Spotify Playlist Lockdown Roundup

While we are all locked down we thought you might want to listen back to some of the Spotify playlists for All Ears over the past three years:

Jan 19th 2017

Carsten Nicolai, Rock Steady, 70s Lounge, Contemporary Piano, Hansa Studios, Ambient Outdoors – playlist

Feb 16th 2017

Gondwana Records, Nordic Soundtrack, African Beats, Kraut Rock, Gil Scott-Heron, Matthew Herbert  – playlist

Mar 16th 2017

Desert Blues, ~Scape Label, Hendrix Anniversary, Bristol Sound, Sound As Art, Gamelan – playlist

Apr 20th 2017

Geir Jenssen, Progressive D&B, Persian Psych, Modern Classical, Lo-Fi Anti-folk, Systems Music – playlist

May 18th 2017

Absurdists, Ryan not Bryan, Roots Reggae, Sarah Records, Alva Noto & Sakamoto Film, PAN label  – playlist 

June 15th 2017

Italian Soundscape, Stereolab, Pop Genius, Contemporary Harp, Hip Hop Jazz Encounters, Godspeed You Black Emperor – playlist

July 20th 2017

Pauline Oliveros, Freezing Hot, David Sylvian, Super Fly, Boiling Cool, Progressive House – playlist

Sept 21st 2017

Erased Tapes, Joan Baez, Afrobeat, Tom Waits, Riot Grrrl, Rhythm & Sound – playlist

Oct 19th 2017

Modern Classical, Tru Thoughts, Fat Possum Records, 1979, Jonathan Richman, Dabke – playlist

Nov 16th 2017

Plaid, Music For Buildings, Catarina Barbieri, Post Modernism, Hauntology – playlist

Jan 11th 2018

Cumbia, Spoken Word, Guy Stevens, Kutiman, Chumbawamba, Martin Hannett – playlist

Feb 15th 2018

Robyn Hitchcock, Country Got Soul, Welsh Psychedelia, Sound Led Films, Baggy, Mike Patton – playlist

March 15th 2018

Four Tet, Three Kings, PJ Harvey, Shabaka Hutchings, Zaire, East Coast v West Coast – playlist

April 19th 2018

Post-punk funk, Simon Fisher Turner, Mark E Smith, Rozi Plain, Loyko, Sparklehorse – playlist

May 17th 2018

Kate Bush, Woodstock, Bjork, Poetry/Spoken Word, Northern Soul, Keith Jarrett – playlist

June 21st 2018

Mr. Scruff, Tim Burgess, Funny guy can sing, Rai, Neil Halstead, Ween – playlist

July 19th 2018

Lee Scratch Perry, Qawwali, Rodriguez, Mark Kozelek, French Synth Pop, 12k Label – playlist

Sept 20th 2018

Leaf Label, Harry Smith Anthology, CocoRosie, Japanese Innovation, Captain Beefheart, Soulwax – playlist

Oct 19th 2018

DJ Koze, Miles Davis, Ted Stevens, Billie Holiday, Eno collaborations, Deepchord – playlist

Nov 15th 2018

Astral Jazz, Female Voice, Ornithaudiology, Film & Music Play, John Lydon, Fence Collective – playlist

Jan 17th 2019

Daisy Age Hip Hop, Jazz Rock 1971, Sitar, Spoken Word, Trip Hop, UK R&B – playlist

Feb 21st 2019  

Susumu Yokota, John Foxx, 2 Tone, Gene Clark, Clash In Dub, Thurston Moore – playlist

March 21st 2019

Prepared Piano, Nick Drake, Celtic Connection, William Burroughs, Boards of Canada, Bad Seeds – playlist

May 16th 2019

Field Music, Mark Eitzel, West Africa, Film Music, Neneh Cherry, New UK Jazz – playlist

June 13th 2019

Art School Bands, Erland Cooper, Northern Soul, Jazz Harp, Canterbury Scene, Bill Fontana – playlist

July 18th 2019

Drone, Sheffield Scene, Covers’ originals, Jazz Funk, Classic Rock, Brooklyn anti-folk – playlist

Sept 19th 2019 

Roisin Murphy, Youthful Exuberance, John Prine, Doo-Wop Girl Groups, Prince, Dub Reggae – playlist

Oct 17th 2019 

Music from Melbourne, Under African Skies, Bonzos, Roy Ayres, The Damned, XTC – playlist

All Ears 028 – 17th Oct 2019

This is what we played:

You can find most of the tracks on this Spotify Playlist.

Music from Melbourne – Tom Beesley

This evening’s opening set explores the diverse range of music emerging from Melbourne, Victoria state capital in Australia. Long ignored by Australia’s own music industry, a long-standing DIY culture has helped promote a fresh cross-discipline approach from a range of recent artists including Courtney Barnett and Sampa the Great.

