9 July 2018

Evenin'

The Cavemen - Lust For Evil
A new one from the New Zealanders off the LP Nuke Earth.

Yassassin - Citizen
The new single from the ever-evolving London-based collective.

Moderate Rebels - Beyond Hidden Words
The London anti-music collective with what they call an un-song.

Seasurfer - Sad Song
I don't know where I found this. The Internet tells me they're from Hamburg, but that's about it.

The Vega Bodegas - Monkey Ate The Monkey
Taken from the new album A Complete History of Witchcraft which is out on Friday.

Klammer - Spiral Girl
Another one taken from the third LP You Have Been Processed out next month.

Silverbacks - Dunkirk
New single from the Dublin art-punks describing the site of the famous retreat as a built-up holiday destination.

Sunstack Jones - Say Something
From the self-titled album by the Liverpudlians which came out at the back end of last month.

Four Candles - Strange Things Are Happening
Clearly it was the name that caught my eye. These are from Salford and comes from the EP Spiritual Rapture, out now.

Pellethead - Hear Me Now
I don't know why this has cropped up now. It came out in 2007 on the LP Sleepwank. Still fucking good though.

Wooden Shjips - Staring At The Sun
A fifth LP from the band with the rogue J and following in kind. Tremendous. V is out now.

Funky Bijou - Karate Break
Funky and French, off the EP Yasuke.

Roisin Murphy - Plaything
The former Moloko singer with the second of four 12" singles that make up a series. Bloody excellent.

Fonda 500 - Golden Digits Of Devilry
New stuff from the Hull veterans of the acid scene. I Heart Fonda 500 is out now.

Orbital - PHUK
'Please help UK', it stands for. Taken from the new LP Monsters Exist.

Youtube:



Soundcloud:



Let's do it again next week eh?

14 May 2018

A proliferation of exclamation marks this week. Apologies.

Parquet Courts - Almost Had To Start A Fight/In & Out Of Patience
Proper slacker rock off the new one Wide Awake!

Wax Chattels - In My Mouth
'Guitarless guitar rock' from Auckland trio Wax Chattels off their self-titled debut album.

WomenSaid - I Killed My Boy
Glaswegian band featuring alumni of Altered Images. This is off Majick!, out now.

Shriekback - And The Rain
Off their 14th studio album Why Anything? Why This?

RF Shannon - Tooth Ache
One of those bands that sounds like it's a person. These are from Lockhart, Texas, and this is off Trickster Blues.

Emlyn Johnson - Slippin' & Slidin'
One from last autumn that I've only just come across. Johnson is from Fremantle, Western Australia, and this off the mini-album/EP (8 tracks, probably too many for an EP) Contested Mark which came out last September.

Sara Renberg - Roger Miller Baby
Renberg is from Pittsburgh and this is off Night Sands which came out in February.

Nat Lyon - The New Economy
A new one from friend of the show Lyon off his new LP Slant Front Desk. Top stuff.

Featured album: Benjamin Mason - Oi! Rapscallion
Final War Of The Inevitable Barbie
A Residue Of The Great Computer Crash
The word 'rapscallion' is grossly underused. Pembroke singer-songwriter Mason has crafted a varied LP with instrumentals sitting alongside folkish post punk, found sounds and dub. Eclectic to say the least, and all good.

Michael Jablonka - Flump
I don't think this is about either the TV show or the marshmallows, but I like it anyway.

Klammer - Modern God
New track from the Leeds post-punkers ahead of their third LP which is due in June.

Fat Cops - Hands Up! Get Down!
Got nothing on these. Bloody marvellous track.

Eva Schlegel - FOH (Fuck Outta Here)
From St Petersburg, and another one from last autumn that I've only become aware of lately. This is off Demontage Of Heck - great title and a superb album.

Orbital - Tiny Foldable Cities
New Orbital! Huzzah! And a new album, Monsters Exist, to follow. What a time it is to be alive.

Sir Robert Orange Peel - Am I Looking Forward To The World Cup? (Put A Bag On Your Head)
There'll be no official World Cup song for England, so I move that this stands in. Absolutely terrific. An unusual take on the genre by the enigmatic producer, as you would expect.

Youtube:



Soundcloud:



Bandcamp:





That was fun. Let's do it again some time.

1 August 2017

Happy Yorkshire Day!

