WHAT DO WE LOOK FOR?

Every week Signal Committee present an Eclectic Picks playlist. All tracks are selected from the full inbox of 200 tracks that are submitted each week to Fresh On The Net. This week all the hard work and credit goes to our special guest moderator, Lines of Flight.

Our playlists are orientated to the alternative music fan. Lyrics are not essential, abstract ideas are embraced and the fusing of different genres is encouraged. If you used to write band names on your pencil case at school, you’ll probably like our playlists.

INTRODUCING LINES OF FLIGHT

You should never judge a book by it’s cover, but when the cover shows that Lines of Flight take influence from the likes of Depeche Mode, Joy Division, the Cure, New Order and the Chromatics – you can’t help but think this is a book worth reading.

Lines of Flight are dreampop duo you just can’t hide from. You’ll find them at the Roadhouse alongside the Chromatics in Twin Peaks, on all sorts of playlists and radio stations in the Twitter underworld of unsigned music… and in the real world you might even see them perform live in the North of England. Lines of Flight are no strangers to the Eclectic Picks either – with their tracks Heading Out To You, Midnight On The Front Street and Please Don’t Say You’re Going (To Let Me Down) all having caught the ears of both Signal Committee and our recent guest curators.

Looking ahead, Lines of Flight’s next single, Listening Land, is due to be released Friday 3rd December. Listening Land will be their 10th and final single from their lockdown project. In the meantime, they’ve picked out a fine selection of tracks from last week’s inbox for you to check out…

A FEW WORDS FROM LINES OF FLIGHT ON THIS WEEK’S PICKS

We wanted to curate a playlist that reflected our eclectic tastes and influence. Starting with some big powerful tunes it then morphs into delicate electronica, before taking a lo-fi turn and then rocketing back up for an indie-electro-dance ending. 

US4: Brill wide screen indie with elements of Broken Social Scene paired with hints of ‘Up the Junction’-esque Squeeze!

CEEFAX: Ace dreampop, shoegaze tune with ethereal vocals reminiscent of Cocteau Twins. 

Prima Queen: Cracking melodic indie pop, crisp and top harmonies. Blending The Cardigans and Haim. 

Walt: Woozy, Dreamy delicate electro-pop. Lovely lo-fi feel: Granddaddy meets Imogen Heap.

JJ Lovegrove: Lovely dark atmospheric keyboard-led music. The intimacy of Cat Power, with the darkness of Siouxsie

Verdance feat Sooski: Trip-hoppy ‘Blue Lines’ Massive Attack vibes. Affecting blend of beats, melodic keys and field recordings/samples. 

Depthbuffer: Powerful bass led beats and off kilter haunting vocals. Has a great feel of Propellerheads meets Death in Vegas. 

Naut: Instrumental D’n’B, this scratches and shakes superbly. The counterpoint of the melodies and clever silences work as it  breaks down into a lovely introspective close.

Champion Fever feat. Louisa Tomlinson: Spoken word delivery with the words providing the melody and intrigue. Underpinned by blips, beeps and beats which create a creeping paranoia.

Loopatronica: Continuing minimal electronic soundscapes, this track pulses and glitches in all the right ways, providing ambience with an agitated edge. 

Alex Morgan: Lo-fi nylon guitar and dark humour about a subject we know well. Hints of ‘Manchester’ guitars but it’s the human voice a lá Mountain Goats’ “All Hail West Texas” that works so well. 

Puffi: The gentle finger picked song is added further poignance by the Japanese lyrics which have a Euros Child’s timbre to them. They are set to an arresting chamber-pop arrangement which Gruff Rhys reject. 

Peak Low: Wham! Sheer indie pop melodic tunage which blends Phoenix and Two Door Cinema Club. Catchier, with more hooks than the Anglers Association Annual Conference.

Moa Moa: Tinges of pyche-trippy-dance, with a ‘Serotonin’ Simple Kid vibe blended with a great Beta Band melody and production. 

Big Softy: Our great DJ spinning friend Dan ‘Gigantic’ Lomax said, “Anyone up for some Karl Hyde dubnobass vocals over a great guitar/dance track… I’m sold”. Enough said, what he said.

And what a great way finish the playlist! 

Thanks Eclectic Playlist for having us. It’s been ace.

LISTEN

You can listen to this weeks playlist using the player below, or click here to open the Soundcloud playlist in a new window. For the best listening experience… crank up the volume and immerse yourself in the music!

ARTISTS SELECTED THIS WEEK

1. US4 – Tears of a Clown
2. CEEFAX – Sanctuary
3. PRIMA QUEEN – Chew My Cheeks
4. WALT – Havisham 2
5. JJ LOVEGROOVE – Weapons Down
6. VERDANCE – Hold Secrets ft. Sooski
7. DEPTHBUFFER – Monsters
8. NAUT – Aperture
9. CHAMPION FEVER – Killer Whales & Data Trails (feat. Louisa Tomlinson)
10. LOOPATRONICA – Rainbows Project Pt.3 – Wooded Hill
11. ALEX MORGAN – Sad Songs
12. PUFFI – Love Is The Way with Hodges (Japanese version)
13. PEAK LOW – Caught In The Middle
14. MOA MOA – Drive
15. BIG SOFTY – Supercomputer

RADIO OPPORTUNITIES

We all have ambitions to get on national radio, but in the meantime there are loads of great, independent radio stations that are always looking for new music of the alternative variety. They offer no promises, but the following hosts tell me they that, if you made this list, they’d like you to get in touch to be considered for their show:

• Chris Watts, presenter of “In The Moog” online on NCCR (UK) (Twitter: @chriswatts1965.  Electronic/synth-based tracks (mp3 &/or WAV) to chrisinthemoog@gmail.com, together with artwork &/or band pic and your Twitter handle).
• Lucas Gil, presenter of Supernova on Glitterbeam Radio (Twitter @lucasgil, apply by his website here)
• Joe Figueira of North Manchester FM (Twitter @moretonguy, apply with MP3, short bio & twitter handle by e-mail to joefigueira@yahoo.co.uk)

POLITE REQUEST TO ALL ARTISTS

If you’re on Twitter, IG etc make sure you put a link to your social media pages on your soundcloud profile. It’ll save curators, moderators, radio folk etc lots of time letting you know you made the cut. On the other hand, maintaining anonymity might lead to a cult following in a remote location that you don’t find out about until someone from Svalbard FM hunts you down 20 years later to do a Searching For Sugar Man-esque documentary.