Avant Gardener – Courtney Barnett
OMG – Sampa The Great
Any Day – Sampa The Great
Energy – Sampa The Great
Slow Jam 1 – King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Suit of Armour – Danika Smith
Kush/Divide- SO.Crates
Through the Dust – The Seven Ups
Coming For You – Milwaukee Banks
No Time To Waste (feat. Rromarin) – Milwaukee Banks

Under African Skies – Steve Parker

In 1988 the BBC sent a documentary film crew to Africa to trace music that was becoming popular in UK under the “World Music” banner and being championed by John Peel and Andy Kershaw on their radio shows. The documentary “Under African Skies” aired on BBC2 in 1989 with episodes covering music from individual countries; Zaire, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Mali and Ethiopia. Much of the music in the series was recorded live on location and we present some of those tracks in their studio recorded format.
Tonight, we feature Papa Wemba and Tshala Muana both from Zaire, Bhundu Boys from Zimbabwe, Aster Aweke from Ethiopia and The Rail Band from Mali.
The visuals are taken from footage taken from the BBC documentary filmed in Mali.

Viva Chinhoyi – Bhundu Boys
Esclave – Papa Wemba
Sanankoro moriba – Rail Band
Wolela – Aster Aweke
Tshibola – Tshala Muana
Konowale – Rail Band

Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band – David Grice-Ellis

The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as The Bonzo Dog Band) was created by a group of British art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelic pop with surreal humour and avant-garde art, the Bonzos came to the public attention through a 1968 ITV comedy show, Do Not Adjust Your Set.

Cool Britannia – The Bonzo Dog Band
Rawlinson End – The Bonzo Dog Band
The Young Ones – Vivian Stanshall with Kilgaron
My Pink half of the Drainpipe – The Bonzo Dog Band
Noises For The Leg – The Bonzo Dog Band
Mr Apollo – The Bonzo Dog Band
Canyons Of Your Mind – The Bonzo Dog Band
Tent – The Bonzo Dog Band
Kama Sutra – The Bonzo Dog Band
Narcissus – The Bonzo Dog Band
Slush – The Bonzo Dog Band

Roy Ayres – Duncan Cooper

Roy Ayers is best known for a pioneering set of jazz-funk albums recorded in 1970s Los Angeles. His sound was distinguished by the use of the vibraphone (electric xylophone) and funky breaks that formed the raw sample material for the hip-hop generation 10 years later. Prolific in their output his band, Roy Ayers Ubiquity, also penned soundtracks to blaxploitation movies. Well into his 70s he continues to tour, playing Glastonbury earlier in the year.

Rhythms Of Your Mind – Roy Ayers
A Tear To A Smile – Roy Ayers
Running Away – Roy Ayers
When Is Real, Real? – Roy Ayers
Ebony Blaze – Roy Ayers
Evolution – Roy Ayers
He’s A Superstar – Roy Ayers Ubiquity
Papa Was A Rolling Stone – Roy Ayers

The Damned – David Grice-Ellis

The Damned, formed in London in 1976, and comprising of lead vocalist Dave Vanian, guitarist Brian James, bassist (and later guitarist) Captain Sensible, and drummer Rat Scabies. They were the first punk band from the UK to release a single, New Rose, in 1976. They had nine singles that charted on the UK Singles Chart Top 40.

Neat Neat Neat – The Damned
Prokofiev – The Damned
Smash It Up, Parts 1 and 2 – The Damned
13th Floor Vendetta – The Damned
New Rose – The Damned
Under The Floor Again – The Damned
Tailspin – The Damned
Love Song – The Damned

XTC – Simon East

XTC were formed in Swindon in 1972. Led by songwriters Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding, the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s. Because the band’s songs veered from angular guitar riffs to perfect pop songs they achieved only sporadic commercial success. Partridge’s stage fright caused them to stop touring after 1982. Their Todd Rundgren produced 1983 album Skylarking was greeted with indifference at the time but is now considered a classic and made it onto the Pitchfork list of 100 best albums of the 80s in 2002.

This Is Pop? – XTC
New Town Animal In A Furnished Cage – XTC
Meccanik Dancing (Oh We Go!) – XTC
When You’re Near Me I Have Difficulty – XTC
No Language In Our Lungs – XTC
All Of A Sudden (It’s Too Late) – XTC
Gold – XTC
Wake Up – XTC
Earn Enough For Us – XTC
Poor Skeleton Steps Out – XTC
Books Are Burning – XTC

All Ears 027 – 19th Sept 2019

This is what we played:

You can find most of the tracks on this Spotify Playlist.

Róisín Murphy – Simon East

Róisín Murphy is an Irish singer-songwriter and record producer. She first became known in the 1990s as one-half of Moloko with her partner Mark Brydon. After the breakup of Moloko, Murphy embarked on a solo career. Her debut solo album, Ruby Blue, was co-written and produced with Matthew Herbert. Her third album, Hairless Toys, was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.

