Monday 28 April 2014

~JosieJo's Great Big Pair of Tips
The JosieJo Show 29

Welcome to The JosieJo Show. This week's two top tracks are brand new releases one from one man band Funke and the Two Tone Baby and the other from swedish Electro-pop creation Colleagues.
It's two great tunes hot off the press. Music doesn't get much fresher than this. Thank you for listening and letting me tell you about them.

So Funke and the Two Tone Baby. I actually can't believe that I haven't played him on The JosieJo Show before. Dan Turnbull is a one man band with the force of twenty. He's one of my absolute favourite discoveries of the last few years and he's tireless. Last year he played over 150 gigs. He's playing many festivals this year and he's one of the main reasons I'm going to Dogfest, Ferocious Dog's festival, in December 2014. Given how often he plays and how many towns and cities round Britain he appears at I can't believe I haven't managed to catch him live. Let me give you an idea of how hard he works. Think of a festival and this guy will be at it soon. May 1st Maidstone Fringe Festival, Kent? Yep he's there. The Cosmic Puffin Festival, Mersea Island, Essex? Yep! Funke and the Two Tone Baby will be there on Friday May 2nd. Then on the 3rd May he's playing Sweeps Festival in Rochester, Kent AND The Renegade Festival at Cafe Rene in Gloucester and on the 4th May he's at Filey Folk Festival in Yokshore. I like Funke so much I had to go back to all the old JosieJo shows to check I hadn't played him for you before. For a full review of his excellent album “Battles” stand by for it on Tumblr or go to my blogger page. Are you getting the idea that I really like this guys music? When I heard he had a new four track EP out called “The Last Thing We See is the Sea” I lapped it up. See what I did there? Lapping of waves. Never mind let's move on to the track. The track I'm going to play you is from that EP. It's called “The Great Storm” and it's chorus is the title of that EP. It has a great video which makes very moody atmospheric use of back projection and it really shows Funke's energy. It's really this energy that is so engaging about the music. This guy is a one man band. You know like with a guitar and harmonica strapped round his neck and percussion produced with any free limb he has, but he engages with his audience so much, even asking the fans to come down and soak him with water for one video and to film the song themselves for another, that he manages to become an interactive phenomenon. He pulls on the resources around him including his audience. “The Great Storm” is characterised by its passion. It feels like a tale told by a smoky fireplace by a wizened old man warning of the dangers of living too much and for too long. There is an almost biblical feel to it. The pace and energy kicks in right from the start, but watch out for the middle section which floats into a false sense of calm before the waves pound over you again sweeping you to the end of the track. The wonderful and indefatigable Funke and the Two Tone Baby and “The Great Storm”

Brilliant. That is out on the 16th June 2014. Try and catch him live and report back to me if you do. I'm making it my mission to catch him live at least once this year. All his gig dates are on his website www.funkeandthetwotonebaby.co.uk Aswell as being quite remarkable himself he obviously surrounds himself with super talented people because his videos are all superbly produced and his fans are so loyal. It's for talent like that that I spend hours each week trawling through the internet, going to gigs and pestering everyone I meet for suggestions and pointers for great music.
This journey takes me in all sorts of directions and I hope that you enjoy it with me. Let's take you to Sweden next for electronic indie pop 'n' roll. Intrigued by that description I discovered Colleagues. They have just signed to In Stereo records which is a new label launched by Fierce Panda Records. I don't understand how the music industry works these days and I care even less. I know that I'll listen to anything and am indifferent to what people call genres, but I'm also aware that we like to call stuff by a name. All I know is that this is a great tune to dance to. It's called “Tears” and it's one track from a two track single “Tears/Parent's House” which comes with a free tote bag and is out on the 28th of April. I love the added value of music. I get quite inspired when releases become events or have extra interest, but when it comes down to it it is all about the track. “Tears” is about perspective, the passage of time, heartbreak and of finding who you really are. It has swirling dance beats and almost psychedelic sound. These make it feel as though we are watching our own selves from a great height; like an out of body experience or an epiphany. Time becomes an ever changing thing in this track. This is Colleagues and “Tears”

There you go two tracks by two different bands. I'm going to play out with another of my favourite discoveries “Mountains in My Sunglasses” by Beartown Zodiac because this is a “lift me up when I'm down” track and I really want to share it with you. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for bands or if you know of any gigs that I really shouldn't miss email me on josiejo@josiejoshow.com Follow me on twitter to hear about gigs and new releases from bands around the world and thank you for listening. I wanted this week's outro to be in Swedish in honour of Colleagues, but I don't know anyone that speaks Swedish. I do, however have a German speaking friend so I got her to have the final word. Standby for that right at the end. In the meantime this is Beartown Zodiac and “Mountains in My Sunglasses”





JosieJo's Great Big Pair of Tips
The JosieJo Show 28

Are you listening up? Right I'll get straight down to it. Two tracks by two very different artists. I want to sum them up succinctly, but I've really no idea how to do that this week. Let's just say that they are quite different. Remember to listen right to the end for a bonus third track and a meluferious ending to the show.

