RADIO – Zac Cole’s Culinary Crusade

Hair bear bunch

Who knew that we’d still have a show on a legitimate radio station after all this time? Shoreditch Radio still have time for us and our show, WHAT’S YOUR PLAN B, every Friday and the guests keep on coming. We’ve also just moved to some very fancy new studios in Stratford, so hold onto your butts for slick, flawless radio…

This week’s guest is beloved all-time Shamblefriend Zac Cole, who you may remember wrote a few posts for us on music last year and has appeared on several podcasts.

He tells us about his plan B, to be some sort of max level chef-wizard with extra points in VEGETABLE ALCHEMY, plays some big tunes and weighs up being Childish Gambino’s tour manager. Press play below or click here to listen!

Don’t forget you can join us LIVE every Friday on http://www.shoreditchradio.co.uk at 12PM for the latest episode, or find the whole archive on Mixcloud.

Podshambles 40: Snake Oil (Season Finale)

Podshambles 40: Snake Oil (Season Finale) is now OUT! Here’s what to expect:

The Podifications have been made and the results are simply flabberCasting. That’s right – it’s the end of Podshambles Season 2.

Look at how far we’ve all come – it’s actually rather astounding that we’re still here/not dead. So what better way to celebrate than an ENORMOUS Podshambles Special?

Laurie and Paddy are joined in this Podquest by soon-to-be movie star James Utechin and already-super-rad Zac Cole for a good ol’ fashioned game of Snake Oil.

We really hope you enjoy this extra-fantastic episode. Thank you all so much for your continued support of the podcast and YouTube channel.

Bring your RainbowPhone and start banging your UrgeDrum. Once more unto the breach my friends – it’s Podshambles 40.

Click here to listen on Acast, or just listen using the thumbnail below!

Alternatively you can click here to download on iTunes/subscribe/check out the back catalog/my lovely lady lumps.

Aren’t friends brilliant?

Big love,

Paddy & Laurie & James & Zac XXXX

Podshambles 37: Meat In A Bag In A Pub

Podshambles 37: Meat In A Bag In A Pub is now OUT. Here’s what to expect:

Two pints of Poddingtons and a packet of WorCASTer Sauce crisps please. Thank you. Oh hang on I think you gave me the wrong change. Oh no, my mistake. Thanks.

Christmas is nearly upon us, so it’s about time for Podshambles 37. Those Shamblelfs are getting restless. Laurie finally goes through his ‘NO’ phase, Paddy tackles nudity, and the fruity pair of fruit-bears give us a taste of Shamble Karaoke. Download now for our eleven top tips for staying warm this winter!

All that remains is one question:

WHO IS JOE LEADER?

Click here to listen on Acast, or just listen using the thumbnail below!

Alternatively you can click here to download on iTunes/subscribe/check out the back catalog/do you like green eggs and ham.

A bird in the hand is worth all your fingers,

Big love,

Paddy & Laurie XX

Podshambles 29: Hold Your Sort Of Horses

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Podshambles 29: Hold Your Sort Of Horses
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Cleanliness is next to Podliness, and Podliness is next to Castliness.

The Shambled-Eggs are back again and they sure know how to be served with toast. Genuinely gasp as Laurie brings you into the 21st century, potentially wail as Paddy continues the tale of Flagon the Dwarf in Choose Your Own Adventure, and aggressively jump as maestro Zac Cole returns to the Shamblewaves.

Fluff the pillows, repair the stairs, buy more towels and do not under any circumstances give those towels to the crabs because as we all now know the crabs are angered by fabric. We just about got away with it last time but I think AGAIN might be pushing it.

Good evening. This is a shambles.

Shambletracks: Grace Petrie says Farewell To Welfare.

Hello everybody.

It’s been a while. I know I usually say that in jest because it generally hasn’t been a while, but today I mean it. I very rarely mean things, or do I? We may never know.

So as you may have gathered from smatterings of tweets, facebook posts and Laurie’s tear-jerking (genuinely) LCD Soundsystem ‘All My Friends‘ Shambletrack – I am now in America. New York City to be precise, and I will be remaining here for the time being. Of course this has thrown a comically-sized socket-wrench into the purely metaphorical cogs of Podshambles (yeah that’s right guys – we have metaphorical cogs. Metaphorical cogs powered by FRIENDSHIP) but never fear – I’m to an extent back on the radar. It took me a good week to get used to residing out here, and I’m still very much adjusting to the intricacies of Stateside life – for instance everyone thinking I’m adorable because of my voice, the absence of soft drinks that won’t instantly kill you, or having to order ‘a pack of Marlboro Reds’ as opposed to ‘twenty Marlboro Reds’ – a conundrum which ended up with me accidentally being handed 400 hundred cigarettes by a cashier who thought I was either mental or trying to kill myself.

