Top tunes from THE 1957 TAIL-FIN FIASCO, JO BYWATER, BARNESY, PATRICK GARDINER, GUIYE FRAYO, TIGER MENDOZA, CARPOOL CONVERSATION, JUPITER FALLS, THE BEGGARS WHO GIVE, EMPIRE OF THE ANTS, FINS A LUMINOUS, THE CRADLES, KRISTIN MCCLEMENT, PASSPORT TO STOCKHOLM, OAKE ADAMS, CAVAN MORAN and THE MOTH LANTERN

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 together together 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 overnight on Sunday 9th February (technically 2am on Monday, 10th February 2014…

THE 1957 TAIL-FIN FIASCO – Cruise Control [Starts 0:17]
http://the1957tail-finfiasco.com
“The 1957 Tail-Fin Fiasco are Essex chancers trying to make proper, grown-up pop music. Incognito due to a need to avoid incurring any further wrath from Tammy Wynette’s lawyers, they have so far released an album ‘Private Jet Flashback’ (available free from their Bandcamp page) and this Cruise Control EP. A new album will be released in the Spring and will be supported by some live shows in the UK if the injunction has been lifted. Their manager only had 3 fingers on his left hand. Enough said.”

JO BYWATER – This Garden [Starts 03:26]
http://www.jobywater.com
“Jo Bywater’s latest EP, Chasing Tales has been described as ‘delicious, laid back folk-tinged Americana’ and ‘unorthodox, uncompromising, simply brilliant’. Over the last few years she has been establishing her place in Blues, Americana, Folk and Roots music and has been compared to Janis Joplin, Alanis Morrissette and Ani Difranco. In January 2014 Chasing Tales was voted winner of FATEA Awards’ Best EP/Mini Album/Single of 2013. Jo is currently writing new material and touring the UK.”

BARNESY – The Backstabber [Starts 07:47]
https://www.facebook.com/barnesymusic
Barnesy is the project name of Tommo Barnes: “singer-songwriter and solo performer from Harborne Birmingham. I’ve played in and around the city for the last 5 years. Never really recorded anything until recently. Over the next few months I’ve got gigs lined up in London, Cardiff, Scotland, Manchester, Leeds, Cambridge and Bath.” Although Tommo doesn’t have much of a biog there, you can read a lot of nice press quotes about him on his Facebook page.

PATRICK GARDINER – He’s Not Right For You [Starts 10:35]
http://www.facebook.com/patrickgardinermusic
“Magheralin local Patrick Gardiner has been singing since before he could walk; hollering along to his dad’s Motown, Soul and Blues records with foetal abandon. Now, after 18 years of living, singing, and causing a ruckus, he is becoming a regular fixture in the local Northern Irish music scene. He independently released his debut EP Save Myself in October 2012 and was shortlisted in the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Contest 2013 as one of 120 artists chosen from over 8000 applicants. He has received BBC Radio Ulster airplay from Ralph McLean and Stuart Bailie.”

GUIYE FRAYO – You And Me [Starts 13:32]
http://www.guiyefrayo.co.uk
Guiye Frayo will already be familiar to longstanding followers of my BBC Introducing shows for 6 Music. We first played them there in 2008 with the song Vida Minima, then again in 2010 with The Walk and in 2011 with their single A Magnetic Field Called Love. The band, they tell us, “a London-based indie two-piece consisting of Guillermo Martinez y Veronica. They started at the end of 2007 and have released 6 EPs since then. Their music has elements of many different styles and they not only play conventional instruments (guitars, keyboards and drums) but also theremin, circuit-bent toys and vintage synthesizers. Guiye Frayo are busy writing more and more songs as usual and also preparing an on-line serie of concerts using the NuMuBu platform to cover the whole world.”

TIGER MENDOZA – Dawn That Never Comes [Starts 16:07]
http://www.tigermendoza.co.uk
“You could sum up Tiger Mendoza as an accident – but a happy accident. The music is our attempt to create great songs with beats, guitars and whatever other sounds and nonsense happen to wander past us at the time and ultimately make electronic music that sounds as alive as possible. The line up is Ian De Quadros on buttons, Helena Markou on vocals and Dan O’Driscoll on guitar but we try and incorporate friends new an old in to music as much as we can. The next few months will see us bring our latest EP “Monsters & Miracles” to as many people as possible including an all star, one of a kind gig at The Wheatsheaf, Oxford on Febuary 15th with our good friends The Evenings featuring special guests Asher Dust and Michael Weatherburn from The Half Rabbits.”

