Wow! What happened there?

Apart from a bout of pure laziness and the (so called) Summer getting in the way, I've managed to go a whole 5 months without a post or a podcast, sorry about that. I have been building up playlists, but just haven't got round to recording and posting them.

So, here is the first in a series of four new podcasts coming over the next couple of weeks, starting with stuff that I was listening to in May and June of this year.


This episode's tracklist is as follows

# TITLE / ARTIST

01 Sleepy Sun - Martyr's Mantra
02 Richard Hawley - Leave your body behind you
03 We are Animal - 1919
04 Pontiak - Lions of Least
05 Pond - Moth Wings
06 League - How Do I Know?
07 Dr. Dog - Warrior Man
08 Amadou & Miriam ft. Santogold - Dougou Badia
09 Firehorse - She's a river
10 The once - Your My Best Friend
11 The Lumineers - Ho Hey
12 Alex Winston - The Fold
13 Pet Clinic - Stop Wasting My Precious Time
14 Delta Spirit - Tellin' The Mind
15 Yukon Blonde - Stairway
16 We Are The Physics - Goran Ivanisevic
17 Jonathan Boulet - You're An Animal






You can either subscribe to the podcast using the links at the top of the page, through the iTunes podcast directory or download it direct from here. (Right Click, Save As)

As is usual, if there is anything on this podcast you like, please remember to support the artist(s) by buying a track or two, or even go and see them live and visit their merch stall. If you are an artist that has a track on this podcast that you would like removed, please get in touch with me and it shall be done without prejudice.

Until the next time....

Thanks for listening.
It's good to listen.

Rob
xxx

May 2012. The wettest drought in history.

I think it was Jimmy Carr that said "If this drought carries on, we'll run out of umbrellas."
Kind of sums it up really!

Normally, at this time of year, I'm starting to look forward to those long Summer days (and nights!), but looking out of the window right now at a grey and damp London, Summer seems a long way off. I'm starting to get on Anna's nerves with my constant weather bitching and I long for Carol on the BBC Breakfast news to give me a good forecast, but alas, her recent predictions have only been good for the ducks and the farmers.

Apparently, there's a break from the rain this weekend, which will be nice as we have a wedding to go to and I do hope that the sun shines on the happy couple as they have had a tumultuous year and thoroughly deserve a dry day.

So that's me, a typical Brit, constantly on about the weather. An Australian mate once told me "At least you get weather", while that's true, I must admit that I do prefer theirs.

If you see the sun, do tell it to pop out over here for a bit.
Please.

So, with that in mind, if I haven't drowned, I'll catch you in a couple of months.

This episode's tracklist is as follows

# TITLE / ARTIST
Motoring - Toy
Blackout - Secret Connection
Starlight, Starlight - Exlovers
Do it again - Guards
Force a smile - Sleeper Agent
Immigrant Song - Karen O
Animals - The Cast Of Cheers
In A Groundfloor Apartment - Scarlet Chives
Southside - Tokyo Police Club
They Call Me Coco Rushdie - Favourite Sons
The Lion's Roar - First Aid Kit
Gold - Wake! Owl
The Wicked & The Blind - The Do
Dead Letter Office - King's Daughters & Sons
My Bones - Tom Williams & The Boat
Lesson No. 7 - Clock Opera
2012 - Young Circles
Thousand Colors - The Poison Control Centre
Show Me - Team Me
Numb Bears - Of Monsters And Men

You can either subscribe to the podcast using the links at the top of the page, through the iTunes podcast directory or download it direct from here. (Right Click, Save As)

As is usual, if there is anything on this podcast you like, please remember to support the artist(s) by buying a track or two, or even go and see them live and buy a T shirt. If you are an artist that has a track on this podcast that you would like removed, please get in touch with me and it shall be done without prejudice.

Until the next time....

Thanks for listening.
It's good to listen.

Rob
xxx

Hmmm, so iTunes can't handle two podcasts in one blog post then...

For some reason, the iTunes podcast directory only updates itself with one podcast when you add two, so this is just to get the second one in there.

How strange?

Download link (Schizophonica Sessions #14). (Right Click, Save As)

Rob
xxx

Nothing for a while, then all of a sudden, two come along at once....

Yeah, I know, I know...promises promises :)

Two podcasts for you this time, though. The first one (Schizophonica Sessions #13) is the usual mix of new stuff that's been in my ears over the last couple of months and a bonus one (Schizophonica Sessions #14) of a track from each of my favourite 20 albums of 2011.

So there. Two for for price of one, cheaper at half the price, BOGOF etc :)

Enjoy and I'll be back soon.

Schizophonica Sessions #13 tracklist is as follows. Click the links for more band info.

