Synopsis
Eclectic Kettle with Ben Ward & Simon Batistoni on BFF.fm. Listen to show archives, or tune in live Tuesday 8:00 10:00pm. BFF.fm is a San Francisco-based community radio station. Our mission is to support emerging and underground artists and bring the Bay Area music scene to the world.
Episodes
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“All Good Things.”
26/12/2018This time we really mean it. After 227 shows, plus some reruns, this is the very last broadcast of Eclectic Kettle. Recorded live at the end of November, Simon and Ben are in the studio together along with a great many returning cast members and friends. Join us as we recount our favourite Kettle moments, play some of our favourite tracks and acts from the history of the show, reflect on this whole thing, and encourage you to support BFF.fm in our 2018 Fundraiser!This one is also going out on Christmas Day, so welcome to the first and last Eclectic Kettle Holiday Special, I suppose? Feel free to shake some sleigh bells over the recording. And this show marks the 5th Anniversary of Eclectic Kettle (which we think would've been December 20th.) 5 years! Who'd ever have thought. Thank you to everyone who supported the show, listened, came on as a guest, Tweeted some snark… Simon and I are incredibly grateful to all our friends and family and BFF.fm community who supported making the show.Settle down in your
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“Sound and Vision”
19/12/2018With the last Kettle in the can, we continue our December retrospective with a re-run of January 2016's Bowie spectacular, with special guest host Tom Coates in the studio with Ben. A week after Bowie's death, we pulled together a playlist of covers, collaborations, rarities and chatter. As an artist he meant an awful lot to both of us, so it was a really emotionally satisfying show to put together, and for me was a watershed recording in inspiring me to start taking the show more seriously and consider more about the potential of community radio.A reminder that BFF.fm is still running our winter fundraiser, so swing by bff.fm/donate for info! And, prepare for January when I'll be back with the brand new show No Magic — see nomagic.show for details; subscribe to the podcast and follow @nomagicradio on social media. Thanks!Tom very helpfully live-Tweeted this show, so follow along with the directors' commentary:Kettle: Sound and Vision Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist
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“Luna Talk Asylum”
12/12/2018Another classic Kettle repeat this week, this time back to March 2017 and delightful rambling about visits to the moon. Remember, you can support the BFF.fm winter fundraiser by visiting bff.fm/donate, and check out the page for Ben's new show No Magic — starting January 1st. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 0′56″ Don't Act Like A Stranger by Cathedrals on Don't Act Like A Stranger (Self Released ) 16′31″ Johny (feat. Johny) by Powell on Sport (XL) 22′45″ Mallwalkers by Fred Thomas on Changer (Polyvinyl Records) 25′08″ 62 Moons by Cold Beat on Chaos By Invitation (Crime On The Moon) 32′28″ No Halo by Sorority Noise on You're Not As ______ As You Think (Triple Crown Records) 35′14″ Oh The Savior by Temples on Volcano (Fat Possum) 38′58″ Wondering by Xiu Xiu on FORGET (Polyvinyl) 49′56″ Get High (No, I Don't) by Maxïmo Park on Risk To Exist (Daylighting) 53′15″ Whiteout Conditions by The New Por
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“The Answer”
05/12/2018With Eclectic Kettle now at its end, we're spending December reliving a handful of our favourite and memorable moments from Kettle's five year history. This week is #42, where we invent the Crossy Road Grand Prix Championship, and we play great tunes from The Districts, Sucre, Viet Cong, Micah P Hinson and Museum of Love. See the original broadcast here.Reminder, please donate to this year's BFF.fm Winter Fundraiser by visiting https://bff.fm/donate! Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 0′34″ The Large Glass by Museum of Love on Museum of Love (DFA) 13′12″ Easy (Switch Screens) by Son Lux feat. Lorde on Alternate Worlds EP (Joyful Noise) 17′06″ Young and Free by Sucre on Loner (Red Velvet) 20′59″ London Queen by Charli XCX on London Queen (Asylum) 33′00″ Yours To Shake by Greylag on Greylag (Dead Oceans) 36′42″ ARK by We Are The Ocean on ARK (Hassle Records) 49′49″ Continental Shelf by Viet Cong on Viet Cong (Jagjaguwar) 53
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“All Good Things.”
