Track Of The Day: Hutton Drive - Push It (Soma)

A great piece of epic, Detroit-inflected techno courtesy of Hutton Drive, aka Subculture resident Dominic Cappello. It came as part of his second release on Soma, and predates his output on his own 7^th Sign. The title comes from the subtle eponymous spoken word sample that’s quite low in the mix and has the power to evoke Salt n’ Pepa’s track of the same name. At 9+ minutes long, it’s a rolling, break beat propelled monster which, while undeniably influenced by the Motor City’s finest, also feels like it contains strong traces of The UK’s seminal machine funk mechanics. Listen and be enveloped by analogue power.

LPY Mix Series 07 - Andrey Pushkarev

lempuyang · LPY Mix Series 07 - Andrey Pushkarev

Anthony Naples - Live @ Waking Life 2023

 

Incienso · Anthony Naples - Live @ Waking Life 2023

Randomness

 

Such is life. I’ve been meaning to write some more spontaneous gibberish for a while, and when I finally get my finger out I’m cut down by Covid. This means that all physical activity feels laboured and is to be avoided. It also gives one the familiar, but nevertheless daunting feeling, that all energy has gone, never to return. I go running a lot, but over the last 6 months have cut down hugely because of a muscle injury. And I was about to try and resume what I felt would be a normal routine when this happens. Of course the tendrils of forced inactivity stretch themselves into other areas of the psyche. Such as listening to and playing music. This is one of he biggest reasons why I keep this blog going. Apart from nurturing the token creative process, it’s stability and routine is very important to me. Also, when all else fails it takes very little physical effort to post something. It’s random, but regular, which makes perfect sense to me. As much sense as never aligning with anyone or thing in plain site. It would be nice if we all has the same, positive definition of what is good, but we don’t. It’s not a perfect world and the sooner that is understood then it makes it easier to negotiate. “Yada, yada, yada”. I also believe that we have reached a nadir of sorts with music. Not creation or permutation though. ““Every writer has only one story to tell, and he has to find a way of telling it until the meaning becomes clearer and clearer, until the story becomes at once more narrow and larger, more and more precise, more and more reverberating.” I guess that this is why I believe that playing other people’s music is the most underrated art form. At the risk of repeating past posts, the idea of being in a band and having to nail down the same songs ad infinitum by constantly practicing and rehearsing them feels just as routine the most boring job. The end result is something else of course, as is the reaction to it and the pleasure gained by playing it in whatever context suits it best. With DJing no two sets are ever the same, (unless they’re prerecorded), and the creativity is the culmination of knowledge gained in the most pleasurable of ways. At the moment I feel like shit, and even though I want to listen to music, I can’t be arsed. It seems like the ultimate paradox. There’s no effort involved is there? I suppose that’s if listening to music is always to be regarded as a passive process, which it is sometimes. However, most of the time I listen to it tends to be active. Does this take the enjoyment out of it? Is there a tendency to think too hard about something and over-itellectualise it? Well, that’s one thing I try to avoid doing. Was it always better BITD, or just different? How difficult can it really be to mix two records into each other? Is beatmatching a cultural foundation stone? I can understand sometimes people saying that there isn’t any skill in DJing. And it can sometimes be difficult to argue the opposite. There is though. Lots. The knowledge gained from listening to music with the minimum of critical thinking required to separate a normal human being from a protozoa is rich and never ending. Some are better than others at doing this, and then deploying that know how into playing records. Technical skill, while welcome can very easily fall into the flashy category and lose its appeal once one realises that one just want to listen and dance to something. Sound is everything, as is selection. Mixing is also extremely important, and I don’t consider it to be a “technical skill”. Doing it should be as natural as breathing. I have great admiration for anyone who can embellish a set with the appropriate pyrotechnics, but it’s not a prerequisite. Mastery of contemporary hardware is a great thing, but not essential. Of course it all depends on what you want. I would say that if tricks, effects and technique are to be a feature of a set, then they should be not only noticeable, but also have a human quality as well. In other words, if someone is controlling the situation, it would be good that whatever they choose to embroider it comes infused with their personality. It’s easier for this to be noticed when mixing with vinyl and on CDJs/XDJs I guess. Maybe Traktor and Serato to a lesser extent, and much less with Ableton. Is this still a thing? I think that while the technology is here to stay and will only get better, it has stalled for the moment and boredom has set in. Vinyl won’t make a comeback, like it ever went away. It will be pressed in ever decreasing amounts though until it’s only available on Bandcamp, or similar platforms, in the form of limited collectors editions. Something which is more or less the case now. The second hand market, and that of the Discogs sharks, will continue to thrive for the time being, until, ecologically, everyone agrees that it all has to leave the building.

