My youngest is flying to Ibiza tomorrow, and I’m a little bit jealous because I’ve never been. Anyway, he’s starting to get into music and making tunes. I’m pretty much letting him develop in his own way but being on hand in case he has any questions or wants any advice. I’m sure he’ll try and find some clubs to go to when he’s there, but he’s not too clued up at the moment. Having said that, neither am I. I guess he’ll go for the bigger venues, as those are the ones his friends will also gravitate towards. It would be nice, however, if he happens to come across a place where they’re playing stuff like this. He’s definitely into more BPMs at the moment, I mean he is 18. You never know though. I’ll be playing this in the car later when I grab him from the train station, as well as other Balearic delights, and let’s see if he asks what it is . . .
Friday, September 12, 2025
Thursday, September 11, 2025
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Tuesday, September 09, 2025
Track Of The Day: Cabaret Voltaire - Everything Is True (Plastex)
Preceding ‘The Conversation’ by a year and, to the best of my knowledge, still only available on CD. ‘Everything Is True’ is the opening track from ‘International Language’, and is an eloquent blend of the ambient and dance floor. It was those dynamics that ‘The Conversation’ amplified to such amazing effect further down the line, which makes me think that, in spite of this album being credited to both Kirk and Mallinder, the hand of Kirk is the controlling influence. Including a submerged spoken word sample from Orson Wells, ‘Everything Is True’ is trademark Cabaret Voltaire. Disorientating, haunting and, above all, funky. It’s a good three minutes before the kick first hits, but before that it’s impossible not to listen. There are layers upon layers of subtlety to penetrate. Phantom voices come and go in the void while various disparate sonic elements come into play, and then disappear. Nobody has ever done it better.
Monday, September 08, 2025
Track Of The Day: Prince Hammer - Flash Your Dread (Front Line)
I have vague memories of one Saturday morning in Probe, Liverpool, and coming across ‘Bible’, by Prince Hammer on Front Line. This was a label that had been launched by Virgin Records to push roots reggae in the late 70s, which was probably the genres heyday as, riding on Bob Marley’s coattails reggae had, at that time, become pervasive and, alongside punk, exemplified a side of musical counter culture. Anyway, waffle over. Me and my friends were fascinated by it and started buying it in droves. Prince Hammer, of whom I know nothing, definitely comes across as being heavily influenced by U-Roy, having a relaxed, but strangely also quite direct style.
Sunday, September 07, 2025
Track Of The Day: Happy Mondays - W.F.L. (Think About The Future Mix) (Factory)
Remixed by Paul Oakenfold at the height of his powers, ‘W.F.L. (Think About The Future Mix)’ is a gargantuan piece of work which, for many, is as important a contribution to global civilization as the Colossus of Rhodes or ‘Gangnam Style’. And who am I to argue. The Mondays were THE fin de siecle band during their short but very intense existence. Forget misery merchants Radiohead. Having a good time is where it’s at. The only sentiments I disagree with here, however, is that I should ‘think about the future’. Because the present is all we’ve got. I do look forward to a coffee every morning though. And, if it’s paired with a pain au chocolate, even better.
Saturday, September 06, 2025
Track Of The Day: Point Blank - Rog (Phono)
Having already featured ‘A Game Of Two Halves’, it’s only right that ‘Rog’ also has its place in the sun. What I like about this track is its volume and restraint. Also the drums at the beginning have exactly the same sound as my own personal impression of downbeat percussion, Elements coalesce in this track quite quickly and the funkiness and syncopation soon become irresistible. This is interesting because there are some classic dub techno traits present here which very quickly take off and transform into something else entirely. We shouldn’t be too surprised at this as Swag, aka Chris Duckenfield and Richard Brown are the brains behind this release, two chaps with more than their fair share of funk corpuscles. And the record came out on Phono, Matthew Herbert’s label. Herbert contributes a remix of ‘Rog’, which is nice, but the mighty original holds sway. The way space is made in order for the sounds to breed is something special. Tension builds and worlds collide. And in spite of the discipline of its execution, there’s a real primitive edge to it, the soundtrack to those monkeys freaking out at the beginning of ‘20011’ when the camera pans away.