Furr - Another Fable
And as it's Yorkshire Day, let's start in Yorkshire. Furr are from Leeds and this is on the Come Play With Me singles club.

La Forme - Birds In An Aviary
A new one from the South Wales trio inspired by the line in the Tennessee Williams’ play ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ where Maggie says to Brick “I’m not living with you, we just occupy the same cage.”

The Cornshed Sisters - The Message
A four-piece from Tyneside who aren't sisters, this is off the LP Honey And Tar which is out in November.

Banditos - Fine, Fine Day
A sextet from Alabama/Tennessee with a track from their latest LP Visionland.

Los Blancos - Mae'n Anodd Deffro Un
Welsh language, as you may have guessed, this means 'it's difficult to wake one'. Slacker country punk, they call it.

Warm Digits - Growth Of Raindrops feat. Sarah Cracknell
A cracker from the Newcastle duo's new long player Wireless World. And with the fragrant Ms Cracknell as well for good measure. Marvellous.

Fold - Written In The Sky
A house favourite, the title track to their new EP which comes out in September.

I, Ludicrous - It's All Free
A new one from the veteran post-punkers off the new LP Songs From The Sides Of Lorries out two weeks on Friday.

Life Model - Skin And Bones
Based in Glasgow, but with roots in the North East, this came out as a single a while ago, but features on the EP Lucky, out last week.

Madonnatron - Tron
Labelmates of the Fat White Family and Meatraffle, who we love round here, this is off their self-titled debut LP.

Other States - My Beau
Brighton-based, this is the B-side to the debut single Make Amends.

Feral Five - Void
London-based electro-post-punk with a track that appears on the More In Common compilation put out by Hope Not Hate.

Orbital - Copenhagen
Requiring no introduction, a new one from the brothers Hartnoll.

Silicon Buddhas - Metal Legs
These have been together since 1985, but this is their debut single that came out in June. Rediscovering an old demo prompted them to get it released. Or it could be the Cuban Boys jacking with us all. Who knows?

Youtube:



Soundcloud:



Bandcamp:



More of this sort of thing in a week.

28 February 2017

Hello. Been a while, eh? As such, I have a massive backlog of stuff to play, so I'm dispensing with the featured LP so I can cram more in.

Simon Roberts - The American Dream?
aka Classicalbanksy, this is Roberts's debut as a composer and producer. The LP Operatic Pop is due later in the year.

Jonny Kinkaid and The Imaginary Nowhere Band - Note To Self
From Bristol, this is off the album F Is For Fascist which came out at the start of the month.

Ride - Charm Assault
New stuff from old shoegazers after a 20-year hiatus. Off the back of their reunion gigs, there's a new LP in the works.

The Golden Age Of Nothing - Sleepwalkers
Teessiders whose album Monuments comes out in April.

Scott H Biram - Long Old Time
Texas singer-songwriter with a track from the LP The Bad Testament which came out last Friday.

Phobophobes - The Never Never
Love these. This is a belter. A critique of modern consumerism that comes out on March 24.

John Mouse - Tough Day For The Trains
They said they were done, but you can't keep a good band down. It's out on March 10.

Divisionists - Say Can You
A track from their debut album Daybreak which is out on March 17.

The Sly Persuaders - Wild For The Night
This came out as a single last autumn, but the South London rockabillies have a self-titled album out as of last week on which this features.

The Kumari - Space Witch
A new single, their fifth, out on the ever-reliable Metal Postcards records.

Beatrice Dillon - Curl
Off a split-single with fellow Londoner Karen Gwyer on the intriguingly named Alien James label.

Analogue Wave - Hope
These are an Irish pair of electronica merchants. The single came out on Friday while an LP is in the pipeline.

Future Orients - Motto
These are from Beijing and this is off the LP Eat Or Die. It came out last autumn, but I've only just come across it. Super stuff.

Warm Digits - End Times feat. Field Music
This is the Newcastle duo's first release for Memphis Industries, their new label. An album will follow.

Orbital - Kinetic 2017
They said they'd quit, but they just can't. Back together and making new music. Terrific.

Youtube:



Soundcloud:



Bandcamp:

28 October 2014

You know the drill by now.

Half Man Half Biscuit - Westward Ho! Massive Letdown
Unalloyed joy with the release of a new HMHB record. Urge For Offal is the title, it's as good as they've ever been and this is track one from it.

