Last Night's Playlist

Voila, the final show of 2008.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year. Here's what went on during the last show of '08.

Mushrooms (Meat v Einzelkind remix) - Marshall Jefferson (Soap)
I Know - Cavalier (Drumpoet Community)
Brilliant Handsome Boy - Hatikvah (Morris Audio Citysport Edition)
New World - Franck Roger (Earthrumental)
Scorpion's Groove - Mark August (Connaisseur)
Dagmar Nao Tavar Nao (Motorcity Drum Ensemble remix) - Wax Poetic feat. Otto (Nublu)
Que Me Levante - Miss Jools (Mobilee)
Mirapex (Brian Ffar remix) - Crazy Larry (Sightholder Uncut)
Barrunto - Damian Schwartz (Oslo)
As It Did Two Years Ago - Alex Niggemann (Ostwind)
Float - Zomby (Werk)
Rumshack - Disk (Fine Art)
Aggression - Seth Troxler (MoonMagnet)
Fleurette - D'julz (Circus Company)
Covert Action - Falko Brocksieper (Tuning Spork)
Pump It (Hugo Less Vocal remix) - Robytek vs Shield (Rebirth)
Womback - Sonodab (Trazable)
Flash Gordon - Hermannstadt Collective (Immigrant)

Tonight's Show

For this, the last show of 2008, I have conspicously failed to compile a "best of . . ." list, so it'll be business as usual as the fresh funky stuff continues to come out. Expect Franck Roger to fill your stocking with his deep Detroit style house, as well as Crazy Larry on Siteholder Uncut, Seth Troxler is on a roll at the moment, and he still hasn't reached the bottom of the hill, expect him to cause ructions in '09, and there'l be some piano-infused retro breakbeat from Zomby. It's all good so keep it locked.

Sunrise EP - Delano Smith (Third Ear)

Read my RA review of Delano Smith's 'Sunrise' EP here.

'Trans' from the EP is included on my 'Bonnes Fetes' mix below.

Bonnes Fetes

I'm well aware I sound like a twat for giving this post, and mix, a French title, but I'm off to the land of smelly shrugs and cheese tomorrow, and shall be returning just before the New Year. I've just had the time to record a very spontaneous mix this morning, I haven't even listened to it yet so its rawness is assured. I hope it's turned out ok.

Bonnes Fetes

Deep Inside - Daniel Bortz (Pastamusik Ltd)
I'm Human Now (Cassy remix) - James Teej (Connect Four)
Frozen On Yellow Ice - Ray Okapara (AreaRemote)
Ecoballe - Man D.A. (No Digital)
On The Move - Eve White (Contentismissing)
Platte - Luke Hess (Echocord Colour)
Hey, Hey, What Can I Do - Daniel Stefanik (Freude-Am-Tanzen)
Bubadubadub (Don Melon's 8 Days Late Tribal Tool remix) - MHM 1 (Tartelet)
Love Never Sleeps (Par Grindvik remix) - Seth Troxler (Crosstown Rebels)
Mined - Ribn (Millions Of Moments)
Trans - Delano Smith (Third Ear)
1999 - Audiofly (8-Bit)
Bring The Bling - Galuszka (Siteholder Uncut)
Ujea Suyeah - Laurent Zappone (Herz Ist Trumpf)
8 Miles Wide - The Plan (The Plan)

Download 'Bonnes Fetes' here.

And have a good one!

Labour Of Love Reunion Party

This is tonight! Cambridge's Labour of Love crew, now sadly defunct, get together for a messy night out at a secret location in the north of Cambridge. Info here

Daniel Mnookin Mix

Siteholder Records Supremo Daniel Mnookin has kindly let me post another of his mixes. I think the last one was in the summer. Tracklist below.

1. Ntanos – Luna Rossa
2. Omar S - Psychotic Photosynthesis [FXHE Records]
3. Joss Moog - Room 26 [Robsoul Recordings]
4. Dark Maze - Break The Law [Siteholder UnCut]
5. Chateau Flight - La Roquette [Versatile Records]
6. Affkt & Danny Fiddo - Points [Barraca Music]
7. Atnarko - Lick Your Body feat. Fidel Cashflow & Lady Lyric (Dub Mix) [Robsoul Recordings]
8. Ntanos – Klorhexil
9. Harada - I Came (Onionz Remix) [Blufin]
10. The Sunburst Band - Journey To The Sun (Dennis Ferrer Dub) [Z Records]
11. Todd Bodine - Another Day [Highgrade Records]
12. Galuszka - Caslon [Siteholder UnCut]
13. Tyrone - Dia De Los Angeles [Siteholder Records]
14. V. Sexion – Funkilaaaa

Direct download here

Last Night's Playlist

It's getting more and more essential to squeeze as much as possible into two hours. I have, therefore, become rather adept at making my own on the spot edits.

Sketches Of NYC (UR 7th Tunnel remix) - Nublu Orchestra (Nublu)
A Grain Of Salt - Mark O' Sullivan (Nice And Nasty)
La Infuencia - Dubbyman (Yore)
]Steal My Heart feat Crawford - Paul Frick (Kalk Pets)
Tirades - King Roc (Mutual Society)
Can't Forget - Azuni (STHML Audio)
Face - Sex Troxler (Wagon Repair)
Where Were You In '92 - Zomby (Werk)
Bubububadub - MHM 1 (Tartelet)
B 1 - La Pena (La Pena)
Keep Pushin' - Chris Carrier (Adult Only)
Trans - Delano Smith (Third Ear)
Point - Affkt & Danny Fiddo (Barraca)
Trinidad E Tobago - Fabio Gianelli (3120)
Blood Into Dust - Redshape (Styrax Leaves)
Coco Feel And Love Shonk - Shonky (Contexterrior)
Time Relapse - Louis Guilluame (SD)
Caminos Del Nino - ICan (Ican)
Evolution - Sons Of The Dragon (Sons Of The Dragon)
Namgo - Shlomi Aber (Be As One)

Tonight's Installment . . .

The penultimate show of the year and loads to play. A track off the mysterious 'Sons of the Dragon' double 12" will get an airing, as will the new Dubbyman on Yore. Seth Troxler has been a busy boy recently, pushing his own brand of sleazy funk, so expect some imput from him, and on a retro tip, we've got dubstep maestro Zomby with some old school rave stylings. Ican Productions, Mark O'Sullivan and Kris Wadsworth will also be making themselves heard.

Keep it locked.

Giza Visa - Shadi Megallaa (Dilek)

Read my RA review of Shadi Megallaa's 'Giza Visa' here.

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE!

I hope those caps in the title do the business because I missed this one and I want it. Anyone out there got any ideas where to track it down?

The Start Of Something Big

Still on a Derrick Carter tip. The newly-relaunched digital version of Classic are going to rerelease Sound Patrol's seminal 'Sweetened, No Lemon' at some point in the nebulous future. I uploaded 'Tripping Amongst The Stars' on this blog earlier this year and it went down a storm, which brings me nicely around to the return of the downloads.




Watch Them Come (Derrick's Watch Dem Bump) - Roy Davis Jnr feat. Pevenn Everett (Bombay)

This is quintessential Carter. It's got all of the fundamental boompty elements intact, bouncing percussion, odd acid-inflected doodles and a great vocal. Peven Everett's finest hour along with 'Gabrielle'

It's also a great DJ tool because of its length. You could mix in and out of anything with this. Excellent.






Speak To Me (The Rainy City Remixes) - Roland Clarke (Estereo)

The original was a promo. These are the Rainy City Remixes which are both very similar. No matter. Wonderful much-sampled vocal that's been bootlegged many a time. Both versions are here but you can make do with just the one.

Keep it locked. I'll post a few more before Christmas and the holiday.



I can't recommend 'Faith' enough. A hybrid house/casual fanzine that brings an enthusiasts eye to the music we love. DJ Sneak, DC's protege, adorns the latest cover. Oot now for free if you're lucky. If not, details on the main forum.

Nineties Chicago house will be next year's worthy cause. Just you watch.

Oh, and Jeff Mills . . .

Lost Words . . .

I've just moderated a comment that said that this blog was losing it in not so many words. Well, we're all allowed a hiatus now and again aren't we? Anyway, I do agree. Over the last month or so it's become a playlist site and nowt more. I can be bothered, btw, but sometimes you need a rest. Not to worry. No promises about 2009 being a year of discovery. The blog will rise again, rather like the North, but better.