28/11/2018After 227 shows, Eclectic Kettle is coming to an end. Simon and Ben are in the studio together again, with many returning cast members and friends. Join us as we play through some of our favourite Kettle moments, reflect on the whole thing, and encourage you to support BFF.fm in our 2018 Fundraiser that kicks off today!There's so much to say about Kettle. Maybe we should write a blog post or two about it or something. But for now, let's just note this: Simon and I are both incredibly grateful to all our friends and family and BFF.fm community who supported making the show over all these years, and also to each other for making it happen. Kettle will be be 5 years old in a few weeks (we'll still be broadcasting some re-runs… it counts… shut up…) and neither of us would've imagined doing something like this for so long. So, thanks. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 3′52″ Sound and Vision by Beck (Self Released) 15′00″ Weight by Mikal Cronin on MCII (Merge)
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“Night Show”
21/11/2018In the penultimate broadcast of Eclectic Kettle we welcome back Tom and Anna as co-hosts for a fresh round of joyous, chaotic banter and mirth. We also deliver some spectacular technical flubs, as if to get as many in before the end as we can. Tom, to his credit, actually prepared a theme and delivers an insightful and impassioned playlist of overlooked gay songwriters, while we also play a cover that he's been trying to get onto Kettle for some 3 years now.We also talk a tiny little bit about Ben's New Show, which will take the place of Kettle in the nearish future. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 3′12″ The One I Love by Night Shop on In the Break (Woodsist) 14′56″ Into the Fire by These New Puritans (Infectious) 18′46″ Be Aggressive by Faith No More on Angel Dust (Slash) 22′24″ Jealousy by Pet Shop Boys on Behaviour (Parlophone) 36′31″ Coast to Coast by Tune-Yards on I can feel you creep into my private life (4AD) 40′12″ Coug
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“Waiting Here for Catastrophe”
07/11/2018It's election night in America, do you know where you votes are? Honestly, Simon and I have found ourselves suckered into bloviating political commentary before and I've somewhat concluded that it makes for our worst radio — who the fuck are we, anyway? And all the more during such a demonically awful time, in an election that could realistically only be a step forward, not a do-over, we kinda felt we'd keep that on the down-low. So, there're some songs, we're not ignoring it, and we absolutely reel of a series of terms in reference to Ted Cruz, because fuck him. But mostly, this weeks show is here to take some respite in music, so I hope you enjoy it for that. — Ben.This week, Simon's away of course, so Fiona returns to the airwaves with some great picks. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 1′32″ 2 + 2 = 5 by Radiohead on Hail to the Thief (Parlophone) 12′45″ (We Don't Need This) Facist Groove Thing by LCD Soundsystem on (We Don't Need This) Facist Groo
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“Cinematic Soul”
31/10/2018A solo round from Ben, doubling down on mostly-new music this week, with a decadent diversion into the soundtrack works of Radiohead. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 1′00″ Ullswater by Hookworms on Microshift (Domino) 11′14″ Business Man by FEWS (Play It Again Sam) 15′01″ Check Out Time 11am by Sparks (BMG) 18′26″ Ray Purchase by Peeping Drexels on Ray Purchase (Fierce Panda) 21′43″ Is This How Love Should Feel? by Communions on Is This How Love Should Feel? (Heartdrop) 28′10″ Her Cold Cold Heart by Night Beats on Myth of a Man (Heavenly) 31′04″ Back in the U.S.S.R. by The Beatles on The Beatles (White Album 2018 Mix) (Calderstone) 33′33″ 1000 Whispers by Warmdusher on Whale City (The Leaf Label) 37′57″ Merrie Land by The Good, The Bad, & the Queen on Merrie Land (Studio 13) 42′32″ We Should Be Holding Hands by Blonde Redhead on We Should Be Holding Hands (Ponderosa) 56′08″ Has Ended by Thom Yo
