Posts Tagged: Podcasts

Freeform / Music / Podcasts / Public Radio & NPR / Uncategorized — No Comments
25
Sep 09

Under The Covers

The cover version has always been a strange Marmite moment for music fans. Tending to come down on either one side of the fence or the other, your average aficionado loves or hates them in principle, and refuses to deviate from their opinion.

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I have to confess, I’m a sucker for a good CV, as long as they obey a few obvious rules. Number one, they need to deviate as widely as possible from the original. This is why St Etienne’s version of Neil Young’s ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’ is sublime, and everything on Robbie Williams; ‘Sing While Your Swinging’ is tosh of the first water. Rule number two; there are some songs that should never be attempted, as the original nailed it so completely that there’s no further room. Exhibit #1, Mick Hucknall’s take on Ella Fitzgerald’s ‘Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye’. Actually, I could write a whole book on why every attempt to try and equal the heights so effortlessly scaled by Ella should be erased from the mo=emory of mankind, but now is neither the time or the place. So…

I mentioned I was reviewing this show to a friend, and how it was an interesting concept, a prime example of the kind of format you would never get on terrestrial UK radio. His response?

‘What if you hate cover versions?’

If you subscribe to that side of the argument, then I apologise for wasting your time so far. Because you’re really not going to like ‘Coverville’ at all.

The format is simple. Every show takes a different artist, and plays a load of covers of their tracks, both known and obscure. The presenter, Brian Ibbott, puts the podcast together three times a week from his home in Colorado. It broadcasts on KYCY 1550AM in San Francisco. Although at first a bit gratingly nerdy,  obvious love of the music and a warm, relaxed and engaging style wins the listener over. His determination to cram every last morsel of information into each link is a little wearing at times, but it’s so much better than the usual info-desert that makes up most radio presenters’ blather.

But it’s the music that’s the point of these podcasts. Whether it’s looking at an artist like The Kinks, or occasionally giving a whole album the treatment – as in recent shows where Ibbott takes ‘Abbey Road’ and ‘London Calling’, and plays a cover of each track in the sequence of the original record – it’s the change in the reading of the songs that makes the show work

It’s why Simple Minds manage to remove all trace of thuggish menace from The Stranglers ‘Get A Grip’, while Nouvelle Vague’s version works fantastically. And why the bizarre, auto phoned version of ‘You Really Got Me’ – featuring the sliced up syllables of Tom Baker, no less – is possibly the best cover version, in the world, ever.

Go on, dive under the covers. You don’t know what you’ll find.

Freeform / Internet / Music / Podcasts — No Comments
8
Sep 09

Small Show, Big Smashes

I’ve been a big fan of Wreckless Eric since fairly near the start of what is now a long career. ‘Big Smash’, in fact. It’s funny how you remember these things, but it was the first double album I ever bought. Probably on the strength of a VFM special offer from the local record shop in Keynsham – don’t listen to the music, look at how many songs  you‘re getting! I don’t actually think I’ve purchased  more than five other double albums in my record buying career, and certainly none that contained so many joyously catchy pop songs, but there you go. Ever since then I’ve been a sucker for his love of loud guitars, ear for a well turned phrase, and latterly a well honed appreciation for the absurdities of the music business.

All of which come together in his delightful series of podcasts, ‘The Wreckless Eric Radio Show’. Each lasting (approximately) a zippy half hour and recorded at his base in rural France, they contain a fantastic collection of well picked music, some very entertaining opinions on everything from space travel to the Rolling Stones, and the occasional reading from his (very funny) autobiography ‘A Dysfunctional Success’.

Kevin Coyne, The Velvet Underground, Tony Christie, and Parliament/Funkadelic all make appearances, as do more surprising artists such as Donna Summer and Hot Chocolate. Some shows are themed – the Space Travel one is a fantastic listen  – while others just freewheel through the man’s rather fine record collection. Eric’s got an excellent, understated presentation style, and some hilariously dead pan stories about on stage power cuts and appalling promoters, along with a wide range of bizarre spoken word antique radio jingles and ‘How to set up your stereogramme’ records which are judiciously sprinkled throughout.

He would probably run a mile from any such offer, but this is really what a station like 6Music should be doing, providing a platform for a truly original and talented voice. But they’d rather have George Lamb and Craig Charles. It really does make you weep.

Freeform / Internet / Music / Podcasts — No Comments
1
Jul 09

Tea + Techno?

rob-booth

Say you’d decided that for your staycation this year you were off to the Lake District, Ambleside to be precise.  You’d packed your picnic rug, put the dog in the car & landed up there at some point on a Friday evening.  You check into your b&b and it’s all really green and countrified and you’re really starting to feel like you’re getting away from the grind.  You wake up the next morning and the birds are singing and you think that obviously what you need is a fat fry up to start the day.  You spot the delightful looking Daisy’s Café just over the road, it’s got really pretty net curtains and hanging baskets outside and so you drag the fam over there, walk in the door and WHAM….you’re surrounded by beardy weirdos ravin it up in white gloves to a futuristic soundtrack of Aphex proportions.

This is how I imagine Rob Booth- originally of the West Country via London and now proprietor of said Daisy Café- gets down on a daily basis.  In his spare time away from baking scones & serving Earl Grey to the rambling fraternity of the Lake District, Rob is an underground soldier of a rare variety.  At the last count he’s on the 75th edition of Electronic Explorations (the latest featuring Kid 606), his show that explores some of the most experimental electronic beats & artists that don’t get enough love elsewhere.

