Sunday, August 23, 2026
Saturday, August 22, 2026
Track Of The Day: Leonid - Urania 2 (Soul Print Recordings)
One that I’d forgotten about, but am pleased to reacquaint myself with. This comes from a split release on Serbia’s Soul Print Recordings. The A side has two versions of ‘Urania’. I prefer this one because it flows better. The other is very good as well though and both make great use of the 303 and keep the acid deep. Which is all I want from the 303. I’m not a fan of when it’s in your face, but ‘Acperience’ and the Hardfloor ‘Yekeyeke’ remix are exceptions. Leonid, who seems to have gone awol in the last few years, was always a producer I kept tabs on. Pity he seems to have stopped releasing. The B side of this release features two tracks by Laak, who are still recording and put out their latest a couple of months ago. Their contribution is of a similar high standard. Pity I can only put one up, so keep a look out for the others.
Friday, August 21, 2026
Track Of The Day: Anthony Rother - Redlight District (Psi49net)
It’s just after 9 o’clock on a Friday night. The dark nights are already drawing in and, despite the last heatwave only ending last weekend, the weather is already starting to feel autumnal. It’s raining again! That’s three ties in the last week, and three times in the last 2 months. In the park directly outside my house, the local council have organised their annual free concerts for the townsfolk, and there’s a Queen covers band belting out ‘Someone To Love’. Queen’s popularity always puzzled me. Anyway, what better time than to listen to something else. So track of the day today comes at an opportune time. ‘Red Light District’ is another one of those tracks that I can’t believe I haven’t already posted, such is its overarching majesty and funkiness. The lyrics are just a repeat of a few lines with the advantage of being voiced through a vocoder, or something similar. And they fit the vibe incredibly well. The bass throbs, and the background is awash with symphonic overtones. It’s electro dystopia transplanted to your mind.
Thursday, August 20, 2026
Track Of The Day: Shuang Hua - Palindrome (Dub) (Shuang Hua)
Minimal it is, but it came out a lot more recently than the bulk of that genre. This is the dub version of the A side. It’s n to as heavy, eschewing a low end that goes all out weird and folky, dominating the track to an unhealthy degree. Records like this can highlight a set without any embellishment as long as the sound system is good, and the DJ has already managed to inject a healthy sense of imbalance. Because that’s just preparation for the wonkiness to come, and one of the positives of records like this is that the wonkiness operates under restraint. It’s surprising that there isn’t a spoken word sample somewhere in the mix, but production is polished and there is a good degree of separation between the various elements. As left field as house gets while still being a mover and groover.
Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Track Of The Day: Nitzer Ebb - Shame (Mix 2) (Mute)
This video of William Orbit’s Mix of ‘Shame’ was doing the social media rounds just after the producer’s untimely demise a week or so ago, so I had to post it as it’s so ace. Is this from ‘Soul Train’? I have no idea. Anyway, an excellent video and an excellent track. William Orbit had more than a few of those.
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Track Of The Day: R Rash - Smokin Jakkit (Trelik)
Peter Ford oversaw two labels which are critical to both UK and global techno: Ifach and Trelik. And it might not be too much of a stretch to say that minimal house/techno is their lovechild. Ifach stopped releasing at the turn of the century, but Trelik marches on. Having said that, I am not familiar with most of its recent output. No mind. ‘Smokin Jakkit’ is boss, and not unlike Tan Ru’ Purple Heart’. Not surprising as both R Rash and Tan Ru are the work of Eon, aka Ian. Loveday and co-conspirator with Peter Ford as far as Trelik is concerned. Incredibly funky and with a touch of the manic. Not minimal at all, but not complicated either.
Track Of Yesterday: C.V.O. - Party Time (Detroit Mix) (Balance)
Sometimes all that’s left to do is randomly pull something from the shelves and go with it. And so it comes to pass that this one will have to do. C.V.O., aka Glenn Underground on fine form here with the Detroit Mix of ‘Party Time’, differing from the original in depth and electric quality. Both mixes reach the disco heights, but this one is more out there and jazzy. Plenty of interesting drum patterns and improvisation. Well, as much as can be had within the house music template. The vocals come in slightly off beat and the siren-like synth holds everything together. Sort of. At times it feels like a live jam. The type of track that could dislocate your joints if you follow shape throwing through to its logical conclusion.
