New music post-Peel

[Tom Roche]

At 7:34 AM +0000 10/22/07, peel@yahoogroups.com wrote:
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>1a. New music post-Peel
>     Posted by: "Graham Ward" ward.g@... fractal204
>     Date: Sun Oct 21, 2007 1:59 am ((PDT))
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>Where do other list members hear their new music in the post-Peel era?


This of course is a terrific question.

Even when I wasn't listening to Peel when he was alive I'd estimate 
that 50%-60% of my music listening time at home was CDs and singles I 
had not heard before. I'd even put on un-auditioned stuff at parties; 
I was that used to exploring the new as a matter of course.

I feel that those of us on this list are united in this way, such as 
when yet another tribute CD comes out with a pile of old stuff and we 
are quick to complain that Peel was about looking forward not looking 
past.

Obviously having friends my age go home and put on The Steve Miller 
Band Box Set is just so aggravating.

Here in the States in the 1980's there was, for years, only a 
half-hour Peel shortwave show to deconstruct. Then came satellite 
delivery of that show, the equivalent AM mono. Then in the 90's came 
friends in London who would tape the show off FM, incl a friend at 
CNN off Tottenham Ct who could ship the tapes back to Atlanta for 
free in their weekly pouch - I work in TV in Atlanta and that was a 
good decade. I got about 6 shows a month that way. Then the first 
webcasts over dial-up, which just were horrible but at least they 
were live. Then broadband and moderately good stereo sound, live at 
the dinner hour, wired into the kitchen stereo and my wife and kids 
would listen while cooking and dining (oh great, Fuck is in session. 
Kids cover your ears.)  I made it through all 6 hours each week 
pretty much without fail.

Then of course silence, and this great hole to fill.

So at first, oddly I DID begin looking back. I bought the biggest 
iPod made at the time and began playing every track of every CD I 
owned in alphabetical order, flagging tracks to go on the iPod. This 
task took almost a year! I had so much stuff I'd played once and 
filed and I found a ton of good "new-in-quotes" stuff right under my 
roof.

At this time I tried listening to Huw and Rob Da Bank but I just 
didn't connect. I tried to care but didn't.

And what I really dove into instead was gospel and African. In 
Atlanta we're lucky enough to have 3 full time black gospel stations 
and yes they play some amount of tepid stuff but quite often brother 
they throw DOWN. And around this time a shortwave favorite from the 
80s and 90's, Africa No 1 from Libreville Gabon began webcasting. 
They are only 30% music programming, but great when you get lucky. 
(African webcasts are very erratic - ANO is rebroadcast in FM in 
Paris and I think this webcast comes from there.) There is also 
http://www.africaninternetradio.com, their stuff is very well chosen 
and current.

And Pandora.com lets you load in a favorite band and it generates a 
sound-alike playlist of similar bands. I loaded in "the Fall" for a 
test drive and heard some good stuff, but I loaded in Kassav (zouk 
maga-stars) and Pandora was like... huh??.

KEXP Seattle has about the best variety of specialist shows in the 
US, and a exceptionally good archive, interface and track display.

It seems that just at the point John passed that podcasting really 
took off. I can highly recommend a podcast called Tribal Editing 
Department, a 2-3 hr per month show of new underground London/US 
dance/club tracks. Dont know much else about it or who the guy is 
hosting it but it is A+

NPR has a podcast, "All Songs Considered" and it is more for the 
Norah Jones / Wilco crowd but there is some interesting stuff there 
if you can stay awake. Radio Paradise is another eclectic but not 
overly adventurous source. Stuff your younger sister would like.

Lastly I'm really surprised no one, or hardly no one here has 
mentioned Tom Ravenscroft's SLASHMUSIC podcast via Channel 4 Radio. 
With Hermeet producing even! They have done 40 (!) shows so far. Tom 
has really settled into a great interesting self deprecating lazy 
energetic style with a buncha A+ stuff that has been out for about 5 
minutes. Sound familiar???



tom in atlanta