Folded Wing at the 2013 Sony Radio Academy Awards

Monday night was an exciting night for Folded Wing and the rest of the radio industry, it was of course the 2013 Sony Radio Academy Awards.

Folded Wing were delighted to be nominated in the “Music Radio Broadcaster Of The Year” category for Jamie Cullum on BBC Radio 2.

Jamie and the Folded Wing team all headed down to the Grosvenor House Hotel for the awards, suitably dressed up for the night! Jamie also played at the event and caused a bit of a stir on the red carpet when he decided to turn the tables on the press!

Here’s the photo from Jamie’s view

instagram.com/p/ZSSA4nD0yh/

The first half saw a performance from Robbie Williams and the first awards. Radio 1′s Dan and Phil walked away winners of this years first ever “Sony Golden Headphones Awards”. Danny Baker took an award for “Best Entertainment Programme” for his weekend show on 5 Live,  only a few months after leaving his BBC London slot! John Humphrys collected an award for Radio Journalism Of The Year for his interview with former BBC Director General, George Entwistle, John made a lovely tribute to the former DG in his acceptance speech.

The Folded Wing team were particularly happy to see The Listening Project take away a bronze award for “Best Speech Programme”, a project that we all particularly admire and love.

It was also fantastic to see Steve Lamacq walk away with his FIRST EVER Sony award. He was presented with a special award for his 20 years of service to radio, an award that is thoroughly deserved!

Robbie Williams performing at the Sony Radio Academy Awards 2013

Following a performance from The Saturdays it was soon time for the second half of the awards featuring the category we were particularly interested in “Music Radio Broadcaster Of The Year”. Unfortunately Jamie didn’t win an award, but the whole team were delighted to see Cerys Matthews take the Gold. Cerys is an outstanding broadcaster and produces a show that we all love and listen to a lot!

Although a cliché we were incredibly happy just to be nominated in the 3rd year of doing the show with Jamie and we received some brilliant feedback from the judges…..

Jamie has become an accomplished broadcaster as well as a much loved musician. He wears his knowledge and respect lightly to deliver a show of fantastic music with energy and enthusiasm.

Folded Wing’s table number, the lucky number 68!

The second half of the awards saw Christian O’Connell win his 10th award in 10 years and Eddie Mair win “Speech Radio Broadcaster Of The Year”. Radio 4′s The Today Programme picked up “Breakfast Show Of The Year” and after a superb year with the Olympics and Paralympics, BBC Radio 5 Live won “UK Station Of The Year” .

There was also a lovely moment when Metro Radio won “Station Of The Year (1m+)”  as Programme director Chris Pegg spoke of his delight at finally winning an award after years of turning up and leaving empty handed.

It was also fantastic to see so many UK indies represented in the awards and many of them taking awards away too! And to see National Prison Radio in a couple of categorys was a great reward for the work that they do!

All in all it was a lovely night and we had a few drinks afterwards in celebration of our nomination and a wonderful evening, topped off when Jamie Cullum performed to close this years ceremony!

You can listen to some highlights of the awards here…

http://audioboo.fm/boos/1391139-sonys-2013-highlights

Congratulations to everyone that won an award and we hope to see you next year!

FW

Amped….The Crypt Sessions & The Selector

The Selector & The Crypt Sessions Launch ‘Amped…’

This week marks the start of ‘Amped….’ a very exciting new partnership between our show The Selector for The British Council and The Crypt Studios, an independent studio based in a converted church in Crouch End, North London.

For the past few months, The Selector has been recording live sessions at The Crypt Studios to be played out on The Selector and syndicated to the show’s sister stations in 39 countries around the world. The guys at The Crypt have been running The Crypt Sessions (http://thecryptsessions.com) there for the past four years and have a YouTube channel with over 2 million views, featuring acoustic sessions from artists such as The Staves, Lucy Rose and Michael Kiwanuka.

The Etymology of Entomology on BBC Radio 4 & our March Chart!

