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

Arrrr, me hearties, 'tis time for the much heralded all-pirate edition of Project Moonbase! So hoist the main brace, stick a parrot on your shoulder and join the merry goings on aboard the good ship Moonbase. As is often the case, this week's theme came about because of one extraordinary track by one David Minnick but it gave us a chance to dig up some keel-haulingly great pieces of music for all you land-lubbers. We should warn you that there is some piratical language on this week's show so it would be wise to keep younger pirates out of listening range.

This week's show takes its title from an astonishing piece of vinyl archaeology in the form of a new compilation by Dante Carfagna of the Ohio Soul Recordings website and Rob Sevier of the Numero Group. If you can imagine a heady fusion of 70s soul, primitive electronics and song-poem-like lyrics you might begin to get an idea of the treasures to be found on this collection. In addition to that we also have tracks from brand new albums by Giant Claw and the Sone Institute, more from the Como Zoo Carousel Calliope and a possibly unique example of Star Wars exploitation music.

This week on the show we shine a light on prolific composer, arranger and vocalist Barbara Moore. If that name isn't all that familiar, Barbara's work often went uncredited, perhaps because she had the audacity to be a woman working in a field dominated by men. Barbara Moore has nearly 300 compositions to her name and wrote arrangements and sang on some absolutely iconic tunes from the 60s and 70s such as The Saint, At the Sign of the Swinging Cymbal, Bedazzled, I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing, as well as recording several really beautiful library music albums throughout the 70s for de Wolfe. Most of the music on this week's show features Barbara Moore in some way but we do also manage to squeeze in another track from Brazilian band Pato Fu and another track from the new solo album by Laetitia Sadier.More information about Barbara Moore can be found at http://www.barbaramoore.co.uk/ If it's still August 2012 when you're reading this, Lorraine Bowen will be interviewing Barbara Moore live on stage as well as playing some of her arrangements and compositions on the 29th. This will be a show not to be missed: http://hotaugustfringe.com/calendar/lorraine-bowen-meets-barbara-moore-2/

With our recent obsession with themes we’ve not had a chance to catch up with some great new releases and reissues which have arrived at the base via Moon-pod. So no particular theme this week as we bring you music from two new compilations of TV and library music from Soul Jazz and Winchester Hospital Radio, a track from Laetitia Sadier’s new album, a reissue of an old educational gem by Dorothy Collins, some fine new chip-prog from Norway and a track from Shawn Lee’s alluringly titled new album Synthesizers in Space. We also have the penultimate release from the epic 3-year project by “Roger and Dave” to record ukulele versions of all 185 Beatles compositions as well as a version of show favourite Caravan and the most extraordinary sounds made by an extremely run-down calliope from Como Zoo.

>We play a lot of Mexican music on the show but we've been thinking for a while that it was about time we tried to sort out the fake (mainly German) Mexicans from the real thing. So on this week's show you'll hear music which is equal parts sauerkraut and sombrero with tunes from Keith Mansfield, Percy Faith, Esquivel, Pepe Jaramillo, Jean-Jacques Perrey, The Mexicali Brass, Conlon Nancarrow and Florence Foster Jenkins amongst others.

Following last week's banana special, it seemed only right to follow that with a show all about apes, monkeys and primates in general. This was also prompted by our recent reverie about the classic TV series Monkey and also a certain monkey-themed tune from our favourite collection of American song-poems by Cara Stewart.

Some might think that following a show about madness with a show about bananas is a little in poor taste. However, the real inspiration behind this week's show is DJ Bongoboy's discovery of how much fun that can be had with a Breville toastie maker, a banana and some bread. So every track on the show show this week has a banana theme, with music from Slim Gaillard, Cal Tjader, Tipsy and Liberia's Congresswoman Malinda Jackson Parker to name but a few.

This week's show is themed around the world of mental well-being or, more often than not, mental unwell-being. This theme came as a result of listener Squig reminding us of the existence of a truly (and quite literally) mind-bending piece of country noir from the great Porter Wagoner. We also have some equally warped pieces of music from Serge Gainsbourg, Jonny Trunk, Lucia Pamela, Geoff Love and many more. In addition to all the mad music, there's also an imagined theme tune to some 1970s educational programming from Chris Sharp, aka Concretism and a teaser of a soon to be reissued masterpiece of early computer music from Laurie Spiegel.

Hot on the heels of last week's birthday special, we have another one this week in the form of a 70th birthday celebration for an equally colossal figure in the world of popular music, namely one Sir Paul McCartney. We've tried to avoid playing versions of Beatles-era McCartney and have instead concentrated on Sir Paul's solo work. Particular highlights include arrangements of his songs by the Calcutta Youth Choir and Brazilian band Pato Fu - we fully expect to be playing more by these fabulous bands in future shows. In addition to all the McCartney music we have also managed to cram in the flip-side of the latest in the Study Series from Ghost Box records by The Advisory Circle. Each edition of Project Moonbase is available for download around 8pm BST (UTC+1) every Sunday evening.

This week on Project Moonbase we celebrate the recent 70th birthday of one of the giants of popular music in the 20th century, Brian Wilson (only ten more years, Brian, until you become eligible for the Project Moonbase Hall of Fame!). So on the show this week there are Brian Wilson compositions in all manner of genres from easy listening through reggae and punk to chiptune. As well as all the birthday music, we also have a couple of new releases in the form of a new volume in Ghost Box's on-going Study Series and a track from the debut album by Mademoiselle Nineteen.

At the suggestion of listener Peter Berglin, who posted a video of a very relaxed looking frog sitting on a porch, we decided to turn our attention this week to the semi-aquatic world of amphibians. So expect plenty of frog and toad music. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be many tunes out there with a newt or salamander theme. In addition to the amphibian music, we also have a couple more tasty vinyl finds from the recent Meadows Festival in Edinburgh and another version of show favourite Caravan.

Several tunes of a sunny disposition have materialised in the Moonbase archive over the last couple of weeks so we thought we'd try to counteract the shocking weather some of you are enduring on Earth with some lunar sunshine. So on the show this week we have a new track from Cornelius' latest project, a track from the beautiful-sounding (and beautifully packaged) Shapwick by Jon Brooks, a track from the new album by Stereo Total as well as a couple of finds from the recent Meadows Festival in Edinburgh.

It's time to fish out a black and yellow striped jumper and join us as we explore the world of the humble bee, with music from Jean-Jacques Perrey, Lenny Dee, Barney Kessel & Gloria Wood, the J Arthur Keenes Band, Ingert Hoffman and many more.We also have some 8-bit Radiohead, a track from the new side project by Portishead's Geoff Barrow and film soundtrack composer Ben Salisbury recording together under the name DROKK. Plus of course another version of show favourite, Caravan.

This week's show follows up on our recent trip to planet earth where we were asked to provide the sounds and atmosphere for an exhibition by regular listener Emma Bowen and her nephew Abe involving lots of plasticine dinosaurs and drawings inspired by the plasticine dinosaurs.

This week on Project Moonbase we've put together a show especially for your purses and wallets as we explore the world of filthy lucre. We also have a track from a boggling new two-disc compilation of Klaus Wunderlich's organ medley albums as well as a particularly sinister version of show favourite Caravan.