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Blackbeard's Tea Party

In the small hours of a Monday morning from 2-3am you can hear a selection of my favourite new tunes compiled into an hour-long mixtape of nonstop music. All the audio is sourced from the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing Uploader - some of it recommended by friends and colleagues and some discovered via Twitter and my own blog.

From 3am each Monday the latest mixtape is available free via the 6 Music Downloads Page - where you'll also find archived episodes from the previous 4 weeks. All the tracklists and start times for each track are published here - together with a link to each artist's website. These are the listings for Monday, 8th April 2013.

NATALIE MCCOOL - Black Sun [START 0:11]

Well connected Natalie McCool definitely is - with fans ranging from Mark Radcliffe and Chris Martin to Paul McCartney, Nile Rodgers and über producer Steve Levine - who was impressed enough to sign her to his label Hubris Records whilst she was still studying at LIPA. While there, she recruited her current band and her latest batch of songs has been taken up and championed by a tastemaker I trust more than all of the above rolled together - namely Fresh On The Net's Girl Music Guru the mighty - who featured Natalie as one of her featured artists last year. Her debut album is released a week today, Monday April 15th.

BAD GRAMMAR - Tie Or Die [START 3:56]

Bad Grammar describe themselves asÌý a "Girl/Boy Noise Duo From Manchester. They don't have a biog on their Facebook page and didn't send us any info about themselves but their next live dates are Thursday 25th April - DAda, Sheffield // w/ Nai Harvest, Playlounge, Yrrs. Monday 29th April - Wahlbar, Fallowfield, Manchester // w/ Fat Goth. Thursday 16th May - Dulcimer Bar, Chorlton, Manchester // w/ Those Rotten Thieves.

FRANK'S DAUGHTER - Fall Fully Backwards [START 6:44]

Fall Fully Backwards’ is the debut single from Deptford-based duo Frank’s Daughter: Frank (vocals, guitar, keys) and Arthur (guitar, bass, programming), two British musicians who found themselves working in New York in the late noughties. The idea for the band was born in a Brooklyn bar over several bottles of red wine and many, many whiskies. The duo returned to London, but finding the urban environment uninspiring, they relocated to an out of season alpine hotel, taking a van full of recording equipment. There, they spent two months in total isolation, returning with a stack of songs that were finished in their Deptford studio. These songs form The Sound Of A Heart Unravelling, their debut album to be released on 3rd June. Their manager is no mean musician himself: Malcolm Carson from Tape The Radio.

HOPE & SOCIAL - Saints Alive [START 10:22]

Hope and Social are touring their two (yes TWO) new albums this April and May. The "All Our Dancing Days" tour begins in Bristol on the 23rd April with a show with dystopian gloom pop artist "She Makes War" and closes with Leeds/Manchester double headline shows with the awesome Louis Barabbas and the Bedlam Six. For more info, head over to hopeandsocial.com/gigs. "Bring The Happy" is a collaboration between Hope and Social and interactive arts collective Invisible Flock. A project that seeks to map the happiness of cities across the UK, Bring The Happy Live is touring the UK throughout 2013/14. has all the performance and mapping deets. Come say hi, and leave a happy memory on theire website where all Hope and Social's music is available on a pay what you want basis.

THE ADAMSKI KID - Je Veux Une Cassette De Bowie [START 14:01]

The musical incarnation of East London songwriter / producer Adam Karayiannis. Citing some of his musical influences as Kate Bush, Crystal Castles, Bloc Party and Joni Mitchell, his debut single release, ‘Mowgli’, demonstrated his ambitious intent to merge a wide range of musical styles. Adam launched his live show last year at The Great Escape Festival. His YouTube video for this single (on Lo Recordings) has already had over 6,000 views and the track was a Headphone Moment for Lauren Laverne recently on 6 Music.

