The founder of Blogger is brewing up a plan to make money out of all this podcasting stuff. Details are sketchy but it would seem that it's going to make it a lot easier for people to find the podcasts they want and consequently download them. There are two useful sites to get more information about this, the Odeo corporate site and the Odeo blog. This could be really exciting for the medium as it requires a relative amount of tech-saviness for the average punter to get a feed loaded into a podcast aggregator coupled with the fact that Apple seems uninterested in developing podcasting functionality in future releases of iTunes.

Great news came in today. Garageband.com has accepted me as one of their radio partners which means I can showcase many more unsigned artists. Garageband has a big U.S focus but I’ll be specifically drawing on their UK based artists and giving them a little help.

Losing touch with the world?The London times features an interesting article on the proliferation of iPods and it's effect on social interaction on the streets of major cities. Apart from the correct observation that New York night life is dead (there certainly isn't that buzz that exists in London on a Friday night), it discusses how people are shutting themselves out of their worldly surroundings when they put on those two white earbuds. I must admit, I'm guilty of this particularly when I cycle to work and back. I'm an automaton, lost in my own little digital world where I'm served up a random smorgasbord of tunes. There have been a few days where I too forgot to take my iPod to work and it was very nice to just take in the local sounds - street buskers, random shouts from the crowds etc. It's something I'm going to be more conscious of in the future......

Clapped OutThere are strong rumours swirling around that Eric Clapton will be headlining the usually massive Glastonbury festival in 2007. From what I've seen on the UK music message boards, the overall response to this news has not been great. As one wit put it:

'He's like the friend you don't really like but he keeps turning up everywhere and annoying you, but you don't have the heart to tell him to fuck off 'cos his kid died... '

We at NYUB won't be doing that, however, we will be avoiding the main stage when he's on.

The lovely people at Podcastmania have decided to host my show which means that you can now stream my show via Windows Media Player, on demand, 24 hours a day. Yay!

Taking the MickeyDon’t tell me I don’t scour the world for the most obscure music. Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble have released a song called ‘Reunification Rainbow’ which was obviously sanctioned by Kim Jong Il himself. This stuff comes from the Pyongyang Metro site which includes other oddities such as the patriotic songs played on Pyongyang subway trains.

Tracklisting:

1. Junior Boys – Birthday
2. Two Lone Swordsmen – Sick When We Kiss
3. Mike Chappelear – What is this moment (NEW & UNSIGNED)
4. Patrick Wolf – The Libertine (NEW)
5. Cibbo Matto – Birthday Cake
6. The Chalets – Love Punch (NEW & UNSIGNED)
7. Neil’s Children – I Hate Models (NEW & UNSIGNED)
8. Death from Above 1979 – Romantic Rights (NEW)
9. The Mars Volta – Widow (NEW)
10. The Veils – Vicious Traditions
11. Car Crash Horror – When Truth Fails (NEW & UNSIGNED)
12. Concrete Blonde – Tomorrow Wendy Will Die
13. Psapp – Rear Moth (NEW)
14. Scissor Sisters – Take Me Out (Franz Ferdinand Cover)
15. Richard Cheese – Insane in the Brain (Cypress Hill Cover)

Thanks to Mike Chappelear for the station ID. Please vote for us on www.podcastalley.com if you like what we're doing.

• Download the show in MP3 format HERE
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It seems some smart individuals have found a way to exploit the free 14 day trial and turn it into an ‘all you can eat’ musical buffet. The only thing it requires is a simple Winamp plug-in. Bless…

A very likely free gigThe chaps at Rough Trade Record Store are once again making sure you get to see some quality independent artists play for free in their little shop. Boy Least Likely To is playing this Saturday at 2pm. Check him out before you’re forced to pay an eBay tout later in the year. 

The Zep - Unfairly Missing OutIt appears Black Sabbath’s self-titled debut has been voted the best British rock album ever by the readers of Kerrang! I still think Led Zeppelin IV should have been given that distinction but hey – most of the readers of Kerrang! are pre-pubescent Slipknot fans so what would they know?

An Open Letter to KFCNot content with taking on the People’s Republic of China to stop the suffering caused by the political occupation of Tibet, the Beasties have now opened up a second front against the People’s Republic of Fried Chicken (KFC). A letter was fired off recently to head chicken master David Novak outlining demands to reduce the suffering of chicken’s reared for the KFC production lines. Rumours have it that a special remix of ‘Heart Attack Man’ will be issued to raise awareness of the Beastie’s campaign.

Danzig - We Know EverybodyBand to Band attempts to create "family tree's" for different bands. It also seems that Danzig have a lot to answer for.

I’ve finally managed to get a mic albeit a flaky one so hang in there until I find something a little better. Show number 4 features:

1. John Barry - Space March (Capsule in Space)
2. Jason Forrest – Big Outrageous Sound Club
3. Aphex Twin – Fenix Funk (NEW)
4. HAL – What a Lovely Dance (NEW)
5. Hot Hot Heat – Goodnight Goodnight (NEW)
6. Boy Least Likely To – Be Gentle With Me (NEW)
7. Silent League – Breathe
8. McLusky – To Hell With Good Intentions
9. Killing Joke – Total Invasion
10. The Mighty Roars - Daddy Oh Daddy (New)
11. Bad News – Bad Dreams Rehearsal

A wickedly tasty little line up there that I hope you’ll like. I’m always looking for new bands to showcase so if you think you make the cut – email me via the talk bollocks section. I’m already featuring an unsigned artist on the next show so GET IN THERE!

One more thing – please vote for me on podcastalley. It only takes a few clicks and I’d be eternally grateful! And thanks for those who voted for me on digitalpodcast – I’m currently in the top 10.

You can download show #4 directly here or refresh your podcasting aggregator to get the show directly loaded into iTunes as a playlist. Instructions on how to do this are in the ‘how to listen’ section.

 

Gin 'n GoogleNiche attempt at a search engine entirely based on snoop lingo. Type in ‘there is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home’ and you get ‘there is no reason fo’ any individual to have a computa in his hizzy’.

We like…

Quite likely to be big....Add a bit of Neil Halstead and a dash of Belle and Sebastian and you may just get ‘Boy Least Likely To’. The Best Party Ever is an album that put a smile one my face – it’s the youthful charm of it all. BLLT also has his own open and honest blog which you can find here. As usual, rather than me writing more bollocks about this album and pretending to be a music industry hack, you can sample his excellent selection of tunes here.