Thee Kaleidoscopic Rebellion: 29/12/12

Thee Kaleidoscopic Rebellion: 29/12/12 by Cacophonousbling on Mixcloud

Here's the track list for last night's show:

 Symmetry - Over The Edge (Italians Do It Better)

Hakim Murphy - Awaken (Machining Dreams)

Doubleheart - Lizard (Shipwrec)

Maximillion Dunbar - Cassette Arabic (L.I.E.S.)

Good Cop Bad Cop - Cheeky (Brendon Moeller Dub)

Elbee Bad - This Dream Is Real (It's Not A Dream) (Rush Hour)

Levon Vincent - Speck's Jam (Novel Sound)

Terrence Dixon - Minimalism (Mike Huckaby Remix) (Thema)

Xaminga - Kermit's Day Out (Rush Hour)

Marcellis - B1 (Workshop)

 The second half of the show was a Harry Sword mastermix of old Blueprint and Downwards material. However, so deep in the zone was he that he couldn't be arsed doing a track list. I'm sure he will answer any trainspotter questions though. The next show will be on the 12/1/13, with Harry at the controls. Keep it locked.

Thanks to the board at Little Detroit for the random, ridiculous, but brilliant photographs. The excellent photography which I used for earlier shows, of post-Soviet Bulgaria under the snow came from Timothy Allen, and you can find them here.

DJ Mixes Revisited: Sounds You Can Feel Mixed By Doc Martin (Classic)

Released in 2002, the first full year I spent living in Cambridge, and like all essential purchases I can remember making it quite vividly. I bought it from Jay's Records on Burleigh Street,  a huge space which sadly shut down a few years ago now to make way for that blandest of retail outlets, the pine furniture shop. Anyway, I bought Classic releases on sight, and this release has the distinction of being the only mix cd they had licensed which wasn't solely composed of the label's own output. It's a pretty superlative selection too. Not one which I'd necessarily have gone for had it been on another label either. Relatively eclectic within the four four framework, apart from the Schatrax opener it seems to be all nu disco during its early stages, but it's all about the pacing. Norway features strongly, and there's an early Lindstrom contribution in the shape of 'Green Tea' . . . New York house veteran Jaymz Nylon appears, as does Aaron Carl with his ode to blow jobs, 'Down' and Doc Martin sprinkles his remix dust liberally over the set. His Wax Mix of Blaze's classic 'Lovelee Dae' is the first track to start taking things a little bit higher, it's aided by his and Mark Bell's 'Blakdoktor Dub' of 'Deeper' by Blakkat, and towards the end of the mix, again introducing a change in tempo, he chimes in with the Blakdoktor Mix of 'Hold On' by The Barrio Brothers Feat. Troy Dillard. There's only one glimpse of the classic catalogue, in the shape of 'Fantasize (Instrumental Club Mix)' by Rob Mello Feat. Cecille. I prefer the vocal, but the instrumental is right for the time and place.

All in all an excellent mix, which leaves me wondering why Classic didn't release any more non-label related sets. Probably too expensive and and pain in  the arse to license. Amazed that neither Derrick Carter nor Luke Solomon bothered. The label was instrumental in breaking the likes of Isolee and Markus Nicolai in the UK, and Solomon's A&Ring veered to the slightly off-kilter and experimental, so it's a pity the opportunity to maybe compile some of the more left field house sounds of the time wasn't taken up, but I'm sure they had their reasons. Anyway, I'm sure you all know that Classic is very much a physical imprint once more, and that they are releasing mixes, their "Seen Through The Eyes Of . . ." series. These are label-only offerings however. The latest is from Horse meat Disco resident Severino and came out last autumn. Last year Matt Tolfrey was at the helm, but his compilation was just released digitally.

Disco Disaster Sessions 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, & 7 Hieroglyphic Being

 . . . but where is number 3?

Tunes Of The Day

A real barnstormer from the tail end of the 20th century.



Another pearl on a long-gone label.



Voodoo riddims, but L. Vincent's remix is the one.



Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee.



The pods are germinating.

Willie And Ron

Here's a link to Mr Burns' new podcast for Made Like A Tree.




