Archives for April 2011

This week the online chat was all about the re-emergence of Kate Bush - so we tried, with you, to reflect that on Now Playing. First of all, the video for Deeper Understanding surfaced, featuring her son, Robbie Coltrane and Noel Fielding of the Mighty Boosh and directed by Bush herself, it caught a lot of people’s attention with its typically bizarre theme.

Go and check it out on YouTube for yourself.

Then the blogs started buzzing about her possible return to playing live. She hasn’t performed for 30-years and the hint was made in an interview she gave to Mojo magazine.

Also on the show we had guest appearances from Data Trasmission and Never Enough Notes, as well as a Triple Treat in memory of Poly Styrene who sadly passed away during the week.

Tracklist

Kate Bush - Running Up that Hill (via e-mail)

The Futureheads - Hounds of Love (via Facebook)

Wild Nothing - Cloudbusting (via the Blog and Spotify)

#Blogged

Bibio - Light Sleep (recommended by Ben from Data Transmission)

#nowplaying

The Cure - Friday I'm in Love

Rolf Harris - Sun Arise (via Spotify)

Utah Saints - Something Good (via text and Spotify)

#Triple Treat - celebrating the life of X-Ray Spex's Poly Styrene

X-Ray Spex - Oh Bondage, Up Yours (via Facebook)

The Adverts - Bored Teenagers (via Facebook)

Poly Styrene - Virtual Boyfriend (via Facebook)

You can also check out the 6 Music tribute to Poly Styrene on the iPlayer here.

Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing (via Facebook)

#nowplaying

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Dear Prudence

China Drum - Wuthering Heights (via Text and Facebook)

Nick Drake - Cello Song (via Spotify)

#Digital Digest

* Red Hot Chili Peppers' drummer, Chad Smith, let slip while being interviewed by Rock it Out Blog that the band's new album will be released at the end of August.

* Fleet Foxes' new album, Helplessness Blues, is up on NPR to stream ahead of its full release.

* Chad Valley's new track, Fast Challenges, surfaced on Soundcloud.

* Kid Koala spun his, Damon Albarn and Dan the Automator's untitled track on New York radio - you can hear it on Vimeo and Soundcloud.

* Beastie Boys' 30-minute Fight for Your Right - Revisited video was put up on YouTube and the album made available to stream on Spotify. Including Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win featuring Santigold. 

Florence and the Machine - Howl (via Text)

#nowplaying

Bat for Lashes - Daniel

#Blogged

Paper Crows - Folie A Deux (recommended by Kim from Never Enough Notes)

Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl (via text and e-mail)

Kate Bush - Under the Ivy (via e-mail)

#Listener's Mix - Stuart Rushworth from Bradford

The Envy Corps - Story Problem (Because he had just played it and it was in his head!)

Dog is Dead - Glockenspiel Song (His summer song)

Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work (Tourist History was his favourite album of last year)

Crystal Fighters - Plage (Massive mix of music on their debut album, and he is looking forward to seeing them at Latitude)

The Naked and Famous - Punching In A Dream (Will have seen them live at least four times by the end of the year!)

White Lies - Death (Possibly his favourite song ever)

Pink Floyd - Shine on You Crazy Diamond (via e-mail)

Please keep in touch during the week on Facebook, Twitter, e-mail and of course, via the blog, right here.

Bibio – 'Light Sleep' [Warp]



Bibio’s new album Mind Bokeh has been one of the year’s highlights so far, and is sure to crop up in a lot of people’s end of year lists. It’s one of those records that you can’t really put your finger on. Someone asks you ‘what’s it like?’ and you’re left fumbling for words somehow.



What does run through the album though is a sense of sunny optimism, and its release has timed perfectly with the advent of summer. This is one of the record’s highlights, a beatless, cute, summery funk jam with some absolutely adorable squealing synths.



It’s like Air making love to Lenny Kravitz, as seen through the prism of chillwave.





James Pants – 'Kathleen' [Stones Throw]



Tyler, The Creator – who I am utterly obsessed with right now – described James Pants in a recent interview thusly: “he’s awesome, he’s white, and he makes real music” - quite.



This follows on nicely from the Bibio track, another wonderfully seductive bit of summer charm driven by slap bass and Pants’ breezy, breathless vocals.



It is taken from his new album for Peanut Butter Wolf’s legendary hip-hop, beats and then-some LA imprint Stones Throw.





Tyler, The Creator – Yonkers [XL Recordings]



If you don’t know about delinquent LA rap crew Odd Future and their gruff voiced figurehead Tyler, you are advised to ‘get to know’.



XL have continued their infallible and impossible to predict A&R policy by signing his new solo album, but in the meantime you can get his and his crew’s various mixtapes and albums for free from their website.



This is the rawest slice of hip-hop I’ve heard since the ‘90s probably. Sick rhymes, an incredible video and terrifying production – utterly addictive.



***



Many thanks to Ben, until recently the editor of Data Transmission and who continues to look after the podcast. Listen to the show on Friday evening between 7-9pm to hear him talk about these tracks and play one of them in full.

Over the last few days, one of the most exciting videos to have surfaced online is Kate Bush’sDeeper Understanding. The track comes from Director’s Cut, a collection of songs given new life from the albums The Sensual World and Red Shoes due for release on May 16.



The video for Deeper Understanding is directed by Bush herself with a cast including her son, Robbie Coltrane and Noel Fielding from the Mighty Boosh and Never Mind the Buzzcocks.



Rumours are also abound as to whether the spellbinding singer is going to perform live after a 30-year self-exile - and as a result of these developments we thought we would try and construct a playlist around her on Now Playing this week.