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“The Authentic Experience”
24/10/2018This week Ben is at the Gruff Rhys show (we may have mentioned that a few times…) so tonight's episode is pre-recorded with regular occasional co-host Mr Tom Coates. Loads of great music for you to enjoy, remember you can Tweet to @BFFKettle with your favourite tracks and moments. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 0′00″ While My Guitar Gentle Weeps by The Beatles on The Beatles (Apple) 10′03″ Deadly Valentine by Charlotte Gainsbourg on Deadly Valentine (Because Music) 15′48″ World In My Eyes by Depeche Mode on Violator (Sire) 19′58″ Lost (feat. Chelsea Jade) by Jai Wolf on Lost (Mon + Pop) 27′41″ Dog Song by Ruby Throat on Dog Song (One Little Indian) 30′01″ DTMFA by Speedy Ortiz on Adlut Swim Singles (Carpark) 33′17″ I Know by The Beta Band on The Three E.P.'s (Because) 44′07″ Can't Run But by Paul Simon on In The Blue Light (Sony) 47′21″ Following by The Bangles on Different Light (Sony) 51′30″
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Full Interview with Gruff Rhys
17/10/2018 Duration: 36minOn October 16th, Gruff Rhys joined our broadcast of Eclectic Kettle. We abridged the interview for airtime, but here's the full version, along with a transcript. Remember, you can win tickets for Gruff's October 23rd show at The Chapel in San Francisco here. Enjoy! Thank you to Leslie Hampton at The Owl Magazine for co-ordinating this interview with us.Ben Ward: Hi everyone, this is Ben Ward of BFF.fm's Eclectic Kettle. You're listening to a special extra release that we're putting out this week, which is my full interview with Gruff Rhys. Lead singer of Super Furry Animals and currently on tour promoting his new album “Babelsberg”.He'll be playing here in San Francisco on October 23rd; this coming Tuesday. We played parts of this interview on Eclectic Kettle on October 16th. This is the fuller version where we discuss his tour, the recording of the album and the efforts that went into the product that really defines the sound. We reminisce about his previous appearance at The Chapel which he remembers well.
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“Babel Babble”
17/10/2018As the sun begins to sink to the west of Eclectic Kettle, we're trying to bring back some of our favourite guest hosts from over the years. This week it's Johan Oskarsson from 1.21 Gigawatts. This week is also really special as we'll be featuring excerpts of Ben's interview with Super Furry Animals front-man Gruff Rhys. He's here to talk about his new solo record Babelsberg, and his show next week at the Chapel in San Francisco.Gruff is a smart, thoughtful man and one of Ben's all time musical heroes, so this was a treat. The full interview is featured alongside this show as a special standalone episode (along with a transcript, since we were recording a Welsh accent over the telephone.) Listen in full here.You can win a pair of tickets for Gruff Rhys at The Chapel by visiting our giveaway page. He's always a delight, but as you'll hear in the interview, this album in particular should make for an especially good show. Email giveaways@bff.fm with the subject “Gruff” to win! (More details here.)
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“Do It For Ghosts”
10/10/2018A nice show this week, full of great music, but somber as we note the passing of our friend and BFF.fm legend Ben Russo. Read the memorial to him here. Rest in peace, Ben, you're an inspiration and one of the most upright, kind-hearted people you could know. Truly a rock of our radio community, it's hard to imagine we'd recognise BFF.fm today without his influence and hard work in the early years.We also announced that at the end of November, Eclectic Kettle will be coming to an end.