Here's Mr Morelli's RA podcast.

Tracks Of The Day

Chemtrail techno.



Perfectly programmed.



Might have already been posted, but who cares, it's ace.



Doing nothing that hasn't been done before.



The sound of your synapses.



Instant elevation.

Validation Part Two

So I finally got around to watching the September 2012 instalment of "Slices". Looking at the interviews the ones featuring Shed and Steffi caught my eye first, followed by that of Dave Aju, a producer who I have a lot of time for and who I feel is doing as much as he can to gently jog the foundations of house while remaining within its confines. Well, both Aju and Shed have some very interesting things to say regarding the time, perception and validity which frames the art that they produce, and Shed overlaps nicely with Steffi when making points about being part of a "scene". Aju's example, of Funkadelic playing Duke Ellington, is particularly relevant, while Shed, although a touch reticent, doesn't come across as uncooperative at all. Aju is the most engaging, while Steffi and Shed aren't as natural in the camera's presence. In any case, after drawing attention to Shed's rather taciturn interview with Resident Advisor in the first of these themed posts, he comes across much better on film. "Well done, my son", as he would no doubt say himself.

I'm going the whole hog as far as a lot of this "outsider" house stuff is concerned. L.I.E.S., The Trilogy Tapes, Pan, Hinge Finger, to name but a few . . . all embracing the left field but still having the funk . . . the trick is though, how to play this stuff side by side with releases on Hot Creations, Ellum Audio and Visionquest. I'm serious as well . . . why not? Anyway, I think that the music is now at a crossroads of sorts, such as only comes up every decade. The recycling of house and techno has now reached such an intense phase that there is nowhere left to go except back amidst the archetypes and disguise them with sonic posturing. But it's all good, and we've never, in my opinion, been at such an interesting juncture.

And, coincidentally, RA have just uploaded a podcast from Ron Morelli, the blurb of which reveals a healthy disregard for the trappings of modern DJing technology. I haven't listened to it yet, and no doubt there's a healthy amount of tongue-in-cheek being applied, but it's quite refreshing to read, particularly when one is used to reading about god knows how many aspiring unknowns who seem to shell out willy-nilly on technology to do their donkey work for them. Who are these characters that we never hear about except on forums, comparing their latest software and having an intuitive grasp of it, but not of the music? I find that side of things a little depressing, and I'm no vinyl-only luddite . . . far from it, but I am a firm believer in crawling before walking.

Lee Gamble Live in The Boiler Room

For some future shizzle, check here.

And here's his FACT mix from last Monday.

Ancient Methods Live at Machine Whisper, Zagreb 3/11/2012

I was trawling the world wide web and came across this. Their mixes are in short supply, so well worth a listen.

Blacklight Sleaze EP - Peace Division (Dogmatik)

Here's my last review of the year for Ibiza Voice.

Thee Kaleidoscopic Rebellion: 15/12/12

Thee Kaleidoscopic Rebellion 3: 15/12/12 by Cacophonousbling on Mixcloud

Alan Backdrop - Excursion A (Motguzzi)

Madteo - Don't Techno For An Answer (Sahko)

Wraetlic - Skinflint (Convex Industries)

Sharpnel Maestro - Tuff Sherm

Third Side - Unity (Steffi Remix) (Restoration)

Raudive - Obsession (Get The Curse Music)

Project E - Kinks (Merc Music)

Serge & Alden Tyrell - House Countdown (Clone Jack For Daze)

Pitto - Richklap (Wolskuil Ltd)

A1 - Parasella (Parasella)

Forged - Trevino (Klockworks)

Magic (The Oliverwhofactory Remix) - Recloose (Rush Hour)

Never Give Up - Iron Curtis (Shift)

My Girls - Sex Judas feat. Ricky (Marketing Music)

Start - Jacob Stoy (Uncanny Valley)

Ivory 313 - Kris Wadsworth with Jimmy Edgar (Get Physical)

Bassline & Bobby Champs - Phobia (Kevin McPhee Remix) (Sourceunknwn)

The Analogue Cops & Ryan Elliott - Homeboys (Bass Culture)

Paul Mac - Sometimes It's That Simple (Stimulus)

Alexander D'niel - Downpour (B-Tracks Mix 2)

Last night's show was an enjoyable experience. I didn't get to play everything I had with me, but what's new? Track list above. The next show is on the 29/12/12 and will be jointly hosted by myself and Mr Harry Sword who, if rumours are to be believed, was safely tucked up in bed last night before 9:30 with a good book.

