Tuesday 29 September 2009

Insidious Junkbox - a musical compilation from MC Coc Oen



Chorlton resident and musical uber-brain Coc Oen has, for some time now, been compiling and sharing a series of 'mixtapes' he likes to call the Insidious Junkbox. CIR managed to coax him out of his ursine lair for long enough to grab a few words of explanation....

And you can download all ten of the Junkbox podcasts here :-

Insidious Junkbox: An Apology

Insidious Junkbox gradually seeped up from the basement of my imagination, from the foiled plumbing of my fervent dreams of a better life. The title is based on Rebellious Jukebox, which is probably obvious, but I feel I should explain.

The idea has been kicking around my head since the dawn of my radio-addled adolescence. Imagine if I could spend my days, my hours and minutes, earning tiny piles of cash by stringing together fantastic bits of recorded music, spitting out muttering mixtapes and bringing a little joy to the world! Just the idea of putting together little radio shows was nourishment enough. Adulation was no likelihood.

Then one day the generator giggled into life and the plan was sketched. I decided to launch one of these bad boys into the ether myself, admittedly in piratical fashion and without fanfare. I got a bit of audio software, set up a microphone (badly as it turns out and I have yet to get the hang of it) and began planning what treasures I would share with a couple of people that I already knew.

So the basic plan is this: play the occasional classic that has lodged itself in my consciousness over the years – largely from the late 80s and 1990s – then pepper and season with new tingly delights. I try to stray outside the pig pen every now and then, but the blueprint comes from my micro-Daddy John Peel and little strays far beyond it: indie schimdie, classy hip-hop, some left-field pop, electronic communications. There's a thick vein of Welshness, as there is a lot to be said for the music of that gloomy corner of the world and not so many people to say it, and tastes will wander toward the obscure if allowed.


MP3s are knitted together at The Flat Above on Chorlton Cross. Podcasts are occasionally listened to, and occasionally asked after by folks that I know. If I'm honest, in my dreams they snag me a foot on some shiny ladder to the next level of aspiration; if I'm honest with myself, it's a lazy path leading nowhere obvious. Nonetheless, there'a a tingle trickles down my throat with every opening line.

Any thoughts or track suggestions are double welcome – junkbox@grouphug.org – and should anyone wish to slap MP3s of the podcasts on their site or link them, feel free.

I remain your humble podcaster, MC CocOen. x

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