Please give us your suggestions – whether it is your favourite Kate Bush tracks, people she has worked with such as David Bowie, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour (the list goes on and is pretty exhaustive), or people who have cultivated the sound which she has so uniquely pioneered.



Leave a comment, drop us an e-mail, add to our Spotify playlist and make sure you listen on Friday evening between 7-9pm.

And remember to watch the video for Deeper Understanding, which is currently up on YouTube and read about her possible live return on Contact Music.

Discussion on what colour tie David Beckham is going to wear at the Royal Wedding of Wills and Kate is taking up a lot of online conversation at the moment, but there are still a number of musical tit-bits to brighten up the increasingly gloomy grey sky.



With speculation rife, drummer Chad Smith finally confirmed the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album would be released in the last week of August. Speaking to Rock it Out Blog check out the full interview.



The video for Moby’s new track, The Day, has premiered on the Myspace blog. Featuring Heather Graham as a nurse, it is a phycaldellic, minimalistic electronic ballad from the eccentric American artist.



Vevo has launched in the UK after a will-it-won’t-it past couple of weeks. Get more information on the alternative video streaming site over at CMU.



Speaking of videos, The Prodigy have released a trailer for World on Fire. The live DVD was shot at their Milton Keynes Bowl gig last summer and will be released on May 23. Have a sneek peek over at Daily Motion.



Elsewhere, bloggers’ favourite Chad Valley has a new track up on Soundcloud and is featured on Music Fan’s Mic, while The Correspondents who are one of the leading pioneers of swing-step, swing hop – call it what you will – have made one of their tracks, Rio de Hackney, available as a free download which you can find on Glasswerk.

As you might know, to finish Now Playing @6Music each week we give the reigns of the show to an individual listener who picks six tracks, gives us reasons for their choices before we forge them into a reflective mix leading into Tom Ravenscroft.



We have had some wicked examples so far – but we want more, and most importantly we want yours! You can send us your selections in any which way you chose as long as we get the information we need. The simplest way might be to click on the ‘Your Playlist’ tab above and fill in the form, but equally you could drop us an e-mail with the tracklist written, or maybe a Spotify or We7 link to your playlist.

You could even burn the tracks to CD and write us a letter – the choice is really down to you.



To give you an example of what we need – if I were to curate one I would go for...



Name – Will Gilgrass

Town – Oxford

Playlist Name – Musical Metamorphism

Playlist Description – Six tracks demonstrating the development of my personal musical tastes ranging from when I was nine through to the present day.



Tracks

The Verve – Bittersweet Symphony

The first album I ever bought was Urban Hymns and this was the track which made me buy it.



Groove Armada – If Everybody Looked the Same

At V 2004 my cousins took me to see Groove Armada and hearing this track was the moment I knew my outlook was about to change.



Basement Jaxx – Red Alert

The next day at the same festival this confirmed it - I was hooked on dance music.



The Fratellis – Creepin up the Backstairs

The first record and first band I went into school and told everyone I had discovered, after listening to Steve Lemacq on Radio 1 while doing homework one night.



Fake Blood – Blood Smashing (Fake Blood Theme)

This dominated the tracklist on my first student radio shows and was the enigma everybody wanted to uncover.



Gill Scott Heron & Jamie xx – I’ll Take Care of You

Four minutes and 42 seconds which makes everything better.



Check it out on Spotify and tell us yours to get it played on the radio!

Hello again friends of NowPlaying - and after a sundrenched Easter Weekend it occurred to me that although the show you hear on air each Friday is put together by a team of four people working flat-out, the only voice you hear on air is mine. So here's a blog post to try and put that right and introduce you to the rest of the team...

First off, in overall charge is producer Rowan Collinson - left in the picture above. He's written a great introduction to both himself and the work he does at 6 Music here, but here's an extract:



"I've been producing shows at 6 Music for four and a half years and I've just launched a brand new show with Tom Robinson on Friday nights (7-9pm) called Now Playing @6Music, which is all about the digital conversation with music. Music has never been more digital. A music fan will listen to radio but also probably look at blogs like Drowned in Sound.

"They might well use a third-party music service like Hype Machine or Spotify to either play music or aggregate their tastes in recommending music, and they probably get their music news from an online source rather than a copy of NME. So the idea of this new show is to take part in this online music conversation.

"We're going to create a space once a week where people can share and recommend tracks related to the week's music news, and find out what's happening in the world of digital music. The show will be a weekly iteration of the activity going on 24/7.

"I try to go to a couple of gigs a week to see what's out there and make my own judgement on bands who music PRs have 'plugged' to me... I don't want to get really excited about someone, put them on a show or argue to put their record onto playlist and then see them live and they're rubbish. In my position I've always got to think about bands in a broader sense. [Read Row's full blog post here...]

If you're a regular visitor to this blog you'll also be familiar with the musings of our online content producer Will Gilgrass - ah, here he is now:



"I'm Will, content producer for Now Playing @6Music. What that means is I look after the blog and social media for the show, as well as organising bloggers to come on and divulge their musical tips onto us.



So far I think it has gone well, I hope you agree! Predominantly electronic music is my tipple, I run my own blog Radio ClubFoot based on upfront new dance music, but I have loved the variety which Now Playing has already thrown up. LCD Soundsystem week was great, but the fantastical dreaming of the Flaming Lips last Friday was really enjoyable – and being in a studio with Tom and Rowan is like being immersed inside a musical Wisden.



"I guess to conclude this introduction, if you would like to get in touch feel free to e-mail me with music, the bloggers you read and whose voice you think we should be listening to - or presents - and I will get back to you.

