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, Lucas Gil.

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 LUCAS GIL

Lucas Gil is an artist we came across when we first starting scouring the world of independent music on Twitter, loving his synthwave track Escape. His passion lies in electronica and ambient, which is captured majestically in his most recent EP, Exosphere, and from which Octophonic has produced a sublime remix of Energy. Aside from producing his own music, Lucas has been honing his craft as a radio presenter, producing his weekly show, ‘Supernova’, dedicated to independent music. Supernova was sadly paused late 2022, which segues nicely into…

SPECIAL EDITION – ECLECTIC PICKS PODCAST!

A special treat for this week’s Eclectic Picks! Lucas Gil has come out of retirement to produce a one off special edition episode of his Supernova radio show come podcast!

ARTISTS SELECTED THIS WEEK

1. JUSJIM – Iris
2. BECAH – Checkmate
3. WARE – The Apprentice Pillar
4. SILK GOAT THIRTEEN – Space Return
5. LOST SIGNAL – Does Not Compute
6. MICHAEL DONOGHUE – Everyone Achieves
7. CHRISTOF R DAVIS – Outside The Wind Blows…
8. AUGUST – Never Give Up
9. GHØSTMACHINE – Particles
10. GOODNIGHT – Am I An Animal?
11. LUKE MOORE – The Gravity Of A Moment
12. ALIEN ALARMS – The Machine Of Death
13. CH’LU – The Sound Of Waking
14. MATT STEADY – Deep Calls To Deep
15. BOUDICCA’S BASS SERVICE – Cobra

NB. Ain’t No Stopping By Pimlican also made the cut, but the track has since been removed from Soundcloud

A FEW WORDS FROM LUCAS GIL

I am super excited to present you with my Eclectic Picks this week. I have been following the playlist for a few years now and I must say, I was a bit worried as sometimes it’s hard for me to find tracks that would perfectly suit my particular music taste. But not this week! I can say that this week is quite the opposite. Many tracks to choose from, but I have managed to get a few of my favourites for the list.

• JUSJIM – Iris

Bristol based James Vine embarks on his solo career with a fantastic new sound. Having masters in Computer Science allowed him to experiment with technology and sound. This track is definitely one of my favourites here this week, and if this is the direction he’s going, I cannot wait for more!

• BECAH – Checkmate

Emerging from Lurgan in Northern Ireland, inspired by Jeff Buckley and MUSE, BECAH graces us with her tender yet powerful vocals backed by electronic synths and electric guitars. There’s a true depth to their music. Definitely the one to watch.

• WARE – The Apprentice Pillar

This band was originally formed in the 80s and now reconnected through the internet. ‘The Apprentice Pillar’ is a closing track from their 2022 album ‘Star Catalogue’. Headphones on, breathe in and out and enjoy the voyage. I am so glad to discover this album!

• SILK GOAT THIRTEEN – Space Return

Super mysterious Silk Goat Thirteen describes themselves as ‘an anonymous alter ego’. And this track adds to the mystery. Who are they? When can we hear more? This track reminds me a little bit of music from Michael Donoghue. 

• LOST SIGNAL – Does Not Compute

Lost Signal has been known to me for a while. This time he’s back under the moniker of Matt in Bits. ‘Does not Compute’ is a fantastic track and a great piece of electronic music. Name ‘Lost Signal’ has references to Parkinson’s Disease. Dopamine, which paths are blocked by the disease, normally carries vital signals around our bodies so the symptoms of Parkinson’s are the result of a lost signal.

• MICHAEL DONOGHUE – Everyone Achieves

Now, I might be called biased for choosing this track, as I am a huge fan of Michael Donoghue, but I don’t care. Michael has produced some of my favourite independent electronic tracks in the past few years. Based in Jersey, Michael has a wide range of tracks in different styles under his belt. His latest creation is an ambient EP ‘Island’, which is just pure joy to my ears.

• CHRISTOF R DAVIS – Outside The Wind Blows…

This track is a great marriage of ambient and classical music. Perfect to wind down after a long day. Christof is a nominated composer from the West Midlands and has written for films, theatre, television and games, so you might have heard his pieces before. This track comes from a brand new album called Housescapes.

• AUGUST – Never Give Up

Another Bristol artist on my list is August. This brand new single is pure joy and reminds me of Baby D. They are describing their style as a futuristic alternative soul with dark yet emotive quality, infused with an undercurrent of UK dance music and genre bending sounds. YES for me!

• GHØSTMACHINE – Particles

Textural, panoptic journeys from 1’s and 0’s that transcends consciousness, reads Ghøstmachine’s bio. And this couldn’t be more appropriate to describe their music. Particles is an opening track from ‘Digital Dust’ album and this is a part of a journey that is best travelled with headphones on and eyes closed. I have added the whole album to my Spotify already!

• GOODNIGHT – Am I An Animal?

Goodnight is a Manchester/ Lake District freelance composer and one half of The Witch And The Robot. I know, I have chosen another ambient track, but I just could not help but to do so as this track is just beautiful. Taken from his latest EP ‘Bluer’, ‘Am I An Animal?’ is almost magical. It’s a soundtrack to space travels.

• LUKE MOORE – The Gravity Of A Moment

Yes, another ambient track, but I cannot help that there have been so many great ones submitted this week! Luke Moore is a professional composer, arranger and a session musician. This track is taken from his brand new album ‘The Gravity of a Moment’, which is pure amazingness.

• ALIEN ALARMS – The Machine Of Death

I have not heard of Alien Alarms before, however, as soon as I heard their music, it reminded me a bit of Mouse on Mars and their 2004 album ‘Radical Connector’. ‘The Machine Of Death’ is a great track and I’m looking forward to checking out the rest of their music now!

• CH’LU – The Sound Of Waking

Ch’Lu and her ethereal harmonies, conscious lyrics and guitar arpeggiation are the foundation to the signature Cosmic Chanson meets Fairy Folktronica sound. She is of a Romanian/British parentage and her work has spanned thirteen languages. ‘The Sound Of Waking’ takes me to some place else, away from everything that bothers the mind. Reminds me of Santi & Tuğçe.

• MATT STEADY – Deep Calls To Deep

Another “out of this world” sound. This is a reminiscence of great big rock bands like Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple, the guitar is pure joy to listen to and the composition takes you away on a journey. Matt is a Leicester based musician, whose music has a large Celtic component. He plays violin, guitar, fretless bass, uileann, pipes and a few other bits. ‘Deep Calls To Deep’ is his brand new track

• BOUDICCA’S BASS SERVICE – Cobra

Brand new track ‘Cobra’ stays true to her style. I fell in love with the quirkiness and uniqueness of her track ‘Egypt’s Over Here’ previously, and ‘Cobra’ definitely stays in the same ball pit. Combining influences from electronica, psychedelia and dub with her vocals to bring fresh and explorative sound. I’m a fan!

STEP 1 – LISTEN

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

SOUNDCLOUD

SPOTIFY

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:

• Joe Figueira of North Manchester FM, apply with MP3, short bio & twitter handle by e-mail to joefigueira@yahoo.co.uk)
• 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
• Neil March, Trust The Doc Radio Show (5PM BST, Exile FM). Submissions to dptmusicdigital@gmail.com.

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!