Playlist, 08 February 2009

The Show It's a great time for retro-futurists at the moment, with new releases out by Belbury Poly, The Bird And The Bee and Seeland. On tonight's show we played tracks from these fine recordings as well as more from Johnny Howard, the theme tune from the new Bruce Campbell movie and lots more besides. The Music Tempting as it was to do another name-themed show like last week's Johnny Special, we decided against it but did manage to start this week's show with a brace of Rays: 1. Ray Davies - With A Girl Like You (The Button Down Brass, 1968) 2. Ray Martin - Wheelbase (Favourite T.V. Themes Volume 2/Favourite T.V. Themes, 1970/2009) 3. Johnny Howard - Aquarius (The World Of Johnny Howard/Moonlight Serenades, 1970/2009) 4. Jack Arel - Bienvenue Mister Jones (Original & Remix, 2007) DJ Bongoboy and Dr Woods were lucky enough to be in the same room as "greatest actor of his generation" Bruce Campbell this week. He was in town to promote his new movie My Name Is Bruce and hosted a 30-minute Q&A session after a showing of the movie. The song that opens the film and appears several times throughout it was written and performed by the McCain Brothers and they have kindly made it available from their website: 5. McCain Brothers - Legend of Guan Di (My Name is Bruce, 2008) The heavenly West Coast (of the US) duo The Bird And The Bee have a new album out and a lovely thing it is too: 6. The Bird And The Bee - Witch (Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future, 2009) 7. Fugu - Vibravox (Fugu 1, 2001) Then it was time for another new release in the form of the magnificent new album by Belbury Poly: 8. Belbury Poly - Widdershins (From An Ancient Star, 2009) Followed by a track from a band new to us on the Moonbase - a Brighton ensemble by the name of Hamilton Yarns who are exploring similar territory to the likes of Belbury Poly but coming from a more acoustic angle, doing some of their recording outdoors. 9. Hamilton Yarns - Search for the Underwater Town (Search for the Underwater Town, 2007) Now another Ghost Box artist, The Advisory Circle, started out under a different moniker - something we only found out this week. We are glad to report that his earlier recordings are just as great: 10. King Of Woolworths - Slimcea Bossa (Rediffusion, 2004) DJ Bongoboy and Jake King (from Planet Earth Rock and Roll) went to a record fair in Edinburgh on Saturday and came away with a few tasty treats, including a couple of CDs of music by the great Roy Budd: 11. Roy Budd - Jazz It Up (Buddism, 2000) Next up it was time for this week's arrangement of Caravan. This one comes courtesy of our roving musicologist Fuz and is an arrangement by and featuring the great jazz pianist Stan Tracey: 12. Kenny Clare and Ronnie Stephenson - Caravan (Drum Spectacular, 1966) Followed by a track from an album with one of the best covers I've ever seen: 13. Firehouse Five Plus Two - Lady Of Spain (Around The World, 1961) Then it was time for another trip to the retro future with a second track from the new Belbury Poly album and a track from the new album by Seeland: 14. Belbury Poly - A Great Day Out (From An Ancient Star, 2009) 15. Seeland - Burning Pages (Tomorrow Today, 2008) 16. The John Cameron Quartet - Troublemaker (Off Centre, 1969) 17. Ray Martin - Red Carpet Ride (Favourite T.V. Themes Volume 2/Favourite T.V. Themes, 1970/2009) We closed the show by paying tribute to Lux Interior of the Cramps who sadly left us this week: 18 The Cramps - I Was A Teenage Werewolf (Songs The Lord Taught Us, 1980) The News

• Ray Kurzweil's Singularity University and here.
• And there's also Singularity - The Movie
• UAE plans driver-less taxis and here.
• Now you can smell like James T Kirk and here.
• And you can also now use a Trekkie communicator for your VOIP calls
• Toilet seat that automatically lowers aka "the relationship saver"
• Get yourself modelled as a robotic doll
• South Florida scientists working on mind-controlled wheelchair
• Maker Faire coming to UK for the first time next month!
• Edinburgh scientist helpfully narrows the number of alien civilisations in our galaxy to between 361 and 38,000
• Neanderthal Jazz