Independent Music Podcast

Independent Music Podcast #35 28/03/11

garethmain — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:20:24 +0100

Independent Music Podcast #35 28/03/11 by Independent Music Podcast on Mixcloud

Independent Music Podcast #34 07/03/11

garethmain — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 09:15:29 +0000

We’re back!

After a month away, we’re back with a bumper podcast for your earholes, 16 tracks, nearly two hours worth of alternative music goodness. Sit back and enjoy…

Independent Music Podcast #34 07/03/11 by Independent Music Podcast on Mixcloud

Independent Music Podcast #33 07/02/11

garethmain — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 10:07:15 +0000

We seem to be on a two week cycle at the moment… it makes hearing a member of the Hitler Youth sing for us even better…

Independent Music Podcast #33 07/02/11 by Independent Music Podcast on Mixcloud

Independent Music Podcast #32 24/01/11

garethmain — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 10:49:23 +0000

Independent Music Podcast #32 24/01/11 by Independent Music Podcast on Mixcloud

Independent Music Podcast #31 10/01/11

garethmain — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 09:51:57 +0000

Welcome back to the Independent Music Podcast. Normal service is slowly being resumed…

Independent Music Podcast #31 10/01/11 by Independent Music Podcast on Mixcloud

50 for 2010 - Gareth #1

garethmain — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 10:01:06 +0000

Well, after 24 records I’ve pulled out to celebrate for 2010, here’s the final one.

Pierre Raph - Jeunes Filles Impudiques (Finders Keepers)

LISTEN ON SPOTIFY

Out of all the incredible releases of 2010, it’s little surprise that my favourite comes from the ever incredible Finders Keepers Records.

Jeunes Filles Impudiques is the soundtrack to the long-lost Parisian skin flick and this sexy 7” gives more pleasure than most erotic films. From the incessant tribal drumming of ‘Gilda & Gunshots’ to the swinging brass finale five tracks later of ‘Schoolgirl Hitchhikers’, this EP is, for me, the most enjoyable release of the year. I hope you enjoy it too.

LISTEN TO PIERRE RAPH - JEUNES FILLES IMPUDIQUES ON SPOTIFY

Gareth’s favourite records of 2010:

Various Artists - Thai Beat a Go Go (Subliminal Sounds)
Young Prisms - Young Prisms EP (Mexican Summer)
Thus:Owls - Cardiac Malformations (Almost Musique)
Konono No.1 - Assume Crash Position (Crammed Discs)
The Jellies - Jive Baby on a Saturday Night (Trunk)
Maria & the Mirrors - Omar (Parlour)
Various Artists – Soundway Records Presents The World Ends Afro Rock and Psychedelia in 1970s Nigeria
Starkey - OK Luv (Planet Mu)
Kenny Graham and His Satellites – Moondog And Suncat Suites (Trunk)
Leona Anderson - Music to Suffer By (Trunk)
Jacky Chalard - Superman, Supercool (Cache Cache)
Thee Oh Sees - Warm Slime (In the Red)
The Budos Band - The Budos Band III (Daptone)
Various Artists - Pomegranates (Finders Keepers)
Pretty Lights - High School Art Class (self-release)
Gold Panda - Snow & Taxis (Throwing Snow Remix) (Ghostly International)
Basil Kirchin - Primitive London (Trunk)
Tobacco - Maniac Meat (Anticon)
Various Artists - Study Series (Ghost Box)
Drum Eyes - Gira Gira (Upset the Rhythm)
Sam Spence - Sam Spence Sounds (Finders Keepers)
The Fall - Your Future Our Clutter (Domino)
Master Musicians of Bukkake - Theme From The Science Fiction Television Show “Ban Be Cua Anh Ay” (Conspiracy)
Soft Healer - Movie Light (Captured Tracks)
Pierre Raph - Jeunes Filles Impudiques (Finders Keepers)

50 for 2010 - Gareth #2

garethmain — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 08:06:06 +0000

Soft Healer - Movie Light (Captured Tracks)

My favourite discovery of the year, I found Austin band Soft Healer in a car park at SXSW and have shouted about them ever since. Their debut 7” came out in the summer on renowned New York label Captured Tracks. The A side ‘Gentle One’ is sublime but, like the Master Musicians of Bukkake 7” I highlighted yesterday, it is the B side that gives the most pleasure.

