The NHAM Mixtapes

Nativity Holy Advent Mashup – NHAM Mixtape 7

Posted on December 1, 2024November 26, 2024 by mixtape

Welcome to the Christmas mixtape – Nativity Holy Advent Mashup! 12 festive-themed tunes to jingle our bells. 🔔🎄🤶☃️☀️

As always more info including song and artist links below the mixtape.

Lo-Fi Orchestra – The Carol of the Bells
Microcontrollers and boards in place of humans and their orchestral instruments. Each board connected to a central MIDI distribution aided by Raspberry Pis and another nano-tech. Sound complex? It’s all explained in a lot more detail here. Lo-Fi Orchestra has performed many classical pieces including The Flight of the Bumblebee and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture but if you watch the Peertube video I’m sure you’ll agree that this Christmas piece is even more perfectly suited to this set up as the boards flash bright lights when their sound plays, creating a fitting festive lighting effect.
@diyelectromusic

Mans1 – Freezing Rain
Another one found on Peertube, this is a reworking of the original that Mans1 released with Hometaping on the Hip-Hop Taoists Album. It features Oliver H on lead vocals with Mans1 bringing the smooth French rap. The video has some lovely stop motion in the snow.
@mans1

Futzle – Weeping Melaleuca
Let’s not kid ourselves that Christmas is all about snow and cold weather. Far from it as Christmas comes just days after the summer solstice for the Southern Hemispherites. This song from Futzle centres around a type of tree native to Australia called a Melaleuca – whose red flowers fall like tinsel on the ground in the heat of the Christmas hols. Although not a true story in it’s entirety Futzle says the lyrics are still meaningful and informed by her life. Indeed the tree itself did exist until it’s life was brutally cut short in 2023. Its memory though lives forever in this beautiful song.
@futzle

Sive – Don Oíche Úd i mBeithil
From the red of the Melaleuca to the green of the Emerald Isle. Performed beautifully this traditional Irish carol translated as ‘That Night in Bethlehem’ sings of the night in the West Bank when Jesus was born. Sive has cleverly interwoven parts of a Palestinian folk song in to this rendition.
@sivemusic

LAGRANGE POINT 6 – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Another traditional Christmas carol, this version was composed with the juxtaposition of utilising synths to create a medieval approach, and to great effect.
@jimdonegan

CURXES (Robert Fidora) – I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS
They said there would be peace on earth. This is Roberta’s electronic cover version of Greg Lake’s classic protest song at the commercialisation of Christmas. What’s not commercialised eh? Peace I guess. Shit! -That’s the answer! -If we can find a way to commercialise peace we might yet find a way to make capitalism work. (We’ll need a way to commercialise degrowth too, mind).
@RobertaFidora

Xylander – How Glad They Were
The sad albeit understandable announcement of the sunsetting of Radio Free Fedi hit us all pretty hard. One thing for sure is that the community we are all now part of thanks to RFF will live on. For the electronic music section of the community Pete Xylander has already begun putting together some shows for an electronic-based online station called @audiointerface so check that out if you are that way inclined. Meanwhile here is his Christmas tune from last year. Welcome the reindeer. How glad they were at the sound…
@xylander

Wanda & Nova deViator – Wrappings
You know those jokes you get in Christmas crackers? Here’s mine:
Q: What do you get when you cross an electronic musician and a contemporary dancer, performer and choreographer who both take influences from breakbeat, trip-hop, dub, idm, electro, noise and other bass genres?
A: Presents! And this is one of them, nicely wrapped.
(It wasn’t supposed to be funny! Christmas cracker jokes never are. At least this one has substance.)
@luka

Eugene K – the angel
I love the atmospheric build up in this and the way it merges in to a prog rock performance. Eugene K is a poet and artist who has created a brilliant telling of William Blake’s poem.
@eugenek