Fun for Me – Moloko
Overpowered – Róisín Murphy
Don’t You Agree? (feat. Róisín Murphy) – David Byrne & Fatboy Slim
Evil Eyes – Róisín Murphy
The Time Is Now – Moloko
Incapable – Róisín Murphy
Sing It Back (Herbert’s Tasteful Dub) – Moloko

John Prine – Tony Lewis

John Prine is an American country folk singer songwriter. Following service in West Germany with the U.S. armed forces Prine moved to Chicago in the late 1960s working as a mailman and singing songs as a hobby. A young journalist Roger Ebert wrote a review praising the 23 year old after hearing him sing a set of his own songs at the Fifth Peg Chicago folk club in 1970. He won his first Grammy for the 1991 album, The Missing Years, and joined the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003. His songs have been recorded, amongst others, by Johnny Cash, Bette Midler and Bonnie Raitt, and he is one of Bob Dylan’s favourite writers.

Sam Stone – John Prine
Spanish Pipedream – John Prine
Angel From Montgomery – John Prine
Hello In There – John Prine
All the Best – John Prine
Souvenirs – John Prine
The Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness – John Prine & Nanci Griffith
In Spite of Ourselves – John Prine & Iris DeMent
House Of Strombo – John Prine

Prince – Gareth Heaton

Prince Rogers Nelson, aka His Royal Badness, aka The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, aka The Purple one, aka The Filthy Funkster. This Genre spanning multi-instrumentalist released 39 studio albums over almost 4 decades and was rumoured to be sitting on almost 100 more at the time of his death in 2016.
Prolific. Purple. Prince.

My Name Is Prince – Prince
I Wanna Be Your Lover – Prince
Uptown – Prince
When You Were Mine – Prince
I Would Die 4 U – Prince
Let’s Go Crazy – Prince
Paisley Park – Prince
7 – Prince
Sign ‘O’ the Times – Prince
Black Sweat – Prince
Kiss – Prince
Gett Off – Prince

Doo Wop Girl Groups – Georgie Richmond

In the late 1950s a female voice was emerging in popular music. The “girls” were moving into the spotlight. Songwriters and record producers began to take notice as something new was in play. With their simple yet deeply romantic lyrics about love and heartache they offered sweet vocal harmonies that rivalled their male counterparts. The lady doo woppers were in town and they owned it!

Give Him A Great Big Kiss – The Shangri-Las
He’s So Fine – Remastered 2000 – The Chiffons
Born Too Late – The Poni-Tails
Playboy – The Marvelettes
Baby It’s You – The Shirelles
Lollipop – The Chordettes
Mama Said – The Shirelles
Remember (Walkin’ In The Sand) – The Shangri-Las
Why Don’t They Let Us Fall in Love – The Ronettes & Veronica
I’m Blue (The Gong Gong Song) – The Ikettes
Needle In A Haystack – The Velvelettes
I Wanna Love Him So Bad – The Jelly Beans
Foolish Little Girl – The Shirelles
My Boyfriend’s Back – The Chiffons
Mr. Lee – The Bobbettes

Youthful Exuberance – Gareth Heaton

As a musician ages they grow, they develop their songwriting ability and their musicianship, they experience life and they find their groove, they get more fans and more money and make more music. But are they as good as they were when they were kids? Are they ever that good again? Can penmanship and musical ability ever really trump the pure spark of creative passion seen in a supposedly inexperienced youth? You be the judge. All the songs in this set were written and recorded whilst the artists were 21 or younger.

Ro Ro Rosey – Van Morrison
Blowin’ in the Wind – Bob Dylan
Wuthering Heights – Kate Bush
Love Buzz – Remastered – Nirvana
Anarchy In The UK – Sex Pistols
Fight For Your Right – Beastie Boys
You Really Got Me – Mono Mix – The Kinks
Gangsters – 2015 Remaster – The Specials
Caught By the Fuzz – Supergrass
Fix Up, Look Sharp – Dizzee Rascal
I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor – Arctic Monkeys

Dub Reggae – Tom Beesley

By the late 60s In Jamaica’s home-grown recording studios, the likes of Coxsone Dodd and Lee Perry were making their own effects boxes and turning the mixing desk into another instrument. King Tubby, Prince Jammy and Scientist would explore a new spatial soundscape through Reggae and music would never be the same again.

Money Money – Horace Andy
Dunza Dub – The Aggrovators
Deliver Me – Yabby You
Deliver Dub – King Tubby & Yabby You
Rockers Almighty Dub – The Aggrovators
First Generation – King Tubby
Dematerialise – Scientist
God Is Watching You – Yabby You
King Tubby’s Rock – Yabby You
Chapter Three – Joe Gibbs and The Professionals
I’m All Right – Keith Hudson
Skylarking Dub – Barrington Levy
Dangerous Match 9 – Scientist
Nuh Skin Up Dub – Keith Hudson
Lambs Bread Herb – King Tubby
Chant Down Babylon Version – The Prophets Allstars

All Ears 026 – July 18th 2019

This is what we played:

You can find most of the tracks on this Spotify Playlist.

