In the company I work for, we used to have a slogan: "We love new". Some people weren't sure about this. It sounded a little bit hard sell. If you said it in a drunken slurry way, it sounded like intoxicated endearment - "weeee loovee ewwww...." - but generally most people's relationship with "new" was platonic friendly at best. We got on OK with new. It was nice to see it drop round once in a while but, quite frankly, it was a bit of a relief when it went back to its own place and we could relax in something old and comfortable.

Actually I was one of the keener ones in this relationship with "new". I enjoy the adventure, I like the thrill of discovery. This helps when putting a show together and looking through a bunch of new music, I guess. But I was challenged recently to stop obsessing over "new" and balance my time with some quality "old" - and not necessarily the familiar, comfortable kind of old.

CS Lewis threw down the challenge. He was a fan of difficult, life changing old books, and often wrote introductions for them. In an intro for a particularly meaty one, he wrote:

Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books.

(You can read more of this at http://www.philthompson.net/pages/library/onincarnationintro.html )

So... to sum up, I've basically decided to keep featuring special artists each week in my show, but to swap between new and old artists.

Not that Nick Drake was really that old. But in his brief life, he produced many of the best songs ever written. There isn't a radio station, shop, magazine or ad campaign plugging him right now, but I know you'll enjoy hearing some of them, and they do put the latest things into context. I had to think a lot about every other song in this show to avoid them falling flat next to the brilliance of the man who had his first chart hit 30 years after he died. (More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Drake )

So tonight it's him, and some other stuff.

Hope you enjoy it!
Bern

PS - New highlights include Marie Digby and Tristan Prettyman - the current front runners for being featured new artist next week - as well as beautiful new songs from Guillemots, Jason Mraz and Tom Baxter. Hope you enjoy the special mix for the stressed students too - making it reminded me of the mixes I made in the same situation years ago, and the original idea of Chill... If you'd like me to make a mix for you, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  - and that's also a good way to let me know about the artists you would like to hear featured on the show, new or old...

My wife Helen's birthday is less than three weeks before Christmas. This shouldn't be too hard - simply find a couple of nice presents, give one for birthday, and the other for Christmas, right? It never works like that. Basically, anything I've found before her birthday that I think Helen will really like becomes a birthday present. Which means that there is always a scramble to start again from scratch and find something good for Christmas. I just can't pace myself when it comes to presents...

It's similar with this show. Every week I find a bunch of tunes which I think I should probably set aside for future use, to make it a bit easier to make next week's show. Never happens. Every Monday you're hearing just about everything I've got excited about in the last week, and this time it includes:

Bon Iver - artist name for Justin Vernon, who made an album by taking himself out of his band and heading up to a deserted log cabin in Wisconsin, living off the land, splitting wood and hunting for food. He let himself become completely vulnerable, and the music he recorded there seems to reflect that - it's raw, fragile, sometimes dark, but compelling and real. The album "For Emma, Forever Ago" came out in America last year and is released in the UK next month. I picked four tracks to play from it, and I'd recommend sampling the rest - it's downloadable now.

The new Portishead album "Third" has been with me for a week, and it's slowly growing on me. A lot of albums seem really bizarre to me at first, and it takes months for them to creep up on me, during which time they have become completely obviously amazing. Then I wonder what all the fuss was about. Pretty much every Radiohead album has been like that for me, and I think this is going to be another one of those. It sounds better every time I listen. However, there aren't many acoustic tracks, so I've just featured the one that does fit this show. I'm sure our other late night producers will be all over this album very soon though...

New tracks from Jaymay, Goldfrapp and Melody Gardot also feature in tonight's show.

