270704 22:42

LACKLUSTER [FINLAND]
line noise - venutian travels (lackluster scribble) mp3
i'm stunned by the amount of free music lackluster makes available from his site, so if you like melodic electronica that also packs a punch, then you'll be overcome with joy at this divine offering. the above mp3 is a remix by lackluster ofthe florida based electronic collective line noise (laced milk) and is absolutely trademark for this producer. if i had the time, i'd spend a night downloading all of this material if it's half as good as this.

CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE [US: CALIFORNIA]
jeane, if you're ever in portland mp3
cftpa is owen ashworth from san franciso. what's the skinny on this particular collection that makes it worthy of note? well, the whole output from ashworth (on tomlab) is recorded using only 'battery powered instruments', which on first reading sounds like it's due a bodyswerve. however, stay close and listen well for cftpa is actually a carefully crafted selection of vignettes, where the lo-fi instrumention actually lends an eerie sense of immediacy and authenticity to the proceedings. ashworth is also a beloved member of our fair blog community too - check out the his blog here.



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260704 09:06

a brief parade of artists that were played on yesterday's show -- more later...

GUS GUS [ICELAND]
polyesterday (thievery corporation mix) mp3
the story of the icelandic electronic band gus gus goes way back to the mid-90s, a loose collective of artists coming together to make an album 'polydistortion', released in 1986 through 4AD. the 2nd album gave them a huge hit in the u.s. ('ladyshave') and in 2002 they pared down to a four piece to release their 3rd album 'attention'. the single 'david' from that album has been remixed (once again) by tim deluxe - a very pedestrian remix, unlike last year's beautiful king britt mix - and is doing good business in australia, hence the history lesson! the above mp3 is an old though raremix from the thievery boys.

MIDORI HIRANO [JAPAN]
nothing to be mp3
thanks (one more time...) to music for robots for an introduction to this japanese artist who falls squarely into the bracket already established by tujiko noriko. if you like her work, this won't fail to dissapoint. comparisons to bjork are obvious, so i might opt towards a comparison that also includes mira calix (warp records). the above mp3 is taken from a free mp3 compilation called 'venezanio songs' which i've yet to fully explore, but with artists names like notre travail bénéfique, it's got to be worth a shot...

JUANA MOLINA [ARGENTINA]
quien? mp3 : el desconfiado mp3
[re-post] more info on juana can be found in the post dated 230504

SEKSU ROBA [KOREA/JAPAN]
zero gravity mini-skirt mp3
formed + resident in l.a., seksu roba is lunna nenoh from japan and korean producer sukho lee (a theremin player who has also worked with damo suzuki from can). it's impossible to define thier sound as they take on so many different genres - bossa, electronica, rock for starters. the above track from yesterday's show is a quirky, electro-pop instrumental - to delve deeper check out the large range of mp3s on their site.



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230704 09:18

after a couple of requests, i finally got round to checking out an rss / atom feed for fat planet. it's now live - if you want to link to it, here's the URL:

http://www.fatplanet.com.au/feed.rss



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200704 09:44

PAN AMERICAN [US: VIRGINIA]
before go to download page
ever since i heard 'e luxo so', ive fallen in love with labradford. that album become the number one listening choice on my hour-long train journeys from brighton to london evey morning. i began to be able to tell where i was geographically by the moment at which each track started - a perfect soundtrack. labradford make what is without doubt some of the most beautiful instrumental music of our time. a huge call, i know, but check the 'e luxo so' album and i defy you not to be absolutely entranced. so, it's therefore great to see labradford member mark nelson back with another release under his pan american name. the new album is titled 'quiet city' and is out now on kranky. more info and short sound samples here. click the link above to go to better propaganda for a full length mp3 download. view a movie from the accompanying dvd here on the southern records site.

SEX IN DALLAS [GERMANY]
everybody deserves to be fucked (french fragz mix) mp3
from the list of supporters of this record as shown on the kitty-yo web site, you'd think sex in dallas had been around for ever, making friends with everyone all over the world. the press release name checks trevor jackson, laurent garnier, fc kahuna, john peel and many more. yet it seems this berlin-based trio are still very much in their infancy. i guess a track with a title such as this is bound to grab attention, but the music does deliver after such a brash manifesto. the above mix starts off sounding like another great electro pop release from the gigolo stable, before dropping an lcd soundystem-esque vocal, some brief processed guitar squeals and fades to a more minimal finale. a very tasty dish. check their kitty-yo page for a 2nd download.



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190704 22:58

so much music, so little time. front cover of australian newspaper today, after storms in sydney last night, "children - stay indoors". ok, note to self, no more news about the weather, stick to the music...