Drone – Tom Beesley

Drone based music and singing – the use of a sustained sound, note or tone – is likely to date back millennia, just think of the history of chanting, the didgeridoo or even the bagpipes. However, for this selection I’ve chosen a number of drone tracks emerging from the experimental electronica field over the last fifteen years.

Inamorata – Oren Ambarchi
Occam I – Eliane Radigue and Rhodri Davies
Signal to Noise II – Robert Henke
A Meaningful Moment Through a Meaning(less) Process – Stars Of The Lid

Original Covers – John Lumbus

Throughout the history of pop music cover versions have been a mainstay of the charts. Many covers are of songs that have already been hits for other artists, but occasionally the cover version gains wider public recognition and higher chart success than the original recording. Spanning five decades of popular music from various genres, this selection of songs pays homage to the artists who recorded the original versions of chart hits and includes recordings from Otis Clay, Arrows and Robert Hazard, amongst others.

Hound Dog – Big Mama Thornton
Twist And Shout – The Top Notes
Don’t Leave Me This Way – Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes
The Only Way Is Up – Otis Clay
Tainted Love – Gloria Jones
I Think We’re Alone Now – Tommy James and The Shondells
I Love Rock ‘N Roll – The Arrows
I Will Always Love You – Dolly Parton
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – Robert Hazard

Classic Rock – Emily Muirhead

I remembered my love for rock while in the States this year – I knew the words and the air guitar moves for most of the songs played on Classic Rock FM. I was transported back to my teenage years and reminded that music is for celebration and laughter and singing really loud!

Thunderstruck – AC/DC
What’s Up? – 4 Non Blondes
Gimme Three Steps – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Life In The Fast Lane – Eagles
Walk This Way – Aerosmith
Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting) – Elton John
Go Your Own Way – Fleetwood Mac
You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC

Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation – Jeremy Lewis

Formed in 2003 and blending Victoriana imagery with all things trashy and lurid, Thee SPC is an independent record label that set out to prove there’s more to Sheffield than synthesizers and to give a voice to the underground scene. “What boys and girls really want is guitars and lots of them. Fast and bulbous unbridled guitars that twang, buzz, feedback, squeal, howl and go ‘Waaaaaaaah’ at you.”

Long Blonde – The Long Blondes
Heartburn Heartattack – The Ape Drape Escape
Like Him + Her + Her + Me – Champion Kickboxer
Yer Actual – Smokers Die Younger
Audition – Balor Knights
The Beautiful Light – Slow Down Tallahassee
Dirty Rotten Soul – Nat Johnson And The Figureheads
Martin – Monkey Swallows The Universe
Sex On Fire – The Bon Bon Club
Love Doesn’t Just Stop – Standard Fare

Junk: When jazz musicians discovered Funk – Clive Lebrunn

The 1970s was a decade of major exploration for many jazz musicians, incorporating elements of funk and early electronic sounds into their recordings. This musical expansion and adaptation to incorporate more electronic instrumentation lead to what is now described as jazz-funk.

Inside You – Eddie Henderson
Tragic Magic – Nathan Davis
Big Blow – Manu Dibango
Hang Up Your Hang Ups – Herbie Hancock
Always There – Ronnie Laws & Pressure
Life on Mars – Dexter Wansel

Seth Faergolzia – Jeremy Lewis

New York antifolk weirdo Seth Faergolzia is a flamboyant visionary with a penchant for bending minds. The wild and experimental mastermind behind Dufus, 23 Psaegz, Forest Creature and Multibird draws comparisons to Captain Beefheart and Mr. Bungle; but look behind the surface absurdism and you find a peerless, oddball muse who represents a genre unto himself.

Silly Baboon – Dufus
Whenland – Seth Faergolzia
Tutu – Dufus
Freedom – Dufus
Better Days – Seth Faergolzia
Wrinkle – Dufus
Oh, Carrots! – Seth Faergolzia
Garbage Night – Seth Faergolzia
Zaftalong Gubi Guby – Dufus

All Ears 025 – 13th June 2019

This is what we played at All Ears 025:

You can find most of the tracks on this Spotify Playlist.

Videos of all the Bill Fontana tracks can be found here.

Bill Fontana – Simon East

Bill Fontana is a sound artist. He attended the New School for Social Research in New York and studied both music and philosophy. In a career spanning 40 years, Fontana’s sound sculptures use the urban environment as a source of musical information, conjuring up visual imagery in the mind of the listener.

