Episode: 12

It must be winter if the goldfish bowl is even feeling a little chilly… Here’s what I got up to..

1. Culture Cafe Theme: DJ Flip and Freezemaster Slick
2. Noah & The Whale: Love of An Orchestra
3. Chat with Aisling about Heritage Centre, Mick Flannery and Simon Fagan
4. Heritage Centre: Stolen It Twice
5. Simon Fagan: Bring The Dance
6. The Big Pink: Dominoes
7. Hitman Lord: Wanna Healing Music
8. Chat with Hitman Lord
9. Hitman Lord: I Drank As I
10. Hitman Lord: Upside World (live in studio)
11. Yeasayer: Ampling Amp
12. David Turpin:Dorothy Gale
13. La Galaxie: Victory – This weeks recommended free legal download available from state.ie
14. Fiach: You Dear
15. Chat with Eugene Donegan
16. House of Dolls: Gimme Some Glory
17. Chat with Chris Maher musicialyouthfoundation.com
18. River Valley Band: Kimberley
19. Vampire Weekend: Horchata
20. Beach House: Norway
21. outro……..

home time… till Thursday!

Episode 11.

It was what can only be described as a ‘howlingly horrible’ night, the weather that is, Russell James popped in to keep me company and our News Director Steve, supplied the tasty onion rings And the new news team did a great job at 7pm.. well done girls!

1. Culture Cafe Theme: DJ Flip and Freezemaster Slick: Crossroads
2. River Valley Band: Kimberley
3. Chat with Aisling, Our Ear to the Beat,
4. Airbourne Toxic Event: Sometime Round Midnight
5. Mike Bartlett: No Woman No Cry (live at DCUFM)
6. Run Kid: Delphine
7. Corrugated Tunnel: One Night in Barcelona
8. Miracle Bell: Who Took It All
9. Cowboy X: Analogue Droids
10. The Angel Pier: Align The Seas
11. The Coronas: The Joker (live) our recommended Download of the week available from www.thecoronas.net
12. Colm Lynch: Quicksand
13. Trophy Boyfriend: Black Ship
14. Chat with Sean Dempsey
15. Sean Dempsey: Drama
16. Neosupervital: Do What You Feel
17. Director: Moment to Moment
18. Jody Had a hitlist: You Used to Be Fun
19. The Shower Scene: Smile For the Camera
20. Reemo: Chocolate Covered Gorgeous

and then it was over…

Episode 10:

Things were a bit mad before seven o’clock.. I was joined by Simon Fagan for a chat and a song and our Ear to the Music Ground, Aisling before they both rushed off to a Hot Press event.

Here’s what happened:
1. Theme Tune: DJ Flip and Freezemaster Slick: Crossroads
2. The Jades: Look at me Now
3. Simon Fagan: Bring The Dance
4. Chat with Simon Fagan including live instudio acoustic Damn Honey
5. Simon Fagan: Falling Into You
6. Chat with Aisling, review of Yo La Tengo
7. Yo La Tengo: Last Days of Disco
8. Noah and the Whale: Love of an Orchestra
9. Hitman Lord: Wanna Healing Music
10. Chat with Lafterbirth www.youtube.com/lafterbirth
11. Yeasayer: Ampling Alp
12. Jody Had A Hitlist: You Used To Be Fun
13. Vampire Weekend: Horchata
14. Red Light Company: Scheme Eugene
15. Cowboy X: Squirrel Chase Ball
16. Ou Est La Swimming Pool: Dance the Way I Feel
17. J. Cole: Grown Simba
18. Speech Debelle: The Key
19. Neon Stars: Never Seen It Coming
20. Identity Parade: Colette Collar
21. Robbie Williams: You Know Me
22. Out!!

Only one show this week. Back with two next week. Tuesday and Thursday 1830-2000 GMT

..Nessy out!

Nessy with Mark and James (Frantic Jack)

Episode 9:

Got myself an hour and a half for each show.. thought I’d have to do a lot extra more to fill it.. but no it means I can give everything I already was doing more time.. so YAY!

Thanks to half of Frantic Jack for popping in and to Will St Leger, Barry from Richter Colelctive and Tim from Tickletoc Productions for chatting on the phone.. and of course to Aisling, our Ear to the Ground for all the best new music.

