The Radio Magnetic blog brings you the latest gigs, clubs, festivals and music news from throughout the UK and worldwide.

Classic Album Sundays: A Communal and Audiophile Listening has been steadily building a reputation amongst festival goers and music lovers in the UK as an innovative and special way to listen to some of the greatest albums of all time. Listed as one of the top 20 trends of 2012 by London magazine ES, and featuring on BBC 6 music, NME and many more, after a handful of successful but low key CAS events at Loud & Clear in Glasgow the event concept is moving to a bigger venue and can be experienced in person in Glasgow at the Berkeley Suite on Sunday 26 February from 5pm with The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses.

CAS uses audiophile hi-fi sound systems to ensure a premium listening experience and people are asked to switch off their mobile phones and to refrain from unnecessary conversation and just listen to a complete classic LP in it’s entirety. This means the album’s story and musical contexts are presented so people can truly immerse themselves in the experience.

The Stone Roses eponymous debut album is a truly classic album, ranking in many album charts as one of the greatest of all time. Released in 1989 it cemented the bands reputation amongst critics and is seen as a pivotal influence for large swathes of UK and Stateside indie music that followed.

The event will begin at 5pm with some of the music that inspired the Stone Roses, and also tracks from their musical contemporaries around the release of the album in 1989. Then at 7.30pm the lights will go down, the volume will be cranked up and the album will be played from beginning to end on a reference Linn Klimax System. The Audio Menu will include a Kontrol pre-amplifier, a pair of Klimax Solo power amplifiers, a Klimax DS, classic Sondek LP12 and Linn Loudspeakers for all you techies.

For only £5, Classic Album Sundays looks to be money well spent. In the setting of the Berkeley Suite we can’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday.

The Radio Magnetic blog brings you the latest gigs, clubs, festivals and music news from throughout the UK and worldwide.

It’s that time of the year again, and as February comes around in the city of Glasgow once again so does the Glasgow Film Festival (GFF). Running from Thursday 16 February till Sunday 26 February and spanning across 16 different venues across the city, including a swimming pool and The Tall Ship, the GFF always offers many unique and exciting experiences for locals and visitors to Glasgow.

As well as some of the best of global cinema, both new and old, this year will transcend the big screen to include many enticing special events in addition to various live and interactive happenings. With so much going on to choose from Radio Magnetic has done a bit of research and pulled together some of the things we are most looking forward to seeing for your browsing pleasure.

Naturally the first thing that jumps out at us on the programme is the Music and Film festival section. Called a festival within the festival there is some truly enough great stuff happening, and enough to immerse yourself in that you could quite easily dedicate your whole festival experience to this one part of the GFF. Cry Parrot presents: Umberto looks a particular highlight. Umberto is a true master of the horror soundtrack, think John Carpenter’s dark and unsettling synth-work crossed with the disturbing prog-rock of Goblin. He will be flying over from Kansas for this special performance on Saturday 25 February at SWG3, the film he will be providing the soundtrack for remains a secret, but whatever he chooses we are sure it will be a terrifying night’s entertainment. We are also excited by the performance of space and electro rock pioneers Silver Apples appearance on Sunday 26 February at Mono. Formed in the New York in 1968, Silver Apples were well ahead of their time, ignoring the psychedelic rock going on around them in 60’s New York they instead opted to create a minimalist experimental electro sound that influenced countless musicians, including Suicide and Kraftwerk. We really can’t recommend getting a ticket to this enough.

There is also a retrospective of the work of revered Scottish filmmaker Douglas Hart, perhaps best known for his cutting edge promo videos for the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Stone Roses, Primal Scream and Paul Weller. And, in 2009 Glasgow indie-pop outfit, Butcher Boy performed a live soundtrack to Scottish director Enrico Cocozza’s film Chick’s Day at Glasgow Film Theatre. Glasgow Short Film festival is delighted to invite the band to perform to film again, in a special event for this year’s Festival at the Berkeley Suite. Both these music related events at the film festival should be worth checking out. And, a film sure to have a fantastic a soundtrack is the Scottish screen debut of Irvine Welsh’s Ecstasy. A must-see.