The L Plate Players – I’m Staying Home This Christmas
Written for her found Fediverse family, Deborah Pickett penned a country-Christmas song and asked many of those friends to collaborate on it. Deborah says that sixths feel festive to her, and so filled the chorus with them, excluding all thirds, fourths and fifths in the process – clever as ever, as are the lyrics!
@futzle, @herzleid, @jimbob, @nein09, @pelagikat, @philsawa, @pilum, @raaahbin, @sknob, @virtualwolf

toadlilies – three stars each
We’ve got to have a bit of shoegazey pie for Christmas! From the ursa major album released in May this year ‘three stars each’ is a lovely song from the Nebraskans. There may be nothing explicitly Christmasy about it but the twinkly jingles combined with the stars in the title make it sit well in this mix.
@toadlilies

BonkWave AllStars – We Wish You A Merry Bonksmas
2024 has been described the year of the bonk and 2025 is set to be even more bonky so we could play out with nothing else. I wish you a VERY MERRY BONKSMAS indeed!
@gullfot, @Traiken, @venya, @johann, @axwax

November Heralds Audio Masters – NHAM Mixtape 6

Posted on November 1, 2024November 2, 2024 by mixtape

There’s some real beauty in this one. Strap in for a bit of everything: From mental vending to gentle mending via gender bending, it’s genre blending bliss!

Songs and artist details with links below the mixtape.

Helen Bell – Two Before the Five
Such a gorgeous intro to a beautifully sung, played and arranged song. There’s something so pure and connected about Helen’s music.
@helenbellmusic

Unwoman – Cultivate
Staying in the stringed theme and adding a deep beat this is another one that has come from a strong connection to the soul.
@unwoman

Me:she – SWEETIE
And now in full swing with a whole ensemble this is such a cool funk, and with a dose of French rap to boot what’s not to like? I actually found this one browsing Peertube -the video version is cool too!
@meshe

Matt Young – Calling All the World
Calling All the World has a strong Richard Hawley vibe. It’s a luscious piece with an important call that we really need to answer in the affirmative.
@mattyoung

Limnetic Villains – How To Break A Boy
I love the way the rhythm and lo-fi beats twist and turn through the gears in what is a very well crafted tune. I gravitated to this the first time I heard it before learning what it’s actually about: a story worthy of a [insert-popular-streaming-service-here] docuseries. -I’ll leave you to explore that for yourself!
@limneticvillains

pgcd – This Is Just Illusion (1982)
What is no illusion is pgcd’s homage to 1980’s hi-NRG and new beat. Complete with a New Order drum fill, there are some lovely effects going on in and around this gloriously melancholic hit.
@pgcd

Single Bass – Red Ferrari
Ahhh, and then back to perfection in simplicity: The lovely voice of an English lady called Jennifer Moore accompanied solely by her bass. Red Ferrari is a fine example obtaining glory without leaving first gear.
@SingleBass

b.trx – All Night
The whole Garage Hearts EP from which this came is superb. If you have any kind of affinity to UK garage I’m sure you’ll love this slightly emotive and dark form with hints of Burial.
@coda

Fast Ghost – Mortal Wombat
Acid wombat rave, need I say more? As if it wasn’t already worth a chunk of your dime, any money made from Fast Ghost music gets match-funded and donated to charity at the end of each month. Hero.
@FastGhost

Stefan Bohacek – How To Stop Time
I had earmarked Stefan early on in the NHAM project with just one problem: Despite being a Fedi-heavyweight (a fediweight?) none of his music was on any of the Fair platforms, existing only on Soundcloud. He soon rectified that giving me license to publish. But then came another problem: The song I picked, this one, got me singing along, adding my own lyrics. I decided to record them and sent it to Stefan from which our own collaboration has now come about (we’re making tunes together as ‘Secret Deal’). Since we are now collaboraters and How To Stop Time is the basis of our first tune I wasn’t going to include it after all, before deciding that wouldn’t be fair on Stefan. So here it is, in all its glory, the original, funky beat from the man I’m still pinching myself to call my bandmate.
@stefan

