Every week Signal Committee present an Eclectic Picks playlist. All tracks are selected from the full inbox of up to 200 tracks that are submitted each week to Fresh On The Net. This week, however, all the credit goes to our special guest curator, Deb Grant.

WHAT DO WE LOOK FOR?

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 DEB GRANT

A few months ago I was stirred from my sleep at 5am to the likes of Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa emanating from BBC6 Music. The fine tunes continued throughout the week, glued together by a Dublin accent that draws you in – as soothing and engaging as Mary Anne Hobbs. It was of course, Deb Grant, sitting in for Chris Hawkins. It’s fair to say that Deb seised the opportunity with both hands, and it’s no surprise that BBC6 have come calling for ‘more Deb’ several times since then. It feels like only a matter of time until Deb becomes a permanent fixture of the BBC6 team but, until then, you can find Deb over at Jazz FM at 10AM during the week on Midmornings With Deb Grant – where she promises to offer a “relaxed, informed, soulful and enlightening serving of jazz and soul to lift your morning off the page”.

Frankly, we don’t think we could have found anyone more apt to take on the Eclectic Picks than Deb Grant. It’s a rare opportunity for all the artists to be able to reach Deb’s ears, and we can’t thank her enough for taking the time out to check out what’s going on in the underground music scene….

A FEW WORDS FROM DEB GRANT

The submissions were brilliant – the standard was so so high. So many of the tracks I could easily imagine being played regularly at 6Music, but I settled on these 12….

Loose Articles – Chaos

Manchester post-punk through a melodic 90s indie filter with a political twist. I really like this. I imagine they’re great live too.

Sharon Lazibyrd – Quand Je Vue Le Monde

I love to hear songwriting that stands up with sparse instrumentation and this ticks that box for me. Sharon’s voice is great and unusual in a really unaffected way which is rare these days with more acoustic music.

Sirene – Walk Alone

Another track that starts off sparse and builds carefully and beautifully to this gorgeous soft electro climax. Lovely production and great vocals.

Schillaci Death Stare – Old Hat Apathy

Nice and heavy but also a real indie bop, I can imagine sweating along to this in some dark dingy basement venue

Silent-K – Doorstep

This is just plain fun. I was searching for a descriptor for this track’s off-kilter new wave sound & then discovered the band describe themselves as ‘wonky-punk/cartoon-funk’ which sums it up perfectly. Once to watch for sure.

Bostock – Accelerated Expansion

Another one I can imagine enjoying somewhere dark and sweaty. Just an expertly made beatsy track with a great build and spot on production.

Toby Corton – Bitterness

Lovely soft twinkly production, this hits that sweet spot between electro, indie, nu jazz and soul. Brings the summer a bit closer & makes me think of long lazy evenings hanging out in parks around London.

Will & Wav – How Can You Say You’re Sorry

Pow! This is amazing. I can imagine blasting this on the stereo playing Grand Theft Auto Vice City with my blazer sleeve rolled up. So many layers of brilliant 80s style pop production. An ice-cream sundae of synth deliciousness.

SLANT – Wallow City

Starts off nice and mellow, builds into something brilliantly unexpected. Love the spoken word part in the middle and the general confrontational vocal style. Great tight songwriting and instrumentation.

TeiFi – Shoda

This really stands out – again, I love it when songwriting is so good it works with very sparse instrumentation, and it’s really cool to hear vocals being played with and put front and centre in this way.

Faithful Johannes – Chazza Shop Song

I love the humour and candour in the lyrics, the dead pan delivery and the subject matter too – clever and authentic and really affecting, I feel like he and his keyboard are sharing secrets with only me

NOPRISM – Turn The Wheel

Delicious squelchy electro in the vein of Justice but through a laid back 2022 kaleidoscope. Tightly produced and perfectly polished.

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. LOOSE ARTICLES – Chaos
2. SHARON LAZIBYRD – Quand Je Vue Le Monde
3. SIRENE – Walk Alone
4. SCHILLACI DEATH START – Old Hat Apathy
5. SILENT-K – Doorstep
6. BOSTOCK – Accelerated Expansion
7. TOBY CORTON – Bitterness
8. WILL & WAV – How Can You Say You’re Sorry
9. SLANT – Wallow City
10. TEIFI – Shoda
11. FATHFUL JOHANNES – Chazza Shop Song
12. NOPRISM – Turn The Wheel

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.