Category Archives: The BCB Sessions

Matters relating to Laura Rawlings’ BCB show, entitled The BCB Session, broadcast on Wednesdays at 9pm (UK time).

Best of the #BCBsessions – Eclectic Mainline 23rd April 2014

During my 10 years presenting Eclectic Mainline on BCB I had the pleasure of recording live (largely) acoustic sessions with some wonderful artists.  As I am giving up the programme, I wanted to re-broadcast some of my favourite session tracks before leaving.

BCB sessions

So, this week I played some (but by no means all) of my favourite session tracks. You can hear the full programme (plus a bonus track taking the show past the hour mark) on my Mixcloud page:

My method of recording a live session evolved over time until I ended up with a process that got the best out of the available resources.  The microphones at BCB are only really suited for speech broadcasting, and the studios are not equipped for multitrack recording. But I managed to work round these restrictions.  The microphones issue was easy to overcome, as I would borrow some from Wilful Missing.

I was restriced to recording in stereo, but I would hard pan the inputs, recording the lead vocal in the left channel, and all other instruments in the right channel.  This effectively created a 2-track recording that I could later mix to ensure a good level on the lead vocal.  But I needed to get a good live mix of all the instruments, and this wasn’t always easy because I was in the same room as the musicians.  I couldn’t monitor what was being recorded without also hearing the ambient noise of the musicians in the room. Continue reading →

Packing and unpacking Selection Boxes

Experts say that moving house can be almost as stressful as moving house.

The majority of you have probably polished off your selection boxes sometime mid-last week (leaving the Jelly Tots as a slightly crap last treat if you’re anything like me. Do they still even do Jelly Tots? Who cares, it has nothing to do with this, press on…) but for some of us a Selection Box, like a dog, is for life and not just for Christmas. Not that I have a dog. I didn’t get a choccie selection box either, but that is by the by.

My Selection Box has been a midnight feast for the past five and a half years, but as from this week any late night gorging will come to an end and will instead be taken with a post-meal coffee. In other words, and to stop talking in tortured metaphors at last, Selection Box is now set to be primetime fare as it moves to its new slot at 9pm on Wednesdays. The glamour. For those of you loathe to replace the sultry tones of BCB’s resident five tissue fantasy Laura Rawlings for that of an utter divot, Laura’s commitments with a high-fallutin’ rival broadcaster have sadly taken her time away from these shores somewhat, though her BCB Sessions show will still be a going concern once a month on a Sunday, starting on 20 January.

Here’s what I played on what turned out to be my last midnight show:

Selection Box Show 246 (Listen again here)

TX 24/12/2012

1. Tracey Thorn – Joy
from: Tinsel & Lights

2. How To Swim – A Minor Key Christmas
from: A Minor Key Christmas

3. Housewives On Prozac – I Broke My Arm Christmas Shopping At The Mall
from: I Broke My Arm Christmas Shopping At The Mall

4. The Raveonettes – The Christmas Song
from: The Christmas Song CD single

5. Kate Bush – Snowed In At Wheeler Street
from: 50 Words For Snow

6. Hasil Adkins – Santa Claus Boogie
from: Best Of The Haze

7. G Love – Christmas Blues
from: This Warm December: A Brushfire Holiday Volume 2 (various artists)

8. Ron Holden & The Thunderbirds – Who Sez There Ain’t No Santa Claus
from: Rockin’ N’ Rollin’ With Santa Claus compiled by Mark Lamarr (various artists)

9. Paul Simon – Getting Ready For Christmas Day
from: So Beautiful Or So What

10. Shonen Knife – Space Christmas
from: 7″ Single

11. Ernest Tubb & His Texas Troubadours - I’ll Be Walkin’ the Floor This Christmas
from: Country & Hillbilly Christmas (various artists)

12. Cocteau Twins – Frosty The Snowman
from: Snow EP

13. Neil Halstead – Home For The Season
from: This Warm December: A Brushfire Holiday Volume 2 (various artists)

14. Little Joey Farr – Rock & Roll Santa
from: A Very Norton Christmas (various artists)

15. Kill It Kid – Just Like Christmas
from: CD single

Diagrams, Yppah, Crybaby and Weird dreams on The BCB Sessions! 

