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Celebrating the art of the mixtape. Ten songs, chosen to fit with nine categories (plus one wildcard). Some curated by me, but also featuring lots of guest mixers.
66 Episodes
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My guest this week is Bryan Thomas aka Buggy Jive
A 'somewhat reclusive soul rock singer-songwriter', Bryan has been producing music under the Buggy Jive name since 2018. He has released seven albums, the latest of which is 2025's Icarus Ascending.
I was introduced to Bryan's music by my good friend (and previous guest) Eric Smith, and so it seemed fitting that he should provide the intro to this show...
My guest this week is Mat Riches
Mat is another one of those people that I’ve known forever on music forums, etc. but have only met in person once (possibly twice) and that was a long time ago… so it’s a real pleasure to reconnect with him.
He currently works in market research and as ITV’s (unofficial) poet-in-residence, blogs about poetry at Wear The Fox Hat and has published a collection of poetry called Collecting the Data.
My guest this week is Joe Rolls
Joe - who I was put in touch with by previous guest mixer Paul Howarth - is a drummer who currently plays in a pub rock covers band called Southside Five.
My guest mixer this week is Rachael Wood.
A guitarist and composer with 20 years of live and recording experience. She has played with Sinead O’Connor and Skunk Anansie as well as being the musical director for Cirque du Soleil for 8 years.
Most importantly - for me anyway, and I suspect most of my listeners - she is currently the guitarist in The Wedding Present.
My guest this week is Iain Key
Iain is a music writer who’s written extensively for the website Louder Than War and has published a book about The Clash called All The Young Punks which Record Collector called ‘the perfect almanac for any Clash fan’. He also used to present the Saturday morning show Indie Brunch.
A compilation of ten different guest mixers this week...
Something a bit different this week. Once or twice every year, some of the members of the Fall Online Forum take part in 'Mix It Up', where they swap anonymised playlists. One person hosts, distributing the mixes to the others; basically, you receive a mix for review where you don't know who the songs are by, what they're called, or who selected them.
A couple of months ago, I was the host, and set the participants the challenge of adhering to the SMT criteria. I asked each reviewer to nominate a favourite track, and concocted a playlist out of their choices. This episode features each of them telling me about their selections.
Deb has played with Primal Scream, Tim Burgess and Thurston Moore, but is of course best known for playing bass in the legendary My Bloody Valentine.
My guest mixer this week is James Evans
James is a music blogger from Twickenham, London. He is also a very patient man, as he sent me this some considerable time ago and has waited, uncomplainingly, while I got around to recording it. You can find his blog here: Embrace The Margin
This is one of those where he sent the notes and I did the recording, so it's just my voice this week I'm afraid. I think it's a great mix: I hope you all enjoy it.
My guest mixer this week is Derek Peplau
Derek, who hails from Connecticut but currently lives in Boston, is another one of those people that I've known online for many years, but this was the first time we'd met (albeit via Zoom). We first got to know each other via the Wedding Present online forum, and have always had a decent Venn diagram intersection, musically.
It was a pleasure to finally meet him, and he certainly didn't let me down with an interestingly varied mix...
My guest mixer this week is Chris Rand
Chris is the man behind the definitive Half Man Half Biscuit website: The Half Man Half Biscuit Lyrics Project. He is also a lover of ‘event’ stadium rock, Ipswich Town, cinema and travel. He's pictured on the stevesmixtapes.com page with Nigel Blackwell, who he did try to get on the show; alas, to no avail, as you will hear...
My guest mixer this week is Paul Howarth
Paul, along with Tony Harris (who will also produce a mix at some point, hopefully) presents the Twilight Turntable podcast - a show dedicated to the lost art of listening to whole albums. But he's not averse to the odd mix tape too...
My guest mixer this week is Paul Garratt
Paul contacted me last September to say: "I realise that your podcast guests are becoming more well-known by the week but if you ever wanted a chat with someone you’ve never met who’s not a writer or a musician and has nothing to advertise then can I put my hand up?"
And, of course, I was delighted to have him on, especially as he selected a particularly thoughtful mix.
My guest mixer this week is Jen Ferguson
Jen, who lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, is one of those guests that I was meeting for the very first time when I interviewed her. The connection came about because I (and guest #035 Chris McAvoy) shared a house with her husband James back in our university days.
It was my new year's resolution to get more female guests on the show, and Jen is only the first of several more on the way!
My guest mixer this week is Ian Gelling
Ian is a long-standing member of the Wedding Present forum, with whom I have stood down the front at many a TWP gig over the years.
A native of the Isle of Man, he is also a huge Cardiacs fan, as will soon become apparent when you listen to his selection...
My guest mixer this week is Ethan Miller
Ethan has played in Comets on Fire, Feral Ohms, Heron Oblivion and Howlin’ Rain. Last year, he teamed up with Bill Orcutt and Steve Shelley to record the Orcutt Shelley Miller album - my number 2 album of 2025 (the #1 being this).
And yes, he's yet another that Steve Shelley put me in touch with - so thanks once again to Steve for providing me another great guest!
My guest mixer this week is Susan Pringle
Given that Christmas is a time for family, it seemed fitting that this episode should feature my mum.
She turned 80 this year but you'd never know it. She was a little nervous about doing it - especially as we had to do the interview twice, my laptop having mangled the first attempt! But I think she did a fine job, and it was a great trip down memory lane for me...
My guest mixer this week is William Benton
William is yet another guest that Steve Shelley was kind enough to put me in touch with. He is the historian and tour guide for the infamous Chelsea Hotel, as well being the singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with Cat Casual & the Final Word.
My guest mixer this week is Cory Plump
Like Brian Turner last week, Cory is someone that Steve Shelley was kind enough to put me in touch with. He has played in bands such as When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth, Spray Paint and Winged Wheel and also owns the live music bar Tubby’s in Kingston NY.
It's becoming clear that Steve clearly has good taste in mixers, as Cory was a great guest and picked an excellent playlist.
My guest mixer this week is Brian Turner
Brian is one of several upcoming guests that Steve Shelley was kind enough to put me in touch with. He is the station manager of East Village Radio, was a regular on WMFU and is a good friend of previous guest Eleni Poulou (with whom he recently put out a show on Cashmere Radio). He's also been in the bands The Mad Scene, Äss, and Jowe Head & The Celestial Choir.
Not only is he a top bloke, he picked a cracking playlist...
My guest mixer this week is Vinny Peculiar
Vinny (aka Alan Wilkes) is a singer-songwriter who has put out fourteen albums of literate autobiographical pop music over a twenty-year career. Uncut described him as ‘an under sung national treasure’ and The Irish Times called him ‘the missing link between Jarvis Cocker and poet Roger McGough’. Tom Robinson of 6Music said that his ‘songs make you laugh and cry and think all at the same time.’
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