Track Of Yesterday: Tappa Zukie - M.P.L.A. (Klik)
Coming out in 1976, Tappa Zukie’s ‘MPLA’, named after the Angolan Socialist Democratic Party, who fought a war against the colonial Portuguese from 1961 to 1974, has nothing whatsoever to do with uprisings, war and the overthrow of oppression. Not directly anyway. It’s an ode to resettlement in the promised land of rasta. The MPLA is also name checked in ‘Anarchy In The UK’, again, not directly because of its cause, but because it rhymes with UK. More than anything else though, this kind of namedropping was a sign of the times, and the constant political upheaval going on everywhere back then. Not much has changed I suppose. However, back then I think it meant more to the individual on a more idealistic level in that there seemed to be more of a capacity to participate and realistically contribute, than now.
Friday, September 05, 2025
Thursday, September 04, 2025
Track Of The Day: A Man Called Adam - Que Tal America (Extended Mix) (Prescription)
There was a time when I would have bought this just for Derrick Carter’s Dub Edit. And, while that is a great version,. It’s this one that I reckon I’d play out should chance present itself. That being said, this version also has quite a bit of the DC touch. The driving percussion here being offset by more subtle sonic umami in the shape of various keys being overlayed. Not as energetic as the Dub Edit, but it's no slouch.
Wednesday, September 03, 2025
Track Of The Day: Portishead - Glory Box (Go Beat!)
My youngest is really getting into music right now which is great, as it feels like it’s the first thing he might be *really* passionate about. So, in the kitchen trimming chicken thighs, giving some off cuts to Clive and I play a mix that begins with John Martyn’s cover version of ‘Glory Box’, which had my son asking me what this is, and where’s the guitar solo because he’s heard the same track with a guitar solo which goes “Playing With This Bow & Arrow.” Anyway, he was referring to the towering original, probably the song Amy Winehouse wishes she had written and something I hadn’t listened to for a long time, but which came back to me in a Proustian rush. And now I can’t get it out on my mind, but is it Balearic?
Tuesday, September 02, 2025
Track Of The Day: ReKaB – Cyborg Romance (Acquit Records)
The sudden, unexpected death of James Baker, aka ReKaB has been keenly felt by his many friends and colleagues. Such a shame, and what a great artist. RIP.
Monday, September 01, 2025
Track Of The Day: Bill Evans Trio - Autumn Leaves (Riverside)
It’s the first day of meteorological autumn, and it feels like it. So, with that in mind, here’s a piece of classic Bill Evans, taking us back to 1959. A few years before I was born. It’s difficult to believe that, in spite of his timeless, preppy appearance, Bill Evans was a heroin and cocaine addict whose years of substance abuse caused his premature death at 51 in 1980. Another great gone due to stronger demons.
Sunday, August 31, 2025
Track Of The Day: Drexciya - Wavejumper (UR)
One of the best. A relatively subdued electro track from Drexciya, which makes it all the more sinister. Subdued in the sense that its density and heaviness allow it to play well within itself. The beats are pure B-boy breaks and from this rigidity all manner of abstraction can flourish. There’s a spoken word that sounds twisted within its own depravity, “You must face the power of the black wave of Ladozia, before you can become a Drexciyan wavejumper, . . . . There are only two wavejumpers in existence today . . . .Wavejumpers, catch a wave.” and an industrial, high pitched noise that goes off like some sort of harmonic steam valve. There’s a lot of power in this track, you feel it could go off at any minute, but instead it rumbles along, consuming everything it comes into contact with. If it did “go off”, you feel it might be short-lived and momentary. The fact that it is all suppressed power and foreboding allows it to be more pervasive and enveloping.
