This week’s free downloadable BBC Introducing Mixtape features handpicked tunes from the BBC Introducing Uploader by BLACK LIGHTS, THE HAZEL EMPIRE, SO&SO, HEATH, RoBoTaLiEn, MATT CREER, A BILLION LIONS, THE BROKEN ORCHESTRA, PRINTS JACKSON, TIED TO THE MAST, DAMIEN J BRENNAN, BARTELL, THE KUNIG, S1MPLE, WINKANDWOO, JOE ALLAN, !MC’LAIN! and RUSSELL JOSLIN.

The BBC Introducing Mixtape is a 60 minute radio show broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music from 2-3am every Sunday night/Monday morning. Each programme is then downloadable in podcast form at the BBC 6 Music downloads page for the next 30 days. Full tracklists and start times for each track are published here at Fresh On The Net with information about the music provided by the artists themselves. Previous tracklists can be found via the MIXTAPE tab above or on the BBC website.

All tracks are sourced from the BBC Introducing Uploader. Some are recommended by BBC friends and colleagues while the rest are tunes I’ve discovered here via our Fresh On The Net inbox. For more about how the process works see this post – and if your music is in thie week’s mixtape please see the important warning at the bottom of this page. These are the listings for the episode broadcast overnight on Sunday 8th Feb (technically 2am on Monday, 9th Feb 2015…)

BLACK LIGHTS – Trading Places [starts 00:17]
http://www.black-lights.co.uk/
Black Lights are Jamie McCool, Jack O Connor, Howard Eastwood, Jake Brown and Josh Hussey. “Only just in their 20’s, this precociously talented group demonstrate the city’s ability to produce music that has the rest of the country green with envy” they tell us. “Arguably Manchester’s biggest independent new band with 6 consecutive sold out hometown shows at bigger and bigger venues including The Ruby Lounge, Band On The Wall, Manchester Academy 3 and their biggest show to date at Gorilla. The future is looking bright for Black Lights with big show planned for late 2015 at The Ritz in Manchester and currently working on new recorded material for release in the spring on their own label False Idol Records.” Blimey.

THE HAZEL EMPIRE – Colours [starts 03:40]
https://www.facebook.com/TheHazelEmpire
“The three female vocalists in The Hazel Empire played together in several different constellations for two years until they formed what is now The Hazel Empire in the beginnings of 2014. From three different countries they went on to represent Liverpool in The Independent’s student band competition’s final stage last year. This January they released their two first singles, Colours and Clouds, which have had good reception throughout the UK.”

SO&SO – Down The Crown [starts 06:01]
http://www.facebook.com/itsonlysoandso
So&So sent us a nice impressionistic biog that I liked a lot: “Rhymes and production based in Leeds, UK. I love good words. Boozing politicians. Low -fi production. The people I know. Places I’ve been. These streets. Currently enjoying making music that’s based around words, though I’m not specifically a rapper. Looking to start performing live, now I have enough songs and words to do so.”

HEATH – Give Me Over [starts 09:25]
https://www.facebook.com/heaththeband
“Heath is an alternative pop three piece from Brighton who launched only last month, and have already won attention from blogs worldwide within 24 hours of this track Give Me Over which is their debut release. After spending six months in their own warehouse studio with deep house producer Menik, the trio are set to release a family of EPs over the course of the year – with a debut live performance in a secret underground venue in central Brighton on 6th March.”

RoBoTaLiEn – The Singularity [starts 13:31]
https://www.facebook.com/robotandalien
RoBoTaLiEn are a two piece from Manchester who play noisy indie rock with pop sensibilities. They consist of of Robot Alien himself (voice/guitar/keys) plus Alec Splatt on drums. This track comes from their 2013 debut album You’re The Problem That Will Not Go Away released through Birmingham’s Dead London Records, which can be heard and purchased on their Bandcamp page. With the addition of third member Tim Davies they’ve also released more recent music under the project name Sweet Deals On Surgery.

