Archives for September 2011

It's another tale of love this week for Memory Tapes, but this one doesn't end with marriage and kids like usual. Emma Holmes writes....

"Having spent 6 years going to neighbouring schools and never once meeting, I met Chris at the end of an Arctic Monkeys gig in Glasgow's ABC. A drunken man tried to kiss me and I slapped him away which Chris thought was hilarious considering I'm only 5 ft 2! We talked and walked each other down wildest Sauchiehall St for the train home and made plans to meet up.

"We'd meet up at gigs in the summer of 2006. We were both 17 and it was the summer before university started. It really was, as cliched as it sounds, a summer of love; lying in bed all day listening to The Chalets and Belle and Sebastian and Camera Obsucra. It couldn't be any more twee.

"Chris was writing for a local indie music magazine, Is This Music? and would get sent tonnes of CDs and to make the most of this growing pile of music he would make me mix tapes, mixing the new with his old favourites. Once a month he'd post me a letter, a bar of my favourite dark chocolate and, of course, my latest mix tape.

"What I thought would be a summer romance turned into five years of fun and mutual musical appreciation; spending less time in the Barrowlands and more time in the Sub Club, less muddy weekends at T in the Park, more sunny weekends at Sonar. Our musical tastes changed and eventually so did we - we broke up in February of this year. But in classic Chris style, a break up mix followed, gifted to me on Valentines Day. No more lovingly made artwork on cassette: the mix was posted on his Soundcloud, but I guess the romance was well and truly gone! I'll treasure the old (and new) tapes forever: they are like relics of an old life; they remind me of how much I loved Chris and how much we both loved music.

This is my favourite mix tape of the old ones called 'Sylvia (Ain't got nothing on you...)'

SIDE A

Belle and Sebastian - It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career

Bis - Skinny Tie Sensurround

The Cribs - Modern Way

Elle Milano - Swearing's for Art Students

The Ramones - The KKK Took My Baby Away

Milky Wimpshake - I Wanna Be Seen in Public With You

The Long Blondes - Lust in the Movies

Ladyfuzz - Oh Marie

S**TDISCO - I Know Kung Fu

The Paddingtons - Molly's Lips

The Rocks - E's

The Clash - White Riot

Pete Doherty - Albion

SIDE B

Boy Least Likely To - Be Gentle With Me

Johnny Cash - Get Rhythm

Hefner - Hello Kitten

Jeffrey Lewis - Songs About Songwriting

Special Needs - Stick Around

The Libertines - Mocking Bird

Adam Ant - Stand and Deliver

The Chalets - Kiss Chasing

Good Shoes - Valleyboy

Cut Copy - Bright Neon Payphone

Vincent Vincent and the Villains - The Boy Who Killed Time

Arab Strap - Don't Ask Me to Dance

Tullycraft - Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend is too Stupid to Know About

North Atlantic Oscilliation - Some Blue Hive

Want to share a mix tape with Lauren? Go on; it doesn't even have to be a tape! Send her an email when you get a sec.

This week's MPFree EP contains a couple of tracks which Lauren's played in the past and you lot have loved. Which is always nice.

Your final track this week is a seven minute offering from the DFA label. Montreal DJ A-Trak has remixed The Rapture's How Deep Is Your Love, and now you can have it for free. You'll find it below with the other downloads.

Your tracks this week are:

Mark de Clive-Lowe - The Why (feat, Nia Andrews)

Simian Ghost - Free Agent

The Tallest Man On Earth - Weather of a Killing Kind

Clockwork Radio - So Will I

The Rapture - How Deep Is Your Love (A-Trak remix)

Some tracks may no longer be available for download.

Your MPFree today comes from a band who we played recently on the show and it caused a pretty big reaction from you lot.

So, with that in mind, we're pointing you in the direction of a free track from them. Clockwork Radio release their new EP 'Sketch' on October 10th, and not surprisingly, this track comes from it. Enjoy...