Sonic Dreamscapes – Bill Fontana
Primal Sonic Visions – Bill Fontana
Shadow Soundings – Bill Fontana
Desert Soundings – Bill Fontana
Harmonic Bridge – Bill Fontana

Erland Cooper – Rachel Sedman

Erland Cooper is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist and producer originally from Stromness, Orkney. As a solo artist, he released the critically acclaimed album Solan Goose in 2018 on Phases. He is also the frontman of British bands The Magnetic North and Erland and the Carnival, with whom he has released five critically acclaimed albums. Cooper was born and raised on the Scottish archipelago of Orkney and now owns a London recording studio.

Bonxie – Erland Cooper
Cattie-Face – Erland Cooper
First Of The Tide – Erland Cooper, Benge
Lump O’ Sea – Erland Cooper
Sillocks – Erland Cooper
Spoot Ebb – Erland Cooper, Anna Phoebe
Sule Skerry – Erland Cooper, Astra Forward, Hiroshi Ebina
Whitemaa – Erland Cooper

Northern Soul – Hayley Cooper

In defiance of chart music, a youth subculture called Northern Soul saw 1970s working class kids from Northern England travel hundreds of miles to squeeze into dancehall all-nighters: drug fuelled clapping, stomping and high-kicking to a sound that’s since become praised as the older brother of the early rave scene. There is no real American genre called Northern Soul, it was created by the dancers and DJs on this side of the Atlantic. In contrast to Motown, the music was raw and unpolished; tracks were obscure flops or had been unreleased in the US. There are fewer strings and harmonies. But the most important thing is, it is dance music. Fast and furious.

I Got to Find Me Somebody – The Velvets
Tainted Love – Gloria Jones
Come On Train – Don Thomas
Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) – Frank Wilson
Gonna Be a Big Thing – The Yum Yums
I Got to Find Me Somebody – The Velvets
I Surrender – Eddie Holman
If This Is Love (I’d Rather Be Lonely) – The Precisions
Landslide – Tony Clarke
Lay This Burden Down – Mary Love
The Night – Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
There’s A Ghost In My House – R. Dean Taylor
Turnin’ My Heartbeat Up – The M.V.P.’s

Jazz Harp – Rachel Sedman

Alice Coltrane was born in 1937 in Detroit. She was an American jazz musician and composer, and in her later years a swami. One of the few harpists in the history of jazz, she recorded many albums as a bandleader, beginning in the late 1960s for Impulse! and other major record labels. She was the second wife and the widow of jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane.
Dorothy Ashby was born in 1932. She was an American jazz harpist and composer. Hailed as one of the most “unjustly under loved jazz greats of the 1950’s” and the “most accomplished modern jazz harpist,” Ashby established the harp as an improvising jazz instrument, beyond earlier use as a novelty or background orchestral instrument, proving the harp could play bebop as adeptly as the instruments commonly associated with jazz, such as the saxophone or piano.

Journey In Satchidananda – Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders
Afro-Harping – Dorothy Ashby
Shiva-Loka – Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders
The Look Of Love – Dorothy Ashby
Blue Nile – Alice Coltrane

Canterbury Scene – Duncan Cooper

The Canterbury sound was an early 70s precursor to prog rock combining elements of folk, jazz, classical, psychedelia and rock. Or alternatively, a bunch of long-haired men with guitars, keyboards and too much time on their hands. It centred around the sudden explosion of a group of everchanging and overlapping bands from Canterbury in Kent, hell bent on improvisation and pushing the boundaries of rock.

Pataphysical Introduction, Pt. I – Soft Machine
Om Riff – Gong
Fugue in D minor – Egg
Going Up To People And Tinkling – Hatfield & The North
Notwithstanding – Gilgamesh
The Isle of Everywhere – Gong
Hazard Profile, Part 1 – Soft Machine
I Never Glid Before – Gong

Art School Bands – Simon East

A selection of bands whose members went to some well-known UK Art Schools: Goldsmiths, Glasgow School of Art, Leeds University, and Central St. Martin’s.

The Universal – Blur
Limit To Your Love – James Blake
Perfect Couples – Belle & Sebastian
Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
Good Fortune – PJ Harvey
To Hell With Poverty – Gang Of Four
Sorted For E’s and Whizz – Pulp
Bad Girls – M.I.A.
Rock the Casbah – The Clash

All Ears 024 – May 16th 2019

This is what we played:

You can find most of the tracks on this Spotify Playlist.

Marion’s playlist of videos for the Film Music set is here.

Tom’s playlist of videos for the New UK Jazz set is here.

Field Music – Simon East

Field Music are an English band from Sunderland, formed in 2004. The band’s core consists of multi-instrumentalist brothers David and Peter Brewis. The brothers also record as solo artists: David as School Of Language, Peter as The Week That Was. Peter appeared on Paul Smith’s (of Maximo Park) solo album. Both David and Peter have also worked with the Warm Digits.