MATT CREER – North Northwest [starts 15:24]
http://www.mattcreer.com
“From the wild landscape of the Isle of Man, Matt Creer is a classically trained musician and former student of the Royal College of Music, London. The Manx singer songwriter’s music merges folk traditions with warm, rich, layered arrangements and vocals that have created a sound all of his own. Having reached number 5 in the iTunes singer songwriter singles chart last year, 2nd March 2015 sees the release of his brand new album, The Leeward Tide, along with live shows across the UK later in the year.”

A BILLION LIONS – Torquay [starts 19:11]
https://www.facebook.com/billionlions
“A Billion Lions are a band from the Leeds/Bradford area. However they sound like a band from the USA. Which won’t make much sense unless you listen to their track. Then it will all become very clear. Their debut single is a song that’s not like most songs, which therefore makes it a song that is better than most songs. But it is a song. A very great song. The band have just been confirmed to play The Great Escape Festival which will no doubt see them burying themselves in the sand and not being able to play. Unless a kindly stranger takes pity on them and digs them out. Cos that’s what it’s all about. A Billion Lions. Confusing. But brilliant. Like this review.”

THE BROKEN ORCHESTRA – Digital Age [starts 22:00]
http://www.thebrokenorchestra.com
BBC producer Kellie Redmond emailed The Broken Orchestra to request a paragraph about their music for this page, but we got no response. The biog on their website says “Dusty, Laid Back, Groove, Soulful, Broken, Chopped, Horns, Melodic, Percussive, Organic, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Acoustic, Mellow, Eclectic….. are all words that can be associated with The Broken Orchestra.” Who are, it continues, “a collection of feelings, a mesh of ideas and an assortment of plans that take numerous detours on the way to fruition. Sounds, noises and melodies blended into one.” So now you know.

PRINTS JACKSON – Toulouse [starts 26:01]
http://www.printsjackson.com
I’ve been loving the work pJ’s been submitting to us us via Fresh On The Net – the music’s always varied, adventurous and interesting – and Toulouse is my favourite so far, hitting the ideal sweet spot between experimental and accessible. He sent us the following short biog: “I am Prints Jackson and the Prints Jackson Project is simple: one free song, every month, til the day I die. Toulouse is song 11 in this ongoing project.” As with Broken Orchestra, this leaves us no wiser – but he did at least agree that the guest chatter-type vocals on this track should be credited to Haydn Lockwood (aged 4) “as this months musical collaborator” – along with a thankyou to Dave Legion for January’s artwork (below).

TIED TO THE MAST – Melissa [starts 29:27]
http://www.tiedtothemast.co.uk
“Tied To The Mast are a British band with a difference. You might not hear them talk about the weather, the size of their allotment, how much they love queuing or how good Helen Mirren looks for her age, but TTTM have a quintessential British sound that would probably get The Kinks’ Lola under the sheets.”

DAMIEN J BRENNAN – Blood & Roses [starts 32:59]
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Damien-J-Brennan-Music/434250520002451
Damien J Brennan describes himself as an “upcoming singer/songwriter from County Down Northern Ireland with Rock / folk / Americana / Alternative styles. I couldn’t pin myself down to any particular genre or style. I started writing songs a few years back while backpacking in Italy and things have really progressed from there. I have upcoming gigs in London in the Goodship on the 26th Feb, the Tooting Tram and Social on the 27th Feb; the Acklam village market on 1st March and the Menagerie in Belfast on 5th March.”

BARTELL – Purple Cat [starts 36:11]
http://bartellmusic.com
“Songwriter/Audio Engineer/Studio Owner” Bartell tells us. “Debut album recorded in my studio over the last year.” Er, that’s it.  See How To Write A Band Biog.

THE KUNIG – Drive Me Crazy [starts 39:11]
http://www.thekunig.co.uk
“TheKunig is Mick Cooper – on drum loops, synths, sequencers, hope and bass guitars!! I have played in many groups – mostly in the 80’s and 90’s and in Germany – but now like to compose music from the comfort of my living room and with the collaboration of other unsigned talented vocalists.”