Clockwork Radio - So Will I

Your 'hump day' MPFree this week comes from The Tallest Man On Earth. It's more of what you'd expect from Kristian Matsson, but that's what we like, so let's hope he keeps it coming.

'Weather of a Killing Kind' is a new song and is being released as a part of the Adult Swim Singles program.

The Tallest Man On Earth - Weather of a Killing Kind

It's always nice when we play a track we like one week, and then the following week it's made available for free download. That's what's happened today with Simian Ghost.

Last week we played the track Free Agent from the Swedish electro-popers' new EP Lovelorn which is due for release in November. Now it's yours for nothing you lucky things.

Simian Ghost - Free Agent

Stuart Dredge, fresh from San Fran, has all your app reviews...

The Magic of Reality (iPad)

Richard Dawkins' latest book has become a book-app for iPad, with the full text, illustrations, animations and even the ability to create a virtual rainbow or breed your own (yes, virtual) frogs. It costs £9.99, so you'd probably want to buy it instead of the book, not as well as.

Jamie Oliver Food Guide (iPhone / iPad)

He's released a couple of cooking recipe apps, but Jamie Oliver's latest is about getting out of your kitchen. It's a guide to food: eating out and buying it - "everything from great cheese shops, fishmongers, pubs and restaurants to cafes and food festivals", with location based features to identify places nearest you. It costs £2.99.

Hanging With Friends (iPhone / Android)

There's a big buzz building around this game, which essentially turns Hangman into a big multiplayer social game. Just out for Android (it's been on iPhone for a while), it lets you play up to 20 games against different friends at once, taking turns as and when you're ready. If you're both playing at once, though, you can chat and message within the game. It's free.

The MPFrees get underway today with a nice slice of modern soul. Mark de Clive-Lowe is a producer, and he also has a solo album on the way in November.

The album will be called Renegades and this single is officially released on 3rd October. Don't want to wait? Noy surprised; here it is now for free:

Mark de Clive-Lowe - The Why (feat, Nia Andrews)

I say this every week, but it's been a strong week for MPFrees; it really has.

Your final installment comes from current favourites Friends. We've played the track 'I'm His Girl' a fair bit on the show, and now they're giving away the b-side for free. It's called My Boo and is a cover of Ghost Town DJ's track released back in 1996. You'll find it below with the other tracks for this week.

As for the artwork this week, we asked you for a photo of the choir you sing with to tie in with this week's People's Plalist. We went with this offering from Ricky Whaites of the male voice choir he sings with called 'Eschoir':

Your tracks this week are:

Phoenix Foundation - Bright Grey

Daughter - Love

Villagers - Cecelia & Her Selfhood

Wild Flag - Romance

Friends - My Boo

Some songs may no longer be available for download.

The main thing I've learnt from Memory Tapes is that the UK population would be nowhere near as high as it is without the humble mixtape bringing so many of you together. Nearly every week the story is of boys charming girls and vice versa; this week is no different, as Jo Piper from Devon explains...

"It was 1999, and my husband and I had just started dating. I was living in Croydon and James was living in Torbay. We had met when I was also living in Torbay a few years before, in fact to be honest I was dating one of his friends!

"But fast forward a few years that relationship broke down; I'm flat sharing in Croydon with a mutal friend of both of ours, we have a house warming party and james travelled up from Torbay to join the party. It was just one of those cliched things that when we got together, everything fell into place and it just worked and we knew we where in for the long haul.

"James still lived in Torbay, worked all week, then would catch the train every Friday night to London Victoria, where I would eagerly wait and meet him off the train. We would spend the most wonderful weekends in London, then I would wave him off every Sunday evening back to Devon. It took no time at all for this Sunday night departure to become very hard and the week would feel very long, lonely and I would will Friday night to come around again.

"Then one morning an envelope dropped through my door, which held the first mix tape James made for me. It was everything to me; I would play it on the train to work everyday on my beloved personal stereo and every night when I went to sleep.

