifted in from Martha’s Vineyard on a tide of ramshackle chords, country tinged backdrops and wry lyrical repositories. And now he has gone and produced a debut of understated beauty. It’s like that feeling you got all those years ago when Beck drifted over the speakers for the first time.

Apart from his ability to engineer a great tune Willy Mason’s trump card is his vintage voice. Perhaps he has perfected the first homemade vocal chord sander but the noise he makes is remarkably cultured for one so young with the result that his insightful lyrics seem apt. The musicianship is loose and free wheeling like on the albums opening track ‘Gotta Keep Movin’ which could really be the output from an over enthusiastic rocking chair enthusiast from the deep South. Mason ideas may script life’s underbelly but many of his tunes are punctured by couplets delivered in fluffy coated choruses. ‘Still A Fly’ is one such, coming and going in just under 2 and a half minutes; its simple chord changes wander mischievously until Mason dips the vocals and begs not be forgotten.

‘Oxygen’ has become a torch song, Mason gently bares his soul amid a backdrop of acoustic guitars and sweetly vulnerable vocals. ‘Oxygen’ and the albums title track are the potential seeds for Masons progression into public consciousness. ‘Where The Humans Eat’ has a steady course, defined by a rolling drumbeat, Masons lazy delivery of super lines like “I just fed you, and your fat brother, so why are you now, still yelling at me?” and the odd spectral emission. It’s the albums defining moment, a true 21st century classic. While ‘Where The Humans Eat’ exposes Mason’s ability to come up with straight laced pop, it’s obvious his preference lies in off kilter strumalongs, the kind that would make his campfire the location for this years best party. ‘Hard To Hold’ shuffles unevenly, chords chime and Mason storylines until a familiar chorus has everyone joining in. ‘So Long’ is equally rousing, its youthful theme and energetic stance will have audiences all over the world in a tizzy.

'Where The Humans Eat' has two thirds of an album worth of memorable tunes. The scraps are not totally forgettable but are harder to embrace (‘Our Town’, ‘Letter #1’, ‘Sold My Soul’, ‘21st Century Boy’). This means the album sags a little in the middle but the initial flurry and closing fireworks are so wondrous that they are easily forgotten. Mason tempers his pervasive use of melody with topics as bleak as homelessness, broken families and incarceration. The general mood is undoubtedly one of melancholy, which could leave inlay card readers reaching for the nearest bottle of JD. By immersing oneself in the music however the experience is one that is best shared with a few friends on a balcony overlooking the city on a warm summers evening.

It’s hard to ignore this album such is the ease with which it readily deals shards of wisdom, off centre playing and pockets of honeycombed melody. There may be a little bit of work involved in appreciating its curious directions but the enormity of Mason’s talent is there to see from the get go. He and Mr Bright Eyes are beginning to deliver a rich seam of urban poetry put to equally compelling music. With Mason’s predilection for taking to the road in his campervan on a quest to take over the world he could yet become the 21st centuries most revered travelling minstrel. KD

Rating: 7/10


More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: [UK] Where the Humans Eat [US] Where the Humans Eat

25 FREE Downloads. eMusic for your iPod® or any MP3 player

With a ragged beauty and grandiose formula suitably befitting a band from Iceland, Sigur Ros are a breath of fresh air in a sometimes stale indie market. While many of their contemporaries' follow well worn formulas, Sigur Ros have a sound that is uniquely theirs. One word of warning though, don't buy this album if you couldn't care less about missing out on something special. Every song on Agaetis Byrjun is an opera in itself. A ethereal voice that could cut through a glacier soars and swoops over arrangements that are so endearing you sometimes think that they could be wasted on an audience not willing to succumb to its charms. The lyrics are a melange ofIcelandic, Hopelandic (Sigur Ros language) and some English but as such it doesn't matter. Remember how you watched 'Life is Beautiful' and forgot there were subtitles, well it is the same here.