There is one track I've got in the locker for next week, because I have an album where every song is the same. Sort of. It's an album called "Peace", made by the folk club which meets at the White Horse Inn in East Sussex. One of their regulars wrote a song called "Everybody Needs A Dream", and sixteen acts have covered it in their own, idiosyncratic ways. There are a couple of nice standout versions for me, but I couldn't play them in the same show... so this week it's the turn of Black Strap Molasses, and I'll play one more version next week. If you would like to hear more, and contribute your own version of the song to their not-for-profit peace initiative, you can find them online at www.everybodyneedsadream.com

Now it's my birthday tomorrow, and I can't wait to celebrate - doing a pub quiz for friends and neighbours! If you're in Bristol, you're welcome to join us at the Stag & Hounds. I wonder whether Helen's bought me a nice present...?!

Cheers,
Bern

Put it another way - how long does it take you to put a mixtape/CD together for a friend? And how long did you THINK it was going to take when you started? I've learned to take however long I think it will be, multiply by four, and that's a bit more like it.

I'm always thinking I'll be done with the track list by 5, but I've just fixed it up for tonight, just before we're starting the show - and I'm thinking that's because there are just SO MANY brilliant songs which compete for attention every week. It's more likely that I'm just an obsessive compulsive (I don't see the disorder in that...). Today it might also have something to do with the fact that one of my colleagues played "Gold" by Prince on his GWR FM show this afternoon, and I had to dig out my copy and listen to it ten times through, while spending about two hours looking for an acoustic version I was sure had to exist. It's an amazing song - hasn't anyone covered it? The interweb didn't think so.

"Everybody wants to sell what's already been sold, everybody wants to tell what's already been told, what's the use of money if you ain't gonna break the mould?"

Someone, please, do a nice acoustic cover and grab yourself some airplay on Chill!

Now, back to the tunes we are playing tonight... I'm delighted to showcase the music of Orba Squara, which has been featured on the ads for the Apple iPhone. (I know there's no point in trying to blag a free iPhone, by the way, and if you're a viewer of The Colbert Report, you might have seen Stephen Colbert try and fail miserably...) The thing is, the album Sunshyness is more than a one-trick collection, and it was really difficult choosing just a few tracks to highlight from it. It's quite hard to find the CD, but it's readily downloadable.

We're also playing some more tunes from indie artists tonight after Panic At The Disco and Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly sounded good on last week's show. I'm really getting into the Guillemots now, and I'd recommend a listen through their new album "Red". I've always believed that good chilling isn't about any one genre of music, and I love finding surprising tracks to keep our mix interesting.

I discovered an artist this week too, while looking for tunes for a special "flight" mix. You know when you feel a bit embarrassed for not finding someone earlier, when it turns out you love all their tunes, and they're ten years old, and the band already has a cult fanbase? This week I'm feeling that about Neutral Milk Hotel. Oh good, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who hadn't heard of them. If you're into the chill/guitar/indie crossover thing, you will love what you find from them online.

So there's some stuff to look out for in the show, or hunt out afterwards if you missed it. Hope you like it, and I'd love to get your thoughts on tracks you'd like to hear. Maybe I can do a mix for you too? You can email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Cheers!
Bern

Hello -

Thanks for coming to look at this page. It's coming together... This section is my blog about acoustic music and the Simplecity show. It's for stories which aren't directly related to this week's playlist, and some thoughts out loud about where I'm thinking of getting more music to play for you.

Last week I featured Kimya Dawson, singer from the Moldy Peaches whose solo music was heavily featured in the film Juno. Often I find film music enhances the mood, but isn't too noticeable in itself. If I find myself thinking about the soundtrack too much, it's usually a sign that the story is pretty weak. However, this story was excellent, and the songs only stood out because they were often brilliant, and well worked in around - and part of - the story.

Kimya's songs have a cheeky, playful feel to them, which make dark topics like America's involvement in a war seem worth poking fun at. Since we featured Kimya this week, it was announced that she has a new gig, writing songs for Sesame Street. I can't imagine anyone more perfect for doing this - obviously the naughty words won't be making an appearance, but hopefully the ideas will be as funny and subversive as the best on her albums. Kids don't like being patronised or talked down to. Kimya's music is fresh and entertaining, and I'm really looking forward to hearing what she does next.

If you have ideas for artists we should feature on Simplecity, please get in touch - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Cheers,
Bern