JosieJo's Great Big Pair of Tips

The JosieJo Show 24

Hooray. You made it. I'm very glad you're here. Let me tell you what this is all about if you don't already know. It's a simple little show that is essentially two great tracks by two different bands or artists that have been producing and creating music. It's all available out there, but you may well not have heard of them. Then I normally end with a track by a band I've played before. Having said that I don't stick to even my own rules so don't count on anything. You may not like everything you hear on the show. In fact the likelihood is that there will be some stuff that just doesn't do it for you, but stick around. You may just come across your new favourite band and on that journey you're hearing tunes and sharing music in that good old fashioned Mixtape way that we used to do. The JosieJo Show is a trans-genre show. Normally the bands have no link and there is no pattern to the plays, but this week both bands have been recommended to me by Jon Raleigh of Boston band Rollo Time. I played Rollo Time when I used to do this feature as JosieJo's Great Big Pair of Tips on Round At Milligan's and I will play Jon's band on this show in the future when they come over to the UK for a few gigs in May. The two tracks for this show, though, came together as I was listening randomly to music on the train the other day and they do seem to work as a mini playlist. The third track is the opening track from The Magic Brothers album “The Magic Line” and I'm playing that because I finally got to see Nicky and Woody play live at The Dublin Castle this week and it was a superb night with lots of love and laughter. Let's see what you make of it all.

So starting with The Queue from Chicago, Illinois they are an unsigned four piece with British Pop influences and power pop freakiness. They are playing International Pop Overthrow festival in Chicago on the 12^th April 2014.

I'm going to play you “God Save The Queen”. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking the Sex Pistols and that classic line “God Save The Queen, the fascist regime” It's not that. It's not about the Queen of England at all as far as I can tell. I have to admit to not really knowing at all exactly what it's about. I'm pretty certain that it's about a “deep psychosis.” At least the chorus repeats that a lot. I think it's the chorus. I don't really understand these things, but its clashing, jangly rock guitars amongst its swirl of some kind of morphine induced wobbly is very appealing. It's quite cross so I'm playing you the radio edit. For the full powerful punch go to https://www.facebook.com/thequeue/app_2405167945 but for now here's the mind growl that is The Queue and “God Save the Queen”

https://www.facebook.com/thequeue/app_2405167945

wooo wooo wooo wooo. I love that sort of out of focus/in focus wobble at the end. I was going to play you a drinking song after that one called “Whiskey Rainclouds” by Bob's Yer Uncle”, but in my prep for the show this track by Bob's Yer Uncle came on my player right after the Queue's track and they seemed to work very well together. Never one to turn down fortuitous coincidence I decided to “go with the flow” (I often turn down unfortuitous coincidence and just put bad omens down to the random chaos of the universe. Self delusion keeps us all sane). So Bob's Yer Uncle then. Another Chicago band and, like The Queue, they're playing Chicago's International Pop Overthrow at The Red Tap Line on the 19^th April. They also have that sort of British pop undertone which is possibly due to the lead singer and guitarist, Adrian's Liverpuddlian roots. I love the word Liverpuddlian. And I also like the suggested etymology of the phrase “Bob's yer uncle” which seems to have several possibilities most of which are based on stories of nepotism in the British political system or military promotions. In case you don't know it is pretty similar to the French phrase “voila”. Their music is very much straight forward. This track is no exception and it's from their album Xplot-i-mite.

“Sex Wars” is great. It's a call and response from the two voices, first a female and then a male warring over the nuances of relationships. It has some great use of those usual lines you associate with “you did this you did that” round and round arguments of clashing couples whilst at the same time it sounds all “sweetie and darling.” The opening begins very cordially and, as the track progresses the lyrics and the music mirror the inevitable descent into discordance. I love the trippy synths and pause before the repetition of the closing lines. Give it to us straight Bob's Yer uncle and “Sex Wars”