"Every song held something special for me, but the key song for me was The Kinks' Waterloo sunset. With such memories already of lovely days and nights along the Thames we had together, and the line "Terry meets Julie and waterloo station every Friday night", used to make me beam as I would wait on the platform for James to step off the train at Victoria station.

"Well as you can see it's 12 years later, we've been married for nine years and we had The Tempations' Just My Imagination as our first dance.

"So if anyone is out there, and thinking of making a mix tape for a girlfriend/boyfriend DO IT!"

Yeah, DO IT! Then send it to us. Along with a photo, like Jo did:

Side A

Catatonia - Youve Got A Lot To Answer For

The Cure - Just Like Heaven

Jamiroquai - Do You Know

Suede - Pantomonie Horse

Teenage fanclub - I Don't Want Control Of You

The Smiths - That Joke Isnt Funny Anymore

The Cure - Love song

Bernard Butler - Stay

Morrisey - the more you ignore me

Dodgy - Grassman

Side B

Massive Attack - Protection (Eno mix )

Otis Reading - Dock of the bay

The Kinks - Waterloo sunset

Stevie Wonder - As

Isley Brothers - Summer Breeze

The Smiths - Boy With The Thorn In His Side

The Cure - Letter To Elise

The Tempations - Just My Imagination

Suede - Metal Mickey

Nat King Cole - Let There Be Love

Go on, send Lauren your mixtape and we'll celebrate it on the radio.

Your MPFree today comes from an indie supergroup! Wild Flag is Janet Weiss and Carrie Brownstein from Sleater-Kinney with Mary Timony of Helium and Rebecca Cole from The Minders.

This track comes from the band's self-titled debut album which is released through Merge.

Wild Flag - Romance

Your MPFree today is an exciting one; It's some new material from Villagers following last year's Becoming A Jackal.

Well, I say new; if you've seen them live recently then you may have heard it already, but now you can own it for free and watch the accompanying video by animator Adrien Merigeau.

The band are currently taking a break from touring to write some new material, so this should keep you going:

Villagers - Cecelia & Her Selfhood

Today's MPFree comes from the new Daughter EP. This brilliantly titled The Wild Youth is released on the 21st November and contains four new tracks.

Here's one of them as a taster:

Daughter - Love

To kick start this week's bundle of gratuitous goodies otherwise known as the MPFREE, we bring you a track from New Zealand band Phoenix Foundation.

'Bright Grey' is taken from the soon to be released deluxe edition of their 2010 album 'Buffalo'.

Phoenix Foundation - Bright Grey

It's another week of big hitters and top tunes; this is getting embarrassing!

Your final track for the MPFree EP is a nice slice of Brooklyn electro-pop courtesy of Car Park Records signing Class Actress. This track is the second single from their debut album 'Rapprocher', due for release in October.

So, this week looks like this:

Pearl Jam - Ole

Casio Kids - Det Haster

Dum Dum Girls - Bedroom Eyes

The Juan MacLean - Everybody Get Close

Class Actress - Weekend

Some tracks may no longer be available for download.

This week's Memory Tapes was inspired by last week's Memory Tapes; this is potentially a first.

Following a tough time for Sue in Sheffield, she put together her own Memory Tape. Not as easy as it sounds as, until a work colleague donated her an antiquated PC, her record collection had either been sold (in the case of CDs) or was unlistenable (vinyl without the record player). But the donated PC could just about handle Spotify, so Sue was back in business.

"Every night" says Sue "when I got home from work, I would put on One Day Like This by Elbow. It just described the optimism and hope I felt; things were slowly getting better and easier every day. Over time the list of songs that I made made me feel happy, hopeful, sad or I just wanted to sing.

"Yes, Will Young has made it on there, a surprise even for myself, but that's the joy of music isn't it, a band/artist you would normally dismiss can just sum up how you feel at a specific moment, and I am now old enough to have got over my musical snobbery (well maybe.....)."

