MDSWP

This week, Esteban joined us live in the Studio to perform some acoustic tracks (and sample some cupcakes )

You can check out Esteban and their music at their website and check out when they’re playing a gig near you soon.

We’re back with another belter of a show for you, including a now infamous rant from @SteveTea about the shocking Brit nominations.

• The Knack – My Sharona
• Status Quo – Pictures of Matchstick Men
• The Supernaturals – Smile
• The Shamen – Ebeneezer Goode
• The Kinks – A Well Respected Man
• Marmaduke Duke – Rubber Lover
• The Killers – Mr Brightside
• The Smiths – This Charming Man
• The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army
• The Stranglers – Peaches
• Supergrass – Alright
• FA Cup face off
• Esteban – She Goes Out
• Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed
• Brits
• David Bowie – Moon Age Day Dreamer
• Deep Purple – Smoke on The Water
• Various Artists – Everybody Needs Somebody to Love

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00:00 — 118.8MB)

Back again with another two hours of great music for your delectation. Classics mixed in with new stuff, some strange news and the latest music goss, this is how you kick off a Saturday.

• Foo Fighters – Everlong
• New Order – Blue Monday
• Republika – Ready To Go
• Iggy and The Stooges – No Fun
• Kasabian – L.S.F
• Primal Scream – Rocks
• Squeeze – Up the Junction
• The Cure – Close to Me
• Aretha – Respect
• The Small Faces – Itchykoo Park
• Ash – Burn Baby Burn
• Stereophonics – Innocent
• Phoenix – 1901
• Delphic – Clarion Call
• Passion Pit – Sleepy Head
• Talking Heads – Same As It Ever Was
• James – Sit Down
• Jimi Hendrix – Foxey Lady
• Blur – Country House
• The Jam – A Town Called Malice

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00:05 — 107.2MB)

We’re back with another mammoth show for you. Playing some of our favourite tracks ever as well as a few new ones.

• Stoney – Let it Go
• The Hives – Tick Tick Boom
• The Rolling Stones – Paint It Black
• Reef – Place Your Hands
• The Charlatans – Just When You’re Thinking Things Over
• Ellie Goulding – Under the Sheets
• Marina & The Diamonds – I Am Not a Robot
• Delphic – Counterpoint
• Curve – Coming Up Roses
• Stone Roses – She Bangs The Drums
• 30 Seconds To Mars – Kings and Queens
• The Beatles – Helter Skelter
• Dodgy – Good Enough
• The Clash – Should I Stay Or Should I Go
• Oasis – She’s Electric
• ELO – Mr Blue Sky
• Elvis – Always On My Mind
• Chuck Berry – Jonny B Goode

You can now submit your tracks for play on The Midsweep directly in to our Soundcloud Dropbox by clicking here.

As you may have heard a couple of weeks ago, we’re also looking for people to record sweepers/jingles for us, so you plop them in there too, if you wish. It’s all very exciting round here at the moment, as we’ve just confirmed not one, but two live bands to play for us on the 21st November. All shall be revealed tomorrow, live from 10am on RhubarbRadio.com

So this week we had a stonker lined up for you. The Benwahs had agreed to come in and do a special acoustic set ahead of their regular nights at Gosta Green in Aston starting on the 31st, Tammy had been out interviewing the general public about superstitions and myself and Steve had a range of quality tracks lined up for your delectation.

In the past few weeks we’ve been steadily getting better and better at getting the bands set up so that the acoustic sound comes out well across the interweb-waves and this week, believe me, was absolutely phenomenal. Of course you may be wondering why I’m referring to the show as if it hadn’t *actually* happened. Well it did, but a server hiccup meant that only the first few minutes were streamed live and consequently the band actually just played a very small, intimate gig for a selection of their family, friends and The Midsweep team.

Technology is a funny old thing. We depend on it to get our messages across about the music we love, the research we do during the week and for each and every one of you to enjoy the result of our hard work. I won’t lie, I actually felt like bursting in to tears after I found out we’d not been on air since 10:05. The emotion in Suzie’s voice on the songs transferred to me and, already feeling a little delicate, it made myself, Steve and Tammy absolutely dejected.

Fingers crossed the show has been recorded somewhere in the ether so we can put it out on listen again as well as get something prepared for next week when we have World of Fox and, possibly, The Benwahs back in again. It’s going to be a good one. Again

So this week saw the introduction of Phil’s “sweeper skillz” as I played out the sum total of an afternoons work in front of the microphone after our weekly production meeting at Cafe Nero on Corporation St. We introduced our second regular feature, iPod Shuffle. As the name suggests, it’s a chance to potentially expose questionable musical content on each of the team’s iPods.

As features go, it’s potentially damaging if, for instance, Steve’s hidden cheeky girls fetish is revealed for the whole of Birmingham and beyond. It’s also a chance for listeners to find out exactly what they might find were they to steal or “borrow” one of our iPods for the evening. We’re hoping to have more new features in the coming weeks, with our next “People on the Pavement” debuting (hopefully) on Saturday.

