Ten years ago THE CUBAN BOYS were the pioneers of MP3s and mash-ups. Their weekly residency on the John Peel Show threw up tracks that veered from the sublime (Hoagy Carmichael's 'Stardust' turned into an epic proto-trance track) to the ridiculous (sampling Peelie's alarm clock when he played it on air, and releasing it as a 7" vinyl single). Ahead of their time and at the top of their game, they were offering MP3 downloads, streaming virals and mobile phone exclusives when the current pop upstarts were still in the infants.

Their Radio 1 Sessions were legendary at the BBC. Then the band scored a monstrous million-selling Christmas hit in 1999 with the novelty song 'Cognoscenti Vs. Intelligentsia'. The single was never officially titled 'The Hamsterdance Song' because nobody at EMI ever asked them to. Following the release of 'Eastwood' - "the weirdest album EMI has ever issued in 100 years" - the band left to join a rival multi-national company, before unexpectedly and mysteriously vanishing from sight with the loot.

The Cuban Boys now believe the world has caught up with them. They tentatively put their heads above the parapet in 2005 to release a tribute to their friend and mentor John Peel, and to record a Christmas Session for John Kennedy at XFM. To commemorate their 10th Anniversary, the Boys have returned in full effect with a recording which is typically both obtuse and familiar - THE SATELLITE JUNKYARD.

Within this recording you will discover striking new tracks entwined with those restored from their Festive 50 legacies and even the re-incarnation of the bands’ first demo which became the theme to the popular cult BBC TV Show, Still Game.

THE SATELLITE JUNKYARD is a bridge between art and science, it is also a gateway from the bands’ past to the future.

POINTS OF REFERENCE

THE VINYL COUNTDOWN
was voted the 29th most popular tune in 1999’s John Peel Festive 50 on BBC Radio 1.

CUBAN BOY
was the bands’ first ever demo and was played on BBC Radio 1 just two weeks after being recorded. It later became the theme tune to the cult BBC TV Show, Still Game.

THE NATION NEEDS YOU
was recorded as a special tribute to the bands’ friend and longterm champion, John Peel, who died in 2004. It was voted #33 in the last ever John Peel Festive 50.

SORRY!
appeared in its original form as the Theme For Prim & Proper on the Old Skool For Scoundrels EP and made #22 in 1999’s Festive 50.

BACKGROUND

The Satellite Junkyard is a recording derived from a broadcast made by the Octothorpe Number Station. The origin of the number station, like the majority of its counterparts, remains uncertain. Number station transmissions usually consist of a shortwave radio signal with a sequence of voices reading streams of numbers, words, letters, tunes or morse code. The broadcasts are widely believed to be channels of communication used to send coded messages to secret government agencies.

It has been reported that number stations have existed since World War I, making them amongst the earliest radio broadcasts. The voices that can be heard on these stations often speak in a wide variety of languages, though most are often mechanically generated.

Some stations use background tones, possibly as an aid to tune to the correct frequency which can then be captured using burst transmission technology, where the coded message is sent by modulating the tones.

Although there are many differences in details between the stations, most follow the same blueprint of a prelude or identifier, followed by a sequence of sound combinations, finishing with an end-point which is often a reprise of the identifier. The main body of the broadcast often lasts for no more than 30-45 minutes and can feature either complex or basic content.

THE OCTOTHORPE NUMBER STATION

As previously detailed, the origin of the Octothorpe Number Station, has not yet been established. The station uses ‘Swedish Rhapsody’ as an identifier, the significance of this is unclear, but it is unlikely that this is a reference to the location of the station.

Unusually, the Octothorpe Number Station broadcasts from a variety of platforms, including both digital and frequency modulated radio channels. This makes the station fairly unique and experimental in its approach.

THE SATELLITE JUNKYARD PROJECT

The Satellite Junkyard is an audio recording spanning 2700 seconds and is based around a broadcast made by the Octothorpe Number Station. The integrity of the original document was salvaged by re-encoding the raw data archived on magnetic media. This process was undertaken by specialists at the World-famous Schullmann Institute. The Cuban Boys were then commissioned to callibrate and configure the data into its original context as a coherent audio stream.