Here’s what we got up to:

1. Intro: DJ Flip and Freezemaster Slick: Crossroads
2. Slow Motion Heros: Paper Over Cracks
3. Chat with Aisling, our Ear to the Ground
4. Deastro: The Shaded Forest
5. Mahoney: Gucci Boy Band
6. Simon Fagan: Falling Into You (Acoustic) Our recommended Free Legal Download of the week available from SimonFagan.net)
7. Chat with Barry From the Richter Collective
8. Guilty Optics: Down to Business
9. David Turpin: Dorothy Gale
10. Yeasayer: Ambling Alp
11. Treassa Lavassur: Low Fidelity
12. Chat with Will St Leger about Bluetooth Fairy
13. Hockey: Song Away
14. Frantic Jack: Free
15. Chat with Frantic Jack
16. Trophy Boyfriend: Black Ship
17. Run Kid: Delphine
18. Ou Est La Swimming Pool: Dance The Way I Feel
19. Outro: DJ Flip and Freezemaster Slick: Crossroads

Xerosun: Ivan, Fiachra, nessy, Garrett

Episode 8:

I’ve been really bad this week with getting this up – apologies.. it’s all busy busy!

The show didn’t go too bad, there was a lot of noise in the Student Union building on Tuesday and being honest it threw me off a little. (Yes there was only one show last week – on Wednesday and Thursday I was responsible for training in all the newbies – hi guys!)

So here’s what we got up to:

Xerosun ( a hardrock metal band joined me in the studio and we chatted throughout the hour)

1. Crossroads: DJ Flip & Freezemaster Slick

2. Neon Stars: Never Seen It Coming (First Radio Play)

3. Chris Singleton: Worry Number One (recommended free legal download of the week available from http://www.singletonmusic.com/)

4. Xerosun: All or Nothing

5. Telephone Chat with Fiach http://www.fiach.net/home.htm

6. Fiach: You Dear

7. Wallis Bird: To My Bones

8. Telephone Chat with Simon from Mugger Dave

9. Mugger Dave: Crawl Up

Ivan Xerosun : Rock Pose of The Year

10. Xerosun: Broken

11. Xerosun: Driving Me (First Public Play)

12. Outro…

I also have a tshirt here which was kindly donated by Xerosun, unfortunately there was a problem with our text line so the competition is running over to the next show..

All you have to do is go to Xerosun.net and find out who did the artwork for Xerosun’s new album. Get the answer and SMS DCUFM.com on 085 7515 973 and the winner will get the shirt!

Til Tues when I’ll be joined by DCUer Russell James who starts his first show next week..

nessy out!

Nessy, Michelle, Peter (Carosel)

Episode 7

I had a really good time on Wednesday – Carosel were lovely!

We’re going to do a French Music Night!! Looking forward to that..

Here’s What we got up to :
1: Crossroads: DJ Flip and Freezemaster Slick

2. Mumford and Sons: Little Lion Man

3. Evermore: It’s Too Late (Our nominated Free Legal Download of the Week available from evermoreband.com)

4. Chat with Karen Walshe, Director of Deaf.. Deafireland.com

5. Neosupervital: Dance With You

6. Kev’s Music Reviews including Zero 7

7. Chat with Aidan Kelly, Candy Collective about Sweettalk 37 Candycollective.com

8. LipGloss: Land of Lords

9. Carosel: Easy As It Flows

10. Chat with Carosel including Sun is Shining Live Acoustic

11. Carosel: Polly

12.. the outro.. and it was over way too soon…

Back next week on Tuesday at 8 on DCUFM.com

Nessy, Rowan, Michael (Director)

Episode 4 of Culture Cafe done and what a great one it was..

A very special thanks to Michael and Rowan from Director who came in to have a chat and sing a song.. appreciate it guys!

So here’s what we did!