A New Town – Field Music
Old Odeon – Paul Smith & Peter Brewis
Let’s Write a Book – Field Music
Working To Work – Field Music
Tell Me Keep Me – Field Music
Elements of the Sun (BBC Live Version) – Field Music & Warm Digits
Disappointed – Field Music
Checking On A Message – Field Music
Poor Boy – School Of Language

Mark Eitzel – Steve Parker

One of the most celebrated and idiosyncratic American songwriters of his generation, Mark Eitzel is best known as the leader of the iconic San Francisco based indie rock band American Music Club, who spun beautifully chaotic webs of guitar from Eitzel’s gloomy but compassionate studies of lost souls and alcohol. He has also released solo records and his witty but downcast lyrical style has remained constant. We present solo and AMC songs tonight.

Gratitude Walks – American Music Club
Always Turn Away – Mark Eitzel
All My Love – American Music Club
Western Sky – Mark Eitzel
Blue And Grey Shirt – Mark Eitzel
Gentle on My Mind – Mark Eitzel
Move on Up – Mark Eitzel
All the Lost Souls Welcome You to San Francisco – American Music Club

Sahel – John Walley

A selection of music from the western Sahel region of Africa. The Sahel is the biogeographic zone of transition in Africa between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian Savanna to the south. The western Sahel includes parts of Mauritania, Mali, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Chad. The music of this region has been described by Sahel musicologist Christopher Kirkley as “having a certain heaviness – the word ‘hypnotic’ is thrown around a lot, but it is appropriate in this case”.

Yer Mali Gakoyoyo – Ali Farka Toure
Ruby – Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate
Senegal Fast Food – Amadou & Mariam
Seydou – Salif Keita
Naima – Angelique Kidjo
Dunya Salam – Baaba Maal
Birima – Youssou N’Dour

Film Music – Marion Payne

A selection of some of my favourite theme tunes, or pieces of music, from a wide variety of films.

Convoy (C W McCall, 1978)
The Piano (Michael Nyman, The Heart Asks Pleasure First, 1993)
Slumdog Millionaire (A R Rahman, Jai Ho, 2008)
Ryan’s Daughter (Maurice Jarre, 1970)
Sunshine on Leith (The Proclaimers, Sky Takes the Soul, 2013)
Intouchables (Einaudi Ludovico, Fly, 2011)
The Trap (Ron Goodwin, 1966)
The Painted Veil (Alexandre Desplat, River Waltz, 2006) The English Patient (Gabriel Yared, 1996)

Neneh Cherry – Steve Parker

Neneh Mariann Karlsson (born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, occasional DJ and broadcaster. Neneh performed in a number of punk and post-punk bands in her youth, including The Slits (when her stepfather, jazz trumpeter Don Cherry, was touring with them and took the 15-year-old Neneh along) and Rip Rig + Panic. She has released five studio albums under her own name. Her first, Raw Like Sushi, was released 1989 and the latest album, Broken Politics, was released in 2018, the track Kong that closes the set is from that latest album.

Everything – Neneh Cherry
Manchild – Neneh Cherry
Buffalo Stance – 12” Mix – Neneh Cherry
Kisses On The Wind – Neneh Cherry
Woman – Heavy Guitar Mix – Neneh Cherry
Kong – Neneh Cherry

New UK Jazz – Tom Beesley

Following the resurgence of interest in live music and the increasing influence of Colleges of Music in the UK, it was perhaps inevitable that a new generation of jazz musicians would emerge, combining influences from dance/urban/bass culture with a sophisticated level of musicianship and portraying skills honed through many hours of improvisation and collaboration.

Straight To The Point – Mansur Brown
Mind’s Eye – Joe Armon-Jones & Maxwell Owin
New Heights (Visions of Aisha Malik) – Kamaal Williams
Lost Kingdom – Nubya Garcia
Summon The Fire – The Comet Is Coming
Love Is The Message (Live at Abbey Road) – Yussef Dayes X Alfa Mist
You Can’t Steal My Joy – Ezra Collective
Morley Bottoms – Emma-Jean Thackray

All Ears 023 – 21st March 2019

This is what we played:

You can find most of the tracks on this Spotify Playlist.

Tom’s playlist of videos for the Prepared Piano set is here.

Prepared Piano – Tom Beesley

The initial use of the ‘prepared piano’ is generally attributed to John Cage and involves adding objects or materials to the piano in order to change the sounds that the instrument makes. Importantly, all the interventions need to be reversible without damaging the piano. Examples here include pieces by Cage, Kelly Moran, Haushka and Aphex Twin.

Sonatas n. 1, 2, 3, 5 for prepared piano – John Cage
Jynweythek – Aphex Twin
Improvisation – Hauschka
Mount Hood – Hauschka
Limonium – Kelly Moran
Entrada – The Bowed Piano Ensemble
Prepared Piano – Brian Saia
Marbles on a Piano – Saher Galt

Boards of Canada – James Tate-Smith

Evocative mournful sample-laden downtempo music often sounding as though produced on malfunctioning equipment excavated from the ruins of an early-’70s computer lab hazy sound of smeared synth-tones and analog-decayed production carried by patient sleepwalking beats aching with nostalgia and reinventing elements of psychedelia through the deliberate misuse of technology manufactured by Grundig and soundtracks of 70s wildlife documentaries.

