Turntable Radio
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Turntable Radio is the world’s only remaining radio show dedicated to scratching, scratch/turntable music and the turntablist artform (also known as turntablism).
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[edit] History
Created by Mr Trick, it began life in 2002 on London’s Resonance 104.4FM, airing from 10.00-11.30pm every Sunday night.
In addition to the FM airwaves presence shows were archived online, with a supporting portal site carrying news, updates, links and more from the worldwide scratch/turntablist scene, and via this means the show built up a colossal worldwide following - some 40,000 listeners at its peak. By 2003 it had become the station's most listened to show.[1]
In February 2004, Trick announced the closure of the radio show, although the site continued to act as a news portal for all that was happening worldwide. Due to massive demand however, he was convinced to resurrect Turntable Radio and in May of the same year brought Laurent Fintoni, freelance journalist and editor of the online Turntable Music Resource Spin Science, on board to handle presenting duties.
The show then aired monthly in an online-only format, streamed via RealPlayer. This format lasted for another year and a half until November 2005 when it was moved entirely to a podcast format, still presented by Laurent Fintoni who co-runs the website with Mr Trick. The public were now able to download the shows in high quality MP3 format. The regularity of the show passed from monthly to every 2-3 months, allowing Turntable Radio to represent the ongoing musical happenings of the scene best by ensuring that every show was of a high quality and featured brand new or never aired tracks from worldwide, independent and signed, artists.
Over its four years existence Turntable Radio has aired exclusive tracks, mixes and interviews with and from the likes of D-Styles, Mixmaster Mike, DJ Craze, Birdy Nam Nam, A-Trak, Jazzy Jeff, Scratch Perverts, DJ Woody, 2tall and more.
In 2006 the show still serves over 5,000 listeners worldwide, spread over 40 countries, while the website was turned to a blog format with podcast feeds, regular turntablist news, video streams, competitions and the entirety of its archived shows available for listen at any time (the archive shows are accessible via RealPlayer stream audio). Hand in hand with the blog and podcasts, Laurent Fintoni cemented the relationship between Turntable Radio and Spin Science which serves as the deposit for written interviews, articles, features, reviews, news and audio & video downloads about artists and labels worldwide whose music is in turn featured on the Turntable Radio podcasts.
Turntable Radio podcasts have also been syndicated to FM radio stations worldwide including stations in the United States, Greece, Japan and the United Kingdom.
For a short period during 2005, Turntable Radio also aired a sister show, called "Turntable Radio Old School", presented by Sparky T and MC Biggie and dedicated to the old school roots of the artform. The sister show lasted for three editions, which are archived on the Turntable Radio blog.
Other radio shows which have covered and focused only or primarily on the turntablist artform and music have included Transmissions, the first and only Four hour radio show based on scratch music in the US West Coast from 2000-2002. According to the FCC, it was the only show that was presented with no commercial breaks. Webcasted around the world, it averaged 20,000+ listeners based on FCC ratings. It was presented by Ricci Rucker, DJ Manabees, and Manny Klickz. More recently, a show called Pitch Control, a weekly radio show covering turntablist and DJ music, presented by Mike Sheils and aired on the XM Radio satellite network.
[edit] Cuts of Culture
In 2005, Turntable Radio, Eclectic Breaks and Spin Science released the 'Cuts of Culture' compilation mixed by 2tall. The compilation was the culmination of each collective's dedication to showcase the wealth of musical talent worldwide that uses the turntable to produce and create music but is too often unheard.
Eclectic Breaks, a London based music label and DJ company, helped fund the release which was compiled by Turntable Radio, Spin Science and 2tall and mixed by 2tall. The release proved popular with over 2000 copies sold worldwide and featured music from artists across 8 countries and 2 continents.
Following this success, Eclectic Breaks, Turntable Radio and Spin Science are putting together the second volume of 'Cuts of Culture' to be released by EB in 2007 on CD and DVD this time featuring music and video from artists across 15 countries and 4 continents.
