Eclectic Kettle was a show hosted by Simon Batistoni and Ben Ward, our unintentionally-comedic duo of beardy Brits. Playing new and less new tunes from dirty lo-fi punk to airy ethereal dance, and geiger-counter–laced British electronica, with regular support from friends and guest DJs bringing thei…
BFF.fm / Simon Batistoni, Ben Ward
This time we really mean it. After 227 shows, plus some reruns, this is the very last broadcast of Eclectic Kettle. Recorded live at the end of November, Simon and Ben are in the studio together along with a great many returning cast members and friends. Join us as we recount our favourite Kettle moments, play some of our favourite tracks and acts from the history of the show, reflect on this whole thing, and encourage you to support BFF.fm in our 2018 Fundraiser!This one is also going out on Christmas Day, so welcome to the first and last Eclectic Kettle Holiday Special, I suppose? Feel free to shake some sleigh bells over the recording. And this show marks the 5th Anniversary of Eclectic Kettle (which we think would've been December 20th.) 5 years! Who'd ever have thought. Thank you to everyone who supported the show, listened, came on as a guest, Tweeted some snark… Simon and I are incredibly grateful to all our friends and family and BFF.fm community who supported making the show.Settle down in your favourite, snug festive spot by the fire. Have yourself an extra helping of Christmas Pudding. And please, once more with feeling, bask in the chaotic joy of Eclectic Kettle number 228 of 228. The music in this episode is really great, the banter is pretty good. The randos who we put on the air with us are tremendously entertaining too. We only blow out the levels some of the time. It meant a lot to record this, and even editing it for rebroadcast brought back the feelings. I hope you enjoy listening to it again. We love you. Good night. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 3′52″ Sound and Vision by Beck (Self Released) 15′00″ Weight by Mikal Cronin on MCII (Merge) 18′47″ Toe Cutter - Thumb Buster by Thee Oh Sees on Floating Coffin (Castle Face) 22′15″ Hit It and Quit It by Ty Segall on Fudge Sandwich (In The Red Records) 31′47″ Backwaters by Drenge on Drenge (Infectious) 34′31″ Deep Pockets by Gaz Coombes on World's Strongest Man (Self Released) 39′02″ Sad Suppers by Los Campesinos! on Sick Scenes (Wichita) 44′43″ Small Talk by Courtney Barnett on Small Talk (Marathon Artists) 50′06″ Don't Swallow the Cup by The National on Trouble Will Find Me (4AD) 54′46″ Ancient Water by Future Islands on The Far Field (4AD) 58′36″ True Care by James Vincent McMorrow on True Care (Vagrant) 77′02″ The Underside of Power by Algiers on The Underside of Power (Matador) 80′51″ Shame by Young Fathers on White Men are Black Men Too (Big Dada) 85′01″ All My Friends by LCD Soundsystem on Sound of Silver (DFA) 100′54″ Burn It Down by Daughter on Music From Before The Storm (Glassnote) 103′39″ Chasing Mirrors (Christian Löffler Remix) by Padre on Chasing Mirrors (Derelicht) 108′46″ Breathe This Air by Jon Hopkins on Immunity (Domino) 114′29″ Be Right Back, Moving House (feat. Paul Smith) by Ghostpoet on Shedding Skin (Play It Again Sam) 119′30″ Her Majesty by The Beatles on Abbey Road (Apple) Check out the full archives on the website.
This time we really mean it. After 227 shows, plus some reruns, this is the very last broadcast of Eclectic Kettle. Recorded live at the end of November, Simon and Ben are in the studio together along with a great many returning cast members and friends. Join us as we recount our favourite Kettle moments, play some of our favourite tracks and acts from the history of the show, reflect on this whole thing, and encourage you to support BFF.fm in our 2018 Fundraiser!This one is also going out on Christmas Day, so welcome to the first and last Eclectic Kettle Holiday Special, I suppose? Feel free to shake some sleigh bells over the recording. And this show marks the 5th Anniversary of Eclectic Kettle (which we think would've been December 20th.) 5 years! Who'd ever have thought. Thank you to everyone who supported the show, listened, came on as a guest, Tweeted some snark… Simon and I are incredibly grateful to all our friends and family and BFF.fm community who supported making the show.Settle down in your favourite, snug festive spot by the fire. Have yourself an extra helping of Christmas Pudding. And please, once more with feeling, bask in the chaotic joy of Eclectic Kettle number 228 of 228. The music in this episode is really great, the banter is pretty good. The randos who we put on the air with us are tremendously entertaining too. We only blow out the levels some of the time. It meant a lot to record this, and even editing it for rebroadcast brought back the feelings. I hope you enjoy listening to it again. We love you. Good night. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 3′52″ Sound and Vision by Beck 15′00″ Weight by Mikal Cronin on MCII (Merge) 18′47″ Toe Cutter - Thumb Buster by Thee Oh Sees on Floating Coffin (Castle Face) 22′15″ Hit It and Quit It by Ty Segall on Fudge Sandwich (In The Red Records) 31′47″ Backwaters by Drenge on Drenge (Infectious) 34′31″ Deep Pockets by Gaz Coombes on World's Strongest Man 39′02″ Sad Suppers by Los Campesinos! on Sick Scenes (Wichita) 44′43″ Small Talk by Courtney Barnett on Small Talk (Marathon Artists) 50′06″ Don't Swallow the Cup by The National on Trouble Will Find Me (4AD) 54′46″ Ancient Water by Future Islands on The Far Field (4AD) 58′36″ True Care by James Vincent McMorrow on True Care (Vagrant) 77′02″ The Underside of Power by Algiers on The Underside of Power (Matador) 80′51″ Shame by Young Fathers on White Men are Black Men Too (Big Dada) 85′01″ All My Friends by LCD Soundsystem on Sound of Silver (DFA) 100′54″ Burn It Down by Daughter on Music From Before The Storm (Glassnote) 103′39″ Chasing Mirrors (Christian Löffler Remix) by Padre on Chasing Mirrors (Derelicht) 108′46″ Breathe This Air by Jon Hopkins on Immunity (Domino) 114′29″ Be Right Back, Moving House (feat. Paul Smith) by Ghostpoet on Shedding Skin (Play It Again Sam) 119′30″ Her Majesty by The Beatles on Abbey Road (Apple)
With the last Kettle in the can, we continue our December retrospective with a re-run of January 2016's Bowie spectacular, with special guest host Tom Coates in the studio with Ben. A week after Bowie's death, we pulled together a playlist of covers, collaborations, rarities and chatter. As an artist he meant an awful lot to both of us, so it was a really emotionally satisfying show to put together, and for me was a watershed recording in inspiring me to start taking the show more seriously and consider more about the potential of community radio.A reminder that BFF.fm is still running our winter fundraiser, so swing by bff.fm/donate for info! And, prepare for January when I'll be back with the brand new show No Magic — see nomagic.show for details; subscribe to the podcast and follow @nomagicradio on social media. Thanks!Tom very helpfully live-Tweeted this show, so follow along with the directors' commentary:Kettle: Sound and Vision Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 2′58″ Sound and Vision by Beck on Sound and Vision (Self Released) 17′34″ Black Country Rock by David Bowie on The Man Who Sold The World (Jones) 20′55″ Andy Warhol by David Bowie on Hunky Dory (RCA) 24′00″ Oh You Pretty Things by Peter Noone on David Bower: Cover To Cover (Parlophone) 30′49″ Sweet Thing by John Vanderslice on John Vanderslice Plays David Bowie's Diamond Dogs (Reimagine Music) 34′47″ White Light/White Heat by David Bowie & The Spiders From Mars on Bowie at the Beeb (Parlophone) 38′01″ Drive-In Saturday by Morrissey on Swords (Decca) 49′25″ TVC15 by David Bowie on Station to Station (RCA) 54′10″ Fascination by David Bowie on Young Americans (RCA) 59′47″ Fame by Duran Duran on David Bowie: Cover To Cover (Parlophone) 66′03″ Beauty and the Beast by David Bowie on Heroes (RCA) 69′51″ A New Career In A New Town by David Bowie on Low (RCA Victor) 72′18″ Heroes by Philip Glass on Heroes Symphony (Point Music) 82′23″ Let's Dance by M. Ward on Transfiguration of Vincent (Merge) 87′13″ Fashion by David Bowie on Scary Monsters (RCA) 98′30″ Reflektor by Arcade Fire on Reflektor (Merge) 105′49″ Love Is Lost - Hello Steve Reich Mix by David Bowie on Nothing Has Changed (ISO) 109′28″ Sue (Or In a Season Of Crime) by David Bowie on Blackstar (Sony) 119′07″ Sound and Vision (2013) by David Bowie on Sound and Vision 2013 (Parlophone) Check out the full archives on the website.
