The Other Woman interviews Berlin DJ, Mobilee Records boss and German minimal techno pioneer Anja Schneider, listen here

The Other Woman meets supersonic DJ Anja Schneider, post a three hour set in the early hours at London's Fabric and over a baconless BLT at her hotel. We cover Anja's early entry into dance music in Cologne as a young raver to her first mind-blowing night at the legendary Berlin club Tresor - and what inspires her? Working with the likes of homegrown Mobilee talent Sebo K and Pan Pot, also what to expect from her next album. This interview comes ahead of a special 6 Mix on BBC 6 Music to be broadcast on 10 April focusing on the best women beatmakers, producers, remixers and DJ's presented by TOW's Ruth Barnes - tune into that to hear a special from Anja and her top three tracks of all time.
   

6 Music Introducing: Tanya Auclair & Nat Johnson and the Figureheads

Every week TOW plays two songs for the brilliant Tom Robinson on his BBC 6 Music Introducing show... here are our picks from this week's show: 


Tanya Auclair - Illiterate

How utterly compelling is Tanya Auclair? If you, like we here at TOW, are feeling a bit stupid for not having found her before - don't despair, we're blaming it on the fact that NOTHING this interesting ever breaks into the mainstream. NOTHING this interesting will get picked up by a major label, especially as Tanya Auclair is doing it all herself - her EP Thrum is up for grabs for gratis at her Bandcamp. Why isn't Jools Holland's production team all over this artist? She needs some late night BBC 1 exposure. Maybe one day... Tanya's already embedded in the London soul circuit having sung as part of the Goldsmiths Ensemble, in the choir for the brilliant Alice Russell and currently supporting producer Yult. More please!

Nat Johnson and the Figureheads - Margot

   Margot by NatJohnsonband


This has been a staple on the TOW stereo since Nat, former singer, songwriter and guitarist from folk-pop favourites Monkey Swallows The Universe, sent us the tracks. Sheer, indie-pop loveliness from the Sheffield five-piece. Their EP What the Heart Pours Into is out now on Damaged Goods. What are you waiting for?! Get buying!

French Radio London 22 March - featuring Alice Gun, listen again.

This week The Other Woman on French Radio London features Alice Gun's debut Blood & Bone as the Album of the Week... full playlist below and listen again here.

Yelle - Que Veux Tu?
Tune Yards - Gangsta
Screaming Females - Fall Asleep

ALBUM OF THE WEEK Alice Gun - Horrible Soul

The Woodlands - Heavy Hands remix of Through The Winter
Hurray for the Riff Raff - Take Me
Emika - Count Backwards (Marcel Dettmann mix)

ALBUM OF THE WEEK Alice Gun - Blanket and a Box

Arborea - Careless Love
Tanya Auclair - Illiterate
Tu Fawning - Sad Story

ALBUM OF THE WEEK - Alice Gun - Blood & Bone

If By Yes - Eliza (featuring David Byrne)
Laurel Halo - Folding Tine

6 Music Introducing picks: Adam & Alma 'n Hurray For The Riff Raff

Every week TOW plays two songs for the brilliant Tom Robinson on his BBC 6 Music Introducing show... here are our picks from this week's show:

Adam & Alma - Back To The Sea

   Back To The Sea by Adam & Alma

When asked to pick some SXSW bands for this week's Introducing show for 6 Music, TOW was bamboozled and slightly intimidated by the MASSIVE list of artists. Being a huge pendant and a bit OCD we feel that SXSW would be a wholly unsatisfactory experience as we'd never see all the bands!! Luckily for us, amongst the 'A' list, we found Adam & Alma, a young electro duo from Stockholm consisting of Ellen Arkbro and Johan Graden. Their EP Back To The Sea was released last year and we like it's woozey, lo-fi, laid back ambience and the captivating vocals of Ellen very much. Hope they had a lovely time.
 
