This week’s free downloadable BBC Introducing Mixtape features handpicked tunes from the BBC Introducing Uploader by SPRING KING, TENFIVESIXTY, RRYRRY, GENGAHR, BOLAN, OLD TRAMP, TOBY ELLIS, MR FOGG, FIRST, SYKES, ROSS POLLARD, PRODBEAR, THE LATE PIONEERS, ESTHER JOY LANE, SAMUEL THOMAS, MOURNING BIRDS, KINGSLEY CHAPMAN and RIVERS.

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 29th March (technically 2am on Monday, 30th March 2015…)

SPRING KING – City [starts 00:17]
https://www.facebook.com/springkingmusic
“Manchester based Spring King, the alias of up-and-coming producer Tarek Musa, released In All This Murk and Dirt on 16th September. Recorded at home alone, between a broken bathroom and an empty lounge, Tarek wrote every part and played every instrument across all 10 tracks. You can almost see the faded wallpaper and sickly tiles against which the coughs, howls and snares bounce off and echo against. The Spring King sound is defined by a real pop approach to songwriting, but turned up and smothered underneath layers of fuzz and distortion.”

TENFIVESIXTY – DashBoard Light [starts 03:57]
http://www.thetenfivesixty.com/
“Formed by Jen Bailey and Rick Hornby a few years back, Tenfivesixty say it was a shared love of, ‘lost romanticism, soundtracks, 60’s girl groups, 80’s hooks, good footwear, attention to detail, and the darker side of classic British guitar pop’ that brought them together, and such reference points are certainly audible in the material they’ve released so far. Jen’s vocals draw comparisons to Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac, whilst Rick’s unique guitar style resonates the work of The Cure.”

RRYRRY – This Is The Salon [starts 07:57]
https://www.facebook.com/harryperrymusic
“Harry Perry is a British composer/producer/performer based in London whose varied and eclectic output spans multiple genres. An early introduction to folk, Asian and classical music met with an adolescent obsession with alternative rock and David Bowie to form a fairly unique musical taste. After performing with various bands at school, Harry sought to expand his creative horizons by studying Music at Bangor University (completing two dissertations, one on composition, one on David Bowie). It was a fun time, he spent most of it in the studio. After receiving the Parry-Williams prize for composition he continued his studies at Goldsmiths College, London. Here he began to perform under the pseudonym RRYRRY (pronounced “ree ree”) and independently released three EPs: Alexander Lemming And Other Songs, Subtlepunk and I Want & The Me Culture. Rryrry is currently preparing a single release and seeking new collaborations.”

GENGAHR – She’s A Witch [starts 10:52]
https://www.facebook.com/gengahrband
Who are Gengahr? I hear you cry. “Felix, Danny, John and Hugh from London” is all their Facebook page is willing to tell us. Though their Soundcloud page claims they’re actually based in London. https://freshonthenet.co.uk/biogs

BOLAN – So High [starts 13:26]
http://www.deepmatter.co.uk./
“My name is Jo but I’m writing and creating under the name Bolan. I’ve been writing on and off for about 5 years but have only been actively doing something with it for a year or so. I don’t have any money for any recording equipment or to get regular studio time – all of my work so far has been created on my phone purely so that it exists somewhere outside of my own head. I’m experimenting a lot at the moment with song structure – I like poetry, repetition and layers of vocals. My best work comes out when I’m tired and the first drafts can be seen scrawled in pencil on my bedroom wall. The notes for my debut EP can be found there too. Bolan is part of a music collective under the creative company Deep Matter.”

OLD TRAMP – Equal Opportunities [starts 15:33]
https://www.facebook.com/oldtramp
“Following on from Old Tramp’s 2014 debut EP on Three Sixty records This is Tramp Pop, he has begun writing songs for the followup. This track Equal Opportunities is one of the first results of those initial sessions. The next EP will probably be as important as The Second Coming – but much less religious and considerably more entertaining. Expect noisy synths, drums and melodies to die for. Though (hopefully) no actual deaths will occur this time.”

TOBY ELLIS – That Feeling [starts 18:46]
http://www.tobyellismusic.com
“Toby Ellis is making the sound of the modern suburb. Combining American guitar stylings with British songwriting, he is currently touring the UK and preparing to release his first single, That Feeling, on 22nd May 2015. The first of a string of 3 debut singles, That Feeling has been described as “Red Hot Chilli Peppers meets tribal acoustic-EDM”, and is available to pre-order on itunes now. Toby Ellis epitomises the modern DIY artist: writing, recording, mixing and mastering solo, under the pseudonym of Morning Sunlight Records.”

MR FOGG – Time To Ascend [starts 22:11]
http://mrfogg.co.uk/
How great to hear new music from our old friend Mr Fogg: the grandson of an opera singer and great-grandson of two 19th Century music hall performers. His first two albums Moving Parts (2010) and Eleven (2012) saw him spring a full marching band on the audiences of Reading and Leeds festivals, collaborate with film director Tony Kaye, takeover Trafalgar Square for an astonishing one-shot music video and perform 40 times in the course of three days – in his pop-up Fogg Shop. Time To Ascend is the first song from fhis third album Youth, due for release later this year. In the intervening period he’s spent several months working on the development of Thom Yorke’s BitTorrent experiment, recorded a duet with the singing comet 67P, and unveiled a previously unheard collaboration with Under The Skin composer Micachu.