First up is something down right delightful. This is Worsted headed up by the irresistable Paul Gunn, who trained in Paris, but has a suave seduction and a qunitiessentaly English quality to his delivery and charm. On drums there is David Rohonan from Guyana, South Africa who honed his jazz improvisations when Ian Dury talked him into joining The Kilburns. There is also Madras born Leslee Booth who studied music in Los Angles and is rooted in American jazz with Indian influences. Adrian Northover who adds sax, studied at St. Martin's School of Art, played with Billy Bragg in the Sonicphonics and, along with Vladimir Miller and Helen Macdonald, toured Russia with a project celebrating the poet Alexandra Pushkin. Vladimir Miller whom I just mentioned actually composes for Worsted and this track is one of his. It is wonderfully titled “The Arts of Seduction of Hat Doffing” and is available along with two other tracks on their EP “Chapology” Such a selection of talented, experienced and educated musicians has got to intrigue you surely? This track really is a sort of English gentleman's handbook on “getting the girl” with the correct amount of hat doffing, in the correct manner and with style and grace. The track is obviously witty, but it is so much more than that. It starts like tango and then swishs into indian influences with improvised jazz sounds, English ballroom beats and percussion to tap your toe to. It's gin and tonic with a slice of lime, a fine crafted brolly with a hook handle, a sophisticated “hello”. It's just brilliant and I know that friends Dave Milligan and Tony Dickson, both dapper hat wearers will just adore this track. Twirl your mustache, straighten your tie and assume a quirky, wry expression. This is Paul Gunn and Worsted with “The Arts of Seduction and Hat Doffing”

bombombom. Wonderful.
From that to American surf rock inspired instrumental. Keep up at the back there's no lagging behind on this show. This is a project that John Maloney from the Rotary Prophets is involved in. I played the Rotary prophets back on show 13 and all the archived shows can be found by going to the mothership of the JosieJo Show www.josiejoshow.com and click “Listen To The Show” they are all there clamouring for your attention. Pick one you fancy and give it a play, but back to show 28. Here we have Space Gramps with Hang ten Toby on guitars, Johnny Red Rocket on bass and Anti-Matter Frank on drums and guitars with some of their other mates chipping in on other tracks on their debut album Space Cramp. Are you still with me? The project is called Space Gramps, the album is called Space Cramp and this track is called “Cracker Sniffer” It's sort of a sound track to a cowboy surf eighties silent film. I know that doesn't make any sense, but why should it? With guitar gymnastics, belting drums and good time rolling sounds this track kicks butt, or something. Wait for the pace change and howling solitary calls at the end as if the guitar just doesn't want to stop the party. Saddle up your surf boards this is “Cracker Sniffer” by Space Gramps.

You see two different tracks by two different bands. You can't get simpler than that. Well I suppose you could just have one track by one artist, that would be simpler. I hope that you enjoyed it anyway. Don't forget to follow me on twitter josiejoshow for news events, gigs and releases and on mixcloud so you never miss a show. Please leave feedback in the comment sections and tell your friends. The more people that listen, the more the good stuff gets heard. To play us out I'll hand over to John Maloney's other band The Rotary Prophets from Somerville Massechuttes and listen right to the end for a little message in English and Welsh. Cosmopolitan or what? Take it away the Rotary Prophets and “Rose Coloured Glasses” from their album “Faith Lost Love”


JosieJo's Great Big Pair of Tips
The JosieJo Show 27

Welcome to the JosieJo Show. It's quite simple. It's two tracks by two different bands or artists that you may not have heard before. Show 26 last week was the celebration of the short song and actually had five tracks on it, but this week we're back to normal. This week I have two great yet dark tracks for you in true indie angst style and then a third song this time from perky Sarah Holburn from her excellent and newly released debut album “In Too Deep”

These tracks are going to intrigue you, romance you and then spin you around. Think dark night clubs of the 1980's were promises were made and dancing was done in semi-shrouded corners. Was that just me then? Actually it wasn't really me at all, but my cool pseudo memory of a much slicker and gothier me might have encountered that sort of thing. The real me though is just captivated by the two tracks I'm going to play you today. The first is by In Isolation a Nottingham based three piece band who are Ryan Swift, John Berry and Tony Ghost. They have a very dark indie beauty about their sound. I think that the guitar sounds like it's pacing a cage or straining at a lease. The vocal, on the other hand, is smooth and shadowy. This isn't gin and tonic, or brutally chilled chardonnay. This music is perfectly poured Guiness or Diamond White and Castaway when the club is hot and hardly lit and the room is packed with music and dancing bodies. This track “Tears” is about just that: tears. It's a break up song and which one of us hasn't felt the agony of splitting up. That awful splitting up of the vinyl collection that you never imagined you would ever have to do. The sound is sophisticated and produced with real sensitivity to the band as a whole, whilst the lyrics move me and I hear something clever in every new listen. This is due out in May/June 2014 when the video is completed, but you can hear it here first. In Isolation and “Tears”