In any case, there won't be a whole lot going on between now and the New Year. I'll be on my hols soon so nothing over Christmas. There'll be an interview with Mark Henning soon, and Kris Wadsworth. I do need to push myself though.



Derrick Carter was, I have no doubt, the first DJ I really got into and could truly say I was (still am but not of the music he currently plays, which hasn't moved on) a fan. I saw him for the first time at one of the Soma (no relation to the seminal Glasgow label) parties that took Paris during the mid-nineties. Myself and some others were lucky enough to be on marvellous drugs and catch what I believe might have been his first European gig (if you know better let me know) in May '95. Derrick was playing in a vast hal to about 150 of us, while the Drum Club's Charlie Hall was next door with about 800 nutters going bonkers to his hippy techno. Tony Thorpe of the Moody Boyz was playing in the foyer.

Carter was nothing short of inspirational that night and embodied for me everything that a DJ should be. Technically amazing and devil-may-care but, more importantly, able to play records idiomatically. When I look at some of his playlists I'm amazed I could listen to him, a bit too garagey sometimes, not dirty enough . . .but the total was may more than the sum of it's parts. Derrick could, and I hope still can (unless he can't be bothered any more), make me, and thousands of others, dance to music we wouldn't normally be seen dead listening to due to his selection skills and dextrous mixing. It was the start of a love affair that hasn't necessarily finished but will probably never be as upwardly mobile as it once was.

Anyway, saw DC many times over the following years and at one gig in Brighton organised by Skint's Andy Mac and Mr John Hassay, managed to secure an interview for a magazine I produced during my brief graphic design course at the London College of Printing. Mr Carter was lured back to Andy's flat and mercilessly pummeled by me and Hassay for Chicago house memories and drug-induced advice. A true gentleman. He agreed to answer my questions which were emailed to me, but not before I'd made a complete tit of myself trying to get to see him at the dj booth at Bugged Out in Liverpool but ended up falling into a bin in front of the entire club.

Right, I'm starting to talk bollocks now, but it's all true. Anyway, printed below are Derrick's answers to my questions. The only problem is that there are no questions. They're somewhere else. I'm sure you can guess what they were anyway . . .




>Well Chicago IS the home of House music as such but only in the way that
>Detroit the home of Techno or Seattle is the home of Grunge. I mean it
>exists in small pockets in its home environment but like these other forms
>of music respective to their home cities, its been received better in
>other
>places. Sure its supported but I dont think any artist can make a living
>just in his or her home city

>
>House music is something that I cant even begin to start to try to define.
>Define red or yellow. Its a similar kind of question to me. I can give
>you examples and provide something akin to a clinical description, but when
>somethings power lies in its ability to educe emotion and provide
>something intangible the way that music does, it makes it very hard to say.
>As far as commercial success goes, I really dont care about it. I really
>dont. Unless it can be injected with the kind of idea trust that hip-hop
>has spawned itll be very hard to do.
>


>I like all my releases with the exception of maybe the first few. Pride
>goeth before the fall
>


>Putting a set together is a spontaneous activity. It happens because of
>something not in spite of something for me. Ill usually try to pick out
>records that Id like to hear out, and things that I think should be heard
>by a particular crowd. Its a weird science though.cant really explain
>it.
>


>Im not into comparisons. They tend to be biased by certain points of
>reference. Like if youre from a specific place or time it colours your
>view.
>


>a) DJs : Diz, Heather, J-Dub, Sneak, Luke, Ralph, Kenny, Domenic, Paul,
>Justin, Mark, Joshua, Dayhota, Gene, Milty, Colette, Me, Boggy,
>Honey, Carl M., Doc, Chris, Terry, Geoffroy, Raoul, Miles, Stcay, Mr.C.,
>Harvey, Ron, Frankie, Farley, Steve, Harri, Laurent, Masters, etc.
>
>b) Producers : All off the above plus Sebastian, KOT, Paul, Todd, Carl,
>Roberto, Tony, & many many more.
>
>c) I dont really have any favorite labels. I just like records.
>
>


>I just play records without a lot of thinking about it really.
>
>


>Nothing.
>


>Day-Ra, ummmnot really. New York has its own ego to tend to, so things
>are a little different.
>


>Riding on my scooter, cooking, having as much fun as I can.
>
>


>Almost anywhere that I play, because I only play where I want.
>
>


>I might set up something on the other side.it remains to be seen.
>


>Thats because making records and playing records are really two separate
>things that operate in two separate halves of my brain.
>


>It works as a nice companion running in Tandem
>


>Maybe never, Maybe Tuesday
>


>?
>


>I am a principle along with Luke and another fine Gentleman
>The people We have are quite nice.Lets just work with them and see what
>happens.
>
>

>Its all a bit in your face really now isnt it.
>
>
>

As being prone to having funny hair.
>



>I dont care if the public at large is big on buying house music. Its not
>that big of a deal with me and what I do. Mass appeal is not one of my
>strong suites.
>


>In about 37 years.
>
>


Enjoy,

Derrick



. . .and I also asked Kenny Hawkes and Luke Solomon for an interview too. I was a Space regular and had incalculable great nights down at Bar Rumba.


>What do you put the success of Space down to?
>perseverance
>
>Most popular guests?
>derrick, sneak, terry francis, doc martin, mark farina, joshua, weatherall,
>harvey
>
>Who would you like to have who you haven’t managed to
>get so far?
>tony humpheries
>
>Who, for you, are house music’s current innovators?
>isolee, derrick, maw, 20/20,
>
>What are your respective definitions of house?
>music that is the result of something that began alittle over 10 years ago,
>that takes its influences from many different genres,and that also has soul
>and a funk too...
>
>What do you think the music you’re playing should be
>called?
>house music
>
>How do you market yourselves?
>? I dont, I just make and play records and have a whole lot of fun doing it
>too...
>
>Kenny, what are your plans for the future as a
>recording artist, and how did the remixes for Andy
>Weatherall, and vice versa, come about?
>
>
>Luke, I’ve just read that you’ve done a remix for
>Steve O’Sullivan on Mosaic. Do you see a close
>relationship between his sound and yours?
>I just think he is a cool bloke that is doing something that he feels
>strongly about, and thats enough for me...
>
>Wich is the most important: being a dj, producer or
>club runner?
>I dont really put a level of importance to the things that I do, I treat
>them all individually as they are all have their own importance.
>
>Do you agree with this statement: Good dj’s don’t make
>good producers and vice-versa.
>If you don’t, who, in your opinion (s), straddle the
>dj/production divide with consummate ease?
>I regard them as two separate talents, so yes that statement is definately
>true.
>
>Where, outside London, are you happiest playing; and
>if it’s not the same place, where are you most
>well-received?
>Belgium, Frankfurt, and Scotland is always a great deal of fun.
>
>Any plans to release a “Space II” cd; if so, who’d be
>on mixing duties?
>yep, me.
>
>Luke: in an ideal world, who would you like to have
>recording for Classic?
>If there were to be some add ons to the family, I think they would include
>Kenny and Iz and Diz....
>
>Kenny: I read an interview with you a few years back,
>in which you said that you didn’t regard yourself as a
>technically good dj (ie: you didn’t think much of your
>mixing skills). What opinion do you have of yourself
>now?
>
. . .



Kenny didn't think the last question was worth his while it seems.

A little blast from the past. The interviews where conducted about eight years ago. More to come soonio.

TTFN.

Machines Are Funky Playlist: 29.11.08

No guest tonight, so tuneage all the way

Crimes (Luke Solomon vocal mix) - LDOE (Classic Digital)
Ignored Folklore - Geoffroy & Kolombo pres. Mugwump (Kompakt)
Halleluyah Yeah - Guilluame & The Coutu Dumonts (Oslo)
Billy Bought A Laser - Brian Ffar (Siteholder)
The Valve - H.O.S.H. (Diynamic)
Ghost - Christain Burkhardt (AreaRemote)
Down, Down - BLM & Pawas (Fear Of Flying)
Harmonics - Andre Crom (Heimatmelodie)
Me2 - Queen Atom (Serialism)
Back Boutique - Le K (Thema)
Redemption (Peace Division remix) - Phillipe Autouri (Hypercolour Digital)
Something For Myself - Delano Smith (Third Ear)
Safran - Cio d'Or & Paul Brtschhtisch (Broque)
Sugar Cubes - Lado (FVF)
You Make Me Struggle (Jean Ramesse remix) - Let's Go Outside (Soma Beta)
Double Room - Seuil (Moon Harbour)
Santuario - Santiago Salazar (Historia Y Violencia)
The Black Block (Marcel Dettmann Redefinition) - Modeselektor (BPitch)

Show: 29.11.08

A lot of good stuff to come between now and the New Year, so without further ado, here's a little snippet of what's on tonight's show. Paul Brtschitsch & Cio d'Or, Christian Burkhardt and Brian Ffar.

