Playlist, 27/04/08

The Music 1. Ananda Shankar - Streets of Calcutta (Ananda Shankar And His Music, 1975) Eartha Kitt was in the UK this week so we did a Turkish double bill: 2. Eartha Kitt - Uska Dara (Revisited, 1960) 3. Selda - Yaz Gazeteci Yaz (Selda, 1976/2006) I went to see Pram play as part of the last ever Triptych Festival here in Edinburgh last week: 4. Pram - The Silk Road (The Moving Frontier, 2007) 5. The Three Suns - Beyond The Sea (Movin' and Groovin', 1962) Jerry Leiber (of "and Stoller" fame) turned 75 this week so we played a couple of Leiber and Stoller numbers: 6. Enoch Light - Love Potion No 9 (Discotheque Volume 2, 1965) 7. Gil Trythall - Kansas City (Country Moog / Nashville Gold, 1972) Blake's 7 is coming back! 8. Geoff Love - Blakes 7 (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1978) That great electronic music pioneer (and co-creator of the VCS3), Tristram Cary, sadly passed away this week: 9. Tristram Cary - Daleks at the Pyramids (The Daleks' Master Plan, 1965) 10. Tristram Cary, Eddie Walker and Musicians - Daleks vs Egyptians (The Daleks' Master Plan, 1965) Two brand new recordings: 11. Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra - Brazilian Bubble (Miles of Smiles EP, 2008) 12. April March & Steve Hanft - Sun Machine (Magic Monsters, 2008) A Jamaican double-bill (of sorts): 13. Ray Conniff - Unchained Mischief vers 2.1 (Lost Dub Sessions 1977, 2008) 14. Helmut Zacharias - Respect (Zacharias Plays The Hits, 1969) Great tenor sax/clarinetist Jimmy Giuffre sadly passed away this week. 15. Jimmy Giuffre - Voodoo (The Jimmy Giuffre 3, 1957) 16. Les Baxter - Pantan (Exotic Moods, 1955) It was 40 years ago this week that the musical HAIR opened on Broadway: 17. Edmundo Ros & His Orchestra - Let The Sunshine In (Hair Goes Latin, 1969) 18. Gordon Langford - Aquarius (1974) Another electronic music pioneer has passed on: 19. Louis & Bebe Barron - An Invisible Monster Approaches (Forbidden Planet: Original Soundtrack, 1956/2006) Another brand new recording: 20. The Advisory Circle - Everyday Electronics (Other Channels, 2008) And we couldn't leave you without playing a version of Caravan: 21. Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - Caravan (Flipside, 2001) We also paid tribute to another appaling loss to the world of music and comedy, the great Humphrey Lyttleton. Gawd bless you, sir. The News

• Cassette mp3 player
• Employment Opportunity: astronaut
• Dalek helmet.
• Mr Cheeky
• The Return of Blakes Seven?
• PETA offering $1 million for lab-created meat
• 'Allo 'Allo! Guten Tag, Guten Tag
• A "robot" that helps you walk
• JEANS WITH EMBEDDED KEYBOARD
• The i-LIMB, no it really is called the "i-LIMB"
• Germophobe or Japanese? - USB Mask
• Hykim the Robot Bear
• Surgeons remove man's appendix through his mouth
• Uno electric unicycle
• Here come de Snook
• Adverts in the clouds