While every track is a winner there are a few inter stellar moments that actually produce goosebumps. Sven-G-Englar an early single has been re-released to coincide with their latest tour and proves a good introduction to the scope of Sigur Ros' output. Witness the vocal as the best instrument you've ever heard, so primitive but so hauntingly beautiful beside that submarine echo. Seeing Sigur Ros live is an experience you will treasure for life, it may even move you to tears on occasions. They play against a backdrop of a clear starry night, you'll stand hushed, incredulous that you are witnessing pure pop music. When an album like this is played with the same passion and power, there is no live experience that can come close. 'Starafur' will melt your heart. It will swathe you in a ready brek type glow as the soft vocals, electro twinkling and sweet strings create a concoction that is mesmeric. Try playing it to a fierce creature and watch the beast sit back and reflect on how great life is. I defy anybody not to be moved by it. 'Flugufrelsarinn' sails by for almost 8 minutes with giant slabs of soaring guitars intermittently interrupting the vocal gymnastics and organ drenched backdrop.

The longest track on the album, 'Vidrar Vel Til Loftarasa', starts out like a snowflake. Over the course of its 10 minutes it transforms into something altogether more powerful. Blending the finer strings with music box tittering and a pretend country strum, this song ushers in a frosty vocal. As the friction builds up the tempo warms until the movement is unstoppable. As you get caught up in it you can't breathe, but remember what they told you in ski school. Don't panic at all costs because help is on the way. Several minutes later as the sun filters through, you smile and the world becomes your oyster once more. A close thing but what a wonderful thing this avalanche of sound is. 'Olsen Olsen' has a seasonal ring and hearing it does create goodwill feelings that few things can produce. Made up of a hybrid of heavy bass riffs, Jonsi’s almost female sounding vocals, a wandering flute quiver and a sweet barrage of backing vocals, this is exceedingly good stuff. The title track appears soon afterwards and just ups the ante on an album on its way to the stars. It is fragile, vulnerable and so close to perfection it hurts.

Sigur Ros are a band to treasure. If they are nurtured well they could hold onto the incredible power that their music currently unleashes. As is the case in a cruel world it's unlikely they'll ever reach the heights of Britney Spears stardom but for a lot of people they will mean an awful lot more. And anyway, with bands like this you get greedy and want to keep them to yourself. Already national heroes in their own land there is a Sage being written about them as we speak. KD

Rating: 9/10

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: [UK] Agaetis Byrjun [US] Ágætis Byrjun
Listen: Sigur Ros - Starálfur

25 FREE Downloads. eMusic for your iPod® or any MP3 player

You've got to hand it to Shed Seven's incredible longevity. Where other bands would have thrown in the towel much earlier these perennial underachievers continued to ply their trade with limited success. Remember it took Pulp ten years to break even but perhaps we're talking about different leagues here. It is hard to figure out why Shed Seven have rarely impacted on mainstream consciousness. On paper at least they have a good fighting chance. Rick Witter gives off the notion of a preening rock star (who looks like a young Ian Brown on the cover of this album) capable of coming up with little pop gems like 'Chasing Rainbows' and 'Going for Gold'. Rather unfairly Witter has been a figure of fun in the music press, seen as a semi-faux pretender. In Alan Leach Shed Seven possessed a drummer who follows in the great tradition of nutcase stick handlers, a necessary requirement in the rock and roll scheme of things. Add to this the other band members who are more than capable of delivering on Witter's pop vision. Perhaps it's just a case of missing the X factor that marks a band out from the large cast of wannabe stars. Shed Seven are a little short of inspiring, maybe a bit too aspiring for their own good.

Getting back to the music, Change Giver was a fine debut. It produced several singles that went on to make a dent (admittedly small) on the charts. None of the tracks, however, are truly groundbreaking. They are pleasant in a throwaway type of way. You may whistle them down the road but the next nice one that comes along quickly replaces them. Just like 'Missing Out', all jingly jangly and a strong vocal but also quite forgettable. Change Giver is the quintessential indie album. It's got the choruses, the guitar mix and the whippet like vocals. Harmless pop that won't fill your head with dreams, perhaps its slight nature is ultimately its undoing. There are a few genuine highlights though. 'Speakeasy' has a spiky guitar entrance and a breezy cool nature that levitates its groovy nature. 'Ocean Pie' is also wonderful. A slow burner that resonates classicism and insightful lyrics that are sadly prophetic. 'I don't need to live, I need to survive' neatly describes the bands hanging on by a fingernail situation.