Track Of The Day: The Morning Kids - Free Lovin' (Housedream) (Balihu Records)

A wonderful piece of disco bliss, courtesy of Daniel Wang and Balihu. There’s a very luninhibited feel to this tune, and the whole direction of the label was one which, to me at least, evoked the spirit of The Loft and other, similarly liberated outposts. Both the percussion and the guitar start in Africa and end up in the disco. A road very much travelled, but no less notable for the amount of traffic on it.

PODCAST 01 - MICK WILLS. TERROR CLASH

 

TERROR CLASH. · PODCAST 01 - MICK WILLS.

David Holmes ft. Raven Violet - Necessary Genius Remixes Part 1 (Heavenly Recordings)

 

Title: Necessary Genius Remixes Part 1 

Artist: David Holmes ft. Raven Violet 

Label: Heavenly Recordings

Cat Number: 

Genre: Who Cares?

1: Necessary Genius (Lovefingers Dub & Response 142 bpm)

2: Necessary Genius (Lovefingers Dub & Response 130 bpm)

3: Necessary Genius (Decius Remix)

4: Necessary Genius (Phil Kieran Remix Vocal)

This release is a precursor to David Holmes’ “first solo album since 2008’s ‘The Holy Pictures’ and is made up of two identical, save for the speed,  Lovefingers Dub & Response mixes, as well as a Decius remix and one by Phil Kieran. I’m not quite sure what to make of them really. I think the whole package needs to put the brakes on, with probably the chunky Decius remix being the only one I would play out. Both Lovefingers remixes are functional and you takes your choice innit. Horses for courses and all that. Why not a 120 bpm offering? I suppose that’s what the pitch control is for, so 130 bpm could be serviceable under the circumstances. But that’s just me. Phil Kieran’s version has some nice touches and throbs nicely. Mostly feels a bit phoned in though

Track Of The Day: Isolée - Schrapnell (Playhouse)

It’s probably fair to say that not that many people had heard of Rajko Mueller, aka Isolee before ‘Beau Mot Plage’ got a release on Classic. Fast forward seven years and the masterpiece that is ‘We Are Monster’ is released, and album full of originality and endeavour. ‘Schrapnell’ is a track both epic in scope and big on detail. It’s orchestral breadth made possible by focussing on the sonic minutae, enabling the disparate elements within to coalesce in an imaginative and dynamic way.

Track Of The Day: Dusk - Honcho Sex God (Peacefrog)

From the ‘Aquarian Project’ release, which was released in 1995, ‘Honcho Sex God’ is a bass-propelled rave monster whose tempo and groove were ahead of its time. If we’re talking literal tech-house, then this is a fine example. It blends machine funk, dramatic breakdowns and has a sense of impending doom, all done at a bpm rate that preserves the funk. The other two tracks are excellent, but I like this for going out on a limb and also for having real hardcore vibes. Oh, and Dusk was a pseudonym of Josh Brent/Schatrax; as if you needed another reason to seek this out.

Track Of The Day: Happy Mondays - Hallelujah (Andrew Weatherall & Paul Oakenfield Club Remix) (Factory)

I have no idea who did what on this remix, but to the untrained ear it sounds like mostly, if not all Weatherall. To think that this track came out in 1990 and it anticipated a decade of middle aged hip swivelling twenty years later. In spite of that, even though it’s a great remix, the fact that it can be inserted into an appropriate set now, not raise an eyebrow says a lot about both AW’s talent and the state of house and techno in 2023. The most appealing aspect of Balearic, is its power to absorb literally anything and render it ageless. And this is a great example of such a tune bridging two epochs: early 80s cosmic, contemporary chug while belonging to neither, or either.

Track Of The Day: Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - I'm Gonna Booglarize You, Baby (Reprise Records)

I first came across this track as the opener on ‘The Spotlight Kid’ and, much like my discovery of Gil Scott-Heron, I also have Reaction Records, once of the parish of New Brighton, to thank for furnishing me with prime Beefheart. There’s been a lot written about Probe in Liverpool recently, with the passing of both Geoff and Annie Davis, but Reaction played just as big a role in my musical purchasing in many ways. I suppose a big reason was it being open on a Sunday, which 40 or so years ago was a big deal, as everywhere else was shut. NewBrighton, being a faded resort town, still catered to the day tripper though, whatever it’s state. Anyway, this video shows the Captain and Magic Band in fine form. A lot of Beefheart was listened to around at Vinny’s, I wouldn’t have started listening to this stuff it it hadn’t been for him, and every time I listened to virtually any tune I was always blown away by the quality of musicianship on display. Any performance or recording by the Magic Band redefines organised chaos. Absolutely incredible paradoxical mapped spontaneity.

