One of the tracks id’d that Sean Johnston played at Convenanza in that Carcassone last Friday night. I recognised a few, but I’ve largely forgotten them now. So, they remain fixed in a time and place that will remain in my memory. It was a great weekend. However, I’ve seen very little feedback from it so far. Normally there’s an avalanche of posts and reports, all eager to be the first. Anyway, I’m still not quite back in the old routine so I guess I can’t expect anyone else to be either. And I’m sure the sets get recorded, but if they’re ever released to the wider world, I don’t know where to find them. More of this sort of thing at the weekend.
Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Monday, September 29, 2025
Track Of The Day: Stingray313 - Strontium Dog 2 (Naked Lunch)
Possibly my favourite Stingray track. It’s an insidious piece of work, a soundtrack to being overcome by a relentless virus. The condition doesn’t have to act quickly, it can take its time. This would sound ace pitched down to cosmic levels; it’s industrial heartbeat given more of an opportunity to envelop the consciousness. The most interesting aspects are the background elements in the pervasive sound design, That trumpeting sound which accompanies the hammer and tong beats, alongside the rhythmical eruptions that feel so far away but by their very nature are pervasive. And also the sound of sonic decay as the minor dissonant players come into focus and then fade. All in all a great tune.
Friday, September 26, 2025
Track Of Yesterday: Luke Hess - Ephraim (Deeplabs)
I do like a bit of Luke Hess, although this track isn’t necessarily the groove he’s mostly known for. That isn’t to say it’s not something to get lost in, rather that it’s a little bit more abrasive than might be expected. However, it still incorporates trademark dub elements that run alongside the choppy synths which push the beats along, or should that be the other way around? Clean, functional techno fare that stands out a little bit from the crowd.
Thursday, September 25, 2025
Track Of Yesterday: VC-118A - Avian (Delsin)
Upcoming electro heat from one of the most interesting producers out there. VC-118A, aka Samuel Van Dijk, has been producing off the wall, machine funk for a long time now and, more recently his tracks have taken on a more haunting ambience. This track feels like the soundtrack to a collision with a black hole where break dancing is anti-gravity and the essence of normality is in danger of being a distant memory. Which is nice.
Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Track Of The Day: Bow Mods - Country Girls (Cage & Aviary Remix) (The Walls Have Ears)
This is a nice discovery, although I’m probably very late on it. I finally got round to listening to the Harvey & Weatherall 6-7hr extravaganza as supplied by RA recently, and this is three tracks in. It’s pitched up a bit to bring it properly into the realms of chug and, for that reason I’m guessing that it’s AW at the controls. I really don’t know though so I guess I need to find some write up on this piece of back-to-back immortality in order to get a better idea. Great track which is made by the vocal which, although it isn;t at all like it, puts me in mind of Viv Stanshall. Just a random connection across the stars.
Monday, September 22, 2025
Track Of The Day: Konrad Black & Ghostman – Medusa Smile (Don't Look Back...) (Wagon Repair)
This cones with a remix which brings the vocal forward from a whisper to something more composed. However, it’s the original I prefer mainly due to its funky sensibility and bleeps. This is twenty years old but it feels like I was playing it out only yesterday. (I MAY WELL HAVE BEEN). The other Conrad Black, “Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour (born 25 August 1944), is a Canadian-British writer and former politician, newspaper publisher, financier, and convicted felon”, spells his name with a ‘C’, so as to avoid confusion. “Minimal” was at the height of its powers when this came out, on Mathew Jonson;s label as well. Wagon Repair though didn’t dabble in the routine squeaks and squelches that Minus did. The tunes seemed deliberately created to be deployed in the midst of anonymity in order to create ‘wow’ moments. There aren’t any “minimal” DJs anyway. No one would ever play an entire set of that stuff. Of course Hawtin’s ‘DE9’ highlighted what might happen if one did, and it was construed in such a way that could only eleicit a lot of interest. The truth though, is that even though these DJs were covered by that umbrella, they never entirely played in the style they often produced.
