Top tunes from SCORPIO LOON, AFUA, ZUBY, DECENT LOVERS, WELL RED, LITTLE DUSTY, BAXTER DUNLOP, CAFFE COLLECTIVE, THIS WICKED TONGUE, RORY SMITH, FLIES AND FLIES, CULTURAL OTHER, MATT WATSON, GOOD GIRL & THE BAD TIMES, SCULPTURE MUSIC, and HARLEQUIN DYNAMITE

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 16th February (technically 2am on Monday, 17th February 2014…

SCORPIO LOON – I Wanna Be Famous [starts 0:17]
https://www.facebook.com/scorpioloon
This song by the artist known as Scorpio Loon “celebrates and affectionately pokes fun at the joys and pitfalls of the double edged sword that is fame” according to his PR company. There’s literally zero information on the Scorpio Loon Facebook page apart from the fact that he’s called Larry Alvarez. Some early blog reviews claimed that Larry was “Argentinian born, London raised and died in 2011. For 30 years he never let his family or any of his close friends hear his music. After he passed away, in accordance with his will, his family was finally allowed to release his catalog of music.” Gosh.

AFUA – Golden Robes [starts 3:00]
https://www.facebook.com/Afuabeat
“Imagine a smoothie drink” we’re told “made up of Hip-Hop, Soul and Pop, sprinkled with Jazz and you essentially have the sound of Afua. A classically trained musician from South London, she sings, writes, produces and plays the trumpet. She is currently working on her solo debut album and has also previously worked with Juice Aleem, Cheikh Lo and various other lovely people.”

ZUBY – Open Up The Sky [starts 6:59]
http://www.yearofzuby.com
“Zuby is an independent rapper with an interesting background; being British born, Saudi Arabia-bred and Oxford University educated. Well known for his DIY ethic, he has sold over 15,000 albums in the UK without a record label and toured both nationally and internationally. His last release ‘Zubstep’ charted at #12 on the UK iTunes Hip-Hop Chart – a remarkable achievement for an unsigned artist. 2014 welcomes ‘The Year Of Zuby’ – with the young artist releasing a brand new single every month for the duration of the year!”

DECENT LOVERS – Keep It Together [starts 10:36]
http://facebook.com/thedecentlovers
“This track was a bit of a surprise for me when it got posted in NME Radar, Indie Shuffle, Pigeons And Planes, and more” writes Elijah Wyman. “Decent Lovers is an experimental art/pop project I created 2 years ago. Until recently no one really cared about the music I make, so I’ve just made it weirder and weirder – since it was only really for me and friends. Lately we’ve had some decent luck though, opening for Foster the People, Darwin Deez and inclusion on mixtapes from Mercedes and NME. More recently we were invited to Canadian Music Week and our last show was a sponsored performance at the Moog Synth Factory. Generally bored with bass, drum, guitar bands, Decent Lovers’ main goal is to have as much fun as possible while making something unique. When not making music as Decent Lovers I run a design company with my wife, hang out with my nephew (getwellbraxton.com), play solo, or sing/play parts for lots of friends’ bands :)”.

WELL RED – Make A Left Turn (Hang A Right) [starts 15:07]
https://www.facebook.com/wellredband
Well Red – “the only band that sings the Reds” – consists of a handsome philosopher from Vienna called Engel on vocals & bass) and Johnny – a rugged Maths Teacher from Devon on vocals & guitar. Their debut album The Central Line is due for release  in the Spring an full of “catchy punky well crafted Well Red songs about homelessness, the gap between the rich and poor, justice for fathers etc.”  Along with the 12 track CD there will also be a 12 track DVD  – containing a video for each song. They play with various other musicians depending on the venue and will soon have a female saxophonist joining them if she can cope with their egos. They describe their music as “Punk without the spitting. Indie without the limp wristedness. Rock without the cock. Leftie without the Loony…” while their declared shared band interest is “The opium of the people.”

LITTLE DUSTY – Swimmer [starts 17:54]
https://www.facebook.com/littledustyband
“Litte Dusty is a Bristol-based indie-folk band fronted by Nicola Rodgers’ distinctive vocals and supported by twin brothers Luke and Dave Jones and Sam Coleborn on acoustic guitar. Their first demo of short, lo-fi autumn-pop songs was released in late 2013 and earned glowing reviews online and a support slot for folk stars Lily and Madeleine. They’re in the process of recording a follow-up EP and will be playing the Louisiana in Bristol on the 7th of March along with shows in London and the South West through 2014.”