1. (Culture Cafe Theme) DJ Flip & Freezemaster Slick: Crossroads

2. (Music) Hitman Lord: Wanna Healing Music

3. (Music) Grades of Shade: Bleed In association with MusicReviewUnsigned

4. (Music) Director: Moment to Moment

5. Chat with Michael and Rowan from Director including an acoustic rendition of Don’t Think I’ll Know

6. (Music) Director: Play Pretend

7. (Music) Miracle Bell: Into The Trees (Our Free Legal Download of the week available from www.miraclebell.com)

8. (Music) Fiach: You Dear

9. (Music) The River Valley Band: Kimberley

10. (Music) Carosel: Easy As It Flows

11. (Music) David Turpin: The Bone Dance

12. (Music) The Jades: Bermuda Song

13. (Music) Cowboy X: Analogue Droids

And then it was over…. so fast until Wednesday when we’ll be doing a bit of chatting about the Hard Work Class Heroes Festival, the launch of the IYMA’s CD and music chats with Miracle Bell and David Turpin…

I’m off to bed

…nessy out!

Nessy and Von Shakes

Episode Three:

So due to an overwhelming response, which, I hasten to add I’m extremely thrilled about, it looks like there will be two episodes of Culture Cafe every week. One doing what we always do and the other solely concentrating on Irish Music.

(Music) Cowboy X: Analogue Doids

Chat with Von Shakes

(Music) Von Shakes: The Routine

(Music) Von Shakes: Jackit

(Music) Miracle Bell: Into The Trees

(Music) The Shower Scene: In At The Deep End

(Music) Grades of Shade: Bleed  Artist of the month in association with www.musicreviewunsigned.com

(Music Live) Identity Parade: Kicking Stones

Nessy, Identity Parade and a huge pack of popcorn

Chat with Identity Parade

(Music Live) Identity Parade:Ooh Ooh

(Music) Identity Parade: Collette Collar

(Music) David Turpin: The Bone Dance

(Music) Hogan: PS You’re Crazy

Outro: DJ Flip & Freezemaster Slick: Crossroads

Next week:

Culture Cafe Irish Music Show Monday 8-9pm:
I’ll have Director in studio for an Interview

Culture Cafe Arts Wednesday 8-9pm:
I’ll be chatting to Angela Dorgan about the Hard Working Class Heroes Festival, Miracle Bell will be in for a quick chat, I’ll also be chatting to Dermot Lambert about the launch of the IYMA’s cd, Wookie will be telling us how he got on at Octocon and David Turpin will be dropping in.

…nessy out!

Mic (TKO), Nessy, Gram (TKO)

Episode Two.. Packed to the brim!

Wow! That was a buzz!!

I love technology, moreso when it works, when it doesn’t it just a few pieces of metal and plastic. But the show must go on! And so it did.

Here’s what happened.

Started off …
Download of the week: Carosel: Easy as it flows.

Chatted with Aisling about last weekend’s Music Show in the RDS

(Music) Director: You Don’t Know

Chatted with author Michael Carroll about his writing and involvement with Octocon, the Irish Science Fiction Convention

(Music) Speech Debelle: The Key

Chatted with photographer/artist Fionn Kidney about his Facebook group to make the light installation on Liberty Hall  a permanent feature.

(Music) David Turpin: The Bone Dance

Chatted to Band TKO and included a live track which incorporated The 4 of Us’ Mary

Kev reviewed the best new albums

(Music) Muse: The Uprising

We did the draw for the David O Doherty tickets for tomorrow night.

(Music) Outro.. DJ Flip Track 6 from his CD Crossroads.

Really enjoyed it, hope it sounded as good to everyone listening.

Irish Music Show tomorrow night.. Can’t wait!

…nessy out!

Nessy, Mike Bartlett

Episode One:

Done and dusted…

delighted with how things went..
special thanks to Loreana Rushe and Mike Bartlett who came into studio and also to Aisling, Alan and Kev .

So what did we feature ?

Download of the week: Mahoney: Gucci Boy Band

Treassa Levasseur: Low Fidelity (MusicReviewUnsigned.com Artist of the Month for September)

Interview with Loreana Rushe talking about David LaChapelle and about her own photography.

Alan reviewed Reemo and Orphancode from The Village.

Reemo: Sometimes

Aisling came into studio to talk about Hockey’s gig in the Academy last week.

Hockey: Song Away

Mike Bartlett Interview includes Live in studio ‘No Woman No Cry’.

Mike Bartlett: Song That Changed the World

Red Light Company: Arts & Crafts

Radiohead: These are My Twisted Words

Our Intro/Outro is Track 6 by DJ Flip from the CD Crossroads.

Hopefully we’ll get it all sorted for a podcast..

For the Second time today

…nessy out!