Filmaticly, GFF has been offering a diverse variety of cinematic genres, styles and experiences since its inception and this year is no different. One of the best cinematic experiences you can have at the GFF is the Frightfest’s frightpass, which offers you the chance to see 11 horror films over two days. It is a truly great and unsettling happening and in our opinion there really is no better way to watch horror films than one after the other with minimal rest bite. Beginning on Friday 24 February and running right through till the following evening, it’s always a unique experience to submerge yourself in film after film in the GFT’s large cinema, breaking only to get snacks, go to the bathroom and get a quick kip before returning the following morning for further frights. Some of the creepiest highlights include the ‘found footage’ shockumentary Evidence, apocalyptic dystopian adventure, The Day and the UK premiere of chilling slasher flick Rites of Spring. The brand new strand, Crossing The Line series of experimental films also has some wonderfully bizarre looking events and films including 85A Present: Jan Svankmajer, Finisterrae and The Forgotten Space.

When a festival can lurch from the depths of horror goodness to a celebration of Weimar Republic Germany’s cabaret tradition then it’s quite obvious that it’s got some variety about it, and so it is as GFF presents Weimarvellous. Adding some glamour to the cold winter months Weimarvellous kicks off with a screening of Blue Angel in the CCA on Friday 17 February. Featuring the queen of Cabaret, Marlene Dietrich as Lola-Lola, a Cabaret performer and femme fatal who is the downfall of besotted high school tutor Immanual Rath, The Blue Angel is a true classic. With Cabaret performances in the CCA bar after the film and a chance for you to to perform in Cabaroke (Cabaret themed Karaoke) it should be a cracking night to glam yourself up and strut your stuff.

There is so much really credible and exciting stuff to see at this year’s GFF we couldn’t possibly cover it all but suffice to say that whatever you’re into, you will find something that suits you at Glasgow Film Festival 2012. The above are our top picks.

glasgowfilm.org/festival

2011 has been another busy and exciting year for us at Radio Magnetic. Our tenth anniversary is quite possibly the best year we’ve ever had!

We’ve featured a wealth of amazing new shows, guest mixes, live sessions, features, videos, events and what we consider to be, generally excellent music, on the station since January.

And as we look towards Crimbo and a brand new year, we thought we’d round up the station’s highlights.

Our tenth birthday year has seen the launch of lots of superb new regular podcast and shows. We’re delighted and proud to have welcomed these new shows to the fold - Dead Sound, The Process, We Can Still Picnic, Wild Combination, Luxury Milk, Ionise Dubcast, Join the Dots, Sero’s Sessions, Hepcat Radio, Men and Machines mixes, Highlife, Less Chat More Taxi, Symbiosis and Tigerstyle - definitely something for everyone there. Make sure you check them out.

And of course we’ve had plenty of top notch podcast action from the Radio Magnetic stalwarts and veterans too: Phuturelabs, Jim Gellatly, Is This Music, Orbit with Joe Carr Hollands, Little Rock, Big Dada, Hepcat, The Charge, Too Many Fireworks, Glasgow Podcart, Radio Vava and the Optimo Podcast all providing glorious sounds on a regular basis.

We’d like to thank all of the above shows for being a part of what we’re trying to do with the station – provide a platform for quality underground, alternative and independent music that often doesn’t get the chance to be heard elsewhere – and we’d like to take the opportunity to thank you all for listening to them.

We’re also over the moon to shout about our ongoing friendship and collaboration with the good people at Mixcloud too. They invited us to play at their monthly night at the Big Chill House in London to celebrate our tenth birthday party and we had a great time. Check out those mixes and stay tuned for more news on our collaboration with them in early 2012.

Some of our choice picks of the exclusive guest mixes we’ve featured this year would include: Melting Pot, Auntie Flo’s AfroFutures, Our birthday Mixcloud Party London sets and the ongoing Compost Black Label Sessions mixes. All well worth checking out.

This year also saw us kick off a new series of Free MP3 Downloads every day. So far we’ve featured tracks from across the musical board from the likes of S-Type, Psychemagik, DJ Harvey, Real Estate, Auntie Flo, Matias Aguayo, A$AP Rocky, Lana Del Rey, Kate Wax, Cass McCombs, Japanther, Greg Wilson and loads more. Check the site daily to keep up to speed with those too.

This year has saw the Magnetic team record some our favourite up-and-coming acts at both T in the Park and Homegame too.

Here’s a video from each of those series to check out. If you like the look of them watch the rest of the videos in each series and check out the full audio recordings too…

Once again, thank to everyone for listening and supporting us through another year of wonderful music being made and played in the musical city we’re so fond of, Glasgow.

