Project Moonbase – The Historic Sound of the Future | Unusual music show | Podcast | Space cult | projectmoonbase.com

Partly inspired by MC Zirconium's recent close encounter with the world of DIY as well the recent arrival of an amazing compilation of home-made recordings we thought we'd tackle that thorny topic of home improvement.

We like to be fashionably late to the party so this week on the show we finally get round to marking the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles' first album, Please Please Me. As we've done previously with the likes of The White Album, The Man Machine and Nevermind, we've attempted to do a track-for-track cover of (most) of the tracks on the album. We've managed to find cover versions covering genres as diverse as metal mash-up, Brazilian pop, electronic exotica and French ye-ye to name but four. We also bring you the track which has the accolade of being the first ever cover version of a Beatles song by none other than Kenny Lynch.

On this week's particularly enquiring edition of the show we catch up with some new releases and return to a recent favourite. We have a track from the chart-topping (in Japan) new album by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, the latest reissues from Awesome Tapes from Africa and Trunk Records, a selection from a great new collection of private press recordings, the latest (but sadly penultimate) volume of Ghost Box's Study Series and a track from the latest compilation of real and imaginary 80s recordings from Bedroom Cassette Masters.

At the suggestion of loyal listener Squig, this week's show celebrates the intoxicating delight - and health benefits - of our favourite member of the nightshade family, tobacco. This celebration takes the form of music from genres such as cheesy organ, cartoon jazz, Norwegian sampledelica and a new one to us here at the Moonbase, Pink Floyd Disco.

At MC Zirconium's prompting, we pay a long overdue return visit to the enormous archive of EMI Pakistan, a collection of recordings stretching back decades which, thanks to some forward-thinking businessmen in Karachi is now in private ownership and all available in download form. The whole show is made up of music from Pakistan, with most of the show drawn from EMI's musical treasure trove.

It's time to find that designer ball-gown and roll out the red carpet as we pay tribute to the world of film soundtracks. It came as something as a surprise to our archivists that we'd never done such a show before but better late than never. On this glittering edition of the show you can look forward to some 80s-era Kollywood, some military style romance, a pair of electro-harps, German pan-pipes, some super-heroic vocalese and some surprisingly non-exotic music from one of the giants of Exotica.

A tasty broth for you this week dear listener as we round up some of our favourite recent arrivals at the Moonbase. The "EP" seems to be format du jour, with new ones by Kumisolo, Jeremy Deller, Lullatone and Jazz Against the Machine. We also have a reissue of an EP by the mysterious Mr Ondioline, an unexpectedly cheerful handling of existential angst, some theremin-led horror and a long overdue return of brass and show favourite Caravan.

Inspired by the arrival of a couple of geologically-themed tracks at the Moonbase this week, we decided the time was right to do a show entirely about Earth Sciences. So you'll hear some lovely core samples including several pieces of library music, an early example of Music and Movement, some Swedish exotica and even a rock song about rocks.

It's time to open your stamp album and turn to the pages for The Moon as we bring you an all postal edition of the show. We have a plethora of epistular tracks for you this week from the likes of Duane Eddy, John Baker, Rauni Pekkala and Wing as well as an exclusive mash-up of John Laurie and Vernon Elliott.

Put on your driving gloves, dear listener, for a particularly high-octane edition of the show as this week as we explore the world of speedsters, car chases and rally racing. Amongst other thrilling selections, you will hear library music from both sides of the English Channel, a version of a well-known instrumental hit by anti-musicians The Shaggs and a most surprising "unplugged" version of that motorway classic, Autobahn.

Taking its name from a track by Café Kaput, this show was going to be all about mitosis and meiosis until we discovered there’s not as much “cell” themed music as you might Imagine. So instead it is an educational round up of new and classic tracks from Giant Claw, Ben Worley, The Focus Group, Tony Pegler, The Caravans, BBC Radiophonic Workshop, The Simonsound, Man or Astro-man, Yurak and Diad.

This is our counter-factual, parallel universe 1980s show. It sounds like the 80s, it looks like the 80s, and trust me, it smells like the 80s but it is not 80s. It is 100% fictional-faux-fakery: conjured up from retro technology, spandex and cassettes. To that end, let’s keep it together, hop on a monorails and do some frantic aerobics, WICKED! Music from: Mitch Murder, Short Circuit, MCM90, [PHYSICS], Hybrid Music System, Jeff Sudakin, Horizon 200, Ilaiyaraaja

This show is all about the Swords and also includes the Sorcery. That’s what they used to call stuff with bearded men and dragons before Game of Thrones. Speaking of which, we have a chiptune rendering of the theme music to Game of Thrones, using not one, not two but three C64 SIDs, also wizards, warlocks, dragons and flaming swords. From the likes of Hugo Montenegro, Reg Tilsley, I am Robot and Proud, Delia Derbyshire and Midnight Syndicate amongst others. Incidentally the art this week is the sigil for house project moonbase: a pint glass. It was going to be a penguin with a flick knife but that sounded better than it looked. Anyway, listen in.

Checking the extensive archives, we were surprised that we've not yet addressed ourselves to the element of Fire on Project Moonbase. With Beltane recently upon us, marking the beginning of Summer, what better time to turn the heat up and dedicate the show to all things conflagrant. We also have a new release from Hong Kong in the 60s on wiaiwya and an ear-boggling cover version of a Hendrix classic by those wonderful Meridian Brothers from Colombia.

On this week's show we pay a long-overdue tribute to the world of the test card, or more accurately the music played whenever the test card appeared on screen. We draw pretty heavily on the 9-volume set researched by Heinz Herschmann for the Apollo Sound label and also the sterling work of Steven Wills of Winchester Hospital Radio. We also have tracks from a couple of new releases, one of which may or may not be entirely fictional.