Listen to it below.

Soft Healer - Movie Light

Gareth’s 25 of 2010 so far

50 for 2010 - Gareth #3

garethmain — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:07:36 +0000

I just realised that, in my prep, I managed to put 26 things in my 25 things for 2010, oh well, I’ll just throw in a bonus sometime before the end of the year. Anyway, we’re at the top three…

Master Musicians of Bukkake - Theme From The Science Fiction Television Show “Ban Be Cua Anh Ay” (Conspiracy)

One of my favourite bands threw a curveball late this year with the release of a self-titled 7” than coincided with their phenomenal show at Supersonic in October. The A side, titled ‘Man With The Green Gloves On,’ was standard fare - obtuse ritualistic weirdness - but the B side is where the real gold lies.

Completely opposite to their usual material, ‘Theme From The Science Fiction Television Show “Ban Be Cua Anh Ay”’ is a real treat. Reminiscent of some Eastern 60s/70s pop, it grooves along with some borderline stereotyping chanting, it’s absolutely incredible, and nothing like their usual ambient noise. Listen and love:

Master Musicians Of Bukkake - Theme From The Science Fiction Television Show “Ban Be Cua Anh Ay”

Gareth’s 25 of 2010 so far

50 for 2010 - Gareth #4

garethmain — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:35:08 +0000

Today is the day I travel home for Christmas, so I’m writing all the final posts in this series today. They’ll go online day-by-day. Well they should, but given Tumblr’s questionable reliability in this area, they might all go online today. Stay tuned anyway…

The Fall - Your Future Our Clutter (Domino)

The best Fall album ever? Quite possibly. As a Fall obsessive for more years than I can actually remember, and one whose two favourite Fall albums were released before I was born, the release of Your Future Our Clutter was a huge pleasure. Their best album for a long time, and much better than the brilliant Fall Heads Roll - the previous best Fall record of the 21st Century.

John Peel once remarked that The Fall were “always different, always the same” and YFOC does a wonderful job of living up to that billing. Retaining the same line-up as the rather poor Imperial Wax Solvent, the rarely steady ship of a Fall line-up pays dividends as the record flows seamlessly along, tied together by Mark E Smith’s trademark growl.

The liner notes also educated me that there’s a recording studio in my hometown of Castleford. Apparantly N-Dubz have recorded there…

LISTEN TO THE FALL - YOUR FUTURE OUR CLUTTER ON SPOTIFY

The album track Bury Pts 1+3 are different from the single Bury Pts 2+4. You can view the single’s video below:

Gareth’s 25 of 2010 so far

50 for 2010 - Gareth #5

garethmain — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:35:48 +0000

So we’re at the top five. Are you excited? No, me neither, but there is goodness included…

Sam Spence - Sam Spence Sounds (Finders Keepers)

This record wasn’t going to make my list. This slot was going to be taken by the fantastic Cloud Cuckooland comp from Finders Keepers but a few things have changed my mind. First, the fact that we opened this week’s podcast with ‘Wie Ein Blitz’ from this album and second, that Anthony was guaranteed to have it in his list, and has been poor at keeping up with the ‘daily shoutout’ format of the blog.

Needless to say, this is an incredible record. Described by the label as ‘a peculiar piece in the komplicated [sic] krautrock puzzle’, Sam Spence is an American from Berlin, or perhaps a German from San Francisco. Either way, he is an American ex pat who was studying music in Berlin in the 1970s and has a story that I could crudely edit, but would prefer you to read in the liner notes form:

Born in San Francisco in 1927 Samuel Lloyd Spence is a peculiar piece in the komplicated krautrock puzzle.

As an American expat working in a community of German rock musicians in the early 70s Spence shared his alien status with the likes of David Johnson and Malcolm Mooney (Can), Carole Muriel (Brainticket), Maria Archer (Embryo), Bill Barone (Wallenstein) and the band Sweet Smoke, but in Spence’s case it wasn’t the free-love and communal living that attracted him to Germanic pastures - Spence’s European travel plan was academic.

Over a decade earlier Spence had travelled from California to Paris to study “serious music” composition at the Ecole Normale de Musique with the great composers Arthur Honegger and Francis Poulenc where he conducted alongside Jean Fournier. After settling in Europe he would later make his way to Austria and later Germany in search of a supportive community of symphony orchestras to help him develop music for film and television. Due to Communism it became difficult for Spence to enter the classical epicentre of Eastern Berlin so he settled for Munich.