Hurray For The Riff Raff - Take Me

   "Take Me" - Hurray For The Riff Raff by Loose Music

TOW is having a minor love affair with this band from New Orleans, Louisana. Alynda Lee Segarra is the voice and creative force behind the band and we can't wait to meet her when they land in London in May. The story goes that she she ran away from her home in The Bronx at the tender age of 17 and 'hopped freight trains' winding up in New Orleans, becoming part of The Dead Man Street Orchestra. HFTRR have self-released two albums, 2008's It Don't Mean I Don't Love You and 2010's Young Blood Blues. A self-titled disc of Alynda's favorite songs from those albums is released on Loose Music in Europe this week. We love it because it makes us want to go and sit by the Bayou on a hot, sticky, Louisiana afternoon... swattin' at flies and lazily watching the world go by.

FRL playlist featuring The Unthanks 15 March 2011

This week The Other Woman on French Radio London features The Unthanks new album Last as the album EP of the week... full playlist below and listen again here.

Rye Rye - Sunshine feat MIA
The Raveonettes - Forget That You’re Young
Fight Like Apes - Jenny Kelly

ALBUM OF THE WEEK The Unthanks- Queen of Hearts

Sea of Bees - Side Pain
Dimbleby & Capper - Let You Go
Sarabeth Tucek - State I Am In

ALBUM OF THE WEEK The Unthanks - The Gallowgate Lad

8Bitch - Glass Diamond
Joan As Police Woman - Nervous
Sleep Over - Casual Diamond

ALBUM OF THE WEEK The Unthanks - My Laddie

Summer Camp - I Want You
Nat Johnson - Margot

Peepholes, Hysterical Injury, The Voyeurist - FREE on Monday 21 March!

We here at TOW cannot contain ourselves. We have teamed up with the fabulous the girls are... to put on a night of truly sublime new music.

Join us on Monday 21 March for a FREE gig at The Old Blue Last, 38 Great Eastern St EC2A 3ES from 7:30pm.

Peepholes are Nick and Katia. Katia plays drums and yells and Nick plays synths and yells. It's an awesome combo:




The Hysterical Injury are Annie and Lee. Lee plays drums and Annie plays bass and yells. Again, it's jaw-droppingly brilliant:



The Voyeurist are relatively new on the scene (the newest out of a bunch of new bands ya see) and it's Sarah's lazy, effortless vocals set against the sheer wall of noise provided by Rusty on guitar and Anna on bass. You heard it here first:

TOW on 6 Music - Clara Engel and Tamara Parsons-Baker

Every week TOW plays two songs for the brilliant Tom Robinson on his BBC 6 Music Introducing show... here are our picks from this week's show:

Clara Engel - Lick My Fins

Ok, we realise this track is from her 2009 album Secret Beasts - for all you Clara Engel know-it-alls - but we've just discovered her. How? Well, she sent over an email introducing herself (we love our job) and the resulting listening session went on late into the night. Since this album the Canadian singer-songwriter has released the Bethlehem Tapes too and there's plenty more at her Bandcamp. What a voice, in the same vain as Sharon Van Etten her writing's clever, dark, brooding and often funny (check out her cover of Underworld's Born Slippy) too. 

Tamara Parsons-Baker - Hang My Picture

Tamara Parsons-Baker is a singer-songwriter based in Oxford. Again, her email pinged into our inbox and we really liked what we heard. Simple, beautifully rendered folk songs with an originality in the songwriting which is impressive. Look out for more from Tamara as she's made it to the finals of Channel 4's Live and Unsigned. Good luck, we'll be rootin' for ya!

Best place to listen to her music is at her Facebook page - here

French Radio London - playlist and listen again

This week The Other Woman on French Radio London features Ghost You Echo as the EP of the week... full playlist below and listen again here.