Track Of The Day: Donato Dozzy & Exercise One - United Elements (LAN Music)

From the ‘Skarciofen’ EP, and paired with the equally excellent, but more stripped back ‘People Of Paprika’, ‘United Elements’ was a collaboration between the then emerging Dozzy and Exercise One, who shared his predilection for embellishing techno with trance. Around this time, probably a bit later, we also had Prologue Records whose emphasis on the hypnotic saw the ‘headfuck techno’ genre spawned. (In the mind of the journalist who named it). Minimal reigned at the time of this track’s release, and making it more mesmerising was essential. There was so much shite that the good stuff often got submerged in it and drowned. This is a great track though, a lost gem. The whole track throbs under the weight of pulsing pads, hovering wah wah and that little percussive tinkle. Put this on anywhere now and unleash all manner of transcendental happenings.

BSU 069 - Jade Seatle

 

Butter Side Up · BSU 069 - Jade Seatle

Fundamental Harmonics - Nucleosynthesis EP (Lepton Quark)

 

Title: Nucleosynthesis EP 

Artist: Fundamental Harmonics 

Label: Lepton Quark

Cat Number: LPK035

Genre: Techno

1: Nucleosynthesis

2: Sparkling Atoms

A couple of decent length mixing tracks which are techno, but blend other elements in order to move the goalposts a tiny bit are always welcome. So here we have the latest release on Lepton Quark, a label that sounds like it was named after a secret government nuclear fission project from the 60s. ‘Nucleosynthesis’ is an agile piece of techno that skirts on the fringes of trance but fluctuates a little too much most of the time. ‘Sparkling Atoms’ takes the trance bone and runs with it, diving down the rabbit hole of stretched out beats and dense soundscapes. Both tracks are superb and are neither one thing or the other. They also, thankfully, don’t let the bpms run away with themselves, so preserve a vestige of elemental funk as well as a providing a pulsating, kinaesthetic  glimpse into a primordial soundscape.

Track Of The Day: Maurizio - M4 A (Maurizio)

When is a loop not a loop? When it’s thought to be one but is actually a finely honed component of more or less anything comprising the M series. Words seem insognificant when describing music such as this, and that’s because these notes transcend the medium and become an incantation, a gateway to eternity, the sound of something always tantalisingly just out of reach. The loop is not a loop as there are minute idiosyncrasies contained within each one. Small moves to the side, on the part of pitch or sound that subtly alter perception. It’s this toying with the senses that keeps one guessing and ensures that the apparent repetition of the track is no such thing. ‘B’ is every bit as good as ‘A’, but a little heavier, and will no doubt feature ion the future.

Charlotte Bendiks - I'm Home I'm OK EP (Optimo Music)

 

Title: I'm Home I'm OK EP 

Artist: Charlotte Bendiks 

Label: Optimo Music

Cat Number: OMDD52

Genre: Still Searching

1: I’m Home, I’m OK

2: Leaving Diego

3: Steikesexual

4: I’m Home, I’m OK (DJ Fettburger’s Not At Home Tonite Mix)

I like the sparse, understated approach of these tracks. ‘I’m Home, I’m OK’ is an organic traipse into languid tribal percussion. It fairly reeks of the rainforest and is as relaxing as it is evocative. DJ Fett Burger’s remix is a lovely, more full – bodied complement. I’d play both versions in a set, the original as an opener, the remix as a turning point. ‘Leaving Diego’ has the aura of a monetary glimpse into chaos. A wah-wah loop underpins batacuda breaks, running contrary to them for the most part, along with a pervasive throb, to create the feeling of disorder. And then we have the suppressed power ‘Steikesexual’, a subtle piece of work whose power is all in the handclaps and the fluctuating, intermittent synthesised high end. AnInteresting sound design and a less is more approach pay dividends here.

