Podcasts, Podget, Audacious, And Linux

For over ten years I've been using gPodder to manage my subscriptions to music and hobby podcasts.  Recently, I realised that gPodder was using almost 0.25 Gb of memory all the time just to monitor podcast feeds every hour.  This seemed an excessive overhead.

To make matters worse I'd developed all sorts of different podcast habits; copying music podcasts to an archive folder etc etc.  The habits weren't onerous but I began to wonder if there was a different way to do things with less intervention on my part.

From now on this gets "techie".  So, if this isn't your thing, look away now!

The Seventies!

In the last ten days or so I've been listening to a lot of music from my teenage years during the 1970s. I don't mean Slade, Sweet & their ilk but the bands I saw live whilst growing up in the North East. Cold northern nights, train trips to Newcastle and the bright lights of the big city.

Then I noticed that there's a new Rory Gallagher album out "Check Shirt Wizard – Live In ‘77" featuring live cuts from various UK gigs including the City Hall, Newcastle.

 

2018 Play List

I haven't done this in a while so here's my 2018 play list.  They are all available as either weekly or monthly podcasts. You may have to dig around a bit to get an RSS feed for the podcasts but the picture links will get you started.

Shredded Wheat Keep The Faith!

It's been awhile since I wrote a music post so this is a refershing change. It all began last night whilst half-watching the Jonathon Ross show. My attention was caught by an advert with a soul music backdrop:



Nothing new in that but when I actually looked at the screen I struck by an image of middle-aged people in 70s clothing. Sure enough Shredded Wheat have come up with a low key advert with a Northern Soul theme! Who'd have thought it?

Music To Paint By :: Part 5

As regular readers will know I occasionally post articles about music. I find it helps me to work and paint.

Recently, I’ve been finding more and more excellent mix sites offering mp3 downloads, or streams, of 30 to 60 minute mixes.  So in time honoured fashion here’s a list of my current favourites for you to try.  In reverse order we have:

• Big Rock Candy Mountain – this American blog offers a mixture of country, blues and sixties R & B along with loads of attitude.
• Voodoo Funk – a definite walk on the wild side with Frank Gossner.  Frank’s a German who spent three years touring West Africa. He has posted the most amazing collection of afro funk, beat and soul mixes based on the vintage records he uncovered.
• Funky16Corners – another American site run by Larry Grogan but with some strong Northern Soul tendencies.  Keep the faith!  You can also checkout Larry’s Facebook page.
• Flea Market Funk – a great site run by DJ Prestige. He’s an American Liverpool FC fan known to his mother as Jamison Harvey. The mixing is a little more complex but the archive is immense.
• Thirty Thirsty – a slice of cool pop, funk and soul chosen with typical Italian style by Fabrizio Durante.  Bright, lively and an ideal alternative to the radio. My current favourite.

There you have it pop pickers: this weeks’ mix chart.  Enjoy.

Old Folks Boogie

This lyric popped into my head just after I’d finished the previous post. Seemed appropriate really.

“Try and get a rise from an atrophied muscle,
And the nerves in your thigh just quivers and fizzles
So you know, that you're over the hill
When your mind makes a promise that your body can't fill“

Lyrics by Paul Barrere, & Gabriel Paul Barrere

Music To Paint By :: Part 1

I like to listen to music while I paint and quite often I listen to radio shows on the internet. One of my favourites is "Downtown Soulville" with Mr Fine Wine. It's a corny name for a great show.



If you like rare soul try it. It's available as either an audio stream or a podcast from wfmu.org.