Guest: Tom CoatesWith the last Kettle in the can, we continue our December retrospective with a re-run of January 2016's Bowie spectacular, with special guest host Tom Coates in the studio with Ben. A week after Bowie's death, we pulled together a playlist of covers, collaborations, rarities and chatter. As an artist he meant an awful lot to both of us, so it was a really emotionally satisfying show to put together, and for me was a watershed recording in inspiring me to start taking the show more seriously and consider more about the potential of community radio.A reminder that BFF.fm is still running our winter fundraiser, so swing by bff.fm/donate for info! And, prepare for January when I'll be back with the brand new show No Magic — see nomagic.show for details; subscribe to the podcast and follow @nomagicradio on social media. Thanks!Tom very helpfully live-Tweeted this show, so follow along with the directors' commentary:Kettle: Sound and Vision Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 2′58″ Sound and Vision by Beck on Sound and Vision 17′34″ Black Country Rock by David Bowie on The Man Who Sold The World (Jones) 20′55″ Andy Warhol by David Bowie on Hunky Dory (RCA) 24′00″ Oh You Pretty Things by Peter Noone on David Bower: Cover To Cover (Parlophone) 30′49″ Sweet Thing by John Vanderslice on John Vanderslice Plays David Bowie's Diamond Dogs (Reimagine Music) 34′47″ White Light/White Heat by David Bowie & The Spiders From Mars on Bowie at the Beeb (Parlophone) 38′01″ Drive-In Saturday by Morrissey on Swords (Decca) 49′25″ TVC15 by David Bowie on Station to Station (RCA) 54′10″ Fascination by David Bowie on Young Americans (RCA) 59′47″ Fame by Duran Duran on David Bowie: Cover To Cover (Parlophone) 66′03″ Beauty and the Beast by David Bowie on Heroes (RCA) 69′51″ A New Career In A New Town by David Bowie on Low (RCA Victor) 72′18″ Heroes by Philip Glass on Heroes Symphony (Point Music) 82′23″ Let's Dance by M. Ward on Transfiguration of Vincent (Merge) 87′13″ Fashion by David Bowie on Scary Monsters (RCA) 98′30″ Reflektor by Arcade Fire on Reflektor (Merge) 105′49″ Love Is Lost - Hello Steve Reich Mix by David Bowie on Nothing Has Changed (ISO) 109′28″ Sue (Or In a Season Of Crime) by David Bowie on Blackstar (Sony) 119′07″ Sound and Vision (2013) by David Bowie on Sound and Vision 2013 (Parlophone)
Another classic Kettle repeat this week, this time back to March 2017 and delightful rambling about visits to the moon. Remember, you can support the BFF.fm winter fundraiser by visiting bff.fm/donate, and check out the page for Ben's new show No Magic — starting January 1st. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 0′56″ Don't Act Like A Stranger by Cathedrals on Don't Act Like A Stranger (Self Released ) 16′31″ Johny (feat. Johny) by Powell on Sport (XL) 22′45″ Mallwalkers by Fred Thomas on Changer (Polyvinyl Records) 25′08″ 62 Moons by Cold Beat on Chaos By Invitation (Crime On The Moon) 32′28″ No Halo by Sorority Noise on You're Not As ______ As You Think (Triple Crown Records) 35′14″ Oh The Savior by Temples on Volcano (Fat Possum) 38′58″ Wondering by Xiu Xiu on FORGET (Polyvinyl) 49′56″ Get High (No, I Don't) by Maxïmo Park on Risk To Exist (Daylighting) 53′15″ Whiteout Conditions by The New Pornographers on Whiteout Conditions (Concord) 57′12″ Golden Light by Blonde Redhead on 3 O'clock (Asa Wa Kuru) 63′45″ England by PJ Harvey on Let England Shake (Vagrant) 69′14″ Slip Away by Perfume Genius on No Shape (Matador) 71′51″ The Florist by Nilufer Yanya on The Florist (Blue Flowers Records) 75′13″ Icarus by O Mer on Icarus (Self-released) 77′46″ Coming Out Strong (feat. The Weeknd) by Future on HNDRXX (Epic Records) 88′27″ Fallaway (feat. Emilíana Torrini) by Kid Koala on Music To Draw To: Satellite (Arts & Crafts) 92′05″ Vines by Golden Vessel on Before Sleep EP (Self Released) 98′02″ Mirrors (Original Mix) by Calippo on In Love With House (Le Mans Records) 102′11″ Born Slippy .Nuxx (Matt Caseli 2K17 Remix) by Matt Caseli, Terry Lex, Catraz on Born Slippy .Nuxx (Matt Caseli 2K17 Remix) (Zulu Records) 107′23″ Dahnser (Original Mix) by Pablo Bolivar on Hideaway EP (Endless) 115′20″ Hive Mind by Blanck Mass on World Eater (Sacred Bones) Check out the full archives on the website.
Another classic Kettle repeat this week, this time back to March 2017 and delightful rambling about visits to the moon. Remember, you can support the BFF.fm winter fundraiser by visiting bff.fm/donate, and check out the page for Ben's new show No Magic — starting January 1st. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 0′56″ Don't Act Like A Stranger by Cathedrals on Don't Act Like A Stranger (Self Released) 16′31″ Johny (feat. Johny) by Powell on Sport (XL) 22′45″ Mallwalkers by Fred Thomas on Changer (Polyvinyl Records) 25′08″ 62 Moons by Cold Beat on Chaos By Invitation (Crime On The Moon) 32′28″ No Halo by Sorority Noise on You're Not As ______ As You Think (Triple Crown Records) 35′14″ Oh The Savior by Temples on Volcano (Fat Possum) 38′58″ Wondering by Xiu Xiu on FORGET (Polyvinyl) 49′56″ Get High (No, I Don't) by Maxïmo Park on Risk To Exist (Daylighting) 53′15″ Whiteout Conditions by The New Pornographers on Whiteout Conditions (Concord) 57′12″ Golden Light by Blonde Redhead on 3 O'clock (Asa Wa Kuru) 63′45″ England by PJ Harvey on Let England Shake (Vagrant) 69′14″ Slip Away by Perfume Genius on No Shape (Matador) 71′51″ The Florist by Nilufer Yanya on The Florist (Blue Flowers Records) 75′13″ Icarus by O Mer on Icarus (Self-released) 77′46″ Coming Out Strong (feat. The Weeknd) by Future on HNDRXX (Epic Records) 88′27″ Fallaway (feat. Emilíana Torrini) by Kid Koala on Music To Draw To: Satellite (Arts & Crafts) 92′05″ Vines by Golden Vessel on Before Sleep EP 98′02″ Mirrors (Original Mix) by Calippo on In Love With House (Le Mans Records) 102′11″ Born Slippy .Nuxx (Matt Caseli 2K17 Remix) by Matt Caseli, Terry Lex, Catraz on Born Slippy .Nuxx (Matt Caseli 2K17 Remix) (Zulu Records) 107′23″ Dahnser (Original Mix) by Pablo Bolivar on Hideaway EP (Endless) 115′20″ Hive Mind by Blanck Mass on World Eater (Sacred Bones)
With Eclectic Kettle now at its end, we're spending December reliving a handful of our favourite and memorable moments from Kettle's five year history. This week is #42, where we invent the Crossy Road Grand Prix Championship, and we play great tunes from The Districts, Sucre, Viet Cong, Micah P Hinson and Museum of Love. See the original broadcast here.Reminder, please donate to this year's BFF.fm Winter Fundraiser by visiting https://bff.fm/donate! Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 0′34″ The Large Glass by Museum of Love on Museum of Love (DFA) 13′12″ Easy (Switch Screens) by Son Lux feat. Lorde on Alternate Worlds EP (Joyful Noise) 17′06″ Young and Free by Sucre on Loner (Red Velvet) 20′59″ London Queen by Charli XCX on London Queen (Asylum) 33′00″ Yours To Shake by Greylag on Greylag (Dead Oceans) 36′42″ ARK by We Are The Ocean on ARK (Hassle Records) 49′49″ Continental Shelf by Viet Cong on Viet Cong (Jagjaguwar) 53′04″ Paranoia by Max Frost on Paranoia EP (Atlantic) 56′53″ Work It Out by Knox Hamilton on Work It Out (Prospect Park) 71′50″ What by BONCHO on Just Enough Hip To Be A Woman (Dine Alone Music) 74′06″ Kings and Queens by Allow Darlin' on We Come From The Same Place (Slumberland Records) 77′00″ Repetition by Trampled By Turtles on Wild Animals (Banjodad Records) 80′10″ Seven Horses Seen Or Through The Hours, Still Comes Another Day by Micah P Hinson on Micah P Hinson and The Pioneer Saboteurs (Full Time Hobby) 88′44″ Two Weeks by F.K.A. Twigs on LP1 (Young Turks) 92′46″ Grace by Zola Blood on Meridian EP (Pondlifesongs) 99′46″ 4th and Roebling by The Districts on 4th and Roebling (Fat Possum) 104′34″ Lakes of Fire by Belle Ghoul on Rabbit's Moon & Doomsday (Elefant) 112′34″ A Real Thunderbolt by Paul Cook and the Chronicles on Thunderbolt EP (Grandpa Stan) 115′46″ Lucifer's Eyes by T.O.L.D. on Heaven EP (IAMSOUND Records) Check out the full archives on the website.