Track Of The Day: Echo And The Bunnymen - Over The Wall (Korova)

A good friend of mine went to see Echo & The Bunnymen at The Albert Hall last night, which has inspired me to name this as TOTD. It’s probably my favourite track by them. Extremely atmospheric, dark, driving and full of the qualities that made them such a memorable band. Some sterling guitar work from Will Sergeant, great warbling from Ian McCulloch and the unbeatable rhythm section of Les Pattinson and the late, great Pete de Freitas. I remember when they used to be positioned against U2 by the music press as a band with a similar direction. I’m not sure if they’d agree, but not coining it to the vast extent that U2 did was always a plus point in my eyes. And, while not wanting to deny them any deserved success, I doubt it would have sat well with them. I know nothing of course, and this is just idle musing, but, for me at least, they still retain a semi-mythical status, albeit one rooted in the mists of time.

- Slip/Switchblade ()

 

Title: Slip/Switchblade

Artist: <tradition>

Label: <tradition>

Cat Number: TRAD001

Genre: Techno

1: Slip

2: Switchblade

Well this is a nice surprise (a pure surprise, as I had no prior expectations). A techno double header that feels well thought out and comes with a beguiling sense of restraint and respect. The tempo of both tracks is a little slower than one might imagine, the bpms allowing the thought that the origins of the genre are being engaged with. There’s a minimal, new beat feel to ‘Slip’, which never gets ahead of itself, feels like it has the capacity to go on forever without being boring, and could span a range of different sets. ‘Switchblade’ contrasts nicely, using skeletal break beats, an incognito sub bass and a range of off-key embellishment which all combines to produce a wobbly, dubstep flavoured composition. Both very danceable and adaptable with a unifying dankness lurking in the sonic Kuiper Belt.

Dekmantel - Shanti Celeste & Peach | HÖR - Aug 6 / 2023

Dekmantel - livwutang | HÖR - Aug 6 / 2023

'‘Curses presents... Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX’ - Dj Sampler (Eclectic)

 

Title: '‘Curses presents... Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX’ - Dj Sampler 

Artist: Various

Label: Eclectica

Cat Number: 54141667066

Genre: Dark Disco

1: Nuovo Testamento - Heartbeat (Curses Remix) 

2: Mary Möör - Pretty Day 

3: J.W.B. Hits The Beat - Body On Body (Curses Revamp) 

4: Cabaret Voltaire - Blue Heat (12" Mix) 

5: Nuovo Testamento - Heartbeat (Curses Remix - Edit) 

The tracks on this album sampler are scheduled for release later in the year on an album, and feature a couple of remixes from Curses, who also provides occasional vocals, in the shape of  both ‘Heartbeat’ and ‘ Body On Body’. In addition we’ve also got ‘Blue Heat’ from Cabaret Voltaire and ‘Pretty Day’ from  Mary Möör. ‘Blue Heat’, originally featured on ‘Micro Phonies’, and almost 40 years old, still sounds incredibly fresh. ‘Pretty Day’ is a nihilistic, distorted, off balance disco symphony on crack and another track that more than holds its own 41 years later. Both ‘Heartbeat’ and ‘Body On Body’ feel toughened up a little. However, they don’t depart too far from the respective originals, which is not a bad thing. Nothing has been tampered with too much; a necessary course of action to preserve the pervasive melancholic, but synthetically funky overtones necessary for dance floor nirvana.

Track Of The Day: Gil Scott Heron & Brian Jackson - Angel Dust (Arista)

‘Angel Dust’ was Gil Scott – Heron and Brian Jackson’s biggest selling single while signed to Arista. I first heard it as a consequence of listening to ‘Secrets’, the album it features on. I remember going to Reaction Records in New Brighton in the early eighties and buying all the GSH albums they had at the time, three I think, of which ‘Secrets’ was one. Others were ‘It’s Your World’ and ‘Bridges’. I had been introduced to Heron, like a lot of people, by ‘B Movie’, which I first heard around this time and I wanted more. ‘Angel Dust’ represented a shift to a more synthesised sound for Heron & Jackson, rather like ‘B Movie’, and comments on the big drug scourge of the day in The US. Buying these albums turned me into a lifelong fan although, for some reason, I only got to see him play live once. It was a seminal gig though, at The Commonwealth Institute in Kensington with DBC (Dread Broadcasting Company) as support. Myself and some friends travelled down from Merseyside for it. I have very little recollection of the gig, but remember talking to some tramps in the park before we went in for the show.