Joe Ressington – Loss of Summer
Oh boy this hits the spot, THAT spot, the one it intends to, just perfectly. With the harmony in the chorus really grabbing at the reminiscence receptors you’ll be yearning for summer even if it’s your least favourite season!
@JoeRess

Kyle Bronsdon – Luxurious Poisons
A luxurious Cave-Waits blend to see the evening out, this is a perfectly smooth jazz groove and it completes what has been a wonderful November mixtape from some real masters of the audiosphere.
@kylebronsdon

Necromantic Halloween Aural Mummies – NHAM Mixtape 5

Posted on October 1, 2024November 4, 2024 by mixtape

Oh yes, we’re going ghoulishly gothic for a Halloween mixtape this October. 🧟‍♂️👻🎃💀🧙

Songs and artist details with links below the mixtape.

If you’d prefer you can listen to the tracks as a radio show initially aired on Radio Free Fedi (click me).

Ether Diver – Psychedelic Ghost Story
An early visit from Ian Curtis before he’s quickly swept aside by the psychedelic ghosts of the ether? There’s a good chance you’re here because you love discovering indy music in The Fediverse. Well click through to Ether Diver’s profile to get amazing weekly fixes of new music from the Fediverse curated by him.
@etherdiver

Doctor Deathray – Bloody Bones
Described by the Doctor as “very fun”, and a paraphrased version of a story her mum told her as a kid, even though she has no recollection of it! …’Fun’ so long as you do listen and don’t fall victim of Bloody Bones! SPOT!
@DoctorDeathray

bgm – William’s Face
bgm’s very own Murder Ballad. A beautifully sung, perfectly played, horrific tail!
@bgm

Fit and the Conniptions – Old Blue Witch
It’s funny. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t think of this specific witch as a murderous, barbaric totem of evil, and yet she rules over us for so long.
@conniptions

Six Umbrellas – Zombie Disco
You can’t have a Halloween mixtape without a zombie disco. Suspend those limp-wristed limbs. Now dance.
@sixumbrellas

4TRIKS – DEATH LOOP
Now you’re on the dance floor of doom and there’s no turning back!
@4triks

she hacked you – Ghost Dance
she hacked you identifies as a paradoxically lucid glitch witch, apparent in this apparition shuffle.
@ekis

Sgrow – out-of-body-like
Be gone the witch, remain the glitch.
@lislegaard

John Wright – Blood
This man must complete the holy trinity of electro Johns. Talabot, Hopkins and Wright.
@thgirwnhoj

Allflowers – Where The Witches Live
Incredibly atmospheric sounds from the French rockers.
@allflowers

Desolation Park – Night Dweller
Super rhythmic.
@desolationpark

Ultranauts – Ghosts & Angels
There may have been no Thriller in this mix but it’s safe to say this one is all Killers. Pretty fitting.
@endlessblue

If you made it through alive well done. If not, well you’re just a ghost like the rest of us. 👻

Nebula Horizon Ambient Movements – NHAM Mixtape 4

Posted on September 1, 2024September 30, 2024 by mixtape

This one is a concept mixtape where we take a one way voyage through space and time: Beginning here on earth we feel the power of the moon, see comets and feel inspired to explore further and further in to distant galaxies until we’re sucked in to a big black hole with everything else. Hit play on the opening track to begin the ride…

More on the songs, the artists, their links and the journey below the mixtape.

🌍🌔☄️🚀💫🛸👩‍🚀🪐✨👽🌌

If you’d prefer you can listen to the tracks as a radio show initially aired on Radio Free Fedi (click me).