With Eclectic Kettle now at its end, we're spending December reliving a handful of our favourite and memorable moments from Kettle's five year history. This week is #42, where we invent the Crossy Road Grand Prix Championship, and we play great tunes from The Districts, Sucre, Viet Cong, Micah P Hinson and Museum of Love. See the original broadcast here.Reminder, please donate to this year's BFF.fm Winter Fundraiser by visiting https://bff.fm/donate! Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 0′34″ The Large Glass by Museum of Love on Museum of Love (DFA) 13′12″ Easy (Switch Screens) by Son Lux feat. Lorde on Alternate Worlds EP (Joyful Noise) 17′06″ Young and Free by Sucre on Loner (Red Velvet) 20′59″ London Queen by Charli XCX on London Queen (Asylum) 33′00″ Yours To Shake by Greylag on Greylag (Dead Oceans) 36′42″ ARK by We Are The Ocean on ARK (Hassle Records) 49′49″ Continental Shelf by Viet Cong on Viet Cong (Jagjaguwar) 53′04″ Paranoia by Max Frost on Paranoia EP (Atlantic) 56′53″ Work It Out by Knox Hamilton on Work It Out (Prospect Park) 71′50″ What by BONCHO on Just Enough Hip To Be A Woman (Dine Alone Music) 74′06″ Kings and Queens by Allow Darlin' on We Come From The Same Place (Slumberland Records) 77′00″ Repetition by Trampled By Turtles on Wild Animals (Banjodad Records) 80′10″ Seven Horses Seen Or Through The Hours, Still Comes Another Day by Micah P Hinson on Micah P Hinson and The Pioneer Saboteurs (Full Time Hobby) 88′44″ Two Weeks by F.K.A. Twigs on LP1 (Young Turks) 92′46″ Grace by Zola Blood on Meridian EP (Pondlifesongs) 99′46″ 4th and Roebling by The Districts on 4th and Roebling (Fat Possum) 104′34″ Lakes of Fire by Belle Ghoul on Rabbit's Moon & Doomsday (Elefant) 112′34″ A Real Thunderbolt by Paul Cook and the Chronicles on Thunderbolt EP (Grandpa Stan) 115′46″ Lucifer's Eyes by T.O.L.D. on Heaven EP (IAMSOUND Records)
After 227 shows, Eclectic Kettle is coming to an end. Simon and Ben are in the studio together again, with many returning cast members and friends. Join us as we play through some of our favourite Kettle moments, reflect on the whole thing, and encourage you to support BFF.fm in our 2018 Fundraiser that kicks off today!There's so much to say about Kettle. Maybe we should write a blog post or two about it or something. But for now, let's just note this: Simon and I are both incredibly grateful to all our friends and family and BFF.fm community who supported making the show over all these years, and also to each other for making it happen. Kettle will be be 5 years old in a few weeks (we'll still be broadcasting some re-runs… it counts… shut up…) and neither of us would've imagined doing something like this for so long. So, thanks. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 3′52″ Sound and Vision by Beck (Self Released) 15′00″ Weight by Mikal Cronin on MCII (Merge) 18′47″ Toe Cutter - Thumb Buster by Thee Oh Sees on Floating Coffin (Castle Face) 22′15″ Hit It and Quit It by Ty Segall on Fudge Sandwich (In The Red Records) 31′47″ Backwaters by Drenge on Drenge (Infectious) 34′31″ Deep Pockets by Gaz Coombes on World's Strongest Man (Self Released) 39′02″ Sad Suppers by Los Campesinos! on Sick Scenes (Wichita) 44′43″ Small Talk by Courtney Barnett on Small Talk (Marathon Artists) 50′06″ Don't Swallow the Cup by The National on Trouble Will Find Me (4AD) 54′46″ Ancient Water by Future Islands on The Far Field (4AD) 58′36″ True Care by James Vincent McMorrow on True Care (Vagrant) 77′02″ The Underside of Power by Algiers on The Underside of Power (Matador) 80′51″ Shame by Young Fathers on White Men are Black Men Too (Big Dada) 85′01″ All My Friends by LCD Soundsystem on Sound of Silver (DFA) 100′54″ Burn It Down by Daughter on Music From Before The Storm (Glassnote) 103′39″ Chasing Mirrors (Christian Löffler Remix) by Padre on Chasing Mirrors (Derelicht) 108′46″ Breathe This Air by Jon Hopkins on Immunity (Domino) 114′29″ Be Right Back, Moving House (feat. Paul Smith) by Ghostpoet on Shedding Skin (Play It Again Sam) 119′30″ Her Majesty by The Beatles on Abbey Road (Apple) Check out the full archives on the website.
After 227 shows, Eclectic Kettle is coming to an end. Simon and Ben are in the studio together again, with many returning cast members and friends. Join us as we play through some of our favourite Kettle moments, reflect on the whole thing, and encourage you to support BFF.fm in our 2018 Fundraiser that kicks off today!There's so much to say about Kettle. Maybe we should write a blog post or two about it or something. But for now, let's just note this: Simon and I are both incredibly grateful to all our friends and family and BFF.fm community who supported making the show over all these years, and also to each other for making it happen. Kettle will be be 5 years old in a few weeks (we'll still be broadcasting some re-runs… it counts… shut up…) and neither of us would've imagined doing something like this for so long. So, thanks. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 3′52″ Sound and Vision by Beck 15′00″ Weight by Mikal Cronin on MCII (Merge) 18′47″ Toe Cutter - Thumb Buster by Thee Oh Sees on Floating Coffin (Castle Face) 22′15″ Hit It and Quit It by Ty Segall on Fudge Sandwich (In The Red Records) 31′47″ Backwaters by Drenge on Drenge (Infectious) 34′31″ Deep Pockets by Gaz Coombes on World's Strongest Man 39′02″ Sad Suppers by Los Campesinos! on Sick Scenes (Wichita) 44′43″ Small Talk by Courtney Barnett on Small Talk (Marathon Artists) 50′06″ Don't Swallow the Cup by The National on Trouble Will Find Me (4AD) 54′46″ Ancient Water by Future Islands on The Far Field (4AD) 58′36″ True Care by James Vincent McMorrow on True Care (Vagrant) 77′02″ The Underside of Power by Algiers on The Underside of Power (Matador) 80′51″ Shame by Young Fathers on White Men are Black Men Too (Big Dada) 85′01″ All My Friends by LCD Soundsystem on Sound of Silver (DFA) 100′54″ Burn It Down by Daughter on Music From Before The Storm (Glassnote) 103′39″ Chasing Mirrors (Christian Löffler Remix) by Padre on Chasing Mirrors (Derelicht) 108′46″ Breathe This Air by Jon Hopkins on Immunity (Domino) 114′29″ Be Right Back, Moving House (feat. Paul Smith) by Ghostpoet on Shedding Skin (Play It Again Sam) 119′30″ Her Majesty by The Beatles on Abbey Road (Apple)
In the penultimate broadcast of Eclectic Kettle we welcome back Tom and Anna as co-hosts for a fresh round of joyous, chaotic banter and mirth. We also deliver some spectacular technical flubs, as if to get as many in before the end as we can. Tom, to his credit, actually prepared a theme and delivers an insightful and impassioned playlist of overlooked gay songwriters, while we also play a cover that he's been trying to get onto Kettle for some 3 years now.We also talk a tiny little bit about Ben's New Show, which will take the place of Kettle in the nearish future. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 3′12″ The One I Love by Night Shop on In the Break (Woodsist) 14′56″ Into the Fire by These New Puritans (Infectious) 18′46″ Be Aggressive by Faith No More on Angel Dust (Slash) 22′24″ Jealousy by Pet Shop Boys on Behaviour (Parlophone) 36′31″ Coast to Coast by Tune-Yards on I can feel you creep into my private life (4AD) 40′12″ Cough Cough by Everything Everything on Arc (Sony) 53′02″ Into the Fire by These New Puritans on Inside the Rose (Infectious) 56′34″ (I'm Tired Of) Western Shouting by MIEN on MIEN (Rocket) 59′07″ Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) by Cinerama on John Peel Sessions (Manifesto) 64′44″ Be Released by Virginia Wing on Ecstatic Arrow (Fire) 69′00″ Love Will Tear Us Apart (Martin Hannett Sessions) by Joy Division on Love Will Tear Us Apart (Cleopatra) 80′13″ Dirty Black Road by The B-52's on Wild Planet (Warner Bros.) 83′27″ Gay Messiah by Rufus Wainwright on Want Two (Geffen) 86′24″ He Whipped My Ass in Tennis (Then I Fucked His Ass in Bed) by Pansy Division on Total Entertainment! (601724 Records DK) 94′06″ Truth Hurts by Lizzo on Truth Hurts (Nice Life / Atlantic) 95′31″ No Snare by Pan Amsterdam & Open Mike Eagle on No Snare (Def Pressé) 99′47″ Is by Deem Spencer on Is (The Flower Shop) 101′18″ Alan - Rework by Perfume Genius on W (Matador) 108′12″ Albatross by Westerman on Ark (Blue Flowers Music) 113′24″ Money Don't Grow on Trees by Sneaks on Highway Hypnosis (Merge) 117′07″ Perfect Coffee by Kate Tempest on Let Them Eat Chaos (Lex) Check out the full archives on the website.
