Tag Archives: Bradford Beat

World Cup special

If there’s ever a bandwagon to jump on, you can count on Bradford Beat being the first to leap.

Over the next three weeks we’ll be marking the progress of the World Cup by playing tracks by artists from many of the nations taking part.

This week we started with some of the, ahem, also-rans  – including Guillermo Anderson (Honduras) and the Mutton Birds (New Zealand).

Before the tournament finished we’ll be travelling around the globe playing music from France, Brazil, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany and elsewhere – so stay tuned.

Bradford Beat – Thursday 6 May

Here’s the playlist for this week’s show:

Magic Numbers -  The Pulse
Fionn Regann – Catacombs (BCB session version v official single version!!)
New Model Army – God Save Me
Catherin Wheel – Bill and Ben
Steve and Ben – Our Sounds
Benjy Ferree – Fear
Broken Bells – The High Road
Honour Before Glory – Broken Bottles, Empty Hearts
Sunshine Underground – Coming To Save You
Futureheads – The Connector
The Negatives – Black Panther

Second album syndrome

It’s a familiar enough phenomenon – but second album syndrome really seems to have been rearing its head lately.
The second offering from Leeds band Sunshine Underground, for example, is good but certainly doesn’t live up to their magnificent debut.
And the Futureheads are taking it to extremes.
I’ve been listening to their new offering The Chaos this week ahead of their gig at the Cockpit (it’s their fourth I think) and although again very listenable they seem to be weighed down by the legacy of their fantastic first album.
Both bands feature on this week’s Bradford Beat, together with the likes of the Ramones, Roger Davies, Beck, Catherine Wheel, The Fall and much more.
it’s on air from 8pm – 9pm on Thursday 29 April on BCB 106.6FM

Gigs galore

After a typically quiet post-Christmas period on the live music scene, things are finally looking up.

And on this week’s Bradford Beat we’ve been looking ahead to some of the imminent West Yorkshire gig highlights.

One band I’m definitely going to see are Sunshine Underground at the Leeds Academy on Feb 19.

Before then is a gig by on Feb 6 at the Leeds Cockpit by Detroit Social Club who were on the bill at last year’s Bingley Music Live with TSU.

Other touring bands to watch out for include The Maccabees, Passion Pit, New Model Army, The XX and The Editors (the latter playing St George’s Hall in Bradford on March 8).

Looking back…still

While we’re still gazing back over the past decade (just), here’s a reminder of the previous four Christmas Countdowns – our pick of Bradford Beat’s favourite 20 tracks of the year – going back to 2005.

It’s nice to see some bands have become almost regulars – The Lodger, Roger Davies and The Futureheads among those appearing more than once.

But whatever happened to The Old House? Or AFS?

Continue reading

Albums of the decade

It’s the last Bradford Beat of the decade – even though it doesn’t feel quite as momentous as moving from, say, the 70s to the 80s as we don’t really have a universally-agreed name for the decade just ending or the one beginning!

Either way, over the next two shows we’re playing tracks from our favourite albums from the last 10 years – there are so many I just couldn’t fit them into one show!

So expect the likes of Radiohead, The White Stripes, Just Sullivan, The Strokes, Cornershop, Embrace, Futureheads and lesser known bands such as Malibu Stacey, The Blueskins, Clearlake and Reindeer Section.

Bradford Beat is on air at 8pm every Thursday, repeated at 7pm on Sundays.

Christmas Countdown 2009

Here it is – the full list of Bradford Beat’s Christmas Countdown, our favourite 20 tracks of 2009:

1 Super Furry Animals – Inagural Trams
2 Depeche Mode – Peace
3 Rev Chunky/Jam Sponge – Wednesday Downers
4 Crystal Stilts – Shattered Shine
5 Ben and Steve (ex-The Turn) – Our Sounds (demo)
6 Tricky – Puppy Toy
7 Tiny Masters of Today – Pop Chart
8 Sky Larkin – Beeline
9 Lord Auch – Maredo
10 Secret Machines – Last Believer, Drop Dead
11 Grizzly Bear – While We Wait For The Others
12 Roger Davies – Brighouse On A Saturday Night
13 Frank Turner – Poetry of the Deed
14 Blue Roses – I Am Leaving
15 Benjy Ferree – Blown Out (Gold Doubloons and PCs of 8 )
16 The Very Best – Warm Heart of Africa
17 Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes
18 Prom Knight – Counter Intelligence
19 Scaramanga Six – Misadventure
20 New Model Army – Autumn

To hear our choice of the best albums of the decade so far, tune in on New Year’s Eve!

Bradford Beat is on BCB 106.6FM on Thursdays from 8pm-9pm and repeated Sunday 7pm-8pm.

Christmas Countdown – part 3

And so we’ve broken into the top 10 of Bradford Beat’s run-down of the best 20 tracks of 2009 – here’s what’s been unveiled so far:

6 Tricky – Puppy Toy
7 Tiny Masters of Today – Pop Chart
8 Sky Larkin – Beeline
9 Lord Auch – Maredo
10 Secret Machines – Last Believer, Drop Dead
11 Grizzly Bear – While We Wait For The Others
12 Roger Davies – Brighouse On A Saturday Night
13 Frank Turner – Poetry of the Deed
14 Blue Roses – I Am Leaving
15 Benjy Ferree – Blown Out (Gold Doubloons and PCs of 8 )
16 The Very Best – Warm Heart of Africa
17 Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes
18 Prom Knight – Counter Intelligence
19 Scaramanga Six – Misadventure
20 New Model Army – Autumn

To hear the top five, you’ll have listen on Christmas Eve!

Bradford Beat is on BCB 106.6FM on Thursdays from 8pm-9pm and repeated Sunday 7pm-8pm.

Christmas Countdown – part 2

Bradford Beat’s run-down of the best 20 tracks of 2009 is halfway through – here’s what we’ve revealed so far:

11 Grizzly Bear – While We Wait For The Others
12 Roger Davies – Brighouse On A Saturday Night
13 Frank Turner – Poetry of the Deed
14 Blue Roses – I Am Leaving
15 Benjy Ferree – Blown Out (Gold Doubloons and PCs of 8 )
16 The Very Best – Warm Heart of Africa
17 Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes
18 Prom Knight – Counter Intelligence
19 Scaramanga Six – Misadventure
20 New Model Army – Autumn

Five further tracks will be played over each of the next two weeks, with the number one being unveiled on Christmas Eve.

Bradford Beat is on BCB 106.6FM on Thursdays from 8pm-9pm and repeated Sunday 7pm-8pm.

The Christmas Countdown begins!

The first five tracks of Bradford Beat’s annual Christmas Countdown have been revealed.

For several years the show has marked the festive season with a rundown of our favourite 20 tracks of the past 12 months.

So far, the 2009 Christmas Countdown reads as follows:

16 The Very Best – Warm Heart of Africa
17 Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes
18 Prom Knight – Counter Intelligence
19 Scaramanga Six – Misadventure
20 New Model Army – Autumn

Five further tracks will be played over each of the next three weeks, with the number one being unveiled on Christmas Eve.

Bradford Beat is on BCB 106.6FM on Thursdays from 8pm-9pm and repeated Sunday 7pm-8pm.