Conversations with academics or about academia: People who teach, people who study, people who believe in academia and people who challenge and question it. 

Academics

not a machine

PURCHASE '68' by Robert Wyatt @
AMAZON (digital & physical): http://www.amazon.com/68-Robert-Wyatt/dp/B00EI63LJY
ITUNES (digital): https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/68/id687598452
BANDCAMP (hi-fi digital): http://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/68
WAYSIDE (physical-ships worldwide): http://waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Wyatt--Robert---68__Rune-spc-375.aspx

"After a half a dozen listens I am convinced this is of the very best archival releases EVER.
The creativity was pouring out of RW at that time and the freedom he had doing these demos reveal a sense of freshness that is really exciting – also there is a feeling of warm intimacy like we get to be the fly on RW's studio wall in 1968 - the interview is amazing too. Do not miss this."
–Udi Koomram, engineer.

"Some have called this - the complete set of Robert Wyatt's solo recordings made in the US in late 1968 - the ultimate Holy Grail. Half of the material here is not only previously unreleased - it had never been heard, even by the most dedicated collectors of Wyatt rarities."
–Aymeric Leroy, author and historian of the 'Canterbury Scene'.

"A stunning archival release that sheds new light on early Soft Machine. A must-have for Softs fans"
–Sid Smith, journalist

For over 45 years, Robert Wyatt has been a major, creative force in music, having had a major impact on the beginnings of both psychedelic rock and jazz/rock in the UK with Soft Machine, to his eventual long solo career as a unique singer/songwriter.

In September, 1968, the Soft Machine had just finished their second, exhaustive tour of the USA supporting the Jimi Hendrix Experience. At the conclusion of the tour, vocalist/drummer/multi-instrumentalist Robert stayed, working on recordings in Hollywood and New York City. Upon Robert's return to England to re-start the Soft Machine in December, 1968, these documents lay forgotten. Two of them were eventually found and issued, but half of these recordings were unreleased and thought lost forever...

Now, for the first time, all four of the recordings Robert made in '68 are collected together and released, all carefully worked on and presented in the best possible sound quality – and the recorded sound here is surprisingly excellent overall!

This release is fully authorized by Robert and the liners include an in-depth interview with Robert about his recollections of this period, with insights into his songwriting process, recording procedures and previously untold anecdotes of this period of his work and life.

There are four tracks. Two of the demos are shorter songs. Of these, one of them was a track Robert used to play with the Wilde Flowers, Brian Hopper's Slow Walkin' Talk, while the other features music that would later be re-worked by Robert and appear on the 1st album by Matching Mole!

The bulk of the material - the two long suites - were later re-recorded by the Soft Machine; Rivmic Melodies later became the basis of side one on Volume II (1969) and Moon In June showed up as Robert's showcase on Third (1970). The two side-long epics are particularly worth noting how they present, even in this very early stage of his career, Wyatt's seamless integration of song fragments and instrumental passages within a unified whole, his stream-of-consciousness, often self-referential lyrics interspersed with witty asides (soon to become a defining characteristic of the 'Canterbury scene'), matched by Wyatt's equally idiosyncratic singing.
These tracks serve as a template for the post-psychedelic Soft Machine's career as founders of European jazz/rock and the entire release is a precursor to Robert's post-band, solo career.

www.cuneiformrecords.com
www.twitter.com/cuneiformrecord
www.facebook.com/cuneiformrecords

Robert Wyatt, "Rivmic Melodies" [excerpt] from '68' (Cuneiform Records)

Debut track from our new album Sound Mirror
Out NOW on Harvest Records.

US order: smarturl.it/sydarthur
UK order: po.st/SoundMirroriT
po.st/SoundMirrorAma

Sound Mirror

Garden Of Time

The Syd Arthur boys are good friends of ours from way back who have been orbiting the moon for the last few years with their beautiful, unique & complex take on Psychedelic/Prog rock.  If you’re wondering who they are, have a look at their VH1 America performance here:
http://www.vh1.com/video/misc/1041063/hometown-blues-big-morning-buzz-live.jhtml
or check them supporting prog-rock legends Yes on their 35 date USA tour, happening now.  For our UK compatriots check out their UK tour, starting mid September. 

www.sydarthur.co.uk

Our remix of 'Syd Arthur - Hometown Blues', (their collaboration with Paul Weller) is available now as a Free Download.  