Throughout the mid 60s Spence kept his hand in popular music via his US connections. His original roots playing clarinet and sax in Californian swing bands had lead to paid work sending compositions to commercial Hollywood groups which lead to a part time interest in electronic instruments and the development of the synthesiser. To balance his classical composition Spence was able to use his Hollywood credentials to score German TV commissions making dozens of groovy symphonic scores with electronic flourishes and towards the end of the decade, with the help of a long term contract composing motivational music for the National Football League, Spence had raised enough capital to bring one of the very first Moog sythesisers to Germany.

While in Munich Spence met an American disc jockey called Mal Sondock who had recently struck a production deal with a new German pop music label called Kuckuck. Sondock introduced Spence to a 24 year old Eckart Rahn who owned the record company and after an initial agreement to release a single of Spence’s soundtrack to the Francis Durbridge thriller series entitled ‘WIE EIN BLITZ’ (‘Like Lightning’) the pair discussed the idea of recording an LP of electronic music which would appeal to ambient and experimental enthusiasts who were searching for cosmic sounds after the rise of krautrock bands like Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream. After the release of two moog-fuelled singles including a cover version of Focus’ 1972 hit single ‘Sylvia’ Rahn agreed to release Spence’s debut LP of synthesiser based pop music which would sit amongst his eclectic Kuckuck roster including the minimal electronic pulses of Deuter, the experimental field recordings of Ernst Schultz and the avant-garde releases of Peter Michael Hamel and Terry Riley.

Signed exclusively to Kuckuck in Germany Rahn recognised the potential in Spence’s synthesiser music amongst production music circles and television advertising companies so he struck up deals throughout Europe with library labels such as Brull and Dewolfe who would distribute Spence’s LPs and sublicense new Sam Spence recordings from Kuckuck for potential commercial usage. This included a whole LP of entirely electronic tracks entitled ‘The Art Of The Sythesiser’ on which he used a Moog 55 to stunning effect creating melodic pastoral pop music, freakish suspense themes and a selection of short bursts of bubbling ‘Moog Shots’ which would soon find their way into crime thrillers and action films (such as Taylor Wong’s Kung Fu fantasy film “Ru Lai Shen Zhang”)

Having continued to expand his successful career in symphonic music Sam would, by the end of the 1970s, return to orchestral film music seizing further opportunities to work as a composer recording over 500 cues for films made by the NFL back in his native USA. For vinyl junkies Spence’s American Football music existed on a series Library records manufactured by NFL until it was finally commercially released in the mid-90s. Still residing in Germany, the country where he can find the best orchestras, Spence continues to make theme music. In recent years he has been heard on shows like The Simpsons, Everybody Loves Raymond, King Of Queens, Saturday Night Live, FBI’s Most Wanted, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Sponge Bob and several TV and radio commercials.

LISTEN TO SAM SPENCE - SAM SPENCE SOUNDS ON SPOTIFY

Gareth’s 25 of 2010 so far

Independent Music Podcast #30 20/12/10

garethmain — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:06:19 +0000

Independent Music Podcast #30 20/12/10 by Independent Music Podcast on Mixcloud

Podcast favourite Darren Hayman is setting off on a project to...

garethmain — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:37:23 +0000

Podcast favourite Darren Hayman is setting off on a project to release a song every day throughout January. We’ll be reblogging now and again, but to keep on top of it, follow januarysongs.tumblr.com.

50 for 2010 - Gareth #6

garethmain — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 14:39:00 +0000

Well Christmas time is nearly upon us, and it’s snowing outside. I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, quite unlike the dull, miserable grey ones we used to know. It’s the sixth to last great musical happening of the year…

Drum Eyes - Gira Gira (Upset the Rhythm)

Well Drum Eyes were an inevitable inclusion towards the top of this list. The band me and Anthony bonded over more than any when we first met way back in 2009 and also the band who I erroneously and confusingly picked at the top of my nominations for the BBC Sound of 2010 poll. Oh well, sorry BBC.