FIRST – Happiness [starts 25:34]
https://myspace.com/1stband
“First are led by Ben Fox Smith the singer/songwriter of cult 90s teen rockers Stony Sleep, and then with Serafin, who toured with Muse, Frank Black and Feeder. Going under the radar, Ben first made several home recordings under the moniker Young Sawbones.He then formed First with close friend Tom Moody and Jim Devese – who has played guitar with the bombastic Display Team for many years. First have started from scratch, doing the London circuit to gel their chops together. Their main haunt is the Bird’s Nest in Deptford where they have performed with friends Hot Head Show and have recorded their second album and two of their videos. They are in the process of mixing the second album which is provisionally titled Shriek.”

SYKES – Best Thing [starts 28:17]
http://www.sykesband.com/
“South London electro pop outfit Sykes released Best Thing on March 16, a tune indicative of the whip-sharp electronic pop the band have made their business since half-Brazilian, half-English Julia encountered Londoners Will and Kris at University. Hinging on an elastic bassline & a head rush of a chorus, Best Thing coolly debunks the fallacy of self-aggrandisement – as rife today via the distorted filters of Facebook and Instagram as the real word itself. Though there’s a wry nod towards this demystification in the single’s eye-catching artwork – which sees a blonde Superhero crashing headfirst to earth in Icarus-esque fashion – you sense Sykes’ trajectory from here forwards is set altogether more skyward.” They play The Old Blue Last in London tonight (Monday March 30th, 2015)

ROSS POLLARD – Rich Get Richer [starts 31:45]
https://soundcloud.com/ross-pollard22
I loved the inyourface attitude of this track Rich Get Richer the moement it jumped out of the speakers. When we asked Ross Pollard to send us some info for this blog he described himself as “an anti-capitalist, punk-folk singer-songwriter from Lincoln. Another graduate facing a bleak future who writes the kind of songs other people don’t; songs about politics, the so-called ‘age of austerity’ and the realities of the world in which we live. As Lincolnshire is the backwater of everything the plan is to start gigging in London when suitable invitations are received.” Come on you cosmopolitan venues, promoters, activists, campaigners, benefit and rally organisers and artists needing a support act – this man is The Real Deal – help us give him a blooming break!

PRODBEAR – I Wont Stop You [starts 33:49]
https://www.facebook.com/prodbear
“I’ve been playing rave music since the early 90’s” says Prodbear “throughout the hardcore scene which split and resulted in some torment for me: Drum & Bass – or Hardcore??? I still love them both to be honest. I love hearing something new and getting so excited you want to play it over and over. Then later, that nostalgia you feel when you hear it back some day and it’s still sounding great – that’s good music.”

THE LATE PIONEERS – Bellflower [starts 37:02]
https://www.facebook.com/thelatepioneers1
The Late Pioneers were formed late in 2013 by four long-time friends who had played in other bands and solo projects for years but decided to get together to make short, catchy, no frills pop songs as a four-piece. The debut album Walbum was released on 1st June via Record Union. Recording is currently underway for the next album Bin Wang. “We’re playing in Shangri-La, Manchester,” they tell us “on 24th July.”

ESTHER JOY LANE – Travelling Light [starts 38:17]
https://www.facebook.com/estherjoylanemusic
“Esther Joy Lane is a self-taught producer and singer-songwriter from Oxford. Influenced by Astronauts, etc., Deptford Goth and Grimes, she blends r&b beats with synths and guitars. So far this year she has been performing her live set around venues across Oxford and London and has supported various bands including Little Comets and Aquilo. She will be continuing to play live throughout this year and is looking to produce an EP towards the end of 2015.”

SAMUEL THOMAS – If You Don’t Love Her [starts 41:46]
https://www.facebook.com/samuelthomasuk
Samuel Thomas (full name Samuel Thomas Wright) describes himself as an “urban singer/songwriter from Newcastle. Played with a number of credible artists such as Greg Holden, Brothers and bones and King Charles… Songs about me, songs about you and songs about things we’ve all been through”

MOURNING BIRDS – Leave Me Alone [starts 44:13]
https://www.facebook.com/mourningbirds
“The next big step in the Mourning Bird’s journey has finally arrived in truly glittering form. Through the brand new heights of last year’s Camden Crawl and The Great Escape Festival whilst riding off the back of BBC Introducing Single of the week recognition, BBC Radio 1 , BBC 6 Music, Amazing Radio and NME coverage the band wrote and recorded their debut album which was then released via the notoriously reputable P-Vine Records in Japan. The garage rock trio are bringing it back home with their brand new riff heavy angst chocker sweat soaked classic single Leave Me Alone. The band aim is to get across the energy that is put into the live show and with this audibly achieved by Rhys Downing in-between engineering Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars smash hit Uptown Funk the achievement to match this success with such raw energetic imagery cannot be understated.” Gosh.
Upcoming show at The George Tavern in East London on 9th April in association with House Of Savages.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xd3MyVM-AY
https://soundcloud.com/mourning-birds/leave-me-alone

KINGSLEY CHAPMAN – Olympians [starts 46:40]
https://www.facebook.com/kingsleychapman1
“Kingsley Chapman and The Murder are a band that sing romantic songs about love and death from the North East of England. Kingsley is the ex-lead singer of noisy artrock band The Chapman Family – but since that band split he has subsequently suffered heartbreak and loss – and The Murder was born from that. They attempt to mix thunderous drums, lush and ominous strings, sparkly piano, barbed wire guitars and savage crooning. They played their first gig in December 2014 and wear a lot of black.”

RIVERS – Milk And Honey [starts 52:15]
http://www.calmrivers.com/
“I’ve been making music for about 2 years,” says Rivers “but only recently started having a clearer and more defined idea of what directions I enjoy and want to explore musically. Kanye West, James Blake and minimal photography are my main creative inspirations. I’ll be working on an EP later in the year as well as starting live shows.”

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.