[Read Will's personal dance music blog here]

The backroom boffin you may not have encountered yet is Phil Harris from Somethin' Else - the independent production company who make Now Playing for the BBC. His job is... well, let's hear it from the man himself:



"What I do on the show: my role on Now Playing @6music is to put together the features and sift through all the texts and emails we get. I piece together the blogging feature and the listeners mix. This week I had the challenge of mixing Marvin Gaye’s track Inner City Blues with The Skids'The Saints Are Coming!



"Working on Now Playing @6Music is a huge learning curve. What we are doing hasn’t really been done before so it’s a really interesting experience. For me what I enjoy about the show is the interactivity we have with the 6Music audience. It's great to hear their suggestions and let them have the opportunity to shape the show. Also we get to hear from some great bloggers. This week for instance we had Mozzatron from We Are S.M.Ewho tipped Awesome - by the American rapper XV - which is an absolute tune.



"And finally when I’m not working on Now Playing @6Music I work across a variety of other productions. I produce a chart show, work on a very entertaining bingo radio show and at the weekend I’m over at BBC Radio 5live working on 606."

And finally there's myself - Tom Robinson - your presenter for Now Playing @6Music and also for BBC Introducing: Fresh On The Net which is produced by Jax Coombes (above, without red nose).



I've been a DJ on 6 Music since before it even was 6Music - the far off pre-launch days of 2001 when we were just a pilot project known as Network Y. Back then we imagined we were in the throes of a digital revolution but Web 2.0 was still some way off: no Facebook, YouTube or Twitter. Blogs were clunky, iPods a novelty and podcasts part of an undreamed-of future.



What excites me most about today's digital world are the spontaneous social interactions - like flashmobs, video memes or the Facebook groups that sprang up when 6Music was under threat of closure last year. The station got discussed openly, enthusiastically and candidly by its listeners in a way that had never been possible on the old message boards. It's partly thanks to the brutal honesty of that feedback that 6Music is now sounding better than I can ever remember.



These are difficult times for media and entertainment companies of every kind. Many of them are so used to being in control of everything they find it hard to accept and embrace the pace of change. So full marks to the BBC for launching a new show with the specific aim of engaging directly with the online community and crowdsourcing the music it plays. These are still very early days as we experiment to find the best way of making those conversations genuinely two-way over the coming months.



But if it's going to work we also need you to get actively involved. Don't hold back - let's have your thoughts, comments and feeback. And please don't just text or email us - post your comments on this blog, via Twitter or on Facebook - where everyone else can read them and join in. We look forward to hearing from you!

Last Friday we had great fun in the studio - and you all seemed to as well with your streams of texts, e-mails, Tweets, Facebook comments and everything else coming our way throughout the week and during the show itself. For those of you who didn't tune in we constructed the playlist around Flaming Lips and the crazy way they decided to release their new tracks. 



Now we are looking forward to this Friday’s show and we want you to tell us what you think we should be focussing on. Ideas which have been floating around the production team are:

• Celebrating the life and work of Poly Styrene

• The re-emergence of the Beastie Boys

• The projects of Damon Albarn 

• Electro’s influence from the first Korg to 2011

or Fleet Foxes’ new album



Let us know what you want to hear by leaving a comment and we will see what most of you are after and reflect it on the show this Friday – I suppose all I need to decide is if we are using AV or not...

The blogs never sleep, and while most of the UK has been basking in Marbella-like August sunshine, news, rumour, new music and crazy videos have continued to emerge.



X-Ray Spex singer, Poly Styrene has passed away at the age of 53 after losing her battle with breast cancer. The singer and punk legend released new material just last month and a good tribute and links are up on The Line of Best Fit. 



Beastie Boys continue their online domination. Despite forming at a time where boomboxes were regarded with the same technological wows as commercial space travel is in 2011, they at the tips of everyone’s fingers and have released the full 30-minute version of Fight for Your Right Revisted on YouTube and their new album, Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 in its entirety on Soundcloud - the tracks do contain strong language so please bear this in mind before listening if you are easily offended.



Fleet Foxes are another band who have made their new album available to stream in full. Helplessness Blues is out on May 3 but you can listen to it in full in NPR now. 



Damon Albarn, who must be one of the hardest working musicians around, has joined up with old pals Dan the Automater and Kid Koala. Check out Kid Koala dropping the currently untitled track on New York radio show, Beats in Space, on Vimeo now.



Pitchfolk have released a documentary video charting the rise of electro and it crossing into various other genres since Kanye West sampled Daft Punk in Stronger. The video does contain flashing images.



And if it hasn’t been sent around to you yet, begin a thread yourself, as one of the latest YouTube viral videos is from the Marines of 266 Rein miming to Britney Spears’Hold it Against Me.

It has been a pretty Good Friday for us, and we hope you have had an amazing day and will continue to enjoy the weather for the rest of the weekend. This evening we brought you music from TV on the Radio after the tragic news of Gerard Smith's passing, Brian Eno with the announcement of his new material, and of course The Flaming Lips after their new material emerged from the brain of a gummy skull. Confused? this will help you out.

This week we were delighted to welcome blogs My Band's Better Than Your Band and We Are SME into 6 Music, and we hope you enjoyed their recommended tracks from Bos Angeles and XV respectively.

Tracklist

The Flaming Lips - Race for the Prize (via Spotify)

Beck - Where It's At (via Facebook)

British Sea Power - Please Stand Up (via Facebook)

#Blogged

Bos Angeles - Beach Slalom (recommended by Ollie from My Band's Better Than Your Band)

#nowplaying

The Vaccines - If You Wanna (via Twitter)

Ben Folds - She Don't Use Jelly (via Spotify)

The Polyphonic Spree - Light and Day (via Spotify)

#Triple Treat - A celebration of Gerard Smith of TV on the Radio 

Funkadelic - One Nation Groove (via Spotify)

Maximum Balloon - Groove Me (via Facebook)

TV on the Radio - Let the Devil In (via e-mail)

Modest Mouse - World at Last (via text)

#nowplaying

Stevie Wonder - Superstition (via Twitter)

The Chemical Brothers ft. The Flaming Lips - The Golden Path (via Spotify)

Mercury Rev - Holes (via Facebook & Spotify)

#Digital Digest

* Jamie Woon's album, Mirrorwriting, was the most reviewed album of the week and is available to stream on We7.