Random Film Clips Of DJs Playing 15

Tunes Of The Day

Analogue phatness.



Beat heavy.



Tranced-out.



What's goin' on 'ere then?



Another relentless chugger.

Kinks EP - Project E (Merk Music)

Read my review of this fine piece of synthetic space funk here.

Richklap - Pitto (Wolfskuil Ltd)

Here's a review I did for RA t'other day.

How Long Is Now EP - A Guy Called Gerald (Bosconi)

Read my review of this classy release from a A Guy Called Gerald here.

Here's a link to an interview I did with the man himself in 2008.

Vault Series 12.0 - Sawlin (Vault Series)

Read my Ibiza Voice review of this visceral release here.

Thee Kaleidoscopic Rebellion: 1/12/12

Thee Kaleidoscopic Rebellion 2: 1/12/12 by Cacophonousbling on Mixcloud

Last night's show was overseen by the redoubtable Mr Harry Sword, and this is what went down:

Rhythm and sound feat Paul St Hilaire – Music a fi rule (Ryhthm and Sound)
Old Apparatus – Hammerhand (Deep Medi)
Pangaea – Memories (white)
Objekt – Porcupine (Hessle Audio)
Soundstream – Good Soul (Soundstream)
Funkinevil – Dusk (Funkinevil)
G.H – Ground (Modern Love)
Actress – Machine and Voice (Non Plus)
Pangaea – Release (Hessle Audio)
NCR – Monoton Dub (Blackest Ever Black)
MJ Cole – Volcano Riddim (Soul Jazz)
Kaseem Mosse and Mix Mup – KM/MM End to Funk (The Trilogy Tapes)
Cut Hands – Black Mamba (Blackest Ever Black)
Rockwell – Aria (Critical)
Powell – Grand Street (Diaganol)
Pariah – Detroit Falls (R and S)
Willie Burns – Side A (The Trilogy Tapes)
Guido – Chakra (Punch Drunk)
Jus Ed – Trip to Hamburg (Underground Quality)
Moritz Von Oswald Trio – Yangissa (Honest Jons)
British Murder Boys – Dead Sun (Mute)
The Analogue Cops - OCP
Braiden – Paganini (Rush Hour)

The show will be uploaded when I get my hands on it. Next time it'll be me.

Country To Country EP - Hreno (Sound Architecture)

Read my Ibiza Voice review of this engaging piece of work here.

Inconditional EP - Andrade (Hudd Traxx)

New review up on RA here.

Seawall - Envoy (Soma)

Read my Ibiza Voice review of Envoy's rereleased 'Seawall' here.

November Chart

As always, in no particular order and with absolutely no regard shown for format.

Life And Death - Kris Wadsworth (Get Physical)

International Smoke Signals - Simoncino (Mathematics)

Before - The Oliverwho Factory (Dolly)

Kinks - Project E (Merk)

Astrodynamics EP - Innerspace Halflife (Episodes)

Glesprin EP - Geiom (Frijsfo Beats)

Tactical Manoevre EP - Trevino (3024)

Earth Calls - Joey Anderson (Deconstruct)

The Last Magic Maker - John Heckle (Creme Organisation)

The Paranormal Soul - Legowelt (Clone Jack For Daze)

Harvey At Work

I may have posted some of these before, but it doesn't matter.

Tracks Of The Day

Momentous.



Phunky as . . .



Instantly recognisable.



A Wiggle fave.



And this was hot on its heels. Has Kevin Saunderson done anything good since?