S1MPLE – No Justice , No Peace [starts 41:17]
http://s1mplemusic.com
S1mple, who describes himself as “some1 making people’s lives easier,” is an urban poet who engages, enhances and encourages self belief, confidence and compassion in others, at home and abroad through his words and actions. During 2015 he is traveling the country performing to people in the street, on open Mic circuits and at showcase events/festivals aiming to captivate and inspire others. He volunteers for Portsmouth Association For The Blind, raising awareness and funding for them with each and every performance. If you know of a cause, organization, group of people or an individual that you think could benefit from his aid or involvement in a project then get in touch.

WINKANDWOO – Shanghai Mon Amour [starts 44:24]
https://www.facebook.com/pages/winkandwoo/860606697288581
Winkandwoo are primarily a songwriting team and consist of Steve Humphreys and Clive Fuller. “We have been writing songs as winkandwoo for about a year now and our treasure chest of gems is growing week by week” they tell us. “There are no gigs set up just yet because we are too busy in the studio perfecting and remixing, still it’s early days. In July of 2014 an Italian label – Gaia Sound picked up our Metropolis EP which is available on itunes and Beatport. Our aim is to have artists banging on the door for our songs, so we will carry on creating and trying to get winkandwoo on the map, until then you can hear more of our stuff on SoundCloud.”

JOE ALLAN – Youngster [starts 46:52]
http://www.facebook.com/joeallanmusic
“Joe Allan is a singer songwriter from Newcastle Upon Tyne who specialises in crafting weird and weird acoustic pop with a dreamy yet dark twist. Joe recorded and released his debut EP The City Ate My Brains last summer, which was greeted with great critical acclaim and radio play. Joe embarked upon a busy summer of gigs and special appearances, including a packed EP launch in Newcastle’s renowned venue The Cluny 2, slots at a number of local festivals, winning two talent competitions: Bernicia Rising and Northumberland Live Rising; and being invited to Broadcasting House in London for an interview and a performance on BBC’s The One Show. Joe is currently in the process of recording his second EP Moving House in an Edinburgh studio, ahead of a Spring 2015 release.”

!MC’LAIN! – Event Horizon [starts 51:08]
https://soundcloud.com/mc_lain
!Mc’Lain! is a 22 year old artist who “enjoys all art forms, and his vision is to blend all elements to create a unique experience. He has only been creating Hip-Hop music for about 7 months and has been rapidly improving with every song. Recently, he just finished up an experimental hip-hop project titled The Inerstellah Experiments (Event Horizon is the single), but his main focus is a free album that he hopes to release this summer.”

RUSSELL JOSLIN – What a Waste [starts 53:07]
http://www.russelljoslinmusic.co.uk/
“Russell Joslin is a singer songwriter based in North London. He grew up in the countryside of Wiltshire before moving to London and quickly found himself the solo support act to much larger touring bands such as The Early Years, Scouting for Girls and Dot Allison. His first album Dream Token was released in 2009 and his sophomore effort Jet Black And White in 2011. After a 2 year period of work with rock band High Windows, Russell recorded his 3rd solo album, Harlequins. March 2015 will see Russell launch Harlequins with an intimate acoustic show at London folk music hub The Betsey Trotwood and then head out for a 10-date duet tour with Sarah McCaig through East Germany and Switzerland. A smattering of folk festivals will follow in the Summer while Russell seeks out the means to produce his 4th album.”

ARTISTS…
After your music has been featured in the BBC Introducing Mixtape – or in our Fresh Faves here on the blog – please wait 12 weeks before sending us another tune, to leave us space to help other deserving artists. For more info see this blog post – thanks!

And if you get a flattering email from a PR company offering you their paid services after appearing on The BBC Introducing Mixtape please forward it to Fresh On The Net via our contact page. Always treat such offers with extreme caution…and be sure to check out The Pros And Cons Of Pluggers.