As I play an average of about eighteen tracks per show, I think I'll stop there before I give the game away completely.

Keep it locked.


Machines Are Funky: 7-8pm BST

105FM in Cambridge

209radio.co.uk globally

Par-tay Ce Soir

So there's another party this evening at the warehouse. I spoke to Johny the other evening and he said that the owner was making unreasonable demands. I hope a compromise has been reached as I'm playing in January and there's a pre-Chrimbo knees-up on the 20.12.

Bournemouth's Delete, incorporating Chris Box, Tone Def and Mr Smith, are tonight's guests. Kudos to Johny for organising these events and breathing some life into Cambridge's rather decrepit party scene.

I won't be going due to family obligations. I do plan to get some sort of match report together though.

Machines Are Funky: 15.11.08 with Ian P

Here's the playlist for last night's show where local free/semi-legal party hero Ian P was my guest.

Ray Of Hope (A Made Up Sound mix) - Quantec (Echocord Colour)
RD's Movement (Randy Watson Variation no 4) - Sascha Dive (Deep Vibes)
Motown Revival - Kris Wadsworth (Hypercolour)
Panic (Bass Clef 4.4 mix) - Jamie Jones (Crosstown Rebels Digital)
Schizophrenia - Burnski (Morris Audio)
Circuit Breaker (Trulz & Robin remix) - Onark (Fine Art)
Desolate Destination - Polygamy Boys (Creme Eclipse)
Giza Visa (Mikael Stavostrand remix) - Shadi Megalla (Dilek)
Balanced:Troubleshooter 1 - Orlando Voorn (Mixtape)

Ian P in the Mix:

Where Ya At - Inland Knights (Raise Recordings)
CatchThe GooGoo Remix - Kober & Fischer (GooGoo)
Squirreled - Nick Fanciulli (Renaissance)
Total Departure - Christian Smith & John Selway (Drumcode)
Jack The Ripper - Three Amigos (PHD)
Zvija - Valentino Kanzyani (Cirlce)
Catch My Riff - Dislodged & Mogul (IO Music)
Dog - Adam Shaw (Mau5strap)
Bring Back The Jack - Paranoid Jack (Thrust)
The Rear - Freeze Frame
Cirlcling The Sun - Nils Hess (Eukahouse)

I chatted to Ian during the first half of the show during the Jamie Jones and Shadi Megalla tracks.

Machines Are Funky: 15.11.08

Tomorrow's show features a guest mix and few words from Ian P. Ian has been a regular on the Cambridge scene over the last few years and at the forefront of the Low-Tec parties. He's recently been playing Johny Davies' "Horseplay" warehouse shindigs.

I'll be playing a few records myself during the first hour.

Keep it locked

Machines Are Funky: 7-8pm BST

105FM in Cambridge

209radio.co.uk globally

Mozambique - Soul Minority (PackUp And Dance)

Read my RA review of Soul Minority's 'Mozambique' EP here.

Machines Are Funky Playlist 1.11.08 & Competition Question

Here's the playlist for last night's show:

Ghostship (feat. Spaceape) - Beat Pharmacy (Deep Space)
Word (I'll Never Let You Go) - Moodymanc (20/20 Vision)
Diva - Sebo K (Mobilee)
Deepmood - Vakula (Quintessentials)
Fear of Expression - B12 (B12)
Stand Beside Me - Tom Demac (Murmur)
Kolimar - Barem (Minus)
You Are Dark (Pack Up And Dance 7" edit) - Kenny Larkin (Planet E)
Patient Saints (Dave Congreve's Boardroom mix) - Two Lone Swordsmen (Rotter's Golf Club)
50,000 Legions - The Detroit Grand Pubahs (Detelefunk)
Added Planet - Extrawelt (Cocoon)
E - Alex Under (Apnea)
Online - BLM & Pawas (Fear Of Flying)
El Matador - Luca Bachetti (Ovum)
Starts With An 'S' - Sycophant Slags (Bombis)
Hooked (Guy Gerber remix) - Tiger Stripes (Liebe Detail)
Get Up - Zander VT (BPitch)

There is also a competition to win two copies of the new Detroit Grand Pubahs cd 'Nuttin Butt Funk,' here is the deceptively easy question.

What are the names of the Detroit Grand Pubahs?

Answers to corey.paul@209radio.co.uk before the 15/11/08 (next show). Mark your correspondence "Pubah's Comp" and leave all necessary contact details. Alternately, leave a comment on this blog in a comment box between now and the next show, but lease remember to leave your email address too if you do. Good luck.

Machines Are Funky Ce Soir

On tonight's show there'll be new music from Luca Bachetti, Tom Demac, Barem and Extrawelt. Those freaky motor city natives, The Detroit Grand Pubahs, have got a new album album out and I've been given a couple of cds to give away, so it's competition time again.

Keep it locked . . .

Machines Are Funky: 7-8pm BST

105FM in Cambridge

209radio.co.uk globally

Ian P guests on the next show

Links are, as ever ath the side of the page.

Silently - Clara Moto (Infine)

Read my RA review of Clara Moto's Silently here.

Love Never Sleeps - Seth Troxler (Crosstown Rebels)

Read my RA review of Seth Troxler's 'Love Never Sleeps' here.

The Lock-Up

So, last Saturday I had the pleasure to play at one of Johny Davies' Horseplay parties. Strike another "strange party location" off the bedpost overnight. We were the first through the medieval castle door, which concealed what looked like a huge, grubby living room bordered by crusty sticky furniture, the likes of which I hadn't seen since The Fortress FOBB parties at the turn of the century. The Priory's Sam had cried off with some insignificant illness, and in turn the CDJs didn't arrive. This was a pain, because most of my best and newest most thrusting stuff is on cd. I was dying to play Seth Troxler's 'Love Never Sleeps' and sundry releases on Connaisseur, Mr G's remix of Dave Brennan on Bombis 'Shunsower' on Cecille Numbers and Galuszka's briliiant 'Bring The Bling' on Siteholder Uncut. Sadly this was not to be. Luckily I had a full bag of vinyl too.

So things got going at 12:30am, and after easing in with Trus'me's 'W.A.R. dub' and then Andy Vaz on Yore, the joint was well and truly jumping. Let's be honest, everybody was twatted and chomping at the bit for beats. My set went down a storm, even if I say so myself. Peaks, there were too many to mention, but lets just say taking H-Fondation's 'Here 'dis Sound' on Siesta was a masterstroke. I was having such a good time that the beers being bought for me were piling up and I couldn't be arsed opening them. Things were going so well that I completely forgot the mixer was a balsa wood Airfix special that was completely inaudible to all but dogs. I don't know how I got through it, but I handed over to Ian P (guest on my 15.11 show) at 2am, who then handed over to Pickles who was followed by Tom Hallmark.

There were some real basket cases there, but that all adds to the fun of the fair, and I like to think that my own mind-bending sounds contributed in some small way to their respective downfalls. Keeping it underground is by far the best option. I'm not alone in loving "clubbing" but disliking the current club experience, certainly in the way it is marketed in the UK and in most places beyond. Clubbers and football fans are constantly having the piss taken out of them royally. This won't change in a hurry either, if at all. These days I'm quite happy to relax in the comfort of my own home with a nice glass of Crozes Hermitage and some techno in the background. Going out is still important, but ceased to be the be all and end all a long time ago.