They ya go a pre-release play of “Tears” by In Isolation. That may not have been dark enough for you so stand by I've got something even more challenging. The next artist is Annette Berlin and along with Keith Hall she creates grungy new wave blues. This is concave, quirky and off beat. She is Bristol based and plays on the bill with St. Pierre Snake Invasion on May the 23rd at The Louisiana in Bristol. I played St. Pierre Snake Invasion way back on Show 4 and if you think that they are growly, power chordy and disturbing, wait until you hear Annette Berlin. If you can't wait to catch her in Bristol you can she her and Keith play the Audacious Art Experiment in Sheffield UK on the 26th April 2014. I'm going to play you “The Playground” because I think that it's a good introduction to her duality and the honesty of bathos in her work. She takes the happy place of the playground and shows us how it can be sinister and intimidating. It reminds me of the welsh poet Dylan Thomas and his work “Hunchback In The Park” or the end couplet of his poem “Should Lanterns Shine” “The ball I threw while playing in the park Has not yet reached the ground.”
The track is spiky and faltering. There is little flow you sweep you along. It's starts quietly in the sunshine with butterflies and then punches you in the face. I really felt that I had to work for this emotion and boy what emotion this track is full of. If Annette's sound was a colour I think it would be dark purple and black and bit like a bruise. See what you make of it Annette Berlin and “The Playground”

Oh boy see what I mean. You're not left in any doubt that you just heard something emotional. I love its macabreness. Apparently macabreness isn't a real word. Sorry. For real words that do tell you about news, event, gigs and releases follow me on twitter under the handle JosieJo Show. For extra content go to my Facebook page and you can read this show on Blogger and www.josiejoshow.tumblr.com look out for the hundreds of JosieJo Show screen cloths that are in circulation and if you want one yourself get in touch with me josiejo@josiejoshow.com Maybe I should give you something quirky, clever and fun to end with. This is from the brand new album “In Too Deep” by the atonishingly lovely and very talented Sarah Holburn. This is “Ice-cream” Thank you for listening.
http://sarahholburn.bandcamp.com/





Tuesday 8 April 2014

JosieJo's Great Big Pair of Tips
The JosieJo Show 26
This is The JosieJo Show and it's show 26 a celebration of the short song. Normally I play two different tracks by two different artists or bands and then end with a third track by a band that I've played on the show before, but last week the final track was “Cheer Me Up” by Misty's Big Adventure and it got me thinking that good tunes are good tunes and some are made great because of their brevity. I don't mean that in a sarcastic way. I am myself considered shorter than the norm and am therefore a champion of the “small, but perfectly formed”. So I decided to concentrate this week on the tiny track. Those tunes that storm into your life, give you a big sloppy kiss, slap in the face or ruffle of the hair and then leave while you stand there blinking, wondering what that was all about and wanting to lean forward and press repeat repeat repeat. Two tracks by two different artists in a show celebrating the short track though was going to make for a very brief show 26 so this week you get five tracks. Five tracks by five different artists none of which have been played on The JosieJo Show before. Stand by and concentrate this is going to whizz by.
First up is Swimsuit Addition from Chicago, Illinois. A four piece with passion. They are Jem, Becca, Sam and Sarah and are all girl bubblepunk. Like a sort of pink punk or Hello Kitty with it's eyes gouged out. They have an EP out called Kittyhawk and play mostly round Chicago and the surrounding area, but they're looking to tour Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburg, you get the idea so if you like what you hear and you know of places that would love this sound then get in touch with them via their Facebook page.
This track “Gimme, Gimme” is forty eight seconds of in yer face sound. At the end you'll be pinned against the wall and in no doubt of just when they want it. It's impossible for me to make this intro shorter than the track itself, but let's limit the damage and jump straight in. So here it is Swimsuit Addition and “Gimme, Gimme”


Hahahaha. Just brilliant. Forty eight seconds of fun, frenzied punk. They do have much longer tracks and you can find them at the somewhat disturbing, yet fun website www.swimsuitadditon.com It gets me thinking that if you're only going to have less than a minute to grab your listeners then you need to wake them up fairly quickly. No lengthy intros or navel gazing introversion. This brought me to my next band and Steam punk heroes The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing. What's steam punk? Well think Victoriana, Engineer minded, Dr. Who loving, waxed mustachioed punk rockers. I'll dig out some photos I've taken at their gigs and pop them onto my Facebook page. Just find me by searching for JosieJo Show. This London based band have been recently steaming themselves through America and are due to play The Balcony on the lower east side in New York City on May 15th. They have songs about gin, Nikoli Tesla and this one, my favourite, about Isambard kingdom Brunel. It's longer than the last track, but gives you no time for tea. Saying their name is almost longer than the track itself. This is The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing and “Brunel”


