After a day, spent lazily listening to Gilles Peterson and Benji B on listen again, yes I like soulful beats. I also am very impressed by Soil and Pimp Sessions, check out the live sessions from the electric proms on Gilles' show. On another positive bit of radio from the last week Mary Anne Hobbs presented a very tasty selection from Flying Lotus.
While in a good link Mary Anne and Virus Syndicate roll into Newcastle on the 23rd November to play Northumbria Uni's Reds Bar courtesy of my old friends at Stropic and their live wing Catastropic.
While I'm on it, I have to say it's now unlikely that the radio show will return in it's old form, though I'm working on a few ideas and we may have something in the new year, after an all too quiet 2007.
4 Nov 2007
29 Oct 2007
Sound Bombing
I just thought these little spheres would be of interest to those that read this blog, although I do have a vague recollection of mentioning them to some before. Anyway the concept is simple a small motion sensor and speaker system that play out a prerecorded piece of audio, the possibilities as they say are endless, a walkway of audio, or even possibly a low tech guerrilla advertising method, you have a radio show to plug? Why not drop one of these babies outside a local club, bar or record shop and advertise to all who enter or pass by. So a sound bomb it is.
I also love the fact that you have to apply to get one, it's not just as simple as just buying them. I'm tempted to add one to my Budda Machine as part of my soul lo-fi audio gadgets.
Meanwhile Dan Hancox has gone and got an interview with the mysterious man known as Burial.
24 Oct 2007
It's better than a cold October morning!
It's been too long, and I say that too often.
I'm gutted to say I had to skip the last heavyweight, and to be honest my attendence at heavyweight is truly shambolic, if it was school my teacher would be writing to my parents by now. I will say now that I will be at the next heavyweight.
So that's Saturday 10th November, starting at 7pm. Should be a good one!
Also looking good is James Holden at the Cosmic Ballroom, for Habit. That one is Friday 2nd, and I'm tempted to pop down for that one.
In the meantime if you want some audio delicacy and fancy something grimey then may I suggest the Lower End Spasm's (Dot-Alt) contribution to the Blogariddim series.
Or if you fancy a mash up then I'm quite liking this one by DJ C. If you want more go visit mashit. In case you're wondering that is a remix of sorts of Ghislain Poirier's new single Blazin' on Ninja Tune.
29 Sept 2007
The Weapon of Choice
A while back now Forward Motion was dominated by the sounds of anticon, and while I won't go out and dismiss Anticon forever, I have to say that I haven't been too interested in what Anticon et al have been up to. Though as always there is an exception to the rule, and in this case the exception is Sixtoo.
When I found out that Sixtoo had a new album out I decided I would check it out, to be honest I don't think I ever thought that it was a risk, because while others have disappointed every so often Sixtoo's releases have always hit the spot, and Jackals and Vipers in Envy of Man is no different. Well actually it is different, the dark brooding melodies are present, and it certainly sounds like Sixtoo, however it just seems ten times heavier than previous efforts, maybe not the proto dubstep of Fear of Flying dub. This heaviness would seem to be in some way related to the prominence of bass at the moment, not that I'll complain about bass' prominence. Anyway back to the point, this album is great, go out and buy it. I'll continue looking forward to new Sixtoo albums. (Whilst researching I noticed that Dan and Alex over at Dot:Alt have analysed the place of anticon in the current soundscape.)
Meanwhile these last two weeks have taken it out of me, mainly for a ridiculous commute that was improved only by Radio 4 (Today, Just A Minute, and PM, to name but a few)and several great mixes on my mobile phone. So thanks to the Faggatronix Push soundsystem promo mix, Prancehall's Anger is a Gift and that old DJ /Rupture Hamburg Radio Mix, which is still amazing.
Soon I'll be also adding this Six Vicious Mix to my phones arsenal.
I did notice an interesting phenomenon on my journeys to Teeside, that of the bastardised bike. Several kids were seen riding around on strangely modified bikes, including an urban penny farthing of sorts, suspension forks and mountain bike front wheel, bmx frame (I think) and stunt pegs and bmx wheel...strange combination to see, if you ask me. Some odd chopper style little girls bikes were also seen.