Clocking in at two hours, it’s an absolute labour of love on his part- I mean how do you keep in touch with the latest grime techno while chatting to grannies about their dead cats?  The BPM’s rarely drop below 140 and you can expect everything from acid to ragga to minimal tinted tech from the likes of Planet Mu, Rag & Bone and Surface Tension, plus he puts together mini podcasts for the shows and you can either stream them or download the file.  Yeah, ok, his presenting style is more West Country train announcer than hyped up youth vibes, but he loves what he plays and that counts.  His guests (Akira Kiteshi, Optika Technika & Syntheme) represent via mixes throughout the show and this is where it gets really clever.  Not only do they mash together some mad beats- Lee Perry, Girls Aloud & sounds from bearded seals a mile underneath the Arctic, in the latest case- but they also intro all the tracks as they’re coming in, giving us an insight into why they’re there.  Annoying?  You might think so, but it actually works.

There are shows out there that could do this, should do this, but none that succeed in quite the same wonky way and that’s why Electronic Explorations is a winner.  Maybe it’s all that fresh air.  Whatever. If you too would like to witness Rob frantically whipping cream to a mental Milanese-style soundtrack, you can find him here-

Daisy’s Cafe
Ambleside
CUMBRIA
LA22 9BS

Otherwise, just tune into the show and I’m sure you’ll get the picture.

Newbit.

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.

Podcasts / Public Radio & NPR / Speech — 5 Comments
13
May 09

Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me…

carl_peter_can_300

A missive from subscriber Terence Dackombe;

Ever since our earliest ancestors told the first joke, “A man walks into a cave…”, commentators have debated on why there is a difference between what an American, and a Brit, finds funny.

There are immediate and obvious disparities. UK comedians want to be your mate; for them, life is an ordeal and fundamentally grim. Comics from the USA perform, they are not one of the crowd, and they don’t want you to buy them a beer. They have hope, and they believe the sun will come out tomorrow. The British anticipate a cloudy day ahead.

As Matt commented recently, from the perspective of this side of the Atlantic, we don’t really know how NPR works. What we do know is that it provides a seemingly endless supply of quality programming, which, thanks to the free podcasts, can make even the most frustrating commute considerably more bearable.

Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! is, loosely, a quiz, based on the weekly news, recorded on Thursday nights at Chicago’s Chase Auditorium, and broadcast across NPR affiliate stations in America, on Saturday mornings.

It would be tempting to draw comparisons with Radio Four’s  News Quiz, or even its televised cousin  Have I Got News For You, but here we return to the theme of two nations divided by a common language, or more accurately, divided by comedy.
Both of these British shows are supposed to be based on a bedrock of satire and irony, lampooning the foolish and the pompous. However, over the years (the News Quiz was first heard in 1977) the humour seems to have filtered away, to be replaced by a rather childish, immature reliance on sniggery-pokery about undergarments, toilets, and sexual preferences. Increasing numbers of potential guests return the ‘thanks but no thanks’ slip to ‘Have I Got News For You’.

‘Wait, Wait’ manages to avoid these traps, and regularly provides a mature, but still ‘laugh out loud’, review of the week’s political news stories, draped over the theme of a quiz.

Hosted by the quick-off-the-mark Peter Sagal, and featuring veteran newscaster, Carl Kassel as judge and scorer, the show has a panel of three guests, drawn from a set of about ten regular contributors. With the exception of P.J. O’Rourke, these people are not widely known outside the USA, but listeners from elsewhere will soon pick up that if it is a week when any of Paul Provenza, Mo Rocca, or Paula Poundstone, is on the panel, then it’s a ‘not to be missed’ edition.

Although, as with the best shows, the whole thing feels effortless, the team of up to ten writers contribute about a hundred gags each week, of which maybe ten will beat the cut and make the programme.

The show has a regular set of ‘rounds’ which vary a little week to week, but are always set up to provide the host and guests the opportunity to riff on the hot issues of the week. It helps if the radio audience has some knowledge of world affairs, and perhaps a little understanding of American politics, but the casual listener will still enjoy the lightning fast repartee and razor sharp humour.

Don’t err… wait for ‘Wait, Wait’. The podcast can be downloaded from everywhere you would expect, including  iTunes

Music / Podcasts — 3 Comments
2
Apr 09

Dirt E. Business

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Indiefeed is a great idea. The format is simple. It’s series of podcast channels that cover a variety of different genres including indie pop, blues and alt rock. Each podcast contains one track, with a bit of info about the artist, release and where you can get hold of it. As the name suggests, the music is either self released, on independent labels or just  available from MP3 download.  The philosophy is also simple – give the artists some shine, and the audience might follow up by buying a download, going to a show, or just giving them some love.

I’m afraid can’t comment on most of the Indiefeed output, not having the first foggiest about what makes a good indie pop or alt rock tune. However, I know Indiefeed Hip Hop rocks!  Hosted by underground stalwart Dirt E Dutch, a/k/a The Dutchman, the series covers classic artists and neophytes alike, all displaying a level of verbal dexterity sadly lacking in most mainstream rap at the mo. So, recent editions have featured the return of Chubb Rock, a great collabo from B-Real of Cypress Hill and Damien ‘Junior Gong’ Marley, and posthumous beats from the late J-Dilla. But I’ve also been introduced to new artists such as Triple Ave, Mic Crenshaw and Sammy Cook.

The best place to check this out is via iTunes, where the archive goes right back three years. Myself, I wait until I’ve got a long journey and chuck a load of the episodes into a playlist, then hit shuffle. Dutch is a great presenter, the kind of voice that fits the music and who is obviously up on his subject without boring you with excess knowledge. The kind of voice you want from the radio, in fact, but get much too rarely. Go check it.

Oh, and if you get a chance to check out the other Indiefeeds, be sure to let us know what you think of them.