BECKETT & TAYLOR [ENGLAND]
yonder (live at the cube) mp3
a few months back, i had the good fortune of stumbling across the 'hand on the plow' label and the work of beckett & taylor. the track in question 'work with what you got' was a juddering glitch-funk gem and i was 'stoked' (australian word, translation: overjoyed) to receive their new split e.p. (with spandex) in the post recently. check out some samples here. the duo have recently posted new 'web only' material - the above mp3, recorded in april, is far less dancefloor orientated, much more reminiscent of artists such as autechre. don't neglect these guys... [site]

EX-WIFE [PORTUGAL]
eno mp3
i played this track on the show a little while ago, so pleased to see that a full-length mp3 has sprung up on the band's official site (along with some short samples from the album 'feeding the machine'). my first thought was 'an electro-punk suede!' such was the similarity of the vocal to mr brett anderson. it's a fresh take on what's fast becoming an over-familiar sound - great energy, some wonderful analogue sounds, and a killer vocal. always great to here to some new sounds from portugal. [site]

BLACK CAB [AUSTRALIA]
1970 mp3
it's ok mp3
black cab's new album 'altamont diary' has been knocking people out at fbi - and it's easy to hear why. the album was inspired by the rolling stones' free gig at the altamont speedway in 1969 and features some top notch, dirty, grinding rock'n'roll. all the touchstones are obvious (you could almost BE on the bus with the merry pranksters), yet the sound is somehow liberating and forward looking. such is the benefit of hindsight - returning the past with a crateful of tunes from the 21st century. wow, imagine if doctor who was a dj ... (private fantasy, sorry) [site]

LO-FI-FNK [SWEDEN]
unighted mp3
from yesterday's radio show, somehow neglected to post the link... so where are we with this one? well, there's some obvious daft punk, some junior senior, a dash of lcd soundsystem, a hand-clap riff from the village people - all in all, some delightfully silly 'electro-camp' (i'm sensing a new genre here...) [site]

THE HARVEY GIRLS [US:KANSAS]
blue and green lawnmower mp3
the harvey girls (melissa and hiram) know their PR - sending emails to mp3 blogs with the subject 'the harvey girls - not porn, sorry'. guaranteed to get attention. which is lucky for us - they've posted their 5-track 2003 e.p. 'the biggest book you'll never read' on their site, which has been described by 'dream magazine' (who they?) as "notwist meet joe meek at bread's barbeque". nice metaphor, don't know whether it's accurate... i use the phrase 'off-kilter' here a great deal, and it's appropriate here again. and by that i tend to mean 'familiar sound, nudged to the left accidently, whereby something sounds terribly wrong and terribly right at the same time. much like being at your parents' sunday dinner wearing your girlfriend's knickers'. beat that so-called 'dream magazine' ;-) [site]

DNTEL [US: CALIFORNIA]
(this is) the dream of evan and chan (lali puna remix) mp3
more lali puna again - been re-listening to their new e.p. and can't get it out of my head. so, scouring the bastian of all that is great about free-to-sample mp3, epitonic, i came across dntel - solo artist in this incarnation, but also one half of the postal service on plug research (check out their other great release from l.a. based argentinians, languis). the epitonic page also features a remix of the same track by safety scissors (and by odd synchronicity, they also featured on yesterday's radio show in their remix of sketchshow - suddenly the planet seems less fat and much more manageable...)



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180704 19:12

this week's playlist is now live. it's a blustery day in sydney, nearly got knocked off the bike coming home. ah, the australian winters ... just like the scottish summers ... here's some free'n'legal mp3 downloads from artists featured on today's show :::

AGF [GERMANY]
return to us mp3
played AGF's great polemic track 'regional distinctions' from the new kitty-yo compilation, 'futurism ain't shit to me'. AGF is the female solo artist antye greie who has an extremely impressive collaboration list such as laub, craig armstrong and also vladislav delay [aka luomo] who features on the above track. many more downloads available on the AGF site.

LALI PUNA [GERMANY]
together in electric dreams mp3
their new single 'micronomic' features my track of the week - a boom bip remix of the title track. the cd also features a remix by alias and the great micronomic video, which features 'death by cine camera'! this mp3 [from their epitonic page] is - as you might already know - a cover of the 80s electro cheesy classic, orginally performed by phil oakey [from the human league] and giorgio moroder.

SIGUR ROS [ICELAND]
starálfur mp3
this moody icelandic band are not shy about putting their music online for free distribution - their download page is one of the longest i've seen in a while. so it's hard to choose just the one as they're all worth investigating if you like your music cold and abstract. the above mp3 is from the 1999 album 'ágætis byrjun'. today's track from the show was 'ba ba', from their new ep of music recorded for merce cunningham's dance production 'split sides' (which also featured music from radiohead).

