Category Archives: Free Radio Skybird

Get those buckets out, possibly

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This scene is from a couple of years ago but this weekend we may go back in the time machine and relive it as it’s going to be 2°C overnight on Sunday, supposedly.

We’ve got spuds that have sprouted and even some coriander seed that have propagated outdoors so it’s better to be safe than sorry. We reckon give it a couple of more weeks and we’ll be out of the danger zone but then again remember that snappy old-time gardening saying “Button to chin, till May be in, cast not a clout, till May be out. If you lose your seed spuds you will get angry and swear and shout”.

The sun’s out this morning, the sky is blue but it’s still nippy. Whether we’ll be in the garden today for long is another thing. So for this sunny morning, here’s a tune by Billy Hope with Riding West which has a bit of a Steptoe and Son vibe to it.

Whistling three sheets to the Wind

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Cheers to Justin Patrick Moore for sending us this great instrumental from Luna called Drunken Whistler and a lovely little number it is. For some reason it reminded us of something that may have been on Andrew Weatherall‘s excellent Live at Antenna Studios mix (below) which we have mentioned a good few times.

If you haven’t heard the mix before it’s well worth a listen, there’s a track from Manfred Mann of all people called Just for me (“And there, I saw trees reaching to the sky. And birds full of colour and flying high”) and Harpers Bizarre with Witchi Tai To. Excellent stuff of the eclectic kind! Cheers again Justin for sending us the track recommendation.

Music for snoozin’

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Here’s the audio of yesterday’s Imaginary Stations show WZZZ, all about the art of sleep and dreaming. It was a horizontal themed show with music to drop off to and songs to dream to. 

 

There’s some great tunes throughout the hour from DJ Frederick and Justin Patrick Moore (have a look at his great new book here) and at 1.52 mins in there’s One Deck Pete with a 15 min mix called “You may say I’m a dreamer”. Gerry Hectic‘s answer mix “You’re not the only one” is here if you want to complete the set!

Here’s a tracklisting:
Jah Wobble – Fading (Instrumental)
L. Pierre – Fan-dance
The Barbados Steel Orchestra – Barbados My Island of Dreams
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – The Night
Owen Gray – Midnight Track

Have a good day and if you fancy a lazy Monday snooze, drop off to WZZZ!

Off the map, off the radio

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Cheers to DJ Frederick for letting us know about this great quaility half an hour recording of last week’s imaginary stations show WDWD – Off The Map Radio broadcast by Shortwave Gold. It was recorded in Belarus by Aleksandr Myadel (cheers Aleksandr for putting it up on youtube).

At 13 minutes in there’s One Deck Pete‘s “I’ll take the high road too” mix and here’s the tracklistings:
Stereognosis – Farewell
Outward Bound – First Cue
Tetsuo – Not taking the bus
Hidden Orchestra – East London Street
Tubby Isiah – Lost dub

If you want to hear more of the show, ten of the latest Imaginary Stations episodes are up online here at our Mixcloud. The show is also looking for some financial help to cover the production and transmission costs so we can continue to transmit on shortwave, more on that here:

More radio fun

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This weekend the Imaginary Stations crew present another installment of WDWD – Off the Map Radio. Programme 2 in the series will be going out to Europe via the services of Shortwave Gold on Sunday 28th January 2024 at 1000/1400 hrs UTC on 6160 kHz and then at 2100 UTC on 3975 kHz (ionosphere permitting).

 

 

Enjoy more journey related tunes and some about locations and place names and the show also includes a mix from One Deck Pete called “You take the high road” including tunes by LJ SEB, Cornershop, Soul Sugar and Zeb The Spy from Cairo.

Then on early Monday 29th January 2024 there’s KPET for all pet lovers out there at 0300 UTC on 9395 kHz via WRMI. They’ll be songs for your cat, budgie and guinea pig alongside reviews of dry cat food, dog biscuits and hamster chews. It will be a great show so tune in.

(Imaginary) Radio is a (Electro) magnetic thing

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Imaginary Stations takes to the internet airwaves from his Monday on Electromagnic Radio. It looks a great station with lots of great shows here.

Times are Mondays at 2pm and on a Saturday at 7pm both UK time. Tune in and enjoy the first show which is Radio Lavalamp but that’s after exploring all the other musical possibilities that are on the site. Enjoy the diverse range of musical enjoyment on Electromagnetic Radio.

A couple for a Saturday night

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A tune for a winter’s Saturday night found while researching a shortwave mix. It’s called “Farewell” and is from Stereognosis® from a few year ago. It’s wonderful stuff!

And while we’re on the subject of Stereognosis® check the whole LP on Bandcamp as it’s well worth getting. Here’s another good one off it.

Radio Bingo!

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If you’ve got a shortwave radio (or fancy a go on a Software Defined Radio aka SDR radio lilke this one here) there’s an Imaginary Stations show called The Numbers Station going out to Europe via Shortwave Gold this Sunday 7th January 2024 at 1000/1400 hrs UTC on 6160 kHz and then on 3975 kHz at 2100 UTC. 

As you expect there’s an hour of great tunes that feature numbers and also at 18 minutes in is a mix from One Deck Pete aptly called “The Numbers Game” that has tunes from Kieran Mahon, Sonmi 451, Paper Sailboat, AK and Madtone. Tune in!

Also numbers related is an interesting youtube we’ve posted up before but worth posting again called Which Mysterious Numbers Stations Were Used In Music? from the great Ringway Manchester. Excellent stuff and cheers for mentioning Madtone!

On a shortwave Solstice Christmas tip

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On Christmas Eve Sunday 24th December 2023 there’s an Imaginary Stations Winter Special going out to Europe via Shortwave Gold at 1000/1400 hrs UTC on 6160 kHz and then at 2100 UTC on 3975 kHz. There are festive tunes a go-go and at 40 mins in there’ll be One Deck Pete with “A holiday mix”. Tune in with a Irish Coffee and get festive!

One tune that will be played is a cracking dubbed out version of Carla Thomas’ “Gee Whizz it’s Christmas” (above) by the one and only Bodyswitch out of Oakland, California, Great stuff indeed.

 

Then on early Christmas Day there’s a show from the Radio Thrift Shop archives called a Winter Holiday Special with DJ Frederick. Tune in at 0300 UTC on 9395 kHz via WRMI for the more eclectic side of yuletide/winter solstice programming featuring some eclectic holiday tunes and a very interesting mini-documentary called “In Search of The Shaggs” about the rock band formed in Fremont, New Hampshire in 1965. Tune in for something that little bit different for Christmas.

Keep this frequency clear

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It was very sad to hear about Benjamin Zephaniah who passed away this morning. Thanks to Gerry Hectic for letting us know about this great tune. RIP Benjamin Zephaniah.