http://bobsyeruncle.com/info/audio.aspx

Ok they seem to think that every relationship ends like that so let's reinstate your faith in human nature. This track is on the album The Magic Line by The Magic Brothers. The Magic Brothers are Woody, the drummer from Madness and his super talented brother, Nicky Woodgate. As I record this show they are in the middle of a five gig residency at The Dublin Castle in North London and me and Dave Milligan went to see them play live last week. This fulfilled an ambition I have had to see Nicky play since falling in love with his album Magic Carpets. There's a lot of magic in the Woodgate world. See the photos I took of the gig by going to my Facebook page JosieJo Show and share the love by liking my page whilst you're there. Thank you for listening. This is The Magic Brothers and “Always be With You”

http://www.mixcloud.com/joanne-salisbury/the-josiejo-show-0024-the-queue-and-bobs-yer-uncle-plus-the-magic-brothers/

JosieJo’s Great Big Pair of Tips

The JosieJo Show 23

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the JosieJo Show and in tribute to the recent International Women’s Day that was on March 8^th 2014 I’ve got two wonderful female singer-songwriters to inspire and delight.  Both tracks are just three and a half minutes long and each is brimming with soul, wit and something of the essential essence of what it means to be a woman in this world of wonder. It’s going to be a beautiful fifteen minutes and I’m happy to share it with you.

May I introduce you to a delightful and youthful singer-songwriter Phoebe Warden? A Nineteen year old from Canterbury, England she’s been immersing herself in the local busking scene for a while now.  I’ve mentioned the Canterbury busking scene before when I played CoCo and The Butterfields and indeed it was at a CoCo and The Butterfields gig in December 2013 that I first encountered Phoebe and she blew my socks off with her super charming, self-effacing calm.  She’s folk indie of the 21^st Century.  I couldn’t help but compare her to Joni Mitchell as she played live and listening to her music since she reminds me of a soothing Caitlin Rose especially in this song “Hotel Bar”.  With its cute drinking theme, assonance and terse rhymes it tickles my eardrums and makes me smile.  It’s a song she wrote as she sat in a hotel bar waiting for her date who never showed up.  Once she’s beguiled you with her tune you’ll want to shout “you cad” to that fellow or, as Dave Milligan did at The Green Note café that night, “you were stood up?  Unbelievable”.  Why would anyone stand-up the charming Phoebe Warden?  She doesn’t demand sympathy though.  It’s a happy, hearty, hand-clappy bounce.  This tune is sung beautifully and attentively produced.  Tell us the story Phoebe Warden and “Hotel Bar”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw-WvBoy6Ag&list=UUKpGmp8vA-SEMKXRY_uuEAw

Cool isn’t it?  Phoebe is just a delight to chat to and she is often found supporting the mighty CoCo and the Butterfields.  I’ll be tweeting the dates of their mini tour as they continue on it so follow me on twitter under the tag josiejoshow and if you get along to a live event or two you’ll probably catch Phoebe sooner or later.  It’ll be like being in Venice Beach in the sixties and you will be able to say that you were there. 

My next musician is Fanny Hulter Salinder and she’s also an artist and producer based in Stockholm, Sweden.  Her musical project goes under the name of Nuoli.   She is staunchly feminist and passionate about challenging stereotypes.  Her music is about questioning what it is to be human and she is being very successful in spreading her word globally denouncing inequality wherever it exists.  In the Berlin based blog Nordic By Nature she recently described her project as being born from the simple fact that “time and pressure makes diamonds”

I think that this track “My Curse Is My Mind” is one of those diamonds.  It’s a call to arms against unfairness and disrespect.  It's swirling sound uses percussion in many different ways which underlines the sort of fragile strength that she, herself, possesses.  Sometimes it’s a tub-thumping beat, next it’s a tinkly twinkle and sometimes it’s both of those at once.   This track has a beautiful soaring quality that leaves you uplifted and the end fades away like stones turning paler as they dry in the sunshine. Sit back and enjoy this.  It’s quite wonderful Nuoli and “My Curse Is My Mind”

