June, 2009

Freeform / Internet / Music / Podcasts / Uncategorized — No Comments
26
Jun 09

Mudd Up! With DJ Rupture

The Breezeblock was a radio show on BBC Radio 1 a few years ago, a mix show for freaks late at night hungry for electronic music. The show featured a bunch of different DJs and producers from Matmos to Bjork, but Jace Clayton AKA DJ Rupture always occupied a very special place in the show’s pantheon of pornographically good knob-twiddlers.  A firm favourite of John Peel, he was The Breezeblock’s daddy.

What Rupture has always done exceptionally well is play stupid music for clever people, and mix it up with clever sounds for those who want it stupid. Sure, a lot of it is electronic with beeps and bass, but he manages to keep a live, analogue, human feel to proceedings that is all his own.

DJ Rupture’s radio show, Mudd Up is available on WFMU and on iTunes as a podcast. If one week’s isn’t enough you can go to his show page where every single show is archived complete with guest information and playlists. Fellow BDAW’s blogger Matt put me on to the show and I can safely say it is the most surprising and rewarding music podcast I currently subscribe to.

Mudd Up! is made with a lot of love. Guests frequently pop up from all continents and disciplines (musicians, poets and more) and the show is full of genuine exclusives. Jace describes his musical sweep as ‘Cumbia. Dubstep. Gangsta synthetics. Sound-art. Maghrebi’, but in reality this is a DJ without respect for fashion, with a thorough disdain of musical genre, audience demographics or conventional broadcasting norms.

Rupture creates sound collages of mystery and drama that consistantly challenge every synapse in my brain. Subscribe immediately.

Uncategorized — 1 Comment
22
Jun 09

Rastafari over Wifi: Big Up Radio

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In the first of a series of posts with radio from the iPhone it seems righteous to kick off with something incredibly Ronseal—that does what it says on the tin. When you are lying in bed at night there are some moments when only uninterrupted reggae will do. On some occasions this leads to my default evening FM station Conscious FM or—on a Wednesday night at 11pm in the UK—the absolutely incredible 50-50 Soundsystem show on Resonance FM (post coming soon). However an alternative for the technology fetishists amongst us is to download the free Big Up Radio app for the iPhone.

Big Up is, according to its page, a loose collection of reggae enthusiasts in the California area that started broadcasting together in 2000. Their website looks like its been put together in a long, democratic committee meeting (just toooo much to read / listen to / click on for anyone with a job) but their iPhone app is the bomb.

It may only be a music jukebox service, but sometimes simple is great. Boot it up, spin the wheel to the station you want to listen to and plug it into your speakers. Cue a non-stop reggae music mix. I know that for the musically literate Last FM can do something similar (you do have to know what artist’s station you want to start with), but Big Up proves that there is life in the no-presenters idea. The skill with all of these things is picking the right music, and Big Up do this very well—check the ‘Lovers Rock’ or ‘Steady Rockin’ Roots’ channels for the sweetest prelude to sleep.

Internet / Podcasts / Speech — 1 Comment
9
Jun 09

They Want the Young American…

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You know what the big problem is with radio interviews? You’ve heard it all before. Usually the guest is doing the rounds to plug their latest product, so they’re on the promo carousel, and will, this very same week, be appearing on five other stations near you. And even if the show has managed to wangle an exclusive interview on a subject you’re interested in, the presenter will follow the approved route; talk about stuff the guest is well known for, talk about stuff they’ve been doing recently, talk about their new product. If this is Tuesday, it must be Bono. Thursday, we’ve got Tom Cruise. And on, and on…

Thankfully for the adventurous internet surfer, there are alternatives.

The Sound Of Young America is, in the words of its host Jesse Thorn ‘A radio show about things that are awesome’.  But then, Jesse bills himself as ‘America’s Radio Sweetheart’, and revels in the lofi production, getting listeners to intro the show over the phone, and proclaiming at the top of each show that it’s ‘live on tape from my home in Los Angeles’. So I think we can safely assume tongues are planted firmly in cheeks.

TSOYA is unique in that it a) books guests that are interesting, even if you’ve never heard of them before, and b) then goes on to have a really good time with them. Recently Lloyd Kaufmann, the completely hatstand head of lo-budget schlock factory Troma Films, came on the show to claim that he was the best producer ever. Thorn was actually falling about laughing at Kaufmann’s ridiculous chutzpah, and it made for a fantastic interview.

I go weeks on end without listening to TSOYA because I don’t recognise the names that come up on the list on my iPod, but then after being lured in by a name or act I recognise, I gorge again – three or four editions in a day.  Jesse’s presenting style is addictive like that.

The guest list ranges from actors, including Bunk and Bubbles from The Wire, and musicians – from the reclusive and legendary Betty Davis to underground rappers – to writers, such as ‘The IT Crowd’s Graham Linehan and comics writer Brian Michael Bendis, the man who’s been charged with recreating Spiderman for Marvel comics.

However, Thorn’s main love is comedy, in all its forms. Films, TV, books and stand up, plus some others that I haven’t heard yet. From big Hollywood names to US circuit stars who haven’t broken in the UK, they all get love from TSOYA. Which is nice (for them), and also good for listeners, who get to hear some really funny people doing what they do best, which is be funny.  Go on, have a laugh.

Music / Podcasts — No Comments
1
Jun 09

Lively Up The Town

mobtown ska records

mobtown ska records

Ska and classic reggae are fairly well represented on t’internet. It seems that every graduate with a Trojan box set and a bong has at some point thought ‘I know, a podcast showcasing old school music from Jamaica – there’s not enough of those out there!’

However, recently, as the weather has got warmer I’ve been digging around for something to satisfy the desire for some skanking sounds. And the itch has been well and truly scratched by DJ Bobby Babylon and his Mobtown Ska Sounds podcast. Like all the best music selections, BB has a record collection to die for, a burning desire to show it off, and a lightly worn expertise.

The shows are generally themed. Recent episodes include ‘Reggae Court’, which gathered together loads of tunes which feature rudeboys being sentenced by ‘Judge 100 Years’, ‘Judge Roughneck’ and the fantastic ‘Judge Black Sulphuric Acid’. . Then there’s the excellent Beatles tribute show, which not only rocked a bunch of Fab Four reggae versions, but also paid tribute to ska’s US heritage by dropping a number of obscure R’n’B covers as well.

It’s not all reggae – the Bo Diddly tribute is well worth an hour of anybody’s time – but mainly that’s the fare. As well as the classic stuff, BB covers the modern ska scene as well, tucking in a number of current or recent tunes in to podcasts as the mood demands.

Babylon has recently moved his host from podmatic to Music Is Our Occupation, so there might be a bit of a hiatus while he gets things up and running on the new platform. But there’s over fifty shows in the archive, available on iTunes, and each one’s a delight. I’m saving the ‘early Wailers’ and ‘vinyl reggae selection’ specials up, but if they’re anything like the dozen or so I’ve already sampled, they’ll be crackers. Enjoy.