Anyway, Johny's party was excellent and once a month is about right. Cambridge has always been a bit desperate but this is the proverbial shot in the arm. The only problem is that one would feel a little bit elitist reading out party details on the radio to a public that are unable to attend because they don't know the right people. I'm all for keeping it compact and bijou anyway, but do feel that any like-minded souls should be let in on the deal, whether they can make it or not. There will be a Facebook group set up to give news and general info about these dos, and when it happens a link will appear on this blog. The 22nd November party will have Chris Box of Bournemouth funksters Delete headlining. I'm probably going to be back in January, when nobody's got any money.

Machines Are Funky: 18/10/08 with Le Jockey

Johny Davies, aka Le Jockey, was my guest on last night's show. We chatted sporadically throughout the show and played four tracks from his forthcoming album.

Here's the playlist.

Shunsower - Robert Dietz & Markus Fix (Cecille Numbers)
Fortran (Argy's Big Room Detroit mix) - Kerri Chandler (Deeply Rooted House)
Eating You - Matthew Styles (Horizontal)

Johny Davies Interview Pt 1

Clare Bear - Le Jockey
Knockabout (John Tejada remix) - Random Factor (20/20 Vision)
W.A.R. Dub - Trus'me (Prime Numbers)
Love Never Sleeps - Seth Troxler (Crosstown Rebels)
Ketocure (Miss Fitz remix) - Siphon (FVF)

Johny Davies Interview Pt 2

Wronk - Le Jockey
Dos Dias Despues - Damian Schwartz (Net28)
8 Miles Wide - The Plan (The Plan)
Mestyerhed (Paul Mac remix) - Sunil Sharpe (Bastardo Electrico)

Johny Davies Interview Pt 3

Untitled - Le Jockey
30th May - Marcin Czubala (Mobilee)
You & Mi - Le Jockey
Rope Trick - Dubble D (Third Ear)
Scope Of Mind - Johnny D (8-Bit)
Bring The Bling - Galuszka (Siteholder Uncut)

I played Johny's Horseplay warehouse party after the show. It was excellent. I'll post some info about it in the nest few days.

Machines Are Funky: 18/10/08 with Le Jockey

Everything is a mass of confusion at the moment, so in true second summer of love style I doubt I'll really know what's going on until the very last moment. There will be loads of great new music, and Johny Davies, aka Le Jockey Horseplay Records Head Honcho will be in the studio to preview some tracks from his debut album.

Community electronica in the house. Keep it locked!

Machines Are Funky: 7-8pm BST

105FM in Cambridge

209radio.co.uk globally

Just received a request to upload a Dave Congreve mix from last year. Dave's mixes are not common, so I'll try and root it out. Be patient.

Interview With Desy Balmer (Nice & Nasty)

Old time is a flying, and I've been very remiss with my posting. Anyway, here's something that I should have published a week or two ago. It's an interview with one of Irish techno's prime movers Mr Desy Balmer. Desy got in touch with Nice and Nasty label me through Resident Advisor and started sending me music, both on his own and Dublin Xpress. Ireland seems to be nurturing a good few artists at the moment. It's fertile over there on the Emerald Ile.

House & techno are, more than most comparitive genres, particularly suited to the current and ongoing proclivities of the digital revolution. Bearing this in mind do you regard this as compatible tha tvinyl is still so important regarding the sales, identity and status of a label?

To be honest I was a vinyl junkie, a wee bit of a record collector but I have definitely slowed down. Is that the fault of MP3s I don’t know. MP3s and the ease of sharing suits the technology or is linked to the technology that makes most house music and techno but for me a record label must have a physical product. Maybe I am a dinosaur. I love records, I love sleeves and sleeve art. I love the fact that blemishes on such things can make the record more valuable, but with digital products its erase and re-do, or cut, copy and paste. Interestingly the same is being said about books that digital books, book downloads will kill the book.

The facts are both music and stories will always exist their platform will change but essentially the narrative and the artform will continue. Times change, things change. That’s life. The changes can be fast and often daunting but its not a case of change or die, my generation will cling to vinyl but maybe not the next generation but definitely the one after may not know what a record is or was. That could be good for the environment in the same way not printing books will be. I think it is nothing more than an interesting artifact of the world we live in and the wonderful contradictions that divide and glue us together with equal vigor. Without these little tests of faith or prejudice life would be boring, which doesn’t really answer your question - ha ha ha

I think if you look at people like Richie Hawtin you see just how the technology driven music has either been a catalyst of or a willing companion for the digital revolution of music. Would the MP3 exist without house and techno? The answer is yes. Its not genre that drives technology its sales and digital sales are easier, quicker and more far reaching than vinyl or tape could dream of. It’s neither good nor bad, just the way it is or as derrick may prophesized all those years ago, ‘it is what it is’.


Is there a nostalgic aspect to this or is it some sort of retrofuturism?

Honestly, I’d say it’s a large meal combo of Nostalgia and Ludditism, with a little spicy fear sauce on the side.

Actually is sheer snobbery on the part of people like me. People stuck in their ways. Labels should release records but releasing mp3s allows you to take more risks and try more fresh artists, include more remixes and get the music to people around the world instantly and cheaply.

Vinyl is so expensive to make but even more expensive to transport and the bottom line is what drives change. You almost have to be sure to be sure that its going to sell. People may say that means every wanker puts out loads of shite music but so what, filter thru it, stock, aiken and waterman put out tons of tripe on wax but it didn’t stop us finding joy division or bomb the bass or bassomatic or a certain ratio. The thing is, if online retailers put out hundreds of new releases people wont have the time to sift thru the detritus, and that retailer wil become less important as buyers search the web fo the retailer that suits them. I think, like I did, go to the cool shops and know that they don’t take just any release and trust the shop keeper. Online shops are under a decade old so we cant expect them to be perfect yet. Already you get pressure from online retailers to keep releases coming regularly and if they aint selling then bye bye, they dump your ass as they’ll tell you they aint a storage space. Toa certain degree I hate this as it means a poor selling label or few releases label could easily disappear without a trace. Its not like they have the vinyl, the physical record to prove they existed. All very Orwellian.

Whilst the likes of beatport, juno and so on become the online versions of HMV the boutique back st store like zero-inch, wasabeat will suddenly be more appealing to the discerning customer. All that said though labels that do continue with vinyl will be seen as having a bit more class, a bit more respect for the past, whilst not forgetting the future. Does that make sense? I hope so. My label does both. There aren’t enough sales of either to just do vinyl and I like records, so I’ll continue to do that as its what makes me happy. Not rich nor famous, but happy and that’s what counts.

We make music we like or for ourselves to play and then we take risks to put it out to get a response. Fingers crossed the responses from any direction is good. The responses can also lead you down a path. If the vinyl sales pay for themselves then its considered a success.

How varied a species is techno and where do its roots lie in Ireland? which seems, superficially at least, to be a perfect example of a country severely lacking a technological heritage.

To say Ireland has no techno heritage is like saying Ireland has no football heritage. Our local leagues are second rate compared to La Liga and the Premiership but the top leagues, especially England is full of Irish players and the same applies to techno and electronic music regardless if its trance or drum&bass.

Firstly our clubs are regarded as some of the best in the world, unfortunately cold wet weekends in Cork or Derry aren’t as glamorous as Saturday nights in New York and Barcelona and with such a small population and lack of competition our clubs don’t compete on advertising with the likes of Fabric or Cream.

Musically are heritage has been robbed by the UK. So many of the UK pioneers and global DJs have Irish roots. From the Aphex Twin to Judge Jules to Morrisey - Irish blood surges through English hearts – We don’t have the huge student scene that the UK has so we miss out there but to say we severly lack a technological heritage is just wrong.

Secondly, our pedigree is starting to show its teeth. There are tons of local labels, many DJs and more new preoducers each week than you could shake a stick at and the few that manage to make it become superstars in their own field.

Sian, Chymera, Agnelli & Nelson, Decal, Phil Kieran, David Holmes, Donnacha Costello and Mark O’Sullivan are all part of the premier league DJ/Producer set. David Holmes scores Hollwood movies these days as well as DJ in local pubs of Belfast; Agnelli & Nelson have had chart hits both sides of the Atlantic; whilst, Sian, Chymera and Costello are arguably among the current trend setters of dance music, eating at the table with Hawtin, Vath and Slam.

