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Happy 2024! (via 2023)
Along with catching a cold, this show carries on my tradition (a.k.a laziness to come up with a better idea) of making the first show of the year about the music everyone listened to last year.
(It's a forward-thinking show folks)
Among the feast of audio fruits on offer is some…
- French Gloomytronica!
- Woozy Tunes with Trumpets!
- Cinematic Incongruence!
- Gig Chat!
- Pub Drinks!
- A Mongolian Horse Head Fiddle!
- A Tearful Tune for Christmas Day!
- Garden Ornaments!
and other tasty delights besides.
Happy new year x
(P.S. Just for the record, me & Jonny didn’t make the gig in the end as Jonny was too ill to go and I was still feeling dicey with my cold)
* Here’s the tracklist *
Keg – Presidential Walk
Leonie Pernet – Mon Amour Tu Bois Trop
Nick Hart & Tom Moore – The Colour of Amber
John Barry – This Way Mary
Flat Worms - Orion’s Belt
L'Rain - 5 to 10 Hours a Day (WWwaG)
Les Denis – Ditty
Les Denis – Duvet
Caribou – Irene
Christian Fitness - National Insurance
Chop Chop – Elastico
Khusugtun – Chinggis Khan
Buke & Gase – Medulla Oblongata
Leilia – Boneval
Marigold – Central Station
Leonard Cohen – Thanks For The Dance
Devendra Banhart – Shabop Shalom
Mik Artistik's Ego Trip – Plastic Fox
Jackson Harden - When You Sleep
Keg – Kids
- January 2024 -
* A Van Trip Special *
Join me, Kate and our dog Basil on our summer holiday road trip to Wales via Devon!
This one’s a little different from the usual format. Rather than my standard in-between song waffle, you’ve got various sound recordings and conversations from the trip instead. Also, because I had such a vast number of suggestions to choose from it’s a lot longer and more meandering than previous shows, which hopefully reflects something of the relaxing, meandering nature of the holiday.
* Here’s the tracklist *
Paul Robeson - Land of Our Fathers
The Skatalites - Exodus
Dent May – Meet Me in the Garden
Les Denis – Tablesalt
Armando - Land of Confusion
Cate Le Bon - Puts Me to Work
(Les Denis – Whoa There)
Colorama - Pan Ddaw'r Nos
The Undertones – Here Comes the Summer
The Strokes – I'll Try This Only Once
Fred Neil – Dolphins
Asmaa Hamzaoui, Briat Timbouktou - Lando
Kikagaku Moyo – Green Sugar
Jimmy - Misty
Charlie Chaplin – Smile
Hak Baker – Venezuela Riddim
(Grant Green – Idol Moments)
Dolly Parton – Love is Like a Butterfly
Violetta Villas - Do Ciebie Mamo
Gwenno - Daromres Y'n Howl
The Strokes – Call it Fate, Call it Karma
Elliott Smith – Waltz #2 (XO)
The KLF - Dream Time in Lake Jackson
Молчат Дома - Танцевать
Pau Vallvé - Protagonistes
Paul Simon – I know What I Know
Rozi Plain – Inner Circle
Nalyssa Green - Κοκτέϊλ ΙΙ
Henry Thomas – Going Up The Country
Tom Waits – In The Neighbourhood
Spiritualized – Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Public Service Broadcasting - Take Me Home
* Official Thanks & Official Apologies *
As ever, thanks to all for contributing your song suggestions and letting me use the recordings of our chats (except you Hannah, but Jona gave me Official Permission to use yours so if you’re not happy, it's all his fault). Even though I couldn’t put every song suggested into the show they did still soundtrack our trip as we had everything on the playlist during our travels, so thanks again, and apologies if something of yours didn’t get included in the show.
Apologies also to the bands PATE, Scrotum Clamp and The Prints of Wales for not including any of your live sets from the Devon weekend. Apart from a brief snippet of the evening DJs, I didn’t record anything on the Saturday. That does also mean there’s no record of my banjo playing efforts with The Prints of Wales though so perhaps it was all for the best.
- October 2023 -
The theme this time round is Embarrassments, Excruciations & Guilty Pleasures.
