The Covers

As mentioned in this week's episode, here's the three posts for the covers I make for the online catch ups.

Shows 1 to 7
Shows 8 to 14
Shows 15 to 21

99% Invisible - A Few Choice Episodes

As mentioned on the show this week I have a great love of the podcast 99% Invisible, which is a 20 minute-ish podcast dedicated to design, engineering, and the stories behind them. It's a really impressive narrative lead podcast, and one that I have used, despite it's dissimilar style, as a template for my show - mostly it's professionalism, sound style, and Roman's style of engaging the listener.

I have slowly, over the past six months of doing my show, realised that I could probably do something similar about the things I enjoy, like mapping, roads, infrastructure, and maybe if my life was in a different phase (ie: not about to have my first child) I'd seriously consider starting work on one. I think that instead I might slip in a few features to the Monday Graveyard to test this - a back door pilot, if you will. I'll probably add them to the end of the show as a podcast extra.

Here are five of my favourite episodes of 99% Invisible, which you will find on their site here along with all their previous episodes. Seriously, it worth going back over them all, they're all brilliant.

EPISODE 97 - NUMBERS STATIONS
EPISODE 23 - YOU ARE LISTENING TO
This is the episode that I actually referred to this week's show - it has two of my favourite episodes. One about the Numbers Stations phenomenon, and the second episode which features You Are Listening To, the site that gave me the inspiration for the LAPD episode.


EPISODE 83 - HEYOON
This episode is one where I actually listened to it all the way through again after the first time - it's a wonderful story about a place, forbidden to the public, that was used by that same public, and a legend grew around it. It has a few twists, so I won't spoil them, but I love this episode a lot.

EPISODE 77 - GAME CHANGER
This actually links to a post I did on my own blog about Basketball (which you can find here) and details the changes made to the game through the implementation of the shot clock, something I dislike but which is adequately explained here. It is a very good episode.

EPISODE 43 - ACCIDENTAL MUSIC OF IMPERFECT ESCALATORS
Another episode mentioned in this week's show, this one focuses on the sounds and noises made by cities that are a part of what makes a city... a city. Or that city. It's a wonderful story too, featuring plenty of noices and squeaks that are amusing.

EPISODE 33: A CHEER FOR SAMUEL PLIMSOLE
This episode is one which I now use as an anecdote when seeing a ship - it is about a small design feature, found on all ships (that I've seen since) that shows whether or not it's over loaded. And yeah, it is a really good story too.

But seriously, just go and listen to them. As a short podcast that you can stream from the site or download to your Generic MP3 Device, go and have a listen. And yeah, Roman's music aligns with the music on my show, which is nice.

Announcement: Special Shows in May

As Promised...

I have a really exciting announcement that if you were listening live to the show last night you'll have already found out - May is the month of guests. So far I have got two friends of the show lined up to come in and chat and share music.

MONDAY 5TH MAY
CHRIS NELMS
Host of the Echolalia Radio show on Pulse and ZerO DeGraff on Future Sounds Chirs is someone who not only is an inspration for the professionalism of the show that I aim for, also helped me out starting on the live broadcasts. Known on his shows for experiemtanl and eclectic choices, he loves ambient and drone, and will be in to chat and discuss his musical choices.

Echolalia Radio on Mixcloud
ZerO DeGraff on Mixcloud

MONDAY 26TH MAY
FRAGILE X
Hidden away artist Fragile X featured back on the Monday Backyard show. Based in Glasgow and about to release his new album in May, FX will be in to have a bit of chat, display his new wares, and play some really choice cuts from his selection of music. Also, his taste is impressive - check out his Cult Zeroes series on Mixcloud to see what I mean.

Fragile X on Mixcloud

Upcoming Shows

Thought I might shed some light on a few shows coming up in the next month. Might as well, eh?

Monday 31st March
Show 17 - Normal Show. 
This show is nothing "special", but still will have a lovingly crafted selection of ambient and electronic music. I think it'll be a nice return to the normal show runs after last week's LAPD episode.

Monday 7th April
Show 18 - "Neoclassical Show". 
This shwo will feature soundtrack, neo-classical, classical and other artists in that similar vein. If you've got any suggestions let me know.