Playlist, 20/04/08

FEATURED ARTIST: Eden Ahbez This week we celebrated the recent centenary of the birth of the godfather of exotica, Eden Ahbez. Most famous as the composer of Nature Boy, Ahbez wrote many other great tunes and lived an extraordainary life. He was a proto-hippy about 20 years before the Summer of Love. The Music 1. Al Hirt - Nature Boy (Music to Watch Girls By, 2000) 2. Harold McNair - The Hipster (Return Of The Instro-Hipsters Vol. 2, 1968/2007) 3. Bill Plummer & The Cosmic Brotherhood - Journey To The East (California Dreamin´- Jazz Exotica, 2000) 4. Korla Pandit - Trance Dance (The Grand Moghul Suite/The Universal Language Of Music, 2007) 5. Eden Ahbez - Eden's Island (Eden's Island, 1960) 6. Milt Raskin & His Orchestra - Koko Head (Exotic Sounds of Hawaii, 2006) 7. Frankie Laine - The Jalopy Song (1951) 8. Emil Richards - Happy Together (New Time Element, 1967) 9. Pram - Track Of The Cat (Dark Island, 2003) 10. Leonard Nimoy - Nature Boy (Highly Illogical/The Touch of Leonard Nimoy, 1969) 11. Herb Jeffries/Eden Ahbez - Oh My Brothers (The Singing Prophet, 1954) 12. Sam Cooke - Lonely Island (1958) 13. The Advisory Circle - Keep Warm Keep Well (Other Channels, 2008) 14. Bappi Lahiri, Amit Kumar & Sulahshana Pandit - Kya Jaan Yeh Duniya Kya Jane (The Bombay Connection, 1977) 15. Jackie Mittoo - Nature Boy (A Tribute to Jackie Mittoo, 1995) 16. Nat King Cole/Pete Rugolo Orchestra - Land of Love (Come My Love and Live With Me) (Lush Life, 1949) 17. Al Caiola & Don Arnone - Caravan (Great Pickin', 1960) 18. Eden Ahbez - The Old Boat (Eden's Island, 1960) The News

• Children's book, about plastic surgery.
• Time-lapse video of man trapped in an elevator for 41 hours
• 80 style boombox with ipod dock
• Japanese technology can link a kettle to a mobile phone
• Euro-whiff
• Sinclair C5s go on mass convoy
• Oops - Russian space capsule misses landing site
• Meat iPod Nano Case
• Quadruple-Neck guitar
• Scientists grow plants in moondust
• Moped runs on fresh air
• The idea gift for someone you really hate...Bomb alarm clock
• Burglar alarm with a twist
• Job Spot: Jet Car Needs a Driver

Playlist, 13/04/08

FEATURED ARTIST: Lalo Schifrin The master of movie and TV soundtracks, Lalo Schifrin, made a rare visit to the UK on Thursday, and I was in the audience! Wow... We thought we would mark this great event by ladling on the Lalo this week. The Music 1. Dick Hyman - The Liquidator (The Man From O.R.G.A.N., 1965) 2. Francesco De Masi & A. Allesandroni - Tema Di Londra M.1 (Beat At Cinecitta - Music from Italian 60s & 70s Exploitation Cinema: Volume 1, 1967) 3. Bill Cosby - Funky North Philadelphia (Hooray for the Salvation Army Band, 1968) 4. Lalo Schifrin - Turn Every Stone (Mannix, 1999) 5. Tätärä - Mission Impossible (Next Show, 2000) 6. Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra - Miso Horny Pt. 1 & 2 (Strings & Things, 2006) 7. Alan Hawkshaw - The Investigator (Dramatic Funk Themes Vol. 1, 1976/2008) 8. Lalo Schifrin - Danube Incident (Mission : Anthology, 1967) 9. Gunter Kallman Choir - Daydream (The Very Best Of, 1970) 10. Geoff Love - Solar Sailor (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1978) 11. Cal Tjader - The Fakir (Several Shades Of Jade * Breeze From The East, 1997) 12. Lalo Schifrin & Salaam Remi - Main Title - Rush Hour 3 (DJ Bongoboy Extended Mix) (Rush Hour 3, 2007) 13. Balkan Brass Band - Caravan (Balkan Brass Band, 2006) 14. Gordon Langford - Yellow Submarine (The Amazing Music of the Electronic Arp Synthesizer, 1974) 15. Pierro Piccioni - Traffic Boom (The Big Lebowski, 1974) 16. Bryan Rodwell - The Cat 17. Ron Goodwin - Do You Know The Way To San Jose (Plays Burt Bacharach, 1972) 18. Lalo Schifrin - Burning Bridges - Kelly's Heroes, 1970) 19. Lalo Schifrin - The Gentle Earthquake (Most Wanted 1968-1979, 1968) 20. Lalo Schifrin - Scorpio's View - Dirty Harry, 1971) 21. Lalo Schifrin - Peanut Vendor - Kaleidoscope: Jazz Meets the Symphony #6, 2005) The News

