Top tunes from LA SHARK, MARI JOYCE, A LILY, REICHENBACH FALLS, SHARKS & BEARS, FIFI RONG, QUIET MARAUDER, THE GAMMA KNIFE, SUNS, JO BYWATER, THE WHITE BICYCLES, TWO SKULLS, WE THE WILD, KATEY BROOKS, THE BALTIC STATES and RUSHEFFECT

The BBC Introducing Mixtape is a 60 minute radio show and podcast broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music from 2-3am every Sunday night/Monday morning. Each show is available as a podcast for 30 days at the BBC 6 Music downloads page. The full tracklists and start times are published here at Fresh On The Net with biog information supplied by the artists. Previous tracklists can be found via the MIXTAPE tab above or on the BBC website.

All tracks on the mixtape come from the BBC Introducing Uploader: some are recommended by BBC friends and colleagues – the rest are tunes I’ve discovered here while listening to our Fresh On The Net inbox. For more about how the process works see this post.

These are the listings for the episode broadcast at 2am on Monday, 2nd December 2013:

LA SHARK – Prison Palace [Starts 0:17]
http://www.lashark.com
I’m a longstanding fan of La Shark (see above) and all their works: records and videos that crackle with life, sardonic humour and sheer originality – combined with notoriously anarchic live shows. “A product of New Cross via Cairo, Paris and Kendal, La Shark are Samuel Geronimo Deschamps on vox, Benjamin Francis Markham on lead guitar, Love Maynard on bass, Sami El Enany on keys and N.H.A Buxton on drums – fusing disparate elements of pop, funk, art rock and post punk indie.” This fine new single Prison Palace is available for free download via their Bandcamp page.

MARI JOYCE – Open Your Eyes [Starts 4:17]
http://soundcloud.com/mari-joyce
Mari Joyce is a singer and songwriter based in Norwich. She writes reflective songs of a meditative mood, weaving gentle melodies with subtle guitar picking techniques. These are underpinned by sensitive cello, violin and percussion performed by Alex Hobbs, Alex Patterson and Iestyn Griffith. The band have been playing together for a year (or so) and are currently working on a selfreleased EP, which they hope to take on a mini-tour in March.

A LILY – The Sparrow In The Lemon Tree [Starts 09:49]
https://www.facebook.com/alilysings
A Lily is the solo project of Brighton’s James Vella (yndi halda, FatCat Records). The Sparrow In The Lemon Tree comes from Lupa – an EP of self-produced tracks recorded with help from friends and associates – including backing vocals from Emiliana Torrini & the drum skills of Mice Parade’s Jason Pierce. The EP trails a forthcoming full-length album, Roma. Both releases reference the ancient Roman tale of Romulus and Remus – two brothers raised from childhood by a feral wolf, eventually fighting to the death over the formation of the city of Rome. Since making the EP, James has formed a band whose next show is supporting Icelandic artist Asgeir at The Green Door Store in Brighton on December 12th.

REICHENBACH FALLS – Stay Home, Elizabeth [Starts 13:50]
http://www.reichenbachfallsmusic.com
UK based – though of Canadian extraction – Abe Davies founded Reichenbach Falls with a rotating membership of friends/collaborators, mostly from Oxford or thereabouts. The music is experimental folk-rock, though it sometimes isn’t all that folky – and at others isn’t all that rocky. Or indeed all that experimental. We like The Smiths, Richard Buckner, Elliott Smith, Explosions in the Sky, Sun Kil Moon and The National along with a lot of other bands, so let’s call them our influences. Our debut album Reports of Snow is out today (December 2nd 2013). It’s produced by Richard Neuberg & Michael de Albuquerque and featuring contributions from members of Candy Says, Co-pilgrim, The Dreaming Spires, Little Fish & Viarosa among others. It’s available via our website.

SHARKS & BEARS – OK, Who Cares, Oh Well, Whatever [Starts 18:08]
http://www.sharksandbearsmusic.com
Hailing from the sleepy suburbs of Peterborough, Sharks & Bears is the electronic Dream Pop project of former Candle Thieves songwriter, The Glock. This is the title track of his debut EP OK, Who Cares, Oh Well, Whatever available now from all digital stores. His unique one-man live shows feature piano, synths, loop pedal, drum pads and – duh – a glockenspiel. Glock is currently on a 10 date support tour across China. For info and breaking news see his website.