http://soundcloud.com/nuoli/my-curse-is-my-mind-1

I never want that track to end. Nuoli’s new single “My Curse Is My Mind” and you can read her answers to Nordic By Nature’s questions on their website http://nordicbynatureberlin.com/  I’ll be plundering that website for great bands in the near future I’ll be bound. Visit my Facebook page for photos I've taken of Phoebe Warden aswell as much more extra content and my website for links to all the archived shows and links to the bands. In respect of International Women's Day I'll end this show with a track by another great female singer songwriter this time from Vlissingen, Nederland This is Eva Auad and “Roll It Over Me”

https://soundcloud.com/evaauad

JosieJo's great Big Pair of Tips

The JosieJo Show 22

You are very welcome to the JosieJo Show. I really appreciate you listening. Each show I present you with two great bands or artists that you may, very well have not heard before, but I think they deserve some greater acclaim. I go to gigs, I dig around on the internet and I ask other people what they are listening to. The other thing I do is listen radio, a lot of radio. Some of my favourite stations are based in the US including www.scrubradio.com, www.qstarradio.com and the mighty Songsmith's show on Hamilton radio www.hamiltonradio.com. One of my absolute favourite shows though is on Forest FM on a Friday night. I can't listen live, but the lovely Alan Dorey is good enough to post the whole two and a half hours up on Mixcloud and I unashamedly plunder his show the Musical Box for bands I want to share with you. He often listens to my show and pricks up his ears at a band or two and then plays them on his show. It's a cyclical, swirl of mutual music love. My first band this week is, indeed, one of Alan's finds and my second track is one of my favourite songs of all time. Stick around, it's going to be a fun fifteen minutes. This is The JosieJo Show and I'm very glad you're here.

So the first track was played on Alan Dorey's Musical Box and what a good opener. This six piece from London are called GoldHeart Assembly and they have attitude in abundance, oh yes they have. They have a great sound and top life affirming, crowd rousing, melodies that simply shout “let's get dancing”. Very, very excitingly they will be playing their debut album “Wolves and Thieves” live from start to finish at the Lexington in Islington, London on 7^th March 2014

This is not something that they do very often so make the effort and then you can say you were there. They also have an album called “Long Distance Song Effects” out now, but better than that their single “Oh Really” is available free on soundcloud. Even better than that is the fact that if you wait just a little bit longer, that very single will be available on vinyl.

Do wanna hear that single right now? Oh course you do. It's punchy, swinging and purely danceable to. It has great pace changes, gymnastic vocals, machine-gun drums and a lovely buzzy guitar sound. It's a track about releasing music and the whole music machine. In a world where Cliff Richard, gawd bless him, has an article in what I always assumed was anti-mainstream music magazine NME I wonder where all the dissident music has gone. Maybe I'm out of touch, but I have to say I love the pure balls of these guys. Without trying challenging chord sequences or alienating spikiness these guys bring attitude in the bucketload. Standby for this track. It dives you straight in with a commanding count in. I'm guessing it begins with a “One, two, three, four, ah, ah, ah,ah”, but I could be wrong and I can only guess at the language it's in. Don't worry their London roots come screaming out and their Camden confidence pushes through like a speeding tube train. Brace yourselves. This Goldheart Assembly and “Oh Really”