While there are a few duds the album possesses more hooks than a seabound trawler. It's like Mr. Witter figures that if he throws out enough candyfloss some of it will stick. So you get a Dead or Alive homage on 'Dolphin', something approaching an average Suede tune on 'Stars In Your Eyes' and the indie by numbers stoop of 'Mark'. Surprisingly there are a few hints of something bigger on the last track 'On An Island With You'. Stretching to over 8 minutes you wonder why it couldn't always be like this. Starting out at breakneck speed it flowers into a something altogether more beautiful with a distinguished guitar sequence befitting a truly great band. Not an ‘I Am The Resurrection’ type finale but it does leave a sweet aftertaste. If the posturing could be harnessed into a more diverse sound then Shed Seven could finally break free of that nearly men tag. ‘Change Giver’ is more than an honest, workmanlike album and deserves an audience. No student party would seem quite complete without it (while we're on this subject, what happens to students when they enter the world of work, do they suddenly become Westlife fans, I've never quite worked it out). Give them a chance and maybe Shed Seven's luck will change. KD

Rating: 6.5/10

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Album: [UK] Change Giver [US] Change Giver

25 FREE Downloads. eMusic for your iPod® or any MP3 player

The year was 1990 and baggy culture had truly taken hold. While the movement saw the indie and dance streams merge, Ride from Oxford cut a furrow down the Shoegaze route. A blazing guitar backdrop with vocals intermittently drowned out and then coming back to the fore defined their sound. Ride had an incredibly cool persona and boasted 2 great songwriters. Mark Gardiner had the choirboy vocals, while Andy Bell (who went on to join Oasis) on guitar provided the ammunition. While their relationship was all things harmonious at the beginning by the time 'Tarantula' was released in 1996 things had soured considerably.

Nowhere's artwork contains a drawing of a cool blue sea with a large swell building. The scene is a good analogy for the goings on throughout the album. 'Seagull' sweeps in with incredible power, a mountainous soundwave of shearing guitars, bass tumbles, backward loops and that unique bi-vocal supplied by Gardiner. When 'Kaleidoscope' carries on the assault it's almost enough to shake your boots. Ride's tact changes considerably over the next 2 tracks. 'In a Different Place' has a subdued momentum and that early nineties guitar trickle that sounds positively historic but cool in a Doors hammond sound sort of way. 'Polar Bear' is still immense, its circular guitar structure a much loved Shoegaze technique. Gardiner sounds ethereal at times and the song's energy is powerful enough to induce cloudbursts.

On side 2 (no cd's in 1990) 'Dreams Burn Down' is a quilt of buzz-saw guitars, a searing sound that will melt your ears and put the fear of God into small household pets. 'Decay' and 'Paralysed' are probably the 2 weakest tracks on the album but are pleasing in there own way. Things improve markedly with 'Vapour Trail', which is nothing less than beautiful. Gorgeous melody and the cleverest guitar strums combine with a drumbeat that jumps out at you. A fitting climax to an album that could take your breath away. When I bought the cassette back in 1990 Nowhere had only 8 tracks but the CD has 11 including the single 'Taste' and 2 of its B-Sides 'Here and Now' and 'Nowhere'. 'Taste' was born in Pop heaven, it has lived there ever since. It can only be heard on the sunniest of days, by the happiest of people in the coolest Joe Bloggs ever. 'Here and Now' is completely of its time and is full of fender rushes suffering a little by being a bit too echo and not enough bunny.

'Nowhere' is not a perfect album by any means but it has a jagged sound and vision that is hard to resist. When you hear it first you'll probably wonder what all the fuzz is about but hang around and it will start to make sense. It is a landmark album from the Shoegaze scene, up there with Slowdive's 'For A Day', Chapterhouse's 'Whirlpool' and My Bloody Valentine's 'Loveless'. KD

Rating: 8/10

More Info: Official
Buy Album: [UK] Nowhere: Remastered [US] Nowhere
Year: 1991

25 FREE Downloads. eMusic for your iPod® or any MP3 player

What do you do when the world forgets to listen to your bands second album. Well, you go about attracting people's attention the only way you know how. First of all you write some sublime tunes and then you invite some superstars of the underground music scene around to help you record it. And that's what Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody decided to do. Snow Patrol's 'When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up' may have had the critics salivating but it hardly set the world alight. A bit of a shame really because songs like 'Ask Me How I Am' were pretty darn special. Lightbody's seized his opportunity at a drunken gig in Glasgow when he approached his mates from some other local bands about the possibility of recording an album together. A positive response had him penning over a dozen songs in lightening quick time. The album was subsequently recorded in the Ca Va studios in Glasgow in 10 days. He and the other 14 artists who collaborated with him became collectively known as the Reindeer Section. 'Y'All Get Scared Now Ya Hear' became one of the unexpected delights of 2001.