Ulrike Mod – éclairé par le clair de lune
@puffer / Bandcamp
Ulrike Mod is the moniker used for a series of embellished piano improvisations by musician Christian Puffer and this piece translates in to English as Illuminated by Moonlight. – A place we’ll start the stellar voyage that is this the fourth NHAM mixtape: Here on earth with the closest thing in our night sky shining down on us as peacefully as this lovely opener.
gribbles – Comets
@gribbles / Bandcamp
gribbles says Comets is an ‘attempt at real music’. It’s a hugely successful attempt. From sublime to sinister and back again, befitting our impending journey into space. Originally visualised as a pastoral piece with complexities of storms followed by clear skies and birds on the wing, gribbles realised it was becoming overworked so cut back the complexity and was left with this. Much like when we cut back the complexities of our life on earth and are left with the awe-inspiring simplicity of vast open space.
Sakti – Sound of Stars
@Sakti / Bandcamp
As the light reflects down on us from the moon, and the comets come and go all becomes still and we begin to go deep, hearing the Sound of Stars. I’ve already used Sakti in a previous mixtape (and quite frankly could do so in every one, with so many great compositions to choose from) but with a cosmic themed mix this time I couldn’t leave out Sound of Stars. If this is what they sound like then it’s no wonder we’ve decided to make this one way mission to get closer to them.
KNova – UFOhs
@knova / Bandcamp / Faircamp
And then up and away we go, like a UFO. UFOhs was inspired by Mac DeMarco, which is really apparent in the beat, bassline and distorted single-strum chords. KNova is Keith in Colorado who says Star Trek is frequently playing in his house.
RX1F – Astronauts
@voxpopsicle / Bandcamp
You know we’re hurtling through space now! Just listen to it! We’re doing ‘80s nostalgia-driven space travel on a super scale.
Futzle – Written in the Stars
@futzle / Faircamp
As we travel between them we’re beginning to realise that everything happening back on Earth was written in these stars. Deborah aka Futzle was just 17 when she wrote this in 1990 but it remained unearthed for 30 years until this 2020 recording was published. “Quetzalcoatl (“Feathered Serpent”) was one of the gods of Mesoamerica. His brother and rival, Tezcatlipoca (“Night Wind”) got him intoxicated and banished for drunken incest. (Yikes!) Quetzalcoatl’s associated year in the Aztec calendar was Ce Acatl (“One Reed”), which correlates to the year 1519, a very bad year for the Aztecs because that’s when Cortés landed and triggered the fall of their empire.”
Doctor Popular – Dazzler
@docpop / Bandcamp
Doctor Popular has a weekly video series called The Fediverse Files in which he extols the virtues of the Fediverse. With a different guest each week he makes simple and fun explainer videos for those not yet in the know, telling of why The Fediverse is the future. Not content with being a brilliant mouthpiece for our beautiful online home, he also makes some wonderful sounds, including Dazzler, for which there are a few versions floating about. This is the album version. Docpop, you know exactly who you are: A star.
Default Media Transmitter – Solemnity
@defaultmediatransmitter / Mirlo
Ok, now we’re experiencing some turbulence. Solemnity comes from an EP called Two Space Tunes which you can check out on @mirlo. It feels like we’re going through places we’ve not comprehended before. There’s no turning back now.
exodrifter – Home at a Star
@exodrifter / Bandcamp
We’ve found a Home at a Star. Perhaps we’re a bit nostalgic for our previous life, yet we also feel calm, if slightly lonely and melancholic in our new surroundings. From the album Back to the Void.
Hefxthoth – song for alien tomboy girl
@hefxthoth@mastodon.art / Jamendo
Shit! There are other lifeforms out here. And who knew aliens come in varied forms like us. Let’s make friends by playing a song for alien tomboy girl.
Milford Progress Association – Saraswati Supercluster
@jimbob / Bandcamp
At the Saraswati Supercluster we’re now 4 billion light years from Earth. Vast, spacious, beautiful, epic, ambient, rough, bright, dark energy.
Vince Nevers – Event Horizon
@vincenevers / Bandcamp
– Oh! In our never ending pursuit of more we’ve come too far. Like Icarus on a universal scale we’ve reached the Event Horizon. Couldn’t think of a much better way to end it though. This has been quite the voyage. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have.