Those of you that are super smart/geeky will know, of course, that it wasn't actually Isambard Kingdom Brunel that built the tunnel under the Thames at Rotherhithe, but his father Isambard Marc Brunel (now known as Marc Brunel to avoid confusion), but IKB did work for his father on the tunnel as an engineer and in fact nearly drowned when the entrance hall flooded. You can still visit that entrance hall and the tunnels themselves are still used by the London Underground. Let's move on.
Master Solo from Norwich England. This band sort grew round the solo project of Mark Jennings to create the folk, blues five piece consisting of Mark, Kat Mcgregor, Zoe Ward, Mark Bromley and my colleague, and fellow soundie Rich Williams. The sound of this band is extraordinary. It is led mostly by the deep, deep, deep gravelly lead male vocal harmonised by the sweet female voice. Woven into this are often pianos, organs, glockenspiels, drums, bass, guitars and the odd melodica. The tracks are tales and tribulations delivered with wit and beats, simple yet beautifully effective. The cleverness of this band is in its naivete. The candour of the tunes engage you and the seemingly guilelessness of the structure is, in itself, clever. You expect to hear this band in the corner of a pub gradually commanding your attention.
mastersoloThis track “The Pirate and the Nun” seems like a song that should be sung round a campfire. It’s from their album “Shepherd (unmastered)” which is available as a free download on http://mastersolo.bandcamp.com/page.  It's a song about falling for a girl whilst dressed in fancy dress. Their whole relationship plays out in one and a half minutes. Wallow in the wonderful sound of Master Solo and “The Pirate and the Nun”
http://mastersolo.bandcamp.com/track/pirate-and-the-nun

You see not every short track has to be Boom boom in your face. Sometimes they are a sweet tale condensed into a few minutes and sometimes they are just an idea given form. The next track is of that kind. Two sisters Shelly and Karen Poole, Alisha's Attic were huge in the 1990s and I played and played and played their album Alisha's World. This track “Personality Lines” is a fine example of how a little idea can be captured and presented within a whole album and still hold its own and get inside your head. I'll just play it because it pretty much speaks for itself. Alisha's Attic and “Personality Lines”

Love it. Shelly is still performing with her new project Red Sky July and recently played the wonderful Green Note Cafe in Camden North London. The Green Note is a constant source of great music for me and if you are ever in the area I can highly recommend that you try and catch some live music there. It's always packed so grab your table early. Well that's it for my short tracks . I'm going to end with a whopping three minuter, but I always think of this track as a sweet little track so it seems fitting, plus it is in the top forty four of my friend Liam's all time favourite tracks. Again it's from a very successful Swedish band called I'm From Barcelona who are just happy and fun. When me and Liam saw them at End of the Road Festival I think that they broke the record for the amount of band members on the stage. I think it was about thirty or so. Then the lead singer crowd surfed on a pink li-lo. You couldn't make it up. Hope you enjoyed this show. I know it was a bit different, but back to normal next week as soon as I work out what normal is. Follow me on Twitter under the handle josiejoshow and on Facebook for extra content. All the shows are up on Mixcloud and can be found in blog form on Tumblr and Blogger. Stay to the end for an outro in Mandarin and thank, as always, for listening. This is I'm From Barcelona and “Treehouse”




JosieJo's Great Big Pair of Tips
The JosieJo Show 25

What have we got for you today? Well essentially this show is two great tracks by two different bands or artists that I haven't played before and you may not have encountered before. I think that they deserve more exposure and I want to share them with you in that sort of Mixtape way that we used to do. The third track I'll play is a bit of a bonus by a band I've played on a previous show. This week we have an electronica five piece from London, power-pop rockers from Canada and to play us out a whimsical little track to cheer you up. It's The josieJo Show let's give it a go.

Talk In Colour have been steadily making their way through the notoriously difficult music scene in London, England creating gentle waves of interest and sparking a following. They are at the moment working on a soundtrack for a British film, preparing for the festival season and recording an album. They are about to release an single called “The Cell” on 20th April 2014 and that's what I'm going to play you in this show. It's soulful electronica with gentle, balmy vocals. That's balmy in the fragrant evocative sense, not the mad crazy sense. There are layers of sound including harp and keyboard creations in every track they do, but this one really has a sense of changing space. Even though it is “just music” it reminds me of the work of the British artist, Anthony Gormley particulary his work “Blind Light” If you're not familiar with this piece it is a massive clear box full of fog that the spectator enters and experiences the artwork from inside and out as you and others move around in this fog. The colours, sound and sense of perspective changes as you move around and that is what this track reminds me of. I find that interesting from a band whose name itself plays with the senses of sound and sight. This is Talk In Colour and “The Cell”

