Author: Dave Prowse

Dave is Spotisfaction's Editor-in-Chief and founded the site in February 2010. He can often be found acting as web designer, code-monkey, writer, people manager, editor, tea boy, and sometimes all of the above at the same time. Dave lives in Gloucester with his wife and two cats.

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Playlists

109 Spotisfaction Wednesday – 8th September 2010 – Dave Prowse

Hey guys. I trust you’re well this fine morning? So, The xx are Mercury winners, eh? I’d like to say I called that one after they featured on my very first playlist for Spotisfaction ;). In all honesty, though, I would have liked to have seen Foals win it, but that might just be because Foals ”“ Total Life Forever is one of my top 5 albums of 2010 so far. The xx are relentlessly hard workers and by all accounts pretty nice boys and girls, so fair play to them.

Today’s playlist is one of my own (I do like to get a bit self-indulgent every now and again, as you may have noticed!) and I hope you enjoy it.

Take it easy,
Dave

My blurb:

This playlist is simply some of my favourite tracks at the moment. Very few of them are cutting-edge new, and very few of them are particularly challenging or esoteric. This is, probably, the most accurate representation I could come up with of my current taste in music (which, of course, is in a constant state of flux as I discover more and more stuff). I’ll quickly mention one or two particular tracks, and then let you get on with your day.

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108 Spotisfaction Monday – 6th September 2010 – Rhys Howell

Morning folks. I trust everyone had a lovely weekend? Last night was pretty fun for me – at least 4 streets in my neighbourhood were plunged into darkness for the majority of the night due to a power outage, which was a bit surreal. There’s always some light around, whether that’s streetlights or otherwise, so being able to see stars was a treat… even if I did stub my toe trying to find a torch, and never did manage to heat up my treacle tart…

Today’s playlist is by Rhys, and as themes go it’s a great one. My normal exercise regime involves doing as little as possible as often as possible, but if I were to go running every now and again this’d be the playlist I’d use!

Hope you enjoy,
Dave

Rhys Says:

Good Evening one and all. I’ve crafted a playlist to listen to when you go running. Some of these tracks are on my own personal running mix but as that mix tends to be a couple of albums all muddled up it wouldn’t make the most interesting mix for Spotisfaction.

Hit the jump for a talk through of the workout and also some shameless plugging. (If you don’t see any shameless plugging then the editorial gods have come from on high and excised it.)

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107 Spotisfaction Friday – 3rd September 2010 – James TAE

Good morning all. Not much to talk about today. A quick reminder to sign up for our newsletter (link above) if you fancy the odd email about what we’re up to, and another reminder that we’re always really keen to feature stuff that you’ve written -whether that’s a playlist like this one, an article or a review, anything you’re passionate about we’d love to publish.

Today’s playlist is by Spotisfaction editor James TAE.

Catch you all on Monday.
Dave

James says:

No words for this one.  A purely ambient, relaxed, chilled blisslist simply entitled “Ambient” to calm you this Friday morning.  Enjoy.

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Playlists

106 Spotisfaction Wednesday – 1st September 2010 – Mike Sheldrick

Hi folks. Oh man, Wednesday came about quickly, eh? But, I’ll tell you what, I’m very glad we had the Bank Holiday this week. Who doesn’t love a 4-day work week? Not us, that’s for darn sure.

Today’s playlist has the potential to split opinions down the middle. We’ve always said we’re all for diversity, and we really, truly mean that. We don’t want a hundred playlists all identically sounding and made up of ‘in’ bands. So, I for one am very excited about today’s effort by Spotisfaction contributor Mike Sheldrick. I encourage you to listen to this one even if it’s not normally your cup of tea. If you still don’t approve, fair enough, but feel free to let us know why in the comments!