Ello ello!
Double helping from me - two playlists for the price of one.
Fill yer boots with these lovelies on The BCB Sessions...
Wed 21st March 2012 

Love Bites - LUST /LUST
Bowerbirds - Tuck the darkness in
Weird dreams - Hurt so bad
Firefox AK - The wind
Shearwater - You as you were
Reptar - Stuck in my Id
Me and Cassity - Fred Astaire
Yeti Lane - Sparkling sunbeam
Diagrams - Ghost lit
Laura Gibson - The fire
Bonobo - Eyesdown feat. Andreya Triana & Dels
Deco Child - Pray
School of Seven Bells - Love from a stone
Tindersticks - Slippin' shoes

Wed 14th March 2012 

Robert Ellis - Friends like those
Slugabed - Sex
Waters - Take me out to the coast
Ellen and the escapades - All the crooked scenes
Crocodiles - Sunday (psychic conversation)
Sweet lights - Handle with care
Casiokids - Kaskaden
Spoek Mathambo - Let them talk ft. Yolanda
Martyn - Hello darkness
Simone Felice - You and I belong
Nada Surf - Looking through
Yppah - Blue Schwinn
Crybaby - We're supposed to be in love

If you missed the shows - no panic! Listen again via www.bcbradio.co.uk
And if you've got tunes you'd like me to play then get in touch: @laurarawlings or laura.rawlings@bcbradio.co.uk
See you Wednesday night at 9pm on 106.6fm (in Bradford) and online at www.bcbradio.co.uk
Lx

 

Rachel Sermanni, Wild Flag & Slow Club on The BCB Sessions!

Howdy!

On the show (Wed 15th Feb), we’ve got more treats than your average selection box – including a very lovely acoustic session from Rachel Sermanni!

Slow Club – The dog

Liz Green – Bad medicine

Breton – Interference

Rachel Sermanni (interview) and Breathe Easy (BCB Session) – played with Jesca Hoop at House Concerns in York. Check both out!

Timber Timbre – Black water

Those Darlins – Sirens get loose

Summer Camp – Losing my mind

Rachel Sermanni (BCB Session) – Song to a fox

Soap & Skin – Wonder

Wild Flag – Boom

Zulu Winter – We should be swimming

Waters – Take me out to the coast

Moody Gowns – Nelson skills

Rachel Sermanni (BCB Session) – The fog

If you’d like to come and do a session, send me a message: laura.rawlings@bcbradio.co.uk or tweet me @laurarawlings

Until next week – Wednesday night at 9pm.

Lx

p.s. if you miss the live show, listen again at www.bcbradio.co.uk

 

 

Twin Shadow, Jasmine Kennedy and Piney Gir on The BCB Sessions!

Wednesday 1st Feb 2012 on The BCB Sessions

Hello!

Lots of treats for you on this week’s show…starting with west Yorkshire lovelies, The Rosie Taylor Project. We’ve got a couple of session tracks from the archives with local artists. Plus something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. See if you can figure out which is which…

The Rosie Taylor Project – PeelS

Twin Shadow – Castles in the snow

Craig Finn – Honolulu blues

Seefeel – Dead guitars

Review of Big Society at City Varieties – in a nutshell, go see. Don’t hang about cus it’s only on until the 4th Feb.

The Soft Hills – Phoenix

Fujiya & Miyagi – Your silent face (from Mojo presents New Order’s Power, Corruption and Lies, re-recorded

Jasmine Kennedy (BCB Session archive) – Good for each other

Maia (BCB Session archive) – Sidelines

Wiful Missing – Powerful pill (from their new album Molehills out of Mountains)

Mr Oizo – EDN

Hanni el Khatib – Human fly

Piney Gir – Outta sight

This is first aid kit – Tiger mountain peasant song

Still Flyin – Stay wild, tokelau

Back next Wednesday night at 9pm on www.bcbradio.co.uk and 106.6fm in Bradford.

Lx

Tennis, ME & Rachel Sermanni on The BCB Sessions!

The BCB Sessions on Wednesday 25th Jan 2012!

Hello!

So, I’m getting a bid ahead of myself here for once….and have worked out what’s on the shows before you can hear them. But just imagine what it’ll be like when you tune in and know what’s coming next; it’ll be music to your ears. That’s what it’ll be!

Cue the music:

Belle and Sebastian – Write about love

Little Dragon – Crystal film

Black Mountain – The hair song

Slow Club – Two cousins (playing Brudenell on 8th Feb)

Tennis – Deep in the woods (rel. 27 Feb)

School of Seven Bells – Love from a stone (album rel. 28 Feb)

ME – Naked (rel. 5 March)

Rachel Sermanni – The fog (rel. 20 Feb) Playing in York with Jesca Hoop on 11 Feb

Lana Del Ray (Aluna George remix) – Born to die

Yimino – (BCB Session archive) Q-bit

Howling Bells (BCB Session archive) – The bell hit

Emika – Hit me feat. Jimmy Edgar (rel. 27 Feb)

Bonobo – Kiara (Cosmin TRG mix) (rel.13 Feb)

Love it!

Get in touch if you’d like me to play owt for you: @laurarawlings or laura.rawlings@bcbradio.co.uk

See you next Wednesday night at 9pm www.bcbradio.co.uk or 106.6fm in Bradford / on top of a big hill nearby if you’re lucky.

Lx

 

Those Darlins, Portishead and Plaid on The BCB Sessions!

