2011 Most Played

Server problems continue to plague Optical, but fear not. There is still the podcast to be enjoyed.

Here are the Odd Girl Out top five most played artists of 2011:

1. AGF
Incredibly prolific, with numerous solo and collaborative releases, expat German wordsmith/musician Antye Greie had another sparkling year. I particularly recommend her poetry-inspired Gedichterbe.

2. Jude Cowan
A London-based multi-threat, Jude came into the studio to play live and we hit it off immediately, going on to collaborate on a short film cycle. In addition to the remix version of her William Blake project, she produced a stream of improvs based on news stories.

3. Planningtorock
W was my favourite album of the year and numerous remixes also did the rounds, courtesy of Janine Rostron's Berlin-based alter ego.

4. The Dark Shadows
The Sydney trio released some limited edition vinyl and finished up the year with an EP, 11:11, in two different versions.

5. Rebecca Clamp
The Helsinki-based British folk artist also visited the studios for a chat to discuss her latest album, The Keys to the City.

Here is a video from one of AGF's projects, Beatnadel.

AGF: Beatnadel 2011, Introduction from agf Pro on Vimeo.

Odd Girl Out: show 63

Odd Girl Out OR63 by Val_Phoenix on Mixcloud

Jude Cowan graced the studio, performing poems from her new collection, For the Messengers, as well as two songs improvised from news stories drawn from the Reuters archive.

Show 63; 14/4/11; repeated 17/4
Ladytron—Playgirl
Tarnation—Tell Me It's Not So
Sleepy Vikings—Twin Peaks
Jude Cowan—Ah, Sunflower!
Jude Cowan—interview + poems
Freschard—Life in Vain
Kill the Dandies!—Sand
Jude Cowan—interview + songs
Sneaker Pimps—Roll On
Milenasong—Love Will Appear
Strawberry Story—Think of Me
The Coathangers—Hurricane
The Action Time—The World Is Against Us
Blindness—Broken
Internal/External feat. Kathleen Hanna—Stepping up to the Mic
TBA—Deeply Superficial
Addie Brik—No
Atari Teenage Riot—Blood in My Eyes
Magnapop—13
tUnE-YarDs—Bizness
French Horn Rebellion—What I Want (JD Samson's Eva Hesse mix)
Noblesse Oblige—Moonchild
AGF / Craig Armstrong—Konstantinopolis
Lotte Kestner—Nurse
Rebecca Clamp—St. Wilgefortis
NY Loose—Spit
Cocknbull Kid—Asthma Attack
Nite Jewel—Am I Real
The Do—Too Insistent

Coming up on show 63

Live guest alert: woman-of-a-thousand-talents Jude Cowan will be in the studio, giving her take on current events in song and reciting poetry.