ECLECTIC PICKS - 2024

Any artist is welcome to send us a track via freshonthenet.co.uk anytime between Monday lunchtime and Wednesday evening (or when we receive 200 submissions, whichever is sooner) - and all our moderators, including Tom Robinson, will listen to every track. This is our full inbox from the week beginning Mon 23rd September: from Friday afternoon you'll be able to hear our shortlist and pick your favourites on this week's Listening Post which will appear at freshonthenet.co.uk/batch542

If a track you submitted does not appear in this list, it’s probably because another of your tracks appeared in our Fresh Faves or on the BBC Music Introducing Mixtape during the last three months — we ask that artists featured on either wait three months before resubmitting to give others a chance. 

We also don’t accept short previews or SoundCloud Go tracks that can only be heard as 30 second previews, and tracks made private after submission, which cannot be included in playlists. You will be able to resubmit the track in future. Tracks (and remixes of tracks) that have been previously submitted, and tracks from banned artists will also be removed.

Christmas songs and the like are also not eligible for the Listening Post, although we will collect these into a playlist that will be published on 24 December.

ENTIRE INBOX: Batch 542

Our moderators listened to every track we were sent this week and have picked their favourites for your listening pleasure this weekend:

Listening Post: Batch 542

2nd Sonophoria track - FOTN Listening Post: Batch 542

ECLECTIC PICKS #542- Weekly Playlist (Freshonthenet)

Nov 24

High Kingdom Pt. 1

'Ruminant Julius Caesar' is both a song about unconscious bias within research methodologies and science of deer social behaviour and organisation, but it's also about the importance of being the kind of human being who's truly open to others' perspectives. With it's staggered drums and driving bass and purposeful piano, it's a Bristol-feeling pastoral piece.

Ruminant Julius Caesar

Exist

Nina

Portamento

Disorder is taken from Keening's second album - James Francis Diaries.
Preorder available here - https://darkliberationrecords.bandcamp.com/album/james-francis-diaries-2
James Francis was the lead singer of the cult band Strange Ones. He disappeared in 1993 from the island of Losse in Scotland where he was recording his debut album.

In 2022, James’ tapes and diaries were given by James’ parents to the band Keening. Keening had discovered and fallen in love with the Strange Ones' records and learned about James’ disappearance. The original demos themselves, even with digital restoration are unlistenable as James distorted the recordings and overdubbed them with found sounds from the island. Instead of replicating the songs, Keening decided to write their own music inspired by James’ diary, the mystery surrounding his disappearance, his lyrics, and the island of Losse. James’ edited diary is included here for interest and with the permission of his family.

releases January 20, 2024

James Francis Diaries

Disorder

DOPAMINE by Bjørn Felle, out now on AnalogueTrash

Dopamine

Harmony

I do not own any of the music in this mix! purely for the enjoyment of my fellow wooks

Tipper Rendezvous 2024

Autumn

Following the success of their deliciously dark and mesmerising debut album ‘Hollowing Out’, Cardiff multi-instrumentalists Red Telephone are back with ‘Delay The New Day’ on July 19th, kicking off a series of singles before they release their sophomore album of the same name in October. Building on their debut record's blend of melodic psych and darkwave, Red Telephone promises to further explore this fusion with the addition of cinematic influences in their upcoming releases. Their first single, ‘Delay The New Day’, delves into themes of indulgence and hedonistic distraction, examining how the allure of nights out and easy comforts can become laborious and repetitive. Driven by the quintet's knack for multi-instrumental intricacies, Red Telephone's latest work evokes comparisons to Arctic Monkeys' newer sound (like Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino or The Car) while staying true to the unique style they established in their critically acclaimed debut. 

‘Delay The New Day’ offers the first glimpse into Red Telephone’s upcoming album of the same name. Recorded semi-live in a short timeframe and featuring their first full-time drummer, this latest project aims for a more cohesive sound, capturing a specific time and place for the individuals and as a group. Primarily written in solitude by members Declan and Kieran on guitar and piano, the album places a strong emphasis on melody and lyricism from the outset. Thematically, it explores the challenges of balancing full-time work with being a musician, and the alienation caused by conflicting advice on how to succeed, straying from their original musical intentions.

Of the process they said “It’s about the paranoia, doubt and dissolution that goes with the territory of pushing yourself and trying to carve out a path where you hopefully get to survive on what you love doing. Even songs on the album that aren’t directly about this still tie into the theme, for example, Delay the New Day, which is about indulgence and hedonistic distraction at the expense of creating.”

Hailing from Cardiff, Red Telephone are a quintet featuring two sets of brothers alongside their first full-time drummer. They began their journey by releasing their first two singles as a double A-side vinyl on the Welsh cult label Popty-Ping, earning praise from Huw Stephens and Steve Lamacq. Their critically acclaimed debut album, ‘Hollowing Out’, garnered media attention from Clash, BBC 6 Music, and Under The Radar, amongst many. 

Now, in 2024, with their second album completed and set to release this October, Red Telephone continue to make waves in the UK alternative scene with their potent blend of psychedelic rock and darkwave, drawing comparisons to indie trailblazers MGMT, St. Vincent, or fellow Welsh band Super Furry Animals. ‘Delay The New Day’ will be available across all major streaming platforms from July 19th, whilst their upcoming sophomore album of the same name is hailed for release this October.

