Buckethead – The Homing Beacon

Well, hopefully you enjoyed the break from my frenetic blogging activity. I’ve been busy setting up my new company Pop-Up Radio while this blog has sat here like an unloved allotment.

I know I should be talk about Radiohead’s distribution model or something similar, but to ease us back into things I’d like to share this beautiful and melancholy piece of music with you by Buckethead.

If you don’t know the mysterious man with the KFC bucket on his head, he’s a demon guitarist, insanely prolific and has played with everyone from G’n'R to avant-garde free jazz dudes. He’s also a huge MJ fan and released this tender and quietly considered piece long after the wailing and fallout from Jackson’s death had subsided. More info about it here

Goodnight, God bless and safe home

It was another fantastic year of music, food, comedy, film and everything else at the Green Man Festival. Yeah, it rained. It’s in a Welsh valley, what do you want? But the music was incredible across all stages, and the radio station was fantastic, obvs. I set up a radio studio under a huge tree, next to the lovely Strumpets With Crumpets and we were on air from Thursday morning to Midday monday.

We had shows from The Quietus, Huw Stephens, Bethan Elfyn, Bear In Heaven, DJ Food, Ross Allen, Field Music and loads of other plus we recorded a bunch of live sessions in the Green Man Belly from Beirut, Wild Beasts (I’m a convert), Chew Lips, First Aid Kit and all sorts of other people. It’ll all appear online on Mixcloud and the Green Man website in the next few weeks.

The big moment for me came on Sunday night when I was suddenly asked to compere on the Main Stage in front of approximately a bajillion people. I’ve never done anything more than rocking the mic like some dodgy disco version of Fatman Scoop, so the prospect of walking on stage and addressing a colossal crowd sent my heart into palpitations and my legs to jelly. I introduced Mumfords, Tindersticks and the gorgeous Joanna Newsom and even got a fairly decent Mexican wave going, all without crying, swearing or singing Ebony and Ivory.

See the full horror here:

Straight Outta Compton – Live

Still the most exciting Hip-Hop tune ever. The Roots continue to nail classic hip-hop tracks, and Captain Kirk does a pretty good job at getting Eazy-E’s nasal whine down. I wish they’d kept the swears in though.

Obsessive Listening Disorder

When I get obsessed by a song, I get really, completely and helplessly obsessed by a song and have to listen to it all day, on my phone, in the shower, in the car and everywhere else. This is one of my recent objects of fascination, a smoky, folky, funky track from an album by Murray Head – yes, Murray ‘One Night In Bangkok’ Head. The album is full of haunting, beautiful tunes, but this one is the winner for me – such a familiar melody, it feels like one of those tracks you knew all along. Lush, muted mid-70s production and a groove to die for.

It took me a good few weeks until I’d overdone it and could move on with my life. That was a while ago though, then it all starts over again…

Cooley High

How weird – this is exactly what was going on at my school in the early 90s as well. Funky.

The Green Man is a-comin’

All roads point to sunny Wales this weekend for the consistently fantastic Green Man Festival. Great line up, great food and drink, great crowd and varied selection of facial hair for all the family to enjoy.

I’ll be there running the radio station for the first year, so come and witness the effects of sleep deprivation on an adult male if you’re there. And bring your radios!

Too many good bands to pick from but my tips would be John Grant, Neon Indian, Summer Camp, Joanna Newsome, Wild Geese DJing and my faves, the Williamsburg hipsters Bear In Heaven with their slow-mo synthy drone-rock. The whole album basically sounds like the same song, but it’s a good one so they get a pass.

One day I’ll get this song out of my head

From the days when a British band looked like they knew how to change a tire on a Ford Transit comes this perfect radio tune. Originally written by Elvis Costello, it was Dave Edmunds and Rockpile who nailed it in this fantastic zero-budget windswept BBC car park video.

If Belle and Sebastian don’t cover this tune someday I’ll be amazed.

Transcendental Tunes

Gorgeous looking, deeply lovely and meaningful music project for Alzheimer’s disease from Jose De La O

More from Core 77:

Transcendental Tunes, by José de la O is a project that combines RFID with old school stereo equipment and digital tunes to serves as a memory trigger and emotional aid for Alzheimer’s patients, improving communication with their care partners.

Under the premise that those affected by Alzheimer’s don’t lose their memories, but just their capacity to reach them, the project takes advantage of the observation that the Medial Prefrontal Cortex, the part of the brain responsible for familiar music, memories and emotion, is one of the last areas to atrophy over the course of the disease. This system uses music as a means of accessing those memories and making new, meaningful connections.

Transcendental Tunes from José de la O Campos on Vimeo.

Penguin Prison – Something I’m Not

Mmmm – a tasty slice of melodramatic electropop with 80′s overtones from New York dude, now working with super-talented producer (and Nigel Godrich’s right-hand man) Dan Grech and ex-Longpig Crispin Hunt. Can’t wait for the album.

Dubstep goes house

This sounded epic on Sunday night at the Big Chill – thanks to Nadav Ravid for hooking me up