That track “The Cell” by Talk In Colour is available for download on the 20th April 2014, but you can stream it for free right now by going to their soundcloud page. Find links to that on their facebook page and I'll post a link to it in my blogger, facebook and tumblr pages. Go to www.josiejoshow.tumblr.com to get this and this whole review in link form.
Enough of that business let's give you some unashamed, crafted and clever power-pop from Toronto, Canada. Clockwise have been on the music scene for a very long time now and the current line-up is formed from several vintage bands. They love music and share and swap it constantly via their facebook page. These guys know how to rock and yet, despite that experience they have a freshness and young at heart attitude that exudes from every guitar growl and drum beat. They take the art of the three minute pop track and give a good old shake down. Although they come from Canada I have seen them play the Cavern Club, Liverpool several times now as part of David Bash's International Pop overthrow and every time they rock the stage with youthful enthusiasm and greet their fans, of which I am most definitely one, with charm and unsophisticated fun. This track “Boomtown” comes from their album “Faders On Stun”, which is, at the moment available for “pay what you like” via their website www.clockwisecanada.com This track is about what it's like to have it all in the city. Like most of their music it has grown-up themes with innocent voom. Men that have never quite grown up and are still playing guitars with their mates and having a ball. This is the ever enthusiastic Clockwise and “Boomtown”
Scroll down to Downloads -Ear Candy where you can hear tasters and then “pay what you like” to get the track.
Or go to www.josiejoshow.com click listen to the show and choose show 25 to hear the track streamed in full.
There you go Clockwise and “Boomtown”
For news, events, gigs and releases about the bands I've played on the shows and those to come follow me on twitter under the handle josiejoshow. Contact me via my facebook page josiejoshow or use good old fashioned email josiejo@josiejoshow.com You can recommend bands for me to play, send me your very own outro or just say hello. If you like what you heard please comment at the bottom of the Mixcloud page. The bands do follow the show and really do appreciate your encouragement and comments. Thank you for listening and to play us out here's a whimiscal happy tune from the mighty Misty's Big Adventure “Cheer Me Up”



Wednesday 19 March 2014


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 12th 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 19th 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 8th 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 21st 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”.
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”


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”








Friday 7 March 2014


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 7th 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”


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”.




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”


Yep! So wrong, but so right. Love it. My Favourite Runner Up play the Central Station in Wrexham North Wales on the 12th 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”


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/



Friday 21 February 2014


JosieJo's Great Big Pair of Tips
The JosieJo Show 20

Welcome to The JosieJo Show. I usually say this last, but this week I'm going to say it first while you're still paying attention “thank you for listening”. I really do enjoy doing this show. I do try to inform and entertain. One thing I can promise you is that each show I'll bring you tracks that I like and hopefully every now and again you'll like some too. Who knows, you may even find your new favourite tune. This week I have a haunting duo from Liverpool, a wonderful singer-songwriter from Southend-On-Sea in Essex, England and a sneak preview at one next week's pop-punk band from North Wales.
First up that duo from the city of song. Windmill are Mick Dolan and Dawn Williams and they are on the superb Jack To Phono record label; that's the same label that Ring Ring Rouge are on. You may have heard Ring Ring Rouge on previous JosieJo Shows. If not get yourself to the archived shows after you've listened to this one. Go to www.josiejoshow.com and click “listen to the show” Other Jack To Phono artists I can highly recommend are Bird, The Tea Street Band and Thomas Eno. Windmill are worthy of this company. They sound much greater than just a duo. Their sound is beautiful and has been described as “harrowing”. For a more eloquent description of Windmill than I could ever give check out Lauren Jones' blog www.themusicmanual.co.uk , but until you get chance to do that I'll try to do them justice myself.
This single “Birdman” is available Monday 17th February 2014 and it is stirring. It has a tribal drumbeat that almost seems like the very heartbeat of the song. The vocal is almost ecclesiastical and soaring. If only we could fly away like this. It rises so high that it almost gives me vertigo. It has a sense that you are floating in a dream or separated from reality in the arms of a loved one. This duo is stunning and this track mesmeric. This is Windmill and “Birdman”



That was Windmill and their single “Birdman” available 17th February 2014 on Jack To Phono Records. From one beautiful vocal to another. Next up is Sarah Holburn from Southend-On-Sea in Essex, England. Sarah comes from a musical pedigree; her father is Jonny Holburn the drummer from The Penguin Party. Her talent saw her power through to the final of the Open Mic Uk competition at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham in early 2014. Her original music seems to have a charming simplicity, but the tracks are often connected with each other in subtle ways that are honest, unpretentious and informed by her upbringing by the British seaside. She released a 4 track EP “Oh My Goodness” in 2012. You can download her track “Ice-Cream” for free on her bandcamp page and her album “In Too Deep” is due for release in April 2014.
Here's an example of that network within her work. “In too deep” is not the title of this track “Shelter”. Well obviously it's not, otherwise it would be called “In Too Deep” not “Shelter”, but it is an important line in this tune. It's a sea song like many of her others, but it is also a song about a relationship hence the line “in too deep” . You can see how that sense of the word “deep” works on several levels in her song. It has keyboards, great percussion and I love the use of pause and response. It is a song to sway to and the video, like the track itself, plays with angles and perspectives. Fall in love with Sarah Holburn, like so many others have before you and so many others will after you, this is “Shelter”.