While this had the potential to attract a truly diabolical playlist of non-stop horrific musical suggestions, I think it turned out ok, and may even be listenable on the whole...?
The delights on offer include:
- Confused Heart Attacks!
- Saxophone Swearing!
- Supreme Leading Favourites!
- Relationship Failure!
- Some Truly Dreadful Singing!
- Why I Really Ought To Have Pursued A Career In Producing Boy Bands!
Happy Listening x
- April 2023 -
The first pod for quite a while, and not only is it a long one, but my rusty presentation skills were augmented by a sore throat and cold. It's truly a special episode.
Due to the time gap, it seemed apt to ask for what everyone's been listening to over the last 12 months, which once again turned out to be a hotch-potch of stuff, including:
- Leaping Computer Characters!
- A Mental Health Sing-A-Long!
- Spreadsheets!
- Ridiculous Jazzy Seriousness!
- Unidentified Sounds from Thailand!
- Some Uplifting Sentiments To See You Through The New Year!
- More Than One Reference To Christmas!
Excitingly, there's also contributions from what I would call 'A Special Guest Star'. Most people won't know who he is though so would presumably just call him 'A Guest'.
Happy New Year x
- January 2023 -
Click logo for the Slack City Radio broadcast version
(It's the same show but with jingles, no expletives in the hip-hop numbers, and some extra tunes at the end to pad out the time slot)
By way of doing some spring cleaning, this show features previous tune suggestions I've had in which didn't get played to 'clean out' the backlog as it were.
Doing a show with what could unkindly be called previous rejects may not sound very promising, but I have to say I'm very pleased with the mix of music. Among it's many delights is some rough village punk, star dancing, some anti-war unpronouncability, a temper tantrum instrumental, a lullaby for jeeps, one which goes whoop whoop wah, and some fried onions.
Tasty.
- April 2022 -
This is a companion piece to Podcast No.15
Whereas the main pod plays music left over from the previous shows which was sent in to me, this is a compilation of ones I came up with myself for the various themes which didn't make the final cut.
Hope you like it!
- March 2022 -
As it’s the first show of the year I thought I’d stick to the formula of asking everyone for something they’d been listening to over the previous 12 months.
Among its musical delights are an international and interplanetary mix of pop songs, an acoustic stomach tattooing accompaniment, a live show thwartation, a jazzy symphony, some exclusive home recordings, a cowboy tale from London, and a fair number of animal related songs for some reason.
There's even a film-based quiz included.
Could one possibly wish for more?
As luck would have it, the answer is: Yes! Some DIY voice-over activity! Let me explain…
I had an idea to read out some of the sleeve notes over the top of the final tune of the show but it didn’t sound very good, partly because when I tried doing it I had a heavy cold, but also because I just wasn’t able to read it out very well.
However, it is a nice thing to read while listening to the tune, so perhaps you could do a better job than me of reading it out while it plays…?
If you fancy a go, click below when the tune comes on and have a go!
P.S. You can watch Danny's film mentioned in the pod HERE
- February 2022 -
It's show number 13. Let's hope it's a lucky listen for you as it's quite a long one - one hour and 50 minutes
(Hope that's not too off-putting)
This time the theme is the weather.
I thought I'd experiment with doing a longer one this time to see how it worked out. I also decided to include a tune from everyone who sent one in this time, and some of them are pretty lengthy (although the ping-pong ball solo is mercifully short).
There's a lot of rain in there, but also a fair bit of sun as well. Hopefully it'll leave you feeling warm inside anyway as it's getting a bit nippy out. I've got my thermals on.
- October 2021 -
After recently buying a converted van, I decided to ask those gracious souls on the mailing list to suggest some music to accompany my camping excursions this summer.
There's music to accompany morning camping coffee, evening champagne guzzling, some motorway driving in between and a spot of lawbreaking along the way.
There’s even a couple of potential campfire sing-a-longs: one about freeing your mind, the other about leading a futile life and being close to death – Happy Holidays!
- August 2021 -
Who's in the mood for love..?
Following on from a conversation with my nearest and dearest about why my own music is so unromantic, I thought I'd explore the subject further by asking everyone on my mailing list to suggest something romantic for me to play.