BAXTER DUNLOP – Connecting Dots [starts 21:14]
http://www.soundcloud.com/baxter-dunlop
“Baxter Dunlop makes music out of stickle bricks, music for fist fights, music to dance to, music for punks, music for the new wave, music for the old wave, music to fall off your bike to, music to drive your car to, music for black people, music for white people, music to burn your toast to, music for the low end, music for the high end, music for the blues, music for bionics, music for those who watch internet streams, music for guitars, music for pianos, music for pets, music for overpriced transport, music to drink to, music to smoke to, music for those who try too hard, music for out of date meat, music for bad make-up and fake nails, music for greasy spoons, music for vinyl, music for digital, music for slapstick, music for surreal, music for sleep deprivation, music for bad hair, music for hats, music for the one that got away, music for the soul, music for schizophrenic glamour, music for film, music for clubs, music for those old enough to know better, music for riots, music for city folk, music for country folk, music for slashback razors, music to play football to, music to skate to, music for the masses, music for the classes”. Now there’s an artist biog to be reckoned with. Baxter is based in Newcastle and is currently writing and recording material with a view to releasing his debut album at some point this year.

CAFFE COLLECTIVE – The Caffe Collective (song) [starts 26:25]
https://www.facebook.com/CaffeCollective
“Sam Grant (producer, vocals, guitar), Oliver Morris (trumpet), Biggy Stone (drums, producer), and Oscar (Kidd Funkadelic, drums) are introducing a new-found funky rock’n’soul sound. Caffe Collective are a hot shot of the peace and love we represent. We are going to revitalise the tired and re-vamp the cramped. We’re less political and more into realism and honest lyrical content: beliefs installed deeply throughout our Coffee House genre. Listen and you will wake up… happy. The Caffè Collective will be opening our doors to the general population on 13th March and in turn opening the people to an intense funky vibration they may not have felt for some time.”

THIS WICKED TONGUE – House [starts 29:33]
http://www.thiswickedtongue.com
“We’re a hard rocking four piece from Worcester” say This Wicked Tongue. “The band was founded in 2010 but we got serious in 2011 when this lineup came together with our first bassist. We like to rock out: hooks plus balls. Don’t forget the balls. We record two or three times a year – generally looking to do three or four songs each time – and in 2012 we recorded ten tracks. We’re a hard-rocking band with surprisingly different vocals (have a listen) but we also have a full acoustic set with new arrangements for our songs and a few choice covers. We make our own t-shirts, refine our own bio-diesel for our bus and make our own videos. We reckon they’re pretty good – check them out here.”

RORY SMITH – If I Could Rock With Her [starts 33:00]
https://soundcloud.com/ros100200
“My name is Rory Smith, I’m 36 years old and I’ve been teaching myself to play guitars since age 11. Music keeps me occupied and I still enjoy it as much now as I did back then. I love writting different styles of music and guitaring and record my own music at home, composing songs on the computer. I play all my own guitar parts and sing the vocals myself – the rest is built up with Midi sequencers. Sometimes I carry on recording for hours – I love doing it. I’m particularly inspired by Hendrix and Zeppelin: their music can tell you a story with feeling and energy.”

FLIES AND FLIES – Bad Crab Hand [starts 36:38]
http://www.fliesandflies.com
“Since emerging half-formed from the wreckage of an art project gone wrong, London trio flies+flies have been carving out a unique form of experimental rock music, combining electronics, strings, guitar and voice to create distinctly dark and deeply melodic pockets of space.  Writing together live as a band and drawing influence from the aesthetic worlds of Stanley Kubrick, TS Elliot and Isa Genzken, their brooding sound occupies a smoky hinterland between the warm comedown glow of Mogwai, Jeff Buckley’s reflective late-night hymnals, the apocalyptic transmissions of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and the spare, sputtering 808 patterns of early Hessle Audio records. Quietly restrained vocals fight against turntable-manipulated noise and rhythm, electro-cello drone and reverberated waves of guitar. Their double-A single Bad Crab Hand Hand / Sufi is out as a limited edition 10″ vinyl (with insert risograph print), on the 10th of March. Digital March 16th.  Distribution by Cargo. Upcoming gigs: 20th Feb – Paper Dress Vintage, Shoreditch, London. 15th March – Screensaver. 29th March – Single launch party at Lime Wharf, East London.”

