It occurred to me while sitting in my parents’ kitchen that there are probably more people out there like me – home for the holidays, tractors & tumbleweeds rolling by, away from our supercool fantastic lives full of friends and parties and music and, uh, civilization. Some of you might live in those remote kinds of places all the time, and this post goes out to you – I feel your pain. For this edition of Five Mixes I’ve compiled a few of my favourite online radio shows/Ustreams so that you can feel connected from wherever you are.
Percussionlab (NYC)
When: Monday nights, weekly. 9pm-2am New York Time (2am-7am in the UK)
Where to watch/listen: www.Percussionlab.com/radio
Who/What: Founded in 2002 by Praveen Sharma, who also known as one half of Sepalcure and for recording solo material as Braille, Percussionlab was originally a radio show but has since expanded to throw parties featuring artists like FaltyDL, Machinedrum, Daedelus, Flying Lotus, XI, and more. If you’re super bored between turkey dinners then definitely explore the Percussionlab website, which includes 2950(!) featured, user, and contributor sets. Tune in every Monday night to watch a Ustream & live vicariously through talented people having fun DJing a good party in the big city.
Download: [wpaudio url=”http://s3.amazonaws.com/media.percussionlab.com/audio/mp3s/2396/DISTAL_-_Percussion_Lab_Mix.mp3″ text=”Distal Exclusive Dj Mix for Percussionlab”] (Tracklisting here)
Numbers & Hyperdub on Rinse.fm (London, UK)
When: Tuesdays, weekly. 11pm-1am UK time (6pm-8pm NYC time)
Where to listen: www.rinse.fm, 106.8 FM in London, or subscribe in iTunes by searching for Rinse under the ‘Radio’ section (after doing this, Rinse will be super easy to access in your iTunes library forever)
What/who: There’s no better place to catch high-profile forthcoming material, even one of the new Burial tracks was premiered on Rinse last week. I won’t deny tuning in during the middle of a lecture at one point last year to catch “Stolen Dog” for the first time, either. The hosts (usually Scratcha DVA for Rinse, and Jackmaster/Spencer for Numbers) aren’t new to the game so you can also count on some quality mixing and top-notch selection for a fully listenable/enjoyable two hours. Never 4get the time we got to hear Ikonika’s mum as well… Past shows are archived on Rinse’s site not too long after they’re broadcast, and you can hear a wide variety of tunes at any time of day when you lock in throughout the week. Also worth catching on Rinse is Oneman, everyone’s favourite tumblr & Pitchfork’s 2010 Grime/Dubstep DJ of the Year, every Sunday 11pm-1am UK time, 6pm-8pm NYC time).
Download: [wpaudio url=”http://podcast.dgen.net/rinsefm/podcast/ScratchaDVA131211.mp3″ text=”Scratcha DVA, Ikonika and Ikonika’s mum – Hyperdub on Rinse.fm, Dec. 13 2011″]
Nick & Nick on East Village Radio (NYC)
When: Thursdays, weekly. 10-12pm NYC time (3-5am Friday morning UK time)
Where to listen: EastVillageRadio.com
What/who: Nick & Nick’s show description says “Lo-Fi, Punk, New Wave, No Wave, Garage Rock, Surf Rock, the perfect ingredients for getting kicked out of the house, getting loose, getting weird, getting high and getting low” but previous playlists include a span of material from Drake, Salva, Burial, Lapalux, DJ Nate, Lunice, Joy O, A$AP Rocky, Dauwd, and more. There are also occasional guest appearances, especially from fellow WeDidIt Collective members, including Shlohmo who recently moved to NYC. Their website has an archive where you can access all of the previous shows along with their playlists.
Click here for a list of previous Nick & Nick playlists and links to stream old episodes.
At almost the same day/time (Thursdays 10:30-1am NYC time, 3:30-6am UK time) in the same city, I’d also suggest checking out Table Tennis on 89.1 FM or listen online.
NTS radio (London, UK)
Where to listen: Online or in your iTunes
What: The aim of NTS is to “fill a void in the community of musically minded progressive thinking people in London.” This is another one that you can tune into with ease once you’ve added it to your iTunes. They have a lot of different shows that all happen weekly, biweekly or monthly, so you have to stay on your toes or you might miss a good one! Similar to NTS is Sub.FM, especially its bi-weekly Rag & Bone show with Warlock & Noyeahno, Wednesdays at 10pm in the UK (5pm NYC time) (click here for archived episodes)
Who/When: Dark Sky, 10pm-12am Uk time (5-7pm NYC), Thursdays bi-weekly. Earnest Endeavours, 10pm-12am UK time (5-7pm NYC), Thursdays monthly. Ghostpoet, 4-6pm UK time (11am-1pm NYC), Mondays monthly. Last Japan, 2-3am UK time (9-10pm NYC), Mondays biweekly. Thristian (co-founder of Boiler Room), 9am-12pm (2-5pm NYC), every Wednesday/Thursday.
Peruse the full NTS schedule here.
Boiler Room (London, UK)
When: Tuesdays, 8pm UK time (3pm NYC time).
Where to watch/listen: http://www.boilerroom.tv/live, or via podcast (audio only)
What/who: Kind of an obvious choice to include in this, but hey. Boiler Room is dependable. It happens weekly, and it attracts the best-of-the-best. Even when the music isn’t so hot or if there’s a technical difficulty (dj gets rowdy, fight breaks out, you never know), you’ve got the crowd to stare at as there’s usually at least one entertaining person and if you’re lonely or desperate/if you can read really fast, there’s the infamous chatroom. Boiler Room has had recent performances from Scratcha DVA, Mike Paradinas (of Planet Mu), Ital Tek, Thom Yorke, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Actress, DJ Shadow, Rustie, 2562, Peverelist, Ben UFO, Oneman, Jackmaster, Redinho… and almost everyone else, ever. Their website has an archive of past recordings so that you can full-screen them at any hour and tune out the holiday cheer. They also post heads-up regarding good music in their news section and have quite an active Facebook page.
a++ would read again
<3 You Cayley MacArthur