Tonight’s Amazing Beats show sees presenter Mark Ryan get treated to a one off ‘spitting session’ (that’s freestyling to the uninitiated!) And, just because we love you so, here’s an exclusive video of Absorb getting acquainted with the microphone.

Spitting aside, the ‘no step’ duo were also generous enough to treat us to a 30 minute guest mix. They also sat down for a gossip with presenter Mark Ryan, giving an insider’s insight into the UK Dance scene.

Hear Absorb vs Sequel on Amazing Beats tonight from 7pm, on Amazing Radio.

The Four Tops is a feature on The Afternoon Show, where presenter Kyle asks you to contribute your four favourite songs from amazingtunes.com. Today’s Four Tops come from Amazing Radio listener Esther Wall.

We’re absolutely thrilled to present a listener playlist on today’s edition of The Afternoon Show as our Music Scheduler Tom Cotton was getting slightly too comfortable with his self proclaimed status as ‘King of the Four Tops.’  Luckily it seems there’s a new music guru on the block in the form of today’s contributor and  it’s truly our greatest pleasure to introduce Esther Wall’s Four Tops!

Esther’s first pick is a track called Thrusting Motion by a band called Bashphelt. It’s a truly funky track with a slap bass heavy introduction and Incubus like vocals. Unfortunately the band have split up since uploading this track, but their amazingtunes.com profile remains as a legacy to the band’s talent.

Esther Wall’s second pick is the super sensual, Zero 7-like musician Liz Cass. She’s influenced by modern jazz artists, including Amy Winehouse, Carla Bruni and Jamie Cullum. The Liz Cass penned track Esther has chosen for us is called I Want to Give In.

The third of listener Esther Wall’s Four Tops is by singer songwriter Kelly Mueller. She’s a talented chanteuse who writes songs on her piano about heartbreak and insecurities, although from the sounds of her track, Easier to Dream, she really doesn’t need to worry!

The final track on Esther Wall’s Four Tops playlist is by a band called ANISON, who haven’t given us a biog but I can tell you that they’re a quartet from Kingston who’ve enjoyed airplay from Radio 1, Xfm and, of course Amazing Radio! The ANISON song Esther’s chosen is called Start as You Mean to Go On.

Catch Esther Wall’s Four Tops between 3 and 6pm on The Afternoon Show. If you’ve made a Four Tops playlist and want to show it off on Amazing Radio, share it with us!.

Every week The Afternoon Show recommends a free download for you all from amazingtunes.com, as well as ‘matchmaking’ one individual with a fresh, new amazingtunes.com act to love!

Today on The Afternoon Show, we’ll be introducing listener Karen Read to two brand new amazingtunes.com acts.

Karen’s told us that she’s a fan of a number of bands including Jimmy Eat World, Fleetwood Mac, Gaslight Anthem and “anything with Dave Grohl in it!” To help Karen on her unsigned musical quest we enlisted Music Scheduler Tom Cotton, and Chris McManus of amazingtunes.com. They scoured amazingtunes.com and found two different acts to battle it out for Mrs Read’s affections.

Chris chose a track called Heart for Rent by the drumtastic, indie pop rockers Jimmy & the Sounds:

“I chose this track for Karen mainly because she is a fan of Jimmy Eat World and Gaslight Anthem. Jimmy and the Sounds mix both the styling of Gaslight’s tom driven sparse verses with passionate vocals breaking into epic catchy choruses giving me immediate nostalgia of when I got Jimmy Eat World’s first album. It’s a great energetic track that I hope she enjoys as much as I do.”

Tom Cotton chose the song Moving Away to Start Again by alt. rockers Lines in Sand:

“I’m gonna give it straight up, pro.  It sounds like a modern day Foo Fighter’s song with a driving, anthemic chorus you’d expect to hear from a classic Jimmy Eat World song.”

Also on today’s edition of The Afternoon Show, we’ll be plugging a free download from amazingtunes.com

This week we’ve gone for Amazing Radio superact Cadets, a band who’ve been a dominant force in the Amazing Chart for over 4 weeks with their track You Are The Thunder.

The track we’ve chosen as our Freebie of the Week is called Living the Low-Life. We like it because it shows that the band can do edgier tracks as well as their sunny, radio friendly hits as well as showing that the band are taking their electro  seriously!