CARPOOL CONVERSATION – Toil [Starts 21:25]
http://www.carpoolconversation.com
Carpool Conversation is a tight pulsating 3-piece London that comprises a deft Cypriot-Brazilian rhythm section coupled with an Irishman’s striking guitar lines that take you into a wide, groove-based plateau. This is the title track of the band’s forhcoming EP Toil – due to be released independently on their own Walk Records label on April 7th. Expect to hear music that draws on multiple musical genres and sensibilities (alt melodic-rock,indie-rock and groove). Carpool Conversationaugment their sound with vocal harmonies, distinctive vocal effects and rare film samples that mix smoothly into their dense and immersive melodic songs. Forthcoming London shows include this Wednesday (Feb 12) at Tooting Tram & Social and Saturday March 22 at Paper Dress Vintage in Shoreditch.

JUPITER FALLS – Savior [Starts 23:35]
http://soundcloud.com/jupiter-falls
We’ve been listening to Jupiter Falls – the musical alias of North Wales songwriter and blogger Steff Lane – ever since he first uploaded it to BBC Introducing in May 2011. To declare an interest, Steff became such an active member of our Fresh On The Net community that we invited him to become part of our moderation team. It’s been great hearing Jupiter Falls develop and grow over the months and years since then: always creating, pushing, trying new things. Savior represents a major stride forward for Jupiter Falls with Steff’s trademark guitar nowhere in evidence and his voice strongly outfront in the mix. Plus a strong, heartfelt lyric that only he could have written. “When not creating structures out of individual stone,” he says “I spend my time constructing songs out of individual notes. Welsh is my first language and I’m often asked if I think in Welsh and then translate to English – well I have no answer to that – it’s just a natural process which is hard to define – like writing a song I suppose!”

THE BEGGARS WHO GIVE – Wild Child [Starts 26:05]
http://www.thebeggarswhogive.com
“The Beggars Who Give was formed initially by Tim Wilkins (vocals, guitar) and Yoel Bibas (drums) with a desire to create some music and spread some love. As this process continued we found two more rad dudes that wanted to join the cause: “The Pharaoh Of Funk” Mark Davis (keyboards) and our bassist Luis Mayorga – the result of which is what you can see and hear on our website. If you dig the tunes, our one request is that you tell a friend.” Their Facebook page gives their location as San Francisco – which may be as much a spiritual as a geographical location – and their genre as “Folk, Rock and Wholesomeness”.

EMPIRE OF THE ANTS – Stay With Me [Starts 29:28]
https://soundcloud.com/empire-of-the-ants
“Empire of the Ants is a project collaboration between Tin Raven and Jody Fiteni who have combined forces and created a fresh new sound after a mutual appreciation of their individual You Tube channels. Tin is based in Sunny Shropshire and has been writing music of one kind or another since he was a teenager. Jody is in Sunny Malta, having been frontman for West London bands The Switch, The Mustard Seeds and recording project Hunkpapa in the ’90s before relocating to the Mediterranean to establish a creative advertising and design boutique. Before this song was written they had had one conversation in 2001, and even that didn’t last very long.”

FINS A LUMINOUS – Doorway – [Starts 33:19]
https://soundcloud.com/fins-a-luminous
“Little is currently known about Fins a Luminous. They’re two guys from the UK called Ross Saunders (Sound) and Joe Bond (Voice), they have a Soundcloud page and a Twitter feed – and that’s about it at the moment. Having been in bands together since their teenage years the pair have recently begun recording together again after a long hiatus. Last week the pair put out four exceptionally creative and thoughtful electronic tracks. They find a mix between disorientating and soaring, the beauty is offset by an unsettling power that rumbles just below the surface. The vocals are often intimidating despite their dream-like delivery, occasionally pushing forward to shout at you like an oceanic demon rising to look you straight in the eyes. More songs and live performances will be unleashed this year.”

THE CRADLES – You Won’t Find Anyone Else [Starts 37:24]
https://www.facebook.com/TheCradles
“The Cradles are a Cardiff-based rock band formed in 2012. Influenced by the likes of The Kinks, Pixies and The Beatles they have recently received airplay from Radio Cardiff and Adam Walton on BBC Radio Wales. Made up of Joe Norman (vocals), Kieran O’Brien (lead guitar), Toby Andrews (rhythm guitar), Luke Haines (bass) and Declan Andrews (drums) they are next playing live at Bacchus in Cardiff on the 27th of February. Follow on Twitter and Facebook for new songs and gig details…”

KRISTIN MCCLEMENT – Blackfin Gulls [Starts 39:25]
http://www.kristinmcclement.com
“Born in South Africa to a Classics teacher and a carburettor repairman, Kristin McClement spent her early years travelling, as her family looked for work. She picked up her first nylon string guitar and began writing songs after moving to England aged thirteen. Later, studying Fine Art in Brighton, she soon caught the attention of the local folk scene and was adopted by South Coast’s famous Willkommen Collective – thanks to whom her debut album The Wild Grips was produced by Christian Hardy and is set for release in the coming months. Kristin currently performs as a duo with drummer and multi-instrumentalist Julian Owen.”