BLACKBEARD'S TEA PARTY - The Valiant Turpin [START 16:47]

Blackbeard's Tea Party (pictured above) aim to create "funky folk tunes, saucy songs and an infectious stage energy, mixing fiddles & squeezeboxes, guitar noise & synth bass, and a feast of international hand percussion to bring you an unforgettable folk-rock extravaganza". The band have built up a following around the country with performances at national folk festivals including Cambridge, Sidmouth, and Shrewsbury among others. This month they release their second album: Whip Jamboree, following previous recordings Heavens to Betsy (EP, 2009) and Tomorrow We’ll Be Sober’(LP, 2011). They are currently on their first UK headline tour of the UK:
Mon 8th Apr - LAMP, Leamington Spa
Tue 9th Apr - The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle
Thu 11th Apr - The Junction, Cambridge
Fri 12th Apr - The Croft, Bristol
Sat 13th Apr - Green Note, Camden
Sun 14th Apr - The Talking Heads, Southampton
Thu 18th Apr - Victoria Hall, Settle
Fri 19th Apr - The Greystones, Sheffield
Sun 21st Apr - Raven Folk Club, Chester

MOUSE DEER - I Can't Do Anything Else [START 20:24]

Mouse Deer is the alter-ego of Holly McIntosh, a Bristol - based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Since releasing her debut EP, 'The Mouse Deer EP', in December 2011, she has been playing around Bristol with a small band. 2013 promises a new release with a clutch of brand new tunes.

THE ANDROID ANGEL - Distant Star [START 24:07]

The Android Angel is Paul Coltofeanu, a half-English, half-Romanian multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter from Surrey, whose fourth album Lie Back and Think of England is released today. Written during summer 2011 while volunteering on a farm in the Romanian mountains, on a Water Buffalo reserve in the Ukraine, sat on the banks of Varosliget Lake in Budapest and in the squares and parks of Berlin, Paul spent the following year recording the album in the downtime between writing and touring his first four EPs in his other incarnation as Free Swim. He self-releases all his music through his own label, Sex Farm Records and between the two projects has received airplay on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio 1, Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio 2, Ö÷²¥´óÐã 6Music and XFM in the UK, and has performed shows in England, Scotland, France, Germany and the United States.

ADAM WEDD - Monster Park [START 27:58]

2013 will finally see the release of Adam's long-awaited debut EP: People, Places, Things. It was recently recorded with producer Dave Lynch at Batbox Studios in Lewes and features JP of Nizlopi on Double Bass. Adams songs grapple, he tells us, "with matters of the heart and soul" and have apparently been dubbed as "Pensive Pop". His music has been used in TV adverts, short films and played on radio.. When Adam is not writing lyrics and performing his songs he works as Youth Worker in Kent, managing a buzzing Youth Cafe.

JAMES KELLY - Punch Drunk Loving [START 31:37]

Described as a "mild mannered maestro" James Kelly will, we're told, "astonish you when he picks up that acoustic guitar". Hailing from the North of England, James Kelly delivers his songs in a voice "as powerful as any Mississippi blues man, backed by alternating walls of musical noise and a delicate picking style that brings a lump to the throat." According to his biog his songs are "as fragile as they are aggressive; fans of Kurt Cobain, Jeff Buckley and Otis Taylor will be hypnotised by James’s absolute possession of his music and performance." But why not download the mixtape and be the judge of all this yourself...

THE BLUE GIANT ZETA PUPPIES - Martians Don't Surf! [START 35:14]

Taking their DIY recording philosophy from Joe Meek and musical influences from the likes of Screaming Lord Sutch, Roky Erickson, The Flaming Lips, The Moontrekkers and The Bonzos, The Blue Giant Zeta Puppies began peddling their chaotic brand of Psychedelia tinged, Echo smothered, Alt-Surf-Rock in early 2010. Brainchild of songwriter/producer BG, the 'Puppies were planned as a band with a variable line up, with members depending on whoever "...Happened to be passing...". Last year, listeners of Dandelion Radio voted their instrumental "The Wild Ride of Ichabod Crane" into the "Festive 50" at number 22. So far, The 'Zeta Puppies have selfreleased an album, two EPs and two singles, all of which can be found on their Bandcamp page. They are currently recording new material with a single due in the summer and a crowd funded vinyl album planned for later in the year.