@music

Nueva Hora Agosto Mix – NHAM Mixtape 3

Posted on July 31, 2024August 28, 2024 by mixtape

Tune in, slip back and enjoy the summery-haze vibe of the third NHAM mixtape. Recommended accompaniment: A spare three quarters of an hour, a warm sun, a light breeze, a comfy spot and a cool drink.

(Apologies to folk listening in the Southern Hemisphere. Despite this mix being a ‘hot summer’ soundtrack the tunes are all super enough to be enjoyed in any weather, but it’s in the dripping heat of the hottest summer month that they’ve been put together at my end so it does have a natural summer vibe!)

If you’d prefer you can listen to the tracks as a radio show initially aired on Radio Free Fedi (click me).

Ricky a.k.a. Impulso Bioelectrico – Say Yeah
Arrrrgh Yeah. Pump it up. When the sun shines and the heat hazes, this classic hip hop groove is the perfect accompaniment. I only wish it were three times as long. Ricky is from Palma in Spain and this track comes from the 2023 album De Buenas a Primeras – a collection of fine, short tunes.
Key 13 – L.U.C.A.
Key 13 has such a varied bank of works it was hard to know which song to choose, but I really love L.U.C.A. Some great vocal effects combine with synthetic and natural instruments for a beautifully balanced piece. It’s a pretty telling of the story of the connected nature of us and all life on earth.
Digits – Lost Dream
If you told me this was a new Junior Boys track I’d not have any reason to doubt it. -From the soft yet authoritative vocal to the jittery electronic beeps and beats. That by the way is very much a compliment as Junior Boys are one of the favourite artists of my lifetime.
Bandstahl – I’m falling
Okay, if you’re not in a hot place right now just close your eyes and imagine being on a sandy beach in the sun with a cool breeze blowing through as you listen to this. Life’s good, isn’t it? That’s how this one makes me feel. Deep beat, luscious vocal, warm bass, I’m falling!
White Town – Timeslip
Yes, THE White Town – I told you the coolest kids reside in the Fediverse. I was a touch obsessed with Your Woman back in 1997, so finding Jyoti aka White Town in The Fediverse was a very pleasant surprise. Timeslip is a joyous-sounding, catchy number although the lyrics hint at something darker in the underbelly.
AxWax – Schrödinger’s Bonk
What is Bonk? Can you handle Bonk? Take a dive in to the Bonkwave with master-proponent of the illusive movement to find out! I’d tell you more if I knew but I’m still working Bonkwave out myself a month or so after taking my first dive in to its depths. The one thing I do know so far is that I like it!
Xylander – Hectic Life (Busy Busy Busy!)
This is truly masterful. A 50 year old tape of Xylander’s uncle and grandmother recording a message to another family member has been expertly set in to a speedy dance track. Xylander lists Squarepusher and Autechre among his influences and you can really hear it in his work.
Fastachee – Lonely Negatives
I love the way this track builds as it wakes up from the intro and moves through the gears before unearthing some rare Fastachee vocals in the second half. It’s got industrial vibes, in the electronics department, and has a real get up and go about it.
YACHT – Finger in Your Eye
Fine, jaunty, indy-pop from Young Americans Challenging High Technology – something all of us within The Fediverse are doing whether we realise it or not! I was big in to YACHT back in 2009 so to have rediscovered them via Mastodon this month was a true delight. To then catch up on everything I’ve missed in recent years and hear that they’ve not lost any of their fun, unique sound means I’m now fully back aboard the vessel!
Fräulein Verdrieslich & Torsten Torsten – Jackentaschen-Chanson
According to the deepl translation tool Jackentaschen-Chanson translates as Jacket Pocket Song. I found this version on Torsten Torsten’s Peertube account and it’s a lovely live performance by the two artists in a park on a summer’s day. Apparently they had about 50 more verses for the song they could have included. Sadly my German isn’t good enough to know what they’re singing about but the joy from the performance needs no translation. I also love that at the start of the recording you can just hear the end of Fräulein singing Caravan of Love – one of my all time fave songs.
Huge Shark – A Prayer for Rain
Just like with Kydia in the NHAM 1 mixtape a powerful voice sucks me in so deep here. On this occasion it’s that of Valerie Polichar of Huge Shark. She wrote this song back in 1990 in reference to the droughts experienced in California at the time due to the early onset of climate change. The fact that things have only got worse since make this record continue to stand out. I want future generations to live lives where they can enjoy the best things in life such as Valerie’s voice and music without being impeded by the dystopian effects of climate change we’re hurtling toward. In order for that to happen we need to make radical changes to the way we live at present, and quickly!
The Liquid Clear – Sociate
Just like in last month’s mixtape the closing track is one to leave you hanging there, yearning for more. Experimental producer Bree D aka The Liquid Clear makes sumptuous sounds from Washington. Sociate is just one of many examples that can be found on her Bandcamp profile. It carries a spacey, nostalgic vibe complete with Joy Orbison style break down. Enjoy!