FIFI RONG – Only If I Knew [Starts 21:12]
http://fifirong.com
Singer, songwriter and producer Fifi Rong originates from Beijing, China. The subtly nuanced Chinese Folk elements to her style set her apart from the loudness of many contemporary artists. Her production combines her own personal sonic vision with influences from Future Garage, Dub Reggae, Jazz, Soul, Post – Dubstep, Trip Hop, and Soundscapes. Fifi has collaborated with many other inspiring artists and producers around the world such as Q3000, Whitesquare, Orlogin and most notably Tricky. She appeared on his latest EP Matter of Time and new album False Idols and has remixed his single Time to Dance. Ever in search of new facets of her music, Fifi accomplishes an unusual musical hybrid combining beauty with a kind of unearthliness.

QUIET MARAUDER – I Want A Moustache, Dammit [Starts: 24:26]
http://www.quietmarauder.co.uk
“Powered by the double-pronged songwriting efforts of Simon M. Read and Jonathan Day, Cardiff’s Quiet Marauder (below) are a loose collective of musicians all contributing to a densely packed, lo-fi, anti-folk sound primarily built around guitar, melodica and kitchen utensil percussion. They are set to release their world-record bothering 111 song, 4 volume and 5 hour debut album, MEN, through Bubblewrap Records at the end of January 2014. This epic box set conceptually charts the path of the male psyche through love, rejection, breakdown, madness, intoxication and, ultimately, resolution. Decisively daft, incorrigibly intelligent and darkly comical; Quiet Marauder conjure up recollections of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Syd Barrett, Jeffrey Lewis and The Magnetic Fields; making them one of the most unique propositions to emerge from South Wales in a very long time.”

THE GAMMA KNIFE – Psychadelicatessen [Starts 26:40]
https://www.facebook.com/TheGammaKnife
We’ve previously encountered the work of Humberside producer Mark Osbourne working under his usual name of Mono Life. The Gamma Knife is a new project Mark has created to satisfy an itching to indulge his darker side and make an album based on his love of breakbeats and samples. Psychadelicatessen is taken from the debut album Nocturnalist which was released last week on through Bandcamp and will be available from this month on iTunes, Amazon etc. It was written as the soundtrack to somebody’s night in London – from the journey into the city, through various places in the early hours – and ending as the sun rises over The Thames in the morning. All tracks on the album are time stamped, reflecting specific events during the night.”

SUNS – Bells [Starts 30:20]
https://www.facebook.com/sunsofficial
Brought together by a love of pop and all things alternative, London duo SUNS have just released their debut EP through Soundcloud. WeAreSuns was written and recorded in their Dalston studio and mastered by the legendary Mandy Parnell who has worked with Bjork, Four Tet and PJ Harvey among others. Both members of SUNS are experienced writers/producers in their own right, who between them have previously worked with Crystal Fighters, Mount Kimbie and Scott Walker among other. The video for this debut single ‘Bells’ has been chosen as a Vimeo Staff Pick and viewed over 80K times. A new single Plight of the Hunter was released last week and can be heard here.

JO BYWATER – Chopping Wood [Starts 34:32]
http://www.jobywater.com
“Yorkshire-born, Liverpool-based songwriter Jo Bywater is a familiar face on the Merseyside music scene and has played extensively across the UK – sometimes as a solo artist and sometimes accompanied by additional performers. After releasing her debut album Cycle Grace Pulse Break in 2010 she has been marking out her territory in the areas of Blues, Americana, Folk and Roots music. She is currently making a video for Chopping Wood – which comes from her acclaimed latest EP, Chasing Tales. She plans to release her next album in 2015/16.”

THE WHITE BICYCLES – Elegy [Starts 38:45]
http://thewhitebicycles.co.uk
Matthew Howes and Ryan Nolan formed The White Bicycles at Falmouth College of Arts in the first year of a BA Popular Music course. “Frustrated by the saturation of the nu-folk market,” Ryan tells us “we quickly developed a distinctive sound; layering ambient electric guitar melodies and sparse drumscapes, around Matthew’s poetic and melancholic lyrics. Last week we releases a collection of songs entitled Volume 1: Elegy on Pedal Pop Records which signifies a further shift for us into the indie electro sphere. Our sentimental vocals and dream-pop inspired guitar weaves remain intact, but backed by stylised beats, inspired by unlikely influences Frank Ocean, Drake and Lapalux. To co-incide with the release we are embarking on our first tour, playing Chaplins Cellar Bar, Boscombe tonight (Mon Dec 2nd) followed by Oxford (Tue), Petersfield (Wed), Ryde IOW (Thur), Brighton (Fri), London (Sat), Bristol (Sun) and finishing at The Boileroom, Guildford on Monday Dec 9th. The tour will be our first performances with multi-instrumentalist Jack Curnowon electronic percussion, backing vocals and glockenspiel (often all at the same time).”