# TITLE / ARTIST
Let Her Go - Sissy & The Blisters
3,4,5 - Spokes
Medicine - We Were Promised Jetpacks
Breakin - Baby Baby
Lion - Eugene McGuinness
I'm His Girl - Friends
Rock On - Love Inks
It's Real - Real Estate
Stinging Nettle, Honeysuckle - Blessed Feathers
This Fall - Big Tree
The Shakes - Atlas Sound
Dark Into Light - AM & Shawn Lee
Hold On - Alabama Shakes
Street Fighting Sun - Blitzen Trapper
Rainbow Colors - Wonderful
What You Wanted - Spector
New Direction - The Black Lips
Convict - French Films
City - The Medics
Love Will Save Your Soul - Grouplove


Schizophonica Sessions #14 tracklist is as follows

# TITLE / ARTIST/ ALBUM TITLE
The Birds - Elbow (Build A Rocket, Boys!)
The Lighthouse Will Lead You Out - Cashier No. 9 (To The Death Of Fun)
Blood Gets Thin - Pete & The Pirates (A Thousand Pictures)*
Whirring - The Joy Formidable (The Big Roar)
Satellite - The Kills (Blood Pressures)
Liiines - Ghostpoet (Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam)
Aka... What A Life! - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds (Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds)
If I Had a Boat - James Vincent McMorrow (Early In The Morning)
Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes (Helplessness Blues)
Salinas - Laura Marling (A Creature I Don't Know)
Father - Cocos Lovers (Elephant Lands)
24 - Tom Williams & The Boat (Too Slow)
Surrender - The Duke Spirit (Bruiser)
Don't You Put Your Hands There - Scarlet Chives (Scarlet Chives)
The Struggle - Scroobius Pip (Distraction Pieces)
I Can See Through You - The Horrors (Skying)
White Knight Position - Chapel Club (Palace)
Into The Sky - Howling Bells (The Loudest Engine)
Lonely Boy - The Black Keys (El Camino)
Souvenir - Agesandages (Alright You Restless)

* Album of the year, without any shadow of a doubt!

You can either subscribe to the podcast using the links at the top of the page, through the iTunes podcast directory or download them direct from here (Schizophonica Sessions #13) and
here (Schizophonica Sessions #14). (Right Click, Save As)

As is usual, if there is anything on this podcast you like, please remember to support the artist(s) by buying a track or two, or even go and see them live and buy a T shirt. If you are an artist that has a track on this podcast that you would like removed, please get in touch with me and it shall be done without prejudice.

Until the next time....

Thanks for listening.
It's good to listen.

Rob
xxx

Happy New Year

So, where were we?

Ahhh, I remember now. When I last left you in September, there were just the two of us. Me and Anna. Now we are three, with our beautiful daughter Seren Rose joining us in October, so most of my time since then has been spent getting to know her, generally supporting Anna and just being a dad :)

Fear not though, the music has kept coming, I just haven't had the time to get the podcasts done and up for your ears. I've got this one and the next two to get done in the next couple of weeks, then get back into the bi-monthly episodes from February.

I hope!

Happy New year all and thanks for your support :)


This episode's tracklist is as follows

# TITLE / ARTIST
Prisoner - The Jezabels
Is and Is and Is - White Denim
Faith Unfolds - S.C.U.M.
Slippery Slope - The Do
Noche Nada - Givers
A/S/L - Steve Grady
How Come You Never Go There - Feist
Leave the Riches - Son Lux
Oh Pity - Cashier No. 9
Monkey (You Can Go Home Now) - Dear Reader
Woods - The Rosebuds
Don't Fall Apart - Driver Drive Faster
Old Volcanoes - Warm Brains
I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl - Wavves
Heartattack - Lovett
Midnight Brown - The Two Koreas

You can either subscribe to the podcast using the links at the top of the page, through the iTunes podcast directory or download it direct from here. (Right Click, Save As)

As is usual, if there is anything on this podcast you like, please remember to support the artist(s) by buying a track or two, or even go and see them live and buy a T shirt. If you are an artist that has a track on this podcast that you would like removed, please get in touch with me and it shall be done without prejudice.

Until the next time....

Thanks for listening.
It's good to listen.

Rob
xxx

Ahh, yeah. I knew there was something that I was supposed to do.

Well, Summer's back apparently. Looking out of the window today, there is a beautiful blue sky, it's warm and it's as if that weather we were holding out on for the last couple of months is back. For a couple of days at least.

Aaanyway, been a bit of a hectic couple of months since the last one as getting ready for our impending parenthood is the number one priority. We seem to be ready - we've got all the kit, the nursery is decorated, birth plan is completed and we've finished our ante natal classes, so all we need now is a Little Person in our lives to share it and we'll be laughing. No movement at the moment though, so it's down to good old patience.

