In our fourth episode Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio went camping with the crew and Kumail Najiani (and his racist Texan puppet), and that was all pretty awesome. But it’s hard to beat Tunde doing TV on the Radio songs a cappella. Here he does “Young Liars,” and then he got back up and did “Shout Me Out” a little later, and both of them were pretty damn amazing.

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This wasn’t such a funny moment, but it was a pretty great one. David Bazan was on in 2010 shortly after the death of the great Vic Chesnutt and covered Chesnutt’s “Flirted With You All My Life.” It’s a pretty beautiful version. Many thanks to our audio engineer from the beginning Richie Clarke for the awesome audio on this video.

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Let’s get this informal countdown of silly things that happened at Radio Happy Hour going. Here’s the first. In the summer of 2010 we had 2009 US air guitar champion William Ocean on the show with non-air guitarists The Postelles and David Dondero. The Postelles got going on their final song at the end of the show and about 30 seconds into the song William Ocean strapped on the air guitar and joined them. Highlights of the video include duelling guitars at about 1:30 (is it still duelling “guitars” when one of them is imaginary?) and Rich Bologna laughing hysterically in the background of the close-ups on Ocean.

The Postelles perform on Radio Happy Hour with air guitarist William Ocean from Radio Happy Hour on Vimeo.

Have any ideas on what else should be included in the best moments of Radio Happy Hour? Send an e-mail, send a tweet, post on our FB wall, or leave a comment right here.

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but we won’t mention it publicly because we are not ass’s, like John Knefel. As a side note he’s doing a Kickstarter for a short film he’s trying to make. John Knefel is a good guy. (I know that seems contradictory to the first sentence, but it’s no less true.) Watch this and think about it. Think hard about it.

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Starting next week we’re going to start counting down our favorite Radio Happy Hour moments here on the blog, all leading up to the final episode of Radio Happy Hour on August 12th. Keep checking back to the blog and we’ll posting some great moment up here. Have some favorite moments of your own? Maybe William Ocean playing air guitar with The Postelles? David Bazan covering Vic Chestnutt? Hannibal Buress’ ridiculous diatribes during quick fire? Ted Alexandro’s killer warming set before “The House That Ted Built”? Send your thoughts to us. Anything goes. Send them via Twitter, Facebook, leave a comment on this post, send us an e-mail, tell us in the street, whatever you want. Just let us know what your favorite moments have been and we’ll let you have a say in what goes up.

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The final episode of Radio Happy Hour is getting dangerously close to happening. (Tickets are only $5.) We wanted to share that we’ve finalized the lineup for the show (at least until we tell you otherwise). The show will feature musical guests Twin Sister, Mike Doughty, Franz Nicolay, Matt Pond PA, comedians Jenny Slate, Jessi Klein, Arden Myrin, Max Silvestri, Gabe Liedman, Jared Logan, Murray Hill, and John & Molly Knefel, author Arthur Phillips, and 2009 US air guitar champion William Ocean…and maybe we’ll even throw in a surprise guest or two.

This is all really just to say that we want you all at the show. All of these guests are coming back for a second (or third, fourth, and fifth) round of punishment on the show, and we want you all to be there with us when we tape the very last episode of Radio Happy Hour. Come, have a drink, boo Sam, get free hugs from Skibiak (tipping is suggested), let Robin pat you on the butt as you drunkenly stumble out of (Le) Poisson Rouge. Come celebrate with us. It’s going to be worth the $5. Especially when Sam buys you a $6 drink.

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I think we’re going out with a bang, spare no expense. We spent fifteen whole dollars on this puppy.

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Friends, it’s been fun, but the final episode of Radio Happy Hour is upon us. We will have more information soon, but for now you have this short post. The final episode will be on August 12th at (Le) Poisson Rouge. Tickets are only $5. Get them now, we’re pretty sure this will sell out quick. The guests include Twin Sister, Mike Doughty, Franz Nicolay, Arthur Phillips, Molly Knefel, William Ocean and many other friends of the show. Get your tickets here.

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Nick Diamonds, Cloud Cult, and Norah Jones perform on Radio Happy Hour

This month Radio Happy Hour is celebrating our two-year anniversary. And as is our tradition (because we’ve done it twice now) we’re sharing our annual Radio Happy Hour Mixtape with you. The last year has been pretty awesome, we’ve had some great musical guests including Born Ruffians, Tim Kasher, Suckers, Norah Jones, Abe Vigoda, Nick Diamonds, and more. Enjoy some free MP3s of performances recorded live at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York, then go check out some full episodes of Radio Happy Hour with these guests on iTunes.

