This week’s free downloadable BBC Introducing Mixtape features handpicked tunes from the BBC Introducing Uploader by BLITZENBOLT, EDITH CRASH, THE GREAT & THE MAGNIFICENT, SNOWAPPLE, GREN MEN, TONY BLAIZE, LYRA BRAE, RUBBERNECK, TOM LOW, LIINES, BEFORE AWARENESS, JACK FRANCIS, JOE WHEELER, ALBERTEEN, PIMLICAN, ROB GODFREY, BENTCOUSIN and SOUNDS OF SYSTEM BREAKDOWN.
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 downloadable in podcast form at the BBC 6 Music downloads page for the next 30 days. Full tracklists and track start times are published here at Fresh On The Net – together with info about the music provided by the artists.
All tracks are sourced from the BBC Introducing Uploader – some recommended to me by BBC colleagues while the rest are chosen from submissions to our Fresh On The Net inbox. Click here for more info – artists please also see the request at the bottom of this page. These are the listings for the episode broadcast in the early morning of Monday, 7th March at 2am.
BLITZENBOLT – State Of No Apparent Consequence [starts 00:18]
http://blitzenbolt.flavors.me
“Conceived in Los Angeles, where the duo first met, Blitzenbolt is Londoner Johnny Wells on guitar and lead vocals and, hailing from Vienna, Thomas Kaefel – multitasking on drums (right hand), synth (left hand) and vocals. The band recently completed their first run of gigs on tour in Austria to promote their self titled debut EP and just shot their first music video for the track Push. In the coming months the band will be composing their first studio LP and are working to line up live shows in London and Los Angeles.”
EDITH CRASH – Partir [starts 04:07]
http://edithcrash.com
“Fiercely passionate, Edith Crash delivers raw, strong, & emotional songs sung in French, Spanish & English. A one woman band creating intense French blues, and melding the folk, punk & blues worlds for a truly one of a kind style. ”
THE GREAT & THE MAGNIFICENT – Charles Lee Ray [starts 07:07]
https://www.facebook.com/thegreatandthemagnificent
“High up on a rooftop, overlooking the dark city of Newcastle stand two men back to reclaim a crestfallen city. These unlikely heroes are back to bring hope to a new breed of music fan and do battle on their home turf once more. The Great & The Magnificent are the heroes their city not only wants, but deserves. Rising from the ashes of Big Beat Bronson, Baron Von Alias (The Great) and MistaBreeze (The Magnificent) reformed in 2015 to create The Great & The Magnificent. Reverting to a slightly more traditional hip hop style whilst maintaining their energy, costumes and infamous stage shows, the duo have earned praise from the MOBOAwards.com, Boi1da.net and BBC Newcastle’s Nick Roberts amongst others for their previous releases. They are entering 2016 with their best, Good-Guys-Shoe-wearing, foot forward, presenting Charles Lee Ray. Named after the duo’s psychotic killer doll mascot, the Chucky-inspired single has been likedened to “the Beastie Boys on a Red Bull high.” Charles Lee Ray is only a taste of what’s to come in the coming months – as The Great & The Magnificent gear up for their biggest single release so far: The Next Mutation is expected to drop in mid-March.”
SNOWAPPLE – Businessmen [starts 11:51]
http://snowapple.nl/
“Laurien Schreuder, Una Bergin, Laura Polence (sometimes joined by Becca Williams). The women of Snowapple have done a lot of living, more so than many bands twice their age. Beneath the surface of this oftentimes unassuming folk/chanson trio are a tangle of experiences, drawing upon markedly different musical educations in opera, jazz, folk and pop to create a unique yet wholly natural sound. They divide their time between Manchester and Amsterdam (when they are not touring elsewhere).”
GREN MEN – Nicole (The Fall) [starts 14:12]
https://www.facebook.com/grenmen
“Cleopatra’s Needle. December ’15. Nicole turned, sneered, and dashed the mastertapes into the river. Gren Men knew that a catastrophe like this had been brewing. Its descent was both slow and teasing. It whispered and winked to the trout, serenely it sang to the sturgeon, but it was blind to the inevitable truth that lay beneath that brackish swell. It dawned on Gren Men that Volume One would never be heard; smash hits lost forever. Disbelief turned to rage, rage turned to sorrow, but sorrow soon turned to forgiveness. However, she had vanished. Their voices still choked by grief, they bellow in agony, ‘Where are you Nicole? Where are you Nicole?’ Gren Men are proud ambassadors of the South London crooning scene.”