Just brilliant. That's Sarah Holburn and guess what? I've got another track for you. This is from the Welsh pop punks, My Favourite Runner Up and I'm going to make them one of my featured bands on show 21, but they have an album out 17th February 2014, see I told you that it's all going on at the moment. The album is called “Crossroads” and what I've heard of it so far is stonkingly good. This track will wake you up good and proper and it's going to play us out, but listen right to the end of the show because this show my Mum has the last word, mostly because it was her birthday this weekend and because she still rocks at 70. Thanks for listening, this is My Favourite Runner Up and “Light A Fire”




Sunday 16 February 2014

JosieJo's Great Big Pair of Tips
The JosieJo Show

Welcome to the JosieJo Show. Each week I try and bring you two tracks from two different bands or artists. I dig around on the internet, I go to gigs, I listen to lots and lots of music from all around the world, across many genres and I find tunes that really appeal to me. Then I put them into this show and upload it for you to enjoy in your own time, wherever and whenever you like. Share it around, introduce friends to it or just sneak a listen to it on your own and make it your special treat.
Just give it a go. This is the JosieJo Show.
First track is by a really special lady. Leyla McCalla was born in New York to Haitian parents and her solo music is really informed by this cultural influence. After spending time in Accra, Ghana and returning to America to study music she found herself playing her cello on the streets of New Orleans. Leyla found the spirit and French influences of New Orleans really inspiring and joined the Carolina Chocolate Drops, an African-American string band. Her solo album “Vari-Coloured Songs” is a tribute to American poet and author Langston Hughes and calls on his work as well as her own original music and Creole influences from Haiti. She also calls on her friends from The Carolina Chocolate Drops as well as New Orleans' Don Vappie on tenor banjo and Luke Winslow King on guitar. I was introduced to Leyla's work by a friend, Charmion who is fascinated and passionate about world music. One of Leyla's track featured on a compilation CD that came with Charmion's subscription to Songwriter magazine and she immediately found Leyla's tunes inspiring. She plays the album whenever she needs a lift. She plays it to her children and in the car, whenever she needs a bit of oomph.
The album is really quite awesome and can be found on Leyla's website www.leylamccalla.com This track “Girl” is available as a free download on her bandcamp page. It maybe isn't the jolly track you might be expecting considering the introduction so far, but it's a moving story told with an exceptional voice, with an unexpected string section that bends and weaves through the tale. Its slow start, bluegrass pace and directional changes make the abrupt end shocking every time I hear it. Crafted and thoughtful this is Leyla McCalla and “Girl”

Yep. It gets me every time. Leyla is gigging crazy right now. What I've seen of her on YouTube she is beautiful and dignified live. So what's next I hear you cry? 3 Daft Monkeys of course. This is essentially a band of wanderers. Formed in 1999 by Tim Ashton and Athene Roberts. They have extremely strong celtic roots and a theatrical style that goes through and beyond the music and these guys have music in their very souls. Athene the fiddle player started playing at just four years old when she started using an tiny violin which was an ornament on a friend's wall. The drummer, Richie used coloured pencils as drumsticks on empty ice-cream containers when his percussion education began. Luke, the bass player, has his own solo projects and is on the bill to play Ferocious Dog's December festival Dogfest in Warsop England. I'll be there and I can't wait. 3 Daft Monkeys are playing a gig in La Verriere in France on the 21st March 2014 and lots of UK Festivals, amongst others, Bearded Theory, Boomtown and on the 12th April they are on the list of superb acts to play Dan's birthday bash. That's Dan from Ferocious Dog. I really will have to play you some of their tracks, but for now back to 3 Daft Monkeys.
Their sixth and new album “Of Stones and Bones” is out right now and it is rooted in the landscape and heritage of Cornwall, England. The tracks are based round the stories and myths of this mystic and celtic land. This track “Morwenna” is no exception. It is evocative and emotional and has a swirling gypsy feel. It feels almost mesmeric which is beautifully fitting since it is a tale of a watery siren drawing the hero into an impossible relationship. It's heart breaking stuff, but the track really takes off in a very life affirming way. It's folk, rock, gypsy madness in the best possible way.
Get seduced by 3 Daft Monkeys and “Morwenna”
If you want to hear this track then go to www.josiejoshow.com and click listen to the show and choose Show 19
You can hear 3 Daft Monkey's “Sarah, The Devil and Jack” on their website http://www.3daftmonkeys.co.uk/
or other 3 Daft Monkey tracks here