* Brian Eno released the first track off his forthcoming album, Drum Between the Bells, to Soundcloud for streaming.

* New material from Beyoncé leaked online, with production on Who Run the World (Girls) from Major Lazer - listen to it on YouTube. 

* Details of Bon Iver's self titled second album were released, with information up on Jagjaguwar.com.

* Tom Vek continues to be the most hyped about artist and the release of his video for new single A Chore did little to quieten the bloggers. Check it out on YouTube.

Radiohead - Karma Police (via Twitter)

#Blogged

XV - Awesome (recommended by Mozz from We Are SME)

#nowplaying

Beats International - Dub Be Good to Me (via Twitter)

Jesse Malin - Yoshimi vs The Pink Robots (via Spotify)

#Listener's Mix - from Stu Deadbill

Marvin Gaye - Inner City Blues: "What's Going On is possibly the greatest piece of complete music ever to be released. There's a vibe on Inner City Blues that makes you feel meloncholic but uplifted at the same time."

The Skids - The Saints are Coming: "Pure punk energy of Dunfermline's finest still makes me want to pogo on my bed like i'm 13 again."

The Who - Happy Jack: "When everyone was going for the hippy moment and flowers in their hair, four blokes from West London stick two fingers up to all that."

CAN - Vitamin C: "It's funk but not as we know it,and it has the most fantastic drumming."

Paul Weller - Into Tomorrow: "I love Weller. In fact my wife has accused me of loving him more than her at times which is a bit harsh but fair."

808 State - Pacific: "Memories of being immersed in the whole house/Madchester stuff and this sublime piece of music whenever i hear it still puts me back in a sweaty warehouse in Hackney."

Please do keep in touch through the week on Facebook, Twitter, e-mail and of course, via the blog, right here.

Well I suppose it was inevitable music would progress from vinyl to cassette, through CDs and MP3s to USB sticks inside a massive gummy sweet in the design of a skull – well that is exactly the line of thinking the Flaming Lips follow anyway.



The band, whose lead singer Wayne Coyne took to a huge hamster ball to run around festival crowds last summer, like using their imagination. And given they are one of the ultimate feel good acts around – and as it's so sunny outside – we are going to base Now Playing @6Music around the Oklahoma band this evening.



Give us your suggestions – it may be your favourite Flaming Lips track, it may be another act from Oklahoma, someone they have collaborated with like The Chemical Brothers, a band who have been inspired by them or influenced them in the beginning – its up to you.



Drop us an e-mail , leave a comment on the Facebook thread and contribute to our dedicated Spotify playlist.



Check out the skulls (it doens't get any more normal when you see them) and listen to the tracks over at Some Kind of Awesome.

XV, born Donavann Johnson, is causing somewhat of a stir in the US rap scene with his consistent clever wordplay - think Lupe Fiasco meets J.Cole.. The 25 year old hails from Wichita, Kansas, United States and has just released his highly anticipated mixtape Zero Heroes.



XV (his name comes from the age he first started rapping) first turned heads with the release of his twelfth mixtape Everybody's Nobody. As with most new artists, he promoted his work independently through social networking sites and blog's, and the hard work paid off, when on Monday July 26, 2010 XV took to his Twitter account to announce that he had secured a record deal with major record label Warner Bros. Records.



As previously mentioned, XV recently released his new mixtape Zero Heroes on April 15th. The record which features other young but more established artists such as Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, Donnis, Kendrick Lamar, Cyhi Da Prynce and Vado, has received a fantastic response with over 50,000 downloads to date.



He doesn't talk about guns or drugs; instead choosing to keep his raps clean upbeat and inspirational, using his witty wordplay. The titles of SME's standout tracks on the Zero Heroes mixtape reflect this - Awesome and Best Day's Of Our Lives.



2011 promises even bigger things for XV as he prepares for the release of his debut album.



Watch this space.



***



This is the first of the guest blogs we have had on Now Playing, from WeAreSME.co.uk, but we are hoping to have plenty more.



Many thanks to WeAreSME for getting this together for us, and you will be able to hear XV’s Awesome, as well as Mozz from WeAreSME on this evening’s Now Playing @6Music.

TV on the Radio bassist, Gerard Smith, sadly passed away on Wednesday evening after a battle with cancer. 



The news came as a huge shock, after it was only announced five weeks ago that he was suffering from the illness and he was just 36-years old.



On Now Playing tomorrow night we will be playing tribute to Gerard by putting together a playlist of TV on the Radio related tracks. We want your suggestions for the best of their tracks, examples of the artists who inspired the band, those who were subsequently took influence from them, other acts who have worked with Dave Sitek and brilliant bassists.



E-mail your suggestions to us, add them to our Gerard Smith Spotify playlist, or join the conversation on Facebook or Twitter.

Bon Iver have announced details of their second album. It will be self-titled and is due for release in the UK on June 20 as the follow-up to For Emma, Forever Ago which gripped hearts and caught imaginations in 2008. Fronted by Justin Vernon, more information on the forthcoming release including the full tracklist can be found on Jagjaguwar.com.