Track of The Day: Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B.(Philips)

Released in that Frenchest of years, 1968. This wonderful piece of pop psychedelia is all about the lyrics, the delivery, the piano and the horns. The horns specifically are very much a frozen in time moment and, whether they resemble those used in other tracks or not, always remind me of the brass section in ‘You Set The Scene’ by Love off ‘Forever Changes’. But that’s just me. Definitely a moment frozen in time, and definitely Balearic. 

214 Sept 2023 Mix

 

214 · 214 Sept 2023 Mix

Track Of The Day: Miles Davis - Decoy (CBS)

Another brilliant Miles track. However, I remember the bass playing much more than the trumpet. It’s a daily earworm of mine, in which I filter out everything but the low end. Apparently “Miles told Darryl Jones on bass who was playing with his fingers no thump it slap the whole song”. (Youtube comment) A timely piece of information given that Level 42 have just reformed and are out on tour. One of the great things about his later stuff is that no one is left behind. Equal weight is given to everyone in the band. The eponymously titled album this track features on represented a break with tradition as Davis produced it himself, longtime producer Teo Macero sitting it out in favour of other projects. And while its glossy sound places it squarely in the 1980s, it still sounds incredibly fresh.

Big Fun In The Big Town (1986) | Old School Hip Hop Doc | Def Jam Biz Ma...

Dekmantel - DJ Stingray 313 | HÖR - Aug 4 / 2023

Dekmantel - L.B. Dub Corp | HÖR - Aug 5 / 2023

ERIC DUNCAN x CHOZA - Lunes 11.09.2023 CHOZA Lunes Listening Room

CHOZA CDMX · ERIC DUNCAN x CHOZA - Lunes 11.09.2023 CHOZA Lunes Listening Room

Clubs Sounds Live Afters 15_9 verdant-recordings

verdant-recordings · Clubs Sounds Live Afters 15_9

Live from the Adriatic 2023: Dresden

Love International Festival · Live from the Adriatic 2023: Dresden

Live from the Adriatic 2023: Optimo

 

Love International Festival · Live from the Adriatic 2023: Optimo

Track Of The Day: Dr.Octagon - Blue Flowers (Mo' Wax)

A tour de force of modern day paranormality, Dr Octagon’s immortal ‘Blue Flowers’ is rap surrealism par excellence. Kool Keith’s stream of consciousness rapping, accompanied by some excellent scratching and a wobbly string section is the type I like. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, or does it? Could it be that this is the real world and we don’t realise it yet? If simulation theory and The Matrix mean anything, then this is documenting them.

Silent Servant | HÖR - Sep 13 / 2023

A Taut Line - Never Any Gain (Diskotopia)

 

Title: Never Any Gain

Artist: A Taut Line

Label: Diskotopia

Cat Number: DSK065

Genre: Ambient House

1: Colour Science feat. Chocola B

2: Never Any Gain

3: Silver Lake

4: Neutral Buoyancy

5: Carmine

6: The Limits & The Lows

7: The following Contained feat. Chocola B

8: Kelsey Kerridge

9: Cameraphone

10: Chakka feat. Chocola B

‘Never Any Gain’ is the 5^th studio album by Matt Lyne, aka A Taut Line. He’s an artist that I’had been unfamiliar with up until very recently when I came across one of his tracks on a various artists release on Diskotopia, the label he co-founded and operates out of Japan, were he has lived for nearly two decades. Originally from Bristol, it’s almost certain that his place of birth and his current home play a large part in fusing his musical direction. However, whatever that is isn’t easy to pin down, and this collection is varied to say the least. Shrouded in what feels like a cross -pollination of synthetic shoe gaze and muggy beats at the beginning, an affinity with the Bristol sound of the late 80s to early 90s could be said to exist, this is particularly evident on ‘Silver Lake’, which then gives way to the faster, more linear ‘Neutral Buoyancy’. Both preceding tracks, the beatless and obviously more zen ‘Colour Science’ and the break beat proselytising ‘Never Any Gain’ are equally contrasting in both their use of vocals and instrumentation. ‘Carmine’ surfaces from the depths of vague sound design and then along with ‘The Limits And The Lows’ descends back into the halcyonic mist that envelopes this collection. ‘Kelsey Kerridge’ is a break beat/stripped back drum and bass piece which gives way to ‘Cameraphone’, perhaps the most abstract track on the album, along with the opener. And the two other tracks featuring the vocal contributions of Chocola B inhabit two different levels of the jazz spectrum, with ‘Chakka’ evoking the soundtrack to a reimagined film from the golden age of the nouvelle vague. A superbly put together album that is much greater than the sum of its parts, this is some piece of work.