Thee Kaleidoscopic Rebellion: 17/11/12

Thee Kaleidoscopic Rebellion 1: 17/11/12 by Cacophonousbling on Mixcloud

Playlist For Last Night's Show:

Passed Over Trail - Raime (Blackest Ever Black)

The Last Foundry - Raime (Blackest Ever Black)

Pharmacy - Tuff Sherm (The Trilogy Tapes)

Actress Meets Shangaan  A - Actress (Honets Jon's)

I Program My Computer Right - Population One (Harbour City Sorrow)

High Dream - Joey Anderson (Deconstruct)

Train Ride To Offenbach - Jus' Ed (Underground Quality)

A Walk Down Linwood - Big Strick (FXHE)

Dissolve - Crystal Maze (Bio Rhythm)

You're Driving Me - Rachael (Idle Hands)

On A Journey - Simoncino (LIES)

One Self - John Heckle (Mathematics)

Human Need (Heinrich Mueller Celestial Sphere Mix) - Jason Fine (Kontra Music)

Nihinl Novi (Factory Floor FFGG Remix) - Forward Strategy Group)

L.A.D. - Roger 23 (Neurhythmics Recordings)

Belfry Tower - Braiden (Rush Hour)

BIT-Space - (Legowelt Remix) - Morpology (Zyntax Motorcity)

Collider (HG Remix) - Skirt (Frozen Border)

Metropolitan View - Obsolete Music Technology (Dolly)

22ml - Bleaching Agent (Mira)

Sealion Woman - Marquis Hawkes (Dixon Avenue Basement Jams)

So, after a two-and-a-half year hiatus, I finally hit the local airwaves again last night thanks to the benevolence of Harry Sword. We jointly presented the first instalment of 'Thee Kaleidoscopic Rebellion' and a lot of fun it was too, but not without a few initial problems. We were on immediately after another new show 'FourFour' and the presenter was using his laptop with Ableton Live and a controller. This meant that the turntables weren't being used which can always pose problems as, such is the lack of turntable use in preference to laptops and CDJs, they often tend to be unfairly negl;ected in the studio. We went all vinyl last night, except for the two Raime tracks at the beginning. Harry had bought 'Quarter Turns Over A Living Line' earlier in the week and having one CD proved to be a lifesaver. We thought we'd get away with one track at the beginning while we cued up our first piece of vinyl but we needed two as we realised that the turntables had been wired the wrong way around. A simple problem to solve I'm sure you agree, but with such a small amount of time to do it in a little bit of stress played its part and the first ten minutes or so suffered because of it. Anyway, once we got properly under way with the Tuff Sherm release we started to relax and things seemed to go quite smoothly. Now we're back in the groove, everything should go a lot smoother from the next show, which will be broadcast on the 1/12/12 and be hosted by Harry.

So What U Want Me To Do EP - Cardopusher (Classicworks)

Read my review of Cardopusher's hyper five tracker here.

Interview With Layo & Bushwacka!

Here's the result of an email chat I had with Layo & Bushwacka!.

My Days EP - Yasuo Sato (Logos Recordings)

Read my Ibiza voice review of the latest release on this stellar balkan imprint here.

Thee Kaleidoscopic Rebellion

As may or may not be known, I started this blog as a direct consequence of having a radio show called "Machines Are Funky". This started on 209 Radio in Cambridge in September 2004 and ran for approximately five and a half years, coming to a natural end of sorts when the station collapsed under the heavy weight of financial difficulties in February 2010. By this time I'd moved further away from Cambridge than I already was, life and family had taken over and I became submerged under the trio of devil's dumplings known as: family, responsibility and middle age. Anyway, a meeting with fellow broadcaster and writer Monsewer Harry Sword in the summer offered me a way back in. Harry has had a show on 209's successor, Cambridge 105 for some time now which continues the good work done by his earlier one -  a contemporary of "Machine Are Funky" - "Drums Wide Open", which was a drum and bass extravaganza. His present show is  more like mine was, but maybe a little less club - orientated.

In any case, he broadcasts twice a month, but wants to go down to once, so he asked me if I'd like to fill in. I jumped at the chance, did a trial run for the station and was accepted. The show is to be launched/relaunched this Saturday and will be called "Thee Kaleidoscopic Rebellion." There is a Facebook group set up already, and all other social networks are planned to gradually fall into place asap. After this Saturday's joint broadcast, we will alternate, for the next month or so at least, with Harry doing the show after, and myself the broadcast before Christmas.