Here's the list:

One Day Like This - Elbow

Lisztomania - Phoenix

Zorbing - Stormoway

The Look You Give That Guy - Eels

I've Got It And It's Not Worth Having - Boyracer

Our Love Is Heavenly - Heavenly

You're In A Bad Way - St Etienne

Twisterella - Ride

Protection - Massive Attack

Plants and Rags - PJ Harvey

Whiskey and Water - Tindersticks

Islands - XX

What Have I Done To Deserve This? - Pet Shop Boys and Dusty

Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John - Norah Jones, Belle & Sebastian

The Way We Were/Try To Remember - Gladys Knight and the Pips

Leaving Blues - Bombay Bicycle Club

Irreplaceable - Beyonce

Who Am I - Will Young

Pieces - Villagers

Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan

Razzamatazz - Pulp

Mallo Cup - Lemonheads

Wish Fufillment - Sonic Youth

Lazy Jane - Belle & Sebastian

Inspired? Email Lauren your Memory Tape.

Your MPFree today is a gift from the mighy DFA label. Everybody Get Close is the name of the track and of the digital release which is coming soon from The Juan MacLean.

As well as a few new tracks, it'll also feature remixes from the likes of Cut Copy.

The Juan MacLean - Everybody Get Close

Your MPFree today is a taster from the new Dum Dum Girls album. Only In Dreams is released on 26th September and is a follow up to last year's I Will Be.

Richard Gottehrer is back on production duties, and this time is joined by Sune Rose Wagner of The Ravonettes.

Dum Dum Girls - Bedroom Eyes

The MPFree today comes from Casiokids; a band last mentioned on the show by Slow Club's Rebecca. Casiokids supported Slow Club on a recent tour and made Rebecca and Charles realise they wanted to make the kids dance.

Well, on October 11, Casiokids follow up 2010's album Topp Stemning På Lokal Bar (they're Norwegian by the way...) with Aabenbaringen over aaskammen. Here's the first track from it...

Casio Kids - Det Haster

Mr Stuart Dredge guides you through the week's app news and releases...

NEWS

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds/Adele (iPhone / Android)

Blendr (iPhone)

This is the latest location dating app, but it's heavily tipped because it's from the same people that made Grindr - the most popular app for gay men to meet one another. Now the company behind it is trying a version for heterosexuals. You wander round looking at who's nearby, then chat to them anonymously to decide whether to meet up. Grindr is absolutely huge in the UK and US, but opinions are split on whether Blendr will follow suit.

Groovebug (iPad)

Groovebug is great - an iPad app that scans your music collection, then goes out to the web and sucks down relevant articles and music that it thinks you might like, serving it up as a slick touchscreen magazine. If you've seen Flipboard - which does this for news articles - it's like that for music.

Banksy Bristol Tour (iPhone / Android)

Banksy's early days were spent scribbling graffiti around his hometown of Bristol, and now someone's created a nifty location-based app to show off those early works. If you're in Bristol, you can use it as a guide to find them, but if not, you can just look at photos and read about them - it's a partnership between a book publisher and an app company, so it's properly researched.

REVIEWS

Tales From The Woods (iPad)

Magazine publisher Felix Dennis first came to fame in the early 1970s with Oz magazine. Then he built up Dennis Publishing, the company that makes magazines like Maxim and The Week. But he's also a critically acclaimed poet - this is his first iPad collection, with audio readings and video alongside the text.

Cinderella - iPad/iPhone

Cinderella is the second book-app from London company Nosy Crow - their first was Three Little Pigs - and it blends animation, interactivity and plenty of humour into something that's genuinely beautiful. Children tap and swipe their way through the story, with voice narration provided by other children, and lots of game-like touches. One of the most sophisticated book-apps yet for children - and a real sign of how picture books are evolving digitally.

MadPad (iPhone / iPad) and VidRhythm (iPhone / iPad)

Two apps in one go, since they're similar ideas. Both get you shooting videos with your iPhone or iPad, then remixing it up using the touchscreen. They're really clever and interesting, if a bit novelty - the idea being to get people making their own creative videos and then sharing them with friends.

