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.

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 WILL FARR

This week’s curator is one of our regular curators, Will Farr. Will’s sound isn’t easy to pigeon hole but it can be abstract, minimalist, kinda-techno, tongue in cheek, some of those things, none of those things. Will is another prime example of some of the great underground acts lurking in the shadows of the Falmouth, Bristol SSW Coast music scene. Turns out he has a good ear for scouting for talent in the inbox too.

If you made the cut this week, don’t just thank Will with words, check out some of his tracks here instead. It’ll mean a lot more to you if you got the nod of approval from someone on your wavelength.

A FEW WORDS FROM WILL FARR

Yowzers! 

The FOTN inbox term started on Monday, and we haven’t even started our Eclectic Picks homework yet.

Who can possibly save the day when everyone is at Fresh on the Net Live?

Someone who has squirreled themselves far away from polite society, in the proper South West, of course.

It’s me. It even says me at the top.

September is an important month for the real life music industry. Venues in university towns across the country have had to cater to locals and tourists for the last two months, and now they are competing for the attention of “Freshers” and returning students. What will win them over? Cheap booze, social media marketing campaigns, or good music? I don’t really want to know the answer. Also, for most, festival season is over and it’s a time to reflect and push things forward for next year. I’ve seen a lot of mediocre performances over the last few months, and have been told that this is because I have been standing in the wrong places. I’ll take it onboard, I could plan my time better/at all, but this sounds somewhat like victim shaming. If the bar to getting a festival gig was set higher, there wouldn’t be any mediocre music. Bands would be playing their guts out every performance and pushing the limits of their musicality and songwriting, and there wouldn’t be DJs playing peak time sets who can neither mix well, nor select tracks into a coherent journey. There are AMAZING artists out there in every genre, and there is no reason why these artists can’t fill every stage across the world. I’ll work it out and fix it, but would love to hear your thoughts. Bitching aside, I’ve witnessed inspirational performances from commercially successful artists this summer. Whilst not always new music, it was my first time seeing Mokoomba, Viagra Boys, Scaler, LCD Soundsystem and Baxter Dury on the stage. All totally different, but captivating throughout. Which brings us mercifully closer to this week’s Eclectic Picks:

1. Geography Of The Moon – Pick It Up (And Put It Down): Cool slouchy indie-pop. Super simple in construction with meaningful writing, all tied together by perfect vocal delivery. Steady as she goes.

2. Janet Devlin – Daddy: I think this deserves to be a future feminist anthem and I don’t have anything bad to say about it. I can’t believe this wasn’t in the Fresh Faves this week. Biting tongue-in-cheek country pop from an artist who should have greater exposure than social media allows.

3. Five Minute Pop Promo – All I Need: I’m very secure in my underground electronic DJ status, however I can’t help but make shapes the second this track starts playing. It’s got all the secret ingredients to be a complete banger and listening is the only explanation required. Are ‘friends’ eclectic?

4. MARKETPLACE – Edroom: Show me show me show me… I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love The Cure, so sounding like them has to be a compliment. I’ve been unable to find out much about them other than they seem like nice smiley people and perhaps live on the coast. Most importantly, they’ve submitted a great track which I’ve been happy to listen to repeatedly.

5. Vasi – CANTBUYMYLOVE: The Boomtown Bobbies have the best sound system at Boomtown, and I’m lucky enough to get to spend a few days up against those speaker stacks, seeing what they do to the eager bodies on the packed mud below. I am quite well placed to say that CANTBUYMYLOVE would tear up that dance floor quicker than a supercharged rotivator. Super tight production and perfect levels and I love the transition from broken beat to 4/4. I’d like it to be longer, and it has a really weird abrupt ending, much like this sent.

6 Peter McDonnell – Blue Inside: From a music production point of view, this is an absolute delight and I won’t get tired of listening to it. It sounds as though it was composed from the sheer joy of doing so, and with total confidence. Excellent stereo effects, and no effort has been wasted here. 10/10.

7 Pulses – Annecy: I really like Pulses generally and Annecy is my favourite release so far. It does just the right amount of work to be included in a DJ set and work with other tracks without being too over the top or dominating. I love music like this, and it so often gets overlooked critically because it lacks any silly gimmicks. I can imagine this in Panorama Bar when they crack the shutters and allow a little sunlight in for a second, just as the 3min 12sec drop happens.

8 GO VOLTA – Wake Up! It’s Another Day: I’ve not previously picked any tracks like this or Vasi’s CANTBUYMYLOVE, and now two have shown up in the same playlist. In my mind they share a spirit of purpose and are very much bassline led. I’m totally into this, and it needs to get pumped out onto a packed dance floor through a high quality rig. It definitely benefits from the vocals, which are perfectly recorded and lacking in any hint of fromage that can often ruin tracks like this (for me).

9 Alien Alarms – @moloch: Ah yes. I usually like to end my playlists with something perplexing, challenging or genre-bending. Get in the studio and do what you want, that’s basically my blueprint and probably why I enjoy this so much. I think it speaks for itself. 

10 W^ – THE GUARD: Another Will using medical field recordings, that’s just what I need. This sounds like I could have made it, and I’m vain enough to love that. Parts of this track are oddly out of time and that means I can listen to it over and over again whilst my brain tries (and fails) to unpick it. Contains a recording of a patient monitoring system still used in some ITU departments, and formally used in anaesthetic simulation OSCEs at university. The sound fills me with abject dread, well done.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the playlist. Please reach out to the artists and tell them your thoughts and feedback. Tell me how I’m doing, or I’ll keep doing this. Share this around, because to do so myself would be neither English nor ‘underground’.

Also, get out this week and go and see an artist you’ve never heard of in a venue you’ve never been to. You’ll get a great story even if you hate it, and you might help keep an aspiring artist in work.

I’m sorry for rushing my homework x

ARTISTS SELECTED THIS WEEK

1. Geography Of The Moon – Pick It Up (And Put It Down)
2. Janet Devlin – Daddy
3. Five Minute Pop Promo – All I Need
4. MARKETPLACE – Edroom
5. Vasi – CANTBUYMYLOVE
6. Peter McDonnell – Blue Inside
7. Pulses – Annecy
8. GO VOLTA – Wake Up! It’s Another Day
9. Alien Alarms – @moloch
10. W^ – THE GUARD

STEP 1 – LISTEN

Listen to this weeks Eclectic Picks playlist on Soundcloud here.

After 7 days, the playlist will be updated with the next batch, and this week’s picks will be added to the 2024 playlist 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. If your video made the list above, post a youtube link to it below 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 annual playlists below:

2024 Playlist: Soundcloud

2023 Playlist: Soundcloud | Spotify

2022 Playlist: Soundcloud | Spotify

2021 Playlis: 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 trustthedoc@demerararecords.com

If you are are radio presenter/DJ and want to be added to the list above, just give Signal Committee a shout!