Brierly Hill 90210

Written by: Podcast hosted by Jon Miller
  • Summary

  • Previously an occasional podcast of new, good and/or interesting music. But, starting in 2020, a change of format and frequency. Weekly (mostly) new episodes telling the story of a different year through music and "found sounds".
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Episodes
  • Brierly Hill 90210 presents... 2005 v2
    Oct 12 2024
    The year begins with George W Bush celebrating a second term as US president while the world mourns and prays for those effected by the massive Indian Ocean tsunami at the end of 2004. On the personal front, by February, we were pregnant again and, after many nervous months, this time it stuck. Looking back, I don't remember a direct connection but find it hard to believe it's a coincidence that I wanted to do something musical and creative while we were expecting. I was experiencing a slow realization that I no longer liked the music that I liked, if that makes any sense. I didn't want to listen to the music that was being offered through mainstream outlets so I started searching out new and interesting music, not paying attention to whether it was actually released by a record label. That concept of “record label” was disappearing and the DIY essence of punk rock that I fell in love with as a teenager was once again to the fore, more so than ever. Folks could record whatever they wanted in their bedrooms, basements and garages and make it available to the world on the internet and new sites such as MySpace. The Wrong Music collective in the UK was even being referred to as “the new punk” and, with surprisingly impeccable timing, I was becoming involved in a new golden age of music. In hindsight, likely because of impending fatherhood fostering a sense of “legacy” and I'm sure because of John Peel's passing the year before, I wanted to share my musical discoveries with an audience. So in June, with no clue what I was doing, I launched Brierly Hill 90210 as a weekly, 1-hour online radio show on Live365. By the end of the year, a handful of like-minded individuals had discovered the show, liked what I was doing and started to contribute suggestions. That improved the quality of the show and one or two more people would find me. I don't want to say audience figures snowballed as episodes often had a listnership that could be countered on the fingers of one elbow! But I felt part of something bigger and of “community” that I'd never experienced since listening to John Peel under the bed covers many years earlier. About to turn 40, I was like a kid with a new toy and new friends. Welcome to a whole new world of discovery and adventure. Welcome to 2005.
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    56 mins
  • Brierly Hill 90210 presents... 2003 v2
    Sep 14 2024
    It's hard to imagine now but in the late 90s, Apple were on the verge of going out of business. Things changed with the return of Steve Jobs and the introduction of new software and services such as iTunes and new hardware such as the iPod. The iPhone was not even a twinkle in anyone's eye yet. In 2003, I liked what I was seeing from Apple, switched my home computer from Windows to Mac and bought by first iPod. It was still the early days of online music and Apple had “New Music Tuesday” when they would give away a newly released track and would list all of the albums that had been made available in iTunes that week. It was a small enough number that I could scan through each Tuesday to see what was new. Looking back, it was probably the start of my rediscovered love of new music. That came to a head in 2005 which we'll cover in that episode but the trend starts in 2003 and you'll hear an eclectic mix of music I was listening to at the time and that I discovered since.
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    56 mins
  • Brierly Hill 90210 presents... 2000 v2
    Aug 2 2024
    BillBoard magazine describes 2000 as a “year that would bring a totally different sound befitting the turn of a new millennium” and John Peel described it as “a great year for music”. But I was too wrapped up in seismic personal changes to notice. We had been married 6 months and I broke out on my own to become a self-employed software developer. My first gig was in the US mid-west where Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota all meet. Not only is that part of the world incredibly cold in January, I was working in a meat processing plant and slaughter house so it smelled awful too. The people I worked with were terrible and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. Luckily, it only lasted a few months before I was able to escape back to work with old friends in Ohio (so could take in more Major League Soccer with the Columbus Crew) and California. Silicon Valley does not smell of cows and death.
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    56 mins

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