Have a great Christmas and New Year.

Lots more to look forward to from us in 2012.

All the best.

facebook.com/radiomagnetic
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Bob Hillary and the Massive Mellow play the Jazz Bar in Edinburgh on Sunday 1 October. The gig marks the first of three live appearances in the Scottish capital, playing the following nights at the monthly Acoustic Edinburgh and Secret CDs events. We recommend you try and catch them live.

The Edinburgh gigs follow on from the well received summer tour the band completed showcasing tracks from debut album Nature’s Pace. The music of Bob Hillary and the Massive Mellow uniquely combines soul, folk and ambient electronica with Hillary’s soft and hypnotic vocals. They’ve recently been signed by TCF Records in the UK and their next album Love will be released by the label in 2012.

If you’re already a fan, you can request for a particular song to be played ahead of the gigs, by emailing roberthillary@yahoo.co.uk.

Watch the video for Take It Slow, above, taken from Nature’s Pace. If you visit the Bob Hillary and the Massive Mellow website you can also download tracks from the album absolutely free.

bobhillarymellow.com

We have teamed up with our good friends at Phuturelabs to provide an event that can be enjoyed by everyone, either present on the night or at a computer. The Magnetic Labs closing party will run from 9pm to 3am on Friday 23 September and will feature electronic acts streaming into the venue from all over the world. We will then have Wild Combination‘s David Barbarossa, Phuturelabs DJ’s and Radio Magnetic Soundsystem all streaming out live sets from the event via our Livestream channel.

Its all happening from 9pm UK time!

You can find out a little more about Social Media Week here.

Thanks to KILTR and Stereo we will be using the Old Hairdressers in Renfield Lane to run the party from. The venue is also the KILTR Hub for the whole week and well worth a visit. Its sure to be a raucous evening and its free. Keep checking the Facebook event page for updates and more tunes and mixes from the artists.

Guests for the night include:

Hissy Fit (Montreal)
Pieter Stoaling (Berlin)
Rivers
of Slime (Edinburgh)
Frank Mendez (Phoenix)

Plus guest live DJ:

David Barbarossa
(Wild Combination, Thing)

We have some beats to get you ready for what is in store on the night itself and as always we plan to record as many of the sets as we can to allow you to access then anytime.

PL005
- River of Slime – Volume One (wavs) – free downloads by Phuturelabs

socialmediaweek.org/glasgow
phuturelabs.com
kiltr.com

Glasgow indie-pop group Wake the President release their second album Zumutung! on Monday 31 October. The album is the follow-up to their 2008 debut, You Can’t Change That Boy. That album saw the band gain favourable reviews and significant radio play due to the catchy, up-lifting melodies on standout tracks like, Remember Fun and Miss Tierney.

Zumutung! opener, She Fell Into My Arms has an equally addictive hook, but the arrangements on Zumutung! are more layered and intricate than its predecessor, as heard on the great pounding intro of In Youth There is Pleasure and the building harmonies of Your Expressions. The melodies have been developed to complement the album’s darker themes such as the uncertainty we often face not only in love but generally in life, particularly when trying to find the right personal path to follow. Lyrically, album highlights include Stockholm’s Archipelago which vividly describes one partner’s desire to save a relationship from breaking down and nicely gestures towards the band’s Scottish and Swedish roots.

Paul Savage is once again on-board as producer, following his previous work with the band. With his help, on Zumutung! Wake the President have created an album which is more mature in lyrical content and expansive in sound than their first release, making it a fitting follow-up.

Zumutung! will be released by We Can Still Picnic, an independent label and arts collective started by the band and other Glasgow based DIY music and arts enthusiasts.  The single, She Fell Into Your Arms which you can listen to below, precedes the album’s release and is available as a digital download from 26 September.

She Fell into my Arms by Wake the President

The band have just finished their most recent European tour and next up are gigs in London and Wales plus two Scottish dates, starting with Cabaret Voltaire in Edinburgh on Thursday 15 September and King Tuts, Glasgow the following night. Purchase tickets online.

Wake the President’s Björn Sandberg, Andy Power from We Can Still Picnic and Radio Magnetic’s own Andy McColgan recently completed the first We Can Still Picnic podcast which you can check out here.

facebook.com/wakethepresident
facebook.com/wecanstillpicnic
wecanstillpicnic.tumblr.com

The Radio Magnetic blog brings you the latest gigs, clubs, festivals and music news from throughout the UK and worldwide.