Sunday, August 16, 2026
Track Of The Day: Marco Bernardi - The Dancing Clowns (Berceuse Heroique)
It’s never nice to be reminded of the passage of time. This record came out ten years ago, when the label was at its peak and maybe Mr Bernardi was as well. He was very prolific around that time but his output has dropped off more recently with only two releases under this name since lockdown. This is a great piece of work though, all fifteen or so minutes of it. Not a second passes that doesn’t want you to take it all in. A truly panoramic piece of semi-orchestral electronic music. Grand and panoramic in scope. The music of the spheres if only they knew how to make it. It comes with an ace Specter mix on the B side too.
Track Of Yesterday: America - Horse With No Name (Warner Bros)
One of the most sixties songs wasn’t released until 1971, so it’s true what they say. The decades backslide and happened later than thought. One of my first memories of watching ‘Top Of The Pops’, along with seeing T.Rex perform ‘Metal Guru’, and Bowie sing ‘Starman’, was watching the promo video for this amazing song. Some other videos found their way onto the TOTP playlist at that time. Notable ‘Silver Machine’ by Hawkweed, and ‘Stuck In The Middle With You’ by Stealer’s Wheel. This hinted at something quite different and exotic though, and kept the hippie dream alive, if that’s what it was. This sound seeping its way into the carpeted and wallpapered living rooms of working class British semis felt weird and emphasised that you could have a beard in the hot weather. Not glam rock at all.
Saturday, August 15, 2026
Track Of Yesterday: Oliver Dollar, Ben Silver & Boogs - Cosmic Weapon (Rekids)
Yesterday The UK’s 5th, (or is it 6th?), heatwave peaked in the east of England, and I went running, because I’m a masochist. I had intended to do 10K. However, after stopping for a hydration break, I found it difficult to get moving again. Fortunately I was listening to Eli Vervain’s recent set for The Lot Radio, and this track was in its infancy. It’s really not an exaggeration to say that I could still be loitering beneath a bush on a country road if ti weren’t for this piece of quintessential bass-driven deep house. The undulating beats come in hard and heavy when necessary, embellished with spoken word samples which sound like something broadcast on Funkadelic radio. You know the sort. Bordering on manic at times, mixed with a more relaxed tone floating over the kick. Thank god for track lists.
Thursday, August 13, 2026
Track of The Day: The Todd Terry Project, Bango (To The Batmobile) (Fresh)
A house record that feels like it’s been composed entirely of cut ups straight out of a hip-hop playbook. The beats have momentum but they never seem to cut loose. The laughing girl sample feels fresh after having already been used god knows how many times. The other elements, notably the little squiggly myth line feels raw. And then the pipes come in along with the bass. I used to play my cd copy of this to death, and there’s no reason why I shouldn’t dig it out now. It’s house music as collage ruthlessly spliced together on two turntables, and it works. Fresh and Sleeping Bag put out some great hip-hop/soul by the lies of Mantronix, Just-Ice and Joyce Sims, but maybe Todd Terry at this time, was the most radical of all.
Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Track Of The Day: Greville - Sonic Tonic (Visions Mix) (Mad Habitat)
Greville is an Australian artist who I discovered about ten minutes ago.And I’m glad I did. This kind of elemental shizzle is very important and carries a tribal whiff that first emerged in The UK’s rave culture back in the late eighties. That said it is unmistakably of its place. It would appear to only be available on vinyl, as is the case for all release on this label, which is a pity. A great piece of work all the same, and one which could function on a visible level throughout a set.
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Track Of The Day: Peter Lazonby - Sacred Cycles (Brainiak Records)
An absolute beast of a record. As soon as the synth washes come in you know you’re on a mission. It takes a while to warm up but that’s all part of the game. It’s a real tease. It’s trance distilled to its constituent elements which disperse and recompose themselves in a myriad of different ways. And all the while you’ve got those immortal washes. I guess one of the biggest criticisms of trance is that it lacks soul. Not this. However, “It’s soul Jim, but not as we know it.” It’s best moments are when it’s accompanied by the synthetic low end. It’s not Goa, but it’s on its way. A landmark piece of music that has stood the test of time and is due a new leash of life.