Anyway, I’ll hand over to Mike for his blurb below:
[Dave]

Mike says:

Greetings, fellow travellers of the sound waves. And in this episode, we”™re going to do things a little differently. In a break from the more traditional style of playlist we”™ve come to know and love, I wondered perhaps if you”™d like to join me on a little journey, back to the oh so simple days of childhood (well mine to be precise). Back to when I were a wee young lad. Times were simple back then, I”™d go to school, come home, do my homework (yeah right), rinse and repeat as necessary. But I digress. Back then, I also played the trumpet. I spent many of my former years attending local orchestras and brass bands, and because of that, I was exposed to a lot of classical music.

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Playlists

104 Spotisfaction Friday – 27th August 2010 – Paul ‘Fozz’ Foster

Morning folks. I’m not actually here today – I’m on a mini holiday in Stratford, and am posting this via the magic of scheduling. The weather is wonderful / atrocious (delete as appropriate), and I’m having a great / crap time.

Today’s playlist is by the wonderful Fozz, author and curator of our Gig Rig feature, and it’s a doozy. I hope you enjoy – this is one of my personal favourites.

Take it easy and see you all next week,
Dave

Fozz says:

These are a few tracks that I’ve been listening to lately, found either off the back of other people’s playlists or from trawling through the related artists section on Spotify. Here are a few of the stand-out tracks. Hope you enjoy.

Interpol ”“ Lights: this is the first track to be released from Interpol‘s forthcoming self-titled album and it’s made its way onto Spotify, so it would have been rude not to include it really. If the rest of the album is as awesome as this track then it’s gonna be absolutely phenomenal and I’m really looking forward to it.

Graffiti6 ”“ Stone In My Heart: I bloody love this track, it’s one of the best things I’ve heard in ages. Hopefully these guys will keep churning out stella tunes like this.

Crystal Castles ”“ Baptism: I could never really get into Crystal Castles‘ first album but I thought I’d give their second one a go, and boy am I glad I did. Baptism, for me, is definitely the most notable track on the album ”“ it’s shouty, beepy electro at its finest. I’m gonna give the first album another chance.

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103 Spotisfaction Wednesday – 25th August 2010 – Simon Mogg

Afternoon all. Weird to think that this time last week we relaunched the site. Lots of things still going on behind the scenes but as always if there’s anything you’d like to see (whether that’s an improvement to the site layout, a specific album review, or an idea for a feature) we’d love to hear from you.

I’m going to see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World tonight, which has me incredibly excited. It’s rare that a soundtrack to a movie gets as much hype as the movie itself, but in this case I think it’s probably justified – just check out the OST! Fun times!

Today’s playlist is by Spotisfaction contributor Simon “Moggy” Mogg, and is quite lovely in my opinion.

Peace,
Dave

Moggy says:

Here is my latest submission. I was listening to Flogging Molly and I realised that the only Irish style music I listened to is played by Americans, so I decided to look into actual Irish musicians. While doing this I discovered a lot more music that originates from various places throughout the world, hence this playlist with no real theme. Not a good explanation but there it is… Anyway, onto the actual tracks.

Starting with a nod to my love of Rugby and a New Zealander I recently encountered, first up is The Haka. Then Bellowhead, who are a lot better live (the vocalist doesn’t half put some welly in). Neck were also amazing live (except the bleeding nose but thats a hazard of a pit I suppose).

Also on this list is more Johnny Cash and Cat Empire. Both featured on previous playlists, but both deserve lots more playing so here they are again. Skindred are generally known for their Reggae Metal but this is an acoustic bonus track off their Babylon album and is definitely worth a listen. The whole album, that is. And finally, Ladysmith Black Mambazo. I first heard this group on Paul Simon‘s Graceland album. I like the style. Right thats it I’m done. Enjoy.

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News

News: Philip Selway

Bella Union, the record company behind the UK release of Philip Selway‘s debut album, Familial, have been kind enough to offer a further three tracks for our listening pleasure prior to the album’s release in two weeks. We featured a stream of the Radiohead drummer’s first single, By Some Miracle, in a previous post and it’s nice to get more of a feel for the new album. Philip is touring through November to promote the new album so look for him in the next instalment of our Gig Rig feature, and check out his website for full details.