I, Ludicrous - Cheer Up
New track from these, part of the 21 Songs For John selection on the Unwashed Territories bandcamp page commemorating ten years since the death of John Peel.  Available for a short time still.

Postcode - Losing The Battle
Don't think we've had a band from the Isle of Man before. Consider that rectified. From the album Zebratronic which came out in February.

Cover Version Corner
Tubeway Army/Gary Numan - Are 'Friends' Electric?
Bit of a cheat this, but shows you how his sound has developed since 1979. I went to see him play at Holmfirth earlier in the year and his band are really tight.

The Ex - Maybe I Was The Pilot
From a few years ago now, 2011, some shoegazing from Amsterdam. Super stuff. Off the album Catch My Shoe.

Miss Mobile Home - Phototaxis
To New York now and the title track from an EP that came out in August. Available from their bandcamp and soundcloud pages.

Elemental Gaze - God Knows Why This Should Be Kept For All Time
The third band we've had from Bandung in Indonesia. That's superb. Don't ask me to explain the title though.

Cambodia Space Project - Whiskey Cambodia
And now to Cambodia. Well, involving musicians from all over, but the point stands. I was actually looking for another track of theirs, but this won me over. From an album of the same name that came out in June.

Mega Emotion - Uncomfortable
And now to Norwich. We've had these on before, but I've little else to report than that.

One Degree of Separation
Eight Rounds Rapid - Talent
The Salient Braves - X-Factor Shooting Spree
First, from highlight of 2013 Lossleader and then from a band from Barnsley I've come across in the last few days. The theme should be obvious - excoriation of TV talent shows.

Interpol - My Desire (Factory Floor remix)
Factory Floor produced one of the albums of the year, Interpol's El Pintor isn't half bad either. Mix them together and you get this complete banger.

Orbital - Wonky
Terrible news in the week that Orbital are no more. Having got back together in 2012 following an eight-year hiatus, they've now split for good. Damn shame as it means no more of this.

Cuban Boys - The Nation Needs You (2014)
Another one from the 21 Songs for John compilation, an updated version of their 1999 record which must have been a lot of fun to put together. I think it's safe to say that without John Peel, I wouldn't be doing this kind of thing. A fitting tribute, I think.

Here's that on YouTube:



and Soundcloud:


and I'll see you next week.

17 December 2013 - The christmas special

Christmas show;
Orbital and Low.
Gruff Rhys, Ethiopians, Breeders and Sho-
nen Knife, Frank Sidebottom, Sultans of Ping,
Röyksopp, Sufjan Stevens and Lips most Flaming...

Enough of this tomfoolery. Get on with it. Also, John brought props...

Frank Sidebottom - Christmas Is Really Fantastic
Originally released in 1986, there was a re-release in 2010 after the sad death of the man inside the enormous papier-maché head, Chris Sievey, and an associated campaign to get it into the charts. Frank's philosophy was that all songs should have proper endings, so they all ended like this one.

The Goons - I'm Walking Backwards For Christmas
From June 1956, with Spike Milligan on vocals and Peter Sellers at the piano and with the usual backing from the Ray Ellington Quartet. That's on the B-side of 'Bluebottle Blues', hence the reference to 'I thought that my side was better'. My dad had that on a 7" which now resides on my shelves.

Shonen Knife - All I Want For Christmas
Osaka's finest and their 1999 festive effort. That was written by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, but I guess it doesn't really fit their idiom.

Gruff Rhys - Post-Apocalypse Christmas
From the Super Furry Animals frontman's 2011 EP 'Atheist Christmas'. It's all well worth a listen.

Mighty Mighty Bosstones - This Time Of Year
Another band you wouldn't normally associate with the festive spirit, this is from 2007 and the album 'Medium Rare'.

Low - Just Like Christmas
One of my favourites from this time of year. This is off an EP called 'Christmas' which came out in 1999.

Sufjan Stevens - Get Behind Me, Santa!
Mr Stevens has done loads of festive collections. This is from 'Songs For Christmas volume 5' from 2006. He's up to volume 10 now.

Sultans Of Ping - Xmas Bubblegum Machine
It's not all about losing jumpers and giving people a yard of grass, y'know. This is the B-side to the 1993 single 'Michiko'.

