Producer Jax| 12:59 UK time, Sunday, 21 August 2011
Summer festivals have featured heavily in news stories lately, with talk of too many to chose from and poor ticket sales this year. So how would Standon Calling Festival stand up in the current climate? The festival started out with just 25 friends, a swimming pool, a set of decks and a birthday BBQ back in 2001. It has built up in size and reputation with a commitment to championing new artists while maintaining its homegrown ethos.
You may remember a few weeks back we had festival booker Tamsin Mclarty in as a guest on the show who talked us through the Road to Standon competition: an opportunity for young and aspiring bands to stake a claim for a main stage spot. We are happy to say that Fresh on the Net faves Citizens were the lucky winners who got to play a set on Friday.
From the moment we arrived, the atmosphere couldn't have been warmer. The site is compact but feels spacious and what a joy to see a good sized main stage with decent sound - plus an amazing bar nearby built into a clump of towering horse chestnut trees, well-staffed and free of queues! You really do feel like the festival is putting the punters first.
Musically the line-up ranged from plenty of new and emerging artists mixed up with a few more established names like Lamb, John Cooper Clarke, Hercules and Love Affair (who played to a packed tent) and the chillwave blissed out grooves of Washed Out who were a big hit with the Friday night crowd.
Battles provided an intense headline set on Friday night, followed by Azari and111 over in the Twisted Licks tent. And things don't close down after the bands finish. You could enjoy the 6am licence, as DJs and various other performers continued through the night at an open air club this year decorated to fit the festival's theme of Gods and Monsters with an array of home-made furry (not very scary) critters.
For those of a more folkie, chin-strokey persuasion the Magpie's Nest was a great little stage nestled up near the main house on the lawn. Amongst the stand out acts of the weekend on this stage were Introducing faves Stealing Sheep, and The Moulettes, who headlined on Saturday night with a blinding set featuring their virtuoso cello and violin players. Special mention must also be made to Sunday openers Downtown Wolves who roused revellers from their morning snoozes with their distinctly non-folkie Zeppelin/ QOTSA inspired riffs! And Sound Of Rum who managed to lure the crowds away from the dog show on Sunday Afternoon with Kate tempest's awe inspring rhymes
The festival had a real genuine mix of people and it's definitely one for new music lovers. It makes a refreshing break from the corporate festivals that punters have to endure and yes you really could swim in the pool if you so desired! Long may Standon continue ...
Tom Robinson| 01:00 UK time, Sunday, 21 August 2011
Tom with tonight's interview guests Real Fur.
Sunday morning's guests were the East London trio Real Fur, who entertained us with tales of their nationwide tour of… laundrettes. Performing cheek by jowl with washing machines and dryers is the way to go if you're really after a party attmosphere, they tell us - with many proprietors tending to share the unconventional renegade spirit of the band and their fellow travellers under the Safari Funk umbrella. A new single is due in October, but first comes Hackney City Farm where Real Fur and their friends plan their next musical safari among assorted domestic animals including (we're told) an unfeasibly large pig.
We also repeated the sublime session tracks performed live by Chad Valley for Jo Good when she was sitting in for Lauren Laverne back in June 2011 for Jo Good. Of course we knew him on this show before he was famous - back when he was mostly known as Hugo Manuel, frontman with the Oxford combo Jonquil. These performances sounded even better than his records: synth-led electronica with gentle understated vocals - right up our street.
And the second half of the show included a trio of out, loud and proud tracks from One Night Stand In North Dakota, plus - in honour of UK Black Pride 2011 this weekend - Musa Okwonga's startling new outfit The King's Will and ROKK with Dean Atta on a track specially created for a 1Xtra Documentary made in collaboration with the grime website SBTV. And who could resist a second helping of Ottowa's Ninety Pounds Of Ugly with their cheerfully outrageous Take Your Pants off Johnny?