Monday 14th April
Show 19 - "North Americana".
This show will be featuring artists from the US and Canada exclusively, which gives me a reason to play some of my favourite drone artists. Look out for some excellent new stuff too from some unheard artists.

Monday 21st April
Show 20 - Normal Show, but prerecorded. 
This show will be prerecorded, as I am in Reading on a training course, and as such won't be live. Sorry about that. Will be a normal show without any special reasons.

As ever, if you have anything that you think I should play or listen to email the show and let me know!

Episode 16 – the Live LAPD Show

The idea for the show is literally taken from the You AreListening To concept. It allows you play both ambient and drone music alongside the police scanners. It was a no brainer, for me, once I had heard the way the voices changed the music and the music changed the voices. The ehteral anonymous soap opera of the concept tickled my fancy.

I had to work out how to do it – was I going to play the random music from the site? Or curate a soothing movie soundtrack-esque playlist? How was I going to get the police on the show? We have no live link in the studio. Would the service let me broadcast? Will it even work!? Who knew?

Well, it did. The curated playlist is below and you can listen again by clicking on the play again button up there or on this link. A wee shapshot of the background behind the scenes work and also how ramshackle the whole thing was.

1. 36 – Ofelia – Shadow Play
2. Rachel’s – An Evening of Long Good Byes – Seleography
3.  Moby – Wait for Me – Wait for Me (Ambient)
4. Deaf Center – Hunted Twice – Owl Splinters
5. Willamette – A Year of Failure, A Year of Fortune – Always in Post Script
6.  Aidan Baker – Closure Operator I – Closure Axioms
7. Hammock – Three Sisters – Maybe They Will Sing for Us Tomorrow
8. Grouper – Being Her Shadow – The Man Who Died in His Boat
9. General Fuzz – Warm Steel – Soulful Ending
10. Winterlight – Suddenly Something Good – Hope Dies Last
11. Benn Jordan – Floating Vacuum – Pale Blue Dot: A Tribute to Carl Sagan)
12.  Library Tapes – Fragment II – Fragmen
13.    Library Tapes – Fragment III - Fragment

If you have any comments, let me know. Here are the people I need to thank:

Eric Erbhardt for the concept. Go here to check it out.

Brodcastify for the feed and the permission.

And 99% Invisible for the inspiration for the show. You should check out Roman’s work; it’s a great micro podcast.

Show 16 - 17/03/14

Got something interesting for you coming up on this Monday's show. More information will follow soon...

For now, here's a teaser.



Image taken from Flickr user: Chris Yarzab under the CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license.
Link to photo

The Micro Label Special #1 - Meet the Labels

On Monday night I had a very special show when in I played nine tracks from a range of DIY/Cassette/Micro labels that deal with ambient, drone and soundscapes. Of course, these labels are small, but they are no less deserving of our praise and time than the larger labels, and in my mind the people behind them are to be commended in running these outlets for fabulous art. To help with this, and to help linking to the show, I have listed the releases and the labels that featured on the show here. Share this around.

If you want to listen to the show it’s going to be available to download later on tonight once I have picked it up from the system.

As an aside, I have a few labels linked in the Friends ofthe Show page which you will find here. And finally, if you’re in love with or are an artist on or you run a label that I will like, contact me and send me your stuff. I plan a second part of this showcase in a few weeks (probably by the end of March).

TARTARUGA RECORDS

I played Glottalstop’s amazing Woodsmoke from the WoodsmokeLP, and it’s available on Tartaruga Records. Find Tartaruga here.

SANGSOPLASMO

I started the show with Circulation of Light’s Winding /Winded cassette. Sangsoplasmo’s a Polish label, and focuses primarily on Polish based drone and ambient, but also releases international artists. You can findSangsoplasmo here.

THIS IS IT FOREVER

The work of Ghosting Season has been on my radar for a while, and they have plent on their Soundcloud to keep you happy. The duo also release music as Worried About Satan. The best thing about This Is It Forever is that they no only release their own stuff, but also work from a range of other artists. This Is It Forever can be found here.

HARMONIC ARTICULATION TAPES

A previous Label of the Week, this new cassette label has several releases coming out this year, as it’s first batch, and the track I played this week was from Komodo Haunts’ new album Earth Dreams, due in the spring. It’s bloody marvellous, and you should bookmark Harmonic ArctiulationTapes for sure.