Be sure to check their latest 'Sound Mirror' album is available here:
UK iTunes: http://po.st/SoundMirroriT
US iTunes: http://smarturl.it/SA_iTunes


www.psychemagik.com
www.facebook.com/thecosmicforest
www.twitter.com/psychemagik

FREE DOWNLOAD

Syd Arthur - Hometown Blues (Psychemagik Remix)

In GBA #4 we get better acquainted with Liz. She talks about an amazing amount of things including; class, social policy, personal history, cultural identity and her family. 

Find Liz on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/veritasgrey / @veritasgrey

Liz plugged:

http://www.thebrickbox.co.uk/ 

http://www.mssociety.org.uk

http://www.symphonyspace.org/ 

http://www.selectedshorts.org/

http://www.radiolab.org/

http://www.npr.org/



Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review?

Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word.

GBA 4 Liz

In GBA 11 we get better acquainted with Clive. He asks himself the question, "What is the point in Anthropology?" He provides many answers and some arguments against them. And sometimes he forgets what he's supposed to be talking about. Living with tribal people, if the world can be made a better place and how can humans be happy are some of the main themes of the conversation.

Clive plugs:

Survival International: http://www.survivalinternational.org / http://twitter.com/survival


Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review?

Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word!

GBA 11 Clive

In GBA 26 we get better acquainted with Angela. She talks about programming computer simulations of Jaguars and Hedgehogs and being Welsh and  proud amongst other things. We meet for the first time in 10 years, compare notes and talk how we have come to know ourselves better as we get older. It even has a cameo from a dog.

Angela plugs: 

The University of Southampton: Complex System Simulations DTC: http://www.icss.soton.ac.uk/ 

Her blog: http://computationalecology-angelawatkins.blogspot.com/

Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review?

Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word!

GBA 26 Angela

In GBA 41 we get better acquainted with Chris. He was my one of my lecturers at university. He talks about academia, journalism, media, the Iraq War and the cuts being imposed by the Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition Government. It was recorded on a university campus so it was a trip down memory lane where I faced my past lessons and past prejudices. 

It's a conversation about ideas but also about people. Chris tells us of his journey from plumber to van driver to academic and critic. And he makes the argument for how, in a world so influenced and controlled by the media, media studies is far from being an irrelevant subject.

This is the first time someone with the same name as a previous guest has been aired. It won't be the last. Hope it doesn't get too confusing!


Chris plugs: 

His Blog: http://chr1sr0berts.wordpress.com/

Any work he does for http://www.newleftproject.org/ and http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network

And of course his book when it is published. His full name is Chris Roberts so look out for this in the future.

He also plugs Dan Hind's The Return of the Public:

http://thereturnofthepublic.wordpress.com/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1844675947/






Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review?

Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word!


GBA 41 Chris

Track 4 off Soulstice released 9th October 2006.

NZ ITunes: bit.ly/ITSoulstice
International: bit.ly/BCSoulstice

Shapeshifter have released their 5th studio album, DELTA, 31st May 2013.

DELTA Out Now:
NZ Itunes (Digital): bit.ly/ITunesDelta
NZ & International (Digital/CD/Vinyl): bit.ly/BCDelta

www.shapeshifter.co.nz

04 Bring Change

Track 5 off Soulstice released 9th October 2006.

NZ ITunes: bit.ly/ITSoulstice
International: bit.ly/BCSoulstice

Shapeshifter have released their 5th studio album, DELTA, 31st May 2013.

DELTA Out Now:
NZ Itunes (Digital): bit.ly/ITunesDelta
NZ & International (Digital/CD/Vinyl): bit.ly/BCDelta

www.shapeshifter.co.nz

05 Electric Dream

In GBA 66 we get better acquainted with Iris. Sitting in my childhood home away from home we talk about Histories: personal, social, local and shared.