Tom Robinson| 01:00 UK time, Monday, 15 August 2011
In tonight's interview our guest was Adam Easterbrook from Of Arrowe Hill - named after the school its original members attended in Woodchurch on The Wirral - and formed in London in May 1999. Fans of the band have ranged from John Peel to Julian Cope - and this year a new 5th album [Suddenly, At Home & Other Rumours Of Misadventure] has seen a decided change of approach to stripped back acoustic DIY recording. It works so well - the album has been getting rave reviews - and Adam came in to give us some insights into the creative processes of this most mysterious and reclusive of bands.
Tom Robinson| 01:00 UK time, Sunday, 14 August 2011
It's unusual for a radio programme to get a first exclusive showing of a video, but that's just what happened with tonight's show when London-nbased Rhythm'n'Noir merchants Alberteen gave us first dibs on the video for their forthcoming single "A Girl And A Gun". Released on September 5th, the track has already been causing a stir in North America where certain websites have linked it satirically with a certain rightwing gun-toting politician with presidential ambitions. But this page is the first place where you can publicly see the new video, directed by Martin Doyle in authentic moody 60s black and white arthouse style. More information at http://alberteen.com
Malcolm and Ben from Tape The Radio - tonight's interview guests
Tonight our session tracks came from Young Runaways recorded live on Janice Long's excellent Radio 2 shows which go out every weeknight from midnight to 2am. And joining us in the studio were Ben and Malcolm from the Deptford three-piece Tape The Radio, whose excellent debut album Heartache And Fear has already been released in the UK and comes out in Europe next month. These guys have music in their blood and are just itching to hit the road and gig for as much of the year as they can. They told us they'd love to hear from venues, promoters and fans anywhere in the world who would like to book them for a gig - via their website at http://tapetheradio.com
Tom Robinson| 01:00 UK time, Monday, 8 August 2011
Tonight's show had a bit of an international theme. Norwegian supergroup Kitchie Kitchie Ki Me O kicked things off, followed later on in the show by Polish group The Car Is On Fire and Japanese composer World's End Girlfriend, who has released his debut record on the Berlin / London-based Erased Tapes record label.
And it wasn't just the band members that were scattered across the planet - their names were equally global. Fields Of Ypres took us - in imagination at least - to Flanders, while interview guests Hong Kong In The 60s (see above) transported us back in time as well as halfway across the globe. Meanwhile, No Plato brought a splash of Ancient Greece with them - OK, admittedly we're scraping the bottom of the barrel a bit now.
We also had our usual tips from Asian Network's increasingly outrageous Bobby Friction, as well as Radio One's very lovely Huw Stephens. As per usual, you can check out all of the bands featured on the show using the tracklisting below.
Tom Robinson| 01:00 UK time, Sunday, 7 August 2011
On tonight's show we were joined by Athletes In Paris, who drove all the way down from Newcastle to play a couple of stripped-down session tracks for us. As well as a fantastic acoustic version of their new single 'Heartbeat', they performed a cover of Sting's 'Moon Over Bourbon Street'.
We also had another excellent recommendation from producer and artist Arun Sethi, who this time pointed us in the direction of fellow-producer JJ Mumbles. If Arun is this generous with his tips when he's at a restaurant, the waiters will be well happy.
Also on the menu tonight are our friends the West Wales two-piece Trwbador, plus a duo who are new to us called Dubious Caesar, and fresh from Berlin there's Kool Thing who also have - you guessed it - just two members.
And talking of pairs, we've got two excellent recommendations from fellow BBC presenters. Bethan Elfyn told us about The Bear Beats Band, while DJ Target gave us LnC's track 'Take You On A Journey.' And by way of a bonus, blogger and editor Tiffany Daniels from DRUNKENWEREWOLF.COM gave 6 Music three hot tips of her own. Enjoy!
Tom Robinson| 01:00 UK time, Monday, 1 August 2011
This morning we were joined in the studio by percussionist, session drummer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and band leader extraordinary Samuel Walker - who records and performs under his project name of The Muel.
To the left you can glimpse our intern Sam Lee - who's currently commuting in daily from Swindon to The Big British Castle - wondering guiltily whether he left the gas on at home. Here are the tracks we played with links to all the artists and audio - and you can listen again to the whole show for the next seven days here.
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| 01:00 UK time, Monday, 29 August 2011
Malcolm and Ben from Tape The Radio - tonight's interview guests 