It's election night in America, do you know where you votes are? Honestly, Simon and I have found ourselves suckered into bloviating political commentary before and I've somewhat concluded that it makes for our worst radio — who the fuck are we, anyway? And all the more during such a demonically awful time, in an election that could realistically only be a step forward, not a do-over, we kinda felt we'd keep that on the down-low. So, there're some songs, we're not ignoring it, and we absolutely reel of a series of terms in reference to Ted Cruz, because fuck him. But mostly, this weeks show is here to take some respite in music, so I hope you enjoy it for that. — Ben.This week, Simon's away of course, so Fiona returns to the airwaves with some great picks. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 1′32″ 2 + 2 = 5 by Radiohead on Hail to the Thief (Parlophone) 12′45″ (We Don't Need This) Facist Groove Thing by LCD Soundsystem on (We Don't Need This) Facist Groove Thing (DFA) 16′32″ Flip the Switch by Love Jerks on Million Movies (Self Released) 20′05″ Killer Queen by Queen on Sheer Heart Attack (Elektra) 26′30″ Breathe In, Breathe Out by Melody's Echo Chamber on Bon Voyage (Fat Possum) 29′42″ Gun to the Head by The Good, the Bad & the Queen on Merrie Land (Studio 13) 33′31″ Tiny Witch Hunter (feat. Richard Dawson, Rhodri Davies) by Hen Ogledd on Tiny Witch Hunter (Domino) 46′50″ Feeling Lonely by Boy Pablo on Soy Pablo (777) 49′45″ Small Talk by Courtney Barnett on Small Talk (Mom + Pop) 55′14″ Con Conn Was Impatient by Connon Mockasin on Jassbusters (Mexican Summer) 66′20″ On the Sunshine by Spiritualized on And Nothing Hurt (Fat Possum) 71′13″ Ways to Make It Through The Wall by Los Campesinos! on We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (Witchita) 75′05″ Drop the Guillotine by Peach Pit on Sweet FA (Columbia) 82′56″ Every Single Thing by Open Mike Eagle on What Happens When I Try To Relax (AutoReverse) 88′56″ Palm City by aiwake on Palm City (Majestic Casual) 89′54″ J.K. Rollin' by BOOTS & Le Malin on J.K. Rollin' (Le Palace) 93′18″ Bétise by Coby Ser on Bétise (Coby Ser Rework) (Cotch International) 106′45″ Ullswater (Luke Abbot Remix) by Hookworms (Domino) 112′30″ Go by Underground System on What Are You (Soul Clap) 118′36″ Free Yourself by The Chemical Brothers (Virgin) Check out the full archives on the website.
A solo round from Ben, doubling down on mostly-new music this week, with a decadent diversion into the soundtrack works of Radiohead. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 1′00″ Ullswater by Hookworms on Microshift (Domino) 11′14″ Business Man by FEWS (Play It Again Sam) 15′01″ Check Out Time 11am by Sparks (BMG) 18′26″ Ray Purchase by Peeping Drexels on Ray Purchase (Fierce Panda) 21′43″ Is This How Love Should Feel? by Communions on Is This How Love Should Feel? (Heartdrop) 28′10″ Her Cold Cold Heart by Night Beats on Myth of a Man (Heavenly) 31′04″ Back in the U.S.S.R. by The Beatles on The Beatles (White Album 2018 Mix) (Calderstone) 33′33″ 1000 Whispers by Warmdusher on Whale City (The Leaf Label) 37′57″ Merrie Land by The Good, The Bad, & the Queen on Merrie Land (Studio 13) 42′32″ We Should Be Holding Hands by Blonde Redhead on We Should Be Holding Hands (Ponderosa) 56′08″ Has Ended by Thom Yorke on Susperia (XL) 60′45″ Meeting at the Aisle by Radiohead on OK Computer OKNOTOK (XL) 63′33″ Spooks by Jonny Greenwood on Inherent Vice OST (Nonesuch) 66′19″ El Camino Negro by Tommy Guerrero on Road to Knowhere (Too Good) 74′30″ NeferTiti by Gillian Hills on NeferTiti (Lili) 79′03″ Momo's by Connan Mockasin on Jassbusters (Mexican Summer) 82′20″ Gorillas by Peluché on Unforgettable (One Little Indian) 87′34″ White Coats by Baxter Dury & Étienne de Crécy & Delilah Holliday on B.E.D. (LE LABEL) 89′36″ Peep This by Royal Canoe on Waver (Paper Bag) 98′09″ Keeping Txme by Selling on On Reflection (City Slang) 102′53″ Testimony by Anchorsong on Cohesion (Tru Throughts) 106′35″ Mono (feat. Hidden) by Zero 7 on Mono (Make) 112′34″ Blurry by Robot Koch on Sphere (Trees & Cyborgs) 117′15″ Mirk by Erland Cooper on Nightflight (Phases) Check out the full archives on the website.
This week Ben is at the Gruff Rhys show (we may have mentioned that a few times…) so tonight's episode is pre-recorded with regular occasional co-host Mr Tom Coates. Loads of great music for you to enjoy, remember you can Tweet to @BFFKettle with your favourite tracks and moments. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 0′00″ While My Guitar Gentle Weeps by The Beatles on The Beatles (Apple) 10′03″ Deadly Valentine by Charlotte Gainsbourg on Deadly Valentine (Because Music) 15′48″ World In My Eyes by Depeche Mode on Violator (Sire) 19′58″ Lost (feat. Chelsea Jade) by Jai Wolf on Lost (Mon + Pop) 27′41″ Dog Song by Ruby Throat on Dog Song (One Little Indian) 30′01″ DTMFA by Speedy Ortiz on Adlut Swim Singles (Carpark) 33′17″ I Know by The Beta Band on The Three E.P.'s (Because) 44′07″ Can't Run But by Paul Simon on In The Blue Light (Sony) 47′21″ Following by The Bangles on Different Light (Sony) 51′30″ The Night Watch by Jim Reeves on 20 Songs of Inspiration (Sony) 58′19″ Subaru Nights by Insecure Nights on Insecure Men (Fat Possum) 62′27″ Drones in the City by Gruff Rhys on Babelsberg (Rough Trade) 66′58″ One Too Many by Fufanu on Dialogue III (One Little Indian) 70′44″ Comeback Kid by Sharon Van Etten on Comeback Kid (Jagjaguwar) 82′15″ She's A Rainbow by The Rolling Stones on More Hot Rocks (ABKCO) 85′45″ Monday Morning, Somewhere Central by Ultimate Painting on Dusk (Trouble in Mind) 88′31″ Dress by PJ Harvey on Dry (UMG) 93′37″ Body Fat by How to Dress Well on The Anteroom (Domino) 98′42″ Microfiche by Open Mike Eagle on What Happens When I Try to Relax (AutoReverse) 101′35″ Imposter by Kadhja Bonet on Childqueen Outtakes (Fat Possum) 107′28″ Where I Lead Me by Townes Van Zandt on Be Here to Love Me (Fat Possum) 109′49″ Bachelorette by Björk on Homogenic (One Little Indian) 118′09″ Diminuendo by Daniel Avery on Diminuendo (Phantasy Sound) Check out the full archives on the website.