Monday, August 10, 2026
Sunday, August 09, 2026
Track Of The Day: DAF – Kebab Träume (Mute)
Watching this video I’m reminded of being in Berlin in June. Not just that but this footage looks very much like the are we stayed in. There were some great kebab shops s couple of metro stops away as well. This is a great track. Slow motion electronic menace. Cold War vibes. A menacing tone implicit within the groove. Ahead of its time this one. We were dancing to it and other insidious grooves at The Chelsea Reach every Tuesday, as well as the State on a Thursday and the System on a Saturday. Fridays at Leighton Court also. I don’t know where I slept in those days, but it was rarely at home.
Saturday, August 08, 2026
Track Of The Day: John Tejada & Arian Leviste - Ramps & Rails (Playhouse)
From the ‘Geriatricks’ EP and picked because I was reminded the John Tejada is till alive & kicking on account of posting his The Lot Radio set earlier today. Is ‘Ramos & Rails’ a skateboarding reference? Anyways, this is the glitchy minimal sound then kids were going crazy for back in the day. As much about the space between the sounds as the noise itself, and funky as hell. Best when part of a set which pairs it up with more depth and linear groove. A kind of pause I the passage if you know what I mean. A pot pour of fragments which have somehow become elongated into their own sonic signatures, and often misunderstood. It’s coming back. Watch this space.
Friday, August 07, 2026
Track Of The Day: Sly & the Family Stone - Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (Epic)
I’ve just finished reading the eponymously-titled autobiography of Sly Stone. It was good. However, as with most autobiographies of musicians, there is a sense of the whole work being a collection of sequential anecdotes. After what he went though the most amazing thing is that he had any memory left. This is one of his best. Maybe the first time a bass was ever plucked so specifically and disco before it existed. I think the video is important because these recorded TV performances very much recall a time and place. Even though the UK already had its fair share of music-based tv, nothing compares to the technicolour dream of American band performance in the late sixties and early seventies. I don’t know if this particular video is mimed or done live, but it doesn’t really matter. it’s memorable and, as far as an example of a group of musicians standing in front of the cameras is concerned, never bettered.
Thursday, August 06, 2026
Track Of The Day: DJ Sneak - Show Me The Way (Henry Street)
In the mid n nineties DJ Sneak seemed to be recording on every label known to man, although it was probably his work on Relief that brought him more fame than any other. Anyway, ‘Show Me The Way6’ hit the shelves just as filter disco was taking off and there you go. Timing is everything because this tune isn’t that remarkable. It does have that certain something though. Probably familiarity more than anything., You know what’s coming around the corner and if you like those sampled strings along with what sounds like tin cans being banged together then you’re on to a winner. DJ Sneak’s house gangster persona is a little bit hackneyed. He does have the chops to back it up though.
Wednesday, August 05, 2026
Track Of The Day: IAMTHATIAM - The Invisible Children (Fit Sound)
There was a period when Jamal Moss seemed to be releasing a record every five minutes. And the first thing that I would think is “but are they all any good?” The answer is of course no. Interesting though, and with sparks of genuine genius and a feel for the machines. ‘The Invisible Children’ is such a track. It feels like a hauntalogical lost transmission from a parallel world. A sonic imprint that has slipped through the cracks of reality and taken on a new life in a surreal sound clash where the thread of abstraction pootles along but never gets lost.
Chimes At Midnight lV
After having procrastinated like few others do, I finally got my act together for the fourth mix in the ‘Chimes At Midnight’ series, the last one being uploaded around four years ago. This coincided with me getting a dog. However, that’s no excuse. And while I know that the online mix market is one of the most oversaturated in the world, how many mixes are named after a film that features Orson Wells in the role of Falstaff? This doesn’t have any influence on the music though. There are no madrigals featured in these sets. I practiced this once, went on holiday and then got busy on the ones and twos yesterday. The equipment is the same as last time. Two Technics 1210s, two Pioneer XDJ700s and an Allen & Heath Xone:32. I’m sure I speak for most when I say that doing this sort of thing is a cathartic experience. Once finished the sense of accomplishment is similar to that of finishing a long run, (another thing that’s taken up a lot of time since 2022). So here’s the track list. And, although one or two of them might be out of order, this is what I got through.