Gemini – Boards of Canada
The Color Of The Fire – Boards of Canada
Everything You Do Is A Balloon – Boards of Canada
Dayvan Cowboy – Boards of Canada
Telephasic Workshop – Boards of Canada
Iced Cooly – Boards of Canada
Split Your Infinities – Boards of Canada
Gyroscope – Boards of Canada
Dandelion – Boards of Canada
1969 – Boards of Canada
Hi Scores – Boards of Canada
An Eagle In Your Mind – Boards of Canada
Aquarius – Version 3 – Boards of Canada
One Very Important Thought – Boards of Canada

Bad Seeds – Gary Winters

Initially assembled in 1983 from the ashes of previous groups The Boys Next Door and The Birthday Party, The Bad Seeds are a polymorphous, pan-continental grouping of musicians around Australian singer songwriter Nick Cave. Some dead, some departed, and some having temporary or fleeting associations, there have been fifteen musicians (each perhaps worthy of their own All Ears set) that can call themselves ‘bad seeds’.

Hymnen – Einsturzende Neubauten
Rising Below – Dirty Three
Still Smiling – Teho Teardo, Blixa Bargeld
Empty Eyes – Teenage Jesus & The Jerks
The Breaking Hands – The Gun Club
Son of Stand Up – The Triffids
Now’s the Time – Gallon Drunk
Der Karibische Western Die Haut
The Illusion of the 7th Hymn (Hafler Trio Re-Arrangement) – Barry Adamson, Pan Sonic, The Hafler Trio
If I Should Die – Anita Lane
Frankie T. & Frankie C. – Mick Harvey
I Trust You Had a Good Time – Suzie Higgie & Conway Savage

Celtic Connection – Jimmy McDonald

My wee set showcases indie/rock – both old and new – from the South West of Scotland. Bands from Kilmarnock feature alongside acts who have appeared at the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow and a couple of old stalwarts get their place too.

The Captain – Biffy Clyro
Charm School – Fatherson
Hammer Song – The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
I Wish I Was Sober – Frightened Rabbit
Three Bulleits – The Temperance Movement
Be Good to Yourself – Frankie Miller
Ghosts – Lau
Many Of Horror – Biffy Clyro

Nick Drake – James Tate-Smith

The archetypal doomed musician, Nick Drake recorded several albums of delicate folk music in the 1970s that sold badly and played sparsely attended gigs before his death at the rock and roll age of 27 from an apparent suicide. His influence has grown steadily over the years with several musicians including Robert Smith, David Sylvian and Peter Buck acknowledging his influence and a tribute song, Life in A Northern Town. On early albums Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter he worked with producer Joe Boyd. The final album, Pink Moon, was a much sparser solo affair.

Northern Sky – Nick Drake
Thoughts Of Mary Jane – Nick Drake
Been Smoking Too Long – Nick Drake
Time Of No Reply (Orchestrated Version) – Nick Drake
From The Morning – Nick Drake
Mayfair – Cambridge Version – Nick Drake
Cocaine Blues – Nick Drake
At The Chime Of A City Clock – Nick Drake
Hazey Jane II – Nick Drake
Saturday Sun – Nick Drake

William S. Burroughs – Gary Winters

Born in 1914 to a wealthy family, he graduated from Harvard, cut off his finger and offered it to a boyfriend, wrote alongside the beat poets of 1940s, and didn’t take a bath or change his clothes for a year. His common-in wife Joan was shot and killed in a bar in Mexico and he fled, started to shoot paint cans as works of art, thought teaching was more hassle than it’s worth, and was exorcised by a Sioux medicine man in 1992.

Twilight’s Last Gleamings – William S. Burroughs
Joujouka, Pt. 1 – The Master Musicians Of Jajouka
Origin And Theory Of The Tape Cut-Ups – William S. Burroughs
Recalling All Active Agents – Brion Gysin
The Priest” They Called Him” – William S. Burroughs & Kurt Cobain
In Mexico The Gimmick Is To Find A Local Junkie With A Government Script – William S. Burroughs
Baboon – William S. Burroughs & Bill Frisell
The Green Nun – William S. Burroughs
Dr. Benway Is Operating In An Auditorium Filled With Students – William S. Burroughs
Dr. Benway’s House – William S. Burroughs & Sonic Youth
Origin And Theory Of The Tape Cut-Ups – William S. Burroughs
Silver Smoke Of Dreams – Ian Sommerville & William S. Burroughs
Meeting Of International Conference Of Technological Psychiatry – William S. Burroughs
The Exterminator – William S. Burroughs & King Khan
When Did I Stop Wanting To Be President – William S. Burroughs
What Washington? What Orders? – William S. Burroughs
Uranian Willy – William S. Burroughs, Dub Spencer & Trance Hill
Curse Go Back – William S. Burroughs
Benway – William S. Burroughs

All Ears 022 – 21st Feb 2019

This is what we played at All Ears 022:

You can find most of the tracks on this Spotify Playlist.