‘The Etymology of Entomology’, our first documentary for BBC Radio 4, will be broadcast this Saturday, 9 March at 10.30am so don’t miss it!

In this programme zoologist Dr. George McGavin delves into the strange, and often bizarre, names given to insects.

For more info click here

And to celebrate, our chart this month  features the Folded Wing team’s favourite Radio 4 programmes.

Andrea’s choice….

From Our Own Correspondent

“I really admire the foreign correspondents’ work and listening to this programme makes me want to set off around the world to find my own stories.”

To listen click here >

Karen’s choice…

The Listening Project

“A partnership between BBC Radio 4, BBC local and national stations and the British Library, it’s one of my favourite projects and a brilliant concept; asking people around the country to share intimate conversations they’ve had with relatives or friends, with the British Library archiving the conversations so other generations can hear, with some archived on the Radio 4 site too. I dip in quite a bit and have listened to Sasha and Paddy many times… it still chokes me up, the most amazing bit of radio. I will never forget it.”

To listen click here >

Sandie P’s choice…

The Archers

“It’s the longest running British soap opera broadcast on the BBC, and has been running since 1950. I love it!”

To listen click here >

John’s choice…

PM

“Eddie Mair is up there as one of my favourite broadcasters of all time. He has the perfect balance of intelligence, empathy and wit. When he presents PM I always feel like I’ve learnt something new about the world, without becoming overly bogged down or depressed. That’s quite an achievement for an hour devoted to news and politics.”

To listen click here >

Pete’s choice…

Test Match Special

“Many will agree that the best way to enjoy cricket is alongside Jonathan Agnew, Geoffrey Boycott and the rest of the TMS team on Radio 4 LW. Never afraid to stray off topic or let their emotions get the better of them, TMS has been consistently entertaining over the years and has captured some of the greatest moments in Cricket in a way few other sports programmes would be able to!”

For more info click here >

Jim’s choice…

Desert Island Discs

“Classic format, great presenter, amazing guests, and being a music geek, I love a good chart.”

To listen click here >

January Chart!

Our first chart of 2013… and there’s already been so much amazing new music out this year. This month’s chart is our pick of the new music we’re most looking forward to hearing in 2013.

John’s choice…

Atoms For Peace – ‘Amok’ LP (XL Recordings)

Release Date: 25 February

“Been really enjoying the last two singles, so quite keen to hear what Yorke, Godrich and co come up with.”

Andrea’s choice…

The Arteries – ‘Restless’ EP (Specialist Subject/Kiss Of Death)

Release Date: 4 March

“The new Arteries EP is out in March and I’m a tad over-excited.”

Jim’s choice…

William Adamson – ‘Under An East Coast Moon’ (Discomix) (Brownswood Recordings)

Release Date: 4 March

“I was gonna go for Laura Mvula’s album after ‘Can’t Live With The World’ blew me away a few weeks ago but the special ‘Discomix’ of the new William Adamson (aka Earl Zinger!) album gets my choice… on a deep Tom Waits vs Scientist in Suffolk tip.”

Karen’s choice…

Izzi Dunn – New Album

Release Date: TBC

“I’ve been a big fan of Izzi Dunn ever since she appeared on Kaidi Tatham’s ‘Betcha’ Did’ back in 2001, it’s all about the strings! And I love her new ‘Visions’ EP that’s just come out, it sounds beautiful with John Dent on the mastering. It’s gonna be a big year for Izzi, I can feel it.”

Sandie P’s choice…

Prince – New Album

Release Date: TBC

“I love Prince. I consider him a musical genius. Can’t wait to hear his new album”

Pete’s choice…

The National – New Album

Release Date: TBC

“I really hope the rumours of a follow up to ‘High Violet’ in the Spring are true! One of those bands that has got better with every album and I expect number six to be the best of the lot!”