Non Heralded Awesome Music – NHAM Mixtape 2

Posted on July 4, 2024September 13, 2024 by mixtape

I’m really pleased with this collection. Belonging to July it’s a summer mix that transports the listener through day and night; from earth to air; between conscious reality and subconscious dream states; and even to different geographical locations. It did for me anyway. Have a listen and see where it takes you. More info below the mix.

If you’d prefer you can listen to the tracks as a radio show initially aired on Radio Free Fedi (click me).

Six Umbrellas – Rise
The first of the two tracks aptly called Rise that bookend this mix. With the Euro final being played here this month there’s no better place to start the July 2024 mixtape than Berlin: Six Umbrellas is Thomas Bartz and the city I’d call the home of industrial techno is lucky to have him. This one is from the album Ad Astra.
Lehto x Socool – Sierra
Sierra dropped just last month and is ethereal breakbeat at its finest. I can’t not move to it. It’s a wonderful collaboration between two producers, Lehto from Germany and Canadian Socool, who have combined to make Four (Tet) – Combining deep with delicate and luscious with lucid.
BENDY – Haunted
Fittingly, Haunted has a haunting vibe which is pretty dark lyrically and darkly pretty sonically. BENDY is self-described lunatic music dispenser, Eliot Bendinelli. A London based Frenchman* who works for a brilliant organisation in Privacy International, Eliot has recently dedicated one day a week to making music and the result is a brilliant 4-track EP from which Haunted came. (*I’m guessing he’s French based on a combination of his name and his Mastodon instance!)
Ordos Mk.0 – Awash
I love a bit of deep house and I’m reliably informed this is somewhere between that and Dub Techno. -The EP it’s from, ‘Echoes’, comes with a thoughtful and technical insight from the producer as to how each song came about and what was used to make it, as well as some cool sleeve artwork. Deep, rhythmic, dance, all, night.
Roberta Fidora – In Your Neighbourhood
Bloody hell, this is good. Wistful electronica so often gets me. This could easily sit on Joe Godard’s Electric Lines album, which curiously came out in the same year (2017) as Roberta released this one under her previous moniker, ‘Curxes’.
Jonny Fallout – There’s Hope For Us Yet
The opening track of Jonny Fallout’s 2024 album, ‘Concentric Circles’. There’s Hope For Us Yet is a song title whose message is something we all have to cling on to, while the music itself offers the belief that it just might be true. This is dream-synth dreaming big and I love getting lost in it.
Day Dreems – There’s a Light
Day Dreems is a solo artist from Oregon, and Day is their real name, not just a stage name! They have such an enchanting and compelling voice, drawing me in both solo and when harmonised. There’s a Light has what I think I’d call a gypsy-folk vibe with added oomph and pop-personality. The song explores the magic place between limitless dreamland and limiting ‘reality’, and it builds beautifully with perfectly positioned layers until reaching crescendo.
sideSister – Lovelock
The intro is an instant hit-maker and the subsequent interwoven funk in this multi-time signature get me moving and thinking in equal measure. Positivity, hope and slap bass from a super-talented mother and daughter duo, bring it on.
Hy Vyb – Moonlight Dream
Hy Vyb creates an ecclectic mix of music from pop to prog rock through house, drill, drum & bass, afro-beat and more. This lovely number though sounds like a Grimes jam on a sunny day somewhere in West Africa. Dancing!
Liotia – Hand in Hand
My immediate reaction to hearing this one was, ‘CocoRosie does trip hop’, but Liotia are not CocoRosie, they are Abigail Hubbard and Matthew Smyth. It’s got such a hot, summery city vibe. Personally it connects me with times at the start of the relationship with my now-wife, walking through Bristol in the heat together: Feet on concrete and birds in the trees as we wander past and under. Very happy feelings. From the Let Down EP.
Hello Midlands – Outside
Hello Midlands are not wrong, they’re quite right: Everything is a little bit easier outside. Cautiously optimistic, wonky melancholy. -Their words, not mine but I couldn’t put it better. Serene, but not for the sake of it. Erudite, but unassuming. Earnest, but forgiving. See. I’m going Outside now.
Schalle und Stille – Rise
As an ex-Bristolian myself the trip-hoppy Portishead vibes of Schalle und Stille drop me right back in to that beautiful city. It’s the second track in this mix to have done that and also the second called Rise! I love how it does exactly that to you: The song has you grounded to start and just lifts and lifts until you’re floating and dancing in hazy summer air, still rising as it peacefully ends, while you remain afloat, gasping for more. It had to be the closing track, leaving you suspended there …at least until the August mixtape.