BUT THAT’S LIFE GUYS.

I’ve found a spare half an hour, so here we go. I was going to do something loosely based on New York City but I feel like I’ll be doing a few of those whilst I’m out here and I don’t want to just aimlessly throw something at you guys because it conveniently has the words ‘New York’ embedded in the lyrics somewhere. So I’ve chosen a song that actually means something to me.

I was asked in an interview today (that’s right – I do interviews because I am super cool) what my favourite political song was, and the answer was so blindingly obvious. Farewell To Welfare by Grace Petrie is a stand-out masterclass in just how effective and meaningful political and satirical music can be. I first gigged with Grace about three years ago and she blew me away. Her songs have so much heart and honesty that it brings a tear to the eye, and she is politically dead on – hitting points such as anti-LGBT discrimination, the victimisation of the working people and the attitudes of the husks currently running our UK government.

This goes out to everyone who gives a shit about our country and the people who live in it. Grace you are an absolute star.

Thanks for reading everyone – I’ll be back to usual soon, just need to get over some culture shock/sugar poisoning/getting hit by a big yellow taxi whilst ‘jaywalking‘ (?). You can buy the music of Grace Petrie (and more with her band ‘The Benefits Culture’) buy clicking HERE.

Big, big love and HEY IF YOU’RE IN NEW YORK GIVE ME A CALL ON 555-PADDY-NEW-YORK-PHONE-.com. I think that’s it?

Paddy XX

p.s Oh my God I actually just saw a TV advert for meow mix. I’ve wanted to see what all the fuss is about for years. Now I know. The cat even said ‘I want chicken I want liver Meow Mix Meow Mix please deliver’. IT WAS AMAZING. #meowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeow.

Shambletracks: Once I heard this great song by Pearl Jam.

Good day Sirs and Madams (?) – I trust the winter has not been too harsh on the crop yield? The Viscount sent word of troubles in the north, I do so hope young Timothy recovers from consumption before too long!

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME.

Hello all – Paddy again. I’m just so predictable.

I can’t believe I have gone this long without approaching Pearl Jam as a Shambletrack. Pearl Jam are one of my all time favourite bands and I think I was struggling with choosing one song to play you. I mean, I love every song they have ever written so picking one seems like an underhanded betrayal of all the other ditties they jigwhistle. So I’ve decided to go with the first Pearl Jam song I ever heard – Once. This was the opening song of their debut album ‘Ten‘, released August 1991, and thus is the reason I heard it first. I was given the album by my first guitar teacher when I was ten (WEIRD HUH? TEN AND TENCRAZY) and I worshipped it through the medium of walkman monopolisation. If you’re not a Pearl Jam fan – I totally understand. Eddie Vedder, like many grunge frontmen, has one of those distinctive marmite voices (see: Billy Corgan, Trent Reznor, Elmo) – there’s no middle ground on opinions of him. I personally and clearly love it. Half of the time you have no idea what he’s saying, and the other half of the time you just assume it’s something excellent. HE’S AMAZING. I now have every Pearl Jam record and will never ever grow tired of them. I urge you to do the same.

PJ (abbreviated because AND WHAT) really have it all. They can be heavy as a sack of hammers (see: Even Flow), soft as a rhythmic pillow (see: Better Man) or just mad as a bag of spiders (see: the drunkest ever cover of Baba O’Riley). This is grunge music at it’s absolute zenith – may it continue to reign supreme.

Enjoy – kicks in after about 40 seconds of weird atmospheric beauty.

That’s all from me today – bit of a short one but then again so are some crusted pies, concise jokes, and the inhabitants or Ironforge.

Big Love,

Paddy XX

Shambletracks: Those Hot 8 Brass Band boys sure do know how to Sexual Healing.

Hello, and as ever, hurrah.

Today I have a challenge for you all, one that will test your mettle to its very limit and reveal your true nature – you will be forced to look into your soul and, with wide eyed acceptance, confront who you really are. That’s right guys, Shambletracks just got heavy.

Thursday’s trial by musical fire – listen to today’s track and DO NOT smile. Don’t jig, bump, sway or bounce – especially no bouncing.

