Prick Up Your Ears ...

... as Joe Orton once said, or, I think that's what he said.

Anyway, here are a few links to stuff that have caught my ears lately:

The Music Parlour - themusicparlour.blogspot.com - links to mostly old, mostly out of copyright music which has been transferred to .flac or .wav for free.

This only applies to music which has never been issued digitally, but rather transcribed from LP, tape and FM. There's also a 78rpm archive.

Everybody knows the BBC is quite possibly the greatest broadcasting/news/media organisation in the world, right? And so it should be for what it costs.

Yet, lurking within the US' National Public Radio - NPR - which shamefully has to beg for money every few weeks or so, are three of the best radio programmes in the world. Follow links below to download podcasts from these shows;

This American Life - podcast - this show features anything, from a kid preparing for their first day at school to travelling with a National Guardsman on patrol in Afghanistan, all contained in the richest aural landscape and the minimum of commentary. Probably the highest production values of any documentary radio show in the world.

A Prairie Home Companion - podcast - A genuine old-fashioned radio variety show, recorded live, on stage, around the USA, featuring comedy, drama, music, chat and just about anything else that could possibly come across on radio, all held together by Garrison Keillor, a gentleman who could truely be said to have a great face for radio ...

Radiolab - podcast - two geeky sort of guys shooting the breeze about science and technology ... yes ... that's it? Well, then it all starts ... Who needs pictures???