Tramp Tales is out now!

New show featuring the likes of Animal Train, Knight School, Diamond Nights, Dear Winesburg and Plok! We even have some Northen Soul so tune in right now!

Dear Dear Winesburg; Suitable for young and old.

Although it's been out for quite a while now, One of the most played albums of 2010 at the Tuckshop Community Radio HQ has been the beautifully recorded debut album from Dear Winesburg. For those of you that have tuned into the rather erratic shows this year (2011 will be more consistent - and that's a promise) you should already be quite familiar with this fantastic folk outfit. A finely assembled group of acoustic whippersnappers who consistently pick, strum and tap their way merrily together creating songs that are both melodic and haunting.

Not only have they kept my head nodding along for the most part of this year but has, it seems, also struck a chord with my first nephew Alexander who at the ripe age of 9 weeks spent a very miserable afternoon crying in my living room (life is obviously hard at that age). Desperately trying to calm him down I out of frustration hit the play button on my stereo where Dear Winesburg had been happily living. There is now no doubting that Alexander probably possesses a keen ear because after the beautifully brief introduction to this album his crying had almost completely stopped, in fact by the time we had got halfway through Dark Water pt I & II I do believe I saw him smile for the first time and by track 4 aptly entitled "windy old weather" baby Alexander was fast asleep.

Later as he left with his parents I passed them my copy of this brilliant album and have since been told he listens to it every night, a luxury which is undoubtedly good for him, but bad for me as I can no longer listen to Dear Winesburg.

To get your hands on the delicious debut album by Dear Winesburg you should visit them on myspace here or join them on facebook. You can also listen to the likes of them and other folky wonders (as well as some heavier stuff) at Tuckshop Community Radio.

The Hornblower brothers blow their last Trumpet?

It's such a shame that the Hornblower brothers have decided to take an extended sabbatical and pursue new interests. They were without a doubt one of Tuckshop Community Radio's favourite bands, having been with us from the very beginning. Along with getting them to play at one of the Club Ugly's last year, We were also fortunate to record one of the early living room sessions with them. Recorded in a bedroom overlooking Brighton Pier, they entertained The Tuckshop faithful with not only their wonderful strummings but also a finely picked playlist.

It is therefore with a heavy heart that in celebration of The Hornblower Brothers we have re-posted the original session so they can live long in not only our memories but also our ipods.....(just click on the photo above)

Bye Bye The Hornblower brothers, we will miss you

xxx

Uphill Cycle Madness

At Tuckshop, we are always keen to see some real battles and to be honest they don't come much harder than trying to cycle up Swains Lane. A steep hill in North London that is located somewhere between Kentish Town and Highgate Village (those in the knowledge can tell you that It actually creeps up the side of the infamous Highgate Cemetry, permanent home of of the grandaddy of socialism Karl Marx)

Rather predictably for an event organised during the summer month of July , the rain also decided to participate, however the weather didn't seem to to affect the attendance as locals gave witness to lots of lycra and thunderous thighs.

Cycling teams competed, a few nutters attempted the steep climb on a single speed (in fact someone actually broke their chain!) and one competitor was accompanied by his four legged canine companion who kept lookout in a front basket.

The event was something to do with a company called Rollapaluza who from what I gather put on these type of challenges ,and was sponsored by the super sweet british bike company Condor who awarded the eventual winner with some of their goodies. Which in my mind were fully deserved.

Viva les Petanque at the Charles Lamb

For a while now in the overworked Tuckshop Towers it's been assumed that the finest pub in London is indeed the Charles Lamb. Frequented on a regular basis by my better half (she works close by) I have on occasion enjoyed not only it's fine French food but also it's Bretagne Cidre, bottled Anchor Steam and it's extremely friendly staff. The Charles Lamb also displays a brilliant selection of maps and is actually responsible for me trawling charity shops to find old drawings of this fair city (I have found a wonderful map from the 1960's, soon to be framed and hung on my wall)

It was therefore, quite an easy decision to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon participating in it's annual Petanque Tournoi. An event attended by some of the finest Petanque players that the streets of North London have ever witnessed.

The accordian hummed, Marine Ices served ice cream and locals battled against each other, kicking up dust and sweating under the summer heat. It also provided me with the opportunity to develop film for the first time in nearly 12 years, which admittedly wasn't as straight forward as I remember and is reason for the odd blemish in some of the below.











More can be found at the Tuckshop Community Flickr page and if you like the sound of The Charles lamb and its tasty offerings then please visit them now and pick up yourself a veritable banquet.

We are back!!!!

Sorry for the longest delay over the summer. It's been a crazy time, but fear not! Tuckshop Community Radio is now back on air and to get things rolling we have a belter of a new show featuring the likes of Hanoi Jane, Freak Cola, Melodica, Melody and Me and the oh so awesome aint no woman gonna make a George Jones outta me.
All you need to do is click on the image, plug in your headphones and enjoy. xx

Back to school with Everything Everything

With a small army of cameras, microphones and human bodies, the Tuckshop Community team ventured to a super-modern seconadry school in North London, accompanied by the gleefully engaging Everything Everything. Before setting up in one of the school's cavernous art rooms, the band showed us their mini-but-state-of-the-art-tour bus (think a sort of sexy four wheeled empty pimped-up sandwich packet holder, complete with its own very unique sealed-in band musk).


Once they were nestled in among the empty paint pots, questionable GCSE art work and a sign that ominously declared ‘All A2 work not collected this week WILL be thrown away', they were utterly brilliant. Though the band are can in no way be described as ‘acoustic’, they rose to (and exceeded) the challenge. Singing pitch perfect despite the drums bouncing off the walls, they kept time like a metronome. Stripped of nearly all the electrics, the songs remain both melodically and harmonically impressive, as well as having a sense of real craft in the swell and ebb of the arrangements.

EVERYTHING EVERYTHING - Schoolin' from Tuckshop Community on Vimeo.

The session flashed past and after a couple of blasts of previous singles Schoolin', Photoshop Handsome and Suffragette, Suffragette, the band darted back up North (Manchester), preparing for a summer of heavy touring and the launch of their debut album. We thank them again for taking the time and effort to stop by and play for us.

See the other videos here or more photos here

Thanks to Didi Mae and Ayeshah Zolgadr for the photos.