I am going to make a prediction; you will fail. And that’s OK, completing today’s dastardly and outrageously difficult challenge would sound alarm bells for even the coldest amongst us.

So, what is this song; this unimaginably happy melody, this oasis of sound in a cold grey Thursday desert, this Bill Murray of a tune. Well, let me introduce you to Hot 8 Brass Band’s cover of Sexual Healing, originally, of course, by Marvin Gaye.

When it comes to this song I am completely bias, so I could be overestimating how happy it will make all of you lovely people, but for me this tune stirs up wonderful memories of my last birthday. When my friends gathered on a warm July evening to treat me to a Dirty Burger and a trip to see Chef – it sounds low key and could even sound dull, but it was a great Wednesday evening. This song capped it all off – being used in the film to add a bit of shine to one of the film’s many many happy moments (it really is an incredibly easy watch, good food, good tunes and almost no drama to speak of).

There is really very little left to say about today’s Shambletrack;  because I am pushed for time but also because that’s it, it’s simply a happy song, and a great cover of a classic, just let the cool brass sounds wash over you and enjoy.

So good luck with today’s challenge, and let us at Podshambles/Shambletracks know how you get on.

Have a wonderful Thursday.

LOVE,

Zac.

XXXX

[Editor’s note: Paddy is rad lololololol]

Shambletracks: Taj Mahal makes it clear that you Ain’t Gwine To Whistle Dixie.

HELLO. I’m here again. I being Paddy. Paddy being Paddy from the Podshambles.

How are you? GREAT, GOOD TO HEAR IT. I am also well – I’ve just finished doing a prerecord for Shoreditch Radio on Ella Woods’ show ‘Ella Plays What’ which has been super awesome. It was a Valentine’s Day special and I even got to choose some songs (for your information I chose Love In The Afternoon by The Martin Harley Band and No Children by The Mountain Goats – both classics). Do give it a listen on Shoreditch Radio this Friday at MIDDAY.

Anywho, I’ve chosen something a little different today. It’s an eight-and-a-half minute instrumental (I know, right?) in the form of Ain’t Gwine To Whistle Dixie by Taj Mahal. Point number one: I have been listening to this song for twenty years, and doing a quick google revealed to me that it isn’t in fact called ‘Ain’t Got To Whistle‘ – the name I have been referring to it by for literally 83.3333% of my life – which is a massive embarrassment. Point number two: it is gorgeous.

I was primarily brought up on blues music. My Dad plays the blues better than anyone I have ever met, and so the dulcet tones of old America used to ring throughout my childhood home every single day – and it was magnificent. My father is one of those guys that can just play music. Hand him an instrument and he will ace it: double-bass, jazz piano, trombone, erhu – you name it. He fucking rules. He’s in his mid-sixties and is still taking music lessons every week to ‘make sure he keeps his eye in’, and regularly plays with his bands ‘Lady & The Gents’, ‘The Coffin Dodgers’ and ‘Trains’. Thus it was only natural that myself and my siblings all learnt music from a very young age, all going on to forge careers in the industry. The one thing we can all agree on it that blues was the instigator – and it was all thanks to Dad.

I’m sure I’ll cover a fair bit of the music he introduced us to in the coming months, but the song that instantly springs to mind is this one. Perhaps it’s because it’s a long piece with no vocals, and therefore provides some kind of backing track to the vast majority of my earliest memories. Maybe it’s just because it is rad. Either way – here it is.

If you haven’t listened to Taj Mahal yet – DO IT NOW. Henry Saint Clair Fredericks (his real name) is a musical mastermind and a bloody hero to boot. Have a dig through his discography and you’ll find he has played with literally everyone under the sun (odds are you have heard him before on one song or another) and quite rightly so. Check out The Best Of Taj Mahal for an idea of his style.

I hope you enjoy the mellow tune from my youth ‘Ain’t Gwine To Whistle Dixie’.

You’re welcome.

Big love,

Paddy XX

Shambletracks: TV On The Radio are always on my TV and my Radio.

So I forgot that Laurie is technically on holiday this weekend and I was meant to do all the Shambletracks. Erm. Woops. But I’m here now so it’s totally fine, and boy oh boy woah check it out wham bam thank you ma’am have I got a treat for you sonny Jimbo. It’s here, it’s now – it’s TV On The Radio.

