Track Of The Day: Talking Heads - Houses In Motion (Sire)

 

I have no idea why ‘Houses In Motion’ has taken up residence in my head over the past few days. If I’d heard a chug edit of it at Convenanza then there’s where the blame would lie. But I didn’t (next year maybe?), so there. Anyway, what a song, and here it is in all its unfettered, spontaneous live glory. I never saw them live, and they’re right at the top of my wish list. It obviously won’t happen but I’d splurge for the chance. Whenever I post a track by them I always think of being in Berlin in December 1984. The two releases that were postered all over town were '1984' by The Eurythmics, and 'Stop Making Sense', probably the best film of a concert  ever. There have been others, but none featuring just one band that had the power to engage so grippingly over the course of the whole transmission. Out on their own.

Track Of The Day: Gary Martin - Interview With An Alien (Delano Smith Remix) (DET313)

 

Back from Carcassone, which was great as per. And here’s Delano Smith’s superior interpretation of Gary Martin’s ‘Interview With An Alien’. I say superior because I think that this is better than the original. So why? Well maybe it’s because I’m getting older (although we all are innit), but this laid back groove-laden version knocks the socks off the more urgent and slightly more fidgety original. Gary Martin was/is one off the most idiosyncratic producers to come out of Detroit. Here though Basic Channel/Mood ll Swing inspired minimal house wins out over the burlesque. One of the moments at Carcassone on Saturday night was hearing Basic Channel being played within the walls of the chateau. Which very much goes to show that less is more. When a groove is being carried it better hadn’t be dropped. Maintaining the energy with tracks like this is a real skill. There’s nowhere to hide. Play this one loud and let its dynamics ooze out.

Track Of Yesterday: The Future Sound Of London - Papua New Guinea (Andrew Weatherall Mix) (Jumping' & Pumpin')

 

Off to Convenanza tomorrow so any remix from AW is appropriate and, although I don’t think this is one of his best, it would sound great within the confines of the chateau in Carcassone. It takes a different route to the original in that while the sound is less dense and less evocative of the landscape it sonically describes, it’s more danceable due to being infused with break beats. Not just your normal linear beaks either. There’s a pitch change shortly after the eponymous spoken word. Breaks have been subtly dominating a lot of modern electronic music recently so I guess what sets this apart are its early nineties analogue production values. It feels a lot more raw than a lot of today’s efforts. The tribal chanting that rise up in the second half of the tracks feel a little odd by today’s standards. However, they also feel very much on the spirit of the cut up. The only bit I really don’t like that much are the symphonic episodes, which feel a little over-produced by comparison. That doesn’t mean to say I won’t have my hands in the air as soon as I hear them though.

Track Of The Day: Liquid, Liquid - Cavern (99 Records)

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Track Of Yesterday: A Certain Ratio - Shack Up (Factory Benelux)

 

Probably A Certain Ratio’s break out track. This cover of Banbarra’s release of about six years earlier came after ‘All Night Party’ and the amazing ‘Flight’. It’s this though that ultimately did the most damage. Thanks, no doubt as much to the deadpan vocals of Simon Topping as to the full-bodied, and at times brittle funk of the band itself. This is another slant of the sound of the smoke-filled bedrooms of my youth. And in those days we could find somewhere to dance to it that didn’t mean travelling to a boutique event in some far-flung corner of the country. I must have seen ACR five or six times n the early eighties, and I’m off to see them again in a week or two in London. Should be ace.

Helena Hauff b2b DJ MELL G | themuddshow x JUICY GANG RECORDS

 

Track Of The Day: Prince Jammy- War In The Asteroid Belt (Greensleeves)

 

Plucked from the fabulously named ‘Prince Jammy Destroys The Invaders’ I suppose albums like this, and that of Scientist ‘Scientist Meets The Space Invaders’ documented changing trends as well as new social norms. Back then it was arcade games, now I guess it would be a slant on social media. Whatever. The fact that what passes for something new nowadays hasn’t been immortalised in dub is very telling. Prince Jammy is 78 now and I guess could still possibly tour, just like Scientist is early next year. Anyway it’s Sunday, September and the sun is still shining. Play this loud and then get to grips with the rest of the album.

Track Of The Day: The Orb - Perpetual Dawn Ultrabass 2 (AW Remix) (Big Life)

 

This is another of those tracks that revels in its cross-pollination and takes you back to a time when you had the feeling that things were a little bit more under control. They weren’t really, it was just an impression. And it’s another that could only have come out of The UK. We’ve always been good at making music focussed on dancing, hedging the boundaries cheese in some cases. I don’t think that this is one of AW’s best. It really feels like he’s thrown a lot of stuff in to the mixer and not given a damn to a certain extent. That type of approach can often go wrong. What saves this is the bass and other low end fidgeting.