BOOM SHANKAR [INDIA]
stay home bastards mp3
+
DIGITAL RAGA [INDIA]
bhoot vs tosca mp3
+
DJFROMINDIA [INDIA]
africa mp3
all three of the above came from iuma - a good source of new music from under-represented countries. essentially, it's exactly the same as any other site that allows unsigned artists to publish their music online and it can be frustratingly short on detail. it can obviously be a lottery too, so last week i decided to listen to all of the tracks that were posted from india [which was a gruelling task in places...] and came up with these three beauties. boom shankar takes the original source material for dj shadow's 'midnight in a perfect world' - pekka pohjola's 'the madness subsides' and cuts it into what sounds like a shadow re-take. digital raga's downbeat piece floats in and out of various styles including opera and some hindi vocal -beautiful stuff - and djfromindia rounds off proceedings with a tasty, short percussive burst that strides across the two continents.

GAATE [NORWAY]
see post dated 150704

THIS MICROWAVE WORLD [US: TEXAS]
fun fun fun mp3
a five piece from texas who have three self-released e.p.s under their belt, including 'love your zine, let's go to bed' from which the above track is taken. it's a little on the post-punk tip [even mentions the classic phrase 'death disco'! although, i'm guilty of that too...] and comes off sounding not too dissimilar to radio 4 - which is a compliment rather than a disservice... [site]



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150704 08:41

i've started a fat planet email list for those of you who'd like a brief, weekly email with notification of new mp3s and any special events on the radio show. click here to sign up. i was told yesterday that streaming of the radio station is now in place and is being tested for a couple of weeks, so we'll be going live online early august!

GAATE [NORWAY]
inga litimor mp3
thanks to music for robots for this one [if you've yet to discover their blog, i heartily recommend it!]. first up, you're led to believe this is going to be an odd IDM, possibly industrial track - low notes, sustained synth, all very gloomy. and out of nowhere, we get a vocal that sounds like it's ripped from a traditional norwegian folk song. it's so out of place, so surpising and so wonderful! the music then follows a more bjork-like path after that, but i just can't escape the sheer oddity and originality of this. hope you feel the same way :-)

RICHARD REAGH [CANADA]
expect the best mp3
thanks to patrik for emailing the link for richard reagh, a canadian resident in sweden. patrik says it "sounds like a mix between folk-songwriting with an electronic / pop sound... not as boring as it sounds... actually (according to me) really, really good" - and i couldn't put it better myself. it has a lot more of a a song-based punch than standard 'folktronica' and reminds me of recent releases from matt harding or broken spindles. more please.

ABSTRAKT KEAL AGRAM [FRANCE]
hell mix go to download page
fat bandwidth? unlimited download account? then you're probably like me and think nothing of an 85MB download in the morning. the joy of broadband has opened up some interesting new possibilites, not least of which is the downloadable mix set. i'm not a fan of tedious 90 minute 4-4 mixes, so it's great to see the always excellent french label gooom coming up with a totally unique mix set from abstrakt keal agram. you can download the set + cover artwork and thrill to the sounds of john carpenter (yes, he of horror movie fame), mobb deep, blonde redhead, pavement, beans, hvartski, dizzee rascal, ciccone youth and more. certainly the most eclectic set in recent memory. on another tip, australian's new wave artists cut copy have also released a free mix set, downloadable when you sign up to the modular records newsletter. it's a good romp through electro pop and post punk and far more interesting than anything with the word 'renaissance' in the title.

a big heads up to fingertips, like fat planet it's a blog dedicated to free + legal mp3s online. i must confess to not seeing fingertips listed on any 'mp3 blog list' before and i hope to help to rectify that! recent posts include the secret machines, arto lindsay, the album leaf, pj harvey, ojos de brujo and more. while we're giving props to blogs, there's a few more that have made their way onto my bookmarks of late - check out royal music [beastie boys, buck 65, tv on the radio], telephone thing [lex, warp etc] and uncritical [grand national, M83, avril].

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110704 17:49

a strangely laid-back feel to the show today, or maybe that was just me? some good electronica, dub, lo-fi, abstract - all in today's mix. click here for the playlist. read onwards and downwards for free mp3s from some of today's artists.

KRISTOFER ASTROM [SWEDEN]
the wild mp3
itsatrap.com is an must-see site for scandanavian music news and regular downloads. the above track is a linked from there and is a sweet acoustic track with a great harmony between kristofer and guest vocalist britta persson. the site also currently features a live set from pan sonic to download.

DEAD COMBO [FINLAND]
you don't look so good mp3
these guys could well be my new favourite band :-) if you're a fan of either black rebel motorcycle club or the jesus & mary chain, you must have this one. it's from their new single, released on trevor jackson's output label - which also features their downbeat'n'dirty electro-rock cover of david bowie's 'let's dance'. put on your red shoes and... lick the ashtray? ::: site

MATTHEW DEAR [US: TEXAS]
hands up for detroit mp3
played a new(ish) track from matthew dear called 'but for you'. this texan techno artist has been releasing music on the impeccable ghostly label for around five years. the above mp3 is the title track from his first release in 1999, of which only 1,000 were ever released. electro-house for the masses.

