Three posts ago is to blame for this. Drawn into listening to another excellent ‘Abstract Dance’ show from the one and only Colin Dale, I was immediately transported back to the carefree days of the mid nineties when this came bounding in. And it does bound. It’s like trance with beats on steroids. One of the best tracks on Touche, along with Tata Box Inhibitors, 51 Days and Trancesetters. The production of Dark Prongo has that ineffable Dutch strap. Everything seems like it’s riding on a cushion of air. Proper uplifting pill music. It’s difficult sometimes to remember how good the nineties were, then you hear a track like this and it sort of condenses all the positive energy into a druggy sonic symphony. Then the Internet started and it was the beginning of the end. Possibly.
Monday, November 03, 2025
Sunday, November 02, 2025
Track Of Yesterday: E.R.P. - Microcentric (Syncrophone)
It’s debatable as to whether Gerard Hanson has ever made a duff track. I say this as a fan, but also as a student of dramatic music tension, particularly in the electro context. And, while most of the genre’s kingpins have a recognisable signature sound, there’s no one who can match him for a sense of the grandiose. This tune, taken from his just released eponymously named EP is a case in point. It’s excellent and, while not unique in the Hanson repertoire, always feels fresh and unique. This is Hanson’s second release on Syncrophone, the previous one being ‘Torc’ as Convextion. And, on the basis of this track alone, it’s better..
Track Of The Day: Basic Channel - Lyot Rmx (Basic Channel)
So I’ve chosen this one because it sort of echoes my dissipated state right now. This morning I ran the ‘Bonfire Burn’, a 10K in North Cambridge that is mostly on road, but goes off for around a third of its route. I had to dig deep, but hit was worth it, as I came through with a time of around 43:40. I’m really happy if I can still go under 45 minutes at this distance, so it’s a bonus that I go even faster. Anyway, I’m sitting on the couch, my bones slowly knitting themselves back into some sort off symmetry, watching lower league FA Cup action, and about to wrestle with the necessity of roasting a chicken. Slowly does it. Rather like this reverse, respiratory soundscape.
Friday, October 31, 2025
Track Of The Day: Pile - 1 Of Those Days (Perlon)
Following on from the last post, this is the first Perlon release I bought, back in 1999 from IQ Records on Lexington St, Soho. Staff included Deano, Dave Mothersole and Andy Jaggers, who was the manager I think. IQ was a relatively short-lived, but great shop. The amount of parties I found out about just by walking into the shop on any given day is incalculable. Also the amount of good records I bought from there. This is one of the earliest Perlon releases, and also one of the most unique. I don’t know of any others that have a spoken word monologue similar to it. Having said that, I haven’t listened to all of them. It’s also minimal to the core, a full three years before the Ben Nevile track was released.
Track Of Yesterday: Ben Nevile - Shiver (Mosaic)
A track like this underlines how influential a label Mosaic is. Coming out in 2002, ‘Shiver’ was on the cusp of the minimal explosion. Person had started releasing a good few years before mind. However, a tune like this hidden away on a B side, although not the the of stuff Mosaic is normally associated with, broadened its repertoire and seemed a natural progression. This piece of stripped down deep house,,for that is what it is, and much like it, is imbued with funk, and its patchwork quilt approach is as good as anything contemporary.
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
Track Of The Day: Featherstone -- Morning Star (Who Is Paula)
A great track that I discovered recently when listening to 214’s ‘October Mix’. A mix of ambience, electro and heady emotional content. It comes from the recently released ‘Shapeshifter’, and is one of five excellent tracks. Featherstone comes from Australia, of all places. However, it is also one of those places that is becoming an electro hotbed. This EP isn’t completely composed of B -Boy beats, but shows a sonic sleight of hand which culminates in this, possibly the stand out of the package.
Cabaret Voltaire - Nag Nag Nag - FORGE Warehouse, Sheffield - 25 October...
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Track Of The Day: Circulation - Patterins (Iz & Diz Ghosts In Detroit Wake Up Dub) (Balance)
“It sounds a lot more glamorous than it actually was. We were invited up there by Chez Damier who was basically living at the studio in 1995. So me and Diz drove up to Detroit with the back of my van filled with studio gear. When we arrived, Chez was nowhere to be found (surprise surprise) although we ended up running into him at a show that night. That show was actually one of the last times Ken Collier, a Detroit pioneer, DJ’d. When we got back to the studio the next day, the water had been turned off and there was no equipment set up. We spent three days waiting to get the basic amp and board set up and then only had about 20 hours to finish a track which was “Patterins” on Balance. While we were recording it we could feel all the ghosts of sessions past in the room so we called it the “Ghosts In Detroit Wake Up Dub”. All in all it was a great experience, although I remember Chez initially not liking the track. He still put it out and it is one of my favorite tracks we have ever done.” I love Iz & Dis. Still one of house music’s best double acts, although I recently heard that Diz was ill, which is a pity. I hope he’s recovered. Iz, aka Joshua, has one of the most recognisable styles in what used to be my favourite brand of house music. Something that, while it was indelibly from Chicago, went out on a limb somewhat and embraced dub a lot quicker than most. Anyway, this is a lovely piece of horizontal windy city business which is definitely Balearic.
Monday, October 27, 2025
Track Of The Day: Federsen - Polarity [Alt Dub]
This just hits the spot. The drive, the tones and textures, the pervasive feels created by those frequencies hammering on the sweet spot. It doesn’t all sound the same, as is often said or inferred. When it’s really on its game it defies description and is a true music of the imagination. It’s difficult to say if anyone currently making music will ever reach the levels of, say. Basic Channel, but Federsen is one of the best out there and his tracks evoke and captivate as much as anything out there.