There’s probably not a blog in the land that isn’t talking about Arthur’s Day, so I’m not going to be different on this occasion!

Thanks to the crap Summer I had, I didn’t get Arthur’s Day tickets – I was in hospital.

This morning I find a message from Terry saying he might have a couple of ticket for The Church for tomorrow night.

Terry, you’re a legend! He’s also hopefully, going to be a contributor on the Culture Cafe (I’ll put a word in if it helps to get his own show too).

What’s Arthur’s Day? Its 250 years of Guinness basically! At 17.59 tomorrow (Guinness Mean Time), nice folk in establishments across the globe will lift a glass and toast Arthur Guinness!

Some of the world’s top musical acts are playing in Dublin tomorrow, The Black Eyed Peas, Calvin Harris, Sir Tom Jones to mention just a few. There are bigger venues running proper gigs and then ‘the locals’ where Irish Acts will play but will have a Special Guest..

None of  the artists for ‘The Locals’ will be announced until tomorrow evening.

Should be a good couple of days in Dublin, Arthur’s Day tomorrow and then on Friday, there’s Culture Night.

It’s a hell of a long time since I drank Guinness.. !

More Info on Arthur’s Day Here

Banner from Here

Information on Culture Night in Dublin September 25th 2009 Here

Got a call from the station manager,  Denis, earlier this evening.

We’re going to run with the name Culture Cafe for the Arts Show. First one on will be at 5pm on Wednesday September 30th.. Launch day for the station!

Until the full schedule is up and running I’ll also be on DCU FM on

• Tuesday 6th October 8pm Culture Cafe
• Wednesday 7th October 8pm with the best new Irish music! (will have to come up with a name)

So Bands if you want me to play your stuff email me your mp3s to nessyontheradio@gmail.com

Please also include a Biography..

I’m hoping that nessymon.com will be up and running in the next week or two so I’ll have everything available for podcast.

Merci Beaucoup!

…nessy out!

Beans: Los Inmortales El Salvador and El Machete, Panama
Roaster: Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea
Rating: 3+ and 4-

At the risk of sounding like a total Intelligentsia shill – having recently touted both Culture and Third Rail - I’ll go ahead and give my plug for these two fine coffee from Intelligentsia. Of course, this review may only do you half good since the Panama coffee, my slight favorite of the two, can no longer be found on Intelligentsia shelves. Sorry for the less than prompt reviewing.

Overall, I found both coffees quite good, but I should add that I was somewhat handicapped in my usual regimen of reviewing as I consumed these mostly in New York without access to much of my usual at home equipment. I did get to cup each but only after they had aged somewhat. I mostly consumed them via French Press and Moka Pot, ala James Hoffman’s suggested method.That said, I’ll keep this short.

Los Inmortales

This coffee was a bit bolder than I imagined it would be, full-bodied and slightly viscous and syrupy, yet still surprisingly subtle in its flavors. I picked up on some nice chocolate notes with grapes and apple. The acidity was mild but just a tad juicy. It was also characterized by a very earthy, loamy aroma. I enjoyed this coffee a lot and appreciated it’s understated manner although at times I wished it would have been a bit more pushy.

El Machete, Panama

This coffee came out loud for such an otherwise light and clean coffee. I should add, perhaps in seeming contrast that this coffee did have a bit of viscosity to it, but it was thick without being clingy. It was full of tropical fruit: kiwi, papaya, coconut with a very candy-like sweetness and tang. I should clarify that it was not a tropical fruit bomb. The fruit was pronounced and immediately notable but it was intricately layered with distinctive flavors slowly unraveling. I look forward to meeting this coffee again next year.

Name: Third Rail Coffee
Location: 240 Sullivan Street (between Bleeker and West 3rd), New York, New York
Rating: 4

Third Rail Coffee is one of the many new spots slinging quality coffee in the greater New York Area these days. Following a hearty recommendation of this cafe from a couple of people, I swung by partly out of anticipation but partly just because it happened to fit my plans. It wasn’t until I arrived and spoke with owner Humberto Ricardo and Barista Dan Griffin that I realized just how new this place was. I had stumbled in on its second day of operation! Ordinarily, I might have withheld judgment from such a newbie cafe – giving them some time to iron out the kinks. In Third Rail’s case, however, I don’t feel like I need to. They get their simple, Intelligentsia, coffee-focused menu just right.