When I found out that Sixtoo had a new album out I decided I would check it out, to be honest I don't think I ever thought that it was a risk, because while others have disappointed every so often Sixtoo's releases have always hit the spot, and Jackals and Vipers in Envy of Man is no different. Well actually it is different, the dark brooding melodies are present, and it certainly sounds like Sixtoo, however it just seems ten times heavier than previous efforts, maybe not the proto dubstep of Fear of Flying dub. This heaviness would seem to be in some way related to the prominence of bass at the moment, not that I'll complain about bass' prominence. Anyway back to the point, this album is great, go out and buy it. I'll continue looking forward to new Sixtoo albums. (Whilst researching I noticed that Dan and Alex over at Dot:Alt have analysed the place of anticon in the current soundscape.)
Meanwhile these last two weeks have taken it out of me, mainly for a ridiculous commute that was improved only by Radio 4 (Today, Just A Minute, and PM, to name but a few)and several great mixes on my mobile phone. So thanks to the Faggatronix Push soundsystem promo mix, Prancehall's Anger is a Gift and that old DJ /Rupture Hamburg Radio Mix, which is still amazing.
Soon I'll be also adding this Six Vicious Mix to my phones arsenal.
I did notice an interesting phenomenon on my journeys to Teeside, that of the bastardised bike. Several kids were seen riding around on strangely modified bikes, including an urban penny farthing of sorts, suspension forks and mountain bike front wheel, bmx frame (I think) and stunt pegs and bmx wheel...strange combination to see, if you ask me. Some odd chopper style little girls bikes were also seen.
16 Sept 2007
A Manifesto of Sorts
Well, I'm clear headed after a night that should have seen me out and about at the Other Rooms for Heavyweight, I have to apologise for not going because to be honest things have been a little surreal this last week and it has left me feeling far from 100%. Anyway I have to say I'm gutted to have missed Youngsta.
Next I would like to congratulate Utopia FM who although are on air now with another RSL broadcast, have just been given a community licence for Sunderland, Ofcoms press release is here, nice work. I look forward to it, and hopefully being involved. Interesting to see that Newcastle will now have two community stations. If you want to read about community radio, wikipedia offers some details here.
Anyway on to a related manifesto of sorts, which will be no doubt be interrupted by me laughing at Just a Minute.
Student radio in the UK, in my eyes at least, seems to be in a bit of a squeeze financially, and so the stations seem to be looking at new directions, or seem to be falling at the way side. Online broadcasting seems to be the direction that a few stations have decided to head for, or the other is the community licences as mentioned above in the post. I feel that although both have their pitfalls, it is a great relief that student stations are escaping from the FM RSL broadcasts that dominated student audio media in the UK. These licences crippled student radio, how do you keep a station popular while it is off air for 6 months, you need a dedicated marketting team and a strong promotional campaign, and even that won't do the job.
So what to opt for, well I believe that both will now present challenges to those running the stations in how to create and maintain an audience. If the nations commercial station's are struggling to deal with the challenge of competing with new media sources, what does it mean for the student stations. We, the listener, have access to a huge array of audio, from web only stations specialising in a particular genre, podcasts on demand, or stations that are trying to be a localised station in a worldwide market place.
This is where I reach my key problem facing student radio stations working online alone, that although they have an audience, are they really maximising that audience. A student station operating online only, is not accessible to it's full audience, and even worse I feel will be guilty of alienating any listener who has stumbled across the station by accident, admittedly not as likely as with your FM dial. Online stations are only accesible to the students who have access to broadband, at the library yes, but what percentage of students have broadband at home? In an ideal world, it would be closer to 100% than it actually is. This also raises the question of how the station earns money from advertising without a real hold of the audience.
Cue the advantage of the community licence, you have access to an audience all of the time, through their mobile phones (well the one's that have FM radios), their radios at home, and also at work. It also means that you have access to the wider community of your city or town. And with student reputations constantly being damaged by local media sensationalism, unhappy locals and to be fair poor behaviour, it is a perfect oppurtunity to build bridges within the community. Also, and I hope that this is noted by University marketting departments, if your station is providing something that is local and far more engaging than other commercial stations in your area you can start to attract potential local students to your university.
Though here I draw on a question, one that I can't answer myself. Is a student community station really looking to replicate a commercial staion or is it looking to provide programming for the whole student community?
By this I mean that student radio in the U.K, in my experiences, is certainly dominated, if not totally programmed to the audience of the British music lover, whether that be an indie kid, a hip hop fan, or like Forward Motion when it was on air the electronic/ experimental music lover. And although I cannot deny music does cross borders what I want to know is their a case for student stations to accomodate programming for the more vunerable students those who are in a different country and a new culture, should international students be more strongly targetted by student radio programmers? I think so, and I regret never having tried to push this fact previously. The key issue is accessing these groups and getting them interested in student radio, in doing so I now believe that it would be possible to not only link up with this student community but also similar minority groups in your local vicinity.
