Mike Smalle of Cane 141 popped up today. He’s really good at that, one of those ascetic musicians who shuns the trappings of smoke and fame for western seclusion and peerless examples of esoteric aural dabbles. And they are peerless, lovely ‘yes I know it’s half six on Friday night and everyone’s pinging offline like bees from a hive but these songs are so clean and ambient I think I’ll blog a little longer’ chillaxo.

Here’s Sticky Lips from 2005’s Choice-nominated Moon Pool album :

And the Shock website and blog are something else, really, a varied hall of great names lay out their ideal soundtrack…just as our tasteful lads at Egoeccentric invite discerning musicians - though how Razorlight got in there is a mystery - to pick tracks for a Hangover Mixtape.

This is how/why/where:

///////Mike Smalle Podcast For shock///////
February 2009

The Shangri-Las : Past, Present & Future
Throbbing Gristle : Hot On The Heels Of Love
Young Marble Giants : Credit In The Straight World
The Cosmic Jokers : Electronenzirkus
Durutti Column : Otis
Faust : The Sad Skinhead
Mohammed Rafi : Jaan Pehechaan Ho
United States Of America : The Garden Of Earthly Delights
JuniorBoys : Count Souvenirs
Coil : A Cold Cell
Portishead : Machine Gun
Max Richter : Harmonium (edit)
Harmonia : sonnenschein
Bruce Haack : Good Life, Good Life
Lindstrom : I Feel Space (M.A.N.D.Y Mix)
Matmos : Solo Buttons For Joe Meek
Link wray : Jack The Ripper
The Delmonas : I Feel Like Giving In
Pere Ubu : The Modern Dance
Sun Ra : A Foggy Day
Felt : Magella

Loads more Shocks at

www.myspace.com/cane141

Film-maker Richard Crothers and Mojofury’s James Lyttle put their heads together a while back to come up with the NI Podcast. Beginning as a half-hour showcase for unsigned talent of the North, thanks to an abundance of material and two long-winded messers, the show has expanded to ten specials packed with an hour of tunes from all over Ireland. I’d say they’re mightily happy chaps advancing towards 2009 with a brand-new website to spank the whites of your eyes: check it out!

Also on MySpace: myspace.com/nipodcast

www.nipodcast.co.uk/

Distractors’ Ciaran Kavangh at Monkey Clock Studios recently.

Distractors have announced a special podcast of recordings from their Monkey Clock studio space in north Dublin. Coinciding with the Olympic date (though I think of it as the year of subtitles, 888!) footage is available tonight at 8pm and promises a range of never-heard-before tracks and video antics. Now you can rock’n'roll from the comfort f your own throne!

www.myspace.com/thedistractors

Update on last week’s news of RedKid: Dan the man is back on a drum throne soon! After a nasty fall from his bike Keet has confirmed there’s no serious damage -hooray!- and all will be well for the major haul ahead on the release of their eponymous debut in August (I have my copy: it’s great to be jaywalking to Soup!)

The Minutes really are carrying out their threats of gigs in gaffs…or should that be gigs’n'gaffes? Lock up your ma’s bras and hide the dodgy school photos: Phil Kelly has a teaser….watch out for The Minutes’ WhelansUpstairs residency in the next few weeks:

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…stumbled on this…as unsigned stuff goes, it definitely goes in.

Check out Warren Ellis and the 4am.