TONY BLAIZE – Eli’s Song [starts 16:47]
http://www.tonyblaize.com
“Think Bill Withers, think Lauryn Hill, a sprinkle of Bruce Springsteen, a douse of the great Fela Kuti, and you get Tony Blaize. Like many musicians in his generation, the list of artists who have influenced his work is unending. 2015 saw Tony collaborate with Chase and Status, Toyboy & Robin and UK rapper Sway, as well as performing at bbc 1xtra as part of Destination Africa with Sway. He also performed Radio 1’s big weekend with Star One and supported Lemar on tour. Tony released his second EP Be About It at the end of last year with the video for lead single, Hurry premiered by The 405. The second single Eli’s Song has been premiered by the popular blog i-D with the video premiering on Clash. Currently working on a remix of ‘9-5’ which will be the final single off the Be About It EP. Upcoming London dates: 17th March – Slaughtered Lamb, 20th March – The Finsbury.”
LYRA BRAE – Black [starts 20:32]
http://www.lyrabrae.com/
“The rural Brendon Hills in Somerset seems an unlikely place to find a young singer/songwriter of such distinction as Lyra Brae; Lyra’s ever developing tone is regularly likened to Kate Bush but her style comes from a different place. Inspired as a young 12-year-old girl by such greats as Aretha Franklin, Carol King, Jonny Lang, Al Green and Joss Stone, Lyra started writing her own songs. Recognising her talent as an eight-year-old, her Parents put Lyra into classical piano, dance classes and acting. She studied at the ITV workshop in Bristol and played many venues in London as a young singer/songwriter. In 2013 Lyra met guitarist Julian Hutson-Saxby (Nina Hagen Band, TM Stevens, SAHB, and Ted McKenna) and started writing and recording demo material towards what is now Lyra Brae. In 2015 after recording with Producer Mark Tucker they released this debut single Black. They went on to tour the UK with Ben Montague, Emma Stevens and Emmy J Mac. Lyra Brae hope to release thier next single in Summer 2016.”
RUBBERNECK – Crush [starts 24:20]
https://www.facebook.com/band.rubberneck
“Rubberneck formed a year ago as four 18 year olds; Joe Reeves, Nick Moore, Daniel Gowers and later, Seb Turner. They recorded their first 5-track Demo EP in two days at Brixton Hill Studios in October, and are building up more material to be recorded later this year. They blend 90’s Grunge and Brit-pop, as well as 60s/70s psychedelia in the EP, and the recognisable influences vary from track to track. Rubberneck are playing a London show at the Amersham Arms in New Cross with promotors Absent Kelly on Friday, March 25.”
TOM LOW – Phone [starts 28:20]
https://www.facebook.com/tomlowmusic
“Tom Low, born 1993 in Liverpool, is a musician and singer/songwriter. He grew up in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and after discovering The Beatles at age 6, Tom wanted to write songs. He quickly took up guitar at school and over the next few years became self-taught on piano, bass, drums, bouzouki and whatever else he could find that makes noise, whether it be a kids toy or an everyday-sound he could twist. His early teens were spent writing and recording hundreds of instrumentals at home. These progressed into songs and after a move back to Liverpool in 2009 he started to gig across the UK. Tom’s new EP, Phone is out now on Deltasonic Records. It features 5 tracks recorded entirely on his mobile in various friends’ houses. The idea behind each track is for the song to ‘sound like the subject’ which results in heavily layered pieces, full of eclectic instrumentation and pop hooks. He writes and performs every part himself and through this process he conjures up his own unique brand of future pop that feels familiar yet different.”
LIINES – Blackout [starts 31:31]
http://www.weareliines.com/
“Manchester’s Liines are Zoe McVeigh (vocals, guitar), Steph Angel (bass) and Leila O’Sullivan (drums). The trio, who have built a reputation as one of Manchester’s most exciting and powerful live acts, started the year being tipped as one of John Kennedy’s X-Posure Ones To Watch 2016 as well as being featured on BBC Introducing Manchester. Comparisons range from Joy Division to Sleater Kinney to Pixies. New single Blackout is released on Friday 11th March and coincides with a short UK tour, which visit Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and London.”
BEFORE AWARENESS – Restrained [starts 33:51]
https://soundcloud.com/beforeawareness
“Before Awareness are made up of people who are all very well known in the UK for doing other things. They want to remain anonymous in order to not let their fame influence the reaction to their music. They play regularly in the UK, always in disguise. Each time under a different alias made up of the letters from the band members mother’s middle names.”
JACK FRANCIS – Who Are You Fooling [starts 36:55]
http://www.jack-francis.com
“Jack Francis is a singer/songwriter from Southampton. Since starting to perform his music in 2015, he has been steadily building audiences in and around London and the South Coast with well crafted songs performed with raw passion. He released his debut EP The Van Wyck Expressway in February 2016.”