The Benwahs are coming in to the studio next week to perform a specially prepared acoustic set just for us, so be sure to tune in at 10am or listen again whenever you like at http://v2.rhubarbradio.com

Take a look at the playlist below and listen again here

(continue reading…)

…and welcome to the brand new Midsweep.com. We’ve neglected this over the past few weeks, but fear not -it’s all going to change quite quickly.

Regular features from guest writers will keep you up to date with all your independent music news, while the team will also be chipping in with their thoughts on various music and show related news.

If you’d like to be involved, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below and we’ll be in touch.

Right, I’m off to catch the bus in the freezing cold. The things I do for you lot eh?

In just a little over 24 hours, it’ll time for the Midseep. For the next three weeks, we’ve got bands booked in to come and play live for us and we’re looking for some support.

If you’re around the Custard Factory from 10am tomorrow, pop down and meet the band, the team and rock out to some delicious music. We’re trying to create a party atmosphere every Saturday, and would love to see some of the people who listen every week.

Obviously if 50 people turn up (we can hope, right?) we may not be able to get all of you in to the studio, but if you’re in to live music and fancy a bit of a jaunt in to Brum on a Saturday, why not come down?

On tomorrow’s show are Outspoken. Local pop/punkers who recently supported New Found Glory after the band heard them and personally invited them down. Sound good? Leave a comment or send an email to phil [at] midsweep [dot] com so we have an idea of numbers.

If you can’t get down, you can always listen live at RhubarbRadio.com or, in fact whenever you want to.

Today was a very interesting show for me. We’ve been asking for bands to come in and play live acoustic sets since the show started, and today Crimson Joy were the first to rock the Custard Factory studios.

Normally I’d have relied on Tammy and Steve to help get them settled and ready to go, but as the law of sod would have it, they couldn’t make it through illness and other commitments. Luckily for me I’d done a small amount of sound engineering before, as well as some solo interviews when we were down in Camden, so nothing to lose by doing it all on my own, then

After a few inital hiccups instrument-wise, we kicked off the session at around 11am (you can listen again here) and the guys played some songs from their new album, Tales of Ordinary Madness which will be out on October 29th.

It’s always hard for a band that are used to playing with a full drumkit/bass etc to transfer the edgier songs to acoustic form. In the studio, it definitely sounded like Jordan and the guys managed to do this and although a little bit weird having someone play live for the first time, I bloody enjoyed it!

Fingers crossed we’ll have another one with us next week which will hopefully signal a regular occurence on the show. It’s definitely something I enjoy doing and brings us one step closer to bringing new local music to the masses.

I’d love to hear from you on today’s show. Give us a call on 0121 288 4955 or leave a comment below.

That’s right, after two weeks off the airwaves Midsweep is back tomorrow morning from 10am-12pm BST with a brand spanking new phone number for you to call in to.

A 24 hour voicemail line is active on +44 0121 288 4955 which will also double as a LIVE link in to the studio every Saturday morning.

We expect messages to be left whenever you’re near a telephone as well as your input on the live shows.

So what are you waiting for? Go forth, leave messages! And remember to listen live tomorrow for a special guest.

I’m on my way back home after doing our very first show on Rhubarb Radio.

After some initial hiccups, I think everything went pretty well and definitely from a presenter’s viewpoint, the flow was kept with a good mix of music.

I’ll have a listen back shortly and it’s be cool if you could too and let me know what you think. I’ve got some exciting things in the pipeline for future shows, so hoping you can make it extra special
by being a part of it.

Slight change to the plan I posted about the other day. The Supersonic passes and timetable on Rhubarb has all been finalised, so I won’t be starting next week as planned.

Instead I’ll be taking to the airwaves on Saturday 1st August with the first two hour Midsweep show. In the meantime, I’ll get a few 30 minute shows recorded and put out for podcast so you won’t have to wait too long for another fix.

I’m still undecided on whether to release each and every Midsweep I produce for Rhubarb as a full two-hour podcast, or whether to edit it down. Would be cool if you could provide some feedback so I have an idea of what the consensus from existing listeners is.

Leave a comment below or send we a tweet to @philcoyne.

It’s been a few weeks since a Midsweep show and in that time I’ve been making a few changes to not only the way I’m going to approach and produce the show, but also how I separate personal musings and show related stuff.

Personal stuff will now be on philcee.com whilst this site will concerntrate fully on the show. There’s a big announcement coming in the next week or so which will change not only the reach of the show, but also how you can listen and consume it.

All being well I’m hoping to announce these changes when I get another live show underway sometime this week. At the moment that’s going to be Thursday, but I may shoot for a lunchtime slot and as always release as a separate podcast a few hours later.

Exciting times are ahead for Midsweep and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you all. In the meantime, why not become a fan of the show over on Facebook and help spread the word.