Track Of Yesterday: Osman Öz & SUBMINIMAL -- Melburn (Mixcult)
Mixcult is a label that I’ve been keeping an eye on for a couple of years or so, it generally releases digitally, but does vinyl form time to time. Anyway, I just bought ‘Melburn’ and this is the title track. It’s largely typical of what I look for in this label. Deep, trancey techno with swing and a bit of a kick. Stuff like this really works well on a big system, creating an atmosphere which, while working well with other like-minded tracks, really comes to the fore if the DJ is a little bit adventurous and likes to mix things up. This isn’t always apparent, believe it or not. One of those equally at home in the warm up and at peak time. Lovely stuff.
Friday, August 29, 2025
Track Of The Day: Konstantin Smirnov - On My Mind (Luck Of Access)
This, the latest release on Andrey Pushkarev’s suddenly quite active Luck Of Access, came out a couple of months ago, but for some reason doesn’t appear on the label’s Bandcamp. Hotly anticipated, mainly because of a Satoshi Tomiie remix, it’s a heads down, no-nonsense, deep acidic dubby stomper. The remix is also very good, but dispenses with the hard as nails kick which drives this version. I might pitch it down a little when playing, but I’d hardly be veering into chug territory if I did. The vinyl has an extra track, ‘Entering The Control Room’, which doesn’t seem to be available digitally, which is a pity as incentivising punters to spend more money on antiquated media isn’t really very forward thinking, is it?
Thursday, August 28, 2025
Track Of The Day; Nimbus Quartet - Your House Is Yours Parts II&III Simultaneously (Sounds)
Nimbus Quartet were Woody McBride and Dave Stevens. For some reason I associate Woody McBride with a harder, trackier approach to house; but this piece of dreamy grooviness couldn’t be more different. Rereleased on Lazare Hoche ten or so years ago, having originally appeared as one of four tracks on a double back back in 1995; this track is a minimal piece of laid-back, jazzy house which evolves into something off beat and off grid. It may strike the listener as a little bit self-indulgent, but once locked in it’s difficult to break free.
Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Track Of The Day: Horror Inc. - In My Garden (Perlon)
Everything about this record is perfect. The way it’s layered from the start, gradually. Sampled to the hilt, each element carefully introduced and assembled in real time. The various vocal snippets, and they really are *snippets*. Perhaps the best part of this tune is the spectral keyboard, which dominates. It’s like a lost Phantasmagoria soundtrack. I remember buying this and playing it out at a party in a bar somewhere in North London. Memories are hazy. John Hassay was there so he’ll remember, as was Paddy McCool. It might have been his party. One from the heyday of minimal, but this embraces so much more. I like Akufen. However, this trumps it because it brings so many disparate elements together which float above the music like a haunted haze. There’s jazz and a strong whiff of post war sleaze and horror in equal measure. Disembodied voices send coded messages through the sonic bars.
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Track Of The Day: Subfunk - So Deep (Offshoot)
From the short-lived Offshoot label, Subfunk’s ‘So Deep’ is a house tempo techno chugger which deploys a linear beat around which revolve all manner of disorientating effects. The spoken word ‘So deep’ sample is the same as that used by 51 Days on ‘Paper Moon’, so it carries a certain authority. It’s quite subdued here, which I guess is the point. Rather the essence than a full-blooded imitation. It’s a strong track from a strong EP and, as seems to be the fashion, is being offered for sale at high prices chez Discogs.
Monday, August 25, 2025
Track Of The Day: Francois K - Edge of Time (Wave/Open)
This is the second time that I’ve posted something in the past week or so in which batucada is featured. The other being the yet to be released Semtek quartet on Don’t Be Afraid. This, on the other hand, is approaching 30 years old and comes from one of Francois K’s seminal releases. Blending latin and Indian percussion with dub and disco, and calling in on Yello’s ‘Homer Hossa’ as it does, ‘Edge Of Time’ is a shape shifting track, seemingly rearranging itself in order to accommodate the imagination. Cold weather music it is not, more like the soundtrack to a surreal hoedown on crack in a rainforest clearing.