Your week of MPFrees kicks off with a biggie. Pearl Jam are currently celebrating 20 years since they released the epic debut Ten, but have found time to knock out a new track.

It was debuted last week in the States on TV show 'Late Night With Jimmy Fallon'. A studio version is now available for free download from the band's website and it's the first new material since 2009's album Backspacer.

Pearl Jam - Ole

A strong week for your MPFrees this week; an exclusive first play, and a couple of tracks from show favourites.

Your final track this week more than measures up to the others. Los Camesinos! have a new album on the way called Hello Sadness and the track they're giving away will be the album's opener. They also have a tour planned for November so head to their website for details.

Stacy Lane - No Ending

Little Dragon - Seconds (Syd Tha Kid remix)

Kurt Vile - The Creature

The Strange Boys - Me and You

Los Campesinos! - By Your Hand

Some downloads may no longer be available.

Today's Memory Tape comes from friend of the show Stefan Kallee. Following a tough period in 2005, Stefan poured the emotions of that year in to three mix CDs.

In his own words, Stefan emailed to say: "You've said before, Lauren, that there is no art form that affects you the way that music does. I also believe that music provides a magnificent form of catharsis and so while I was in the flat alone, packing up, I took the rubbish from the year before & the bag of mixed emotions and banned it all onto 3 discs. It worked wonders, honestly."

Plus, he's now getting married in October which marks a new chapter in his life, and therefore the perfect time to feature the CDs as a Memory Tapes.

Here's a taste of the three CDs:

Opening - Linkin Park (from Meteora)

Numb - Linkin Park

Tiger - Paula Cole

Just Want To Live - The Open

Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones

Wish (Acoustic Version) - Lighthouse Family

Humpty Dumpty - Aimee Mann

A Bad Dream - Keane

Keep The Home Fires Burning - The Bluetones

A Punch Up At A Wedding - Radiohead

Pretty Good Year - Tori Amos

Stand Inside Your Love - Smashing Pumpkins

Nos Da Cariad - David Gray

Wicked Game (Cover) - JJ72

Invisible Ink - Aimee Mann

Is A Woman (Alpha Remix) - Lambchop

Long Distance - Turin Brakes

Bullet Proof... I Wish I Was - Radiohead

Gold - Beverley Knight

Toast - Tori Amos

Inspired? Email Lauren your Memory Tape today!

Your MPFree today is a new track from The Strange Boys. The Austin four-piece release their third album Live Music in October, and also on that day they release the first single from it.

But why wait until then? Here's the track now, for free...

The Strange Boys - Me and You

Today's MPFree is some new music from Kurt Vile. As a follow up to his recent album A Smoke Ring For My Halo, Kurt will release an EP in November.

The six songs which feature were all intended for 'Smoke Ring', but didn't make the cut. Luckily, your getting them now, and one of them for free.

Kurt Vile - The Creature

Today's MPFree is a remix of a Little Dragon album track. 'Seconds' appears on the band's third album Ritual Union and is being given away following the remix treatment from Syd Tha Kid of Odd Futures fame.

Little Dragon - Seconds (Syd Tha Kid remix)

On the show today Lauren was asking you where your music lives and how it's sorted. You sent us some photos, so we created this gallery for your enjoyment...

Your Record Collection Gallery

It's a Tuesday, so a round of applause please for tech-head Stuart Dredge for the latest in the world of apps....

NEWS

Tetris is free for Android

Tetris has been out for donkeys years, selling hundreds of millions of copies on Game Boy and just about every other device which now includes Android.

Amazon and Sony tablets

Amazon is making a tablet that's expected to go on sale by Christmas. It'll be an Android tablet that's half the price of the iPad, with music, movies, e-books and its own app store built in. Sony also announced its first two tablets last week, with the same idea - its own music, movies, e-books and app services are all on board. The main thing: this Christmas isn't just about iPad if you want a tablet.

