Category Archives: Eclectic Mainline

Matters relating to Albert Freeman’s Eclectic Mainline show.

Eclectic Mainline 28th April 2010

OK, OK, so I’ve not been very quick of the mark with First Aid Kit, but I’m with it now.  Having bought their album on Record Store Day, and having listened to it almost every day since, I figured it was about time I snuck something in to my show.  I could have played either I Met Up With The King, or Hard Believer, both equally brilliant.  However, as Emma and Maria played the latter in Buffet on Saturday, my choice was made for me.   Have a lookie here if you’ve not heard it yet…

And here’s what else I played in tonight’s show:

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Eclectic Mainline 21st April 2010

This afternoon Laura and I recorded sessions with Trevor Moss and Hannah Lou and The Duke And The King.  These might be broadcast next week, and trust me, you don’t want to miss this, so keep your ear to the ground about that!

Now, back to the present, this is what I played tonight.  My thanks to Phil Cope for his advice on how to re-structure these playlists so that artist, title, release and label are all clearly detailed.

Elliott Smith – “No Name #3” (LP – “Roman Candle”) (Domino)
Caribou – “Sun” (LP – “Swim”) (City Slang)
Sparrow And The Workshop – “Devil Song” (LP – “Crystals Fall”) (Distiller)
Emma Pollock – “Hug The Harbour” (LP – “The Law Of Large Numbers”) (Chemikal Underground)
Flying Lotus – “…And The World Laughs With You” ft. Thom Yorke (LP “Cosmogramma” (Warp)
Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou – “Allotment Song” (LP – “Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou”) (Loose)
Dum Dum Girls – “Bhang Bhang, I’m A Burnout” (single and LP – “I Will Be”) (Sub Pop)
Fuck Buttons – “Olympians” (single and LP – “Tarot Sport”) (ATP)
Good Shoes – “The Way My Heart Beats” (EP – “The Way My Heart Beats”) (Brille)
Teenage Fanclub – “Baby Lee” (single and LP – “Shadows”) (PeMa)
Avi Buffalo – “Truth Sets In” (LP – “Avi Buffalo”) (Sub Pop)
Malachai – “Simple Song” (LP – “Ugly Side Of Love”) (Domino)
The Neat – “In Youth Is Pleasure” (single) (Chewing Gum)
John Grant – “I Wanna Go To Marz” (LP – “Queen Of Denmark”) (Bella Union)
The Radio Dept. – “Heaven’s On Fire” (album version) (LP – “Clinging To A Scheme”) (Labrador)
Recoil – “Jezebel” (LP – “Selected”) (Mute)

Eclectic Mainline 7th April 2010

Black Francis – Six Legged Man
The Ruby Suns – Cranberry
To Rococo Rot – Bells
The Triffids – Reverie
Future Islands – Tin Man
Flying Lotus – Do The Astral Plane
Danny And The Champions Of The World – Follow The River (BCB session)
The Radio Dept. – Heaven’s On Fire
The Wave Pictures – I Shall Be A Ditchdigger
Anibal VelasQuez y Su Conjunto – Santo Amor
Band Of Horses – Compliments
Fuck Buttons – Olympians (Spaceman vs. The Olympians Remix)
Sparrow & The Workshop – I Will Break You
Danny And The Champions Of The World – Restless Feet (BCB session)
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & The Cairo Gang – The Sounds Are Always Begging

Lawrence Arabia session

If you didn’t hear the Lawrence Arabia session back at the start of March, you missed a really good one.  My favourite of the year so far.  So, I’ve made it available here on the blog.  Even if you did hear it, you might want to hear it again, so here you go:

Lawrence Arabia BCB session by DJ Albert Freeman

And if you are reading this on the same day I’m writing it (Wednesday 7th April 2010) you can hear both Danny and the Champions Of The World and Fionn Regan in session tonight from 8pm!

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds reissues: Tender Prey / The Good Son / Henry’s Dream

Last week saw the release of the second installment of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds re-issues. In addition to the first four albums rereleased last year, now Tender Prey, The Good Son and Henry’s Dream have all been given a makeover. As well as the remastered albums on CD, each also comes with a DVD. The DVD contains the album in 5.1 (for those interested in such), bonus songs, videos and an episode of the Do You Love Me? series of documentaries about each album, comprised of interviews with band members, associates, friends, lovers, fans, journalists etc. If you have been listening to Eclectic Mainline for the past few weeks, you will have heard me play several songs from these reissues, and if you listened last week, you will have heard me play one tune from each.  In terms of the remastering, they really have improved the sound terrifically.  I’ve always felt that some of The Bad Seeds’ albums from this period sounded a bit too toppy, and these new remasters have really warmed up the sound.