Sunday, August 24, 2025
Track Of The Day: Wayne Shorter - Footprints (Blue Note)
I’ve just been listening to this track while driving home, and if there is a fine distillation of all things jazz, no matter what strain, then this is a great example of it. Everything about it screams depth, beauty and emotion. The players all stand out, particularly Shorter and Herbie Hancock, and combine to evoke a mythical, metropolitan late night. Shorter was one of those jazz mavericks, like Miles Davis & Herbie Hancock, who made the switch to a more abstract fusion style without breaking stride. It’s tracks like these however, maybe because they create a pervasive mood of elegance, that I return to the most.
Saturday, August 23, 2025
Track Of The Day: T-Jay - Reel Love (cy-cle)
I bought this split artist release way back when it came out and knew then it was quality. One side is from Milno. The other side is from T-Jay, and ‘Reel Love’ is what I’ve decided to highlight today. It’s more techno than house, its general outlook being one of minimal, fidgety urgency. The vocals and synth washes bring the track into a sharper focus and, while it may not be as good as drift, it’s not bad at all. There were two release on cy-cle, and I’ve got both of them. Looking at the stupid prices they are going for currently on Discogs, I may sell up and move to Albania.
Friday, August 22, 2025
Track Of The Day: Putsch '79 - Arpeggio Life (Clone)
A random sleight of hand and lo and behold, here’s ‘Arpeggio Life’ form Putsch 79. Two blokes from Finland who for some very lazy reason, I imagine making music on all manner of analogue devices sustained by a freezer full of Findus crispy pancakes as the winter draws ever nearer outside. They made a few bits on Clone twenty or so years ago before mysteriously withdrawing from polite society in 2010. This track is, as its name suggests, Italo through and through. It’s also one that I feel could have been so much more if they’d just got out of their lair and hunted down a vocalist prepared to ham it up and mimic an Italian singing in English, with all the baggage that comes with it. So, it’s a good backing track crying out for an edit. Anyone?
Thursday, August 21, 2025
Track Of The Day: Psychemagik - Valley of Paradise (Psychemagik)
A psychedelic trip of a track, and I’m not the first person to say that. However, it sums it up perfectly. And it’s loops upon loops: the vocals are lifted from ‘Orleans’, a tune from David Crosby’s album ‘If Only I Could Remember my Name’, the lyrics of which are a repeated three line mantra: “Orleans, Beaugency, Notre Dame du Clery, Vendome, Vendome". Around this swirls an acoustic guitar as tense as a spider’s web, and that’s it. There are also some string effects straight outta Abbey Road Studios in the late 60s, and the overall effect is one of spiritual exaltation. Don’t let that put you off though. This is boss.
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
Track Of The Day: Photon, Inc.Featuring Paula Brion – Generate Power (Wild Pitch Mix) (Strictly Rhythm)
“It was just sticking out of one of the shelves guv, honest . . . “ Amazing how this track hasn’t been posted before. One of the most recognisable riffs in house music. A track with everything, the subtle build up of which is enough to shake anywhere to its foundations. DJ Pierre’s finest moment? There’s been a few. Most of us have had a “moment” to this track. Let’s hope for many more. (Moments, that is. And to anything).
Tuesday, August 19, 2025
Track Of The Day: Camelia – Wingspan (Joule Imprint)
Camelia makes the same type of floaty, deep, spacey house as Janeret. However, where the latter is still tearing it up, the former is nowhere to be seen, not having put anything out since 2021’s ‘Multiverse’. This is a pity as there’s certainly room for more than one exponent of this synapse twitching, reflective, trance - inducing strain of house. The genius of tracks like these is that their apparent fragility clashes with a stamina that hints at something much stronger. It’s one for those messy moments on the dance floor, which you can never have too many of.
