RR#4 – Independent Music Podcast

-

It seems like a long time since I last wrote this column. April has been a long month, with little in the way of joy on the musical front. There have been scant few releases of real quality, few truly great gigs, and, well, nothing much happening at all.

For me, April was only good for the launch of the Independent Music Podcast, which showcases the most interesting record releases of the week from independent labels. I bring along each week’s new releases, and Anthony Chalmers (from London promoters God Don’t Like It, who are putting on some wonderful shows at Tamesis Dock throughout the summer) brings along some works in progress and unsigned stuff. It’s had a great reaction so far, with a few hundred iTunes subscribers this week alone. And for me, it’s a long overdue addition to the independent music media – and something good to listen to on the commute each Monday morning.

But my nonchalance to a lot of music coming out this past month and experimentation with recording a podcast has manifested itself into something else. I may have mentioned before that I am an avid vinyl collector, and I am also an avid fan of weird, wonderful electronic music – especially library music (that is music not commercially released but recorded for sound libraries that supply TV shows and adverts). I decided to record an hour mix of some of my vinyl, which meant digging through the racks of a few years of bizarre collection (you can listen to it here).

The two record labels I collect without much hesitation are Trunk and Finders Keepers – both dedicated to the sourcing and releasing of utterly mesmerising music lost in time. I wrote a short and poorly written piece on my love of Trunk here*, but I’d recommend reading Jason Draper’s fantastic feature in the second issue of Bearded (you can read it online here, it’s on page 26). As such, I’m going to concentrate on Finders Keepers here.

It is a label that came to me from two sides simultaneously. I’d heard a few releases – the fabulous Selda Bagcan record soundtracked my life a couple of years back – but it wasn’t until I was hosting a summer of shows in London last year that I became a collector. I’d got a nod from Jason Draper (whose Trunk article for Bearded turned me on to them), a few days before Finders Keepers hosted their own show in the wider series of shows I was participating in. I met the lovely Doug from the label, who in turn gave me a load of records, all of which blew me away. I now pester him with mass orders every month or so, and he’s probably sick of it.

What makes Finders Keepers so special is the sheer range of music they release, despite the consistency of its quality. From the Selda Bagcan release to a collection of rare Welsh psych to Hungarian communist funk rock to the mesmerising Science Fiction Dance Party to Dekha Jaye Ga (which includes Finders Keepers’ contribution to my mix), all these records are phenomenal – in some cases they bend contemporary and traditional music, in others they seem to invent new music. The fact that most of what Finders Keepers release is from a number of decades ago just makes it more bewildering. For me, that’s what music these days is missing, the innovation and sheer balls and vision to experiment, and labels like Finders Keepers are here to remind us that people used to do this, with music that still sounds fresh, innovative and completely different to anything you’ve ever heard before.

Listen to Gareth’s Finders Keepers Spotify playlist

* warning, image not safe for work, unless you work somewhere that’ll appreciate a naked woman and a stove… if you don’t work somewhere like that, you should.

To buy this month: Thee Oh Sees – ‘Warm Slime (In the Red)’ – out 31st May

Embed codes:

IMP#2

Independent Music Podcast #2 26/04/10 by Independentmusicpodcast on Mixcloud

Vinyl mix:

Gareth Bearded’s Vinyl Setlist #1 by Independentmusicpodcast on Mixcloud