On October 16th, Gruff Rhys joined our broadcast of Eclectic Kettle. We abridged the interview for airtime, but here's the full version, along with a transcript. Remember, you can win tickets for Gruff's October 23rd show at The Chapel in San Francisco here. Enjoy! Thank you to Leslie Hampton at The Owl Magazine for co-ordinating this interview with us.Ben Ward: Hi everyone, this is Ben Ward of BFF.fm's Eclectic Kettle. You're listening to a special extra release that we're putting out this week, which is my full interview with Gruff Rhys. Lead singer of Super Furry Animals and currently on tour promoting his new album “Babelsberg”.He'll be playing here in San Francisco on October 23rd; this coming Tuesday. We played parts of this interview on Eclectic Kettle on October 16th. This is the fuller version where we discuss his tour, the recording of the album and the efforts that went into the product that really defines the sound. We reminisce about his previous appearance at The Chapel which he remembers well. We also discuss his recent more politically pointed songs about Brexit and the National Health Service in the UK, touching on his songwriting philosophy and motivations, and inevitably get a bit stuck in on Brexit as we despair.I want to say a huge thank you to Leslie Hampton, who's guest -DJ'd on Eclectic Kettle before with me. She's over at The Owl Magazine and was instrumental in helping us put this interview together. Check out theowlmag.com for their show previews and other coverage.Finally, BFF.fm has two pairs of tickets for Gruff's October 23rd show to give away. Check out BFF.fm for giveaway details. It's trivially easy for you to enter! I hope you enjoy the interview, I hope you enjoy his show. Remember, the album is Babelsberg it's out now.And you can listen to listen to more great community radio here from the heart of San Francisco at BFF.fm.[Sample of Oh Dear! by Gruff Rhys, from Babelsberg.][Phone ringing…]Gruff Rhys: Hello?Ben: Er hello, Gruff?Gruff: Hello!Ben: Hi! It's Ben Ward from BFF.fm here. Is now still a good time to talk?Gruff: Yes! Sorry, I completely forgot but it's great!Ben: Oh, good! [laughs]. I'm British, obviously, but I'm calling you from San Francisco. Because you're playing here on the 23rd, I think that's right.Gruff: Yeah, yeah. Ah, great!Ben: And you're in DC now?Gruff: Yeah, we're on the way to DC. We've just driven past Baltimore, and I'm sat in the van and we're headed down the road to Washington. And we were just discussing the Washington antique grid system.Ben: How long have you been on tour now? About a week over here?Gruff: Yeah, we've been in North America, but we did a couple of Canadian shows and we're just heading down the east coast, and then we're going to start to go west after tonight.It was particularly memorable at The Chapel. It was so much fun, people really got involved. I think there were quite a few people on stage by the end.Ben: Wonderful. I was looking at the dates and you've got the San Francisco show and then LA and then that's the end of the tour. Are you even thinking about that much at this point? Or do you just take every date as it comes?Gruff: No, it's very exciting to hit the west coast, and y'know the set will be… I can't wait to see how the set will have developed. We've been rehearsing some new material on the road and it's quite exciting and it's changing every night.Ben: Ah, that's great.Gruff: Yeah, we're looking forward to bringing it to The Chapel.Ben: Yeah, and you played The Chapel last time you played solo. The Super Furries were in town a couple of years ago. Actually, Super Furries played on my birthday two years ago, which I appreciate very much…Gruff: Oh wow! Amazing.Ben: That was a nice present for me. But you toured American Interior two years before that, also at The Chapel. Do you have particular memories of the venue?Gruff: Yeah, it was my favourite show of that tour. I started introducing historical re-enactments into my shows and I think that was the high point of that endeavour. It was particularly memorable at The Chapel. It was so much fun, people really got involved. I think there were quite a few people on stage by the end.Ben: Yes, there were the two people performing with …the puppet, I remember.Gruff: Yeah. They were taking the role of various historical characters from the 1790s.Ben: [laughs] Is there anything… because I guess you're only going to be in town for a day is there anything you're looking forward to seeing in San Francisco when you make it here?Gruff: Yeah, I usually, in the Mission, err, I'll be trying out probably lots of good galleries and stuff. [inaudible] is up there. And erm, I'll go see if they've got something on. And err, yeah, there's lots of interesting things in that area. I've never been to the LSD Museum, I might do that.Ben: I wanted to chat to you a little about the new record, which obviously is why you're here. I've listened to it a lot, I really love it. One of the things that really struck me is that you've got a very recognisable voice and songwriting style. Something I really admire is that each of your solo records over the years has a pretty unique vibe. They really seem to stand out from one-another. This one's been really widely praised for the string arrangements and evocative sounds of the 60s like Serge Gainsbourg, Scott Walker and Lee Hazlewood, all wrapped up in that production. Do you approach each project with an intention to find something that's so new and different?I'm worried about writing the same song over and over again. I want every album to have a distinct character. I try to find a way of keeping it new, for myself at least.Gruff: Um, yeah inevitably. It's something I, I want every album to have a distinct character. I suppose my ambition with this record is to try and make a whole album out of the same structured palette and try to stick to that, and try not to go off on too many tangents in a way. That's my downside in the studio; I get overexcited! By the end it was very disciplined… I mean… I suppose songwriting's quite a slow-moving medium. I'm worried about writing the same song over and over again. I try to find a way of keeping it new, for myself at least. It's not a particularly experimental record but I hope lyrically it engages a bit with the present day so there is some relevancy to exist today [laughs].Ben: Yeah. It has these darker, bleaker lyrical themes throughout it than have jumped out of your previous records. I was actually back home in the UK a few weeks ago and I caught a little of your interview on the BBC [BBC 6Music] with Mark Radcliffe.Gruff: Ah yeah…Ben: And he, um… You remarked there, talking a little bit about how he sort-of said it's a darker record. And you pointed out that actually with the arrangements — with the strings — it comes out sounding actually quite uplifting and optimistic.When you started, did you have any idea you wanted it to end up like that? Was it working with Stephen McNeff that revealed that to you? Did you have to be persuaded to go in that direction?Gruff: Yeah, I mean when I was recording it I didn't have… err… I just got a call from a producer called Ali Chant in Bristol, who I'd recorded with previously, he said “if I wanted to make any records, the studio's being knocked down in a few weeks”. So I'd played some of this material with Kliph and Steve who play on the record and the previous tour. Osian has played piano on my previous two albums now and I, we rehearsed a bunch of songs we'd been putting together and went into the studio for a few days and it was always my intention to add a certain amount of arrangement but, coincidentally I was working with a composer called Stephen McNeff. I was writing some lyrics for him for a different project and I sat in on one of the recording sessions which was incredible. So I immediately passed him on the files of the sounds I was working on.But anyway, because there was no studio pressure I just kinda pursued the record until it was finished rather than rush it. It took a couple of years.Ben: So it gave you space to explore that bigger sound?Gruff: Yeah. The songs are intimate, but they're pretty much live takes for the most part. I spent time on vocal, but not to an extreme. And then Stephen arranged the orchestral element and they played live to the previous recordings.Ben: Oh, interesting…Gruff: So, although there's a lot going on it was fairly simply recorded in a way and not particularly polished. There's still some damage there!Ben: That's really interesting because I was going to ask, erm, and this might not be much of a question now, but given that you're back on tour and you're not going to fit a 72 piece orchestra into The Chapel — although I would like to see that — whether there's been any change to the music or evolution of what you're doing scaling it back down to tour. Because you're touring with a band this time, right?Gruff: Yeah, it's the same band who played on the record. It's Kliph Scurlock on drums, Osian Gwynedd on piano, Steve Black on bass, and that's the core of the album and they've allowed this thing to remix. And I suppose the challenge with mixing the album was fitting a symphony orchestra into what are very intimate songs, intimately recorded songs. So we had to kinda tone down the scale of it. So, it sounds remarkably full. Osian's piano parts kind of fill the space to the point where we don't need any kinda “canned” orchestral stuff. And it's continuing to evolve. We're stretching out different bits.I've rarely been able to play my studio albums live immediately after recording them. But because of the live nature of the recording, [this one] really lends itself to playing live. There wasn't much studio trickery on this particular record, as opposed to my other records that have a lot of studio experiments.Ben: That makes sense. So do you feel that the live sound goes back to more resemble some of those original sessions or is this something altogether new?Gruff: No, they're very similar to the original sessions. I think we're going to try and release those early versions at some point in the future. They sound great and completely different.And now and again we're able to do some orchestral shows. We have the scores and whenever and orchestra is interested we can do an orchestral version.Ben: Right, because you played it in Manchester no long ago, right?Gruff: Yeah, we're done a version in Cardiff with the full symphonic orchestra and then we've played with some smaller orchestras in London and Manchester. We have the manuscripts now, so if anyone's got an orchestra, call us up! [laughs]Ben: [laughs] We'll put out the call.I wanted to ask you about a couple of other pieces of music you've put out fairly recently. One of the