New boys such as Tr-One, Magnetize, Jamie Behan, Derek Carr, Hystereo, Celtec Twinz, Japanese Popstars and Lerosa are all promising. You want to hear some of the quality demos I get and we are only starting to make waves after 15 years, so I only assume labels like D1, Bastardo Electrico, Elevation, Mode Music and so on must be getting music to rival the best labels in the world. Jamie Behan is signed with Subject Detroit; The Japanese Popstars remixed the Ting Tings; and, Dave Clarke’s White Noise radio show frequently has new music from Ireland. We just don’t fly the irish flag that much or make music with a big shamrock and green streamers on it, we leave that to Others.

When it comes to music and art Ireland kicks ass and before I sound like some mad arsed republican the English have laid claim to many of our gems, GB Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Undertones, Des Lynham!!! Yeah Des is one of us. For our artists to make a career – U2 aside - they have to make it in UK or USA. Ireland is too small to make real money so as we tend to look alike and speak the same lingo we get assimilated into British pop culture.

What we lack is the ability to side step the UK shadow. Sharing a language and an interwoven history, culture and economy has held us back in more ways in one but in respect to techno music it has given the world the perception that the UK or others are better or doing longer when in truth its pretty much the same, you just either have more media to exploit or own the means of media production.


How easy is it to approach the synthetic side from the spiritual side?

I aint got a clue Ted. All life is carbon based and molecularly speaking silicon is the closet thing to carbon (I Think according to early X Files) so maybe thru the manipulation of Silicon we will fully understand carbon and therefore lifes answers, real and imagined will be found in science and as science and art collide in some kind of super collision the synthetic and the spiritual will show themselves to be two sides of the same coin and as one their sum parts will be greater than the individual parts.

The only spiritual side to clubbing I have witnessed is the rants and raves of people mad out of it or doing drugs for too long and believing the bull shit. Music does hold many keys to emotions but when played in a club to people pissed its hardly the same as some tribal dance with a shamen and rites of passage. But then maybe I am just an old cynic.

What is it about Ireland that encourages the growth of techno? Do you see any contradictions in the music’s austerity and Catholicism?

No – Ireland is uniquely catholic in that Catholicism to many is merely a badge of identity. The steretyope of the austere techno lover fits well with some irish techno. Famously a mag here once said ‘No Fun D1’ implying that Ireland’s biggest techno label and then top techno promoter was so serious about their music that they lost sight of the shamanic, ritual of dancing and loosing yourself in the groove and that may be true but I suspect it is more to do with living up to perceived notions of techno. Techno is fun. Kraftwerk are hilarious. Recently I heard a joke that to German’s Dusseldorf’s accent is akin to the Brummie accent in England and when kraftwerk sing it cracks Germans up. Imagine Noddy Holder with a vocoder. Priceless.

Hawtin didn’t help with his shaven headed, head-nodding rather than dancing Plastikman persona that for a few years loads of people copied. Now look at him. Snogging Vath and villalobos. Growing is hair and partying like it was 1999.

Now in Ireland we don’t really do austere or maybe, to throw out another racist stereotype, we consume that much alcohol the inhibitions are locked away. For the past 20 years we have also been one of not the youngest populations in Europe and from the late 80s and throughout the 90s successive church related scandals shocked and made people turn away from the church. That and the fact the 90s celtic tiger boom most people have had too much disposable income meant that techno’s growth coincided with an unprecedented changes to Irish culture.

What has always fascinated me is that in northern Ireland progressive house and trance predominates whereas in Dublin and Cork deep house and techno are kings. Is that similar to the UK? Sasha and Digweed up north and the trendy tech heads of London? Whats that all about? Its hardly religious. Plus I know so little about Catholocism I should comment for fear of sounding like a prat (to late! Doh!!!).

"Nice & Nasty" doesn't sound like "Transmat" or "R & S." Was this a conscious decision?

Nice & nasty is simply my poor vocabulary trying to hint at Yin and Yang, Black and White, good and Bad. It actually comes from a Mixmag article on the old hardcore band The Messiah (20,000 hardcore members and all that) and I thought it sounded great for a name of a club and bingo! With the internet though it sounds more like a porn site than a record label but I never went for the whole Detroit pseudo-marxist, pseudo-scientist bullshit. Some of the UR, Mike Banks Robert Hood sleeve notes make me laungh. This is supposedly serious music for adults and its as if it is marketed to Kids, but then the Yanks love that. You watch CSI or MacGyver and they narrate and expain everything as the audience is either stupid or they producers think the audience is stupid.

If it floats your boat cool but Red Planet, Sonic Adventures, Assualt DJs and all that always seemed a little geeky, over the top to me, but then so does the antics of Aphex Twin so its not necessarily an anti-Detroit thing. I love Star Dancer, Jupiter Jazz, etc. just don’t need the silly details. I find labels quite arbitrary and more to do with marketing than anything else.

I love the music just didn’t fall in love with the packaging. I like the Mo Wax style. I also hated that bull shit the Aphex Twin does by not naming trax and so on. Maybe I don’t get it but it sounds like a marketing ploy to attract a certain demographic that will possibly dig his music or be some up their own arse to frightened to say its bad and some of the Aphex Twin music is bad, no one I buy goes from the ridiculous to the sublime so often and gets away with it.
R & S is just Renat and Sabines initials, it could easily have been a launderette so there is nothing clever or remarkable about a labels name. Plu they employed the Ferrari horse, for God’s sake how crap is that. It’s purely arbitrary, something for the owner to giggle at with himself, something for the media to use to review it, nothing more, like my catalogue number for vinyl and Cds starts with DB3 which is nothing more than indication that my dad and granda were also called desy balmer whilst the online cat no is NANO for Nice & Nasty Online and NANO as in the small particles. Might sound cool or smart but nothing more than identity or childish word games for my own gratification and amusement.

If I am being a knob I often say I got the name from an early album by Salsoul Orchestra. Sounds great for PR sheets but load of old twat. I now own that album courtesy of eBay but simply an article I read had a cool title that allowed me to use to state the fact that music is a matter of taste and opinion. Some is nice and some is nasty, in fact all music is either nice or nasty thus all music is Nice & Nasty. It depends upon you – not the labels name not, the music maker – the listener, the dancer, the buyer.

Who is currently coming through in Ireland and how united is the scene?

There is no scene so to speak. There is a collection of clubs that would cut their own grannys throat for profit rather than take a chance of new djs. There are a group of promoters that tickle each others balls patiently waiting in the long grass to chop their comrades off.

Tons of people are making music and there are more labels than pubs these days. Some are good and some are very good, but there is still little cooperation and no indigenous industry that together you could call a scene. There are a few people trying to forge a network, a collective but the pie is small and people get reluctant to fear starving or they just fit nicely into their clique.

My only worry is that the media here is so small and media from UK and further couldn’t give a toss about us so not much is being written and I truly believe that ‘scenes’ are mediated fabrications.

Donnacha Costello, Sian, Chymera, Phil Kieran are flying, literally to gigs all over the world and their tunes are hot cakes on vinyl and MP3. D1 is still a stalwart of the labels but labels like Mode Music, Elevation, Static are making waves. Producers like Derek Carr, Produse, Aruba, Timmy Stewart, Decal, Tr-One and Lerosa are getting noticed and maybe, just maybe a scene is developing right now as we speak, but look at labels and see how many of them remix for each other, very few. It would be great and it will happen. Ireland is the land of the creative – poets, writers, actors, rock stars. Its in our blood but we have to trust each other and believe in ourselves a bit more and I don’t just mean the music makers and labels but the punters. To have a scene we need them to come and see us play and buy our tunes. We are definitely making quality music and some of our DJs are among the best so trust and belief and who knows. Throw in some gravity and voila!


For better or for worse Ireland has often looked across the puddle to Britain for inspiration. Do any British artists currently fit the Nice & Nasty techno bill?

Yeah, right now Nasty Bobby is producing some of the best acid house inspired techno I have heard and he is a true ‘cant give baby booze, give em babysham’ northerner from Yorkshire and my long time cohort in DJing Dave Ingham is also a Yorkshireman. Probably even has some racing pigeons and a grey hound. From the beginning I worked with a lad from somewhere near Brighton, Jon Russell aka Teknik and just recently Matt Chester did us a remix and another long time cohort is Matthew B from Layo & Bushwacka.

