SO YOU WANT TO GET INTO THE CZECH ALTERNATIVE MUSIC SCENE…BUT YOU’RE DAUNTED BY THE CHOICE? HERE’S ANOTHER GOOD PLACE TO START LOOKING…

Looking for exciting new Czech music? There’s BANDZONE. There’s Prague-based RADIO 1. And of course there’s the musical virtual rabbithole that is YOUTUBE. But if you want to immerse yourself in the Czech alternative music scene, you may have to do a fair bit of trawling before you stumble across The Band You’ve Been Waiting For All Your Life. 

If only someone could do the trawling for you.

Well, someone has.

From 2011 to 2013 a young man from Prague called Karbo lovingly compiled more than twenty podcasts of quality Czech alternative music, christened them THE CZECH SHOWS, and posted them on Mixcloud and Tumblr.

With the exception of one epic 75-minute jazz podcast, the alternative-music-themed podcasts clock in at between 35 and 50 minutes or thereabouts – and are all wonderful snapshots of the Czech Republic’s music scene (plus the odd Slovak outfit) as it was earlier this decade.

From Lanugo to Lavagance, from Prodavač to Plastic Swans, from Sunflower Caravan to Superego Kid, there is something for every discerning indie punter.

‘The Czech Shows’ podcasts encompass indie rock, dream pop, punk, electronica, post-rock, acoustic, indie-folk, post-hardcore, progressive and more – and all seamlessly strung together for a rollercoaster listening experience. Or, as a DJ might put it, a ‘journey’.

Of course we all have our own tastes and you are unlikely to love every single track on every single podcast… but if you are interested enough to be reading this blog you should definitely take the plunge and check them out.

Though I recommend you listen to the podcasts one at a time to keep your radar sharp – too much binge listening can dull the musical senses!

So here they are:

Click here for THE CZECH SHOWS on Mixcloud (Nos 1 – 13 1/2)
(Don’t click on the graphics below – they are merely screenshots…)

Click here for THE CZECH SHOWS on Tumblr (all shows 1 – 21)

And massive respect to Karbo who, in compiling The Czech Shows, has clearly worked very hard…so you don’t have to.

Oh, and by the way Karbo, your English does not suck – vy mluvíte anglicky moc lepší než já mluvím česky!

Alex