Deezer to compete with Spotify in the UK

The latest streaming music service in the UK is Deezer, which is hugely popular in France, and is now crossing the channel. It'll have apps for iPhone and Android (but will also be usable on your computer, TV, tablet etc), and costs the same as Spotify.

REVIEWS

LadyBird Classic Me Books (iPhone / iPad)

Remember those instantly-recognisable LadyBird hardback books from your childhood? Inevitably there's now an app for them - you get one for free with the initial 69p download, and then buy the rest for £1.99 each. Gingerbread Man, The Little Red Hen, Goldilocks etc; they're all there.

The 9/11 Memorial (iPad)

US filmmaker and author Steven Rosenbaum made a famous documentary about 9/11 and the Twin Towers, and now he's built this iPad app compiling photos, videos and other information about the original towers, the day of 9/11 and the construction of the 9/11 Memorial in its place. A beautiful and moving app - and one that shows how interactivity/timelines can really work well for this kind of subject.

Your download today is a lost classic, and probably the oldest track which has appeared an an MPFree.

It comes from the compilation album Late Late Party 1965-67, which collects together the music of Memphis-based tenor saxophone player and bandleader Charles Axton. The track that's being given away is, as any soul collector will tell you, a bit of a rarity.

Stacy Lane - No Ending

Beacause of the bank holiday you're limited to just four free downloads rather than the tradition five.

The final track this week comes from newbies Sunbeam who're a new six-person ensemble from Portland. Bulldogs is from the band's debut album, Sunbeam & the Lovely Ghost, which was self-released earlier this month. You'll find the link below with the other three tracks.

The artwork this week is inspired by Andrew's new-found love of The Racing Post from Wednesday's show. He asked for your horse-based photos, and Barbara Taylor was taking photos of horses only yesterday! What are the chances? She sent us one, and now it looks like this:

Your tracks this week are:

The Wavves - I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl

Paper Aeroplanes - Flee

The Do - Slippery Slope

Sunbeam - Bulldog

Some tracks may no longer be available for download.

This week's Memory Taper is Alex Wells, who writes...

"I help run an indie/alt music appreciation society at Warwick Uni called Offbeat and along with gig socials and so on we run twice or thrice termly mixtape swaps.

"The idea is that each person makes a tape (or CD more normally) along a theme of their choosing, provides a tracklisting and some artwork and then comes to the social. We put them all in a box and jumble them round and everyone who put one in takes one out. Then people wander around the social finding whose tape they have and starting conversations about the music on them/the themes and so on.

"We also have prizes for the best theme and best artwork, and a few bonus prizes hidden in the CDs to make it more fun. Some of the highlights have included CDs of film soundtracks interspersed with film samples and white noise, a CD based around the water cycle and a mammoth 'CD' of 80 indie tracks from around the world bound together in an Atlas!

"It's really great fun, both to make and to swap the CDs, and we'll be doing a bunch more next year."

Alex has provided one of the CDs he made for this week on the subject of revision:

1) Plans - Bloc Party

2) Start! - The Jam

3) Books from Boxes - Maximo Park

4) Suspended from Class - Camera Obscura

5) I Know, But I Don't Know - Blondie

6) I'm Bored - Iggy Pop

7) Time Is Running Out - Muse

8) Thinking of Not Going - 1990s

9) Tired - LCD Soundsystem

10) Stress - Justice

11) Abandon Ship - Gallows

12) Now or Never - Mumm-Ra

13) - - Snow Patrol (intended as a silent track)

14) There Goes the Fear - The Doves

Todays MPFree comes from French/Finnish indie pop duo The Do, and their new single Slippery Slope. They have kindly made it available for free ahead of its physical release on September 12th.

The Do, pronounced 'd'oh', are Olivia Merilahti and Dan Levy. Their 2008 debut album A Mouthful reached Number One in France, their second studio album Both Ways Open Jaws is out November 14th.

The link below will take you to the bands brand new website where you can hear the new track, and also watch the video! 

Slippery Slope - The Do