Every week the team individually pick tracks that make up the listening post but there are always “ones that got away”.

These are the alternative picks and some words by our moderators on each one. You can find the tracks in one playlist here.

Artists featured this week:

SKIES UP
INEBARO
ABS
ROISIN QUINN
BABY MAKER
MALALEXIT
PRZDNT
THE RUTAN
RICHARD BRINCKLOW
RICHARD PIERCE
HONEY AND THE BEAR
RADARBASE
CALUM BAIRD
DOMINIC CRANE
LEMONADE SIN
PARK DAYS

ALAN DREEZER:

SKIES UP – WAITING FOR

My track of the week is an excellent trance like track reminiscent of Everything But The Girl which is a huge compliment.

INEBARO – ALIKE

This duo’s 3rd release is a thoughtful piece of Electronic pop reminiscent of Aquilo, one of my favourite artists.

DEL OSEI-OWUSU/PLATINUMMIND:

ABS – Them (+Me)

This is a track that starts off quietly it perculates, with layered harmonies and boy when it hits the chorus it’s anthemic. ABS is touring and I can imagine with a live band with THOSE DRUMS? It’s going to be wild!

ROISIN QUINN – The Shame

Roisin brings a cockney feel to rap on this over a jazzy funk groove… Again her harmonies are killer! On the top of this the lyrics seem like a bit of a confessional, with a bit of a look inside and saying what has really happened to her. The lyrics are dark but it shows how much has changed.

GRUBBY:

BABY MAKER – Inguhlund

Groovy and experimental, I loved that chunky beat and the characterful vocal – such an original, unpredictable sound.

MALALEXIT – Quit and Survive

The funk is strong with this one. Great atmospherics and a hypnotically layered track

JOHN MICHIE:

PRZDNT – Mood For Your Love

The song has some really excellent shifts in groove which always keeps you wondering where it is going to go next. Jazzy bursts and a really funky bass throughout. That’s before we get to the hazy, nostalgic vocals.

THE RUTAN – Take It Easy

This one keeps evolving in a mesmerising way. Set over a bossa nova rhythm that occasionally slips into a carnival-like beat, it makes great use of sound scaping. Elements drift in and out, often pushed deep into reverb, while spoken samples surface unexpectedly. As it develops, the track settles into a compelling groove. A genuinely creative piece.

NEIL MARCH:

RICHARD BRINCKLOW – Dogfight

This is an intriguing piece of imaginative, harmonically sophisticated contemporary Jazz dominated by sumptuous piano exploration and underpinned by a repeating electronic buzztone. A lot of thought and musicianship has gone into this track.

RICHARD PIERCE – Articulate

Norwich’s alternative poet laureate captures what so many are feeling about the rapid onset of AI and related stuff as he sets his hard-hitting lyrics to an ambient electronic backdrop. ‘Read a book, not a machine’ he pleads several times. Crikey, there’s a novel thought! Boom Boom!

SHARON PEARCE:

1 HONEY AND THE BEAR – Close to the Edge

A soft folk track built on rich vocal harmonies and a flowing melodic feel, reimagining Suffolk folklore in a way I really like – quietly curious, with a subtle sense of yearning between sea and shore.

RADARBASE – Something Beautiful

An upbeat electronic pop track with a strong rhythmic feel and singalong lyrics, which stands out for its infectious, feel-good energy.

Sheena Cameron

CALUM BAIRD – Discovery

A powerful and rousing vocal, with an anthemic punky folk narrative style reminiscent of Billy Bragg. A strong song, with evocative imagery exploring the emotional impact of place and time. There’s a lovely mandolin part which brings the song to a close.

DOMINIC CRANE – So Moseley

Catchy, melodic and literate pop with a nostalgic charm. Dominic’s vocal moves through the song with effortless ease, and there’s a quality to it that reminds me of fellow Birmingham singer-songwriter, Stephen Duffy (The Lilac Time) and also Glenn Tilbrook.

TONY HARDY:

LEMONADE SIN – Hold The Frame

Notwithstanding the clue in the title, “Hold The Frame” immediately made me think of things cinematic. This dream pop offering with its coy vocal interplay would sit very nicely in Twin Peaks. It is from a new themed album called Nothing For A Pair which has nothing to do with Bruce Forsyth but comes up trumps in my book. Lovely trumpet too.

PARK DAYS – I Don’t Wanna Try

I warmed to the simplicity and freshness of this breezy pop track. It wraps itself round you with the familiarity of that guitar strum in the verses, has a neat and equally tuneful bridge and ends on a note of bright resolution. The songwriter is reluctantly on the cusp of making a change and maybe he really has gotta try now.