Regardless, Drum Eyes are incredible. I first saw them at Supersonic 2009 and they blew my mind. Upon release, Gira Gira did too, making Drum Eyes one of the very few bands who can blow you away in person and on disc (or mp3). Set up a number of years ago by the incredible and slightly mad DJ Scotch Egg, this is a band grossly under-appreciated. One of the best live bands doing the rounds in the UK these days (perhaps bettered by fellow Scotch Egg project Devil Man, but we’ll discuss them next year), Drum Eyes should have the forward-thinking musical world at their feet.

LISTEN TO DRUM EYES - GIRA GIRA ON SPOTIFY

Gareth’s 25 of 2010 so far

50 for 2010 - Gareth #7

garethmain — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 10:00:07 +0000

Multiple records in at number 7, sometimes it’s just hard to pick one.

Various Artists - Study Series (Ghost Box)

This year, Ghost Box Records became my newest favourite label thanks to their Study Series of 7” records. Featuring Belbury Poly, Broadcast & the Focus Group, The Advisory Circle, Moon Wiring Club and Hong Kong in the 60s (so far, I’m not sure how long it’s going for), the first four instalments have been right up my street. Like modern library music, the sounds are peculiar and wonderful - a very special collection that has been a huge highlight of 2010.

Listed below are the instalments so far, click the links to listen on Spotify, or click here to listen to the whole collection:

Belbury Poly – Study Series 01: Youth and Recreation
The Advisory Circle – Study Series 02: Cycles and Seasons
Belbury Poly – Study Series 03: Welcome to Godalming
Broadcast – Study Series 04: Familiar Shapes and Noises

Gareth’s 25 of 2010 so far

50 for 2010 - Gareth #8

garethmain — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 14:49:00 +0000

Well the sad news this morning is the passing of Don Van Vliet AKA Captain Beefheart aged 69. Best wishes to the family of one of the most innovative musicians of all time. In my eyes, Trout Mask Replica is an album that was ahead of its time, and time still hasn’t caught up with it. Needless to say, me and Anthony will be putting some Beefheart tracks on next week’s podcast.

Anyway, we’re on to number eight…

Tobacco - Maniac Meat (Anticon)

Former Black Moth Super Rainbow man Tobacco released his second solo LP earlier this year, and blew the socks off his previous LP Fucked Up Friends and all the BMSR stuff. It seems to have got him a legion of new fans, arguably through getting Beck in to vocalise some of the tracks, but more likely because the album is utterly sublime.

Tobacco followed the record up with a new EP, released last week (and played on Podcast #29), which continued his good form. An absolutely blistering selection of ear-bleeding electronics, Maniac Meat is violent, insatiable and utterly unmissable. It is one of the few records this year you need in your collection, so get it.

Tobacco - Fresh Hex (feat. Beck) by Lukkyboy

Gareth’s 25 of 2010 so far

50 for 2010 - Gareth #9

garethmain — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 10:00:00 +0000

This series doesn’t seem to have been going for long, but already we’re into single digits, which means things are getting very serious indeed. A late candidate for record of the year here:

Basil Kirchin - Primitive London (Trunk)

The last Trunk release on this list is something truly special. Released just two weeks ago (and featured on Podcast #28), Primitive London is a release that collates two soundtracks the late Basil Kirchin made in the 1960s. The first, ‘Primitive London’ is an outrageous mondo film (a clip from which you can watch here), and the second was from the quickly, and as I’m told, understandably forgotten film ‘The Freelance’.

2010 marked five years since Basil Kirchin died. His contribution to ambient, experimental music is grossly under-appreciated and in my eyes he is one of the greatest musicians Britain ever produced. Jonny Trunk wrote a very poignant piece on Basil’s final years for Bearded Magazine earlier this year, I urge everyone to read it.

As for Primitive London, it is classic Kirchin - peculiar and insightful - I can’t find a stream online, but you can buy it here.

Gareth’s 25 of 2010 so far

50 for 2010 - Gareth #10

garethmain — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 14:24:04 +0000

We’re at the top ten, but that’s enough from me, let’s dive straight in:

Gold Panda - Snow & Taxis (Throwing Snow Remix) (Ghostly International)

Gold Panda has enough kudos from the best of 2010 charts to not require a shout out here, so I’ve gone with this absolutely fantastic remix of the brilliant ‘Snow & Taxis’ from Throwing Snow to kick off my top ten musical things of the past year.