• Porn star campaigns with her bottom
• Man 'targeted by aliens'
• Paro the healing robot seal
• Teacake tax set to cost taxman £3.5m
• Bling water
• Laika the space dog gets a statue
• Zune Guy
• Face-to-face Tandem
• City hires sheep
• drunks and robots in Japan
• Beatle bush beheaded
• "Who tall am I?"
• Robot take over of Japan scheduled for 2025
• Bling! its the apocalypse

Playlist, 06/04/08

FEATURED ARTIST: Percy Faith 7 April marks the centenary of the birth of this king of fromage canadien and, some say, inventor of Easy Listening. But we prefer his more toe-tappingly groovy tunes and so on tonight's show we aimed to set the record straight regarding Percy. It's not all syrupy strings, you know! There is an excellent guide to the albums of Percy Faith here. Personally, I would go for these for starters:

• More Themes for Young Lovers (1964)
• Bim! Bam!! Boom!!! (1966)
• Black Magic Woman (1972)
• Corazon (1973)
• New Thing (1974)
• Summer Place '76 (1976 - Percy's last album)

Next week's featured artist: LALO SCHIFRIN! The Music 1. Percy Faith - Theme From A Summer Place (A Summer Place) 2. Percy Faith - Land of a Thousand Dances (New Thing, 1974) 3. Alan Hawkshaw - High Driver (Dramatic Funk Themes Vol. 1, 1973/2008) 4. Janko Nilovic - Golf Open (Last Impressions, 2007) 5. Percy Faith - Hill Where the Lord Hides (New Thing, 1974) 6. Percy Faith - Viva Vivaldi (My Love, 1973) We paid tribute to the great Gene Puerling who sadly passed away this week: 7. The Hi-Lo's - Bali Ha'i (The Columbia Years, 1966/1996) 8. Singers Unlimited - So Many Stars (Feeling Free, 1975) 9. The Free Design - Canada In Springtime (There Is A Song, 1972) We talked about the "Personal Soundtrack T-shirt" (see link below) and MC Zirconium chose this as his personal soundtrack: 10. Pete Moore - The Fat Man (Gypsy Creams & Ginger Nuts: Sounds That Swept The Supermarkets, 2007) 11. Percy Faith - Oye Como Va (Black Magic Woman, 1972) 12. Ray Barretto - Goldfinger (Señor 007, 1965) 13. Barry Adamson - Straight til Sunrise (Back To The Cat, 2008) 14. Percy Faith - First Light (Corazon, 1973) 15. Hensel3000 - Ed Straker (unreleased) We also paid tribute to that Hollywood icon Charlton Heston who passed away today: 16. Ron Grainer - Surprise Party (The Omega Man, 1971) 17. John Shipe - Soylent Green Is People (Sudden & Merciless Joy, 2006) 18. Lalo Schifrin - Ape Shuffle (Most Wanted 1968-1979, 1974) 19. Percy Faith - Sha Bumpin' (Summer Place '76, 1976) 20. Mike Moran - El Zoro (Dramatic Funk Themes Vol. 1, 1976/2008) 21. Percy Faith - Summer Place '76 (Summer Place '76, 1976) The News

• First Flight of Manned Hydrogen-Powered Airplane in History
• The Personal Soundtrack T-Shirt
• Computerised toothbrush
• UFOcap - "on a rainy day it will be the wings for your arms!"
• Farting clock
• Bed that Makes Itself
• US man has got $2.6m for domain name.
• Smelly space food
• Giant turtle-robots could carry lunar bases on its back
• Little monkeys ride tiny motorcycles(from boingboing)
• Black Hole Eats Earth?
• Ted Turner: cannibalism