Please note:
If you're looking for a soundtrack for a sensuous, candle-lit night in with that special person in your life, you'd be better off looking elsewhere.
Happy listening x
- June 2021 -
Take your ears on a musical spring-like jaunt through forests, fields and manure heaps!
Frolic gaily with songs both chirpy and miserable about sunshine, rain, bird migration, insects, sex, allergies and vegetables!
Symphonic offerings! Broadway showbiz! Flamenco desperation! Brain squashing!
Oh yes - it’s all included in another sonic jumble of stuff sent in by the glorious Pumpkin listening community.
Unlike spring, I can't guarantee the podcast will bring greater warmth and sunshine into your life. However, it's quite possible it'll make your day seem longer.
Happy listening.
- April 2021 -
As is now traditional, the first podcast of the new year features some favourite tunes listened to last year chosen by myself and the wider Pumpkin Community(™)
Among the curious delights on offer is some sprawling hip hop, sad sobriety, trad English folk, cinematic lo-fi, joyful vibraphones, a couple of fruity numbers, two songs about hats, and the perfect companion for some cheerful family curry eating.
(P.S. The management would like to offer an official apology to Giles for mixing him up with the other Giles on the mailing list. Just to clarify - the Giles who contributes to this show has no connection to the Les Denis collective)
- February 2021 -
Happy Christmas!
I thought I'd attempt an Xmas themed show, with contributions once again from the magnificent pumpkin community.
It's festive, but not overly so.
(P.S. I forgot to say what the 'expensive' tune is. If you're curious it's The Snow Doesn't Fall by The Aislers Set)
- December 2020 -
This one's on the theme of cover versions!
As suggested by the magnificent pumpkin community.
As usual it’s another jumble of stuff, some of it tuneful, some a little out of tune, and there’s even one with no tune at all.
Nick's piano documentary link is: https://vimeo.com/204219787
Also I've done a spotify playlist of the original song versions here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6eorbY17mGYCZCXIAErDvP
- November 2020 -
After spending 3 days in Dieppe, I decided to do a French themed show.
Unlike my previous shows it doesn’t have any of me doing my usual amateur DJ commentary and is just music with the odd little interlude of short recordings I made while wondering around, sitting at bars and cafes, and failing to get some sleep on the ferry each way.
There are a couple of non-French numbers in there but as I first heard them on French radio, that’s good enough for me.
Bonne Écoute!
- September 2020 -
A show of instrumentals picked by the LC Pumpkin community.
Includes music to help lift the spirits, keep you freely improvised, wistful, po-faced and to keep the kids entertained in the car while visiting brothers-in-law in the Netherlands.
- August 2020 -
Another mish mash of music selected by those on the mailing list. There's some Zam Rock, Polish Funk, Folk, Punk, Ambience, Electronics, a chirpy sing-song and *Exclusive Recording* of a world famous diva, whose music we all know but don’t necessarily think much of.
- July 2020 -
This one features various tunes I’d been listening to at the time.
There’s a mixture of chirpy toe-tappers, some wistful ones, an artificially intelligenced choice and an old scratchy record.
- June 2020 -
Another hotch-potch of musical recommendations from members of the LC Pumpkin community, featuring vintage hip-hop, a pop flop from the 1980’s, a god-blessed haunted banger, family friendly robotic music, child unfriendly metal noise, one of Tom’s Italian charity shop buys, and an optionally long jazz/poetry workout from Charlie.
It also includes the added bonuses of a spinning microphone and a sleeping dog.
- January 2020 -
I decided to ask some friends and those on my mailing list to suggest a tune they’d listened to over the previous 12 months they thought was worth sharing and give a short explanation why.
What came back was a mish-mash of stuff including psych punk, sensitive balladry, an acid house banger, experimental pub rock from Sheffield, and one from an airline promotion record found in a charity shop.
There’s also a couple of nice segments with my friend Julie who pretends not to slag off my merchandise, and Laurie who was getting festively sloshed on mojito’s in the garden of a Christmas party.
- January 2019 -
If you'd like to contribute podcast suggestions, have future shows sent to your inbox along with other music news & free stuff, tell me where to send them below and I'll be in touch.