In a chat with producer Frankie, singer Arron told us that he’s giving this track, as well as the Cadets’ other songs on amazingtunes.com, away for free because he recorded it in his bedroom “for free” and therefore, it doesn’t cost him anything to pass it on to you!

Cadets are going on tour with quirky indie popster Darwin Deez in October, so grab their music for free, and spend your saved pennies on a ticket to see them live instead!

Catch Matchmaker and Freebie of the Week on The Afternoon Show today, 3-6pm, on Amazing Radio. If you want us to matchmake you with a lovely amazingtunes.com act, let us know!

Every week The Afternoon Show welcomes a new challenger who thinks that they can out rock the K-Train. So far no one has, but will today’s challenger fare better?

On today’s edition of The Afternoon Show, the team welcomes James Burtt of the Greg and Burtt Show to the studio. He thinks he can spin a wilder yarn than Amazing Towers’ Kevin ‘K-Train’ Read, but can he really?

The Burttybombastinio in action!

Before he became a presenter on national radio, James Burtt travelled the world as a member of top tribute act Boyz Aloud. This presented many a ‘rock’ experience including one of the tales he’ll be parting with today, but will  it be more jam roll than rock and roll? Tune in to find out!

You can hear our wannabe rock stars do battle today from 3-6pm on Amazing Radio. If you think you should be next to take on the K-Train, get in touch!

Each week on The Afternoon Show, presenter Kyle and producer Frankie choose a marvelous music scene to explore and adore. This week they’re examining the musical delights of Bristol.

Hello everyone, producer Frankie here!

We’re absolutely thrilled by Bristol’s thriving music scene. There’s a wonderful array of venues (including a bass friendly boat!) plus massive electro, dance and metal scenes. In fact all you need to do is name a genre and Bristol has a scene for it.

On the show we’re joined by some lovely Bristonians who were kind enough to share their love of the Bristol scene with us.

Today we’ll be joined by Scott Hendy, a Bristol based music producer with 12 years experience, a string of successful projects to his name, a friend from Portishead and some tunes on the latest Banksy film ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’.

On Wednesday we’re joined by the creator of Live Music Scene, Jodie Humphries who’ll be telling us where to go for the best gigs in Bristol and how she manages to maintain her website, a glorious collection of interviews, reviews and news from the Bristol area, with some features focusing on a wider arena.

Thursday sees Kyle chatting to Substastic, an alternative electro outfit from the Bristol area, who’ve been making serious waves on a national level. Their debut EP Days Go On is out now and we simply can’t stop listening to it.

Finally, on Friday we’ll be rounding up the week with the joyful, joytastic Joyshop. They’ve only been on amazingtunes.com for a couple of weeks, but we’ve been so taken with the Bristol ‘folk and rollers’ that we simply had to seek them out. They’ll be telling us about their music and what it’s like to be an act on the Bristol scene.

I also want to take an opportunity to congratulate another contributor, Faye Penfold, who was going to chat to us but decided to get married instead! She’s the editor of Suit Yourself Magazine, A magazine for all those young at heart, those interested in music, theatre, art, fashion, adventure, gigs, clubs, cinema and the environment. It’s also a magazine which investigates, uncovers and promotes everything that makes Bristol such a fun, vibrant and altogether amazing place to live. Have a lovely honeymoon Faye, and we look forward to chatting to you on air soon!

Hear Kyle and Frankie chatting about all things Bristonian on The Afternoon Show, every weekday from 3-6pm. And if you think your region deserves our Region of the Week accolade, tell us why!

Every monday, The Afternoon Show chooses to celebrate a music blogger or blog from the wonderful world wide web. This week’s winner is Claire Davies, founder of alternative music blog This Town is Folly.

This Town is Folly is run by Claire Davies, a Music Event Coordinator, freelance writer and self confessed addict of music and good times. Although Claire’s roots are in London she covers stories not only from her local music scene, but from around the world too.

The blog itself features a mixture of album reviews, previews and artist news. Expect matter-of-fact reviews, You Tube video recommendations and gig listings plus more general music news such as festival lineups and musical collaborations.

Claire herself describes the music the blog covers as:

“Music I like that I think you should too. Rediscovering something lost. Discovering music new or music old that is new to you. Unearthing places of musical interest for the discerning purveyor or activist of interesting shenanigans. Finding things. [It's] Music that makes you feel good. Music that makes you jump around. Music that makes you feel a little bit sad. Music that makes you want to shout at it. Music with dirty bass lines that make your teeth rattle.”