Our conversation goes places - the excitement of London in the 60's, visiting Germany after WW2, providing educational support and assistance to disabled students, the psychogeography of cities, the use of the word chav, the beauty of immigration and discovering the heritage of a tiny part of Coventry are some of those places. 

Oh yeah, and we talk about what I was like when I was 12.

Iris Plugs:

"Don't keep hankering about going a long way away to find things out, look on your doorstep because often the answer is there, and look at your own environment and learn from it, and sortof... put your roots down where you are."

And the Willenhall Local History Group that she is the secretary for and the Virtual Museum Coventry: http://www.virtualmuseum.co.uk/

She has just set up an excellent blog for the Group: http://willenhallcov.blogspot.co.uk/

This conversation took place during the events documented in: http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-64-coventry

Iris is Steve's Mother: http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-63-steve



You can hear Getting Better Acquainted on Stitcher SmartRadio, Stitcher allows you to listen to your favourite shows directly from your iPhone, Android Phone, Kindle Fire and beyond.

On-demand and on the go!

Don’t have Stitcher? Download it for free today at http://www.stitcher.com or in the app stores.

Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review?

Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word!

GBA 66 Iris

In GBA 112 we get better acquainted with Dan. He talks about being superstitious about songwriting, where songs come from, making music for film, Primary School, the tension between popular music and academic musical theory, growing up as a skater in the suburbs in the 90's, quitting jobs and more.

The conversation was recorded a few years ago, in Bristol during the  night before St Paul's Carnival, late at night on a roof.

Dan plugs: 

Daniel Weltman: http://www.danielweltman.com/
Snails: http://snails.bandcamp.com/
Hollowbody: http://hollowbody.bandcamp.com/

I plug:

The Stand Up Tragedy IndieGoGo campaign: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stand-up-tragedy-goes-to-edinburgh

We mention:

Good Will Hunting: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/
Dead Poets Society: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097165/
Stockhausen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karlheinz_Stockhausen
Basic Instinct: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103772/
Eisenstein: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Eisenstein
Aphex Twin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphex_Twin
Handels Water Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kuw8YjSbKd4
Dodgy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodgy
Wonder Stuff: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonder_Stuff
Ned's Atomic Dustbin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned's_Atomic_Dustbin
Smashing Pumpkins: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smashing_Pumpkins 
Pearl Jam: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Jam
Sebadoh: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebadoh
Pavement: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavement_(band)
Sonic Youth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_Youth
Siamese Dream: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HeGu6-Ji7E
ABBA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABBA
James Last: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Last
The Carpenters: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Carpenters
Simon and Garfunkel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_%26_Garfunkel
Sounds of Silence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounds_of_Silence
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Freewheelin'_Bob_Dylan
Bob Dylan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan
Karen Dalton: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Dalton_(entertainer)
The Pastels: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pastels
The Smiths: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smiths
Nick Drake: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Drake
Leonard Cohen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Cohen
Famous Blue Raincoat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aRKZFR5imM
Bernard Herrmann: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Herrmann
Enio Morricone: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennio_Morricone
Neil Young: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Young
Joy Division: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Division
Ian Curtis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Curtis

You can hear Getting Better Acquainted on Stitcher SmartRadio, Stitcher allows you to listen to your favourite shows directly from your iPhone, Android Phone, Kindle Fire and beyond.

On-demand and on the go!

Don’t have Stitcher? Download it for free today at www.stitcher.com or in the app stores.

Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review?

GBA 112 Dan

A weekly podcast: Join Dave Pickering on his journey to get better acquainted with the people he knows. Part interview show, part oral history project and part autobiography through conversation.

British Podcast Award 2017 winner (bronze in Best Interview category)

GBA was nominated for a 2012 Radio Production Award, aired for 3 seasons on Resonance 104.4 FM and was featured on BBC Radio 4's In Pod We Trust, BBC Radio 5 Live’s Helen and Olly's Required Listening and has been recommended by The Guardian, Time Out and the Financial Times