Track of The Day: Magazine - The Light Pours Out Of Me (Virgin)

If there’s a band that’s given me more earworms than Magazine then I haven’t met it yet. Built around Devoto’s uber grandiose, emphatic, spoken word singing and outstanding musicianship; Barry Adamson on bass, John McGeoch on guitar, Dave Formula on keyboards and Martin Jackson on drums, they should have been much bigger. Listening to a track like this it’s easy to see why Devoto left Buzzcocks. The elevated pop of Magazine with its often unsettling overtones, surreal imagery and symphonic scope couldn’t be more different than Buzzcocks boy meets girl power pop, even though they occasionally shared riffs, (‘Lipstick’/’Shot By Both Sides’), and design (Linder’s). This track showcases everybody’s talents, but it’s probably McGeoch’s guitar that it’s mostly remembered for.

Various Artitsts - Cross Pollination (Varial)

 

Title: Cross Pollination

Artist: Various Artists

Label: Varial

Cat Number: VRL001C

Genre: Techno/Electro, Ambient

1: Ninechecker – C Ten Status

2: Human Concept – Agent X

3: Mat Carter – Mind Expand

4: Derailleur – Antimatter

5: Norris Raider – Sky Dive

6: User Only – The Strain

7: Norris Raider – Arcowaw

8: Karkaavat – Beneath The Waves

9: Ninechecker – Line Out

10: Human Concept – Midnite View

11: Phantom Limb – Visit 1

12: TOHT – Meteor Shower

13: Phantom Limb – Sloth

14: Derailleur - Wolf

The concept behind this collection of artists on Mat Carter’s Varial “is between like minded artists, sharing a love of aesthetics found in video games and science fiction culture.” Now this seems to be the foundation of a lot of the music I listen to nowadays so let’s dive in. Carter is present with ‘Mind Expand’, a brooding, minimal piece of work which could bridge the gap between new beat and cosmic chug, such are its sparing, but effective acidic overtones. ‘Antimatter’ by Derailleur is similar in tone, but lasts a fraction of the time and serves more as an ambient interlude, alongside ‘Visit 1’ by Phantom Limb and ‘Beneath The Waves by Karkaavat. Electro is present in the beats of Norris Raider’s ‘Sky Dive’, both Ninechecker tracks and Derailleur’s ‘Wolf’. While compositions such as ‘Midnite View’, ‘Meteor Shower’ and ‘Sloth’ apply the brakes in order to produce what feels like mood music for when the dust is settling. It’s an intriguing collection, available on cassette for added retro spice, as well as digitally. Worth your while.

DJ Guy - Inspiration Dance (Self Released)

 

Title: Inspiration Dance

Artist: DJ Guy

Label: Self Released

Cat Number: 

Genre: House 

1: On A Fragile Planet

2: Dreaming feat. Margie M

3: Ecstacy In Mind

4: In The Music

5: Time Goes By

6: There Is Always Hope

7: There Is Always Hope

8: Glide

9: Out Of The Darkness

10: Shake It Up And Start Again

11: Journey Onwards

12: There Is Beauty

‘Inspiration Dance’, DJ Guy’s latest collection slaloms between genres and shows that class is permanent. (The “form is temporary” bit is irrelevant here.)  There are nods to rave and nascent hardcore: ‘Shake It Up And Start Again’, ‘There Is Beauty’, house: ‘Glide’, ‘Dreaming feat. Margie M’; idm: ‘On A Fragile Planet’: techno/breaks: ‘Ecstacy (sic) In Mind’; breaks: ‘In The Music’; techno: ‘Time Goes By’, ‘There Is Always Hope’, ‘There Is Always Hope’, ‘Journey Onwards’; and downtempo: ‘Out Of The Darkness’. Right away I’m guilty of rampant pigeon-holing, so it also has to be said that, under the circumstances, these are loose, lazy terms and that quite a few of these tracks more than transcend the genres I’ve assigned to them. The most amazing thing about this record, however, is that it’s self-released. Maybe Guy wanted it that way. Was this the only way it was going to see the light of day though? It’s an amazing album which doesn’t put a foot wrong and accurately reflects the talent and personality of its creator. One of the best interviews I conducted on this blog was with Guy back in 2015, a humble and talented artist who deserves much more recognition and reward for his endeavours. Truly one of The UK’s most genuine artists working in the hallowed sphere of electronic music and rave mechanics.