Back in the UK, Friendly%20Fires released the video for Live Those Days Tonight which has become an instant hit across a multitude of blogs. Cutting up footage of raves from the 1989, and finishing with an comment made by lead singer Ed Macfarlane to Zane Lowe, it was made it try and prove 80’s children know how to party. Check it out on YouTube, but be warned, there is some flash photography!



Elsewhere, the Arctic Monkeys revealed the artwork for their new album, Suck it and See. In what is a rather minimalist cover, with a plain beige background and the title written across the front, jump over to Gigwise to check it out. 



DJ Premier put together a live mix on Hot 97 in celebration of Guru who died a year ago, which you can listen to on Mixcloud. 



And another unreleased Death Cab for Cutie track, Some Boys, is up to stream on Soundcloud.



If you have any suggestions for the Digital Digest, e-mail them to Now Playing and listen tomorrow evening from 7pm for the week’s round up with some of the exclusive tracks.

Nice post Will... While it's true that Beyoncé is maybe the week's biggest story so far, I wonder if 6 Music listeners are (like me) going to be more interested in Brian Eno's new album on Warp?







The highlight of my radio career to date has been the three-hour in-depth interview I recorded with Eno for 6 Music... he's such a fascinating, funny and provocative thinker. The interview had to be that long, because after chatting through his career and influences for the first hour we'd still only just got as far as him joining Roxy Music.By the end of the second hour he'd just met Talking Heads.



Although he's better known as a producer and musical catalyst for other artists - most recently Coldplay - I personally really rate his solo material especially the 2006 album Another Day On Earth and can't wait to hear the new record on Soundcloud...



I like Beyoncé, I like Brian Eno - but which one is better? There's only one way to find out - post a comment on this blog and let us know!

If you've listened to Now Playing @6 Music you would have heard the Digital Digest – a round-up of what is being talked about on blogs, sites and 'zines across the internet. Well we are going to be dishing up smaller, regular portions for you throughout the week, right here on the Now Playing blog.



So without further ado, the biggest news so fr online has been undoubtedly the leaked collaboration between American superstar Beyoncé and Major Lazer. Girls (Who Run the World) samples Diplo and Switch’sPon De Floor and is thought to be the first single off Beyoncé’s currently untitled album - due for release around the same time she headlines the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury.



Brian Eno, formally of Roxy Music and producer for the like of David Bowie and U2 amongst others, has released the first track from Drums Between the Bells – his forthcoming album on Warp to be released on July 4. Glitch is reminiscent of the experimental electronic material which has shaped his career and you can listen to it on Soundcloud.



Meanwhile, Record Store Day releases are beginning to appear online – Yeasayer’sPhoenix Wind the latest to rear its head. Check it out on TheFader.com. 



Digitalism have made their single 2 Hearts available as a free download, get it at Fried My Little Brain amongst other sites.



Damon Albarn continues to embrace everything electronic, by working with his Gorillaz band and Korg to create the ‘iELECTRIBE Gorillaz Edition’ – an iPad Beatbox app. More infor at Beats and Beyond.

Over the course of the first two shows we have been delighted by the suggestions and ideas you have come up with on Facebook, Spotify and Twitter as well as text and e-mail for our themed playlists which shape the show.

It has been fascinating to read your reasoning behind playing acts as varied as Aphex Twin to The Bees and even The Wombles.

You may have also noticed we hand over the show to a listener for the last six songs as they individually sculpt something which reflects an important time in their life, feeling, or just songs they think are amazing.

Last week for example we journyed through summertime - with suggestions ranging from Led Zeppelin to Gina X and The Slits (check it out in full here).

And it could be you who takes control of 6Music’s playlisting for your 15-minutes. Just fill out the form from the ‘Your Playlist’ tab above, or drop us an e-mail with your playlist on any format and we will try and get in on Now Playing on a Friday night.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Hello, friends of NowPlaying - I hope the sun shone wherever you were and that you had a good weekend… Mine was spent partly catching up on a bit of swimming, cycling and walking with my son, and partly on editing up a DIY video as a favour for the artist known as Snippet, whose work we love on 6 Music Introducing…



Last Friday’s NowPlaying show focussed on the conversations we’d been having with you towards the end of last week. Given that a large chunk of the massive Glasto 2011 lineup had just been announced, we wondered which particular tunes from that huge list of artists you felt would be worth listening out for. There were some interesting suggestions, too: The Bees, Caribou, The Naked & Famous and Hurts as well as more populist choices such as Queens of the Stone Age, Paul Simon and The Streets.



But a valid point was raised on the 6 Music Facebook page: “I think it’s about time that 6music showed its innovation and non-conformist credentials by abandoning the Glasto behemoth and covering Green Man instead. Great line up and vibe, much more in keeping with the 6music ethos. I bet most of your listeners couldn’t give a toss about Glasto these days.”



Equally another chipped in: "6 Music should deliver its remit by engaging people who are interested in music and who want to learn more about it. Its music should focus on major artists and material which do not receive much support from other radio stations. So a lot of Glastonbury’s headliners really fall outside that requirement, don’t they?”





My feeling is that 6 Music – like Glasto itself – has to tread a fine line between the popular and the alternative. Most of my own time there is spent trudging between the BBC Introducing stage, the 6 Music studio and wilder environs of Shangri-La. But many of my friends find everything they need on The Other, John Peel and Pyramid stages with occasional forays down to The Park.



I imagine most of the 6 Music community will just set their PVR to record the TV coverage then fastforward through the dull bits to the interesting stuff – at no cost, in their own time and in the comfort of their own living room. But the point is that everybody’s idea of what the dull and interesting bits are will be different.

Last Friday on our Facebook page one person named Hey Boy Hey Girl as their potential Glasto highlight by the Chemical Brothers – a band who have 14 top ten hits under their belt. Whereas foranother it was Solitude Is Bliss by Tame Impala.