ooooooh yes! Thank you Mr. Alan Dorey for dropping them in my lap. I like them a lot. Let's stay just North of the Thames and bring you something perhaps more understated. There is a quirky, eccentric, undefinable gentleman from Clerkenwell who has a band called The Real Tuesday Weld. He's been making tunes for a long time now and named his band after the actress Tuesday Weld. Perhaps not surprisingly he received a desist and remove order from the aforementioned lady he changed his name to The Real Tuesday Weld. This guy is a real character. Live, I'm told, the band sounds like a lounge suited, jazz outfit, but really what this gentleman does is all well just quite different really. Here's an example of just one of the myriad of projects he's been involved in over the years. He was commissioned to provide music for the Mark Rothko room at London's modern art museum The Tate Modern. There is always something artistic and aesthetic he is entwined in. You can check out his latest projects at www.tuesdayweld.com or buy his latest crazy release, five tracks on an umbrella. What else could you need? Three versions of the track “I Love the Rain” plus “Snowballs” and “Golden April Showers” available to hear on that epitomy of controlled English eccentricity, the gentleman's black umbrella. Weather tunes as you defeat the weather. I don't quite know how the mechanics of this works, but who cares? Resist if you can, but why would you? Visit www.antiquebeat.co.uk for more information and the whole of his back catalogue including his solo projects under the name of the Clerkenwell kid. He recycles and re-releases his tunes over and over again. For example, this track, “Anything But Love” is available on the 2001 release “When Cupid Meets Pysche” in the Uk and yet in the US the EP was similar, but different and released under the name “When Pysche Meets Cupid” Why am I playing you a tune that is essentially so old? Why? Because it is, in my opinion, one of the best songs ever recorded. It would almost be worth finding someone to marry me for just so I can have it at my wedding. I am definitely having it at my funeral and it's my mantra, my reset button and quite often my reason for living some days. It pretty much says it all really. It's understated, quirky, and pragmatic. Are you getting the idea yet that it's one of my favourite songs ever? It's The Real Tuesday Weld and “Anything But Love”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZI-hGjHZVA

Brilliant, just brilliant. That probably explains a lot about me. I'm going to play you out with a new track by Thomas Dahl and his project Caddy. I played Thomas on an earlier show. You can check out all the archived shows by going to www.josiejoshow.com and click “Listen To The Show” That'll take you right to the Mixcloud page and you can choose a show or two or go right back to show one and listen to them all in order. Each show is ten to fifteen minutes or so long and they are all crafted with love and care. Contact me by email josiejo@josiejoshow.com and follow me on twitter, tumblr and blogger under the handle JosieJo Show. You can also check out and like my Facebook page for extra content including photos and videos of the bands. You can even get embroiled in the the vote for your very favourite JosieJo Show logo. Thank you for listening. And finally here's Caddy and “Something About Carina”.

https://www.facebook.com/caddynorway

JosieJo's Great Big Pair of Tips

The JosieJo Show 21

Hooray! It's Show 21 of The JosieJo Show. The coming of age, if you will. The JosieJo Show is a trans genre show and have we got a hodgepodge this time. Are you ready? You'd better be. You are in very good company and you're very welcome. I'm going to wake you up with pop-punk from Wales and then swing you into a sort of Scottishy folky, catchy love ballad and end with an beautiful track by Irish singer-songwriter, Paula Ryan that may well change the world. This is the weirdest combination of tunes, but hey great tunes are great tunes. It's The JosieJo Show. Two great tracks, by two different artists and a special sneaky bonus track for you right at the end.

Let's start by telling you about My Favourite Runner Up. My Favourite Runner Up – what a great name for a band? It's like celebrating the average, that sort of commendation of the “ok”. We can't all be gold medal speed skaters or impossibly thin ski-jumpers flying for glory in Sochi at the winter Olympics, but we can all have a go. The compliment “My Favourite Runner Up” though is like a double disappointment, the one that didn't make it, but is so bad at not coming first they need to be told they are the favourite of the best of the rest. It's kinda sweet and insulting at the same time. It makes me laugh. My Favourite Runner Up are a five piece from Aberystwyth, Mid Wales, but they've been playing North Wales and the area for a long time now. They came to me from a recommendation by Skip from the grrrrringly great North wales punk rock band The No Name Janes and I can see why he likes them. Formed in 2006 My Favourite Runner Up are Tom Carr on drums, Andrew Towell and Lee Walker on Guitar and Tom Hawkes on bass all backing up Chris Evans on vocals and guitar. They launched their latest album “Crossroads” last week. The last track of show 20, “Light a Fire” was from that album, and I said it last week and I'll say it again, it's stonkingly good. It's produced by ROMESH DODANGODA and you can really hear his experience and talent in the mix.

