Here is Episode 17 of the ever-popular Friends of the Stars Podcasts. This one is called “Things To Do In Denver When You’re Robson” and continues in the fine tradition of it’s predecessors containing as it does lots of great tunes and two blokes swearing
at each other. If it ain’t fucking broke, and all that…

This Episode finds Executive Producer Robson and Craig discussing the process of Podcasting, Submarines and submariners during World War 2, before demonstrating, live on air, the effects of caffiene and sugar on Robson’s brain. Later, they engage in the dumbest audio-based broadcast game of skill since Dave Lee Travis introduced darts to the radio.

Listen:

TRACKLISTING:

Dexys Midnight Runners - Show Me
The Bee Gees - Marley Purt Drive
The Beastie Boys - Jimmy James
Dennis Wilson - Cocktails
The Jackson 5 - Sugar Daddy
World of Fox - Rules of Engagement
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Drop It Like It’s Hot
Friends of the Stars - Wagons (Rough Mix, Instrumental)

DOWNLOAD FOTS-POD17 - “Things To Do In Denver When You’re Robson”

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Here we see Campbell and Executive Producer Robson gazing longingly into each others eyes as the sun sets on an early June evening in Birmingham. Feel the love, folks…

(FEED SUBSCRIBERS - CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PHOTO)

Since we’re not sure how fast RSS feeds work (whether or not they pick up these posts immediately) and  just in case your FEED delivered version was incorrect, here are the Episode 16 files once more.

This problem will only have affected subscribers to the full FOTS RSS feed. Subscribers to the PODCAST ONLY feed will continue to enjoy uninterrupted service.

We apologise for the hurt and inconvience caused to our tens of listeners.

FOTS-POD#16: “N-N-N-New Jack Robson”

LISTEN:

DOWNLOAD EPISODE 16

It’s a continues Executive Producer Robson’s rigorous interview with Craig regarding, amongst other things, New Zealand. We’re hoping for fewer compaints this time…

Listen:

DOWNLOAD EPISODE 16

TRACKLISTING

“Jody Come Back and Get Your Shoes” - Bobby Newsome
“More Pretty Girls Than One” - Woody Guthrie (with Cisco Houston)
“Fisherman’s Blues” - The Waterboys
“Clang of the Yankee Reaper” - Van Dyke Parks
“Black Sheep Boy” - Tim Hardin
“Candyman” - Steve Earle (playing a Mississippi John Hurt tune)
“Cruel to be Kind” - Nick Lowe
“O Baby” - Siouxsie and The Banshees
“Johnny Magic” - Neil Young and his Electric Band

In the late 1990s in California Dorian Wood decided to track down his worldwide namesakes using the interweb and eventually got in touch with Birmingham-based Dorian Wood. Finding someone who shares your slightly out-of-the-ordinary name on the other side of the globe would be one thing, but to find out that you are both involved in the creation of strange and beautiful music is something quite altogether different.

On Friday 8th May 2009 we are bringing together these two unique talents to play on the same bill for the second time… It’s the Million Dollar Rematch.

Here’s what happened last March, when we did this for the first time when Anna sang with Dorian Wood USA:

(FEED Readers can see the video here)

Friends of the Stars and Commercially Inviable cordially invite you to kick off your weekend with a night of music, dancing and collaboration.

If your name is also Dorian Wood then you’ll receive FREE entry but proof of identity will be required.

Boringly-named individuals will need £3 to gain access.

We hope to see you there.

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DORIAN WOOD (USA)

His recently-released Bolka album is without doubt one of the best things we’ve all heard in a long time and really, really deserves to be heard by a much wider audience. Dorian has a voice that is really beautiful and he writes songs that call to mind Rufus Wainwright, The Blind Boys of Alabama and Anthony Hegarty - all rolled into one.