TWO SKULLS – All 2 Play 4 [Starts 41:58]
https://www.facebook.com/thetwoskulls
Our second track this week from the Hull area comes from East Yorkshire duo Two Skulls – who consist of Tim Dickinson (little Skull) and GT Taylor (big Skull). We are currently working on material for our first EP and album. We also have a Glasgow-based German producer and collaborator in Mr Carsten Mandt who is very much part of proceedings. Currently we are performing acoustic gigs and open mic’s nights around Humberside with Tim on voice/guitar and GT on double bass, performing songs such as Liar’s Tongue and La Di Da. We are really pleased that Hull is going to be City of Culture in 2017. The city is full of talented musicians and has a great musical history. We like it here!

WE THE WILD – Body Electric (Blue) [Starts 45:18]
http://wethewild.co.uk
One of the most immediate and memorable tracks in this week’s mixtape comes from an intriguing outfit about whom there is (once again, sigh) tantalisingly little information online. “We The Wild are an Alt-Pop duo from London: we’ve just released our debut EP ‘Vol. 1’ on Super Recordings (AlunaGeorge, Bondax). We write and self-produce all our music from our home studio. We’ve just been on the road during November doing some dates supporting Dan Croll and Lewis Watson.” Their video for this song (see bottom of page) is every bit as sharp – and mildly disturbing – as the record itself and was made in collaboration with the amazing LOVE Vis-Art.

KATEY BROOKS – State Of Mine [Starts 48:33]
http://www.kateybrooks.com
Born and raised in a commune setting between Bristol, London and Arizona, to hippy music-loving parents, Katey Brooks’s sound and style epitomises the culturally diverse environment in which she grew up. She’s now based in the UK where she wrote, composed, arranged, and produced her EP I Fought Lovers. State Of Mine is the third track on the EP, and available for free download via her website. Londoners can catch Katey live Upstairs at the Garage in Islington this Thursday (Dec 5th) and she plays a hometown gig in Bristol at St Stephen’s Church a week on Saturday (Dec 14th).

THE BALTIC STATES – The Fire [Starts 51:47]
http://www.thebalticstates.co.uk
Indie band The Baltic States is based in North-West UK. It blends techno, ambient and electronica with hypnotic, soaring vocal-melodies in order to create an exciting new sound. The band consists of Jev Maligins – a former member of Beat Milk Jugs (TV Records) – and Helen Morrisson, lead-vocalist and multi-instrumentalist of The Wretched Pearls. We featured the debut single Kontrol back in August on this very Mixtape while the promotional video – created by the band itself – achieved an astonishing 80,000+ views on YouTube within two weeks of release. The Baltic States are preparing to take their music to live audiences. Performances will feature additional visuals and musicians, aiming to offer far more than simple duplications of the studio recordings.

RUSHEFFECT (feat. RUBEE MUZIK) – Remember When [Starts 55:58]
http://www.rusheffect.com
RusHeffect is a Birmingham-based producer/sample junkie/slicer of beatsand creator of ideas who spent most of 2013 locked in his studio producing his debut four track EP – Remember When – from which this is the title track. “I’m fortunate enough to collaborate with a variety of talented vocalists as part of the RusHeffect collective” he tells us. “The vocalist featured on Remember When… is Rubee MuziK, who hails from Canada. There’s also lyrical genius Roe Diggler, fresh out of Philly USA; and Lia, a homegrown, hometown singer and songwriter. These three help me make sense of it all.” His influences range from LOTUG to Gillian Welch, RATM to MJ and Blind Willie Johnson to Frank Ocean. However he shares the humility of another of his musical heroes John Mayer, citing his remark “It’s my failure to sound like my heroes that’s allowed me to sound like myself.”

ARTISTS: A Word Of Warning…
After appearing on The BBC Introducing Mixtape you may well receive unsolicited email from at least one plugger saying they heard your track on the show, thought it “sounded fantastic”, and are wondering if you’re looking for promotion for your releases. Please check out The Pros And Cons Of Pluggers before responding to any unsolicited emails from anyone suggesting that YOU should pay THEM for services of any kind.