Ever since I emerged from my bio-egg as a tumbling cub (/happy-go-lucky scamp) I have been filled with a yearning – an insatiable thirst for something to wow me. I frolicked for years, heading from port to port (not sailing, just tumbling) trying to find a seemingly unobtainable high. It never came.

UNTIL ONE DAY.

I was stood outside The Star (a sleepy pub just off Cowley Road in Oxford), having one final pint with my brother Walter before I boarded the bus to move to London. I was scared as I had lived in Oxford my entire life and the prospect of moving to the big smoke was in equal measure tantalising and petrifying. You know when you’re sort of unsure about whatever you are about to do, and as a result you end up making your current task last as long as possible to try and procrastinate your way to not having to face the inevitable? I was doing that. I’d been nursing the Guinness for a good 45 minutes when my brother approached.

“I have something for you, you know, to listen to on the bus.” He grinned and handed me a mix CD, and suddenly everything was fine. You see Walter always accents big moments in my life by making me mix CDs. He gave me one every Christmas as I grew up, every exam period, every birthday, every failed relationship and every major accomplishment. The mixes were always there, helping me on my way, and they were always fucking sensational.

I remember this one so, so clearly. I listened to it all the way to my new flat and I fell in love with every single band on there. It had some storming tracks on it (Sin (Live) by Nine Inch Nails, It Fit When I Was A Kid by Liars, Televators by The Mars Volta, Last Nite Of The Proms by Youthmovies – and many more gamechangers) but one in particular stood out for me: Love Dog by TV On The Radio. It genuinely made me smile, and suddenly everything was going to be okay. Sometimes songs resonate in that very special way – this was one of those times.

Love Dog is a restrained, heartfelt and honest song, with perfect harmonies and haunting strings pulling it all together. It draws inspiration from Persian poet Rūmī’s ‘Love Dogs‘ (the final lines of which read “There are love dogs, no one knows the names of. Give your life to be one of them.”) and manages to become a topic for debate in its true meaning – the main question being is it about falling in love with partner, or is it about finding God. Give it a listen and draw your own conclusions – I truly love this song.

I know this has been a bit of a serious one, but hey I spend so much time dicking about it’s actually quite nice to show a different side of things sometimes. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. Without further ado, I present TV On The Radio‘s ‘Love Dog‘ from the album ‘Dear Science‘.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfUv6r3iVOw

That’s it from me today – I think the Hamburglar/Corporal #coolmoves/Magic Magic Johnson/CrumpetKing1000 (Laurie) will be back tomorrow!

Big love,

Paddy XX

Shambletracks: The Staunton Lick rejuvenates your faith in happiness.

hello it is paddy i am 24 and one month old and i like songs.

That’s how I would start if I had my way – but I don’t. So I’ll begin like this:

Hello! It’s me again (me being paddy who is 24 and one month old and likes songs). Perfect.

I hope you are all well – apologies for the delay on this instalment of Shambletracks – last night I ended up going out to buy chicken and then sort of…didn’t make it home? It’s just one of those things isn’t it. You guys know. We ALL know. I ended up discussing the best party build for Dragon Age Inquisition (#coolmovesdragonwhatsup) and then watching the film Heathers – a film that I was promised was good, and ended up sort of destroying my faith in cinema. It was a long night, but don’t worry friends – I made it out alive.

Today I have chosen The Staunton Lick by Lemon Jelly. I was going to go with something horrendously depressing, but decided to try and cheer up and revisit my favourite British TV show of all time. That show is Spaced, and this song is the music in the final scene. Spaced basically changed everything for me. It got me interested in comedy, which is now my job, and gave me a whole new slant on how to construct humour. Spaced was everything I had ever wanted, and I still cry every single time this gorgeous song bleeds in the background of that fateful finale. If you haven’t seen it, go and watch all of Spaced right this minute. You can burn through it in a day, and you will never regret it – I promise.

The song itself is simplicity at it’s finest. Built using the most basic of chords and melodies, gradually building and stripping into a tune that will a. get stuck in your head, b. force a grin onto that surly face of yours, and c. make you admit that you’re scared of mice and spiders, but oh-so-much greater is your fear that one day the two species will cross-breed to form an all-powerful race of mice-spiders who will immobilise human beings in giant webs in order to steal cheese.

Laurie, Zac and I sometimes put this on in the flat when we need to remember everything is going to be totally fine. You should too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBLWDF2nfP8

That’s it from me – have a drink. Go on. I fucking dare you. I’m going to have a drink. Drinks drinks drinks.

Big love,

Paddy XX