PASSPORT TO STOCKHOLM – What Have We Done [Starts 44:08]
http://www.passporttostockholm.com
London based quartet Passport to Stockholm have been pumping fresh air into the lungs of the acoustic genre since forming at the beginning of 2012. Armed with acoustic guitars, cellos, harmonicas, banjoleles, loop pedals, stomp boxes and pretty much anything else they can get their hands on. This year has already seen them working with producer Gordon Mills Jr and Athlete’s Carey Willets. This track is taken from their forthcoming first EP Behind the Lights – which was fan-funded on PledgeMusic at the end of last year. “We just finished licking the jiffy bags today for mailout. It was totally overwhelming to hit 180% of the target. The whole experience was amazing, working with Carey Willets (Athlete), Gordon Mills jr (Ed sheeran, Lissie) and then to have it mastered by John Davies (Lana Del Rey) was simply incredible and far beyond what we thought would go on from our shed! We are back in the studio writing and recording, with a secret support next week opening for Nina Nesbitt (12th Feb), then a show at Bush Hall on March 22nd with Swiss Lips and a couple of dates supporting As Elephants Are in Bournemouth and Reading on March 28th/29th (These ones are FREE ENTRY TOO!). ”

OAKE ADAMS – Sun In The Morning [Starts 47:15]
https://soundcloud.com/oake-adams-1
“My name is Oake Adams, I’m 24 and I’m from Caterham.  I have played acoustic bass a few years but a few months back I found I have a singing voice, I had never sung before and I was as shocked as anyone, that I could hit a few notes.  After the end of a difficult relationship, I needed to release the intense burning feeling building inside of me and so the morning after the break up I started to write my first song ‘Sun in the Morning’.  My vision is the ‘The gathering of the tribes worldwide’ moving life forward through love, truth and the expression of emotion in the moment.  We are all interconnected diversity, alive, seeking to be free but we must stand tall to be seen.  I am looking forward to collaborating with new artists and hopefully organise some live events this year.”

CAVAN MORAN – The Ballad Of Gare De L’est [Starts 51:07]
http://www.facebook.com/cavanmoran
“For Manchester’s Cavan Moran the term ‘troubadour’ is clearly more a way of life than just a convenient Facebook description. The former frontman of Manchester folkies These Eyes Are Cameras, Moran quit that band in order to fulfil a sort of spiritual odyssey across Europe then returning to Manchester to assume his mantle as the city’s next great acoustic cipher. To his credit, though, that finely-wrought back story is neatly reflected in his music, a sort of John Bramwell meets Fionn Regan confection full of romantic yearning, pretty melodies and late night, smokey dive-bar ambience. Thankfully all this heavy-hearted emoting does not come at the expense of the finer musical details. On his first EP, Five Simple Crimes, you’re instantly struck by the beauty and the subtlety of his arrangements, the judicious sprinklings of harmonica, cello and female backing vocals all adding to the heart string-tugging effect. This year has already saw Cavan release his new double A-side single Loneley Rival/Pricked to a Pattern Digitally (7″ release – Late April) Complete a French tour ( with a near sold out Paris show) and record his follow up EP in Neunkirchen, Germany. All without a label. He plans to continue life on the road for the coming year with and record his debut album.”

THE MOTH LANTERN – The Nightmare Is Just The Beginning [Starts 55:22]
http://www.facebook.com/themothlantern
We don’t usually go much on quotes from fellow pundits here at FOTN by when no less an authority that Steve Lamacq describes a band in the following terms, we sit up and take notice: “Gloriously wonderful acoustic rock with a cinematic edge, The Moth Lantern are a beguiling proposition.” Another BBC 6 Music DJ subsequently exclaimed “Great stuff, we like these!” – oh no, hold on, that was me – and on the basis of this track I still like them very much indeed. But more extravagant praise is to be found in the biography section of their own Facebook page: “With amazing vocals, excellent muscianship and quality songwriting that will ensure they will be at the top of their game album after album, The Moth Lantern are set to be the next big UK band. They encompass the spirit of Fleetwood Mac with a wide range of songs from gentle acoustic ballads with luscious 4-piece harmonies to stadium sized rock songs which liken them to The Bends era Radiohead and Pearl Jam.” Blimey.

It’s never easy for artists to write about themselves and their music in the third person – for a few handy tips, see How To Write A Band Biog.

ARTISTS: 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.