Nina Hynes and band were  in dire straits early this week as their tour-van down in the middle of the night. Abandoned on the roadside in Germany without the funds to repair their van and a ferry to catch in just a few hours, Nina and Fabien issued an SOS via MySpace, begging for any possible help from fans. 

“We are stuck in Leverkussen near Köln in Germany .. our van full of our gear has absolutely died in the middle of the night and we don’t have money to rent one..the engine is dead and seems totally unfixable.
Our boat was scheduled today from Cherbourg to Rosslare but now we won’t make this one.. the next one is the 1st which would mean we would make the first gig of the tour on the 2nd in Waterford in time..if we manage to get a rental van and are able to change our boat booking..we really need HELP..I can send out SOS messages on myspace and on people’s message boards ..maybe even contact Newstalk/Phantom/Today FM/Irish radio…
we would need to rent the van until Nov 19th when we would make it back to Germany..”

A kind benefactor chipped in €1000 to aid the struggling marrieds. Here’s me thinking the Musician’s Benevolent Fund was strictly limited to rehab therapy…

In roughly twenty hours time I will stand before my beloveds….THE NATIONAL.

*OH*

Weird…I have an extra ticket and just didn’t invite anyone. I don’t mind giving it to someone but they’ve gotta be as big a fan as I. Which creates something of a quandary as most of my friends who like them are going.  However, I’m feeling pretty guilty pro- and con-ing which mates are more deserving to cross this rubicon of Ohian rorch.

I’m going to see The National play one of the Ambo’s final shows…I’m going to see The National…The National…National…. 

Knocked these together for a mate but it’s poss they’d come in handy for others so…

A list of music contacts.

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Take a gander at this shiny new vid of Butterfly Explosion‘s Next Year, lovingly crafted by their friends over at FakeDogFilms…

Also, scurry over to Nialler9‘s wicked blogspace to see a ravishing SuperExtraBonusParty vid for Propellor. Sure, the SEBP bunch are tennis-fucking, beat-lucky mafiosos of the night but the vid’s an interesting revelation into their deep side. I do not kid…

Remember the Hot Sprockets/Hassle Merchants show at the Button Factory? My camera failed and the night swept past all-too-quickly with hardly any shots. Well, if Mohammed can’t come to the mountain…

Hassle Merchants, Button Factory, 20 October:

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Everyone’s seen the flyers, events, bulletins…when you get to a band’s page, what’s on their blog? News of tour dates/releases/cheapskate snippets of information?
“On our way to Galway, Ross chose to buy his breakfast roll from Centra rather than the usual Spar…”

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Fantastic news for those of us who’ve elbowed our way to the front at high-octane shows courtesy of the frentic band of stragglers known as erm, Straglers. Fresh from a stellar performance on the closing stage of HWCH07, the Dublin trio will be releasing a long-awaited debut single Commanders in January 2008 with their album The Kids Are Deranged following shortly in March. Exuding raw talent in unforgettable tracks such as BabyJane and Bitches in the Basement and the subject of rave reviews from HotPress, InDublin, NME and XFM London, their path could have so easily taken the heady route to instant gratification, bowing to pressure of being described as the hottest band to watch in 2007. Instead, the lads appeared to kick back and chiiiilax, picking and choosing select gigs and spending time in the studio to perfect fifteen tracks instead…now that’s what I call swagger. Looks like the compliments were heeded, after all…

Those wacky primates Fight Like Apes have announced some dates to coincide with the release of their new EP, David Carradine is a Bounty Hunter Whose Robotic Arm Hates Your Crotch. Such gentle souls, those lot. The dates aaaaare…

Friday 26th @ ‘Indie Rock ‘n Roll’ in Sandinos, Derry

Saturday 27th @ ‘RadioK’ in McHughs’ Basement Bar, Belfast

Sunday 28th @ The Tain Festival in The Spirit Store, Dundalk

A full (and I mean full)  list of upcoming shows can be found on their MySpace
I’m definitely going to try for the Spirit Store. Ticket-buyment would be advised now, if their sardines-in-a-can performance at HWCH is anything to go by…

Dark Room Notes have announced a Christmas extravaganza at Whelans, December 21st. Extravaganza because their Dead Start Program EP has many of us gooey in the nether regions and a stonking live show will be the star on our festive-gigs tree, especially as the ballsy Lauren Guillery and The Claws will be lending their support.
And with the boot on the other foot, it’s just been announced that DRN will support synth-maester Calvin Harris in Cork on 21 November, Dublin on 23rd and Galway on 24th….

Giveamanakick have completed their third album. They won’t divulge any further details, except that they met Dustin last week. God, the heady heights of fame…

Belfast chaps Oppenheimer have uploaded photos from their US tour supporting They Might Be Giants. There are lots of milkshakes, pine trees, weird newspaper boxes, oh, and music stuff too, American venues to make Crawdaddy look like your Granda’s manky shed.

Hmpf. News is slim on the ground on Tues…