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“Somewhat Disstracking”
03/10/2018Back in the present Ben and Simon bring a whole glut of new tunes featuring Metric, Open Mike Eagle, Clark, Rhye, Villagers, BadBadNotGood and many more. We also analyse the various states of excrement in the world in the world today. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 1′44″ Above Us by The KVB on Only Now Forever (Invada) 9′28″ Die Happy by Metric on Art of Doubt (MMI) 13′22″ Deliver by Foxtrott on Meditations I-II-III (One Little Indian) 17′04″ A Trick of the Light by Villagers on The Art Of Pretending To Swim (Domino) 26′52″ All Women Love Me by Insecure Men on Insecure Men (Fat Possum) 30′14″ Turn Around by Dungen & Woods on Myths 003 (Mexican Summer) 34′11″ 2 Cool 2 Care by Anna Burch on Quit the Curse (Polyvinyl) 38′02″ Velvet 4 Sale by U.S. Girls on In a Poem Unlimited (4AD) 50′26″ Grandma's Hands by José James on Lean On Me (Blue Note) 54′38″ Ring Tang Ring Toon by Mountain Man on Magic Ship
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“Brothers in Arms to Iran”
26/09/2018It's the first days of autumn and we're enjoy the overspilling summer evenings. So many great records this year and we're playing them loud to drown out the sound of inimitable, obscene political corruption. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 1′33″ Love Is The Slug by We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It on Bostin' Steve Austin (Vindaloo Records) 4′26″ Happy Hour by The Housemartins on London 0 Hull 4 (Elektra) 11′13″ Fall On Me by R.E.M. on Life's Rich Pageant (I.R.S. Records) 13′49″ I Hope You're Happy Now by Elvis Costello and the Attractions on Blood and Chocolate (Self-released) 16′47″ Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House on Crowded House (Capitol Records) 24′11″ The Dead Heart by Midnight Oil on The Dead Heart (Columbia) 29′06″ Boys Don't Cry (New Voice · Club Mix) by The Cure on Boys Don't Cry 12" (Fiction) 39′26″ Starpower by Sonic Youth on Evol (SST)
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“Accidentally Autopilot”
12/09/2018Simon is away again so Ben puts together a classic Kettle set list, including a highly recommend middle of delicate, immersing, cinematic piano-driven works. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 2′16″ The Morning After by Spiritualized on And Nothing Hurt (Fat Possum) 14′14″ 200 Deer, 1 Rabbit by Alvie & The Breakfast Pigs on Plastic Surgery (Bird Flu Kitchen) 18′03″ Young At Heart by Milo Greene on Adult Contemporary (Nettwerk) 21′10″ The Invisibles by Suede on The Blue Hour (Warner) 25′06″ I Feel Free by Dilly Dally on Heaven (Partisan) 33′48″ Funeral Singers (feat. Collections of Colonies of Bees) by Sylvan Esso on Funeral Singers (Loma Vista) 37′24″ Good Friday (Boards of Canada Remix) by WHY? on Alopecia (Joyful Noise) 43′20″ Fun Destruction by Teleman on Family of Aliens (Moshi Moshi) 46′39″ Love Leaks by TT on LoveLaws (LoveLeaks) 60′30″ Rise Up Wise Up Eyes Up by Ibeyi on August Hamildrop (XL)
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“A Questionable Podcourse of Action”
05/09/2018Two Kettles in two days, Ben returns to the studio after yesterday's ATA Window-occupying bank holiday special, to play all the music that didn't make it into yesterday's set. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 1′54″ Soft Stud by Black Belt Eagle Scout on Mother Of My Children (Saddle Creek) 11′09″ Wham! Bang! Pow! Let's Rock Out! by Art Brut on Wham! Bang! Pow! Let's Rock Out! (Alcopop!) 14′46″ Outside by Drenge on Autonomy EP (Infectious) 17′13″ If You Really Love Nothing by Interpol on Marauder (Matador) 25′07″ See You at the Movies by J Mascis (Sub Pop) 29′57″ Raven Raven by Exploded View on Obey (Sacred Bones) 31′40″ We're Not Done by Mogwai on Kin (Temporary Residence) 35′44″ Suspirium by Thom Yorke on Suspiria OST (XL) 45′14″ Go To Sleep (feat. Kailee Morgue) by Bearson (Ultra) 48′18″ Works Every Time by Mini Mansions on Works Every Time EP (Fiction) 52′48″ Run the Road by S
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“Bank Holiday Special” (Live from BFF @ ATA.)