So, PJ Harvey won the Mercury prize then. I was a bit disappointed with the nominations - same story every year really - as I was expecting the see Skying by The Horrors and/or One Thousand Pictures by Pete & The Pirates which are easily the two albums by British artists that were eligible I like best. Ho hum, there's no accounting for taste, is there?

If Scroobius Pip's Distraction Pieces isn't in the list next year, then I know for definite that something's wrong somewhere. It's a great album, backed up by a phenomenal live show that I got to witness at a tiny gig last month. It's also the first album since the Pete & The Pirates one that I had genuine pre release flutters, just like the old days, while counting down the days to release. When it dropped on the proverbial (mouse) mat and I got to hear it, I was wowed good & proper. Definitely my album of the year so far.

And while a lot of the world has recently commiserated each other over the split of R. E. M., I'm a little bit heartbroken at the demise - for the second time, I may add - of The Middle East. Some of you might remember their track 'Blood' from a previous episode and in memory or their passing, I've slipped one of their more recent tracks into this one. Shame really, but while one Australian band leaves, another enters. Watch out for Nantes. I predict big things.

So, what else have I got for you to listen to this time?

This episode's tracklist is as follows

# ARTIST / TITLE
Scroobius Pip ft POS & Sage Francis / Let 'em come
The Fair Ohs / Baldessari
Russian Red / The Sun The Trees
Mister Heavenly / Bronx Sniper
Library Voices / Generation Handclap
Falcon / Say Goodbye
Hooded Fang / Tosta Mista
Priory / Wait
Ghostpoet / Lines
Waines / Time Machine
Hugo / 99 Problems
The Middle East / Land Of The Bloody Unknown
Admiral Fallow / Squealing Pigs
Nantes / Fly
Eleanor Friedberger / My Mistakes
BOAT / Forever In Armitron
My Goodness / Blackout Baby

You can either subscribe to the podcast using the links at the top of the page, through the iTunes podcast directory or download it direct from here. (Right Click, Save As)

As is usual, if there is anything on this podcast you like, please remember to support the artist(s) by buying a track or two or even go and see them live. If you are an artist that has a track on this podcast that you would like removed, please get in touch with me and it shall be done without prejudice.

Until the next time....

Thanks for listening.
It's good to listen.

Rob
xxx

Oops, I did it again..

Well, I'm a bit late this time but I think I have a reasonable enough excuse. For the last couple of months, I've been helping out some old friends at Planet Angel by coordinating the music for the *Chilled* In A Field festival that was held last weekend in a field in Sussex. It's been great to get back on the horse as it were and despite some typical British summer weather - rain, wind, thunder - we pulled it off with a great lineup of DJs and live acts. As a result of that, I've managed to get hold of a load of new music from people I previously hadn't had the pleasure of listening to, so expect to hear some of that in the near future.

Look out for the festival next year, it really is a nice, family friendly couple of days in a field with great food, excellent choice of ales & ciders, several music, performance and workshop areas and an incredibly happy vibe.

In a previous missive, I bemoaned the fact that because of some strange twist of fate - read inter EU beauacracy - I couldn't get hold of the Scarlet Chives album, but Brian from the band got in touch and as a result, I am now the happy owner of a copy. You can download yours from the Sureleaf Records website. Go on, take a punt. If you like the music on the podcasts - The Horror featured earlier in the year - I guarantee this is one of the best albums of the year so far and could well be one of those hidden treasures that you see in end of year lists. Cheers Brian, you are a true gent and I wish the band and the label much success in the future. If only other labels had the same positive attitude to customer service and satisfaction, the music world would be in a much friendlier state.

So, what have I got for you to listen to this time?

This episode's tracklist is as follows

# TITLE / ARTIST
Yes! - Colourmusic

Family Tree - Black Lips
Surf Hell - Little Barrie
Send Them Kids To War - The Burns Unit
Iron - Woodkid
I Need Your Mind - Singing Adams
The Honest Truth - Typhoon
Helen - The Loom
Desire - Anna Calvi
The Mountain - Les Jupes
United - Pete And The Pirates
The Coming Days - Hello Echo
The Wishbone - The Veils
There's Nothing In The Water We Can't Fight - Cloud Control
Top Drop - Secret Music
Drops - Jookabox
Still Life - The Horrors
No Nostalgia - Agesandages

You can either subscribe to the podcast using the links at the top of the page, through the iTunes podcast directory or download it direct from here. (Right Click, Save As)

As is usual, if there is anything on this podcast you like, please remember to support the artist(s) by buying a track or two or even go and see them live. If you are an artist that has a track on this podcast that you would like removed, please get in touch with me and it shall be done without prejudice.

Until the next time....

Thanks for listening.
It's good to listen.

Rob
xxx