Headsound - Ethan's Bucket - Crown Me King

David and Goliath and Lord of the Rings were the influence for this electro-pop track from Dublin's Ethan's Bucket. You can download this song and hear more of Ethan's songs on Soundcloud.

Headsound: Douglas Dare - Swim

The dark electronica of Radiohead and celestial beauty of Sigur Ross come together on this track from Douglas Dare's debut album Whelm. It has all the depth and texture you would expect from a new signee to Erased Tapes - home to Nils Frahm.

Classical piano, electronics and Dare's soft vocals slowly engulf the listener. It feels like a house anthem  constructed more intricately and delicately, never getting too loud or intense. The track is available as a free download and Whelm is out on May 12th.

Headsound: Girl Band - Lawman

The four lads in Dublin's Girl Band confound expectation with their distortion drenched lo-fi rock. The Pixies, Sonic Youth, Jesus and Mary Chain and many more can be heard on their debut release Lawman. The band can deliver hardcore mayhem as well as a sharp lyric to a steady beat. They never go into overdrive just for the sake of it.
The summer is already looking busy with tour dates and festivals including a gig at The Portland on June 10th.
A limited edition 7" of Lawman has already sold out but the single is available as a free download from Bandcamp. Your new favourite girl band comes with added testosterone.

Headsound: Heart of a Dog - HOSS

Shindig returns to St Philips Mill Road on Friday 14th February. Readers of this blog will be familiar with Wooden Arms and Tom Adams but sandwiched in between are Norwich duo Heart of a Dog.
HOSS is four minutes of weightless melodies and rhythms unexpectedly shifting under different currents. It fades halfway through then returns with twice as much power. Vocals echo over pounding chords. This is acoustic pop that keeps you on your toes and you can grab this song as a free download.

Headsound: Sivu - I Hold featuring Marika Hackman

This simple, enchanting duet by Sivu and Marika Hackman is one of three tracks available free from Sivu's website. Sivu and Marika Hackman are currently on tour and play The Hope in Brighton on December 10th and The Portland in Cambridge on December 12th.

Headsound: Textbeak - EICV7" No. 56

A number of releases from net label everythingischemical.com have featured on Headstand. Electronic, hip-hop, shoegaze, ambient and dream pop collide in exciting and original combinations on their regular releases. Their 56th virtual 7 inch from Textbeak contains deep dark industrial rhythms with cinematic overtones. If you enjoy this take some time to check out their other releases.

Headsound: Euros Childs - Tête à Tête

Barely a week goes by without the energetic former frontman of Gorky's Zygotic Mynci Euros Childs coming out with a new collaboration or solo project. His album Summer Special is nominated for this year's Welsh Music Prize but it's already slipping off the front page of his website The National Elf Library as the releases continue.

His latest solo album Situation Comedy is out on October 21st and this lead track Tête à Tête is classic Childs his melodic pop vocals at the fore and lyrics with characters and cultural references worthy of Dylan. The song is available for download by donation at euroschilds.co.uk.

Childs is on tour in October/November and plays Brighton on November 2nd at Sticky Mike's Frog Bar which sounds like the name of one of his bands.

Memoryloop - Illuminate

I'll be back live on air this Sunday after a break in Spain. Here's some free music for you, recommended by Tom Adams, smooth electronic music interspersed with intriguing vocal samples.

Patrick Sheil at CB1

This is Patrick's set at CB1 poetry as featured on the show last Sunday.

New EP From Jet Jaguar

New Zealand based Jet Jaguar has a new EP out, the first of six due for release this year. In 'Another World' spoken phrases echo amongst a bed of dreamy synths and wobbly basslines. It's like a soundtrack for the space between conciousness and unconsciousness. 'Single-Digit High' has an industrial edge with 80's synths, minimalist beats and vinyl crackle bumping into each other like marshmallow dodgem cars. Heavily processed female vocals echo in and out. The EP concludes all too quickly with the darker 'Mose.' What might once have been a human voice hums and groans a smooth melody as percussive elements build and disintegrate.

It's a deep, atmospheric trio of tunes. The use of vocals is effective but a little standoffish. Voices are warped, distorted and scattered sparingly, mixed up with the electronic instruments.  A track with more prominent vocals and audible words would give this lush electronica a much needed organic element. Looking forward to the other five.

Free Music Compilation From Mr Bongo

The well established record label Mr. Bongo Recordings, famous for re-issuing rare and forgotten records from around the world, the label behind legend Terry Callier and recently giving a platform to pop sensation Hollie Cook, have put together a 2013 sampler album and giving it away absolutely free. 

Spanning everything from Dub-Reggae, Jazz, High life/Afro-Beat etc. from around the world, with some very rare recordings, this album will have something for even the most discerning of music fans.

I look forward to sharing these songs on future shows but you can get them all now from http://vibedeck.com/mrbongo

Best of the Free Music Archive 2012

The Free Music Archive is rich source of music that I regularly turn to to keep the variety of music on Headstand fresh and interesting. Here is a mix of tracks featured on the show over the last year for you to stream and download for free.

'As another year comes to a close it's great to look back at all the music that's made it from the Free Music Archive onto my fortnightly show on Cambridge 105 (cambridge105.fm.) Starting with Auld Lang Syne played in traditional fashion on new year's day the mix takes a twisting route to the far reaches of the archive's diverse selection of music concluding with The Decapitated Hed beheading Christmas carols (according to Google Translate.)
FMA has been a constant source of inspiration during 2012 and this mix doesn't even include the music played in the FMA Special show in January. That music is available in a separate mix. I hope you enjoy this mix and listen to the show at headstandradio.blogspot.co.uk.
I look forward to sharing more music from the archive in 2013. Happy New Year to everyone at FMA!'

The Smell of Cubes

I have an album of poetry and experimental music available on Band Camp. It's kind of my Christmas present to everyone this year. It's pay what you want so you can give me a Christmas present back if you like.

Patrick Widdess & Tom Adams Live Recording

A recording of a recent set I did with Tom Adams is now available for free streaming and download courtesy of Only Shallow Records.

New Single from Malty Media

The New Zealand duo return with the best enema you'll ever receive.

The music of Malty Media aka Stuart McDonald and Michael Upton could have been made for Headstand. Audio clips drawn from movies, adverts and TV programmes are mixed with experimental electronic compositions  in original and memorable music and spoken word compositions. The duo also do occasional radio shows on Radio Active FM. Each one is a seamless journey through an eclectic selection of music and sound. You can listen to their shows here.

Man vs Enema / No Sparky is the first release from the duo in two years. Man vs Enema is built around a snippet of Bear Grylls explaining how an enema can be used for survival. The juxtaposition of Bear's macho commentary and laid-back dub track is a pleasing bit of musical comedy. The absurd and lurid images it conjures up leave an indelible mark on the listener's mind. The subtly comical track is followed by funky chill out piece No Sparky with a wobbly beat and sparkly synths. Grab the free download to be entertained and slightly increase your chances of survival if you find yourself stranded out at sea.

http://www.maltymedia.co.nz

New Single from Nick Mulvey

 I first heard Cambridge-born singer songwriter Nick Mulvey perform in 2007. He spent most of the next four years playing with Portico Quartet before going solo last year. I reported on one of his first performances, following his split with Portico, at CB2. Trading the hang for acoustic guitar Nick's soulful voice and wide ranging influences including English Folk and African rhythms make for a moving and original sound. The Trellis EP is out now on Mercury. A free track is available from his website: nickmulvey.com.