Obviously our big non-irish artist is Marco Bernardi from Glasgow but despite his name he could possibly be more Irish than me. Controversially Nice & nasty has always ‘swung both ways’ as it were in respect to the Irish sea. A birth in Belfast and adult life in Dublin has allowed me to forge lots of strong links. Music doesn’t have boundaries or borders. During the Troubles in Norn Iron music was a positive force for change and probably the one thing that took me away from the madness and hatred.

I do consider Nice & Nasty an Irish label, thru-and-thru but the fact is my passport is GB & NI so I don’t really see much of a difference with respect to the label. For example how are Phil Kieran, Celtec Twinz, Fergie, Agnelli & Nelson and David Holmes pigeon-holed? I suppose there is no specific Irish sound, like there hasn’t been a major scene like there was in Sheffield or Manchester for us to really differentiate ourselves and because the whole social milieu between the two islands is so interwoven and complex it is a little futile and a tad incendiary to claim that real difference exist.

In saying that the reverence crowds hold UK DJs in compared to their own local heroes pisses me off. There are DJs in Ireland that, in my opinion, eat and shite many of the so called top jocks or global DJs. Cox, Oakenfold and whoever have serious reputations but there are DJs here that really do make them pale in comparison. Billy Scurry, Jamie Behan, Arveene, Glen Molloy and the list goes on. What really pisses me off is not the Djs reputations as they have earned them to some degree but the crowds, the punters blind following of a brand dj. No one wants to see and hear eddie richards or steve Bicknell or billy scurry if richie Hawtin is in town or god forbid but sven vath is here. Actually that’s not fair on Hawtin. Richie is a genius but there are some chancers trading on false reputations and big egos and the gullibility of punters.

If I could persuade some Brits to join the fold, do the odd remix, then I’d love Vince Watson to do something, Weatherall of course, Black Dog and Xpress 2. yeah, Xpress 2 make the best club music. Others that spring to mind include 808 state, Danny Breaks (used to Love Sonz of a Loop), Njoi, Radioslave, Crispin J Glover, jaysus the list is endless but we are an Irish label so I am happy working with Chymera, Derek Carr, Tr-One and Mark O’Sullivan. Equally though I am deligted to be linked with Katsuhiko and Tomi Chair from Japan; Kenny Black and Thoverstam from Sweden; Lackluster from Finland; Arne Weinberg from Germany; Fabrice Lig from Belgium; and Tomas Jirku from Canada. Right now we really do represent the wide reaching impact of the Irish Diaspora. Everybody wants a little irish ;-)

But apart from being a label Nice & Nasty has been a promoter for over a decade and worked with Space DJz, Colin Dale, Alan Oldham, Billy Nasty, Percy X, Nipper/Kid Unknown, Jim Hutchison, Ignition Technician and Alex Smoke and are always up for doing something, with anyone. Once the music is good and they like to party, we’re there with big bells on!



Do you regard the UK as a source of techno insight? Why/Why not?

Uuummmmm . . . yes, No, maybe, I don’t know – can you repeat the question?. Once but not now. I really don’t know.

Altern 8 were bangin on about Detroit, Acid and some top drawer tunes and producers before they were truly fashionable and I don’t think people listened or maybe took them seriously. You cant hide from the fact, however, that Neil Rushton at Network, Warp records, Nova Mute and a few others have been instrumental in putting techno music where it is. Even Pete Tong deserves a little bit of credit despite the fact he has many, many other crimes against music, art and culture.

Actually yes, the UK is a source of techno insight. Its hard to be precise but do you think techno as it is would be anything without the UK & Ireland and the same is for house music. Lest we forget the added influence of happy pills.

The label seems to be enjoying a period of relatively sustained creativity. How ambitious are you concerning its future? How easy or difficult is it to spot quality in the swelling sea of digital mediocrity?

The label has never been so busy and for a little Irish label we are working with absolutely fantastic music makers from Japan (Katsuhiko and Tomi Chair); Sweden (Mark O’Sullivan, Andres Cabrera and thöverstam); Detroit’s Terrence Dixon, Tomas Jirku from Canada and we have strong ties to Fabrice Lig and CJ Bolland so I am over the moon of where we are right now.

People are enjoying making music for me and the label so once the standard remains high and the feelings are mutual it wont stop. I love this shit man. I wish I could produce more, I wish I was out there playing more in clubs, but I am actually proud of the label and how it is developing, almost as if it was my third kid – so be careful what ye say or I’ll send the boys round (they haven’t gone away you know).

We are currently processing online releases 41 and 42 as we speak. Our 13th bit of vinyl is out in October and the 14th maybe before the end of 08. We turn 15 years old this November and since 2006 we have just found a momentum that has surprised me.

The online release has allowed us to release more that is true but it’s a tough nut to crack and after 12 years of promoting clubs and selling records it’s a new way of thinking and doing tings to adjust too so it’s a learning curve. Sales do better each time. Promotions work better each time and one day we’ll work it out and the bastards will move the goal posts and we’ll start again and that’s what its all about.

The important thing Is the music is good and I am having fun. We have a sister label to take more risks or go with styles and sounds Nice & nasty wouldn’t touch with a barge pole and that is interesting too.

I have always wanted the label to remain focused on the music. Simply if I’ll play it out then I’ll consider it for release so that covers quite a wide spectrum, but there is a lot of bad music being released and it can be hard to get yours heard among the many voices. Luckily I can shout really loud!

I think that the cost of vinyl put people off releasing both good and bad music and ironically the low cost and easy distribution of Mp3s allows people to release more good and much worse music so like you did for vinyl you need to find the right shop. I don’t buy that many MP3s as I still play vinyl (considering Ableton or Serato Scratch) so I wouldn’t be the best placed person to tell you how kids are buying new music or what kind of filters are on. I know distributors and shops will drop your label in a flash if it aint selling ‘they’re not storage spaces you know’ wankers. If it wasn’t for the low selling, creative techno there’d be no MP3 or Beatport etc. It is the pioneering DJ and music maker that helped forge this revolution and unfortunately market forces may exclude them. Shame but typical.

If I am honest with you and myself and this is a little therapeutic right now I’d say my ambition would be to sell enough Mp3s to produce a small limited run of vinyl to pay the artist, the designer and the record maker plus give me a few bucks for a load of beers. I work full time so I am not dependant upon it and I don’t want it to provide me with a huge salary as without fear of contradiction sooner than later you’d be releasing music you didn’t like to make sure the bills are paid and I just don’t want to do that; however I’d go on top of the pops in a heart beat! There is no shame in selling your music. You don’t have to sell out to be a hit.

I aim to get to 100 download releases and maybe 20 vinyl and then see how’s it going. I don’t fancy being the oldest swinger in town and remember techno is relatively young so now that we are seeing older, middle aged DJs and clubbers its only natural.

It’s not like its one release at a time because now we have a solid backline of producers working with the label. We have plenty of interest in our music and as I said once its not too much of a chore then I’ll keep doing it. What elese will I do? The football isn’t on al the time.


This interview was conducted by email, like the one with A Guy Called Gerald. It's not an ideal medium. I hope to be doing one or two by Skype before the end of the year, starting with Mark Henning soonio.

Machines Are Funky: Playlist 4/10/08

I've been getting so much good stuff sent to me lately. I wish I had time to play it all. A mix will be available of some of the stuff I don't manage to within the next two weeks.

Silently - Clara Moto (Infine)
Regression - Jussi Pekka (Floppy Funk)
Pravda - Marcin Czubala (Mobilee)
Tropical One - Donato Dozzy (Railyard)
Bygone Times (Nostalgia mix) - Andy Vaz (Yore)
Srash - Mark Henning (Soma)
Temple - Dubble D (Third Ear)
Loophouse - David Keno (Morris Audio)
Texas Rangers (Danton Eeprom mix) - Zombie Zombie (Versatile)
On The Mive - Eve White (Contentismissing)
More Than One - B12 (B12 Records)
Untitled - Andy Garcia (Docile)
Piece of Anything - Damian Schwartz (Net28)
Violencia (Function remix) - Silent Servant (Sandwell District)
Red Shift - Speedy J (Electric Deluxe)
Eight Days A Week - Pedro Cali (Fine Art)
Walkig Alone (Patrice Scott Atmospheric remix) - Mike Edge (Sistrum)
Mola (Tony Rohr remix) - Franco Bianco (Dilek)

Tomorrow's Show

Tomorrow's show will feature stupid fresh new sounds from the likes of Seth Troxler, Zombie Zombie remixed by Danton Eeprom, Marcel Dettmann, Jussi Pekka, Marcin Czubala and of course, tons more.

