Podcast Love

A few weeks ago I did a post on my favourite websites and blogs and today I thought I would highlight a couple of podcasts that get me through my frankly lazy weeks. What I like about these is that they are all incredibly well-produced and all of them play whatever they want from all four corners of the record shop, which is the way to do it. I am going to be starting my own podcast of sorts during the summer and I hope that they'll be half as good as some of these as it'll give me a chance to trawl through my collection and pull out some gems that you may want to seek out for your own collection. Win/win, really.

As a side-on, how crap are the words 'blog' and 'podcast', surely they could've come up with something that had a bit more pizzaz to it? But anyway here are my favourites.

SOULSEARCHING


Soulsearching is the Compost Records radio show and is presented by Michael Rütten who has released records as Soulpatrol in the past. With regular guests including Quantic, Maurice Fulton, Nicola Conte, Theo Parrish, Mr. Scruff, Louie Vega, John Kong, Ame, Beanfield, Makossa & Megablast, Jazzanova, Rainer Truby, Ben Mono, London Elektricity and Carl Craig the show is a perfect amalgamation of ridiculously upfront tunes and forgotten gems all presented in Michael's carefully worded English. Definitely a show that has it's ears as firmly rooted in the past as it is in the future. Download the podcast by searching for Soulsearching in the iTunes Podcast directory or just download them individually from the Compost Records website.

LAZPOD


Selected and presented by Crosstown Rebels', and former City Rockers head honcho, Damian Lazarus ably assisted by Matt Styles, Lazpod is an at times barmy no-holds barred run through the entire gamut of the musical sphere from folk to minimal all presented in Damian's typical cheeky swagger. Subscribe to the podcast here.

GILLES PETERSON WORLDWIDE


How the king of the airwaves finds time to record and produce these in addition to his absolutely essential weekly musical jaunts on Radio 1, which you can download here is beyond me but I am thankful that he does as his chats with the likes of Paul Bradshaw, Aaron Jerome, Peter Adarkwah and Marc Mac are highly informative and enthusiastic looks at the music that has most certainly kicked all of us in the ass. Subscribe to the podcast here.

FABRIC


Produced by former World Wide producer Karen P's production company, the Fabric podcast simply asks a few of the hundreds of DJs that have passed through its doors to come in and over two parts play their favourite records and have a bit of a chat about them. So far they've had Craig Richards, Andrew Weatherall, Doc Scott, Jonny Trunk, Ross Allen, owner Keith O'Reilly and a few others in the studio and what has emerged has been a nostalgic look at the music and times that have defined their careers. If you only subscribe to one podcast that I've picked today make this the one. Subscribe to it here.

BASIC SOUL



Now there is a case for bias here what with me being directly linked to the website via the interviews that I do for Simon but I can assure you that no favoritism went into this choice. Presented by Leeds-based Simon Harrison, Basic Soul is a labor of love that takes you on a journey through the best of jazz, funk, soul, house and whatever else catches Simon's ears and his presentation style is relaxed and knowledgeable with clear enthusiasm and appreciation for all the music that he plays. I have serious record envy when it comes to Simon and on every show he unearths a gem that I immediately seek out and buy. Subscribe to the podcast here.


I am also interested to know what podcasts you listen to, so if there is anything that you think is essential then leave me a message and I'll have a listen.