A man who is likely to have plenty of success in his own right in 2011, London-based Ross Tones has been around a little while. I first heard of him when a writer pitched him for a feature in the first ever Bearded Magazine way back in 2007 (read it here). Since then he’s had a steady stream of consistently brilliant tracks leaking their way out into the public consciousness on labels including Lo Editions and his own A Future Without Records. His tracks tend to drag influences from all forms of music that is good and wholesome, you can listen to a lot of it on his Bandcamp page.

I have little doubt the man deserves success, and 2010 seems to have provided his watershed moment, hopefully the accolades will pour in through 2011.

Gold Panda - Snow and Taxis (Throwing Snow Remix) by Throwing Snow

Gareth’s 25 of 2010 so far

50 for 2010 - Gareth #11

garethmain — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 14:59:52 +0000

Apologies for the delay in getting this up today. As Anthony is taking his time with filling out his 25, I guess it doesn’t really matter. Although expect an onslaught of stuff from him any day now. It might even include this track…

Pretty Lights - High School Art Class (self-release)

One of the best songs of the year, ‘High School Art Class’ is from the sublime EP Spilling Over Every Side released by Colorado resident Pretty Lights.

‘High School Art Class’ is so good that it deserves attention on its own, reminiscent of much late 90s electronic music coming Ninja Tune, this is Solid Steel for a new generation. It isn’t a throwback track, but something new and unique in its own right. It’s available to download free, and for an artist who has reportedly had a million downloads of his music this year, 2011 could be a very big year.

Download all Pretty Lights music from www.prettylightsmusic.com

Pretty Lights - High School Art Class by Nitro742

Gareth’s 25 of 2010 so far

50 for 2010 - Gareth #12

garethmain — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 09:54:00 +0000

I have a number of new releases to shout about today but before I do that, here’s the next amazing musical thing from this year:

Various Artists - Pomegranates (Finders Keepers)

Without doubt one of the best compilations of the year (indeed The Quietus named it their 12th favourite reissue or compilation of the year this week), Pomegranates is a collection of Persian funk, folk, psych and idiosyncratic pop gems from the 60s and 70s. It is truly a mesmerising collection.

But as with many of these records, the liner notes reveal more insight than I ever could, so read on:

It’s no accident that the phoenix is an exalted moral, mythical, and figurative symbol in Iran. Like the phoenix, Iranian culture is in constant flux and, at times, elusive, with its existential wavering and blurred panoramas. Most of contemporary Iran’s artistic and creative leanings, its grapples with history and identity, are loosely and mystically conjoined and contested in memory. Iran is marked by the complex interplay of diverse constituencies, philosophies, and influences: ethnic, religious, political, geopolitical and historical. The glorification of pre-Islamic antiquity (in search of authentication) marked the socio-cultural attitude of a bygone era and is witnessing revival in the present day. The discordant reality of eastern traditions complicated by the rampant confusions of modernity has become a norm in Persian dialogue, not to mention revolution, exile, and diaspora. Like many other countries, the Sixties and Seventies were a time of tumult in Iran, bringing growth (via petrodollars) and freedom (under the banner of socioeconomic development) while exacerbating inequalities within the country.

My personal favourite track is the brilliantly titled ‘Soul Raga’ by Mehrpouya. Listen to it below:

BUY VARIOUS ARTISTS - POMEGRANATES

Gareth’s 25 of 2010 so far

50 for 2010 - Gareth #13

garethmain — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 15:33:40 +0000

At the halfway stage(ish) now. So how about some Afro Doom Soul to brighten up your world?

The Budos Band - The Budos Band III (Daptone)

Okay, this album wins no prizes in the innovative titles stakes, but The Budos Band III (the follow-up to II obviously), does earn immense praise for its ability to aptly live up to its billing as ‘afro doom soul’ - clearly a genre name in a time of ridiculous genre names that you’d actually sell your own mother to get to listen to an accurate representation of.

Released on brilliant soul record label Daptone just this month, The Budos Band has a soul sound that is huge not in breadth, but in sheer power. This isn’t light-hearted soul you’d entertain your parents with, nor is it powerful in a Solomon Burke vocal kind of way, but this is deep down dirty - almost scary - brass power soul. Afro doom soul really is the only way to sum it up.

Needless to say, it’s brilliant, regular podcast listeners will have heard tracks from it in Podcasts #22 and #28 you can listen to the whole album on Spotify by clicking the link below.

Listen to The Budos Band - The Budos Band III on Spotify

Gareth’s 25 of 2010 so far