HOUSECRAFT

Housecraft Records' stuff is GREAT. Seriously. According to my research, the label is run by Xiphiidae artist Jeffry Astin from his home in Gainesville, Florida. The artist I played was Heat Sureens, and you can find Housecraft stuff here.

RANO

A wonderful label, Rano does only limited edition runs, with the mantra of “sought after, not saturated” an amazing ideal to go by. I played Russel M Harmon’s Tragedy Fractures on the show, and you’ll find a shed load ofamazing releases at the Rano homepage here.

SLEEPER BOOKS

Another incredible small label focused on cassette releases, this is the first release on the label, and can be found here.

http://sleeperbooks.bigcartel.com/product/mine-s-not-an-idle-cause

LOW POINT

Low Point is based in Nottingham and focuses on the drone and ambient genres. A wide variety of releases can be found from such artists as Kyle Boddy Dunn, Ex-Easter Island Head and the track I played, by Nickolas Mohana. Find their site with all their releases here.

VENT and SOMEHOW

As mentioned on the show, Tim David Brice tragically passed away recently, and the label that he ran was astonishingly brilliant. Both labels can be found here, and I will keep you updated on the compilation's release. The artist that I played on Monday, Twisted Perspective, submitted an amazing track for the compilation, and it was the End of Day track.

Wednesday Digest 3 (05/02/2014)

Hello everyone and sorry for last week's missing digest article - if you listened live to the show this week, episode 10, or have listened via the Mixcloud, you'll have found out that I was sick all last week and really couldn't sit in front of the computer drafting up a list of the new stuff that had been happening last week. And for that, I apologise. This week however we return to normal service! But before that, here's a few updates on what is happening with the show.

• Firstly, episode ten is online to listen to again via the Listen Again tab on here. All of the shows are here in one place, so that is neat.
• Secondly, you might have missed it yesterday but there is a new Spotify Playlist up with just music - all of the End of Day Tracks taken from the first ten shows (which amounts to eleven songs) can be found in the playlist, which you will find right here.
• Also, did you know about the Monday Graveyard Almanac? Well, this is the depository of all the music played on the show so far (that is available in Spotify, natch). It is always a show behind, so you won't find the most recent show's music there, but it is updated weekly. If you subscribe to the playlist inside Spotify (or Follow It) you can get the music updated directly to your player. Pretty neat. Click here to find out more.
• Finally, next week's show is a special edition focusing on Scottish ambient and drone just as I promised. I'll be drumming up support for the show over the coming few days, so share around the news. Coming in the future there will be Label Specific shows, a non-Scottish UK based show, a Canadian and a Japanese based show, and many more new versions. And maybe (just maybe) some live guests. Oh, and what about a show that's actually just classical music... (!)

Right, onto the Digest...

MARK McGUIRE - New Album Release

Favourite of the show Mark McGuire release his all new album titled Along the Way this week, and it is a blinder. Hit and miss in some instances, his wealth of output is just something to behold. It is available on Dead Oceans and you can stream it on Spotify and buy it from all the usual places. It's quite something.

You can stream a track below as a Youtube video titled "The Instinct" from the album.

FINALLY (big update) another EP thing has appeared on his Bandcamp page which can be streamed from there. Titled Get Me Out of Here I've yet to listen to it.

LOSCIL AND FIELDHEAD - Tour EP release and Stream
Another Monday Graveyard favourite Loscil is on tour this month and kicks things off with gigs alongside Fieldhead - to celebrate this, they've popped a new tour release titled Fury and Hecla out on Gizeh Records that can only be bought at the dual-headline shows listed below. There are a load of Scottish Loscil dates that I've highlighted below.

Stream the two tracks below.