NO NAME NO FAME [CROATIA]
buena vista fight club mp3
see post 090704

PLASTIC FEVER [ARGENTINA]
sunboy mp3
a great find from the unexpected rainforest of independent artists that is the vitaminic mp3 site. there are literally 10,000s of artists in there, all vying for our download attention. it can be pot-luck, although often there are a few pleasant suprises - like this one from plastic fever. 'sunboy' kicks off with a brief twin peaks sample, then into some vocal + acoustic guitar, before dropping off some electronic samples somewhere in the middle. cute and hugely listenable.

TENFOLD LOADSTAR [GERMANY]
birdy mp3
this german band's new album 'mellow garden' is a rare instance of multiple genres crossing over between tracks to create a perfect whole. at first bite, i was expecting a staight forward alt.rock excursion, but then by the second track i was already off into electro territory. if you enjoyed the recent trans am album, you might get a similar kick from this ::: site



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090704 15:13

so technology failed me this week - it's fair to say that telstra (australia's major telco) couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery :-) ah, it's been so long since i used that phrase... so it's catch up time, loads of music to furnish you with. i've still got a few emails to go through, so if you've emailed some links etc recently, many thanks - and i'll be posting info here very soon.

MISSY ELLIOT [US: VIRGINIA]
i'm really hot (ratatat remix) mp3
one significant find from a while back that i sadly neglected to mention here. NY band ratatat have essentially taken a whole heap of hip hop acapellas and written new music for them. so it's not so much a bootleg as a cameo appearance of missy on a ratatat track ... or something. the band are flogging their 'mixtape' at gigs in america, so those not fortunate enough to catch them will have to make do with a few scant downloads here and there. there's another one on their site at audiodregs.com/ratatat

NO NAME NO FAME [CROATIA]
buena vista fight club mp3
here's something very special - some great downbeat latin breaks straight out of croatia. thanks to mladen djikic (aka no name no fame) for getting in touch and directing me to his label - egoboo.bits. the above track was no.1 for ten weeks in croatian radio 101's independent chart. there's a whole stack of mp3s where this came from - i highly recommend you take some time to check it out. have a listen to 'winter poems for lost souls' and you'll see where i'm coming from.

SOLINA [SPAIN]
loreta salino mp3
there's very little information about this spanish trio, based in seville. so we're left with the joys of the google translation service (gawd bless 'em), which throws up some interesting facts such as "the group was centered in counting on an own recording studio from which to give exit to its compositions" ... aye, right. they're coming in somewhere around pizacatto five, saint etienne etc, albeit with a latino lounge vibe. this track is more downtempo and feels a little more confessional (what do i know, it's in spanish!) than the other three mp3s that can be found on their site.

JASON FORREST aka DONNA SUMMER [US: NEW JERSEY]
spectacle to refute all others mp3
jason forrest has been responsible for some spectacular plunderphonics under the assumed name of 'donna summer' for a couple of years. for his new album, he's reverted to his 'true' name (whether that has anything to do with the first lady of disco, i don't know...). the above track opens proceedings with a sample from 'and the beat goes on' and then decends quickly into an almighty soundclash where the constituent parts are unrecognisable and any lack of structure or narrative goes out the window. and the world is all the better for it. more tunes here. also check out jason's mp3 on the tu-m.com site - i'm not sure who or what t'um is, but he/she/it has created some webcam images and asked musicians to provide the soundtracks. there's also tunes from french artist mils and rob mazurek. [thanks to tim for the link!]

NYAMBZ [SOUTH AFRICA]
rocking tha people direct download mp3
not convinced about this guy's vocal delivery but his beats are sweet, and he's also here because it's not often we get some straight-up bedroom hip hop from south africa. there's a few more tunes on his soundclick page here.

and finally, this is not 'new international music' by any stretch, in fact, it's quite the opposite, it's 23 years old - but by god does it still sound fresh. ladies and gentleman, i'm referring to some free can mp3s that have just cropped up. can are one of the most under-rated and seminal figures in music history, giving birth in the early 1970s to the notion of 'krautrock' (now successfully revitalised by bands such as stereolab, tortoise and broadcast and even downtempo hip hop artists such as sixtoo). click here for some tracks from their albums 'tago mago' and 'ege bamyasi'.



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050704 08:50

my home internet connection is down, so posts have been slow over the last few days. i'm posting this and this week's playlist remotely, but will hopefully be back up to speed in the next day or two with some mp3s from this week's show. so it goes..

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