So is the assertion correct that “most of your listeners couldn’t give a toss about Glasto these days”. Certainly, the Green Man Festival is closer to the 'alternative spirit' celebrated by 6 Music, but as we heard last Friday a lot of people like Paul Simon AND the Naked and Famous. A whole weekend live from The Green Man might be an interesting listen and bring exposure to some deserving acts – but would “most of our listeners” prefer that instead of Glasto? Well, why not post a comment and tell us.



That said, a good point is that headliners like Beyonce and U2 are possibly less interesting to many of you than the likes of Pentangle, Edgar Broughton, and C W Stoneking. Actually, if it was down to me which acts 6 Music featured over the weekend, I’d propose a great deal more covereage of the BBC Introducing stage – but then I would say that, wouldn’t I?



As a showcase for new talent, Glasto beats the other festivals hands down. Tyneside teenagers Let’s Buy Happiness won a slot on the John Peel Stage last year through the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition and half an hour after coming off stage you can still see the elation in their faces. They’d already been filmed at Maida Vale for 6 Music’s BBC Introducing Week and played on Radio 1. But it was only after taking the stage at the world’s premier musical gathering that they knew they’d finally arrived.

Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al (via text)

#nowplaying

Adele - Rolling in the Deep (via Twitter #nowplaying)

Super Fury Animals - Golden Retriever (via Facebook)

The Naked and Famous - Young Blood (via Facebook)

#Digital Digest

Oribital - Chime (via e-mail)

#nowplaying

The White Stripes - Fell in Love with a Girl (via Twitter #nowplaying)

Hurts - Wonderful Life (via Facebook)

Tame Impala - Solitude is Bliss (via text and Facebook)

The Wombles - Remember You're a Womble (via almost everything!)

#Listener's Mix - 'Summerime' from Wayne Burgess

The show is just hours away, and the playlist is still to be confimed - are we worried? Of course not, because over the last few days you have been sending us some amazing suggestions for the tracks you are looking forward to seeing most at Glastonbury, as well as your favourite music to come out of independent record labels.



We have compiled a long-list of what we are thinking about playing at the moment... What do you think? Are we going down the right lines? Have we missed a blindinly obvious selection? Let us know by leaving a comment, Tweeting us with the #nowplaying or drop us an e-mail .



Glastonbury Long-list

The Bees - Winter Rose

The Streets – Blinded by the Lights

Morrissey – First of the Gang to Die

The Wombles – Remember You’re a Womble

The Joy Formidable – Whirring

Tame Impala – Solitude is Bliss

Hurts – Wonderful Life

Primal Scream – Loaded

Deacon Blue – Dignity

Susanne Vega – Left of Centre

U2 – Zooropa

Queens of the Stone Age – No One Knows

Gruff Rhys (of Super Fury Animals) – Golden Retriever

Cold War Kids – Audience

Crystal Fighters - Champion Sound

The Naked & The Famous - Young Blood'

Lykke Li - Get Some

Friendly%20Fires - Strange Love

I Am Kloot – Radiation

Elbow – Lippy Kids



Indie Records Long-list

Teenage Fanclub – Shock and Awe (Merge)

Depeche Mode – Shake the Disease (Mute)

Gang of Four – Damaged Goods (Fast Product)

The Human League – Being Boiled (Fast Product)

Tunng – Tale from Black (Full Time Hobby)

Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal (Bella Union)

Screaming Maldini - As Dew In Aprille (Alcopop! Records)

The Boo Radleys - Kaleidoscope (Rough Trade Records)

The Shins – Phantom Limb (Sub Pop)

Aphex Twin – Windowlicker (WARP)

LTJ Bukem - Demon's Theme (Good Looking)

Big props to producers Row, Will and broadcast assistant Phil - what a team ! Our first NowPlaying show together last Friday was completely wild: we were seriously taken aback by the enthusiasm of your responses before, during and after the show...



Sorry its taken me till Wednesday to post here. Family trip to Devon at the weekend was followed by my wife's birthday on Monday, taking part in BBC Introducing's Glasto panel, listening to several thousand recommendations for my Fresh On The Net shows and recording the voiceover for this year's Ivor Novello Awards - and no, I'm not allowed to tell you who's won what, you have to wait till May 19th for that :-)



I like the themes we've got this week - loads of mileage in all three of 'em. Naturally my role is supposed to be impartial, at least I think it is. But fascinating as peace protest songs and the career of Jakob Dylan are, my feeling is that the really big buzz by the end of the week is going to be the upcoming Record Store Day. All sorts of people have been bending my ear about it for weeks... Still - let's see what everyone else thinks.



And yes, it'll be great if we can thrash out a better name for our Three Of The Best sequence - it's shame that Peter Wylie and Mark Radcliffe beat us to the Crucial Three! Personally I'm leaning towards the slightly illicit sound of Triple Treat but don't let me sway you...



Like Will says, either leave comments here, email us or ping us a comment on Twitter or Facebook.

Tom x

One of the issues which came out of the last show was what to call our three track playlist which relates to one of the breaking news stories of the week. First time round it surrounded the leaked Beastie Boys’ track Make Some Noise and possible names included:



• Three of the best

• Three for Friday

• Triad and Trusted

• Threemarkable

• Listen to me three

• Thressome-play

• Triple Tweet

• Triple Treat



Which do you think is the best, or do you have a better name? Let us know by leaving a comment, or e-mail us.



