Tag Archives: albert freeman

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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Eclectic Mainline 10th March 2010


Efterklang – The Soft Beating

Well, I’m still coming to terms with the fact that Mark Linkous shot himself on Saturday. But his music will always live on, and I played some tonight, along with, it has to be said, some marvellous new tunes. These were they:

Soulsavers – Some Misunderstanding
Nice Nice – Big Bounce
Sparklehorse – Spirit Ditch
The Loves – Sweet Sister Delia
Liars – Goodnight Everything
Carter Tutti – Too Much, Too Much (from Liars ‘Sisterworld’ album CD2)
Archie Bronson Outfit – Run Gospel Singer
Mahalia Jackson – Come on children, let’s sing
Efterklang – The Soft Beating
Autechre – d-sho qub
Field Music – Share the words
Fursaxa – Poplar Moon
Sparklehorse – Hey, Joe
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Deanna

Mark Linkous RIP – looking backing

Mark Linkous (1962-2010)

Mark Linkous (1962-2010)

Oh the power of a major label marketing campaign.  Yes,  even an indie kid like me succumbed to them in my youth.  In 1992 Parlophone sent me a postcard suggesting I might like the debut EP by a new band of theirs called Radiohead.  I bought it for 99p and never looked back.  Four years later Parlophone sent me another postcard suggesting that the debut album by another new band, Sparklehorse,  might tickle my fancy.  As the postcard alluded to Radiohead’s admiration for this new band,  I thought it was worth a speculative purchase (this was of course before the days of the free 24/7 listening post on the internet).  Again,  I never looked back.  Sparklehorse and Radiohoead ended up collaborating on a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”,  and I think it’s a pity no smart alec at Parlophone sent me a postcard about that.

And so, I’m afraid that’s the only gag in today’s blog entry by me.  For it was with great sadness that I learnt that last weekend Mark Linkous, the heart of darkness that drove Sparklehorse, took his own life.  I still can’t quite believe he’s done it, even as I write this.  When Elliott Smith killed himself in 2003 I felt a similar sense of shock and upset.  Yet I have to admit that in the case of Both Smith and Linkous, there was a thought that ran through my mind along the lines of “it’s not a total surprise“.  But I do need to qualify that statement by saying that I didn’t know either man personally, and it is only based on what I knew of their music, on record and live, that makes me think that way.

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Eclectic Mainline 3rd March 2010

So, tonight we launched our revised schedule by having a Beach House interview split between my show and Too Much Too Young, and also a Lawrence Arabia session in Laura’s.

Beach House have commissioned videos for every song on the new album Teen Dream, as you may have heard in tonight’s interview. The above video, for Silver Soul was actually directed by Victoria Legrand herself.

Here’s what I played in the show:
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Eclectic Mainline 24th February 2010

If you were person, someone who miss,
Last night show, it lookie like this….

Eugene & The Lizards – Bugjuice
Tunng – Hustle
Liars – Scissor
Gonjasufi – Holidays
These New Puritans – Time Xone
Nedry – Scattered
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Watching Alice
Quasi – Rockabily Party
Sone Institute – On Tree Hill
Eels – Line In The Dirt
Dum Dum Girls – Jail La La
Four Tet – Circling
Mahalia Jackson – Didn’t It Rain
Local Natives – Airplanes
Grasscut – Muppet

Eclectic Mainline 17th February 2010

Here’s the rather nice video for the new Archie Bronson Outfit single:

After a (relatively) quiet start to the year, the past week has been chockablock with activity, as I’ve been recording sessions and interviews for your future listening pleasure.  Fans of Beach House, Fionn Regan, Peter Von Poehl, Lawrence Arabia and Danny And The Champions Of The World, you have some treats in store on BCB over the coming weeks!

Anway, back to the present, this was what I played tonight….
Lightspeed Champion – Dead Head Blues
Mus̩e M̩caniques РLike Home
Gigi – the Hundredth Time
Tamikrest – Tamiditin
The Kissaway Trail – SDP
Eels – On My Feet
The Loves – Sweet Sister Delia
Carl Perkins – Long Tall Sally
Gonjasufi – Ancestors
Veronica Falls – Found Love In A Graveyard
Flight Of The Conchords – Carol Brown
Quasi – Repulsion
Efterklang – Modern Drift
Lou Rhodes – The More I Run
Archie Bronson Outfit – Shark’s Tooth

Eclectic Mainline 10th February 2010

Gil Scott-Heron - Im New Here

Gil Scott-Heron - I"m New Here

The new album by Gil Scott-Heron came as something of a surprise to me, but what a wonderful surprise it was! Although I don’t make a habit of having a ‘featured album’, I’m New Here was this week’s featured album.

I’m not sure if you heard Joel White’s Too Much Too Young earlier in the day, but he played the new single by Oh No Ono.  Some bands don’t make a video for singles, but ONO have made three for their new one, and are asking you the fan to vote for your favourite:

This is what I played in Eclectic Mainline last night:
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