We think it sounds awesome, so go and check it out!

Hear presenter Kyle and producer Frankie chatting about This Town is Folly on The Afternoon Show between 3 and 6pm, only on Amazing Radio.

Every week The Afternoon Show chooses a new music scene upon which they bestow the honoured title of ‘Region of the Week’. This week presenter Kyle and producer Frankie have gone all Scottish, exploring the musical delights of Glasgow.

Hi everyone, producer Frankie here!

So this week we’ve donned our kilts and hotfooted it north of Hadrian’s Wall to check out the musical antics of the Glaswegian people, and my were we in for a treat!

Monday saw our Region of the Week don garishly coloured wellington boots as we talked T in the Park, a Scottish festival that annually features a host of up and coming Glasgow-based acts.

Tuesday highlighted live music when we discussed the infamous King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut venue, notorious for helping acts such as Blur, Oasis and Radiohead burst onto the live music scene with a bang.

We got rather excited on Wednesday as we welcomed the return of our  wonderful Glasgow-based Blogger of the Week Lloyd Meredith, who was more than happy to share his local knowledge with us.

On Thursday we spoke to writer Wull from up and coming online magazine The Ark. He shared his tips for the big time from the area and his favourite venues for talent spotting.

Today, we’ll be chatting about the musical legacy of Glasgow. It’s a place that has spawned an expansive range of talent and we’ll be discussing a list of famous Glasgow artist alumni.

Each day we’ve also picked a band from the region to place on a feature sized pedastal for your ears to enjoy. You can see the playlist of this week’s featured acts here.

Catch The Afternoon Show every weekday between 3 and 6pm on Amazing Radio. You can also send us your suggestions for the next Region of the Week to afternoons@amazingradio.co.uk.

He’s been in training for at least 20 minutes, and now J.W (also known as amazingtunes.com Head of Music John Williams) is feeling fit, fine and up for the challenge of taking on the K-Train (the mysterious Amazing Media Operations Manager Kevin Read) from 3pm on The Afternoon Show.

John Williams is a music industry legend, having worked with top artists such as The Proclaimers, Simple Minds and Paul Weller  as well as in A&R roles for major labels Chrysalis, Polydor and Sanctuary.

He’s very much up for the challenge of taking on the mighty K-Train and has prepared a story about the time he met his former idol Booker T, of Booker T. and the M.G’s.

However optimistic J.W may be, let us not forget that he’s got a tough competitor in the form of major hardcore heavyweight tale-spinner Kevin ‘K-Train’ Read.

The K-Train (also affectionately know as the K-Bomb for his ability to blast competitors’ stories to pathetic looking pieces) has already seen off a tough challenge from Amazing Media‘s Paul Campbell, and some not so tough competiton from Amazing Radio presenter and producer Frankie Ward.

If you think you’re hard enough to survive a trip on the K-Train then get in touch! Email us with your rock and roll story and, before you know it, you could be facing it off with the hardman himself!

Hear J.W’s rock and roll face off with the K-Train between 3 and 6pm tonight on The Afternoon Show, right here on Amazing Radio.

Welsh wonders Mike Fantastic gave us the pleasure of their company last week when they popped in to see us before rocking Newcastle’s O2 Academy.

Amazing Radio's Frankie Ward meets Mike Fantastic

In an exclusive interview with Amazing Radio, the boys tell us about being on Britain’s Got Talent, how they created their own music genre and which one of them has a third nipple. We don’t want to give too much away here however, so make sure you tune in from 3pm today on Amazing Radio for all the ‘gunktastic’ details.

Producer Frankie turns photographer!

The band were wonderfully supported on their tour by local unsigned acts with the Newcastle date being masterfully boosted by scarily young talents  Alone Tonight, Chasing Jayne and Mirror Signal Maneouvre.

As well as playing classic Amazing Radio tracks Clearly I’m Invisible and Lights Off, the band played covers of Katy Perry’s California Gurls and Weezer’s Buddy Holly. Towards the end of the night they also gave broadcast assistant Steve and producers Frankie and Dani a huge shoutout during the gig which involved turning the spotlight on the shellshocked radio team. (Red faces all round!)