Such a great track and a superb ending. Follow me on twitter @josiejoshow for news, events, gigs and releases, find me on Facebook for extra content and read a text version of the show on Blogger and Tumblr under the handle JosieJo Show.
Tell your friends about me and up my likes on Facebook for some juicy good karma. I'll going to play you one more track by Hatmendo, the solo project of the late, great Andy Ropek. Andy used to run the amazing music evenings the Icarus Club in and around London. His legacy is continued by his good friend Phil Dearing. This is a great track and Dave played it on show 60 of Round At Milligan's. To hear that whole two hour show go to my website www.josiejoshow.com and click on the link to listen to Round At Milligan's. They are all there just waiting for you to listen to. Thanks to you for listening to the JosieJo Show. Here's Hatmendo and “I Could Be Persuaded”



Monday 10 February 2014


JosieJo's Great Big Pair of Tips
The JosieJo Show 18

Welcome to The JosieJo Show number 18. This show I'll bring you two great tracks by two different artists and a new release from Ring Ring Rouge. We've played Ring Ring Rouge's track “Dr. Feelgood” on Show 15 of The JosieJo Show and it was one of my chosen tracks of my birthday special edition of Round At Milligan's last year. You can find easy click links to all the Round At Milligan's shows and the archived JosieJo Shows on my very own website www.josiejoshow.com. There you can also find the back story of why I started producing this show for you aswell as photos and links to the bands and artists played on the show. If you like what you hear on those shows or in the next 15 minutes then seek these guys out and tell them you like them. Music is so readily available these days and that dialogue between artist and fan is more essential than ever. For extra content including videos and links to free downloads go to my Facebook page; search for josiejo (all one word) and show and it'll take you right there. For news, events, gigs and releases follow me on twitter @josiejoshow and to read a text version of the show with links to the tracks find me on Blogger and Tumblr. Oh I am so cross-media or whatever the term is. Enough of the business let's get to the music.
First up a bit of Canadian folk with a difference from Markus Michelucci and his project Sound Refuge. Residing in London, England Markus brings you bardic ballads and colourful, creative stories with bending guitar sounds and growling harmonica. His full length album, “Excuse Me, I Think You're In Neutral” and his single “Let It” are brought to you with a deliberate intention to make you think that he is sitting in the room with you, playing and performing just for you. He is about to embark on a European tour in the spring of 2014 bringing his passion and in depth knowledge of guitars and the subtle differences that each one makes to a wider audience. This guy knows his axes and you can read his tonal musings on his blog available on his website www.soundrefugemusic.com where you can also hear his folky blues style.
I say that because I'm not going to play you a typical Sound Refuge track. “Refuge in E Major” is an instrumental, but it's complicated. It almost feels like several tracks blended together. I like the way it feels like a beautiful country walk taken whilst listening to your favourite music and at the same time conversing with a loved one and consuming a great meal. What I'm trying to say is that there is a lot going on. This really shows Markus's musicality. He gets sounds from the guitar that I didn't know where possible whilst the harmonies swirl around your head like colour changing smoke. There's very little point describing it any more. Listen to it yourself. Sound Refuge and “Refuge In E Major”
http://soundrefuge.bandcamp.com/

So that's what “Refuge In E Major” sounds like. Check out his other tracks they are quite different. Next up the title track from the brand new EP “Radiate” from Australian born Bela Takes Chase. Bela does do small acoustic sets, but recently she's been performing with her full band and it really sounds great live. Excitingly though she's playing a very special acoustic gig in the south of London UK on the 13th February 2014 at the Bedford in Balham. She's playing, not just with her usual super band, but also with a string section, a special guest rapper Nash and Joshua Rigal on trumpet. She's always amazing live and really presents a fragile, yet strong figure on stage. Her intensity is well quite intense and you can almost feel the audience fall in love with her as she draws them in. She's also on the bill to play a festival very local to me called Buryfields in Chesham on the 21st June 2014 and tickets for that are selling fast. Check it out on Facebook if you're interested.
The track I'm playing you on this show is quite exquisite and entrancing. It's called “Radiate” and you can find a stunning video for it on youtube. I do love a video that tells a story. It's gorgeous and really worth seeking out, but it's the production of this track that I find really stunning. It's mixed and layered with seemingly effortless precision. The whole track swells from the outset, but its tempo and mood changes really take you on a journey. It has a sense of golden emotion that can travel half way across the world as she describes her yearning for her home and those that she misses. It's a song about knowing ourselves even when we are physically displaced. I can almost feel the heat of the Australian sun as her warm vocal swirls round the intricate keyboards, guitars and percussion.
Feel the love yourself from Bela Takes Chase and “Radiate”