You Love Her Coz She’s Dead - Superheroes

Kool Thing - Plan.life.go

Vuk - The Arms Of Spirits
 

EP OF THE WEEK Ghosts You Echo - Erika

EMA - The Grey Ship

Baron Bane - My Slow World

Emily and the Woods - I Can’t
 

EP OF THE WEEK Ghosts You Echo - Pull Through

Lia Ices - Daphne (feat Justin Vernon)

Rayographs - Space of the Halls

Cat’s Eyes - Not A Friend
 

EP OF THE WEEK Ghosts You Echo - Heart of Stone

MEN - Who Am I To Feel So Free

The Other Woman meets DIY US artist Merrill Garbus aka Tune-Yards to discuss her new album w h o k i l l out now on 4AD

Almost a year to the day since we met Merrill Garbus ahead of her mind-boggling show at Cargo we meet again at a pub in Tufnell Park, north London. Since then her debut album Bird Brains released on 4AD has topped 'Best of' bloggers lists around the world and her highly anticipated follow up, w h o k i l l is due out soon...

TOW has had a listen, we LOVE it and so we caught up again to talk through the new album's themes: 'women' and 'violence' top the agenda. Nate Brenner, her partner and bass-player extraordinaire joins in too to emphasise how much they've worked on Merrill's voice for this album - he's made her sing aswell as holler and the result is gorgeous, click on the picture to listen:

Wendy James interview: she's in control

When TOW got an email with 'Hey Ruth, it's Wendy James here' in the subject line, we had one of those 'I love my job' moments. The singer who made her name as the in-your-face front woman with Transvision Vamp at the tender age of sixteen, released her first 'solo' album at the end of last year. I Came Here To Blow Minds is her first as Wendy James, but there's been plenty since the heady days of T-V. An album written especially for her by Elvis Costello and records as Racine... now she's Wendy James and we here at TOW towers are digging her latest release.

We met in a Notting Hill pub one cold February afternoon to talk Americana, Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, guitars, Paris and staying in control... click on the pic to have a listen:
   

TOW on 6 Music: Ghosts You Echo & Friends

Every week TOW plays two songs for the brilliant Tom Robinson on his BBC 6 Music Introducing show... here are our picks from this week's show:


Ghosts You Echo - Erika

 
This isn't the track we played for Tom, but it's the best video online of Vicky Wijeratne AKA Ghosts You Echo. TOW has been watching and listening to the young London-based singer-songwriter and producer since she contacted us back in 2009 with early tracks Blood Lines and Black Oil Steady Soil. We were hooked immediately! The spookiness and strength of her voice, the confident musicality and above all lovely melodies. Vicky's talent has been spotted by The Roundhouse in north London - they've signed her to Roundhouse Records and she releases her second single Lifeline today. We played Erika from the EP for Tom as it's been swirling around our head for days... can't wait to see where this bright young talent ends up.

Friends - Friend Crush 

  
This achingly hip and cool outfit hail from Brooklyn (where else) but they are doing the lo-fi, cheeky, in your face, indie pop thing distinctively and well. The quintet formed in September last year and played their first gig for lead singer Samantha Urbani's birthday party, then they played the highly prestigious CMJ showcase - it's easy when you know how! The brilliant the girls are put us onto this group and like us, they found the seemingly innocent lyrics slightly creepy... see what you think.

French Radio London playlist 1 March

This week on French Radio London our album of the week comes courtesy of Essie Jain's new album, lullabies for adults and babies, the beautiful Until The Light Of Morning...

Listen again here.

Tune Yards - Bizniz
The Sandwitches - Joe Says
Hannah Peel - The Almond Tree

ALBUM OF THE WEEK Essie Jain - What A Big Wide World

Wye Oak - I Hope You Die
Clara Engel - Lick My Fins
Poly Styrene - Virtual Boyfriend

ALBUM OF THE WEEK Essie Jain - Lay Down

Sleigh Bells - Riot Rhythm
Our Broken Garden - Burial
Anguish Sandwich - Someone Call A Mousetrap

ALBUM OF THE WEEK Essie Jain - I’m Not Afraid of the Dark

Friends - Friend Crush
Marianne Faithful - Why Did We Have To Part
Yelle - Mon Pays
Vivian Girls - Dance (If You Wanna)