What student radio stations now need to do is consider who their audiences are, and how to reach out to the community. Too much time is devoted on air to the same genre, and although the oppurtunity to give a good number of people experience on air cannot be knocked, I think that the need to try and attract a wider community to the station both as an audience and participants is necessary, otherwise community stations will soon become micro commercial stations and is that what is really intended.
I hope some will come and knock my arguements on the head, there are far more points I could make, but let's leave it at that. Community radio can be interesting, look at Resonance, therefore you would hope a station ran by students could offer something just as interesting.
If you want some more community radio related details check this out written by Gregory Whitehead
Next I would like to congratulate Utopia FM who although are on air now with another RSL broadcast, have just been given a community licence for Sunderland, Ofcoms press release is here, nice work. I look forward to it, and hopefully being involved. Interesting to see that Newcastle will now have two community stations. If you want to read about community radio, wikipedia offers some details here.
Anyway on to a related manifesto of sorts, which will be no doubt be interrupted by me laughing at Just a Minute.
Student radio in the UK, in my eyes at least, seems to be in a bit of a squeeze financially, and so the stations seem to be looking at new directions, or seem to be falling at the way side. Online broadcasting seems to be the direction that a few stations have decided to head for, or the other is the community licences as mentioned above in the post. I feel that although both have their pitfalls, it is a great relief that student stations are escaping from the FM RSL broadcasts that dominated student audio media in the UK. These licences crippled student radio, how do you keep a station popular while it is off air for 6 months, you need a dedicated marketting team and a strong promotional campaign, and even that won't do the job.
So what to opt for, well I believe that both will now present challenges to those running the stations in how to create and maintain an audience. If the nations commercial station's are struggling to deal with the challenge of competing with new media sources, what does it mean for the student stations. We, the listener, have access to a huge array of audio, from web only stations specialising in a particular genre, podcasts on demand, or stations that are trying to be a localised station in a worldwide market place.
This is where I reach my key problem facing student radio stations working online alone, that although they have an audience, are they really maximising that audience. A student station operating online only, is not accessible to it's full audience, and even worse I feel will be guilty of alienating any listener who has stumbled across the station by accident, admittedly not as likely as with your FM dial. Online stations are only accesible to the students who have access to broadband, at the library yes, but what percentage of students have broadband at home? In an ideal world, it would be closer to 100% than it actually is. This also raises the question of how the station earns money from advertising without a real hold of the audience.
Cue the advantage of the community licence, you have access to an audience all of the time, through their mobile phones (well the one's that have FM radios), their radios at home, and also at work. It also means that you have access to the wider community of your city or town. And with student reputations constantly being damaged by local media sensationalism, unhappy locals and to be fair poor behaviour, it is a perfect oppurtunity to build bridges within the community. Also, and I hope that this is noted by University marketting departments, if your station is providing something that is local and far more engaging than other commercial stations in your area you can start to attract potential local students to your university.
Though here I draw on a question, one that I can't answer myself. Is a student community station really looking to replicate a commercial staion or is it looking to provide programming for the whole student community?
By this I mean that student radio in the U.K, in my experiences, is certainly dominated, if not totally programmed to the audience of the British music lover, whether that be an indie kid, a hip hop fan, or like Forward Motion when it was on air the electronic/ experimental music lover. And although I cannot deny music does cross borders what I want to know is their a case for student stations to accomodate programming for the more vunerable students those who are in a different country and a new culture, should international students be more strongly targetted by student radio programmers? I think so, and I regret never having tried to push this fact previously. The key issue is accessing these groups and getting them interested in student radio, in doing so I now believe that it would be possible to not only link up with this student community but also similar minority groups in your local vicinity.
What student radio stations now need to do is consider who their audiences are, and how to reach out to the community. Too much time is devoted on air to the same genre, and although the oppurtunity to give a good number of people experience on air cannot be knocked, I think that the need to try and attract a wider community to the station both as an audience and participants is necessary, otherwise community stations will soon become micro commercial stations and is that what is really intended.
I hope some will come and knock my arguements on the head, there are far more points I could make, but let's leave it at that. Community radio can be interesting, look at Resonance, therefore you would hope a station ran by students could offer something just as interesting.
If you want some more community radio related details check this out written by Gregory Whitehead
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