The stream is below. Let us know what you think in the comments.
Philip Selway – Familial (Album Sampler) by Bella Union

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News

News: Sufjan Stevens

A favourite at Spotisfaction Towers, Sufjan Stevens has just released his new EP, All Delighted People on the Asthmatic Kitty label. I’ve had it on replay since it’s been released, and would heartily recommend you give it a listen. You can buy it now from Sufjan’s BandCamp website in almost any format you could wish for, and the price is a quite remarkably low $5.

Although it’s an EP, don’t be fooled into thinking this is anything less than a fully featured release. These are 8-tracks that have clearly had a lot of love poured into them, with a runtime longer than a huge number of full-length albums at a whopping 60 minutes. Title song All Delighted People is an 11 minute wonder all on its own. From the description for this opener on BandCamp: All Delighted People is built around two different versions of Sufjan”™s long-form epic ballad “All Delighted People,” a dramatic homage to the Apocalypse, existential ennui, and Paul Simon”™s “Sounds of Silence.” – it might sound completely over the top, but for those unfamiliar with Sufjan this is just the norm, and we completely love him for it.

Anyway, the EP is also available to stream for free so have a gander below:

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Playlists

101 Spotisfaction Friday – 20th August 2010 – Woody Whyte

Today’s playlist is courtesy of Woody Whyte, and is entitled “2010 So Far…”. If you like what you hear and are inspired to create your own playlist, check out our submission guide above. Let us know in the comments if you’d have included any other tracks in your 2010 list. Don’t forget to subscribe to our Newsletter either, to keep up to date with us!

Love, hugs and mealy bugs.
Dave

Woody Says:

With over half the year gone, it felt like the right time to have a little re-cap on what the best of 2010 has had to offer us so far. This is, of course, a subjective list, I don’t claim to have the holy grail of music taste but I hope there is something for most people in there.

What conclusions can we draw from my list? Well, British music is at a low ebb. With a yawn-worthy Mercury list (except The xx), folk-for-all-the-family bands and artists plaguing the airwaves and nothing in the way of a stand out breakthrough British artist, I have mainly had to look elsewhere for something to my taste.

Of the American bands; Perfume Genius, Best Coast, Beach House and Aerial Pink have all released fantastic albums this year. In Europe and the UK, Delorean, Charlotte Gainsbourg and M.I.A have also released some of my favourite albums.

Pop music and ‘surf-rock’ bands seem to be my main fascination and, unintentionally, there is more than a whiff of Pitchfork endorsed music in there. Embarrassing (though I bet you all read it too!).

The promising thing is that there is still some brilliant albums to come. Zola Jesus and Washed Out are on my wishlist, as well as S. Carey (who isn’t on this list) but worth a mention. Classically trained drummer for Bon Iver is releasing a solo album this month. No doubt I shall write a review if it makes it’s way over to Spotify.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and feel free to comment your favourite albums of the year so far.

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Playlists

100 Spotisfaction Wednesday – 18th August 2010 – Best of Spotisfaction Vol. 1

Afternoon, folks. We hope you’re enjoying the new website. We certainly are, that’s for sure. I loved Tumblr, but this new site is a breeze to use from an editing point of view, and hopefully it’s a lot easier to navigate, too. We’ve still got a list as long as our arms of things we’d like to implement, so you’ll see the site improve over time. Exciting stuffs!

Anyway, you’re probably a bit bored of me going on about the new website by now so let’s talk about today’s playlist.

Thom and I crafted this “Best Of” playlist a couple of months ago, and it contains our picks of our favourite tracks from the first few months of Spotisfaction’s life. We think it’s a fairly accurate representation of the diversity of playlists in those early days (and even to this day). Those of you who have been with us since the beginning, let us know if you’d have changed any of these selections!

We’re trying out a new method of displaying the tracklists for our playlists so that they’re more visible on the homepage, and you’re seeing the result of this on the right. Hit the “Tracklist” link to open the playlist.

Thanks again for everyone who has stuck with us since the early days of the site, and hi to anyone that’s new to the party. Thanks for your ongoing support.

