Marc Riley - 21/05/2009

Erland And The Carnival are tonight's most fabulous musical guests. They are a British Folk rock band from London formed by instrumentalist (ex Blur and Verve member) Simon Tong and Orcadian folk guitarist and singer Gawain Erland Cooper. They are best known for their contemporary arrangements of traditional Scottish and English folk songs. The band are currently signed to Butterfly Records, a label owned by producer Martin Glover (commonly known as Youth) and Simon Tong (former member of the band The Verve, and current member of super group: The Good, the Bad and the Queen) The band's name comes from the Jackson C Frank song My Name is Carnival after the band recorded their own version of the song from his album Blues Run the Game. They are inspired by the likes of super folk groups Pentangle and Fairport Convention. Members currently include Erland Cooper, Samantha Marais, Simon Tong, David Knock, Dominic Lash. We've also got John Peel Sessions spread across the week from the Drowning Craze (as chosen by former member and now Bella Union head honcho Simon Raymond), the Sid Presley Experience, The Pale Saints and Van der Graf Generator. Joining us this evening and bringing a bit or sartorial elegance to the proceedings is music journalist and raconteur Rob Hughes. Clutching in his tiny little hands a copy of a music paper from yesteryear for his Parallel Universe.