Also, we are looking for a new theme to run through the show this week – possible stories which have already broke and could work are:



1. The best independent artists/labels – with Record Store Day this Saturday, who are the indie guys who you love most? Contribute now

2. Peace anthems – Bob Dylan played his first gigs in China and Vietnam over the weekend, but which other figures delivered a message of peace (or anarchism)? Contribute now

3. Famous families – Paul McCartney’s son has reportedly recorded a song with The Cure, but who else’s has tried to break it in music with famous family members? Contribute now



Let us know your suggestions for any of these lists, or suggest a new one altogether. The show is shaped by you, so let us know how you want to mould it.



Get in touch via the various channels – Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, add to our collaborative playlists on Spotify or any other way you wish.



We look forward to hearing from you.

So there we had it – the first ever Now Playing @6Music, are you back sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin with the debrief.

This week we focussed on the last live performance of LCD Soundsystem at Madison Square Garden – tracks from, which inspired, or were inspired by the iconic indie-electro band ran through the show and varied from the Velvet Underground to Hercules and Love Affair.

We also had the leaking of the Beastie Boys new track – the troubleseome New York white boys are making a comeback with Make Some Noise as well as a promo video featuring some of Hollywood’s A-List such as Will Ferrell, Elijah Wood and Jack Black.

We had contributions from Abeano, Drowned in Sound and Music OMH while the Twitter, e-mail, Facebook and text were red hot throughout the show - and this is how Now Playing @6Music shaped up on its debut outing, and how you told us about them.

(Listen again by clicking here)

Tracklist

LCD Soundsystem – Daft Punk Is Playing At My House (via Facebook)

Hot Chip – Over and Over (via Facebook)

Velvet Underground – White Light / White Heat (via Facebook)

#Blogged

Gang Gang Dance – MindKilla (recommended by Sian from Abeano)

Daft Punk – Derezzed (via Facebook)

Siouzsie & The Banshees – Cities in Dust (via e-mail)

Roots Manuva – Witness (via e-mail)

#ThreeoftheBest – Beastie Boys related

Led Zeppelin – When The Levee Breaks Down (via Facebook)

Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry – Soul Fire (via Facebook)

Luscious Jackson – Naked Eye (via Facebook)

#nowplaying Arcade Fire – Ready to Start (via Twitter #nowplaying #6music)

Tracey Thorn – Why Does The Wind (via text)

Rapture – House of Jealous Lovers (via text and Facebook)

Le Tigre – Deceptatcon (DFA Mix) (via Facebook)

#DigitalDigest

* TV on the Radio new album, Nine Types of Light, streamed on We7

* First listen of Panda Bear, Tomboy, was on NPR (National Public Radio) in America

* Death Cab for Cutie’s Home is a Fire was made available to stream on Soundcloud

* Tyler the Creator caused a stir by Tweeting his new album artwork

* And the Beastie Boys’ new single, Make Some Noise, was leaked on Pitchfolk

CSS – Les Make love and Listen to Death from Above (via Facebook)

Hercules & Love Affair – Blind (via Facebook)

#Blogged

tUnE yArDs album review, Who Kill, (recommended by John from MusicOMH)

Liquid Liquid – Cavern (via Facebook)

Louis XIV – Finding Out True Love Is Blind (via Twitter)

#nowplaying Flamings Lips – The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (via Twitter #nowplaying #6music)

#Listener’sMix – Sean from Drowned in Sound

FOE - Tyrant Song (his single of the week)

No Age - Everybody's Down (the song he'd put on a mixtape for Kurt Cobain)

How to Dress Well - Ready for the World (the track from his album of the year, so far) Panic at the Disco - Nearly Witches (the closing track on the new Panic album, which he thinks wonderfully bonkers)

Factory Floor - R E A L L O V E (easily one of the most exciting bands in the world right now)

Donna Summer - I Feel Love (one of his greatest songs ever!)

So there we go. Remember to stay in the conversation throughout the week on Facebook, Twitter, e-mail and of course, via the blog, right here.

(Listen again by clicking here)

Hashtags – or # - are commonly used on Twitter as a way of tagging Tweets. They can then be tracked – following #BarackObama would give you constant updates on what people are saying about the American president for example – and they are also collated to highlight what is trending across the social tool.



The name of our show, Now Playing, derives from one of the most common hashtags - #nowplaying. People use this and add it to their Tweet to show what they are listening to at that moment.



A few times during our show on BBC 6 Music we track #nowplaying and see what is being played across the world - before Tom picks one to play out on air.



If we (@BBC6Music) have Tweeted you this link – then we have probably just hijacked your speakers or headphones and played whatever you were listening to just before our message to digital radios across the United Kingdom, and over the internet to the world – so thank you!

Hashtags – or # - are commonly used on Twitter as a way of tagging Tweets. They can then be tracked – following #BarackObama would give you constant updates on what people are saying about the American president for example – and they are also collated to highlight what is trending across the social tool.



The name of our show, Now Playing, derives from one of the most common hashtags - #nowplaying. People use this and add it to their Tweet to show what they are listening to at that moment.



A few times during our show on BBC 6 Music we track #nowplaying and see what is being played across the world - before Tom picks one to play out on air.



If we (@BBC6Music) have Tweeted you this link – then we have probably just hijacked your speakers or headphones and played whatever you were listening to just before our message to digital radios across the United Kingdom, and over the internet to the world – so thank you!

Hashtags – or # - are commonly used on Twitter as a way of tagging Tweets. They can then be tracked – following #BarackObama would give you constant updates on what people are saying about the American president for example – and they are also collated to highlight what is trending across the social tool.



The name of our show, Now Playing, derives from one of the most common hashtags - #nowplaying. People use this and add it to their Tweet to show what they are listening to at that moment.



A few times during our show on BBC 6 Music we track #nowplaying and see what is being played across the world - before Tom picks one to play out on air.