Field Day Radio – Episodes 6 & 7

Episodes 6 and 7 of Field Day Radio , presented by Field Day and Eat Your Own Ears main man Tom Baker, are now live on the Field Day Radio website and SoundCloud, so take a listen!

http://www.fielddayfestivals.com/field-day-festival-rad

Episode 6 includes an in-depth chat with Kurt Vile, and Episode 7 has features on CHVRCHES and Mulatu Astatke.

Plus there’s loads of great music from Field Day 2013 artists such as Disclosure, Solange, Tim Burgess, Seth Troxler, Daphni, John Cooper Clarke and Ginger Baker.

Episode 8 will be going live early February and features Tom chatting to Geologist from Animal Collective, so look out for that!

Field Day takes place in Victoria Park on Saturday 25 May.

The Selector predictions for 2013 – Chvrches!

On this week’s Selector Goldierocks has her top artist predictions for 2013 including the awesome Chvrches. She met up with the Glasgow trio before their London show at the Electrowerkz last year to find out what their hopes are for 2013.

Listen to the interview here:

End Of Year Chart!

Wow, it’s been another amazing year for music, and a particularly strong year for albums. January alone saw big new releases from Portico Quartet, Django Django, 2 Bears and Leonard Cohen, and there’s not been much let up since. So it’s only right that our December chart features the Folded Wing team’s personal faves of the year:

Karen’s choice…

Dr. John – ‘Locked Down’ (Nonesuch Records)

“Def my most listened to album of the year. Dr. John and Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys made this album a killer combination. Best album from Dr. John for a while, bringing him right into the 21st Century. As he should be, a very important artist.”

Andrea’s choice….

MC Lars – ‘Greatest Hits’ (Real Records)

“I hadn’t listened to MC Lars since college and rediscovered him this year with this album. ‘Generic Crunk Rap’, ‘Ahab’ (a Moby Dick homage) and ‘This Gigantic Robot Kills’ are just too funny.”

Eliza’s choice…

Dirty Projectors – ‘Swing Lo Magellan’ (Domino)

“They really nailed it with this one! I love the dynamics they play with in the songs, it can go from really loud full-on rock to wonderful gospel-style vocal harmony in a matter of seconds, and it works perfectly!”

Sandie P’s choice…

Neil Diamond – ‘The Very Best Of Neil Diamond’ (Sony)

“He is a legend and I love him!!”

Paul’s choice…

Tame Impala – ‘Lonerism’ (Modular)

“Blazing fuzz and retro psychedelia that sounds so bang up to date – it’s been a real antidote to smug, overhyped chin-stroking music.”

John’s choice…

The Invisible – ‘Rispah’ (Ninja Tune)

“I first heard tracks from the album when the band played The Selector club night. They played in almost total darkness – a pretty intense experience, which totally matched the vibe of the album – Moving, understated, beautifully produced and an album that holds up to listen after listen.”

Jim’s choice…

Mala – ‘Mala In Cuba’ (Brownswood Recordings)

“An inspired bit of A&R from Mr Gilles Peterson, taking South Norwood’s King of the low end, the mighty Mala, to Havana, Cuba to record with local musicians and singers, and blend the results with the unmistakable Digital Mystikz / DMZ sound. Released in a beautiful 4x180g vinyl box set too!”

Smarta 100 Award Winner – Please Vote For Us!

Great news!

Folded Wing have been named among the UK’s most innovative companies in the 2012 Smarta 100 awards.

The awards recognise small businesses that are mould-breaking, dynamic and make a significant difference in their industries. It’s fantastic to have the radio industry recognised in this way and also great to see that more than a quarter of the finalists in this year’s awards are female-run businesses.

As part of the Smarta awards, there’s also a chance for us to win ‘Business of the Year’ which is decided by an online public vote on the Smarta 100 site.

It only takes a minute to register and vote, please vote for us here >

For more info in RadioToday click here >

October Chart!

To celebrate our Gil Scott-Heron documentary going out on 1Xtra this week, we thought it only right that we dedicate this month’s chart to the music of the legend himself. The music world needs more like him. Gil Scott-Heron, we salute you!