It’s worth noting that Third Rail Coffee is more kiosk than cafe, joining a that new school of cafe thinking (Abraco, Farm:Table, Awaken, etc.) that opts for minimalism in space as well as design. I suppose it’s fitting. If your goal is to highlight the coffee, people don’t need much room; drinking a cup of coffee doesn’t take too long and many people get it to go. Besides, a kiosk operation is practically necessary given cafe low margins and New York’s obscene rents. Third Rail can draw in the crowds based on the reputation of its coffee without subsidizing a host of internet moochers (in full disclosure, I have been and still am occasionally such a mooch); whether to offer online access isn’t even a consideration.

Inside this small space, Third Rail Coffee – the name presumably making the analogy between coffee and a subway power delivery device – has just enough seating to accommodate a handful of patrons with wooden benches lining three walls. The unfinished wooden floor, white walls, black trim and blue, backsplash tiles all contributed to an atmosphere that makes the typical 10-15 minute stay extraordinarily pleasant, so long as you aren’t slightly blinded or overheated by the morning sun otherwise beautifully streaming in through the front windows.

Third Rail provides almost enough choice in its coffee (and pastry) menu to ensure a happy customer. From their two group La Marzocco GB/5, the baristas pull shots of Black Cat. You also have your choice of a commercially brewed drip coffee stored in thermal carafes (I didn’t catch which coffee), or for a slightly higher fee, the barista will prepare you your choice of typically three single origins via Chemex. Coffee two ways provides just enough variety to keep the connoisseur happy without “cup of coffee” customers lining up out of doors. If I missed the single origin espresso option, I apologize. Not offering that was the one reason I might think this cafe fell short.

For my cup of coffee, I opted for the Chemex upgrade and went with the Honduras La Tortuga, based upon the recommendation from the bar and the fact that I had recently tried some of the other coffees on the list. The recommendation was perfect. It was a glorious cup of coffee: gentle, sweet, slightly viscous and full of intensely juicy fruit notes. I picked up on grapefruit, red grapes, and yellow peaches all with a touch of vanilla.

My espresso, a shot of Intelligentsia’s Black Cat was more or less on par, although somewhat different tasting, than the terrific shot I’d had a few days before at Culture (and the extraordinary number of shots I consumed at my Intelligentsia Lab espresso training – but more on that to come). It was a dense shot, slightly juicy, with a sharp first sip characterized by notes of grapefruit turning to orange with chocolate and molasses underneath.

Bottom line is that Third Rail is the real deal and only likely to get better with time. Just add a single origin and you’ve got a pretty much picture perfect one stop shop.

Name: Culture Cafe
Location: 72 West 38th Street (between 5th and 6th), New York, NY
Rating: 3+

I’ve been eagerly anticipating the grand opening of the Stumptown Cafe in the Ace New York for months. I’m excited about this new cafe not so much because it will serve as the flagship heading up the ever growing Stumptown New York empire, and not so much because the coffee will likely be very good. Mostly I’m excited because it means good, any good, coffee will soon be within close proximity of my New York office. For anyone who has struggled with finding good food, or good coffee, in Midtown, then you know exactly what I mean.

But gosh golly if Intelligentsia didn’t exert their influence first, sneaking in under the auspices of wholesale client Culture Cafe, creating an equidistant counterpart from my office that will likely have me flipping coins prior to coffee breaks in the future. But since Stumptown isn’t yet open, Culture Cafe, open only since the end of June, won my business, and my recommendation first.

Now Culture isn’t along a stretch that you would necessarily find yourself walking down without a very specific reason. It’s a struggling section of 38th Street with many lingering leftovers of the garment district’s more glorious days. Then again, there still is a decent amount of shine behind the run down exterior of this alleyway like street. It turns out that the space above Culture is used as the residences for Project Runway, which inadvertently end up seeing episodes of due to my wife’s obsession. Sadly, my visit, which did overlap with the filming schedule did not include any sightings of Heidi Klum or Timm Gunn.