Simon’s playlist of videos for the Thurson Moore set is here.

Susumu Yokota – Simon East

Susumu Yokota (1961 – 2015) was a Japanese composer. He was well known in the English-speaking independent music scene for his albums of experimental ambient music, including albums like Sakura. He also released several highly regarded albums of house music.

TOBIUME – Susumu Yokota
song of the sleeping forest – Susumu Yokota
Sleepy Eye – Susumu Yokota
Do Up – Susumu Yokota
Plantation2 #Hipnosis – Susumu Yokota
Ritalin – Susumu Yokota
Reflux – Susumu Yokota
Saku – Susumu Yokota

John Foxx – David Grice-Ellis

John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh) is an English singer, artist, photographer and teacher. He was the original lead singer of the band Ultravox, with Midge Ure eventually taking his place. Foxx is one of those cult figures known more through the recordings of others rather than those of his own making. His detached vocal style inspired Gary Numan, for example.

My life as an echo – John Foxx and Robin Guthrie
Underpass – John Foxx
Europe after the rain – John Foxx
Dislocation – Ultravox
Young Savage – Ultravox
No one driving – John Foxx
Dangerous rhythym – Ultravox
Hiroshima mon amour – Ultravox
Sunset rising -John Foxx

2 Tone – Jeremy Lewis

Jerry Dammers of the Specials formed the label in 1979, backed by Chrysalis. Bizarrely, bands signed to 2 Tone were allowed to leave after releasing just one single, which led to ska revival stalwarts Madness and The Beat doing just that. 2 Tone was also caught out by Elvis Costello’s former label WEA/Radar, who prevented it by injunction from selling the one-off single he recorded for them. Instead, it was given away for free at gigs and is 2 Tone’s no. 1 rarity; a copy will now cost you about £150. The label was home to The Specials, The Selecter and The Bodysnatchers, driving the ska revival with their politically-motivated, punk-inspired, DIY ethic. Into the mid-1980s, the label attempted to broaden its appeal to include jazz-pop and jazz-funk. It folded in 1986. The label’s logo and name remain as icons of its heyday.

The Prince – Madness
Gangsters – The Specials
Easy Life – The Bodysnatchers
I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down – Elvis Costello and the Attractions
The Feeling’s Gone – The Apollinaires
Run Me Down – The Higsons
X – Rico
Missing Words (live) – The Selecter
Ghost Town – The Specials

Gene Clark – David Grice-Ellis

Harold Eugene “Gene” Clark (1944 – 1991) was an American singer-songwriter and founding member of the folk-rock band the Byrds. He was the Byrds’ principal songwriter between 1964 and early 1966. Although he did not achieve commercial success as a solo artist, Clark was in the vanguard of popular music during much of his career, prefiguring developments in such disparate subgenres as psychedelic rock, baroque pop, country rock, and alternative country.

Eight Miles High – The Byrds
Polly – Gene Clark
No Other – Gene Clark
For a Spanish Guitar – Gene Clark
She don’t care about time – The Byrds
Silver Raven – Gene Clark
Something’s Wrong – Dillard & Clark
I’ll feel a whole lot better – The Byrds

Clash In Dub – Jeremy Lewis

Right from the off, these punk potentates and post-punk pioneers were known for their reggae and ska – be it the audacious cover of Junior Murvin’s Police & Thieves on their eponymous debut album, or the seminal Guns of Brixton, which provided the backbeat and backbone to 1979’s London Calling LP – itself widely regarded as one of rock’s finest albums. Or even the cheeky rendition of the Maytals’ Pressure Drop, for which Messrs. Strummer and Jones commissioned none other than dub maestro Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry as producer. Tonight, we trawl obscure B-sides, US promo 12” singles and tracks buried towards the end of a much-maligned triple LP to present The Clash in Dub.

Version Pardner – The Clash
Robber Dub – The Clash
Radio One – The Clash
One More Dub – The Clash
Justice Tonight/Kick It Over – The Clash

Thurston Moore – Simon East

Thurston Moore is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside that band, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. In 2012, Moore started a new band Chelsea Light Moving.

Smoke Of Dreams – Thurston Moore
Sugar Kane – Sonic Youth
Groovy and Linda – Chelsea Light Moving
Speak To The Wild – Thurston Moore
Teenage Riot (Live) – Sonic Youth
Schizophrenia (Train Sessions) – Thurston Moore