Eliza’s choice…

Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson – ‘Tuskeegee #626’ (Arista, 1977)

“One of the hardest choices ever! I love all of Gil’s tracks, but ‘Tuskeegee #626’ especially stands out for me because it manages to sum up a disturbing event in such a simple, provocative, catchy acapella tune, it really sums up the height of Gil’s talent.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9vfQF1D9VA

Karen’s choice….

Gil Scott-Heron – ‘Lady Day and John Coltrane’ (Flying Dutchman, 1971)

“It is so so hard to pick one track but this one brings back the best memories. The Underground in Leeds each and every Wednesday night for three years while at university, dancing on a sweaty dance floor. It was this track that led me to buy more John Coltrane from Jumbo Records in Leeds. I miss Leeds, especially all the brilliant nights and bands The Underground used to put on.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgwKQl3n0Cc

John’s choice…

Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson – ‘The Bottle’ (Strata-East, 1974)

“I was lucky enough to see Gil Scott-Heron play this at Bestival in 2010, just as the sun came out. A great festival moment.”

Gil playing ‘The Bottle’ at Bestival 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsEULvKSm0E

Andrea’s choice…

Gil Scott-Heron – ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ (Flying Dutchman, 1971)

“I love the politics behind the song, and wish there was more music like this.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGaoXAwl9kw

Jim’s choice…

Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson – ‘Beginnings (The First Minute Of A New Day)’ (Arista, 1975)

“Impossible to choose just one. Had to be either ‘Rivers of my Fathers’ or this one. Beautiful, soulful, lyrical, thought-provoking music. And check the harmonies!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvHNmx41fo0

Paul’s choice…

Gil Scott-Heron – ‘I’ll Take Care Of U’ (Jamie XX Remix) (XL Recordings/Young Turks, 2011)

“Bringing Gil to the new generation with some lush electronic sounds.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaXslpx3MWY

September Chart!

The Olympics, Notting Hill Carnival and Bestival have all been and gone, so summer is officially over. Boo Hiss. But all is not lost, as this means our favourite season has arrived! And to celebrate the chillier mornings, the darker evenings, and the chance to wear our favourite jumpers and coats once again, our September chart features our favourite new albums for the forthcoming Autumn months.

John’s choice…

Woodpecker Wooliams – ‘The Bird School Of Being Human’ (Robot Elephant Records)

“Seven beautifully eccentric songs all named after birds. Expect harp strings, amazing vocals, party blowers and lo-fi grungyness. From the Björk school of being brilliant.”

Sandie P’s choice….

Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé – ‘Barcelona’ Special Edition (Island Records)

“On 3 September Freddie would have been 66 years old. This is a very special 25 year anniversary version of my favourite Freddie album, ‘Barcelona’”.

Paul’s choice…

The xx – ‘Coexist’ (Young Turks / XL Recordings)

“Obvious choice I know but a great comeback. Still full of those longing fragile moments.”

Andrea’s choice…

Breakbot – ‘By Your Side’ (Ed Banger Records)

“I’ve really got into Breakbot’s disco stuff since doing our Ed Banger documentary so am looking forward to hearing this.”

Eliza’’s choice…

Flying Lotus – ‘Until The Quiet Comes’ (Warp)

“I love FlyLo so much… you never know what he’s going to do next.”

Release date: 1 October

Jim’s choice…

Matthew Halsall – ‘Fletcher Moss Park’ (Gondwana Records)

“Matthew’s fourth album and it’s every bit as beautiful as his others. I love the harp and eastern vibes on a few of the tracks. Channelling the spirit of Alice Coltrane.”

Release Date: 15 October

Karen’s choice…

Cody ChesnuTT – ‘Landing On A Hundred’ (One Little Indian)

“Yes yes yes, he is back and was amazing at the Jazz Café last Thursday! I loved his first album ‘The Headphone Masterpiece’ and not forgetting ‘The Seed’ with The Roots!”

Release Date: 29 October