Semtek - 4 More Dubs EP (Don't Be Afraid)
Title: 4 More Dubs EP
Artist: Semtek
Label: Don’t Be Afraid
Cat Number: DBA046
Genre: Deep House
01: Elements
02: Bubble Science
03: Northern Lights
04: Focus Pull
Don’t Be Afraid is back with a quartet of deep house dubs from label boss Semtek, and they’re “lit”, as the yoot would say. These tracks really do show the best side of house, and there are many, or so I’m told. ‘Elements’ kicks things off in a Mood ll Swing style. It’s a linear pumper draped with the sonic motivational speech of multiple synth washes. It’s minimal and, as such, is great mixing fodder. ‘Bubble Science’ sounds like it might be a Drexciya tribute track, but it’s anything but. It’s peak time samba batucada business draped in sirens and other rave paraphernalia. The keys work really well and I wish I could remember what it reminds me of. ‘Northern Lights’ is much slower, moodier and, for want of a better expression, chuggy. ‘Northern Lights’ feels a little bit like something David Morales might conjure up while having his pecs lubricated. Dark, intense, tribal and brooding. But is it long enough to cover a good oiling? A refined quartet of raw takes, if that makes any sense.
Monday, August 18, 2025
Track Of The Day: Two Lone Swordsmen - Glide By Shooting (Emissions Audio Output)
The standout track from ‘Swimming Not Skimming’ I reckon, and a tune that showed that when AW dabbled on deep house, he did it as well, if not better, than most. There’s no doubt that this piece is unique and, as far as onomatopoeic unes are concerned, this is heatd and shoulders above the rest. It’s also ever so slightly pitched up above the normal deep house speed, and was probably perfect warehouse warm up tackle at the time, just the right thing to transition into the void. Having said that, I want to be in a place when this is playing at peak time, evoking the spectral gloom that accompanies the tainted landscape within which such crimes occur.
Sunday, August 17, 2025
Track Of The Day: Horace Andy - Man Next Door (Quiet Place)
I went to see Horace Andy at The Junction in Cambridge last night and he smashed it. He stayed on stage for just under an hour and a half I reckon, and during that time he just kept things going. Of course this track was one of the highlights and came up quite early in his set. It’s not every day one of reggae’s icons plays nearby, but when they do it’s important to check them out. Well, this was a great evening and, with the arrival of the Congos in October, maybe Cambridge is starting to become an important place to play for reggae artists. I’ve posted the version he did with Massive Attack as well, but it’s Andy's own interpretation that still burns brightest.
Saturday, August 16, 2025
Track Of The Day: Deep Square - Inner Waves (Berg Audio)
As long as the sound is crisp and clear, that’s all that matters. Well, nit quite. It helps if you have a DJ who knows what they’re doing. And the strategic insertion of a track such as this is one such time to know if said person really has that preternatural aptitude. It’s functional, but can transcend being a mere workhorse. And it’s well named as well. The whole tune feeling like some sort of giant aquatic fluctuation. There’s also the sound of galloping horse, as relayed by coconut shells, driving it along. Which makes me think of ‘Monty Python & The Holy Grail’. Tracks like this are often dismissed as being purely functional, but they get the most reaction simply because they’re the most important element in the mix and, when they raise their heads, stand out in the most spectacular ways.
Friday, August 15, 2025
Track Of The Day: Black Sabbath - Planet Caravan (Vertigo)
An unexpected piece of stoner rock from the most influential heavy metal album ever, ‘Planet Caravan’ is possibly an attempt by Black Sabbath to provide an interlude to their sonic chaos, as well as feeling not unlike Miles Davis’ ‘In A Silent Way’. It could be because both tracks show a psychedelic side of their respective genres. Also unexpected, I guess, because Black Sabbath, like many heavy metal bands, have been wrongfully stereotyped as unimaginative and limited, simply on account of their general direction. Now that Ozzy has passed on, expect all sorts of revisionism to emerge.