Nowt Hat’swhatic All Music – NHAM Mixtape 1

Posted on June 7, 2024August 23, 2024 by mixtape

Hit play on the first track and let the awe-inspiration commence through 45 minutes and 12 tracks. Lowdown lower down (thoughts, attributions, links).

If you’d prefer you can listen to the tracks as a radio show initially aired on Radio Free Fedi (click me).

Cobalt – Home
I came across Cobalt from the fantastically Euro-pop track, ‘Versio’, written for Fedivision 2024. Cobalt is a Finnish musician and linguist, and ‘Home’ is the perfect opener to the very first NHAM mix tape.
sknob – Driven By Desire (Extended Mix)
sknob is another artist who had a strong Fedivision entry with ‘Living the Dream’. Having had a nice rummage through the wonderful back catalogue I was taken by ‘Driven by Desire’ both musically and in its deeper meaning. Shades of Clor, Roxy Music and David Byrne might be something an ‘AI’ generator could output, but the innovation it could not.
Meljoann – EXIT
’EXIT’ has Let’s Eat Grandma vibes. Meljoann’s awesome creativity extends beyond her music and in to her videos too. Well worth a dive via her Peertube channel … you might be lucky enough to get swept in to the Mustics® craze whilst there too. I’m not really sure how to describe Meljoann as a female Prince without calling her Princess, but it’s what I want to do!
bgm – You Can’t See It
Get funky, lo-fi, baseline, harmonise. Can you see it? Now wiggle!
Kydia – Holy Grail
This is just an incredible piece of craftsmanship which gets better and better the deeper you delve and the more you listen. The composition, the lyrics, the production: It’s a masterpiece, made even more remarkable when Kydia’s story is told. -She is lady with ADHD and a Bone-Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA) having been born with Microtia grade 3 and Atresia (a deformed outer ear and ear canal, and single-sided deafness). Cosmetic surgery a few years back to get a prosthetic outer ear, followed by the fitting of a titanium post in to her skull means she can now hear in stereo where the majority of her life she only heard in mono. Kydia is a special talent and Holy Grail could easily be a platinum-selling number one the world over either if Kydia were signed and thrust in to the pop world or if the song was given to one of the superstars of today.
MyLoFy feat. Aaron – The Funniest Thing
This mixtape project came about thanks to Fedivision 2024 and I could easily have chosen 12 songs from Fedivision for this first mixtape, but wanting to get discovering new songs straight away this is the only inclusion from this year’s contest. The Funniest Thing was one of my three votes and if I only had one vote this is the song I would have given it to. A Retro-Pop track tinged with Alphaville about the detachment of conscience people might experience using social media. Whatsmore it was produced exclusively using (lots of) free and open source software. Although perhaps ironically it’s the only song on the list which isn’t linked because I can’t find any MyLoFy music on any of the Fair Music Platforms. I’m reliably informed that a Mirlo profile is on the roadmap though so look out for that!
VCS2600 – Databahn Lowrider