Tender Prey

Tender Prey

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Eclectic Mainline 31st March 2010

Here’s the marvellous tune I started the show with in case you tuned in late:

And here’s the full list for the show:
Vitalic – Second Lives (Lifelike remix)
Viv Albertine – Never come
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Deanna (acoustic version)
Daedelus – The open hand avows
Owen Pallett – Lewis Takes Off His Shirt
Black Francis – Dead Man’s Curve
Foals – Spanish Sahara
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – The Weeping song
Autechre – See on see
Allo, Darlin’ – Dreaming
The Fall – Bury! Pts. 2+4
Fionn Regan – Catacombs
To Rococo Rot – Seele
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – I had a dream, Joe
This Morning Call – Whistle

Keep your eye on this blog over the next couple of days for a piece about the new Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds re-issues.

Selection Box 126 & 127

Selection Box in 2010 seems to have become an inordinately fractured affair.  Having been sidelined due to maleness a few weeks ago for International Women’s Day (solidarity, sisters), Selection Boxes 126 & 127 were separated by a an unscheduled hiatus due to spectacular bout of viciously violent vomiting and Olympic-standard diarrhoea.  Fear not, I will spare you the gruesome details, except to say that bizarrely this stems back nearly two years ago to a visit to Ireland when I accidentally poisoned myself on a daffodil, and somehow repeating this trick a few weeks ago despite best efforts to avoid the yellowy little buggers.  It takes a special type of idiot to poison yourself on a daffodil.  It takes a spectacular pillock to manage to repeat the trick.  Hello there.

If you want to murder me, now you know how to do it.  But please dont - I have a child and a wife and a full biscuit tin.

If you want to murder me, now you know how to do it. But please don't - I have a child and a wife and a full biscuit tin.

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Alex Chilton (1950-2010)

March 2010.  The month I will forever remember as the one when both Mark Linkous and Alex Chilton died.  I didn’t want to have to write about Mark Linkous dying a couple of weeks ago any more than I want to write about Alex Chilton dying now. However, on both occasions, it has been a pleasure to be able to just sit and write about what these people mean(t) to me.

Alex Chilton

Alex Chilton (1950 to 2010)

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Eclectic Mainline 24th March 2010

Big Star

Big Star

My intention earlier today was to write ‘a few words’ about Alex Chilton as part of this blog entry for today’s show. But I have to acknowledge that it actually takes quite a while for Albert to write ‘a few words’ so that will have to wait for a day when I’ve got a bit of time, so for now, here is what I played tonight in my show, including 3 tunes by Big Star, one from each album, in memory of Alex Chilton.

And I can only assume that I must have done quite a bit of talking about Big Star in this show, as I didn’t get to play as many tunes as I sometimes do:

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Evol
Gonjasufi – Kobwebz
Lou Rhodes – One Good Thing
Big Star – The Ballad Of El Goodo (Alternate Lyrics)
Elliott Smith – Roman Candle
To Rococo Rot – Fridays (Shackleton’s West Green Rd remix)
Cate Le Bon – Shoeing The Bones
The Twilight Sad – The Room
Big Star – What’s Going Ahn
Jaga Jazzist – Prognissekongen
Pavement – Grounded
Peter Von Poehl – The Story Of The Impossible (BCB session)
Big Star – You Can’t Have Me
My Albatross – I don’t love you

Eclectic Mainline 17th March 2010 – Midlake interview

Midlake - The Courage Of Others

Midlake - The Courage Of Others

For the very first time, my show has a podcast this week. If you heard the show you will have heard me talking to Eric Pulido of Midlake. What you will have heard is the abridged version of the interview, but the full thing is available for you here now, at the bottom of this blog entry.

Midlake have also backed John Grant on his debut solo album (he used to be the singer in The Czars). A funny thing happened the other day while I was listening to his album, Queen Of Denmark, for the first time. I was reading the brochure for the 16th Bradford International Film Festival while listening. Just as I was reading about Alien being on as part of Widescreen Weekend, John Grant was singing “I feel just like Sigourney Weaver, when she had to kill those aliens“. Spooksville..!

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