Author Archives: Simon

About Simon

Simon Ashberry has been playing the best of local music on Bradford Beat for almost a quarter of a century . He was music columnist for the Telegraph & Argus for several years, covering local acts such as Embrace, Terrorvision, Tasmin Archer and New Model Army, and has played bass in several bands himself. He was previously part of Bradford-based Loom with John Rigby from Trip and Stumble and currently plays with innovative blues trio West Yorkshire Noblemen's Society.

Jam tomorrow

It was great to dig out an old tune by The Jam on this week’s show – still sounds stunning after three and a half decades!

Here’s the full list of what we played – and to find out why we played The Jam, listen again to the full show.

Wild Beasts – Wanderlust
Junk Dealers – Religion
Algiers – Mother
The Jam – All Around The World
Embrace – Refugees
Electric Soft Parade – Mr Mitchell
Monorail – Like I Do
Drenge – F***about
Eagulls – Tough Luck
Cate Le Bon – I Can’t Help You
Laura Groves – Coast
Beaty Heart – Kanute is Comin’ Round
Detrimental – Babylon

Embrace are back

It’s been a long wait but the Embrace boys are finally back.
You might hear them called a Huddersfield band, a Brighouse band, even a (cough, splutter) Leeds band. But it was in Wyke where the band were first a twinkle in the McNamara brothers’ eyes. So we count them as a Bradford band!!

We played their new track Refugees on our latest show, along with a stack of other top new tunes. Here’s the full list:

Embrace – Refugees
Cate Le Bon – I Can’t Help You
Junk Dealers – Cruel
Maximo Park – Leave This Island
Kaiser Chiefs – Misery Company
Warpaint – Love Is To Die
Eagulls – Tough Luck
Samantha Crain – Somewhere All The Time
Egomania – Cool, Calm and Collected
Chris T-T and the Hoodrats – Bury Me With A Scarab
Franz Ferdinand – Bullet
Algiers – Mother
Vessels – Blue Clouds

You can listen again by clicking here

A trip down memory lane

It’s been full-on nostalgia on Bradford Beat as we highlight tracks from the CD set accompanying the book Bradford’s Noise of the Valleys volume 2 1988-1998:

Embrace – All You Good Good People
Old Joe Zydeco – Zydeco Gris Gris
Rootsman – Old Pan Killer
Hardware – What Race Are You?
Primate – Break My Fall
Summum Bonum – Exploding Raindrops
Psycho Surgeons – Panic On
Natural Rhythm – Bluebeat and Ska
The Headmen – Reach The Sky
Chest – Angels
Scarlet Heights – Scarcity Prayer
Sansaar – Bind Us Together

You can listen again by clicking here

New year, new tunes

We had a fistful of brand new tracks for our first propoer show of 2014.
The full list of music we played is as follows:

Chris T-T – Bury Me With A Scarab
Junk Dealers – The Chain of Command
Algiers – Mother
Wilful Missing – I Am Clay
Polyphonic Spree – Let Them Be
Eagulls – Opaque
Idlewild – American English
Zed – Easy Does It
Beans On Toast – Keep You
Kaiser Chiefs – Misery Company
Electric Soft Parade – Summertime In My Heart
Scars on 45 – Heart’s on Fire
Anna Calvi – Suddenly

You can listen again by clicking here

That countdown in full…

Just in case you missed it, here’s a full rundown of the 2013 Christmas Countdown – our top 20 tracks of the year.

1 Simon Crabtree – The Spirit of Bradford City
2 Polyphonic Spree – You Don’t Know Me
3 Ron Sexsmith – Nowhere To Go
4 Steve Mason – Oh My Lord
5 The Seven Inches – Cashback
6 Hobbes Fan Club – Your Doubting Heart
7 Arrows of Love – The Knife
8 Drenge – Face Like A Skull
9 Swim Deep – The Sea
10 Marika Hackman – Cinnamon
11 Chris T-T – The Bear
12 Tim Burgess – The Doors of Then
13 Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Swim and Sleep Like A Shark
14 I Am Kloot – These Days Are Mine
15 Teleman – Cristina
16 Vessels – Elliptic
17 Damn Vandals – Kings of Never Never
18 Chutzpah – Eyes
19 Eagulls – Nerve Endings
20 Beaty Heart – Lekka Freakout

You can listen again to the final show of the year featuring the top 5 by clicking here – and it will also be repeated on Thursday from 8pm – 9pm on BCB 106.6FM.