Russ Gabriel - Peace For Thought (Ferox)
T.Dave - Bilaterale (We’re Going Deep)
Sweater - Feelings Of The Future (Omnidisc)
ARDB - Mind Drift (Geodesic)
Module One - Animation (Luck Of Access)
DKMA - The Safe (Forensic)
Idealist - Mountain Lake (Mojuba)
DJ Catt & DJ Foxx - Casified Modern Music (Deep Mix) (Casa Del Soul)
Olsvanger - Goldman’s Propellor (Craigie Knowes)
SIT - Magnetised (Amphia)
Fred P - Dance Of Rhythms (Syncrophone)
Eversines - Progression (Nous Klaer Audio)
Peace Division - Body & Soul (Low Pressings)
Na Nich - Crust (Space Lab)
JS Zeiter - Open (Lempuyang)
Christopher Leger & Haventepe - Silica (Berg Audio)
Halo Varga - Future (Siesta)
Urges 3 (Appleheadz Remix) (Primitive)
Aril Brikha - On & On (Transmat)
Stochje - Granada (Convextion Remix) (Syncrophone)
Reeko - Para El Conjunto De Las Esferas (KR3)
Thoughtforms - Chicago Trance (Thoughtforms)
VC-118A - Avian (Delsin)
Dominic Cappello - Be Still The Need (Clone Royal Oak)
DJ Compufunk - Beyond Mind (Beltran’s From Detroit With Love Mix) (Creative Issues)
Tuesday, August 04, 2026
Track Of The Day: Underground Resistance - The Illuminator (UR)
The UR quality control is set at a very high level. And ‘The Illuminator’ may be at the highest of all. I think I’ve finally arrived at the point where I think that this transcendent pice of music is, along with ‘Gamma Player’, in my all-time techno top three. I don’t know what number three is yet though, so I’m working on it. Hi-tech soul was invented to describe tracks like this. Coming as part of a double pack in an unassuming brown cardboard sleeve, there’s not m much to rival it in the UR canon. There are some tracks though, and maybe one of them could be number three? I’ve got one in mind now. But nothing touches this for soul. Listening to it is like practicing hydromancy. The results might not always be desirable but that’s life. You take what you can get I guess. So much depth eloquently sustained over eleven minutes. That’s not easy.
Monday, August 03, 2026
Track Of The Day: Throbbing Gristle - Still Walking (Carl Craig Reversion) (Mute)
Fresh back from holiday and out of the frying pan and into the fire. It was hot over in France, but it’s similar in The UK. When we landed just over a week ago, then plane descended through what we thought was fog. It became apparent on landing that it was smoke drifting over from the forest fires near Bordeaux. We flew to an airport a couple of hundred kilometres away, then. Drove back in the opposite direction to our destination, all the while the smell of burning getting stronger, So what better way than to get back into the swing of things than with some Throbbing Gristle, remixed by Carl Craig when he was good. This version of ‘Still Walking’ comes from a compilation of remixes on Mute called ‘Mutant TG’ and, although it doesn’t go off the beaten track until the silent breakdown at around five minutes, to emerge into the dawn of time underworld closing the track, it’s a salient reminder of just how great Carl Craig used to be. I should qualify this by admitting that I haven’t heard ‘Meditations’, the album he has just produced. It might be a masterwork. However, his more recent output generally, as well as his choice of headgear leaves a lot to be desired. This though, as well as his remix of ‘Hot On The Heels Of Love’ show real imagination and a desire to go out on a limb. This isn’t techno as such, rather something uncategorizable and instinctive. Not following a prescribed pattern and relying as much as can be expected on a stream-of-consciousness approach. It still has to be polished and refined in the studio, but a rawness remains.
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