Hear Frankie chatting to Mike Fantastic today from 3pm on The Afternoon Show, only on Amazing Radio!

Each week The Afternoon Show chooses an exciting music blogger to grace the airwaves and webpages of Amazing Radio. This week presenter Kyle and producer Frankie have chosen to feature Lloyd Meredith and his Scottish music blog Peenko. In the following blog, exclusive to Amazing Radio, Lloyd introduces his blog and tells us what Peenko is all about…

Hello ladies and gents, my name is Lloyd Meredith, better known to some of you as Scottish Music Blogger ‘Peenko’ or to others as ‘who the hell is this?’. At the start of the year I was voted as the Scottish Music Blogger of the year in the Scotblog Awards, which I think shows that I have more friends and family than any of my contemporaries.

I have been blogging for almost two years now. I was inspired to start my own blog in order to try and inform some of my friends about the great music I was listening to. None of them listened, but thanks to the wonder that is the Internet, I soon found myself interacting with fellow music lovers. Originally there was no real structure and I spent the first six months completely ‘winging it’, with random posts on things that I liked or the occasional ramble about something that was on my mind but after a while I started to find my feet. Originally I hadn’t started Peenko to talk about Scottish music, it was just something that I found myself being drawn towards through my own interest.

If I had to pin point a particular point when things changed, it would probably be an article on the Line of Best Fit about a local band called Over the Wall. Part of me was slightly taken aback by this great band from my home town of Glasgow, and another part of me thought ‘why have I never heard of this band?’  It was around this time that I realised the deeper I followed the rabbit down the hole, the more amazing Scottish bands I came across. In all honesty I was hooked and I now use my blog as a platform to stand on my online soapbox and preach about all the great music coming out of Scotland.

To do this I run two features a week.  At the start of the week I run a feature called ‘Fresh Meat Monday’, in which I have up and coming bands from Scotland answering a few questions for me. Basically any fresh and exciting band that I think deserves some more exposure get the Fresh Meat treatment. On Wednesdays I post the cheesily entitled ‘Scots Way-Hay’ (a bastardisation of a Rabbie Burns song in case you didn’t already know), this feature is for more established Scottish artists and sometimes I feature bands that I think have something just that little bit special about them. When I first started these features I must admit that I was a bit concerned that I might not be able to come up with something every week. Now I find that I have far too much; at the moment I have a backlog of great stuff that I am just dying to share with everyone.

In addition to posting interviews with bands, I also record various radio sessions. This usually involves me trawling around the internet looking for Scottish bands sessions to record.  Friday’s are also pretty special, with my weekly Friday Freebies feature, in which I post an array of links to free and legal downloads that are out there on the Web. For me personally this has been a challenging yet highly rewarding task, as I have come across some quite amazing new artists simply because they have posted some free downloads. Off the top of my head, I can think of amazing artists like the Son(s), King Post Kitsch, Randolph’s Leap and we’re only afraid of NYC who have all really impressed me with the songs that they’ve given away for free.

Saturdays are also a lot of fun, as I post Scottish bands doing covers, having amassed such a large number of MP3s that it would be rude for me not to share them. Some of the songs that bands take on can be quite surprising; take for example We Were Promised Jetpacks covering Bon Iver – now that’s not something that you’d expect to find anywhere else!

Thanks to the reputation (be it good or bad) that I have built up for myself, I have recently found myself doing DJ-slots, managing a band, starting my own record label, presenting a radio show and I have also put on a couple of highly successful ‘Vs’ gigs with my fellow blogger Jim ‘Ayetunes’.

I guess I should try and wrap it up there, leaving you with a few more blogs, podcasts and a few bands which I think deserve your attention. Blog-wise, make sure you check out Ayetunes, The Pop Cop, Song By Toad and Seventeen Seconds. Podcast-wise, you have the amazing Glasgow Podcart, We Sink Ships and Jim Gellatly’s Podcast. Band-wise, there are just far too many to mention, to get you started I would suggest you check out Admiral Fallow, Mitchell Museum, We’re Only Afraid of NYC, Kid Canaveral, RM Hubbert, Meursault, Cancel the Astronauts, Campfires in Winter, Randolph’s Leap and I Build Collapsible Mountains – apologies to anyone I have missed out.

Hear Lloyd chatting to The Afternoon Show’s Kyle Wilkinson today between 3 and 6pm, only on Amazing Radio.