Here’s to another 100 playlists!
[David]

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News

News: Website Relaunch

Morning all! It’s my mahoosive pleasure to inform you that our new website is now online! The new site should offer a cleaner, more easily navigated experience, and I really hope you all enjoy using it. We have big plans for future development, and we’re keen to take your ideas on board so please do get in touch with any suggestions or comments.

Massive heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in the redesign – a lot of hard work has gone into the migration, and it’s hugely appreciated.

Some info for you:

  • Our RSS feeds have changed – the new link is http://feeds.feedburner.com/Spotisfaction;
  • Check out our Submission Guide here for details on how to continue submitting your playlists, reviews and features;
  • We’ve created a new Facebook ‘fan’ page to offer us more control over the updates we post there, so please like us and suggest us to your friends!

Major thanks from myself and the whole team for your continued support. We created this website and continue to update it because we really love what we do, but there’d be no point in doing it if none of you guys visited.

Love, etc.
Dave and The Spotisfaction Team.

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Playlists

98 Spotisfaction Friday – 13th August 2010 – Mike Sheldrick

Hi guys. Thom and I had the world’s most important debate today. A debate that has the potential to split our nation right down the middle. A debate so fearce and volatile that we’ve both had to have a bit of a sit down and a cup of tea to recover… That’s right, folks, a debate about which Limp Bizkit cover on Spotify was the best one (not including Richard Cheese or Vitamin String Quartet)…

I think it’s Faith, by some dude called George Michael. He’s taken the song and made it his own. Respect.

Anyway, today’s playlist is by Mighty Mike Sheldrick. Friday 13th? Overrated.

[David]

98 Spotisfaction Friday (13 Aug) – MSheldrick
Hit the link for Mike’s blurb.

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97 Spotisfaction Wednesday – 11th August 2010 – Kev Atkinson

Afternoon, all. Things are really kicking into overdrive with the website redesign. I feel like I’ve done nothing but code for the last couple of weeks, but there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel. We think that the new site will be a lot easier to use for you guys, and we can’t wait to unveil it finally! There’ll be an announcement closer to the time so keep your eyes peeled…

Last week I succumbed to the growing trend in our office which is the Graze box. If you’ve not seen these before, they’re a brown box filled with nuts, berries, olives and other such things. I’m not going to lie – it’s tasty and a lot healthier than my normal Tesco-fueled lunch binge, but I feel like a freaking squirrel. I’m campaigning for them to make bacon sandwich flavoured brazil nuts.

Anyway, today’s playlist is by Kev Atkinson and is an eclectic mix of old and new tracks, appropriately entitled “Spotisclectic”. I hope you enjoy.

[David]

97 Spotisfaction Wednesday (11 Aug) – KAtkinson
Hit the link for Kev’s blurb.

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96 Spotisfaction Monday – 9th August 2010 – Tudor Howell

Afternoon kids. So this week has been pretty exciting. We’re working on the website redesign, and the first few drafts we’ve been privy to have been awesome. I’m sure when it’s unveiled you’ll like it.

Today’s playlist is by Tudor Howell. Enjoy!

[David]

96 Spotisfaction Monday (9 Aug) – THowell
Hit the link for tracklist and Tudor’s blurb.

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95 Spotisfaction Friday – 6th August 2010 – Rhys Howell

Afternoon folks. I”™ve spent a good portion of today listening to two local, home-grown acts – the mighty John Madden and Tom Mitchell, and our very own Ben”™s band Stressechoes. As such, I”™m feeling pretty awesome right now.

After Wednesday”™s call-to-arms, we”™ve added a few new people to our team and you can expect to see the first few posts from them shortly. There”™s still time to get involved with Spotisfaction, so if you”™re interested check out this post and give me a shout via email or Twitter.

Today”™s playlist is by Rhys, and is a lovely, meandering mix perfect for a Friday afternoon.

Love, hugs and mealy bugs.
[David]

95 Spotisfaction Friday (6 Aug) – RHowell
Hit the link for tracklist and Rhys”™ blurb.

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