Author Archives: Simon

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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.

Happy New Year

So that’s just about it for 2012.
We’ve rounded off the year on Bradford Beat by revealing our favourite tracks of the last 12 months.
Here’s the Christmas Countdown in full.
1 Whiter Than – Note To Self
2 Django Django – Default
3 Field Music – A New Town
4 Sentimentalists _ I’m Lonely For Every Woman I’ve Ever Known
5 The Maccabees – Pelican
6 The Ting Tings – Silence
7 The Seven inches – Peruvian Poncho
8 Little Comets – Worry
9 Mara Carlyle – Ping Ting
10 Nick Toczek – Noo Yawk
11 Paul Weller – That Dangerous Age
12 Benjamin Francis Leftwich – In The Open
13 City and Colour – The Grand Optimist
14 Downdime – In Space
15 handmadehands – Words That Mean Nothing
16 The Wind-Up Birds – Cross Country
17 Yo El Rey – And One For The Doctor
18 Rodina and the Wolf – What Are You Trying To Do?
19 Alt-J – Something Good
20 Jed’s Blues Band – Dirty Water

You can listen again by clicking here.

Into the top 10

The season of goodwill must be well and truly upon us – we’ve moved into the top 10 of the 2012 Christmas Countdown.

It’s looking like a high quality chart – here are the 15 tracks unveiled so far:

6 The Ting Tings – Silence
7 The Seven inches – Peruvian Poncho
8 Little Comets – Worry
9 Mara Carlyle – Ping Ting
10 Nick Toczek – Noo Yawk
11 Paul Weller – That Dangerous Age
12 Benjamin Francis Leftwich – In The Open
13 City and Colour – The Grand Optimist
14 Downdime – In Space
15 handmadehands – Words That Mean Nothing
16 The Wind-Up Birds – Cross Country
17 Yo El Rey – And One For The Doctor
18 Rodina and the Wolf – What Are You Trying To Do?
19 Alt-J – Something Good
20 Jed’s Blues Band – Dirty Water

You can listen again to the 20 December show by clicking here.

Listen to Bradford Beat on BCB 106.6FM from 8pm – 9pm on Thursday, 27 December to hear the Top 5.

Halfway through the Christmas Countdown

We’re now halfway through this year’s Christmas Countdown.

So far, our chart of the top 20 tracks of the year is as follows:

11 Paul Weller – That Dangerous Age
12 Benjamin Francis Leftwich – In The Open
13 City and Colour – The Grand Optimist
14 Downdime – In Space
15 handmadehands – Words That Mean Nothing
16 The Wind-Up Birds – Cross Country
17 Yo El Rey – And One For The Doctor
18 Rodina and the Wolf – What Are You Trying To Do?
19 Alt-J – Something Good
20 Jed’s Blues Band – Dirty Water

You can listen again to the first instalment by clicking here and the second by clicking here.

The top 10 will be revealed on Thursday 20 December and Thursday 27 December from 8pm to 9pm.

Christmas Countdown 2012 is here

Don’t forget this year’s Christmas Countdown kicks off this week.

It’s our chart of the top 20 tracks of the year which we do every December – so make sure you listen in from 8pm to 9pm this Thursday (Dec 6) and every Thursday throughout the month.

Last week’s playlist featured the following tracks:

The Maccabees – Pelican
Burning Condors – Honey Trap
Architect – More Than Before
Animal Collective – Applesauce
Great White Underground – Messiah In Hiding
Benjamin Francis Leftwich – In The Open
Cud – Through The Roof
Latch Bermany – Running Out Of Legs
Dutch Uncles – Fester
John Parkes – History 2
The XX – VCR
This Many Boyfriends – Young Lovers Go Pop!
Wind Up Birds – Some Gimmicks For You
Sentimentalists – All I Need

You can listen again by clicking here

Thank you very much

The latest edition of Bradford Beat included a couple of tracks marking Thanksgiving in the US.