Future shows will hopefully get me back into the habit of welcoming guests. Le Jockey, who is responsible for bringing back the spirit of the warehouse to our fair city, is tentatively pencilled in for . . .the future.

Keep it locked.

105FM in Cambridge

209radio.co.uk globally 7-9pm BST

Link at the top of the pile.

Hello Kool Nice - Jagged (Quintessentials)

Read my RA review of Jagged's "Hello Kool Nice" (Quintessentials) here.

Electronic Directory

Electronic Directory is a Japanese blog run by the very nice Mr Kazuumi Ishii. He was kind enough to publish my last playlist which featured a track by Japanese techno whizzkid Itokim on the wonderful Logos label. Thanks Kazuumi.

Here's a link

Oh, normal blogging will be resumed within the next two weeks. The lack of posts, except for playlists and the odd mix or two since the beginning of August, is really due to me needing a break, as well as being on holiday. 209 Radio is also under financial strain, so my show, as well as everyone else's, is under threat. We have just been granted permission to advertise by Ofcom, so there is life at the end of the tunnel

Machines Are Funky Playlist: 20/9/08

Here's tonight's playlist. A good show even if I do say so myself.

Detroit (C2 remix 1) - Morgan Geist (Environ)
L' Aurora (Russ Gabriel remix) - Alex Niggeman & Marc Poppke (Moonpool)
Nesrib - Sis (Cecille)
A1 La Pena Vol 1
Book Duty - Goldwill (Musik Geewint Freunde)
Run and Hide (Guido Schneider remix) - Dimitri Andreas (Systematic)
Hello Kool Nice - Jagged (Quintessentials)
Whirrfless - Alex Smoke (Vakant)
Jacopo Carreras - Jacopo Carreras (LAN)
Sancy Cat - Clara Moto (Infine)
The Thoroughfare - Craig Torrance & Philip Hochstrate (Murmur)
Fertile - Burnski (Dessous)
SF - Catz & Dogz (Mothership)
All We Need - STL (Something)
Snake Charmer - Minilogue (Cocoon)
Come Closer - Itokim (Logos)
Chad Leddow - Ralph Sliwinski (Safari Electronique)
4-Bit Logic - The Plan (The Plan)

The photo is in honour of the tit who threw up right next to me on the bus home. What a twat.

Machines Are Funky: 20/9/08

After the sonic stew that was the last show it's back to basics with some choice cuts. Russ Gabriel will be featured somewhere along the way. He's made a recent comeback and lost nowt of his skillz during his hiatus. New grooves by Jacopo Carreras, Catz & Dogz, Minilogue and Morgan Geist remixed by Carl Craig. Tons of other stuff too.

Keep it locked

Machines Are Funky: 105FM in Cambridge

209radio.co.uk globally

7-9pm BST

Remember you can click on the link at the side for more info.

Gindofask - Octogen (Soma)

Time has caught me unawares and I completely forgot about this. I should have posted it when I got back from my holidays but laziness and events, Pete's wedding last weekend, conspired against me in a whirlwind of stunning inefficiency. Anyway, better late than never. This little beauty has been out for almost a month now. Congratulations if you get anything from this piece of cosmic gibberish.

Terrible isn't it? I've practically forgotten about this blog. I was up at Pete's wedding last weekend, and it's been a c


Title: Gindofask
Artist: Octogen
Label: Soma
Genre: Sparkling Synthetic Tech Funk

The follow up to "Twofiveonine" was always going to be much scrutinised and difficult to judge in isolation and if I'm really honest, and I am, I find the meat and potatoes of "Gindofask every bit as engaging, if not moreso, as its predecessor. It does feel more like a sideways move than a foreward one though but it's a very positive parallel development by which Mario Berardi reveals another facet or two of his character.

I'm not going through all of the tracks because I think what I've got to say about those that follow will cover those which are absent. This is an impressionistic review that will hopefully leave the listener to fill in the blanks.

"Square Bells" & "Sphyxomite" this collections appeal is in its total embrace of the synthetic. Something ememplified in the opening "Please Intro Password" which is an exercise in deadpan kitsch. "Cyber Technological Flying Machine" is coldweather north European. "The Journeyman" . . .melancholic bittersweet bleeps in the void. "Ploughs And Clouds" is straight-up Detroit and rivals the motor city in evocative intensity. "The Emperor's Apprentice Pt 1"? R2 D2 is all I have to say. For "Saturn Sun" read "Ploughs & Clouds" with imrov. Space jazz with lovely electronic flourishes. "The Emperor's Apprentice Pt 2" is all hydraulic jacking and crisp bass and crackling relics of radio contact.

A complementary collection of shimmering machine funk to "Twofiveonine." The aural equivalent of a geode.

Tonight's Playlist

Tonight's show marked four years in the Machines Are Funky hot seat so, in the voice of Davros, here's tonights playlist plus competition details.

Stop The Message (Widescreen Edit) - Shatnereffekt One (Handsette)
Critical (Fabrice Lig remix) - Rob Mello (Classic Digital)
In Ya Head (feat MIA) - A Guy Called Gerald (Perlon)
Good God - Trus'me (Prime Numbers)
Love On The Line (Art Of Tones Photon dub) - Crazy P (20/20 Vision)
Una Pena (Argy remix) - Stimming (Diynamic)
Trackwerk 001
Sweep Dreams - Shed (Ostgut Ton)
The Journeyman (Orlando Voorn remix) - Octogen (Soma)

Fourth Anniversary Mix:

Dead Arm (Will Saul &Tam Cooper remix) - Warbgasm (Hypercolour)
Fukhouse - Lazar (STHMLAudio)
Maison Noir - Christian Burkhardt (Oslo)
Bubby Dubby (Russ Gabriel remix) - DJ Grobas (DPress Industries)
Disorder - Pawas (Fear of Flying)
Too Late To Land - Andre Galluzzi & Guido Schneider (Cocoon)
Laugh Lines - Gruber & Nuernberg (8-Bit)
Sao Paulo Lights (Anthony Collins remix) - Marco Ressmann (Upon You)
Perclue - Mathias Kaden (GS Zurich)
Colici - Miss Fitz (Raum)
La Bal Masque (Catz & Dogz remix) - Handycraft (Boxer)
Friday - Nick Curly (Supernature)
The More you Look The Less You'll See - Omar S (FXHE)

Download the mix here.

So onto the competition. Those good people at Soma have sent me three copies of Octogen's "Gindofask" cd. To win one, please answer the following simple question.

Octogen, aka Marco Bernardi, has released records on which seminal Rotterdam - based techno/electro label?

Answers please to corey.paul@209radio.co.uk with all relevant contact details, or leave a comment on this blog. If you do this don't forget to leave your email address. Oh and mark any emails "Octogen Comp." Good luck!

Machines Are Funky Fourth Anniversary

This weeks show will be a fourth anniversary special. I'll be mixing up a strom for the second hour as it's been a while since I got behind the ones and twos properly on air. There'll be new music on sundry achingly hip labels, like Hypercolour, Fear of Flying, and Oslo. Ill also have a few copies of Octogen's new cd "Gindofask" on Soma to give away. The last four years have been very enjoyable, here's to the next four.

Machines Are Funky: 105FM in Cambridge, UK,

209radio.co.uk globally

7-9 pm BST

Keep it locked

Bouillabaisse

Carrying on with today's foodie theme, I'm now offering you a bit of Bouillabaisse, a classic mix (actually something I knocked up very spontaneously this afternoon).

Bouillabaisse Tracklist:

Slave One - Mark E (Running Back)
Idle Blues - Cassy (Cassy)
Rue Montmarte - David K (Supplement Facts)
Space - Brett Johnson (Cynosure)
The Workout - Quarion (Drumpoet Society)
Stloen From The Jake (Lee Holman remix) - Gary Beck (Fine Art)
Herlin - Seth Troxler & Gadi Mizrahi (Raum Music)
Wax 001
What Happened - Abe Duque & Blake Baxter (Abe Duque)
Seldom Felt 2
Kabuki (Pan-Pot remix) - Assem Sharma (High Grade)
Wireblock 2 B - Lory D (Wireblock)
Mr Dry = TG aka Tim Green (Trapez)
Eyes Wide Open - Radio Slave (R & S)
Payback 2 - DJ Jus Ed (Underground Quality)
Knowone Can Take Away The Many - Portable (Perlon)

As ever, contstructed at Castle Corey on two 1210 mk2s, two CDJ200s and an Allen & Heath XOne:32.