Saint Etienne - Unwrap Me
One of my favourite bands, this is off a compilation of their many christmas-themed songs called 'A Glimpse of Stocking' which came out a couple of years ago.

The Ethiopians - Ding Dong (Christmas Bell)
One of the best things ever are Trojan Records' christmas compilations. Nothing says christmas to me like a bit of ska. This is from the one released in 2003, though the song first appeared in 1968.

Jacques Dutronc - Le Fille De Père Noël
Dutronc's first two albums were called 'Jacques Dutronc', rather unhelpfully. This is off the first of those, from 1966. The son of Father Christmas, in case you couldn't work it out.

Dr Dog - Christmas Party
Bit of a Beach Boys theme to it, which is never a bad thing. That's from the new EP 'Oh My Christmas Tree' which is out now.

The Breeders - Christmas Song
Recorded for a Pee Wee Herman TV show, that's basically Cannonball, their big hit, with bells on. And none the worse for it.

The Flaming Lips - Christmas At The Zoo
From back in 1995 off the 'Clouds Taste Metallic' album. Because we've all wondered what happens when the zoo is closed.

The Knife - Christmas Reindeer
Something a bit avant-garde, from these Stockholm avant-guardians. The song Reindeer came out in 2001 in the album 'The Knife', but like The Breeders previously, added some bells to christmas it up.

Röyksopp - Le Cantique Du Noël
Keeping it Scandinavian, this is their version of a French carol which dates back to 1847. Relaxing...

They Might Be Giants - Santa's Beard
Remember these? Well they're still around and putting new stuff out. This is from 2001 and the EP 'They Might Be Giants In Holidayland'.

The Gresham Flyers - Perfect Christmas Snow (Perfect Christmas Kiss)
I've been after this for ages. It came out in 2010 and I've not been able to put my hands on it until just now. It's on an EP called 'Merry Christmas From The Gresham Flyers' which is available as a pay-what-you-like download from their bandcamp page. I flippin' well love this record. Bloody ace.



Orbital - Christmas Chime
This year's must-have christmas single. Another one that's a reworking of an older track, in this case 1990's Chime, with additional bells. Go get it. Download it from iTunes now. Do it and do it often. Get it into the charts. Resistance is futile.

Half Man Half Biscuit - All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
It is not ever christmas until you've heard this, but now that you have, you are officially allowed to get festive. Best christmas record ever? Possibly.


Here's your YouTube extravaganza, apart from the Gresham Flyers track which is above:


And that's it for 2013. We're off for two weeks, but will be back in the New Year with more of what's good for your ears.
Before we depart though, here's last year's festive playlist for those that may have missed it.
Merry Christmas!

17 September 2012

Orbital - Where Is It Going?
John: How good is that?

Band Of Horses - Knock Knock

The Pond - The River

Django Django - Default
Macabees - Pelican
John: Both of these bands were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize this week and we'll have two more later

Simian Mobile Disco feat Beth Ditto - Cruel Intentions

Kele - Tenderoni



Cover Version Corner
Simon and Garfunkel/The Lemonheads - Mrs Robinson
John: Simon and Garfunkel's version from which film?
Carolyn: The Graduate
John: And The Lemonheads?
Carolyn: Not a clue
John: Wayne's World 2
Carolyn: Only you would know enough to care

Los Saicos - El Enterrio de los Gatos
John: There's a new documentary out that says punk didn't start in mid-'70s New York, but Lima a good ten years earlier and this band at the forefront. The title means 'the burial of the cats' and I do think you can see blues moving in a direction towards what we know as punk

Grizzly Bear - Yet Again

M83 - Reunion

Julian Cope - If You Loved Me At All
John: Possibly my second-favourite artist/band/whatever
Carolyn: You want me to ask who your favourite is don't you
John: You know who that is surely
Carolyn: Half Man Half Biscuit

Richard Hawley - Seek It
Field Music - Who'll Pay The Bills
John: Two more Mercury nominees. The others are: Ben Howard, Roller Trio, Sam Lee, Plan B, Alt-J, Jessie Ware, Michael Kiwanuka and Lianne La Havas
Carolyn: Who do you want to win?
John: It'd be nice if it was Richard Hawley, but Django Django is probably my favourite. Not Alt-J will be acceptable

Boards Of Canada - Roygbiv

Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood

And your YouTube playlist is here.