Sunday, September 21, 2025
Track Of The Day: Acupressure We Are The Future (Instrumental) (Party Rockin' Records)
Apart from anything else, it’s the piano that drives this track along. Which is great because even though it’s pervasive, it doesn’t seem to dominate. Maybe that’s because it mutates throughout. The real genius of this tune though is the shimmering, explosion of sound that periodically sends sonic ripples along the avenues of your mind. It’s featured on Jose Padilla’s Essential Mix and, as such, secures immortality. A little push to guarantee exposure if, as can so often happen, it slid under the radar. There were a lot of tracks similar to this that emerged a little later, in the mid to late nineties. I know because my one time DJ partner used to play them out a lot and we wallowed in their achingly hip jazzy ambience. They were halcyon days and they might be coming back.
Saturday, September 20, 2025
Track Of Yesterday: Grace Jones - She's Lost Control (long version) (Island)
I do like a reggae cover version, and they don’t come wonkier more out on a limb than this. Grace Jones’ voice is one of the most potent weapons on music, instantly putting its stamp on anything it imbues, and it’s strangely suited to this track. As well as this, the backing track is superb, elevated beyond the mundane by the woozy synth line, which keeps things going during Grace’s pained refrain. A match made in heaven.
Friday, September 19, 2025
Track Of Yesterday: Warren G - Regulate ft. Nate Dogg (Death Row)
It’s difficult to believe that this came out in 1994, and I think it was around the time that I moved from Karystos to Paris. I heard ot on the radio the other day, for the first time in ages and was washed by waves of nostalgia. I had more or less topped buying hip-hop at this time, and was settling into a cosy, if not slightly careless routine, of spending all of my salary a month in advance on house and techno vinyl, making the trip across the city from my apartment, or my work to Rough Trade on a very regular basis. I had a new carte bleu from Credit Lyonnais and I was determined to use it. The thing is I never owned this track. Emmanuelle heard it and bought the album, the cd of which is still around somewhere. It was constantly on Radio Nova back then, along with the uncensored ‘Sexy MF’ by Prince and sundry others. Great piece of work though, which were it to be rereleased, would shift MP3s by the dozen.
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Track Of The Day: Traffic Signs - Infiltrate (Traffic Signs)
This track was huge when it came out, which is a depressing 20 years ago now. Steve Bug is the person behind Traffic Signs, which is, as far as this release is concerned, shorthand for excellent, functional house music that has feet in both the minimal and deep house camps. It was a big favourite of Richie Hawtin as I recall, and why not. It does everything right: stripped down percussion, eponymous, spoken word sample, concave steel drum sounds and a sound like water splashing against a door. Lovely stuff.
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Track Of The Day: Fred P - Tripping Out (On Escapism) (Syncrophone)
Great piece of Fred P from himself. I say that because it’s got everything you want from one of his releases. It’s a long track, which is important, and works on a typically subdued, repressed power level. There’s not a great deal of variety as far as the music is concerned, but that’s what I want from one of Mr P’s releases. I like the familiarity of it. The sporadic vocal sample gets things going and reappears throughout. However, it’s the deadpan spoken word that holds the balance of power, eponymously intoning, profoundly. As the track progresses it widens its scope it settles down into a track Mood ll Swing would be proud of, And actually, Fred P continues the good work of Ciafone and Springsteen in every way as well as they ever could.
Monday, September 15, 2025
Zobol - Killing Culture (Melodize)
Title: Killing Culture
Artist: Zobol
Label: Melodize
Cat Number: MELODIZE 019
Genre: Electro/Cold Wave
1: Uprising
2: Uprising (Extrawelt Remix)
3: Weapon Of Mass Destraction
4: Oppression
‘Killing Culture’, an apt title for our times, is the latest release from Bristol’s Zobol. Someone who dabbles in electro’s Kuiper Belt., and this analogue tinged treat certainly takes us on a journey. The three original productions each scale varying heights of emotion and syncopation, none more so than ‘Uprising’ which, with its sound built around the crystallisation of loads of micro sonics. It’s the glimmers of light within the darkness that really bring this track to life, as well as the added padding of the 303, which acts like some sort of posture springing, reinforcing the track like an acid mattress. ‘Weapon Of Mass Destraction’ carries a lot more menace and is suitably dark and ominous. The melody is brooding and again, the creative use of squelches carries the track along. ‘Oppression’ is similar to ‘WOMD’ in mood. However, the percussion feels punchier and the break beats more muscular. There’s a lot to admire in these three tunes, and they’re putting Zobol alongside producers like Sound Synthesis and Plant43 as far as emotive mood creation is concerned. And then you’ve got an excellent remix from Extrawelt, who takes us away from the cyberfunk and gives us a synthetic soundtrack to a ride across the frozen steppes of your choice. Retaining the emotional content and hooks of the original, but reconstructing the beats into something more linear and martial.
