Tom Robinson|01:00 UK time, Monday, 17 October 2011
This morning's session artists,Masters In France. Band members include today's featured guest Owain Ginsberg from WE//ARE//ANIMAL is in blue shirt, 2nd from right.
On this morning's show we kicked off with Omega66's 'Nools and High Horses' still completely oblivious to what a 'Nool' actually is, nevertheless we love the track. That being said… if you have any idea of its meaning do drop us a line. Unless it's rude of course, in which case we'd prefer not to know.
We got an update from Owain Ginsberg, guitarist with Masters In France and mastermind behind WE//ARE//ANIMAL - his wonderfully tough, off-kilter guitar-driven project based in North Wales near the foot of Mount Snowden. The WAA single 'Work' is released today as taster from a forthcoming five track EP called 'TACLA'. Though physical copies aren't released until November 21st the tracks can already be heard on the group's Bandcamp page.
Today's session guests, Masters In France are also from North Wales and drove all the way down to London for their 6 Music session and all the way home again afterwards. Even for a superb live outfit with great songs that are regularly played on Radio 1, being in a band can be seriously gruelling. Their first four classic singles are included on the new EP Inhale, released at the beginning of the month on Bone Dry Records. We'd heard the power of their full live sound on Radio 1 sessions and from BBC Introducing festival stages. But in these bare-bones acoustic renditions of Little Girl and Greyhounds you can hear just what great songs they are. And yes, there on one of those acoustic guitars is that nice Mr Ginsberg again.
The more we hear from time-travelling Geordie rapper Baron Von Alias the more we like him, and his insanely catchy 'Get Wild, Gan Mental' with the mysterious Mistabreeze really set off a groove in the studio.
And our regular Monday morning specialist tipsters once again delivered the goods. Mr Friction brought us AG Dolla's 'Fashion' with contributions from Shystie and V Duble E. (Note the spelling, because our own former show guest V Double E is someone entirely different.) Girl Music Guru Ruth Barnes introduced us to Bambikill and Novella. And we totally agreed with Huw's recommendation for the new St Spirit single which alternates between calm guitar melodies and punchy, upbeat noise. But then we'd already played "Build A Life" two months earlier, back in August
Tom Robinson|01:00 UK time, Sunday, 16 October 2011
This morning's show was once again packed out with an eclectic mix of the best streaming tunes on the net. Our guests were Chris and Helen from That Mouth (the band formerly known as Los) who dropped by to discuss tell us about their debut album 'Sometimes I Feel Like I've Lost My Soul'. They brought us a very special present: one of just two hundred limited-edition 12" blue vinyls that constitute the physical release. They also confirmed the sad tidings that this is not only the band's debut album, but also their last. Chris, Helen and drummer Dan will be parting company to pursue new projects. So perhaps every cloud does have a silver lining, because if any of those projects continue the musical spark and originality of That Mouth, we'll all be in for a treat.
We were also lucky enough to get the first play on two exclusive new tracks from Cosmo Jarvis, recorded in his home studio. 'Hopeless Bay' and 'Sick Americans' both have the trenchant lyrical bite that is Cosmo's trademark - yet sound so completely different they could be by different artists with musical nods to Randy Newman in one and Mick Jagger in the other. Difficult man to pin down, that Cosmo Jarvis.
Our regular Sunday morning tips from Bethan Elfyn and DJ Target once pointed us towards some impressive UK talent. Bethan introduced us to the Ulster-born, Cardiff based producer Conek4 (known to his parents as John Barr) - his track https://soundcloud.com/conek4/c4-going-all-city-preview/" target="_blank">Going All City sampled some sultry Drum & Bass. Target's pick was Lov 4 U by the Bristol artist https://soundcloud.com/dinnall" target="_blank">Dinnall - a distinctive fusion of reggae and RnB carrying on the tradition of performers like Usher.
And our guest contributor from NowPlaying@6Music was Dave McGuire from the blog and record label Look Behind You. Dave's most inspired tip was While We're Young by the 20 year old San Diego lifeguard and songwriter Max Greenhalgh under his project name Inspired And The Sleep. Max wrote all the lyrics for his album Teenage while on lookout duty at the beach; luckily no shark incidents or infant drownings seem to have occurred while he was busy putting pen to paper. Dave also recommended Sara by Chad Van Gaalen and Edinburgh's lovely Dems with https://dems.bandcamp.com/track/lioness" target="_blank">Lioness. We love the wild variety of music on offer via his blog - which you can enjoy at lbymusic.com.
Tom Robinson|01:00 UK time, Monday, 10 October 2011
We've had so much great music from female artists (and female fronted bands) recommended to us that today we made a Girl Music Special with Ruth Barnes joining me for the whole programme. Our guest was the effervescent and talented Natalie Ross (above) and our session tracks came from Kyla La Grange - recorded for Huw Stephens at Maida Vale earlier this summer.
Tom Robinson|13:27 UK time, Sunday, 9 October 2011
Our studio guests were the splendid production and vocal duo of Unseen and Deeflux (above) - known to their parents as Louis McKay and Nick Udall. Their finely-worked album 1984 is one of our faves of the year, and includes the brilliant "slacker reggae" single featuring Gadget and Genesis Elijah - I Know.
And our session tracks come from the Leeds four-piece formerly known as Cissy, recorded for Alan Raw's BBC Introducing in West Yorks. Last month they announced that keyboard player Katie Moore would be leaving the band to concentrate on her main project Executive Legs, who played a session for Marc Riley in July. We've just learned that the three remaining members of Cissy have decided on the name Azores for their new three-piece incarnation. They'll be opening for Zun Zun Egui at The Chambers in Leeds a week on Thursday (Oct 20th).
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