Here’s the full playlist:

Great White Underground – Messiah In Hiding
Cranberries – Zombie
Green Day – American Idiot
Venusian Plow – Hanging In The Playground
Tilly and the Wall – Love Riot
Jed’s Blues Band – Dirty Water
Clinic – Miss You
Sentimentalists – I’m Beat
Little Comets – A Little Opus
John Parkes – Fireships
Dinosaur Jr – Watch The Corners
The Seven Inches – Peruvian Poncho
Benjamin Francis Leftwich – In The Open
Loqui – We Drown On Dry Land

You can listen again here

More from By Hook Or By Crook

More tracks from the Sturdy Records compilation CD By Hook Or By Crook feature on this week’s Bradford Beat.

The full track listing is:

Eureka Machines – Do Or Die
Dutch Uncles – Fester
Sentimentalists – Apricots
Benjamin Francis Leftwich – In The Open
Racket Ball – When They Walked In
John Parkes – Don’t Be Seventeen
Clinic – Miss You
Downdime – In Space
Richard Marriott – Under Occupation
The Seven Inches – (Let’s Learn Off By Heart) International Dialling Codes
Cave Painting – So Calm
Scaramanga Six – Trouble
This Many Boyfriends – Young Lovers Go Pop

You can listen again by clicking here

Album launch gig

Here’s the full track listing for this week’s show:

Alt-J – Something Good
The Seven Inches – Peruvian Poncho
Manic Street Preachers – You Love Us
Eureka Machines – Being Good Is Okay But Being Better’s Better
TOYS – When I Was A Toy
Jed’s Blues Band – Dirty Water
Men Only – Summer Girls
Liquid Eyes – (2012 Remix) – Steven Fenton and Siamese Twist
The World Service – Katherine
Sentimentalists – All I Need
The Wind-Up Birds – Two Ambulance Day
Venusian Plow – Hanging In the Playground
Talk To Angels – The Truth Undressed

Don’t forget the By Hook Or By Crook CD launch is at Oporto in Leeds on Sunday, 11 November.

You can listen to the show again by clicking here

By Hook Or By Crook

Listen out for a double whammy of  exciting new sounds from West Yorkshire bands in this week’s edition of Bradford Beat.

The show will be focusing on two new compilation albums – By Hook Or By Crook released by Sturdy Records and 13 for 2012 released by Soundshack.

Bands featured will include TOYS, The World Service, Men Only, Wind-Up Birds and many more.

An all-day luanch gig for By Hook Or By Crook will take place at Oporto in Call Lane, Leeds, on Sunday (11 Nov) from 2pm to 10.30pm.

Tune in to Bradford Beat on Thursday (8 November) from 8pm to 9pm on BCB 106.6FM.

Skeletons and Catherine Wheels

The latest edition of Bradford Beat is a double whammy – a Halloween and Bonfire Night special.
The show is being repeated this Thursday (Nov 1) and you can listen again by clicking here

The full list of ghoulish and firework-themed tracks is here:

Siouxsie and the Banshees – Hallowe’en
The Coral – Skeleton Key
The Seven Inches – A Letter
Nick Toczek – Noo Yawk
Embrace – Fireworks
Catherine Wheel – Flower To Hide
Cocteau Twins – Pink Orange Red
Whiter Than – And So To The Burning
Jim Jones Revue – It’s Got To Be About Me
Bauhaus – Bela Lugosi’s Dead
The Damned – Nasty
The Fall – Frightened

Punk’s not dead

With Penetration, The Members and the UK Subs all playing in the area in the coming weeks, there’s a punk rock flavour to this weeks’ show.

Here’s the full track listing:

Stranglers – Skin Deep
handmadehands – Daring Me Not To
Julian Cope – World Shut Your Mouth
The Chevin – Champion
Michelle Shocked – When I Grow Up
Talk TO Angels – He Loves Cilla
Field Music – a New Town
I Like Trains – Sirens
Zulu Winter – Silver Tongue
Terrorvision – Oblivion
Teardrop Explodes – Reward
Official Secrets Act – Something That You Want
Massive Attack – Atlas Air

You can listen again by clicking here