things that over your career and history with the Super Furries as well you've grown into writing songs with clearer and clearer social commentaries. I've been thinking a lot about Presidential Suite [from Super Furry Animals album “Rings Around The World”] recently, with Brett Kavanaugh and Ken Starr in the news. But in the last couple of years you've written I Love EU and recently you put out No Profit in Pain which strike me as being a step into writing songs with a really overt political message. Was there something that drew you into that specifically, or artists that inspired you to be more direct? Did that just happen?Gruff: Erm, with I Love EU, I just happened to write the song. I mean, it's a really bad play on words. But I felt there was a song there. Sometimes when you have a simple lyrical idea the song almost writes itself in a very short amount of time if you run with an idea. It's just one of those stupid songs that I was able to write in a few minutes and then… I kinda had no intention of writing it. Y'know, there's a lot of downsides to streaming services, obviously, but one of the more interesting aspects of it is that you're able to release music almost immediately. There was a referendum going on and very little engagement in the referendum from my peers, I think. Because it was a kind of referendum whose agenda was being set by conservative politicians and right wing politicians and understandably a lot of sane people didn't want to touch it! So I was also worried that there was very little engagement…I felt there was nobody making a cultural argument [for the EU].Ben: The thing I really appreciated about you recording that song… Because, I watched the referendum living over here in the US. I went and registered to vote, I voted in it, my constituency is back in Cambridge.Gruff: YeahBen: But, it was really brutal watching that happen from so far away and feeling even more disconnected from… y'know… trying to stand up for, y'know… standing up for the principal of being in Europe and for all of its… it has some flaws as an institution and so on and so on but…Gruff: Absolutely, yeahBen: …Actually being closer to our continental neighbours is actually a good thing. Watching the campaign, the thing which really upset me was you had all these voices who were anti-Europe and angry and active and then you had a whole load of voices that were just, sort of passive. And there were very few people standing up to actually say: “Europe is good.” It was this idea of “we should leave” or “we should just shrug our shoulders”. There were very few people saying let's actually be proactive about this.Gruff: Yeah. I felt there was nobody making a cultural argument and that the set tone by people leading the remain campaign was playing alone with the kind-of anti-European xenophobia to the point that the song seems almost confrontational to say something as daft as “I love EU!” [laughs] Pathetically confrontational. When I've sung it live I've been singing “I love EU …with caveats.”Ben: [laughs]Gruff: You know, everyone has different views on what the EU should be. It needs to be democratised. It could become a socialist EU, it depends on what scale your ambitions are. I've got a lot of time for the left-wing argument for leaving the EU but I don't think the tone or the terms of the referendum were set by the left. They were kind-of led by the hostile right-wing media, in a time of crisis in Europe. With a big crisis in movement of people from war-zones in the Middle East and northern Africa that were partly caused by European intervention in the first place.Ben: Yeah…Gruff: I kinda feel it's a really bad time to be leaving the EU.I don't think I'm a protest song writer in particular. I'm motivated by melody and rhythm and word-play.Ben: Yeah, I agree completely. With that song and with the NHS song, was it cathartic to put together those songs? Is it more motivated by trying to spread that message? Do you think of them as protest songs in that classical sense?Gruff: I mean, I don't think I'm a protest song writer in particular. I'm motivated by melody and rhythm and word-play. And occasionally politics affects my daily life and they'll creep into song.I was commissioned to write a song to celebrate the 75th [anniversary] of the NHS and, you know, it's had a profound impact on my life. It's a kind of commission request that would be impossible to turn down. Y'know, to not agree to help celebrate it would be… it wasn't an option for me. But having said that I only wanted to do it if a decent idea came of it. I played around with some ideas and something came quite naturally. So I was happy to do it and I thought the song was valid, in fact I think I would have written it anyway. It would have been slightly less explicit maybe but it felt justified… just some kind of justification of existing.Ben: Yeah…Gruff: But again I like these kind of flippant songs that I can release.Ben: In “No Profit in Pain”, I love the little set of lyrics that calls out Richard Branson and Virgin Health. Because there's something in… the lyrics jump with recognisable words so you're like “wait, what?”. But it's the fact you're referring to this nuanced and not very well known, not well publicised threat to the NHS with the shadow privatisation, and the fact that you managed to highlight that there in a lyrically playful way, I admire that a lot.Gruff: [laughs] Weirdly we've just passed an ambulance here in DC that's broken down. And it's been picked up by one of those — what do you call them pick-up trucks? — by a tow-truck. Kliph to my left is just commenting that I hope there's no-one in the ambulance. The sirens were still flashing…Ben: Oh…Gruff: I hope they're OK.Ben: Yeah. That's calamitous.I'm conscious that I don't want to take up too much more of your time but if I could just ask a couple more things just to sign off. Going back to Babelsberg, is there a particular favourite track on the album that you'd like us to play on the radio show on Tuesday night?Gruff: Yeah, I dunno… I haven't heard “Oh Dear!” on the radio. I'd be intrigued to hear what the third track “Oh Dear!” sounds like.Ben: All right. Would you be kind enough to introduce it?Gruff: OK. My name is Gruff, and I'm going to introduce you to this song from the LP “Babelsberg”. It's called “Oh Dear!”.Ben: That's great, thank you so much. It's been a real pleasure to talk to you.Gruff: Thank you.Ben: Thank you so much for taking the time.Gruff: No! Thank you.Ben: I wanted to… it means a lot to me. Super Furry Animals was the very first live show I ever went to in my life. I was sixteen. My Dad took me.Gruff: Oh wow. Wow.Ben: It would have been the Guerrilla tour at the Cambridge Corn Exchange. And, um, one it was a really good first show, but I feel like I owe a great deal of my love of music to you and your band.Gruff: Wow.Ben: So to get to talk to you is a real honour for me. So, thank you so much.Gruff: Ah, thank you very much. Ah, that's mind blowing. Thank you very much. And yeah, I love the Corn Exchange in Cambridge.Ben: Yeah. For a small city I saw so many good shows there growing up.Gruff: Yeah.Ben: It punched above its weight.Gruff: Yeah, I think we played there three or four times.Ben: Well, thank you again. I hope you have a great show in D.C.Gruff: Thank you.Ben: I will try to come and say hi when you're here in SF; try and catch you at the merch table.Gruff: Ah, thanks so much. I'll check out the show if it's on the internet. Amazing.Ben: Well, great to talk to you. Have a great day. Have a great show.Gruff: And you, ta. Thanks so much. OK, take care.Ben: Thank you, bye now.Gruff: Bye!Ben: That was Gruff Rhys in conversation with me, Ben Ward from BFF.fm's Eclectic Kettle. His record “Babelsberg” is out now, his show at The Chapel here in San Francisco is on October 23rd. You can check out BFF.fm to win one of two pairs of tickets that we're giving away for that show.Thank you again to Leslie Hampton at The Owl Magazine for helping set this up. And you can tune in to more episodes of Eclectic Kettle by swinging by BFF.fm/shows/eclectic-kettle to listen to the archives, or we're broadcasting live at 8pm every Tuesday night.Tune into BFF.fm, streaming online any time for great, local community music radio here from the heart of San Francisco. Thank you very much for listening, have a great day. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Check out the full archives on the website.
As the sun begins to sink to the west of Eclectic Kettle, we're trying to bring back some of our favourite guest hosts from over the years. This week it's Johan Oskarsson from 1.21 Gigawatts. This week is also really special as we'll be featuring excerpts of Ben's interview with Super Furry Animals front-man Gruff Rhys. He's here to talk about his new solo record Babelsberg, and his show next week at the Chapel in San Francisco.Gruff is a smart, thoughtful man and one of Ben's all time musical heroes, so this was a treat. The full interview is featured alongside this show as a special standalone episode (along with a transcript, since we were recording a Welsh accent over the telephone.) Listen in full here.You can win a pair of tickets for Gruff Rhys at The Chapel by visiting our giveaway page. He's always a delight, but as you'll hear in the interview, this album in particular should make for an especially good show. Email giveaways@bff.fm with the subject “Gruff” to win! (More details here.) Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 2′00″ FFS by Deaf Wish on Lithium Zion (Sub Pop) 4′19″ The Airplane Song by Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers on Bought to Rot (Bloodshot) 10′32″ Let It Burn by Goat on Let It Burn (Rocket) 16′30″ Tunnel by Minami Deutsch on With Dim Light (Guru Guru Brain) 21′58″ Dripping Sun by Kikagaku Moyo on Masana Temples (Guruguru Brain) 36′47″ Can't You See by Fidlar on Almost Free (Mom + Pop) 39′50″ Cracker Drool by Goat Girl on Goal Girl (Rough Trade) 44′12″ The Club by Gruff Rhys on Babelsberg (Rough Trade) 60′00″ Oh Dear! by Gruff Rhys on Babelsberg (Rough Trade) 71′51″ Mice by Billie Marten on Mice (Sony) 75′56″ Thanks 4 Nothing by Nilüfer Yanya on Do You Like Pain? (ATO) 80′23″ Att Ligga På Sitt Golv by Rådjuret on Rådjuret (Luxury) 88′29″ Cactus by Teleman on Family of Aliens (Moshi Moshi) 93′12″ Morning Velvet Sky by Gulp on All Good Wishes (ELK) 97′50″ Sand Dunes by Django Django on Winter's Beach EP (Because) 104′13″ A Little More Numb by Les Big Byrd on Iran Iraq IKEA (PNKSLM) 107′32″ Lord Luck by Ulrika Spacek on Suggestive Listening EP (Tough Love) 112′54″ Premonition by HOLY on All These Worlds Are Yours (PNKSLM) 117′59″ C O S M (Daniel Avery Remix) by Jon Hopkins (Domino) Check out the full archives on the website.
