26 July 2016

Tuesday, 7pm, so it must be time for.... this

The Boston Shakers - Long Hard Night
With members from France and the USA, but now based in Liverpool, this is an interesting melange of styles and genres.

The Crookes - World Is Waiting
Long-time favourites on this show from Sheffield. Off their album Lucky Ones which came out in January.

All Is Worth - Early Birdy
Alt-folk, I suppose, from Oxford. Different.

Featured album: Echo And The Bunnymen - Porcupine
The Cutter
Heads Will Roll
Their third album, it got some bad reviews initially. But it still went to number 2 in the album charts and is quintessential Echo. It was originally rejected by their label, but having done some work on strings with L Shankar and rerecorded, it passed muster. Ian McCulloch wasn't a fan of it either, but what would he know?

Repo Man - Let's See The Sun Sink With Fatigue
Noise and words from Bristol. Unusual stuff from the LP Minesweeper which is out now.

The Black Sheep Frederick Dickens - Shrines
Here's interesting. Darlingtonians David Saunders and Rob Irish make up the act which is described as "a musical concept project narrating the life of Frederick Dickens, Charles’ younger brother" who, unlike Charles, was a boozy, womanising gambler who was shunned by his family and descended into poverty and addiction. So there.

Paul Draper - Feeling My Heart Run Slow
Remember Mansun? They had some decent records. Lead singer Paul Draper goes solo 13 years after Mansun folded and his debut release is the EP 'EP1'.

Kingsley Chapman and The Murder - Fevers
Another one from the Middlesbrough troubadours. Bloody love 'em.

Alone - It Will Take Twenty Years
More Welsh 8-bit DIY dance music from Alone. Always interesting.

Featured album: Echo And The Bunnymen - Porcupine
The Back Of Love
Track 2 and the first single from the LP. It's one of those I loved from the minute I heard it.

Mr Sterile Assembly - 100% Hillary
This is off their fifth LP, It's All Over, and how they've passed me by until now I don't know. Outsider noise-punk experimental rock band from Wellington, New Zealand. Sounds right up my street and what do you know - it's incredible.

Gabriel Bruce - Freedom
A delayed follow-up to his debut album as a solo artist, this is off Come All Sufferers. Delayed after an industrial accident crushed his fingers, but they were saved. It came out at Easter and it's "about the apocalypse" says the artist.

Psychic Ills - I Don't Mind feat. Hope Sandoval
Brooklyn experimental duo with assistance from Mazzy Star singer Sandoval. Off the new album Inner Journey Out.

Applescal - Harmony Two
Pascal Terstappen's latest complete and utter banger. Out now on Atomnation.

Here's your Youtube:



and Soundcloud:



and bandcamp:




More in a week

30 June 2015

Hello again. I think this is one of the best shows I've had the pleasure of putting together. Dive in and enjoy.

Mourning Birds - The Last Thing (I Need)
Kent's leading rockers with their new single - a bit of an epic by their standards - from their debut, eponymous album which came out yesterday.

Nightingales - Gales Doc
New stuff from old bands is a bit of a thing at the moment. From the album Mind Over Matter comes this knowing, self-referential mockumentary which also takes a poke at modern documentary structure, which frankly deserves it. The album is great. Go listen when you're done here.

Girls Names - Reticence
This is ace. From Belfast, the album Arms Around A Vision is due in October.

Cover Version Corner
The Vogues/Julian Cope - Five O'Clock World
My Nation Underground is atypical Cope. It's over-produced and Copey himself was so clearly unhappy with it that he went off and put out two lo-fi, stripped back albums - Droolian and Skellington - while it was still in production. But he still managed to make an updated version of The Vogues' classic.

Musa Okwonga - Ring The Bells
A new single from the London poet now based in Berlin. The beats mate nicely with his voice - complementary and neither overpowering nor underwhelming. A top effort.

Seazoo - Martyn And Jayne
Good things are coming out of Wales right now. These are from Wrexham and the EP Car Deborah - no, me neither - is out now.

Heartless Bastards - Gates Of Dawn
A total misnomer of a band name given how pleasant that is. They're from Austin in Texas and the album Restless Ones is out next month.

Frontwards - Speechless
To Leeds now and Sad Sack Records have put out a compilation, as they do from time to time, showcasing their bands. I Was A Teenage Sad Sack is the title and this is on it.

Numbers Are Futile - Monster
Based in Edinburgh, but originating from all over the place, there's a very Middle Eastern influence to that. Really rather delightful. Sunlight On Black Horizon is the album and it came out last month.

Repo Man - Static Excess Strobe Effect
Obviously influenced by the same Alex Cox films that I was as a kid. These are from Bristol and the album Minesweeping is out now.

One Degree of Separation
BEAK> - The Meader
<KAEB - When We Fall
Also from Bristol, BEAK> have made a split EP with their own alter egos <KAEB. See what they did there? It's something we've seen elsewhere - Sauna Youth swap instruments and become Monotony, for example - and allegedly allows them to explore sounds outwith their usual oeuvre. Fair enough. Works for me.

Drewford Alabama - Time Is On Your Side (ft Bnann)
Jamie Morrison is Drewford Alabama and this is out in three weeks time.

Doomsquad - Apocalypso
That's a great name for a single. Doomsquad are sibling trio Trevor, Jaclyn and Allie Bulmas from Toronto. This appears on Pageantry Suite which is out now.

Joi - Asian Vibes
A new retrospective of Joi's work is out now, the early stuff with both Haroon and Farook Shamsher and, after Haroon's sad death in 1999, Farook's solo work. Joi Sound System is what you're looking for here.

Here's that on YouTube:



and Souncloud:



and we'll do it again next week.