CULTURAL OTHER – Persuasion Is Power [starts 40:30]
https://www.facebook.com/CulturalOther
“The Cultural Other is a Guildford based group on a musical mission with a simple objective; to deliver powerful, hard hitting rock music which will excite, entertain and be recognised in its own right, both in the studio and through exhilarating live performances. Our secret weapon lies in the cultural makeups of each band member as we all openly embrace cultural diversity within our musical styles and daily lives. Drummer, Kuba Mleczko’s Polish-American roots, guitarist, Andrea Venerus’s hot-blooded Mediterranean flare and bassist, James Campbell’s Hispanic temperament accentuates the band’s distinctive musical ideologies, with lyrics which seek to explore the labyrinthine nature of the human condition and simultaneously, our political affiliations. We are determined to establish a reputation by striving to create a musically diverse and evocative repertoire of material. We are currently in the process of producing our forthcoming debut EP, which we aim to release in the next couple of months.”

MATT WATSON – Every Heartbeat [starts 45:55]
https://www.facebook.com/matthewwatsonmusic
“I used to be vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter in the popular Norwich band Huck, says Matt Watson. During seven years together we were lucky enough to open for some of my alltime favourite songwriters: Billy Bragg, Miles Hunt (The Wonder Stuff), punk veterans The Undertones, and (at the time) pop newcomers Scouting for Girls. I’ve always loved the DIY punk ethic of recording and releasing myself – which also gives me the chance to draw on my other passion: illustration. I create the artwork and play all the instruments on the recordings, including home-made percussion. A frying pan was utilised as a cowbell and there’s even a Stylophone in there. My songwriting aims to be both personal and honest – and also political and observational. I hope that comes across. I’m a real bloke who writes music, likes to sing and – even better – share it with others, playing live. What do I do when not doing all this? Well I have a day job just like everyone else, although when that finishes you’ll find me surfing…”

GOOD GIRL & THE BAD TIMES – Cute When I Cry [starts 48:57]
http://goodgirlandthebadtimes.com
“Good Girl and The Bad Times are the brother/sister duo of Eli and Jenny Block. Splitting life between London and New York, the pair have written and recorded two albumsworth of material, accompanied in the studio by a ramshackle collective of musician and artist friends. Cute When I Cry is the first in a series of EPs to be self-released on their own Good Bad Records.”

SCULPTURE MUSIC – Beneath The Waves [starts 51:58]
http://www.sculpturemusic.co.uk
“Only Human is the title track from the forthcoming Sculpture Music EP, out this March. Core members Matt Calder and John Shaw formed early 2013, and despite John’s fifteen year hiatus from playing bass, the duo were booked to play Glastonbury Festival within two months of their debut album release Minor Songs In Major Keys. The track One Of These Days from the album was also featured in a previous edition of the BBC Introducing Mixtape. The Sculpture Music project combines Hang Drums, Double Bass, Hammer Dulcimer, and a smorgasbord of percussion instruments, with the harmonic emphasis being on the unique sound of the Hangs. Both John and Matt have worked with Gamelan orchestras in the past, and emulate the similarities between the trance-like sonics of the Hang and the Gamelan approach – combined with a percussive dub-like bass foundation and downtempo beats.”

HARLEQUIN DYNAMITE – Loneliness [starts 56:28]
http://www.harlequindynamite.co.uk
“Comprised of myriad members of the city’s finest jazz, folk, gypsy, avant-noise, prog, pop and rock bands, Harlequin Dynamite Marching Band serve up a quixotic mix of cacophonous, euphoric klezmer and downright dirty head bopping beats. Free-jazz brass squeals fuse with heart-wrenching siren vocals and intricate rhythms to create a loose, riotous sound underpinned with leg-swingingly pleasurable grooves. As could be expected from a band which encapsulates a melting pot of Liverpool talent, this nomadic troupe of rough and ready musical magpies offer an incendiary collision of genres which is part New Orleans Dixie ensemble, part street-punk riot, part Yorkshire Tea advert. In May last year, the band put out their first single ‘Jonah’, (with accompanying animated video) earning airplay on various radio stations including BBC 6Music. They then hit the festival circuit, taking their infectious sound to a host of the UK’s premiere summer festivals – Latitude, Croissant Neuf, Festival No.6 and Beacons to name a few (Q magazine noticed one impromptu set and put it in their top 20 acts of the festival). The melodious collective have also been regularly hopping on stage with best mates and fellow Liverpool stars Stealing Sheep, with plans to tour Europe in support of the hypno-pop princesses currently in the pipeline.”

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.