For more years than you could imagine, the late, legendary Radio 1 DJ John Peel presided over The Peel Sessions, an ongoing series of recordings that found bands playing, at his behest, live in the BBC studios. As Peel's iconic tenure soldiered on towards four decades, the sheer vastness of these recordings amounted to a wonderful tribute to his pursuit of new music, and his embrace of idiosyncratic acts.
There'll never again be the opportunity for someone to replicate Peel's life and work, but Daytrotter is a website picking up on that Peel Sessions spirit. Essentially the product of a studio called Futureappletree, based in tiny Rock Island, Illinois, Daytrotter invites touring bands, driving through Midwestern America, to stop in and record four songs.
The bands are captured in analogue, of course, and with a pretty deft clarity. The results are posted on the website, accompanied by twee drawings and flowery writings; the particular quality of the recordings and the website's presentation speaking of the studio's embodied aesthetic.
Since its inception in 2006, Daytrotter has played host to an impressive roll-call of artists, who've seemingly reveled at the chance to get out of the van for a couple of hours and get the tape rolling. Like: Death Cab For Cutie, Vampire Weekend, Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear, Of Montreal, Sunset Rubdown, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, and piles more.
And all of these recordings are waiting for you: Daytrotter doing right by karma and posting them for free.