There you go. Bela Takes Chase and the title track of the EP “Radiate” that was launched just a few days ago in London. Don't forget that very special acoustic gig in Balham on 13th February and join her 34 thousand followers on Facebook to keep up do date with Bela's gigs and releases.
Thank you for listening. I really do appreciate it. Now to play the show out I have another new release from Ring Ring Rouge from Burnley in the UK and an anthem to that wonderful Northern Town. This came out just yesterday on Jack To Phono records and it's available right now from all the usual outlets. This is “Strangers”







JosieJo's Great Big Pair of Tips
The JosieJo Show 17

Well hello. This is the JosieJo Show - two great tracks by two different artists brought to you for your aural delight. Music is intensely important to me and I hope to convey this to you, but most of all I just hope that you like what these musicians do. You may not like everything I play. Maybe though you'll prick up your ears and go “ooo I like that. Who's that?” If you come across a new favourite band or artist and they move or inspire you in any way, then all my work will be worth it. What do I have for you this week? Two English blokes both immersed in music from an early age, both super musically multi-talented and both producing great music.

The first of these is King Size Slim the fat roots and blues, musical production of beautifully bearded Toby Barelli. He was sent to me via Funke & The Two Tone Baby and like Funke he's insanely hard working. He did over 152 gigs in 2013. Think about that...that is half the year..like every other day, often three or four gigs a week. Bloody astonishing if you ask me. A quick tour round his website www.kingsizeslim.com and you get the impression that he takes his guitar everywhere and creates music on the move. His videos show him playing on the back of a golf buggy at The Big Chill festival and going unconcernedly up and down on the Funicular railway at Hastings. He's not just a guitar player though. Oh no, his music is hand clapping, broom sweeping pot and pan bashing, rooted in blues brilliance. He started playing with whoever would let him when he was just 14 and his persistence gained him a place in the 80's Two Tone legends that are The Selector. His massive experience makes his sound live and direct even on his latest recording “Milk Drunk” his album released by Treehouse 44.
This track, “Wake Up The Town” is from that album and it's anything but blue. It is foot stomping , hand clapping stuff that is a call to arms to bring the music to the people. It has an infectious start and a rising chorus that kicks in early and won't leave your head. The vocal is like a pulpit, thumping sermon and the instrumental police sirens are a clever, witty touch. Get your blues boogie on with King Size Slim and “Wake Up The Town”

Sirens should be used as second fiddles in more tunes in my opinion. That was King Size Slim and “Wake Up The Town” British Blues cool. My next British singer song writer first picked up a guitar when he was seven years old and has had music in his soul ever since. Jim Cemlyn Jones started a busking band in Bristol way back in 1985 and braved the streets of Bath, Paris and London before ending up in an Acid Jazz Funk outfit in the 1990s. I've known Jim for a while now, but it was when, in some down time at work I stumbled into an outside broadcast van to get another microphone or something and instead found, snuggled in amongst the boxes Jim with his guitar playing some chords and jotting down ideas. He played me some of his tunes, handed me a CD and I realised that jim was not just a great cameraman and a throughly nice bloke, but he is also a cool singer/song writer. If you want to read some very funny stories of his career in television and get a free download of the song I'm going to play head to his website www.cemlynjones.com
So the song I'm going to play is “Love The Feeling” Great story about this track. Jim played an acoustic version to the audience at a snooker match when a power failure made play impossible. Considering the crowd were there to sit quietly watching slow paced snooker they did an admirable job at rewarding Jim's impromptu performance with a rousing round of applause and he did a superb triumphant fist pump at the end. You see it's always worth carrying your guitar around and being ready at the flick of a fuse to perform. Legend. I'll put a link to a video of that exploit on my facebook page, but the recorded track that you get in this show is much more of a production. It's a carnival tune about recharging your batteries with your loved one at the end of a hard working day. You know that feeling when you look at your partner and think “I can't believe my luck that they are with me”? That feeling? Well that's what it's all about. Don't look at me like that. You do know that feeling. If you don't then just listen to this track and it'll make you feel like you do. I really love the sentiment of this song and especially the line “All the money in the world, couldn't buy this kind of wonderful”. It has a kicking guitar solo, multi-layered percussion and soaring brass section. The long fade out just makes you think that feeling will never end. This really is some kind of wonderful. Jim Cemlyn Jones and “Love The Feeling”

Oh it's so good. You know I'm going to be extra lovely this week and let Jim play you out with an acoustic track that he wrote whilst looking out of an apartment window and observing the rhythm of the day. He also includes the experience of seeing a couple ballroom dancing in full sequinned regalia in a park in China. Don't forget to follow me on Mixcloud so you'll know when the next show is uploaded, follow me on twitter for news, events gigs and releases and visit and like my Facebook to make me feel loved and get extra content. In all cases if you search for JosieJo (all one word) and show and you'll get right there. I also post to blogger and tumblr under JosieJo Show and if you have any suggestions or comments get in touch by messaging or tweeting me or email me josiejo@josiejoshow.com Finally here's second track by Jim Cemlyn Jones. It's “Skateboard Park” Enjoy.