We’ll be celebrating our two-year anniversary with a live taping at City Winery with special guests Sun Airway, Hank & Cupcakes, Jared Logan, and John & Molly Knefel on June 18th. More info on that here.

You can download a zip file of the entire mixtape here.

1. Tim Kasher – “No Fireworks”

Tim Kasher made his second appearance on Radio Happy Hour for the episode titled “The Christmas Gayle” along with Suckers, Arden Myrin, and Joe Mande. (His first appearance was with his band Cursive.) Tim played “No Fireworks” from his solo debut album The Game Of Monogamy.

2. Islands (Nick Diamonds solo) – “Shotgun Vision”

It was one year ago that Nick Diamonds (Islands, Unicorns) came on the show for our first Radio Happy Hour & Friends evening on our one-year anniversary. He appeared on “The Little Flautist” with actor Eddie Kaye Thomas and comedian Murray Hill. “Shotgun Vision” is a brand new song (well, at least a year old now) that Nick hasn’t recorded yet, but will likely appear on a forthcoming Islands album in a full band arrangement. Here, he goes solo.

3. David Dondero – “Nobody Loves Your Doggie Like You Do”

Austin-based singer-songwriter David Dondero came to Radio Happy Hour for “The Don, The Delicious, and The Doom,” which also featured The Postelles and 2009 US Air Guitar Champion William Ocean. Here he played a song from his album of covers and oddities A Pre-Existing Condition.

4. Suckers – “Black Sheep”

Suckers appeared on “The Christmas Gayle” along with Tim Kasher and comedians Arden Myrin and Joe Mande. They played their epic indie anthem “Black Sheep” off their album Wild Smile.

5. The Postelles – “White Night”

The Postelles stopped by well in advance of their just recently released debut album to play their single “White Night” on the episode “The Don, The Delicious, and The Doom” with David Dondero and William Ocean (who played some air guitar with The Postelles at the end of the show).

6. Born Ruffians – “Retard Canard”

Born Ruffians came on the show last fall for a hilarious episode that also featured director Andrew Bujalski and comedian Hannibal Burress (30 Rock, SNL).

7. Cloud Cult – “You’ll Be Bright”

It was October when we had Norah Jones and comedian Gabe Liedman on the show for an episode called “Bonerman’s Honor,” and Minnesota-based chamber pop ensemble Cloud Cult came out as a surprise guest to play a full band rendition of their beautiful and sweeping “You’ll Be Bright.”

8. Abe Vigoda – “Dream of my Love (Chasing After You)”

Downcast indie-rockers Abe Vigoda (not the actor) guest starred on the episode “The House That Ted Built” with Marcellus Hall and Ted Alexandro.

9. Marcellus Hall – “Laughing With You”

The companion of Abe Vigoda, Marcellus Hall was another member of Sam’s Junior Detectives in “The House That Ted Built.” The singer-songwriter (and New Yorker artist) sang his charming song “Laughing With You.”

10. Elizabeth & the Catapult – “Race You”

Elizabeth Ziman and co. join the Radio Happy Hour crew in “The Montana Three Way” along with author Arthur Phillips and comedian Dave Hill. She played some beautiful songs on piano and guitar with her band including “Race You.”

11. Franz Nicolay – “This is Not A Pipe

The mustachioed vaudevillian Franz Nicolay fit right in on Radio Happy Hour. He joined the crew in their return to Manhattan, Minnesota for “The Tax Murderer” and told some stories of what it takes to make it in show business.

12. Norah Jones – “Young Blood”

Friend of the show, Norah Jones made her second appearance on the show for “Bonerman’s Honor” with comedian Gabe Liedman.

This year also saw the first three part mini-series from Radio Happy Hour called “The Fall of Keith.” You can watch part one here:

Radio Happy Hour presents The Fall of Keith: Part 1 from Radio Happy Hour on Vimeo.

Many thanks to Richie Clarke at (Le) Poisson Rouge, who engineered all of these recordings, as well as the sound for all live recordings.

Please do not rehost these files on your site. If you wish to repost this, please provide a link to this site. We appreciate it.

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Comedian Jared Logan is joining the show on June 18th with special guests Sun Airway and Hank & Cupcakes. We’re pretty pumped about it. You can see why in the video below where Jared plays Dungeons and Dragons with another previous RHH guest, Kumail Nanjiani. He’s pretty amazing right? (Because you’ve seen the video now. We don’t follow common laws of linearity. We’re above that.) Now you understand why we are excited that he’ll be getting on a doomed plan with Sun Airway, Hank & Cupcakes, and the rest of the Radio Happy Hour crew.

You can get some cheap tickets if you order in advance.

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