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“Gritty, brilliantly dark and expansive. A deliciously dark, mesmerising and a dystopian-tinged sonic palette that could have been heard in Bowie’s Berlin in the late 1970’s. An impressive and masterful debut.” - Clash Music

“Very nicely layered. Has a bit of early 80s melodrama; a sort of Pet Shop Boys croon and a Krautrock halo.” – Steve Lamacq, BBC 6 Music

“They have the potential to soundtrack a generation.” – Drowned in Sound

“Something brilliantly dark about this, with their synth psych noir with a pulse. Real potential to go big.” - Chris Hawkins, BBC 6 Music

“With music as smart as their aesthetic, Cardiff’s Red Telephone are making neo-noir sounds that could have made it onto the ‘Drive’ soundtrack.” – Gigwise

Delay the New Day

Tiny War

Keep Swimming

In The Morning

Bien MornAm

Blend of styles crafted into an eclectic, electronic-based instrumental...takes you where you may want to go...

"The latest release by The Fantom Man is Complex World. A slightly swinging synth-electronic theme sweeps in and out of focus with little melodic ideas popping up and then vanishing while some eerie sampled voices chirp away in the background. It sounds lke it is about to fade out when suddenly it picks up in intensity and switching up and down a semi-tone, it brings a light jazz aspect to the party with some nice staccato keyboard play. Enigmatic and full of little twists. Inventive as always."
Reviewed by Dr Neil March Trust The Blog 96. 30th September 2024.
**Selected for Fresh on the Net/Signal Committee's Eclectic Picks https://freshonthenet.co.uk/2024/10/eclectic-542/ ** 5th October 2024

Complex World

During the mid-1960s operation FOXGLOVE- a highly classified, five-man black ops task force designated to investigate reports of unnatural aural phenomena recorded at a secret governmental research site Breechlands.
Our agents attempted to establish contact with a highly advanced energy source at the site.
Upon contact, the agents were immediately consumed by a subharmonic spike of immense magnitude referred to as The Outerlude before disappearing without a trace, along with the energy source.
Some 60 years later the unit reappeared at the very source of the aural anomaly, having not aged a day.
Subsequent tests and countless hours of interrogation concluded the agents had no recollection of the incident whatsoever.
Upon further probing they were revealed to have a substantially heightened knowledge of astronomical star map data, far exceeding the information available to the 1960s, and surpassing much of what we know of the universe today.
Due to the information these men hold, and the potential threat to national and worldwide security, it is in the planet's interests that our tests continue to unearth who, or what, gave them this knowledge.

The Outerlude

I have been sitting on this tune for almost 2 years so what better way to release it then for my 3k followers release <3 From the bottom of my heart, thanks to everyone who has supported my musical journey. It means the world to me and you best believe we just getting started! Free Download unlocked once this track hits 1k views :)

Art By: Orphin Records

Free download!

JID - Surround Sound (Head$tash Flip)

shauna Mc Ardle Music- 'Hit the Floor'

This one is personal.  UK-born Luxembourg-based Artist/Producer Tobisonics delivers a 2 minute 57 second indie-pop trauma-purge, ‘The Voice Inside Your Head Wants You Dead’.

Tobi takes on the persona of the toxic inner voice, a wretched creature compelled to destroy the very thing it needs to survive.  Tobi does so with a sense of authority made possible only by personal experience, and cannot help but allude to his own lifelong battle with chronic depression/anxiety and PTSD. 

“I was at a low point with the music.  I asked myself, If I could only make one more song, what would it be?  I sat down with the guitar and sang, ‘I am the voice inside your head and yes, I want you dead’.”

Working alone in his home studio, Tobi crafts a dynamic and ever-evolving soundscape of ear-catching drums and percussion, cryptic synths and layered guitars.  His first project to be presented in Dolby Atmos, Tobi undertook every aspect of production, mix, and master.

Nominated for Radio WigWam Best Electro Act 2021.  Tobi’s music has been played by DJ Tobi Lynn of Amazing Radio US, and featured in Fresh on the Net’s Fresh Faves [Batch 390].  His music has also attracted the attention of Abbie McCarthy [BBC Radio 1] “Enjoyed listening to this, ace production 👏🏼” and Jaguar [BBC Intro Dance Radio 1/Mix mag] “This is everything. I want more.”

‘The Voice Inside Your Head Wants You Dead’ is out on all platforms on Tuesday 24th September.


- Lyrics -

I am the voice inside your head
And yes, I want you dead

I mix lies with the truth
Advocate to attack you

I bind you so no one can find you
I hide the light inside you

I am the voice inside your head
And yes, I want you dead

I contrive you to infantize you
Idolize you as I deny you

I need you wretched to reflect me
I need you never to reject me

I can not stand in the light in you
I can not stand without you

I am the voice inside your head
And yes, I want you dead

The Voice Inside Your Head Wants You Dead

In this crazy world, we invite you to Be the Change your want to see. This piano based song is an uplifting ballad recorded remotely from home studio between Astrid M, jazz singer based in the UK and Piano Lilium a pianist and composer based in Serbia. Both invite you to take ownership of your action, to follow your dream, no matter what and Be the change you want to see. 

Be the change

Through The Eye

Free Download

Deva

Hot Like Sauce - WayBach Flip

Kyle Macleod: Synths, Sound Fx, Percussion
Pete Ferguson: Guitar
Al Fransham: Bass
Charles Rickards: Guitar
Tom Andrews: Drums
Son of Ugly are a five piece instrumental band based in Brighton, whose unique style of cinematic weirdcore dashes through so many genres that it’s tricky to trap them in a specific category. Within their repertoire lurk elements of 60’s and 70’s cartoons, spy action, noir jazz, surf and world music, sometimes in the same song.

The Outerlude

Son Of Ugly