Marc Riley - 31/08/2009

Marc returns with psychedelic folkies the Witch and the Robot in session. Plus there are classic BBC sessions from Wreckless Eric (at the behest of Eric himself), the Flaming Lips, the Drowning Craze and Girls at Our Best. The Witch And The Robot's debut album On Safari is released this month and was described by Drowned in Sound as "Some sort of freak-folk, pastoral, krautrock mindblow!" The band come from the Lake Districts and blend dark psychedelia, folk, shanties and spoken word ("Every album should have a War Of The Worlds bit" they say). Recorded in their home studio - The Robot Rooms in Ambleside - On Safari is the band's meditation on "safari, the stupidity of religion and 21st Century malaise." Comprising Dustin Goodnite (Andrew Tomlinson), Hen (Stuart Shingler), Venice (Sam Hunt) and DJ Aesthetic Heartbreak, the four members were born within three months of each other and have been friends for longer than they can remember. That other "nicely weird" Cumbrian band British Sea Power are fans of The Witch And The Robot - they've played together countless times and The Witch And The Robot were asked to open their festival at Tan Hill in north Yorkshire.