As the Instruments Of Rapture collective ready the turntables for the launch their new Sub Club residency on Sunday 4 September we bring you an exclusive mix and the chance to win tickets to the night.

Some of our favourite house music DJ’s The Revenge, Ooft! and Craig Smith are about to start a new monthly residency, Instruments of Rapture at the mighty Sub Club on the first Sunday of every month. Our good friends at Phuturelabs have secured an exclusive mix from Ali Ooft and also have a guest list competition. Click here to see the interview and enter the competition.

Phuturelabs Test Tube #3 – OOFT! by Phuturelabs

The music policy of the night will be firmly based around the residents with the occasional guest for special occasions. There is also a a pre-club party at The Ivy bar with Mount Heart Attack DJ’s.

Sub Club
The Revenge
Ooft!
Craig Smith
Phuturelabs

Radio Vava and Big Dada podcast presenter and producer, A La Fu, has taken a pen to his love of records and produced his first book, DJ Memoirs: Choose Your Own Adventure. As indicated by the title, the book reflects the various directions which one’s love of record playing can take. The release is essentially a vast mix-tape including a selection of audio possibilities all of which run in and out of each other in conjunction with a number of short narratives that place you in the role of the DJ.

This very immediate format helps the reader truly experience the world of a DJ from spinning records in clubs, bars and festivals to recording guest mixes and playing in front of friends at a wedding party.

At a larger scale, DJ Memoirs also reflects and comments on how the modern world buys, compiles and listens to music by creating each and every one of our own personal playlists. This book should resonate with experienced DJs but also everyone who wants to be the DJ but has yet to share this with anyone outside their flat-mates forced to listen to their Saturday night party mixes or Sunday morning recovery playlists!

DJ Memoirs – Choose Your Own Adventure is available in limited edition double CD and book. Buy it here or find out more information & listen to some audio snippets by visiting: vavarecords.com.

Check out the latest episodes of the Radio VaVa and Big Dada podcasts too.

Read on for your chance to win a copy of this superb new book.

Competition

To win a copy of DJ Memoirs: Choose Your Own Adventure, simply tell us which influential UK record label is Big Dada a part of?

Answers in the comments box below please and good luck!

Rules and Biz

1. By entering the competition you agree to subscribing to our newsletter.
2. The prize is 1 x copy of DJ Memoirs: Choose Your Own Adventure
3. Competition will run until 6pm on Monday 5 September.
4. You must tell everyone how much you LOVE Radio Magnetic!
5. By entering this competition you agree to our terms and conditions

vavarecords.com
radiomagnetic.com/radiovava

The Radio Magnetic blog brings you the latest gigs, clubs, festivals and music news from throughout the UK and worldwide.

Canadian songwriter and musician Chad Vangaalen plays The Captain’s Rest in Glasgow on Thursday 18 August and Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh the following night.

Vangaalen has garnered a loyal following since the release of his debut album Infinihear in 2004. The album even caught the attention of SubPop Records who re-released the album the following year and have provided a home for Vangaalen and his experimental- folk tracks ever since.  His fourth and latest album, Diaper Island was released in May of this year and once again resulted in high praise and comparisons to such legends as Neil Young. Not content with being a respected songwriter Vangaalen’s other creative outlets are as an illustrator and he’s animated music videos for artists including J Mascis and Holy Fuck. He also recorded the first two albums by art rock band Women.

Watch above out the animation skills he brought to the video for his own track Peace on the Rise, which you can find on Diaper Island.

These are sure to be special gigs with the tickets for the Edinburgh date in particular sure to go fast, taking place as part of the Fringe Festival. Buy tickets here.

subpop.com/artists/chad_vangaalen

Although the exact extent of the damage to Sony/DADC Warehouse in Ealing, London is still to be confirmed, early reports  indicate that the property is an another fatal victim of the London riots which have seen buildings and homes destroyed throughout the city, and now, throughout the UK.

The Sony warehouse services the physical independent distribution for PIAS in the UK and Ireland, it is the largest distributor of its kind. The independent record labels it distributes include regular RM contributors, Big Dada, Ninja Tune as well as the ever impressive likes of Rough Trade, Domino, FatCat, Warp, Border Community, Turk, 4AD, Mute, Beggar’s, Soma, Soul Jazz, Thrill Jockey, Kompakt and Drag City as well as the Scottish labels and close RM friends and contributors, Chemikal Underground, Rock Action, Hum + Haw and many, many more.

