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 credit goes to our special guest curator, Norrisette.

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 NORRISETTE

This is Manchester, we do things differently here, and nobody does different quite like Norrisette. If she isn’t climbing out of clams or making cat noises like a Wild Being, she’s collaborating with AI for her track, Whale House.

We had the privilege to check out Norrisette IRL at Bluedot Festival 2022 and, if you’re in the area, you can catch her at Fuel Cafe bar later this month in Withington on 26th May. The stage gets bigger on 8th July when Norrisette plays the Manchester International Festival, supporting Anna Meredith and the RNCM Festival Orchestra. In the meantime, you can catch her latest EP, Weird Party, on 26th May. But for now, Norrisette has picked out some outstanding tracks for the Eclectic Picks…

ARTISTS SELECTED THIS WEEK

1. SHUNYA – Out In The Cold
2. CHISARA AGOR – Hold On To Your Love
3. MISERY PRIZE – On Mute
4. HMS MORRIS – Family Souls
5. THE VANITY PROJECT – Earthbound
6. THAT OLD QUIET LIGHTHOUSE – Janine
7. THE DEEP BLUE – How About It?
8. HARRY HEART – Can’t Be Led
9. LOVE FOR THE PEACHES – I Need a Medic
10. MOUSE – Swarovski
11. ROCCO K – Crazy
12. H22 – The Highest Price
13. ABNORM – Red Lines
14. LEE SWITZER-WOOLF – I Only Talk To God When I Think I’m Dying
15. WALDO’S GIFT – Everything In Its Right Place

A FEW WORDS FROM NORRISETTE

Thank you to Signal Committee for generously inviting me to curate the Eclectic Picks, and thank you to everyone who submitted this week, I’m sorry not to be able to include more but these 15 tracks really spoke to me. I hope they stay with you too.

I should preface this list that I’m a Manchester-based DIY electronic artist, producer and composer so my choices will definitely reflect that, but I’ve tried to push myself into new territory as well to encapsulate the breadth of the Fresh On The Net listener base. I don’t regret spending three nights choosing this selection for you! Hopefully it will lure you into a world beyond genre and leave you with a few earworms. These tracks are all so different, but they have something in common – all of them have a bold character, raw energy and intriguing message that struck me on the first listen, and lingered with me on the second, third and fourth. Simplicity can be deceptive I think – it’s a hard thing to achieve without sounding too obvious or like another artist. 

There are some familiar references in there from my own electronic playbook, but it is really refreshing to me to learn so much from artists operating in repertoires that I’m not as familiar with. There’s also at least a few Manchester artists in here who have built something of this city into their sound. We start inside Shunya’s bewitching snowglobe which reminds me of Radiohead and Sylvette but still offers something completely fresh and authentic, then move to Chisara Agor’s intricate, stirring, declamatory artistic landscape. We travel through songs that stretch the potential of the indie genre, to the avant-garde edge of dance music with nods to SOPHIE and Charli XCX from Mouse and Rocco K, and end with a beautiful tearjerker from Lee Switzer-Woolf, then Radiohead themselves in the form of an utterly wild rework by Waldo’s Gift. 

STEP 1 – LISTEN

Listen to this weeks Eclectic Picks playlist using your weapon of choice below:

SOUNDCLOUD

[SPOTIFY LINK TO FOLLOW]

After 7 days, the playlist will be updated with the next batch, and this week’s picks will be added to the 2023 playlists below.

STEP 2 – SPREAD THE WORD

Do you ever think, or hear people say, “there’s no good music any more”? Maybe they aren’t looking in the right places. Prove them wrong:

• Subscribe to the playlist
• Listen in each week
• Tell your friends
• Shout on social media

The more people listen to this playlist, the more exposure unsigned artists receive. So spread the word!

STEP 3 – MUSIC VIDEOS?

Music is great. Music videos are better. Keep the momentum going, send any music videos our way and, if we’re in a good mood, we’ll add the best ones to our music video playlist here.

ARCHIVE PLAYLISTS

The playlists above are updated weekly, then added to the playlists below:

2023 Playlist: Soundcloud | Spotify

2022 Playlist – Soundcloud | Spotify

2021 Playlist – Soundcloud | Spotify

2020 Playlist – Soundcloud | Spotify

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:

• Del Osei-Owusu, aka Platinum Mind and fellow FOTN moderator, is happy to consider submissions for the Songbird Sessions, a 1 hour show for The Songbird HQ on Islington Radio. Just email Del with a bio and MP3 to del.owusu@gmail.com
• Joe Figueira of North Manchester FM, apply with MP3, short bio & twitter handle by e-mail to joefigueira@yahoo.co.uk)

If you are are radio presenter/DJ looking for someone to do all the hard work for you in filtering out the more alternative tunes hitting the FOTN inbox each, week, just give Signal Committee a shout!