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, Larkhall.

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 LARKHALL

Larkhall is a relatively new face to Freshonthenet with his track, Time of Flight, appearing on the Eclectic Picks back in May under the watch of the guest curator that week, ‘Party On Machine Planet Zero’.

Every now and then we hear not just good music, but great music, and Time of Flight was one of those tracks that really stood out. A predominantly piano led piece, but expertly wrapped in a modern guisse reminiscent of Nils Frahm. So check out, Time of Flight, and if you like what you hear, put a reminder in your calendar for this Friday (24th June), when Larkhall’s new album, ‘Say You’re With Me’, will be available online in all the usual places!

Bottom line, we wondered, what would a piano wizard pick for the Eclectic Picks? Check the playlist out below to find out…

A FEW WORDS FROM LARKHALL

What an honour to be able to curate the Eclectic Picks on the week of my album’s release! It’s a great experience to listen to so much incredible music, in such a wide variety of styles and genres. I found it especially interesting as a composer to be on the other side of the table, so to speak. Every track represents someone’s best work, and so much time and attention to detail crafting, performing, recording, mixing— and I love that Freshonthenet exists to give independent musicians an equal shot at your ears. That said, there were definitely some things that stood out: it’s hard to generalise but the tracks I picked felt like they had something to say that matched the length of the track. They managed the textures in the track expertly, developing them in unexpected ways and times. While some have a more retro vibe, they all felt relevant to the current moment in some way. When choosing a few favourites from among this many tracks, something really has to be “differently great” in order for the track to stand out. Here are my finds, all of which achieve this in one way or another. The Eclectic Picks for this week:

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. POETICAL NADZ – Lose (Prod. by Mark Goble Music)
2. LESMANA VILMI – I Won’t Give Up
3. WYSE- Belladonna
4. DISTRICT 13 – Step Into The Fire
5. MAN OF THE MITCH – Rosanna
6. THE SKELETON DEAD – I Used to Think
7. STELIOS KYRIAKIDIS – Agalia (Embrace)
8. TREVAS – Peony
9. HARVEY CAUSON – Vertebrae
10. OKTOBA – Rigmarole
11. PINFEATHER – Moonlight Glow
12. FINNEGAN TUI – The Guard
13. DAN WHITEHOUSE – Campfire
14. JOSH GEFFIN – Will You Come Back From The War?
15. TOM HOUSTON – Dining By Myself
16. DAVID STANLEY – Live Your Life – Andreas Polydoros/David Stanley
17. ALMOST W/FEELING – The Sisyphean Reward
18. SUN, MOON & TALIA – Shallow Pools
19. GABRIEL MORENO – We Can Write England All Over Again

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.