Track Of The Day: Brian Transeau - Relativity (Carl Craig's Urban Affair Dub) [Deep Dish Recordings)
Coming at you from 1993, and even though Carl Craig remixed many tracks of note, it’s doubtful whether the sheer simplicity and breeziness of this early effort from BT has been matched. Well, it probably has I suppose. However, every piece of production is different and while of its time, that doesn’t mean that it’s not relevant now. This is a minimal piece of house music in the sense that all of the elements are highlighted in a modest way. However, it’s difficult to forget the electric flute, the restrained keys the insistent bassline and the shimmering cymbals. It must have been conceived as an underlay track but it’s so on point that it shines when it takes the spotlight. I just wish it was a few minutes longer.
Quiet Village & Vanessa Daou - Naked Hunger (Quiet Village)
Title: Naked Hunger
Artist: Quiet Village & Vanessa Daou
Label: Quiet Village
Cat Number: QV 002
Genre: Balearic Chug Stuff
1: Naked Hunger (Vocal Mix)
2: Naked Hunger (Spoken Word Mix)
3: Naked Hunger (Radio Edit)
Quiet Village, aka Matt Edwards and Joel Martin, enlist the considerable vocal talent of Vanessa Daou. She of ‘Give Myself To You’, and ‘Are You Satisfied’, two of Tribal’s finest moments, in order to propel the somnolent chug of ‘Naked Hunger’ to new and hitherto inaccessible heights. Something which, given her considerable presence sounds effortless. I guess that using the word “naked” quite often helps as well, because it makes you think of sex and stuff like that. Not sitting down in front of the telly with just your boxers on when it’s hot. The ‘Vocal Mix’ comes in at around 8 minutes, which is a great length to keep hovering in the mix. Thankfully, the ‘Spoken Word Mix’ is even longer, a thoroughly indecent thirteen minutes, no less. It’s also full of innuendo and wordplay. Not the ‘Carry On’ sort you may be pleased to know, rather the serious, philosophical, introspective type. It’s backed by bongoes and a piano that rises and falls. The bass and kick in the ‘Vocal Mix’ give way to something a little less analogue as a consequence, more organic. Whether this is in tune with Vanessa’s naughty thoughts is anyone’s guess. Anyway, all of this will make a lot more sense on the dance floor late at night, or at sunrise, rather than in your living room in the morning. Both versions are great though and, despite treading a fine line through the valley of cliches, (is there anything left that hasn’t been said?), this is a vital release.
Sunday, September 14, 2025
Track Of The Day: Underground Sound Of Lisbon – So Get Up (Danny's "In The Light We Sleep Mix') (Tribal)
Not the excellent original, but the equally great Danny Tenaglia remix. Darker and more linear, straddling the divide between techno, all-out acid, italo and synthcore. I mean how many subgenres can be coined to describe a single track? This is a seriously great tune though, and quite overlooked I think. It’s title seemingly a riposte to Felix da Housecat’s ‘In The Dark We Live’, this functions in a similar way to ‘Bottom Heavy’, but at a lower frequency. Much more sinister and designed to underpin a variety of different tempos and styles. As a DJ it’s a gift. Due a revival, expect to hear Barac, or one of the other Romanians airing their dubby laundry over the top of it at some stage.
Track Of The Day: Linton Kwesi Johnson - Shocking Dub (Island)
Linton Kwesi Johnson’s first four albums, recorded between 1979 and 1984, were a vital aural collage surrounding my receptive young ears. And this track comes from his third, ‘LKJ In Dib’, released in 1980. The great Dennis Bovell was a constant presence throughout LKJ’s recording career, the two being as vital to each other as Brian Clough and Peter Taylor. ‘Shocking Dub’ is a typically downbeat, reflective and transcendental piece of music, whose deconstruction is very much a movable feast. And Bovell, in spite of being everywhere that matters for the last almost fifty years, is still very much an unsung hero. Vivid memories of this playing in Vincent’s bedroom, bookended by the likes of Cabaret Voltaire and Captain Beefheart.
Friday, September 12, 2025
Track Of The Day: DJ Pippi & Willie Graff - Lunares (Leng)
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 . . .
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.