SOFTBALL - Clark Kent [START 38:17]

Softball is a new electronic indie-pop project from London-based singer-songwriter Paddy Johnston, of Paddy Johnston & The Love Explosion and Palomino Club. Everything on record is played by Paddy and produced in his home studio. Currently Paddy is recording more tracks, listening intently to early Mates of State and Dntel, and collecting Casiotone keyboards in preparation for launching the debut Softball EP in May, and getting together a live band for their first shows, which will also be in May. These will be announced on their Facebook page.

TAMARA WOESTENBURG feat. BENJAMIN HERMAN - How I Miss You [START 42:51]

Tamara Woestenburg sings and writes songs. She is, we're told "expressive, original and raw", presenting "different spheres and genres; from small and intimate, till ambitiously big; From folk through jazz to raw rock." Her biog continues: "Tamara's moving and exciting voice, her intense performance and personal songs, are supported by imaginative instrumentation and arrangements." This song comes from her EP (simply titled EP) is released in February 2012.

ECHOPARK - Teleportation [START 47:13]

Echopark is the new project from London-based Italian musician Antonio Elia Forte, with his debut album 'Trees' set for release on 15th April through Enclaves. It was Born and almost entirely recorded with just a handful of microphones in a tiny rented room in Whitechapel. For Antonio it is something that "fights to be imperfect". It's a work full of errors, raw sounds and millions of voices overlapping, produced during days off and weekends. His goal was - he tells us poetically - "to capture and freeze the emotions that fill the air at the precise instant when a song comes to light." Teleportation is the first track to be taken from Trees, and is currently available to stream and download for free. Echopark will make the transition from bedroom to concert venue this spring; with a full band assembled.

PETER AND THE KIBBUTZNIK - Be Over [START 50:26]

Newly formed oddball duo Peter and the Kibbutznik have already picked up plays on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio 1 from Huw Stephens - who dubbed their debut release Wolf it All as "two minutes of noisy, bonkers brilliance" and featured the band as his Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing Discovery. We've also enjoyed their music here on 6 Music's Introducing Mixtape. This lo-fi electro offering is their latest release, and like all of their music is available free from their Bandcamp page.

SPACESHIPS ARE COOL - Jupiter Jelly [START 53:20]

Spaceships Are Cool are - according to founding member Rob Spaceman - purveyors of Sci-fi Sunshine Pop and cheeky Folktronica, who use a quirky combination of analogue synths, acoustic guitars and glockenspiels to create an off-world Playground Of Sound. The band were created in 2007 by Lo-Fi producer and musician Rob Maddison (of Yunioshi fame) as a by-product of watching way too many Sci-Fi films and reading way too many children's fairy tales. Spaceships Are Cool have landed at locations all over the planet including Icelandic Airwaves, Glastonbury, NxNE, CMJ in New York, CMW in Toronto, Truck, Dot to Dot, cafes in Sweden, beaches in Latvia, medieval theatres in Sardinia - and for The Paralympics in Trafalgar Square. This track Jupiter Jelly is from their brand new Music for Space Cadets collection - available from all reputable online stores now.

BENJAMIN JOHN PENFOLD - Something in the Water [START 56:20]

Highly recommended to us by Michelle Hussey at Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing in Manchester, Benjamin John Penfold tells us he's a drummer who grew up in the North Wales countryside, and is currently studying on a Popular Music course at The University of Salford. "Now 20, I've been writing electronic and funk influenced compositions since I was 16. I'm currently finishing material for an EP which I will be releasing later this year.