With a funky swagger a la Chromeo or Har Mar Superstar I dare you not to bounce along with your arm bopping aloft as you cruise in your imaginary ride to VCS2600.
lost in the loop – tell_me_what_you_see
Another really catchy little number with a funky groove to keep you on the regular twitch. lost in the loop does shy vulnerability well, laying the cards on the table with tell_me_what_you_see and delivering a right royal winner.
Mishathings – Start Anew
Teaching Political Ecology and Earth Science at Amsterdam University College by day and busting uplifting tunes by night, Misha can momentarily take you to a space and time where it’s all alright with Start Anew, even though it’s really not, is it? We’re in this together.
Sakti – Somerset
Having previously lived in the county I was drawn to this track when checking out some of Sakti’s back catalogue and it’s an epic monster of an audio-trip right up my street. Extremely proficient master crafting here.
Shannon Curtis – Extraordinary People
I’m an 80s kid and Shannon habits 1980s spirit with aplomb, taking me in with the first bang of the synth-wave drum. Extraordinary People is a nostalgia-driven, synth-pop ballad that calls, ‘Look at us, we are extraordinary people’. A nod to all of the artists featured on this page and so many more pouring out their creativity in to the Fediverse and beyond.
Under Shaded Trees – please don’t worry
AKA Chris Lowis said that this track sounded, ‘Like an end of EP kind of track’, so put it at the end of his beautiful 1858 EP … a trick I’ve repeated here to close out the very first NHAM mixtape. Under Shaded Trees is blissful serenity, wistful but optimistic and I love it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed listening as much as I’ve loved curating (and dancing along 👇). See you next month!

And So It Begins (Needles & Pins)

Posted on May 29, 2024September 12, 2024 by mixtape

Fedivision 2024 opened my eyes to how much good music is being made by independent artists on decentralised platforms.

It inspired me so much I chose to end my Spotify subscription and instead commit to spend the money on 10-15 indy tracks per month.

The stipulation is that the artists have a presence in The Fediverse (maybe featuring on Radio Free Fedi or with active Fediverse accounts) or are on open source platforms such as Bandwagon, Faircamp, Funkwhale, Jam.coop, Mirlo, Resonate, Wavlake etc.

This month (May 2024) I have set up a recurring donation to Radio Free Fedi and pledged to Mirlo’s kickstarter.

Next month I’ll publish the first NHAM mixtape.

For now here are the 12 songs that made my shortlist from the 72 entries in Fedivision 2024:

Dace Merryweather – ‘The Roses Outside Grow Suspiciously Red’
Leigh Harrison, – ‘Tap My Toes’
The Rolling Poles – ‘GeoGuessr Song’
Marcus Bointon – ‘Federation’
MyloFy feat. Aaron – ‘The Funniest Thing’
Alison Selby – ‘Sum of my Parts’
Faustine & Juliette – ‘Maudit’
Schall und Stille feat. MyLoFy & Tobias Stutz – ‘Mare’
Jämezytee – ‘Shoot Away Pain’
Cobalt – ‘Versio’
Ferocious Designs – ‘Open Your Eyes’
Key 13 – ‘Misaligned Aardvarks’

NB: Artist links go to their personal Fediverse accounts. Songs have links if the song is available on one of the Fair Music platforms or their own website (or Bandcamp).

The Listen Along Preview Vid: