Playlist, 26 April 2009

The Show On tonight's show we went all Nordic. Why? Well are excited to report that we have our hands on the new album by Aavikko (the Finnish band whose music we use for our theme tune)! However, we are also saddened at the news that our other favourite Finnish retro-futurists Laika and the Cosmonauts have decided to hang up the space helmets. Mind you, they have been making music since 1988. In addition to Finland, we also played Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic tunes. What about Denmark I hear you say? Well, we couldn't find anything from Denmark... In amongst all that we also have news of interest to fans of Delia Derbyshire and the Ghost Box record label. The Music We kicked the show off with a trip to Finland and Sweden respectively: 1. Elevators - No Business (Linoleum, 1997) 2. Jet Set Swe - Spanish Flea (Goodbye Pluto, 2007) Followed by a brief detour to much sunnier climes in the form of another track from the great new album from Mulatu Astatke and the Heliocentrics: 3. Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics - Live from Tigre Lounge (Inspiration Information 3, 2009) And next up one of the main reasons for going all Nordic this evening, a track from the great new album from Finnish band Aavikko: 4. Aavikko - Computopia (Novo Atlantis, 2009) Back to Sweden and on to Iceland: 5. Komeda - Binario (What Makes It Go?, 1998) 6. Emilíana Torrini - Jungle Drum (Single, 2009) Another detour, this time to mark the 70th birthday of Lee Majors, who these days is producing his own "bionic" hearing aid: 7. John Gregory & His Orchestra - The Six Million Dollar Man (Six Million Dollar TV Themes, 1976) Then it was time to get back to the theme of the show with a trip to Norway: 8. Bobby Hughes Combination - Magnificent Mr Morgen (Nhu Golden Era, 2003) And then the other main reason for the theme of the show which is the demise of that other great bunch of Finnish retro-futurists, Laika & The Cosmonauts: 9. Laika and the Cosmonauts - Psyko (Instruments of Terror, 1993) And then another Finn we greatly admire, doing a very crunchy version of a tune we greatly admire: 10. Jimi Tenor - Caravan (Intervision, 1997) Now, at the time of the show we reported great news of an installation of Delia Derbyshire's work at the Sensoria festival in Sheffield (plus amazing news of the Radiophonic Workshop doing a live show in London in May): 11. Delia Derbyshire - Mattachin (BBC Radiophonic Music, 1968) Followed by an artist clearly inspired by the work of the BBC Workshop, Julian House, aka The Focus Group. Julian House happens to have an exhibition on in Stirling at the moment and will be coming to Stirling to do a Ghost Box DJ set as part of this year's Le Weekend festival: 13. The Focus Group - We Are All Pan's People (We Are All Pan's People, 2007) And then a cheeky inclusion, the fake Scandinavian sounds of "Ole Jensen and His Music": 14. Ole Jensen And His Music (aka Roger Webb) - Exotica (Music for Dancefloors: The Cream of the Chappell Music Library Sessions, 2001) We closed the show with another track from the great new album from Aavikko: 15. Aavikko - Hypatia (Novo Atlantis, 2009) The News

• Fat people are an an Environmental Health Hazard
• Don't worry The govt's here to help: Fast food police
• Nazi 'super cows' in Devon - Nazis, tricky baskets. They're back - IN COW FORM!!!
• Poor Pleo, dinosaur extinction all over again
• UPDATE: Pirate Bay lawyers seek retrial
• Nerdiest story of all time? Manga about running Ubuntu
• Man tries to sell nagging wife in magazine ad (according to AFP)
• French advertisers censor Jacques Tati's pipe
• Indian politicians demand protection from flying shoes - Reuters
• Scrabble kitchen tiles
• Attention Dorks: The Star Trek spork!
• Nerd-toy condiment overload?: Rubik's Cube salt-and-pepper mills
• Bus drivers learn 'Glaswegian'