If we (@BBC6Music) have Tweeted you this link – then we have probably just hijacked your speakers or headphones and played whatever you were listening to just before our message to digital radios across the United Kingdom, and over the internet to the world – so thank you!

Wow, some of the suggestions you have come up with for the LCD Soundsystem inspired playlist have been awesome – everything from their own tracks like Losing My Edge through to DFA reworks of M.I.A and Gorillaz, as well as artists innately tied into New York’s musical fabric such as The Fall and The Velvet Underground.

This is really beginning to shape up quite nicely, though still to add into our two hours on air are some of the best songs the vast array of blogs are currently buzzing about and some exclusives which have been flying around the internet over the past seven days.

We still want more suggestions from you though, and there are loads of ways you can get in touch with us over at 6Music towers – e-mail [email protected] with links to your playlists or just track suggestions, tweet us @bbc6music, leave us a message on Facebook or add a song of your choice into the LCD playlist currently up on our Spotify.

Remember to tune in on Friday from 7pm to hear all of this musical goodness and keep up the conversation online throughout the week.

For the first time we are directly throwing the keys to the 6Music playlist to you to run with, experiment, discuss, debate and ultimately construct based on one of the major music news stories of the week leading up to the first Now Playing @6Music on Friday between 7-9pm.



This is one of the key parts of our new fully interactive show format where we ask you, the 6Music audience, to directly shape Friday night’s output. We give you some leads and starting points, perhaps chuck in a few suggestions, then let you run wild to decide where we go.



So what has happened since last Friday in the wondrous world of music? James Murphy and his iconic band LCD Soundsystem played their last ever gig at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. The electronic group which Get Innocuous while Daft Punk are Playing at my House and have increased the sales of skinny black ties have had a huge impact since bursting onto the scene in 2002.



So let us start with Tribulations, and add another nine tracks based on indie-electro crossover artists, perhaps compelling collaborations after Arcade Fire joined them on stage for their final swansong, or personalities with scintillating style.



On a different tip, Mohammed Al-Fayed was a huge fan and friend of Michael Jackson but it seems not all associated with his Fulham Football Club agree with the decision to open a new branch of Madame Tussauds outside Craven Cottage. A statue of the King of Pop was unveiled ahead of their match against Blackpool – but which other strange places have famous artists had their image replicated? Or is there somewhere you would like to see the resemblance of pop icon – let us know and help put together a playlist of 10.



Another possibility could be long-awaited returns in 2011. The Foo Fighters have come back with an explosion of epic proportions by announcing headline summer festival slots, greatest hits performances at SXSW and Wembley and now their brand spanking new album is available to stream on Soundcloud. Who else are you looking forward to seeing play live and listen to again this year?



Remember, it is down to you so get in touch with your ideas to continue these playlists or suggest something completely new from a news story which has caught your attention this year.



Facebook, Tweet, or E-Mail ([email protected]) your ideas to us or even links to playlists/blog posts you have made.



Starting Points:

1. LCD Soundsystem – Tribulations

· The legacy of LCD Soundsystem or momentous collaborations



2. Michael Jackson – They Don’t Care About Us

· Strange places to find musicians or places where they have been rejected



3. Foo Fighters – Best of You

· The artists you are looking forward to making a return in 2011

Hello and welcome to the shiny new Now Playing @6Music blog – the hub for the show which will air between 7-9pm on Friday evenings. Presented by Tom Robinson, and with a production team of Rowan, Phil and Will, it is an entirely interactive and digital show which will reflect the most talked about tracks online, what is creating the most hype on blogs and most importantly invite you, the 6Music audience, to contribute to debate and directly mould the playlist for the remaining 166-hours of the week.

Each week there will be a themed playlist based on a story which has sent bloggers into overdrive – be it the rejuvenation of Gallagher sibling love, the White Stripes announcing a 75-date world tour or the unveiling of Daft Punk’s new ukulele based folk-funk project. We will suggest a starting point and then leave the rest to you to submit the remaining tracks via social media, playlisting websites, e-mail or any other way you want to get your message across to us.

As well as this, we will hijack Twitter throughout the show, and play tracks which people are listening to across the world by using #nowplaying, we will talk to some of the best and most influential bloggers across cyberspace and the artists who are creating more buzz than a swarm of bees trapped in a shoe box after finding a shipment of Ecuadorian coffee.

TOM ROBINSON - "Without knowing it, we had a small foretaste of Now Playing last August when 6Music staged the Listener Takeover. We went into the show that day with only a skeleton playlist, a Facebook page and a Twitter feed buzzing with listeners. 

The next 120 minutes were both hair-raising and exhilarating as we tore up the playlist and simply went with the flow. The listeners quickly picked up the ball and ran with it, chatting, telling stories and cracking jokes. Meanwhile the production team were frantically downloading tracks and getting them on air as listeners were still discussing them. I hardly knew from moment to moment what record we'd be playing next.

Most of all I loved being able to actively respond to the listeners - not just on mic - but publicly online while records were playing, where everybody could see and join in. It was the most exhausting radio show I'd ever done, but also the most fun. And the question everyone was asking at the end of the show - both online and in the studio - was "why can't it be like this every Friday?"



Well, now it can. Not just for the two hours we're on air every Friday but hopefully as a conversation about music all through the week. It's a new show, a new team and pretty much uncharted territory: so nothing's carved in stone.

We're not just open to new ideas from the wider music community, we're actively eager to explore them. As the only station in broadcasting history to have been saved by its listeners, 6Music has a unique relationship with its audience.

This show is about you and the rest of the music community – your opinions, your taste and your music, so to make sure your voice is heard and join in the conversation join us on Facebook and Twitter and e-mail us with what you think the rest of the 6Music community should be listening to on [email protected].

We look forward to hearing from you!