Winston's Zen

ANOTHER ZEN STARRED, TEN TRACK PLAYLIST 

There are somewhere in the region of a billion bands and solo artists on this relatively small planet. FACT. You've never heard of most of them, and with good reason. The enormously overwhelming majority of them are so teeth-clenchingly awful that exposure to as little as ten seconds of their work is likely to make your ears limp down to your lapels and die a totured death right there and then. This also, is FACT.

How do I know that? Because at some point or other all those bands all send their stuff to Winston's Zen. It must be some kind of rite-of-passage. Our inbox is stuffed daily with MP3s containing such treasures as Irish Christian hip hop, disco-laced rock-a-billy, nu-prog-death-folk and tinny-techno made on re-wired Gameboys. The old Eighties ones. Seriously.

Rest assured dear Zen reader, that I would never assault your impeccable musical taste with such monstrosities, I couldn't do that to you. And to prove it.....

Welcome to ZenList Vol 3. The latest in Winston's Zen series of ten track downloadable playlists, designed to bring you closer to ten from the billion who aren't shit. Compiled with the complete knowledge and consent of the copyright holder* here are ten tracks from ten bands you probably haven't heard of yet, who are all really rather good.

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A deep and twisted opener to kick us off. Chicago five-piece Loyal Divide, provide Labrador. Industrial shoegaze melded with uplifting electronica anyone? Yes please.

Homepage | MySpace | Facebook | Last.fm

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Track 3 - Lowline - Monitors

Those with an eye on the Zendar will remember Manchester's Lowline. Blessed with wailing guitars, racing drums, a hands in the air chorus and a 100 mph finale their debut single Monitors is a belter. 

MySpace | Facebook | Last.fm | Buy CDs | Buy MP3s

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Track 5 - Milk Plus - I Don't Know What I'm Doing

Taken from debut EP little Victories, I Don't Know What I'm Doing is a funky, bluesy retro punk delight from a band bulding a reputation for moving a crowd.


MySpace | Facebook | Buy MP3s

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Track 7 - Erase.Release - Vehicle Vs Cyclist

Sadly gone their seperate ways since submitting the excellent Veichle Vs Cyclist, the Zen saw no reason to remove this terrific slice of Friendly-Fires-esque dream pop from ZenList 3

MySpace | Facebook | Last.fm

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And that's ZenList Vol 3.
Hope you enjoy it.
[Click here for the full playlist in Zip file format].

As always, these playlist are intended to promote the artists involved. Download and pass this ZenList to your firends by all means - we've got permission for you to do so freely. But if you like the stuff you hear, get off down your nearest gargantuan shopping complex, locate it's least hideous faceless CD dealer (unless of course you're one of the lucky ones with an actual record store in your neighborhood) and invest a little of your change in the artists work.

Better still get yourself tickets for a gig and show them your appreciation face to face. Your support is what keeps them doing what they do.

If you're an artist or a promoter and you'd like to submit a track for future ZenLists I'd be delighted to hear from you. Send an email to the submissions address listed on the Contacts Page.

As ever you're comments are encouraged.

Back soon
Winston

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* THE MAJORITY OF THESE TRACKS HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED FOR INCLUSION BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS THEMSELVES - FOR THE REMAINDER PERMISSION FOR INCLUSION HAS BEEN SOUGHT AND OBTAINED