Thursday, August 14, 2025
Track Of The Day: Klepzec - P/01 (Psyfunk)
Coming at you straight outta Rosario in Argentina. ‘P:01’ by Klepzec manages to mix dub techno, acid and other important trace elements (most notably the all important “disembodied voices”), into a minimal track which is far more than the sum of its parts. Tracks like this are great for longer blends, but there isn’t anywhere to hide. I think this is Klepzec’s only release so, the question I’m asking myself is “why?”
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Track Of The Day: The Mole - In My Song (Wagon Repair)
Strange to think that this track is almost 20 years old, yet still sounds incredibly fresh, and quite unique. Given the requisite amount of manipulation it’s the type of tune that could span a range of sets. Peak time chug, if pitched down, over to occupying a similar niche during a techno storm. One of those that is in the eye of the hurricane. Chaotic in itself, but with enough foundation to hold steady within the disorder.
Rob Pearson & Dave Mothersole - Wanting You (Private Parts)
Title: Wanting You
Artist: Rob Pearson & Dave Mothersole
Label: Private Parts
Cat Number:
Genre: Deep House That Swings
01: Wanting You
02: Wanting You (Iteration X Distant Relative Mix)
In spite of the artists behind this release I’m loathe to label it tech house. Whoever first came up with that category summed it up perfectly. However, because of journalistic laziness and a lack of imagination, it’s since become a negative stereotype. Anyway, this is not a new release, hailing originally from the golden age of heads down, no nonsense sarf London warehouse shape throwing of the turn of the century. “Going for silly prices on Discogs” as many of them are right now, there’s still a vibrant market for this stuff mainly due to its fluid funkiness and druggy overtones. That’s why I’d buy it anyway. The original version is a linearly structured deep house track with dubby overtones, of which disembodied voices are present and correct, and I’m back dancing in Happy Jax at the tail end of 1997 as soon as it starts. I always felt that most of these releases were pitched up a bit too much, but this feels just right. I mean it’s a functional piece of music with one aim in mind, to recreate a transcendent dance floor experience. The ‘Iteration X Distant Relative Mix’ toughens the percussion up and turns the tune into a chiasmic stomp. Energy to burn and top vibes innit.
Vewie - Music For Hiding EP (Mixcult)
Title: Music For Hiding EP
Artist: Vewie
Label: Mixcult
Cat Number:
Genre: Sonic Gossamer
01: Hide
02: Always Now
03: Behind
I nabbed this release last month by way of a freebie. Blackinstock is a subdivision of Mixcult. I came across both of these labels via Bandcamp and, consequently, was sent a free download code for this release to mark the fact that Blackinstock is a few releases old. I’m lazily calling it dub techno. However, even though those elements are present here and there, it’s not really that. There is a feeling that the tracks on this release are wrapped in cotton wool, a strain of dub muslin which allows some sounds to permeate more clearly than others.’Hide’ a broken beat/ambient excursion sets the tone, and leads into ‘Always Now’, which is the only track of the three that is recognisably dub techno, in asmuch as it generally conforms to the genre’s stereotypes regarding beat pattern, and so on. ‘Behind’ is cuut from a similar cloth, but utilises break beats instead of the more linear approach of ‘Always Now’. It’s a well put together release that builds in momentum throughout, and contains three quite different approaches, the only pathetic misgiving I have is that the tracks could have been longer and more developed.
Tuesday, August 12, 2025
Track Of The Day: The Martian - Firekeeper (Red Planet)
I’ve already posted a few Red Planet tracks, and I guess they’ll all eventually have their moment. Meanwhile it’s the turn of ‘Firekeeper’, a track the syncopation of which is “off the charts”, as the yoot would say. It’s quite a feat to keep a standard beat going throughout the track but, due to the funktastic flange work, which sounds like the Gap Band on crack, make it sound broken and complete simultaneously. The Detroit strings are there, unapologetically brash and clashing at all the right points. However, none of this would be possible without the high level of energy and momentum that propels this tune into the stratosphere, literally. It feels like another age when this came out. Right at the end of 1996. I was still living in Paris, ready to embark on life’s next chapter later in the year by moving over to London. Later in 1997 I’d go to see UR with my now much – missed mate Pete Pulford in Vauxhall. The original gig was die to be on Charing Cross Rd, but when we turned up at the venue we were redirected to a huge space underneath some railway arches. That was a great night and I’m sure this got played. A few years later I remember going to se Rolando, (who played at the vauxhall gig), play Voodoo in Liverpool, and I clearly remember him tear the roof off with this. Great tracks mark time.