This track “Poison” is from that new album and it's paced and fiery. It's a song about drinking and touring in a van. If that isn't wonderful enough for you it has a great use of whoo hoos. I do like a good use of a whoo hoo. The message of the track? Regret stuff , but never learn from your mistakes. This is summed up in the line “did you honestly think I'd ever change?”. It's noise that is really mixed well. It ticks all the boxes really: you can bop to it, it is clear and clever, it has a catchy hook and driving percussion. It's an anthem. C'mon. This is My Favourite Runner Up and “Poison”

https://play.spotify.com/artist/0yFUDpNQcCFcr7RsUcjQ8u

Yep! So wrong, but so right. Love it. My Favourite Runner Up play the Central Station in Wrexham North Wales on the 12^th of March and if you want details of their first EP “Thoughts, Feelings, Actions” or how to buy their great new album “Crossroads” visit their website www.mfrurock.com

And now, as the great Monty Python would say, for something completely different. Based in Edinburgh, Scotland the genuinely lovely Nathan Fynn. This guy is simply immersed in music. He is one of the world's music grafters. He plays live music in Edinburgh at least four days a week. I saw him at The White Hart Bar in Grassmarket and he charmingly, yet reticently hands out lists of tunes that you can choose from and he'll play them and his repertoire is phenomenenal. I tried to convince him to play his own tunes for me, but the crowd weren't quite warmed up enough for that, so I came home and looked up his own tunes for myself. This has resulted in me wanting to launch my own campaign to get the bars of Edinburgh having him play his own tunes seven nights a week. I think it would go down a storm. Edinburgh is a city of music with its own heart and colour palette. It's grey, yes, but it has this glorious depth of grey and green. I can't explain it really. It's enough to say that it has its own quality and Nathan has embraced the place, made it his own and through its folk blues his music shimmers with that Edinburgh soul. He says on his website “I hear music in everything; traffic, trees, weather, footsteps, doors. It's everywhere for me.” You can hear him play every Wednesday at The Rose and Crown, every friday and Saturday night at The White Hart in Grassmarket and every Sunday afternoon with his acoustic duo The Hanovers at the wonderful Grosvenor Bar again in Edinburgh. Ahhh! The Grosvenor Bar Edinburgh, now there's a place that I've got happy history with. Let's move on.

Let's have another drinking tune. “The Ballad of Sweet Louise” is from Nathan's EP “The Bullet and the Bridge” which is available for a “pay what you like” fee from www.nathanfynn.co.uk It's a tune about a girl. Of course it is and who wouldn't fall inappropriately in love with a girl who drinks from a whiskey jar and looks you straight in the eye. Just don't play his guitar without asking. That sounds like I tried to do it when I saw him live. I didn't. It was Sweet Louise. His guitar playing is great and he plays one guitar so that it sounds like several. It's a great track and makes no excuses for itself. This is a guy that loves, music, life, women and Edinburgh. This is Nathan Fynn and “The Ballad of Sweet Louise”

https://www.facebook.com/NathanFynnMusic/app_204974879526524

Yep! That's Nathan Fynn. And that was The JosieJo Show. For news events gigs and releases follow me on twitter under the tag JosieJo Show check me out on JosieJoShow.tumblr.com to read this show in text format and to get links to the tunes. Go to my facebook page JosieJo Show for extra content including photos and videos and to vote on your favourite JosieJo Show logo and don't forget to contact the bands you've fallen in love with on the show. They really appreciate the feedback and you will be adding to your already uber coolness factor by being there for their own musical journeys. Let's make this world a better place. On that note I've got a moving track by Paula Ryan to play the show out. She's playing on Thursday 27th February as part of the Oxford Human Rights Festival at the Truck Store in Oxford alongside Stickin The Wheel and George The Poet and she'd really like your company if you can join her. http://www.oxfordhumanrightsfestival.org/performance.html

Thank you for listening. Music and you really do make the world a wonderful place. Over to you Paula Ryan and “Our So Called Civilised World”

http://paularyan.co/songs/