03/09/2018A long weekend yields special programming and so we're delighted to present an extra special afternoon episode of Eclectic Kettle for the Labor Day holiday. “Less Steve Lamaq, a little more Mark Radcliffe” is the plan. Tune in for afternoon choons, affable rambling, and the true meaning of Labor Day. Plus we'll replay our conversation with Matt B from last week's Tuesday show, and give you all another chance to indulge the wonders of the modular synth.What's more, this broadcast comes LIVE from BFF.fm's studio installation in the window of Artists Television Access on Valencia. So, stop by on your way to and from your grills and beer runs, watch Ben in action, gawp and wave, chill with a coffee in the Blue Fig parklet, perhaps. One way or another, we hope to see you there!Sorry it took a little while to get the podcast of this show up: The logistics of broadcasting from multiple locations are no joke. Massive thank yous to Lily Sloane and Forrest Guest for helping get the recordings wrangled. Enjoying the sho
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“Modular Melodies”
29/08/2018This week on Kettle, Simon is away in the desert so Ben is rejoined by Matt B to play new tunes and chat about music production with modular synths (Simon played one of his tracks back on #207.) Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 8′00″ Bodys by Car Seat Headrest on Twin Fantasy (Matador Records) 11′35″ Mainland by Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever on Hope Downs (Sub Pop) 16′17″ Me And My Husband by Mitski on Be The Cowboy (Dead Oceans) 17′01″ Under the Sun by DIIV on Is The Is Are (Captured Tracks) 27′52″ Repeating Patterns by We Were Promised Jetpacks on The More I Sleep The Less I Dream (Big Scary Monsters) 31′41″ Mothers by Steady Holiday on Nobody's Watching (Barsuk) 35′20″ Small Spaces by Micah P. Hinson on Small Spaces (Full Time Hobby) 44′35″ Glimpse Of Hope (Joe Goddard Remix) by Nils Bech on Echo EP (DFA Records) 51′23″ Cop Killer by John Maus on We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves (Ribbon
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“Nightmares on Wax”
22/08/2018This week's Eclectic Kettle is a special show as we're finally keeping a promise to ourselves to play all vinyl for the night. As a result, you get a set-list that's 50% non-existant on streaming services and includes eclectic gems such as the Castle Face Records “Group Flex” book (a literal book of rubber flexidisc promos), Aphex Twin's “33 or 45” release of Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments (at 45, so you can dance to it), Record Store Day releases, the original mono promo for “Atomic”, a random sample from the excellent Vinyl Moon compilation club, and Ben gets to play the first record he ever bought. It's a glorious mess and we hope you enjoy listening!A reminder that BFF.fm is fundraising hard right now, so please hit “Support Us” and drop a donation our way to support the station.Recently on Eclectic Kettle… we played a book. pic.twitter.com/gRXs6X0tOP— Eclectic Kettle (@BFFKettle) 22 August 2018 This week's show art is a panel from Jamie McKelvie and Kieron Gillen's “Phonogram: The Singles
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“Soundtrack OST”
15/08/2018It's Tuesday, it's still number… I dunno, 8? It's Eclectic Kettle! This week Simon makes an appearance, picks some great tunes and previews a set of chill electronic beats that he'll be playing live at Burning Man next week. Fiona is in the studio for laughs, and we occasional visit the theme of “what if this was all the soundtrack to a movie?”. The movie would be… disjointed, we conclude. Enjoying the show? Please support BFF.FM with a donation. Playlist 3′03″ Grow Back by The Happy Fits on Concentrate (Self Released) 13′53″ Bae Bae Bae (Muzi Remix) by Gruff Rhys on Bae Bae Bae – Single (Eiseteddfod) 19′15″ Beyond Hidden Words by Moderate Rebels on Shared Values (Everyday Life) 22′07″ Jim by The Wave Pictures on Brushes With Happiness (Moshi Moshi) 24′45″ She's A Runaway by The Coral on Move Through the Dawn (Ignition) 35′57″ Waves by United Ghosts on Saturn Days (Cleopatra Records) 39′06″ Don't Need Nothin' by Gregory Ackerman on And Friends (