What I did spot inside this still shingle-less cafe is Culture’s royal blue, La Marzocco FB/70 (technically a custom machine that’s a 70/80 hybrid) formerly housed in the Broadway location of Intelligentsia in Chicago. I’m not sure if it was the machine, the barista’s skill, or new espresso formula, but the shot of Black Cat I was served was very good. It was buttery, bright and bursting with orange acidity. This bundle was packed inside a short shot, characterized with a light, tea-like body. I enjoyed my espresso, sitting at the window bar, marveling how so many people could pass by even this out-of-the-way location (it is still Manhattan after all). Just as important was how so many poked their head inside to see what this aesthetically pleasing spot, with wood-topped bars, chandelier and intensly patterned wall-paper was all about.

Behind the counter sits an enormous commercial brewing contraption more reminiscent of a large-scale church potluck percolator than anything meant to brew coffee of the caliber you might expect to find here. It may work fine, but thankfully, Culture was brewing their coffee via French Press and not concocting it in this contraption, which may have induced in me an episode of post traumatic stress syndrome from potluck days of yore. The French Pressed coffee on both days I visited was Intelligentsia’s House Blend, which wasn’t bad despite being the least inspired choice they could have picked when there are so many good Intelligentsia coffees from which to chose. This rich and full-bodied cup stayed this side of being roasted too darkly roasted and was pleasingly creamy with lots of chocolate notes.

Culture serves a nice looking selection of pastries which I didn’t try along with a lunch menu I passed over as well. Instead, I opted for the Midtown Lunch recommendation of Baraca/Olympic Pita Falafel with french fries – quite tasty. The iced Americano I had on my second visit didn’t quite satisfy – not bad, but too heavy for a hot day. I did nab some of Culture’s cold-brewed iced coffee, however, and that was just the ticket. In conjunction with a trip to the Treats Truck that was parked at 5th and 38th, I found my inner explorer and coffee aficionado quite sated and happy to head back to the office.

Bon, ce n’est pas vraiment un voisin, juste un gars du coin qui a son nom sur des enseignes de magasins à la Clusaz, là où je vais faire des traces dangereuses quand la neige est tombée.

Mais quand même, il fait de la pub, écrit des livres… et a gagné un Oscar (donc ce n’est pas moi, c’est Philippe Pollet-Villard)… ça rapproche.
Dans l’interview qu’offre de lui Culture Café, il dit des trucs intéressants sur la supposée « souffrance de l’écrivain ».

Culture Café : Est-ce difficile d’écrire ?
Philippe Pollet-Villard : Si cela l’était, je ne le ferais pas ! Je suis venu tardivement à l’écriture, personne ne m’y obligeait, même pas moi-même ! Et puis, en outre, je n’y crois pas à cette idée de souffrance dans l’écriture. Je pense que si les gens souffraient vraiment, ils n’écriraient pas. On aime peut-être l’idée de souffrir, mais la véritable souffrance empêche de réitérer l’expérience.

Vous savez quoi ? Je trouve qu’il a raison. Mais pour avoir l’air sérieux, il veut mieux ne pas dire qu’on écrit pour le plaisir. Alors qu’exprimer une souffrance, écrire parce que ça fait mal, dire qu’on est obligé sinon c’est trop dur, ça c’est classe. Et ça passe bien à la télé.

Sauf que, comme dit Pollet, si c’était dur comme certains le racontent, je leur laisserais tout le boulot au lieu de me faire du mal à encombrer avec ma propre production.
Vous le savez déjà, perso, je m’éclate à scribouiller. De tout, nouvelles, pages de blog, plaquette institutionnelle de grande enseigne du store (ouais, ça aussi, correctement torché ça peut être plaisant) et second roman bien sûr. Sauf que là, je bloque sur le chapitre 12… et c’est pas avec onze chapitres et demi que je vais ramener un Oscar. Pourtant, j’ai planté un vache de décor, monté une grosse arnaque avec plein de ficelles pas si grosses, délicatement posé mes personnages dans une mouise planétaire… et puis non, j’arrive plus.
C’est pas une question d’imagination (je sais comment les sortir de là, c’est moi qui les y ai mis, quand même !), même pas un coup de flemme (qui frappe toujours deux fois), plutôt l’angoisse de la page pleine. En gros, je sais ce qui va se passer dans les quatre ou cinq derniers chapitres, et c’est gluant à écrire. Tout est déjà résolu dans ma tête, pas besoin d’en faire 150 pages. J’ai les pattes qui collent au clavier, je tergiverse, je détourne, je blogue aussi un peu… Vous feriez quoi, vous ?