Back in the present Ben and Simon bring a whole glut of new tunes featuring Metric, Open Mike Eagle, Clark, Rhye, Villagers, BadBadNotGood and many more. We also analyse the various states of excrement in the world in the world today. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 1′44″ Above Us by The KVB on Only Now Forever (Invada) 9′28″ Die Happy by Metric on Art of Doubt (MMI) 13′22″ Deliver by Foxtrott on Meditations I-II-III (One Little Indian) 17′04″ A Trick of the Light by Villagers on The Art Of Pretending To Swim (Domino) 26′52″ All Women Love Me by Insecure Men on Insecure Men (Fat Possum) 30′14″ Turn Around by Dungen & Woods on Myths 003 (Mexican Summer) 34′11″ 2 Cool 2 Care by Anna Burch on Quit the Curse (Polyvinyl) 38′02″ Velvet 4 Sale by U.S. Girls on In a Poem Unlimited (4AD) 50′26″ Grandma's Hands by José James on Lean On Me (Blue Note) 54′38″ Ring Tang Ring Toon by Mountain Man on Magic Ship (Nonesuch Records) 57′56″ 17+ Forever by William Fitzsimmons on Mission Bell (Nettwerk Records) 67′52″ Tried by BADBADNOTGOOD x Little Dragon on Tried (Innovative Leisure) 71′35″ Champagne Supernova (Brendan Lynch Mix) by Oasis on (What's The Story) Morning Glory (Deluxe Edition) (Big Brother) 78′04″ Hymn by Rhye on Hymn (Loma Vista) 88′07″ Give Me Your Fire, Give Me Your Rain by The Paper Kites on On The Corner Where You Live (Nettwerk Records) 91′33″ Running Out Of Time by Shmu on Lead Me To The Glow (GTZ Records) 97′09″ Doubt by Hippo Campus on Bambi (Grand Jury Music) 104′09″ Relatable (peak OME) by Open Mike Eagle on (((Echo Chamber))) (AutoReverse) 107′07″ Southgate by Mount Kimbie on DJ Kicks (!K7 Music) 109′48″ London Fields (feat. Joel Culpepper) by DJ Yoda on Home Cooking (Lewis) 116′41″ Harpsichord E.C.S.T. by Clark on E.C.S.T. T.R.A.X. (Throttle) Check out the full archives on the website.
It's the first days of autumn and we're enjoy the overspilling summer evenings. So many great records this year and we're playing them loud to drown out the sound of inimitable, obscene political corruption. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 1′33″ Love Is The Slug by We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It on Bostin' Steve Austin (Vindaloo Records) 4′26″ Happy Hour by The Housemartins on London 0 Hull 4 (Elektra) 11′13″ Fall On Me by R.E.M. on Life's Rich Pageant (I.R.S. Records) 13′49″ I Hope You're Happy Now by Elvis Costello and the Attractions on Blood and Chocolate (Self-released) 16′47″ Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House on Crowded House (Capitol Records) 24′11″ The Dead Heart by Midnight Oil on The Dead Heart (Columbia) 29′06″ Boys Don't Cry (New Voice · Club Mix) by The Cure on Boys Don't Cry 12" (Fiction) 39′26″ Starpower by Sonic Youth on Evol (SST) 44′04″ Why Can't This Be Love by Van Halen on 5150 (Warner Bros) 47′41″ You Give Love A Bad Name by Bon Jovi on Slippery When Wet (Mercury) 56′41″ Absolute Beginners by David Bowie on Absolute Beginners (Parlophone) 64′44″ Dance II by Philip Glass on In the Upper Room (Sony) 69′57″ Brothers in Arms by Dire Straights on Brothers in Arms (Mercury Records) 78′55″ Don't Get Me Wrong by The Pretenders on Get Close (WEA) 82′38″ You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon on Graceland (Sony) 87′24″ Who Needs Love Like That by Erasure on Wonderland (Sire Records) 96′08″ Hounds of Love by Kate Bush on The Whole Story (EMI) 97′34″ Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money) by Pet Shop Boys on Please (Parlophone) 101′16″ All Day Long by New Order on Brotherhood (Factory) 108′32″ Walk This Way (feat. Aerosmith) by Run-D.M.C. on Raising Hell (Arista) 113′32″ No Sleep Till Brooklyn by Beastie Boys on License to Ill (Def Jam) 119′16″ Electric Café by Kraftwerk on Electric Café (Elektra) Check out the full archives on the website.
Simon is away again so Ben puts together a classic Kettle set list, including a highly recommend middle of delicate, immersing, cinematic piano-driven works. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 2′16″ The Morning After by Spiritualized on And Nothing Hurt (Fat Possum) 14′14″ 200 Deer, 1 Rabbit by Alvie & The Breakfast Pigs on Plastic Surgery (Bird Flu Kitchen) 18′03″ Young At Heart by Milo Greene on Adult Contemporary (Nettwerk) 21′10″ The Invisibles by Suede on The Blue Hour (Warner) 25′06″ I Feel Free by Dilly Dally on Heaven (Partisan) 33′48″ Funeral Singers (feat. Collections of Colonies of Bees) by Sylvan Esso on Funeral Singers (Loma Vista) 37′24″ Good Friday (Boards of Canada Remix) by WHY? on Alopecia (Joyful Noise) 43′20″ Fun Destruction by Teleman on Family of Aliens (Moshi Moshi) 46′39″ Love Leaks by TT on LoveLaws (LoveLeaks) 60′30″ Rise Up Wise Up Eyes Up by Ibeyi on August Hamildrop (XL) 63′22″ Wolfpack by Tuvaband on Soft Drop (AntiFragile) 68′07″ Agree by Poliça & Stargaze on The Wild Honey Pie Buzzsession (Totally Gross National Product) 71′20″ Prodigal Dog by Hilary Woods on Colt (Sacred Bones) 81′35″ Again by Villagers on Again EP (Domino) 85′18″ Maryam by The Album Leaf on Piano Cloud Series - Volume Four (1631 Recordings) 89′03″ Suspirium by Thom Yorke on Suspiria OST (XL) 91′48″ Blacked Out by Yussef Dayes & Alfa Mist (Cashmere Thoughts) 109′41″ Nonkilling 6 | Hunger by How to Dress Well on The Anteroom (Domino) 117′34″ Energy Fantasy by Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (Nice Age) Check out the full archives on the website.
Two Kettles in two days, Ben returns to the studio after yesterday's ATA Window-occupying bank holiday special, to play all the music that didn't make it into yesterday's set. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 1′54″ Soft Stud by Black Belt Eagle Scout on Mother Of My Children (Saddle Creek) 11′09″ Wham! Bang! Pow! Let's Rock Out! by Art Brut on Wham! Bang! Pow! Let's Rock Out! (Alcopop!) 14′46″ Outside by Drenge on Autonomy EP (Infectious) 17′13″ If You Really Love Nothing by Interpol on Marauder (Matador) 25′07″ See You at the Movies by J Mascis (Sub Pop) 29′57″ Raven Raven by Exploded View on Obey (Sacred Bones) 31′40″ We're Not Done by Mogwai on Kin (Temporary Residence) 35′44″ Suspirium by Thom Yorke on Suspiria OST (XL) 45′14″ Go To Sleep (feat. Kailee Morgue) by Bearson (Ultra) 48′18″ Works Every Time by Mini Mansions on Works Every Time EP (Fiction) 52′48″ Run the Road by Santigold on I Don't Want: The Gold Fire Sessions (Downtown) 57′04″ Bambi by Hippo Campus on Bambi (Grand Jury) 65′41″ Nappy Wonder by Blood Orange on Negro Swan (Domino) 68′07″ Bakers by Jerry Folk on Leisure Tapes (Folkestad) 71′06″ Hymnal (feat. Sammus) by Open Mike Eagle on Brick Body Kids Still Daydream (Mello Music) 74′30″ Disarray by Low on Double Negative (Sub Pop) 81′54″ Way Down by Mellowdrone on 2018 (Master of Bates) 86′12″ Pines by Rob Lewis on Momentum (Self Released) 90′42″ Deep Shadows (feat. Sadie Walker) by Nightmares on Wax on Shape the Future (Warp) 101′51″ Graceland by Das Body on Graceland (Luminelle) 105′07″ SUN THRU BLINDS by WEN on EPHEM:ERA (Big Dada) 109′22″ Fuck Off and Dance by Soundbwoy Killah on Club Culture, Vol 1 (Dansu Discs) 118′12″ Wipe the Shame (Red Axes Remix) by Autarkic on I Love You, Go Away (Remixes) (Disco Halal) Check out the full archives on the website.