Tour Dates

LOSCIL + FIELDHEAD

07.02.14 - LONDON (UK) | Cafe Oto // SOLD OUT

08.02.14 - LAUSANNE (CH) | Le Bourg

09.02.14 - GENEVA (CH)  | Cave12

10.02.14 - MILAN (IT) | O'

11.02.14 - PERUGIA (IT) | Teatro di Figura

12.02.14 - BOLOGNA (IT) | Freakout

13.02.14 - TURIN (IT) | Blah Blah

14.02.14 - LYON (FR) | Sonic

15.02.14 - PARIS (FR) | L'Espace B

16.02.14 - DEN HAAG (NL) | [F]luister @ Zaal 3

LOSCIL

18.02.14 - ABERDEEN (UK) - The Tunnels (Tickets)

19.02.14 - GLASGOW (UK) - Stereo (Tickets)

20.02.14 - EDINBURGH (UK) - Pilrig St. Paul's Church (Tickets)

21.02.14 - BRISTOL (UK) - Cube Cinema

22.02.14 - NEWCASTLE (UK) - The Mining Institute

23.02.14 - LONDON (UK) - Corsica Studios

PETRELS - New Album "Mima" 

Petrels are GREAT. No, seriously. They are. Their album Onkalo was one of my favourites from 2013 and they've announced a new album will be released on Denovali with preorders starting this month, so preorder here.

You can stream a track titled "A Carapace for Carter's Snort" right here:

Monday Graveyard: End of Day Track Volume 1 Spotify Compilation

At the end of each show, if you’re a keen listener, I play something called the “End of Day Track”, a track I see as a perfect way to take you over the threshold of Monday into Tuesday. The track is meant to be a mixture of chilled out, ambient, and uplifting, a way to sonically embrace the fact that the rest of the week is starting, that time is young, and to signify the privileged position in the schedule I have to end the days programming.

So, now that ten shows have been broadcast it is time to create the first Monday Graveyard: End of Day Track compilation Spotify playlist. Here-in you’ll find eleven tracks (because, if you remember, I played the wrong EODT in Show 9 and then replayed in at the start of Show 10) that will chill you out the most of all the songs I have played. Play the playlist below, or click here to open in Spotify.

I hope you enjoy the show, and listen 11pm to midnight on Mondays on Pulse 98.4 Community Radio, or listen again on the Mixcloud. The original artwork for the playlist is above.

Wednesday Digest 2 (22/01/2014)

Good Wednesday. I hope you're having a great week so far; I know mine has been great. You can listen again to this past Monday's show on the Mixcloud or by clicking here to listen to the show on this very blog. It is probably the most haphazard start to a show, partly due to the technical difficulties, but also due to the music that I played.

Anyway, welcome to this week's Digest of new, music and other things that I deem worthy of posting. If you have anything that you want to appear in the week's digest, email me and I'll endeavour to included it.

TYCHO - Awake Preorder, Tour dates, and a brand new single
The "fourth" Tycho LP is coming out on the 18th of March on Ghostly International and you can preorder the new album here; it comes in a few seriosuly cool formats, namely the neat "biege" 2x 12'' record. I love the artwork, as most of Tycho's artwork is top drawer, especially the Dive artwork.

In addition to the preorder, tour dates were announced. As I like to think of this as being an international blog, here's the link to them, with a few pulled out:

March 26th - The Oval Space - London - ENG, UK - Tickets
April 12th - The Hoxton - Toronto - ON, CA - Tickets
April 29th - Fitzgerald's - Houston - TX, US - Tickets

Finally, a new "single" was released to stream and it's below. Called Montana it really shows what a live band experience Tycho has became. It is good, but I am unsure what to really make of it - I loved the ambient electronic feeling more than the post-rock feeling of his earlier work, so we will just have to see. I have an open mind.

BIBIO - The Green EP
I mentioned this on the show a few weeks back when we played Bibio, but it serves best to link to it here - a new Bibio EP is released next week following from the stunning 2013 album Silver Wilkinson. The new EP will be released on the 28th January on Warp, and you can get it from Bleep here. Watch the video for the track  Dye the Water Green below.

OTTO A TOTLAND - album stream

Otto Totland's first solo album, Pino, can now be streamed from this site here (in French). It is absolutely brilliant, and I am very excited to hear more of it as the week progresses. So far 2014 already has had some great new albums released, and I am already behind. Oops.

TALVIHORROS - Eaten Alive 

Monday Graveyard favourite Talvihorros will release his new album Eaten Alive physically and it is now up to preorder from the Denovali page. I absolutely love the work of Talvihorroros, and it is fantastic to be able to hear more new work from this great artist. 

Listen to the track The Secrets of the Sky from the album below.