Our good friends at Chemikal Underground in Glasgow released this statement earlier today.

“From Chemikal Underground’s point of view, we’d like to thank everyone who has got in touch to show their support, it means a lot. In terms of what you can do to help we suggest you scan the list of PIAS distributed labels listed below and purchase one of their albums.  A small thing?  Yes, but under the circumstances, the innocuous act of purchasing an album becomes a potent symbol of solidarity for independent music.”

You can also read the whole Chemikal Underground statement on the atrocity at PIAS.

As mindless as PIAS‘s targeting was, in attempting to find a silver-lining, it has been phenomenal to see the level of support the company has already received from fans and musicians throughout the world. Labels who distribute via PIAS have also been quick to show their solidarity with other labels affected.

Online campaigns have already started encouraging people to purchase digital downloads from the labels affected by the fire. If your local record store also stocks albums of those labels distributed by PIAS then you can also show your support by going along and purchasing what may be limited quantities left of certain releases. We think the best approach here is to purchase directly from the label’s websites and would encourage everyone to buy at least one product from one of the labels affected this week.

Most of us always have that joint happy yet guilty feeling when spending our money on new records/music rather than paying the heating bill, but I think this is one time your conscious and your credit card won’t mind.

As far as we’re aware the list below is an accurate reflection of those labels who currently distribute via PIAS so please buy something from them. Or lots of things if you can.

Thanks and all our best wishes to everyone affected.

1234
2020 Vision
Accidental
Ad Altiora
Adventures Close to home
Alberts
All City
Alt Delete
Ambush Reality
Angular
Ark
ATC
Atic
Atlantic Jaxx
Azuli
B Unique
Backyard
Bad Sneakers
Bandstocks
Banquet
Beggars Banquet
Big Chill
Big Dada
Big Life / Nul / Sindy Stroker
Boombox
Border Community
Boysnoize
Brille
Bronzerat
Brownswood
Buzzin Fly
Can You Feel It
Catskills
ChannelFly
Chemikal Underground
City Rockers
Counter
D Cypher
Dance To The Radio
Deceptive
Def Jux
Dirtee Stank
Divine Comedy
Domino
Drag City
Drive Thru
Drowned in Sound
Duophonic
Eat Sleep / Sorepoint
Electric Toaster
Emfire
F. Comm
Fabric
Faith And Hope
Fantastic Plastic
Fargo
FatCat
Feraltone
Finders Keepers / Twisted Nerve
Fingerlickin’
Flock
Free Range
From The Basement
Full Time Hobby
Goldsoul
Gronland
Groove Attack
Halftime
Hassle
Heron
Hum&Haw
Independiente
Info UK
Join Us
Kartel
Kensaltown
Kitsune
Kompakt
Laughing Stock
Leftroom
Lex
Lo Max
Loose
Love Box
Lowlife
Lucky Number
Marquis Cha Cha
Memphis Industry
Merok
Metroline
Mute
Naïve
Nation
Navigator
New World
Ninja Tune
Nuclear Blast
One Little Indian
Output / People in the Sky / Process
Pale Blue
Palm
Peacefrog
PIAS Recordings
PIP 555 Productions
Play To Work
Powerhouse (T2)
Propaganda / Ho Hum
Raw Canvas
Red Grape
Red Telephone Box
Rekids
Renaissance
Respect Productions (PES digital)
Reveal Records
RMG
Rock Action
Roots
Rough Trade
Rough Trade Comps
Rubyworks
Ruffa Lane
Search And Destroy
Secret Sundaze
Secretly Canadian / Jagjaguwar / Dead Oceans
Sell Yourself
Setanta
Shatterproof
Sideone Dummy
Slam Dunk
Smalltown
Soma
Something In Construction
Sonar Kollectiv
Soul Jazz
Southern Fried
Stranded Soldier
Subliminal
Sunday Best
TARGO
Taste
Ten Worlds
Thrill Jocky
Total Fitness
Touch And Go
Track And Field
TriTone
Trouble
Try Harder
Turk
Turnstile
Twenty 20
Underworld
Union Square
Urban Torque
Vagrant
Vice
Victory
Wagram
Wall Of Sound
Warp
Wi45
Wonky Atlas
Word And Sound
Xtra Mile
You Are Here

pias.com