THEY SAY: “Wry, wistful and deliciously eerie, BOLKA is a valentine to the brokenhearted”

DORIAN WOOD (UK)

One half of the marvellous and frightening TeaTowel, the Friends of the Stars remixer of choice and the man behind the world’s only and best Happy Hardcore covers band, Pete_Prescription. Dorian will be playing brand new compositions freshly minted in his Kings Heath studio so expect Krautrock, Melody, Noise or something else entirely.

THEY SAY: “Elevator Music for people descending into hell”

FRIENDS OF THE STARS

Commercially Inviable Since 2000, this alt-country outdfit have harmonies, tunes and hooks in abundance and after surviving over 7 years of mild success and self-inflicted disappointment they bring you songs from ”Lighting and Electrical”, their first full-length album.

THEY SAY: “Their new disc is packed with the kind of authentically sad, lovely, and whiskey-drenched tunes that are tragically absent from the modern country FM dial.”

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INFORMATION:

Email info@friendsofthestars.co.uk

Call +44 (0) 7740 358 162

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USEFUL LINKS:

FRIENDS OF THE STARS

THE HARE & HOUNDS

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DIRECTIONS:

LOCATION ON MULTIMAP.COM FOR DIRECTIONS

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More of this over here.

You can buy the new GLC album, “Asbo 4 Life”, at Amazon or Play.com

You can also check out their highwater-mark, ‘RnB’ over on Spotify

Let’s see about that, shall we.

Executive Producer Robson turns the tables on this one and becomes the man with the questions, grilling a clearly excited Craig about his recent trip to New Zealand. Expect the usual great tunes, swearing and that peculiar kind of back-handed ignorance you only get from British people when they are forced to leave this rainy island.

(Sorry to all Kiwis)

FOTS-POD#15 - “Das Robson”

Tracklisting

“The Trains” - The Nashville Ramblers
“Home Cookin’” - The Band
“Lorelei” - The Cocteau Twins
“New Kind of Kick” - The Cramps
“Caney Creek” - The Dillards
“Like Toy Soldiers” - Eminem
“Cunts Are Still Running the World” - Jarvis
“I’ve Changed My Plea To Guilty” - Morrissey

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We’re 3 weeks into the new series of Britains Got Talent and the whole world knows who Susan Boyle is following her 25 trillion You Tube hits, but the group that caught my attention last night was one cruelly treated by the judges, and given only scant airtime: The Synth Sisters

For those that missed it, The Synth Sisters are an all-female keyboard troupe who attempted to bontempi their way onto the bill of The Royal Variety Performance with a display of synchronised, instrumental music. By way of spectacle they occasionally engaged in some vaguely disinterested ‘one-hand-in-the-air’ keyboard moves, whilst not a single one of them looked up from their keyboards towards the audience. It was pretty piss-poor, but somehow compelling, and worth a place in the next round.

If you’ve seen the movie Donnie Darko, imagine what might have happened had when the members of Sparkle Magic hit their teenage years, lost interest and only stayed together in the regional entertainment business to please their parents. Talking of which, there is only one video online at the moment and it appears to have been uploaded by one of the Synth Moms, and it looks to have been recorded by pointing a video camera at the telly. Without the sound on.

When a better one appears online, and it will, I’ll post it here. In the meantime….behold:

UPDATE: Thanks to Sasha for providing the following link to a better video. Unfortunately, the poster has disabled the embed function - so you’ll need to CLICK to view.

Strangely, and despite it’s simplicity and apparent dumbness, it just seems to be the gift that keeps on giving…

….and the prove that we’re correct on that point, new online is the rather fabulous DonkDJ. 

In a nutshell, you upload the MP3 of your choice to DonkDJ and within minutes you are able download a donk remix MP3 of your song. It’s probably done by computers, or something, but it’s fair to say that the kids are going totally batshit for it, and it’s taking Twitter by storm.

Completely unable to resist the refected glory of a Friends of the Stars DONK remix, we sent off the song Dragonfly…

Listen: DragonDonk 

Enjoy