JOE WHEELER – It’s International
feat. MR GRIMEZ POET WARRIOR [starts 39:38]
https://soundcloud.com/joe-wheeler-19
According to RudeBoy Mag “From the shadows of south London dwells a masked writer known as Mr Grimez Poet Warrior who’s currently on the open mic circuit with his mission to inspire people to be creative and fight against the negative forces. With the power of a mask and poetry, Mr Grimez continues on the Path of 13 to face many challenges. From one portal to another, many positive opportunities will rise. His message will be heard no matter the cost and success will be universal.” About Joe Wheeler we couldn’t discover any information whatsoever.
ALBERTEEN – A French Connection [starts 43:12]
http://www.alberteen.com/
“Following last year’s critically acclaimed album Miss World which featured on many end-of-year Best-Of lists, Alberteen now follow sharply up with A French Connection, a “micro-album” of remixes and new songs, including a brand new recording of Miss World’s lead track A French Connection (also the new single) and new mixes from Brimful of Asha Anglo-Asian innovators Cornershop and Parisian DJ Comma Period. Produced by the legendary Mike Bennett (The Fall, Ian Brown, Trojan Records) With Phil Shaw, a professor of English, on vocals, Alberteen is no ordinary band. Championed by Mark Radcliffe, Stuart Macconie, Gideon Coe and Tom Robinson (who discovered the band), Alberteen came to prominence with their debut album Metal Book in 2012. Singer Phil Shaw also wrote the best-selling 33/3 book on Patti Smith’s Horses. Alberteen recently performed at Rough Trade – as well as a seaside tour of the southeast coast with sold out gigs – and play The Firebug, Leicester, on March 30″
PIMLICAN – B’ck 4 More [starts 46:00]
https://www.facebook.com/Belgrave-Road-Records-636118493194187/
“Although based in the north of England, Pimlican has spent a lot of time and put down strong roots in the south developing a north/south blend of music covering different dance genres. Operating as a solo artist but often collaborating with other artists Pimlican has a strong song writing ethic, mixing killer hooks plus workflows as spontaneously and colourfully as possible. Having launched his own ‘Belgrave Road Records’ (Label) in Jan 2016 he is now looking to form a small collective to play live. This has always been a great passion.”
ROB GODFREY – Must Be A Different World [starts 49:02]
https://www.facebook.com/robgodfreyuk
“Cambridge-born Rob Godfrey is a 21-year-old Brighton-based singer-songwriter. February 2016 saw the release of his debut 6-track EP ‘So Alive’, made up of dark love songs, dwelling on the flaws and mishaps of previous relationships. One of the tracks from the EP, Cold Blooded Killer, was recently featured on BBC Introducing (Cambs), with Tom Simkins singing his praises. Coming up: Rob will be performing a live session for BBC Introducing Cambridgeshire on the 12th March, next couple of gigs are at the Primo Bar, London on the 29th March and Patterns, Brighton on the 12th April.”
BENTCOUSIN – Time Will Tell [starts 51:10]
https://www.facebook.com/Bentcousin
“Time Will Tell was recorded in Amelia’s flat in Elephant and Castle, Jonny from the band is on Guitar. The vibes and flute were contributed by two friends Bentcousin have made through Fresh On The Net: Oorlab from the Netherlands is playing the vibes, and Jef Kearns from the States is playing the flute. Both musicians made their contribution via the wonder of soundcloud. Bentcousin have just released their debut album on New York’s Team Love Records. The album has received rave reviews. If you want to check the album for yourself, the lovely folk at Louder Than War have provided a stream. And if you want to catch the cousins play one their notoriously chaotic gigs, please check their Facebook page for current details.
SOUNDS OF SYSTEM BREAKDOWN – Continental Drift [starts 54:45]
http://www.sosbmusic.com/
“Sounds of System Breakdown released their new EP, Punishing Love, on Wednesday 16th February 2016, on vinyl, digital download and streaming. Punishing Love has soaked up influences from Dublin, London and beyond, resulting in SOSB’s most accomplished production so far. Analog harmonies and lush atmospherics contrast with their signature brash walls of electronic sound; intimate vocals sit on top of meticulous, driving rhythms. There are glimpses of Daniel Avery’s melodic mongrel techno or Caribou’s ambiguous pop, but ultimately the sound is very much their own. Sounds of System Breakdown previous release Nomad, the follow up to their critically acclaimed self-titled debut album was co-produced by Mercury award winning mixer Rob Kirwan, who had to split his time between this album and Depeche Mode’s Delta Machine.”
ARTISTS…
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