Monday, August 11, 2025
Track Of The Day: Aquarian Motion - Beyond the Pillars of Hercules (Voodoo Gold)
I’ve reached the stage when tracks aren’t coming to mind as easily as I’d like, so I’m randomly pulling stuff from the shelves determined to find something good to say about the chosen ones. Today’s choice was, thankfully, an easy one. I could have picked another from this mini album, but went with the title track. A piece of haunting, looped electro that comes from nowhere and doesn’t know its final destination. Aquarian Motion is one of many pseudonyms used by Jeremiah R who was in the middle of a purple patch right around the tome of this track’s release in 2017. And the label Voodoo Gold was set up as a vehicle for these monikers. I’ve got a few of the releases, which are all excellent. My only criticism being that that the tracks are too short. I don’t know if anything has been heard of from Jeremiah R post pandemic. Has anyone checked in on him?
Sunday, August 10, 2025
Track Of The Day: Soul Motive - Atmosphere (Nuphonic)
Taken from one of the lesser known releases on Nuphonic, ‘The Nightshift EP’. ‘Atmosphere’ performs a difficult balancing act between break beats and deep house, embodying the characteristics of both and fusing them to give rise to something that feels like organic electro, whatever that might be. The whole EP has a similar, polished feel. However, this particular tune steps outside its confines a little in order to indulge in some much needed syncopation. The funkiest thing on the release without a doubt.
Saturday, August 09, 2025
Track Of The Day: Andy Martin - Neuromancer (Ssensoreal)
I came across this track recently and, while to the casual listener it may not seem that special, to me it does. I guess that’s because I’m not a casual listener. Anyway, it has depth, solidity and range, as well as a haunting sonic approach. It uses dub elements while keeping its structure intact. It’s also very minimal. Maybe five or six elements combining? Some tunes just come up from the depths and shake you by the synapses. This is one such example.
Friday, August 08, 2025
Track Of The Day: Derek Carr - Terrahawk (Firescope)
There was a period of time, pre-COVID, when you couldn’t move for Derek Carr records, such was his prolificacy. Not only that, but the quality of his output was consistently top drawer. I could have chosen any one of his tracks released around this time, but upon randomly pulling ‘Distant Systems’ from my shelves, I settled upon the Gerry Anderson inspired ‘Terrahawk’. Which embodies most of what passes for a classic Carr production. Detroit inspired for sure, but owing just as much, if not more, to the emotive techno sound that emerged from The UK in the late 80s, early 90s. It’s a classic slice of dawn of time techno, the type of stuff that the early examples of mudskippers would have grooved to as they came ashore on Panthalassa. Carr’s output has tapered off over the last couple of years. However, his back catalogue should hold him in good stead for a while yet.
Thursday, August 07, 2025
Track Of The Day: Bjork - Human Behaviour (Underworld Mix) (One Little Indian)
This one takes me back, and has come around in a roundabout way. I’ve just come back from my holidays and, consequently, wasn’t abLe to go to watch Underworld play at Audley End, which is just down the road from me. A little bit gutted about that, however, it was the catalyst to unearth this piece of early nineties cosmic chug. Underworld definitely went out on a limb here, and the atypical approach compared to a lot of their output at the time has definitely paid dividends. This has aged very well indeed, having come out the year of my graduation, and highlights the vocal really well, the length of the track insuring that nothing overwhelms. It just drives on, blending cascading elements of dub with a languid percussive trajectory.