Thee Kaleidoscopic Rebellion, this Saturday on Cambridge 105, on local FM and globally online, 9-11pm GMT.

True Colours - Ivano Tetelepta (Fear Of Flying)

My review of Ivano Tetelepta's debut long player for Ibiza Voice here.

A Theory Of Relativity?

Something that I often think about, more as a result of getting older than anything else I suppose, is my relationship with music now and in the past, and that of my friends, colleagues and associates. When I first started consuming it, Jimi Hendrix had only been dead for seven years and the Rolling Stones still felt fresh. More time has elapsed since the beginnings of house and hip-hop and the present day than that which separated the birth of the Beatles and the hey day of punk. This has always made me feel a little weird.

Yet so little real change in music has taken place in the last twenty five years compared to that which flooded the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties. The grandiose flourishes are over and what we have left is an infinite loop of cross-pollination. I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with this statement, sweeping and general as it is, but I'm calling it as I see it permeating everyday life and making true and original statements in the process. Innovation and change is still a vital part of artistic evolution, but it doesn't flood the mainstream in the way it used to. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing of course.

When I was ten, I had little regard for the music that had been made around the time of my birth and, apart from jazz and blues, nothing has changed. Some of my peers though were just reaching double figures at the height of house and its big breakthrough, and when they were born post-punk had just evolved and was about to give birth to mutant disco, amongst other things. A parallel world had been created in which the underground mirrored the commercial but the two were not always mutually exclusive. I remember being in a queue outside Eric's in Liverpool and speaking to Pete Wylie. At the time he, bravely I thought, declared that '(You Make Me Feel) Mighty Real' by Sylvester was his favourite ever record. I think 'Good Times' got a look in as well. 

Such a move wouldn't bat any eyelids these days, but it certainly did then. The clued up would have smiled secretly to their inward selves but still mightn't have gone public with their agreement, while those for whom it seemed shocking would have had a field day, but not to anyone's faces but those of their mates. The next time they heard one of the mentioned tracks, or something similar though, something might have clicked in their consciousness and dots may, or may not have been joined. Similar situations have, and will always exist, but even though many of us are as defined by our tastes and cohorts as ever, something has been lost within the rampant eclecticism that has homogenised and passed off as normal, when it is a virulent strain of celebrity culture trickling down the credibility continuum.

How is it for anyone into electronic music nowadays who was maybe in single figures at the end of the eighties, or just into their teens? What is your perception of it now and how well-grounded in it do you feel? I will interview someone to find out just this soon. Meanwhile, get in touch and let me know.

Let You In The Sky/Help Myself - Lando Kal (Icee Hot)

Review of Lando Kal's new piece of "hybrid" house here.

Stoned Raiders EP - Hector (One Records)

Read my review of Hector's new five pack here.

Interview With Michael Mayer

I recently interviewed the delightful Michael Mayer for Ibiza Voice. You can read the results here.

Tunes Of The Day

Deep, futuristic meanderings.



Ah, the memories . . .



Still fresh as . . .



Squelchy as you like.



The outer limits.

Random Film Clips Of DJs PLaying: 14

Acid Pauli | Hotel California | Nation of Gondwana 2011 from Nation of Gondwana on Vimeo.

AKRAsounds Vol 2 - AKRA (Teng)

Read my Ibiza Voice review of this deep house gem here.

Zero EP - Dollkraut (The Gym)

Read my review of this excellent italo-inspired release here.

October Chart

Bohemian Soul - Kasper Bjorke (HFN)

Move Power - Brett Johnson (Visionquest)

Release - Pangaea (Hessle Audio)

A Minor Analogue Experimanet - The Digital Kid (Classic)

Motorsmoke - Mark Broom vs Kris Wadsworth (Alphahouse)

Caos Y Orden Superior/Wars - Pfirter/Kangding Ray (Stroboscopic Artefacts)

What We Saw (In The Burg) - Jamie L (Paper Recordings)

The Riviere D'etroit - Norm Talley (Rue De Plaisance)

Soulbrother Number 3 - Kemetrix (Pomelo)

Nightwalker - Alejandro Mosso (Airdrop)