Boxing Day bonanza

It was Boxing Day and boy, did we have a party.

Not just a stockingful of alternative festive tunes but also the final part of this year’s Christmas Countdown.

Here was what we played in full:

The Wind Up Birds – Working Christmas
City and Colour – Harder Than Stone
Poppy Factory – 7×7
Electric Soft Parade – Mr Mitchell

Christmas Countdown Top 5
5 The Seven Inches – Cashback
4 Steve Mason – Oh My Lord
3 Ron Sexsmith – Nowhere To Go
2 Polyphonic Spree – You Don’t Know Me
1 Simon Crabtree – The Spirit of Bradford City

Thao and the Get Down Stay Down – Holly Roller
Mongol Horde – How The communists Ruined Christmas
Larry and his Flask – Closed Doors
Red Paintings – Wasps
Velvet Underground – I Can’t Stand It

The good news is you can listen again by clicking here.

And we’ll be repeating the whole kaboodle for good measure on Thursday 2 January from 8pm to 9pm.

Bradford’s Noise of the Valleys

Gary Cavanagh was our studio guest this week, talking about his book Bradford’s Noise of the Valleys Volume 2

And we also found time for the third part of our Christmas Countdown. Here are the tracks we played:

Anna Calvi – Suddenly
Negative Panda – She Is Right
Dubh Chapter – Touch and Go
New Model Army and Tom Jones – Gimme Shelter

10 Marika Hackman – Cinnamon
9 Swim Deep – The Sea
8 Drenge – Face Like A Skull
7 Arrows of Love – The Knife
6 Hobbes Fan Club – Your Doubting Heart

You can listen again by clicking here.

Make some noise, Bradford

Don’t miss next week’s Bradford Beat when we’ll be chatting to Gary Cavanagh about the long-awaited second volume of his book Bradford’s Noise Of The Valleys.
He’ll be on the show on Thursday 19 December from 8pm – 9pm reminiscing about music from 1988-1998. We’ll also be bringing you the first half of the Top Ten of the 2013 Christmas Countdown.
Here’s a recap of the tracks we played on last night’s show:

Polyphonic Spree – Raise Your Head
Junk Dealers – Reailty TV
Mogwai – The Lord Is Out of Control
Special AKA – Nelson Mandela
Eagulls – Tough Luck

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN PART 2
15 Teleman – Cristina
14 I Am Kloot – These Days Are Mine
13 Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Swim and Sleep Like A Shark
12 Tim Burgess – The Doors of Then
11 Chris T-T – The Bear

John Parkes – Trireme 72 (All Rowed Home)
Electric Soft Parade – Summertime In My Heart
Threshold Shift – Hang In There
Superfood – Bubbles

You can listen again by clicking here

Christmas Countdown 2013 part 1

Our rundown of the top 20 tracks of the year is underway.
The next part of the Christmas Countdown will be part of Bradford Beat on Thursday 12 December from 8pm – 9pm.
The first part of the chart went out last week’s show, which also featured an interview with Tom from the Electric Soft Parade.
Here’s the full list of tracks played:

Drenge – Nothing
Junk Dealers – Hometown Blues
CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN PART 1
20 Beaty Heart – Lekka Freakout
19 Eagulls – Nerve Endings
18 Chutzpah – Eyes
17 Damn Vandals – Kings of Never Never
16 Vessels – Elliptic
Polyphonic Spree – Popular By Design
Electric Soft Parade – The Sun Never Sets Round Here
Sentimentalists – Toilet Attendant
John Parkes – One Who Got Away
Electric Soft Parade – Life In The Backseat

You can listen again by clicking here

Electric Soft Parade exclusive

Bradford Beat has an exclusive interview with Tom White from the Mercury Music Prize-nominated band The Electric Soft Parade this week.

He’ll be chatting about why it took six years to get round to bringing our their new album Idiots as well as their forthcoming gig at the Eiger Studios in Leeds on Sunday (8 December).

Tune in to hear the interview on Bradford Beat this Thursday (5 December) from 8pm to 9pm – there’ll also be the first part of this year’s Christmas Countdown, our Top 20 tracks of the year.