Download this veritable hotch potch of a mix here.

Big Up The Hooded Posse

Here's something I came across earlier today on 4Four. Links to some of the best radio shows ever, courtesy of 808 State (well, two of them anyway). Cassette copies of some of these shows kept me in stitches, along with copious quantities of lsd, on campus at Sussex University a long time ago.

Link here.

Machines Are Funky Playlist: 24/8/08

Just back from the steaming depths of Provence where only yesterday I was supping bouillabaisse on the streets of Marseille, avec les petits soupions (which looked like the eyes of small animals). I would have posted this last night but I was knackered after four foirms of transport, so here's Saturdays playlist in all it's prerecorded glory.

Machines Are Funky: 24/8/08

Love Is On The Rocks (Monday Club Maxi Edit) - Lama (Arcobaleno)
DPOMB (Version 2) - Ame, Henrik Schwarz & Dixon (Innervisions)
$26 (Aaron Carl remix) - Justus Kohncke (Kompakt)
Training Day - Le Jockey (CDR)
Feuerwerhraus - Extra Produktionen (Brontosaurus)
Way To The Stars - Sten (Dial)
Train By The Autobahn (DJ remix by Robert Hood) - The Black Dog (Soma)
Fallout - Shaolin (Soapsud City)
Babylon Superstars (Simon Baker Infant remix) - The Youngsters (20/20 Vision)
Happy Five - Nick Curly (Cecille)
Sugar Pain - Click Box (Items & Things)
Microprocessor - Lado (FVF)
Feel (original mix) - Sebastian Bouchet (Hypercolour Digital)
Apropills (Andomat 3000 remix) - Adultnapper (Nummer)
Drink Deep (Mr G's Drunkonrum remix) - Dave Brennan (Bombis)
I Am (Marcus Houle remix) - Alloy Mental (Skint)
Benediction - Celtec Twinz (Nice & Nasty)
Mr Dry - TG aka Tim Green (Trapez)
Stay Out All Night (T's Sun mix) - Josh Wink (Ovum)

I've also got two copies of the really rather Detroit-inspired "Evolutionism" cd by Soul Designer. To win, please answer this really rather easy to research the answer to question.

On which seminal French label did Soul Designer release his first tracks?


Answers to corey.paul@209radio.co.uk please. Mark your email "Soul Designer Comp" and supply all relevant contact details. Or leave a comment on this blog, and include your email address. The comp is open until my next show, which is broadcast on the 6/9. Good luck.

The Next Show

It's a week away but, as I'm on holiday from tomorrow it's already been recorded so here's a cut and paste idea of what to expect . . .

To brighten up your Bank Holiday weekend, I've got some choice cuts from the likes of Alloy Mental remixed by Marc Houle, The Black Dog remixed by Robert Hood, new Nick Curly on Cecille and Justus Kohncke on Kompakt and, of course, tons more.

I've also got two copies of Soul Designer's (Fabrice Lig) new cd "Evolutionism" (Third Ear) to give away too.

September's first show, on the sixth, is a fourth anniversary special and to celebrate I'll be giving away two copies of Octogen's new cd "Gindofask" (Soma).

Keep it locked.

A Quick Word With A Guy Called Gerald

A Guy Called Gerald played in Cambridge over the first May Bank Holiday weekend as part of a Hacienda reunion tour. Yours truly was due to go but was cruelly laid low by a severe bout of gastric flu. I'd also arranged an interview with the man himself but had to pull out for obvious reasons.

Anyway, I phoned what sounded like a sleepy Gerald to apologize and make my excuses. I also asked him if he'd mind answering a few questions by email, to which he agreed. Three months later the answers arrived. I'm not a fan of interview by correspondence as there can obviously be a lack of sponteneity but sometimes it's the only way. Anyway, many thanks to Gerald for answering my mostly predictable questions, and to Megan for setting it up.

A Brief Electronic Chat With A Guy Called Gerald

I've just been reading a book review of Mark E. Smith's autobiography "Renegade: The Life and Tales of Mark E. Smith" and he lays a lot of importance on the necessity to keep developing and not look back production-wise. (Got no direct quotes, sorry).

You're known best for "Voodoo Ray." How far do you agree with what Smith says?

I totally agree with him.

Since starting out you've lived in both New York and Berlin. How have these two cities affected your creativity?

Berlin more so than New York. New York wasn't as adventurous as I thought it was going to be. Berlin is very raw and understated and gives you a chance to interact with other artists on a more humane level than the bling thing and competitiveness of New York. In Berlin I don't feel any danger and I can't be creative if I feel danger.


The last album you put out, "Proto Acid The Berlin Sessions" was aimed squarely at the dancefloor, both in the way it was presented (as a continuous mix) and musically. Is this the way you're generally working now and what can we expect in the future?

That's one direction I'm working. I feel like I'm from an abstract dance background. I feel I'm making music for different areas within dance. Proto Acid was the result of a few sessions I had with this label Laboratory Instinct in Berlin. It was specifically for them. I'm working on a web shop at the moment and you can expect a whole spectrum of rainbows coming out. I am looking forward to finally having one base for all my music - past, present and future. I've been holding back on releasing a lot of music because I didn't feel I could trust the system.

Being a Wallasey native I'm intrigued to know how you're relationship with Rham Records came about. How did you end up signed to them?

They approached me after hearing my demos on Piccadilly Radio in Manchester in 1987.

How did "Trip City" happen and would you consider a similar collaboration in the future?

It happened because we were looking for an interactive club format. Trevor Miller's book was actually written in 4/4 time. Things have moved on since then. No I wouldn't do a book with music there a whole spectrum of mediums to experiment with now.

You've been quoted as saying that the music should be the focus of any live performance and not the artist (something along the lines of people should be dancing, not watching me . . .) Do you think that electronic music ever needs to put on a show?

No. Basically the music initially was designed for the recipient to create their own entertainment. In the old days this was called dancing to the music. Some of the early dance music actually chanted things like "dance, dance, dance, move your body... " these things were actually encouragement to dance. I think current generations have been gradually brainwashed into dependency of visual entertainment and unless they have the visual and the aural they turn off.

What does "keeping it real" mean to you or do you prefer to "keep it unreal"?

Keeping it real to me means just getting on with it really. Not getting involved with the bullshit. I feel like my job is to focus on production and making interesting music.

You get a sizeable mention in Kodwo Eshun's excellent "More Brilliant than the Sun" where he talks about your attitiude to sampling, rhythm and time. He also mentions the "ghost break" and says that your work at the time "Black Secret Technology," "teems with inhumanly detailed percussion, which demands posthuman motor reflexes." What do you think he's getting at here and do you see yourself as carrying on the tradition of Afrofuturism?

Most certainly. I think he's trying to say I'm a twig on a branch of a tree in a jungle of rhythmic diversity which grows out of Africa.

How important an influence was Greg Wilson and what, besides technological advances, has changed in djing and live performance since you started out?

Greg was instrumental in making me realise the possibilities of re-editing already made music when I was around 14. I don't think there's a lot that has changed apart from the technology. It seems that some producers come from a djing background - I think there are very few of us who come from more of a dance background. The dancer is always looking for excitement - something that pushes them physically. Whereas a DJ producer often looks for ease of use - he will often take a pre-set sound over trying to create something unique which seems to create a never ending loop of similar sounding sampled music. Most of the people who are interested in experiencing new sensations within dance often end up drifting into stimulants of other kinds to create the same feeling. Also I find alot of DJs focus on the techniques and the machines rather than the result.

Which artists, past and present, to you share your ideals with?

Any artist who strives to be individual in their sound.

Finally, what was playing in Cambridge like?

Playing in England is always fun. You get a chance to have a laugh.


Check:
"In Ya Head featuring Mia" new 12" released on Perlon August 4th.
1995's Black Secret Technology has been remastered and reissued on July 28, 2008.
Look out for a new live mix on Samurai.fm's upcoming Berlin Special.

http://www.guycalledgerald.com
http://www.myspace.com/aguycalledgerald