Wednesday 18th Jan…

Come on in – this is what’s on this week’s instalment of The BCB Sessions:

Those Darlins – Screws get loose

Gossip – Heavey cross

Shearwater – Breaking the yearlings

Tinariwan – Imidiwan Afrika Tendam

Plaid – 35 summers

Handmadehands – Sunshine

Buriel & Four Tet – Moth

The Low Anthem – To the ghosts who write history books

Cloud Control – This is what I said

Portishead – The rip

The Waves Pictures (BCB Session archive) – Walk to the backstairs quiet

Gary Stewart – (BCB Session archive) – Maggie Oh

Lx

M83, School of Seven Bells & Tindersticks on The BCB Sessions!

Choons!

Hello,

Get set go for another box of assorted songs. Loads of sparkly new ones plus a couple from The BCB Sessions’ archive – yes, I’ve been rummaging around and have plucked two tracks that have totally stood the test of time.

PLAY> (Wed 11th Jan)

M83 – Reunion

Veronica Falls – Found love in a grave yard

Benjamin Francis Leftwich – Pictures

Errors – Pleasure palaces

School of Seven Bells – Love from a stone (from third album, Ghoststory, out on 27th Feb – yey!)

The Peppermint Lounge (BCB archive session) – African orange (this takes me  back to the first electronic, laptop session I produced in the studio…I remember the massive Mickey Mouse jumper one of the guys was wearing. Sadly TPL aren’t going anymore but you can still hear tunes on their facebook page – and this show 🙂

Danny & the Champions of the World (BCB archive session) – Restless feet (lovely track – thanks to Albert Freeman).

Tindersticks – Slippin shoes

The Raise – Brand new shoes

The Silver Seas – Candy

Arctic Monkeys – Black treacle

Gnomefoam – Nightswing (great alt track from Bradford’s Gnomefoam – on the Insect Armour Plates album available from Bandcamp)

I’ll be back with you next Wednesday night from 9pm on 106.6fm and online at www.bcbradio.co.uk

If you missed the show or want to listen to any of BCB’s other fab shows go to www.bcbradio.co.uk

And finally, finally….if you’ve got music you’d like me to play then get in touch: @laurarawlings or laura.rawlings@bcbradio.co.uk

Lx

Friends, Caged Animals & East Park Reggae Collective on The BCB Sessions!

4 January

Hello you,

Happy New Year!

Hope happy days are here and all’s good. So far, I’ve slipped down a flight of stairs and given myself a royal pain in the neck (*muted shrieking hoping no-one would notice – I’ll never make a scientologist*), nursed a cold that makes me sound like Pat Butcher (God rest her soul), cancelled my holiday (wtf?) and been stuck for hours on a broken down train while a young girl sang Abba medleys and read the bible out loud. The youth of today… There’s more but that’ll do, this isn’t an episode of Enders.

Needless to say, I’m reaching out the hand of sympathy and solidarity to those of you who are also getting all their bad luck out the way on days one, two and three…

So, here’s the show that’ll make you feel better.

Friends – Friend crush

The Wave Pictures – Eskimo kiss

Stay Positive – Dandelion

Still Corners – Endless summer

East Park Reggae Collective – The Frontline (love these guys – get their latest album from Bandcamp)

Fol Chen – So good

Everything Everything (BCB Sessions Archive) – Suffragette Suffragette

Kaiser Chiefs – Little shocks

Crackpot – Star

Willard Grant Conspiracy (BCB Sessions Archive) – Drunkard’s Prayer

Moby (Kleerup remix) – The right thing

Caged Animals – Piles of $$$

The Wooden Machine – Dearest Rose

Get in touch if you’ve got music you’d like me to play on the show – either tweet me @laurarawlings or email laura.rawlings@bcbradio.co.uk

And if you missed the show, listen again at www.bcbradio.co.uk

See you next Wednesday night at 9pm.

Lx

Islands, Casio Kids & Miike Snow on The BCB Sessions!

Wednesday 28 December

Hey up,

Trust your Christmas was full of the festive frolics we all know and love… for me it’s a great time to catch up with new releases and listen to loads of music while zooming up/down the motorway. The result is here for your listening pleasure on The BCB Sessions and we’ve got some right belters to end 2011!

Casio Kids – Golden years

Django Django – Default

Dan Sartain (feat. Jane W) – Now, now, now

Sparrow and the Workshop (BCB Session Archive) – Medal around your neck

Miike Snow – Devil’s work

Thomas Truax – December song

Clap your Hands Say Yeah – Hysterical

Islands – This is not a song

Crackpot – Robopotamus

Les Shelleys (BCB Session Archive) – I’m on fire

Pocket (Feat. Steve Kilbey) – Hear in Noiseville

The Raise (Feat. Krome) – Love of hip hop

The Internet (Little Dragon Remix) – Cocaine

Of Montreal – Wintered debts

See you next Wednesday from 9pm on BCB 106.6FM and online at www.bcbradio.co.uk If you missed this week’s show – don’t forget you can catch it again via www.bcbradio.co.uk

Lx