A long weekend yields special programming and so we're delighted to present an extra special afternoon episode of Eclectic Kettle for the Labor Day holiday. “Less Steve Lamaq, a little more Mark Radcliffe” is the plan. Tune in for afternoon choons, affable rambling, and the true meaning of Labor Day. Plus we'll replay our conversation with Matt B from last week's Tuesday show, and give you all another chance to indulge the wonders of the modular synth.What's more, this broadcast comes LIVE from BFF.fm's studio installation in the window of Artists Television Access on Valencia. So, stop by on your way to and from your grills and beer runs, watch Ben in action, gawp and wave, chill with a coffee in the Blue Fig parklet, perhaps. One way or another, we hope to see you there!Sorry it took a little while to get the podcast of this show up: The logistics of broadcasting from multiple locations are no joke. Massive thank yous to Lily Sloane and Forrest Guest for helping get the recordings wrangled. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 2′22″ Bank Holiday by Blur on Parklife (Food) 3′35″ Another Sunny Day by Belle & Sebastian on The Life Pursuit (Matador) 10′20″ The Masses Against The Classes by Manic Street Preachers on The Masses Against The Classes (Sony) 13′32″ The View from the Afternoon by Arctic Monkeys on Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (Domino) 17′40″ Afternoon by Youth Lagoon on The Year of Hibernation (Fat Possum) 25′33″ To Have and Have Not by Billy Bragg on Life's A Riot with Spy vs. Spy (Cooking Vinyl) 28′58″ Thatcher Fucked The Kids by Frank Turner on Campfire Punkrock (Xtra Mile) 31′24″ Blue Collar by Gil Scott-Heron on Nothing New (XL) 35′20″ 70's Blues by Betty Davies on They Say I'm Different (Light in the Attic) 42′28″ The Eton Rifles by The Jam on Setting Sons (Universal) 46′52″ The Underside of Power by Algiers on The Underside of Power (Matador) 51′26″ French Disko by Stereolab on Serene Velocity (Elektra) 53′55″ One of These Days by Pink Floyd on Meddle (Sony) 65′23″ Slip Inside This House by Primal Scream on Screamdelica (Reprise) 70′23″ Run Run Run by The Velvet Underground on The Velvet Underground & Nico (Universal) 74′39″ The Flowers of Guatemala by R.E.M. on Life's Rich Pageant (EMI) 78′31″ Half The World Away by Oasis on The Masterplan (Helter Skelter) 96′06″ Moons Apart by Ann Annie on Atmospheres, Vol. 2 (Modularfield) 98′54″ Goodbye Earth by Hannah Peel on Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia (My Own Pleasure) 104′24″ Perdonare by Alessandro Cortini on AVANTI (Point of Departure) 111′49″ The Dajon Song by Gomez on Machismo EP (Virgin) Check out the full archives on the website.
This week on Kettle, Simon is away in the desert so Ben is rejoined by Matt B to play new tunes and chat about music production with modular synths (Simon played one of his tracks back on #207.) Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 8′00″ Bodys by Car Seat Headrest on Twin Fantasy (Matador Records) 11′35″ Mainland by Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever on Hope Downs (Sub Pop) 16′17″ Me And My Husband by Mitski on Be The Cowboy (Dead Oceans) 17′01″ Under the Sun by DIIV on Is The Is Are (Captured Tracks) 27′52″ Repeating Patterns by We Were Promised Jetpacks on The More I Sleep The Less I Dream (Big Scary Monsters) 31′41″ Mothers by Steady Holiday on Nobody's Watching (Barsuk) 35′20″ Small Spaces by Micah P. Hinson on Small Spaces (Full Time Hobby) 44′35″ Glimpse Of Hope (Joe Goddard Remix) by Nils Bech on Echo EP (DFA Records) 51′23″ Cop Killer by John Maus on We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves (Ribbon Music) 55′00″ Happy Ending by Alex Cameron on Jumping the Shark (Secretly Canadian) 65′11″ The Ghost Ship by Farao on Pure-O (Western Vinyl) 67′38″ Guilty Pleasures by Georgi Kay on Guilty Pleasures (Monoki) 71′24″ Dive Down by Mile Me Deaf (Siluh) 75′00″ Dark Heart by Tunng on Songs You Make At Night (Full Time Hobby) 82′35″ God(s) by Jean-Michel Blais on Dans Ma Main (Arts & Crafts) 84′36″ Four Years Later by David Holmes on Mosaic OST (Touch Sensitive) 98′17″ Moons Apart by Ann Annie on Atmospheres, Vol. 2 (Modularfield) 100′15″ Perdonare by Alessandro Cortini on AVANTI (Point of Departure) 104′55″ Everything About You Is Special by Venetian Snares on Traditional Synthesizer Music (Mutesong) 108′34″ Earth-Sinking-Into-Water by Surgeon on Luminosity Device (Dynamic Tension) 117′18″ Solarised Sound by Cavern of Anti-Matter on Hormone Lemonade (Duophonic) Check out the full archives on the website.
This week's Eclectic Kettle is a special show as we're finally keeping a promise to ourselves to play all vinyl for the night. As a result, you get a set-list that's 50% non-existant on streaming services and includes eclectic gems such as the Castle Face Records “Group Flex” book (a literal book of rubber flexidisc promos), Aphex Twin's “33 or 45” release of Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments (at 45, so you can dance to it), Record Store Day releases, the original mono promo for “Atomic”, a random sample from the excellent Vinyl Moon compilation club, and Ben gets to play the first record he ever bought. It's a glorious mess and we hope you enjoy listening!A reminder that BFF.fm is fundraising hard right now, so please hit “Support Us” and drop a donation our way to support the station.Recently on Eclectic Kettle… we played a book. pic.twitter.com/gRXs6X0tOP— Eclectic Kettle (@BFFKettle) 22 August 2018 This week's show art is a panel from Jamie McKelvie and Kieron Gillen's “Phonogram: The Singles Club”, which you should definitely read. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 1′10″ Just One Drink by Jack White on Lazaretto (Third Man Records) 5′01″ I'm Going Down by Free Energy on Free Energy / Titus Andronicus Double A-Side (XL) 14′57″ Magesty by Marika Hackman on I'm Not Your Man (Sub Pop Records) 17′46″ Weathered White by Social Studies on Weathered White (Aerobic International) 19′53″ Atomic (Mono) by Blondie on Atomic (Crysalis) 31′22″ Suffragette City by Mikel Cronin & Ty Segall on Castle Face Records Group Flex (Castle Face) 32′31″ How To Reduce The Chances Of Being A Terror Victim by XX Teens on How To Reduce The Chances of Being a Terror Victim 7" (Mute) 37′21″ Burning Spear by Thee Oh sees on Castle Face Records Group Flex (Castle Face) 49′07″ A Ruin by Kauf on Vinyl Moon #20 — Transmission (Vinyl Moon) 54′46″ Dreams Don't Become You by Los Campesinos! on Heat Rash #2: Conversations (Heat Rash) 58′59″ My Oh My by Sisyphus on Sisyphus (Asthmatic Kitty Records) 69′14″ An Ungodly Scheme by Teeth of the Sea on A Field In England: Reimagined (Rocket) 80′26″ Modular Mix by Air on Premiers Symptomes (Parlophone) 83′19″ Glorious Dawn by Carl Sagan on Glorious Dawn 7" (Third Man) 90′26″ diskhat ALL prepared1mixed 13 (45 RPM) by Aphex Twin on Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments Pt. 2 (Warp) 93′50″ Hold The Line by SBTRKT on Transitions I (Young Turks) 97′27″ LC1 by Orbital on III 12" (FFRR) 110′34″ The Man Don't Give A Fuck by Super Furry Animals on The Man Don't Give A Fuck 12" (Das Koolies) Check out the full archives on the website.
It's Tuesday, it's still number… I dunno, 8? It's Eclectic Kettle! This week Simon makes an appearance, picks some great tunes and previews a set of chill electronic beats that he'll be playing live at Burning Man next week. Fiona is in the studio for laughs, and we occasional visit the theme of “what if this was all the soundtrack to a movie?”. The movie would be… disjointed, we conclude. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 3′03″ Grow Back by The Happy Fits on Concentrate (-) 13′53″ Bae Bae Bae (Muzi Remix) by Gruff Rhys on Bae Bae Bae – Single (Eiseteddfod) 19′15″ Beyond Hidden Words by Moderate Rebels on Shared Values (Everyday Life) 22′07″ Jim by The Wave Pictures on Brushes With Happiness (Moshi Moshi) 24′45″ She's A Runaway by The Coral on Move Through the Dawn (Ignition) 35′57″ Waves by United Ghosts on Saturn Days (Cleopatra Records) 39′06″ Don't Need Nothin' by Gregory Ackerman on And Friends (Munich Records) 42′55″ Happy Unhappy by The Beths on Future Hate Me (Carpark Records) 57′11″ Daft by Husky Loops on Daft (Fighting Ourselves) 60′01″ The Quartet of Doc Shanley by The Fall on Levitate (Cherry Red) 67′15″ Orange Monkey by The Antler King on Ten for a Bird (Sel/Sync) 75′17″ Rude Boy by Salt Cathedral on Rude Boy (Ultra Records) 79′03″ T69 collapse by Aphex Twin on collapse EP (Warp Records) 91′04″ Dick Schaffrath by C.A.R. on Look Behind You (Bimba) 95′06″ The Fool You Need (Enough of Me) by Son Lux on The Fool You Need EP (City Slang) 99′31″ Taking Flight by DROELOE on The Choice We Face (Bitbird) 108′39″ Wax Desert (West & Hill Remix) by Sower on Mumbles (Nie Wieder Schlafen) 111′03″ Forbidden by Frequenc on Forbidden (3XA Music) 117′48″ Healing Sounds of Reiki by Jean Vayat on The Ethnomusicology Experience Part 1 (Ready Mix Records) Check out the full archives on the website.