'Will You Please Be There For Me' is the terrific opener. Fragile, simple and stripped of electricity Lightbody's vocals sound like they have been recorded in the hull of a submarine. The gentle strumming wouldn't be out of place in Honolulu and as such don't deflect from the intimate wording. 'The Opening Taste' is similarly lavish in its skeletal approach. It has a remarkable hushed beauty and a simple melancholy that is truly haunting. Jonny Quinn of Snow Patrol provides the nervous drumming, scared that his interruptions could somehow deflect from the tunes subtle intricacies. This is surely music to watch the squirrels go by. Gill Mills, a presenter on BBC radio Scotland sings on '12 Hours It Takes Sometimes'. His voice is coarse and the composition has Will Oldham written all over it. Scattered and loose it is frequently touching especially when the piano keys tinkle delicately in the background. 'Deviance' is equally erratic, kind of shambolic but never enough that you lose interest. Failure was never on the cards anyway with Richard Colburn's (Belle & Sebastian) on percussion and Willie Campbell (Astrid) spinning bright chords.

'If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet' is the first real signal of Mogwai's John Cummings significant involvement. It may be lo-fi but there is intensity in the chord progression that smacks of deep rooted rock action. As Gary Lightbody sounds lost and forlorn Eva's Jenny Reeve sweeps in with a consoling violin. Jenny Reeve takes over on vocals on 'Fire Bell', a beautiful ballad that benefits from the most tunesome of keyboard doodles. 'Fire Bell' would be right at home on your collection of the best Gentle Waves songs ever. The fact that it's all over in 2 minutes makes it even more precious. 'If Everything Fell Quiet' has that by now familiar ramshackle rhythm that is infectious. From 'I've Never Understood' on things start to gather momentum. Gareth Russell of Astrid pummels out a bass line while the wheezy guitar sound seems almost neanthrathal when compared to the innocent vocals. Colin Macintyre of the Mull Historical Society duets with Lightbody on 'Raindrop'. The drumming becomes more assured and the distinct riff gives the whole operation an unprecedented groovy feeling. As it turns out 'Raindrop' is only the warm up act for the albums centrepiece 'Sting'. Where the early album basked in it's simplicity, 'Sting' develops into a jangling opera, a multi-faceted beast that is sure to become one of the singles of 2001. Mick Cooke of Belle & Sebastian adds a jaunty trumpet to seal matters.

After this high, the quality temporarily dips on 'Billed As Single', a diluted effort that is a bit of a chore to endure. 'Toute Le Monde' is slightly better and drifts a little closer to the Snow Patrol blueprint of crashing guitars and flailing cymbals. With the brief aside into sonic mayhem dispatched it's left to Arab Strap's Aiden Moffat to restore the generic Reindeer Section sound. 'Nightall' is a perfect vehicle for Moffat's almost lazy patter. The summer breeze instrumentation that shuffles round his warblings is the perfect cocktail. ‘The Day We All Died' comes complete with a flock of pigeons, put there intentionally to mask the singer’s flight of fond farewells. Once again the song's inspiration is simplicity itself and its execution is close to masterful. With some many cooks involved, this particular broth could have failed to catch the imagination. Luckily the myriad of performers go out of their way to give the album a unique blend. 'Y'All Get Scared Now, Ya Hear' is an album of disparate parts that will doubtless enthral everyone who owns it. It provides an intoxicating listen and much credit must go to Lightbody who took a big risk with the project. His risk taking took him close to the precipice, where for once the final straw didn’t come close to breaking the camels back.

Rating: 7/10

More Info: The Reindeer Section
Buy Album: [UK] Y'all Get Scared Now Ya Hear [US] Y'all Get Scared Now, Ya Hear

25 FREE Downloads. eMusic for your iPod® or any MP3 player