Following on from the last post, this is the first Perlon release I bought, back in 1999 from IQ Records on Lexington St, Soho. Staff included Deano, Dave Mothersole and Andy Jaggers, who was the manager I think. IQ was a relatively short-lived, but great shop. The amount of parties I found out about just by walking into the shop on any given day is incalculable. Also the amount of good records I bought from there. This is one of the earliest Perlon releases, and also one of the most unique. I don’t know of any others that have a spoken word monologue similar to it. Having said that, I haven’t listened to all of them. It’s also minimal to the core, a full three years before the Ben Nevile track was released.
Friday, October 31, 2025
Track Of Yesterday: Ben Nevile - Shiver (Mosaic)
A track like this underlines how influential a label Mosaic is. Coming out in 2002, ‘Shiver’ was on the cusp of the minimal explosion. Person had started releasing a good few years before mind. However, a tune like this hidden away on a B side, although not the the of stuff Mosaic is normally associated with, broadened its repertoire and seemed a natural progression. This piece of stripped down deep house,,for that is what it is, and much like it, is imbued with funk, and its patchwork quilt approach is as good as anything contemporary.
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
Track Of The Day: Featherstone -- Morning Star (Who Is Paula)
A great track that I discovered recently when listening to 214’s ‘October Mix’. A mix of ambience, electro and heady emotional content. It comes from the recently released ‘Shapeshifter’, and is one of five excellent tracks. Featherstone comes from Australia, of all places. However, it is also one of those places that is becoming an electro hotbed. This EP isn’t completely composed of B -Boy beats, but shows a sonic sleight of hand which culminates in this, possibly the stand out of the package.
Cabaret Voltaire - Nag Nag Nag - FORGE Warehouse, Sheffield - 25 October...
I will be in Birmingham next month to see this. Can't wait.
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Track Of The Day: Circulation - Patterins (Iz & Diz Ghosts In Detroit Wake Up Dub) (Balance)
“It sounds a lot more glamorous than it actually was. We were invited up there by Chez Damier who was basically living at the studio in 1995. So me and Diz drove up to Detroit with the back of my van filled with studio gear. When we arrived, Chez was nowhere to be found (surprise surprise) although we ended up running into him at a show that night. That show was actually one of the last times Ken Collier, a Detroit pioneer, DJ’d. When we got back to the studio the next day, the water had been turned off and there was no equipment set up. We spent three days waiting to get the basic amp and board set up and then only had about 20 hours to finish a track which was “Patterins” on Balance. While we were recording it we could feel all the ghosts of sessions past in the room so we called it the “Ghosts In Detroit Wake Up Dub”. All in all it was a great experience, although I remember Chez initially not liking the track. He still put it out and it is one of my favorite tracks we have ever done.” I love Iz & Dis. Still one of house music’s best double acts, although I recently heard that Diz was ill, which is a pity. I hope he’s recovered. Iz, aka Joshua, has one of the most recognisable styles in what used to be my favourite brand of house music. Something that, while it was indelibly from Chicago, went out on a limb somewhat and embraced dub a lot quicker than most. Anyway, this is a lovely piece of horizontal windy city business which is definitely Balearic.
Monday, October 27, 2025
Track Of The Day: Federsen - Polarity [Alt Dub]
This just hits the spot. The drive, the tones and textures, the pervasive feels created by those frequencies hammering on the sweet spot. It doesn’t all sound the same, as is often said or inferred. When it’s really on its game it defies description and is a true music of the imagination. It’s difficult to say if anyone currently making music will ever reach the levels of, say. Basic Channel, but Federsen is one of the best out there and his tracks evoke and captivate as much as anything out there.
Sunday, October 26, 2025
Friday, October 24, 2025
Track Of The Day: Soft Cell - Memorabilia (Some Bizarre)
These two were impossible to avoid during the early eighties, and they left a mark much more indelible than the sum of their parts. Moreover, even though it was probably Marc Almond who was the face and voice of the group, I would be dancing to them because of their sound which revolutionised pop music forever. We have Dave Ball too thank for that. This is my favourite track by Soft Cell, mainly because of his sterling, driving synth work. Revolutionary then and still ahead of the pack now.
Track Of The Day: Liaisons Dangereuses - Los Niños del Parque (Roadrunner Records)
In spite of their French name, Liaisons Dangereuses were a German ensemble from Kraftwerk’s home town, Dusseldorf. And, like DAF, who were also from the same city, they crossed over in the 1980s with a piece of dark synth disco which couldn’t be more angular or teutonic. I remember dancing to these tunes in Merseyside’s finest early to mid eighties watering holes. Places like The Chelsea Reach in New Brighton, and the Pyramid Club and State in Liverpool. Tracks like this brought the romance of the cold war closer, minus the threat of nuclear weapons. As far as I know ow this was the band’s only single. Good to begin and end on a high.
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Track Of The Day: Sweet Exorcist - Testone (Warp)
Another tune from Richard H Kirk, the dark magus of electronica. One of those that I’m surpirised I haven’t already posted, and that happened because I was triggered by watching ‘Close Encounters . . .’ last Saturday evening, and was reminded of the sample at the start. Of course it’s much more than that. Is it the track that catalysed bleep? Probably. Is it the strongest track of that subgenre? Definitely. An otherworldly piece of music that has it all. The soundtrack to jetting to the dark side of the moon and beyond. All human life is here, or is it? Imagine this being played on analogue stacks, and emitted through vast pyramids of sonic distribution back in the day or into the future. It’ll always sound amazing.
Tom Trago - Ignorance (Magnetron Music)
Title: Ignorance
Artist: Tom Trago
Label: Magnetron Music
Cat Number: MAG243
Genre: Electronic Clairvoyance
1: Clairvoyance
2: Champagne
3: Fast Talking
4: Powerstation
5: Sadari
6: Walk The Dog
7: The garden
8: Eagle’s Nest
9: Ignorance Is Bliss
10: Undertaker
11: The Valley
I love the way the title track kicks into gear. It’s all analogue synths on a foundation of bottom heavy percussion. It’s also got a sense of the grandiose about it. The tyoe of track that had the technology been around in the middle ages, knights would have sliced heads off to its undulating riddimz. Very heraldic in flavour. A difficult act to follow. Not impossible though, and what comes next stands up to scrutiny very well indeed. I think its fair to say that Trago spreads himself artistically over the length and breadth of this work. ‘Fast Talking’ explores electro combined with what come off as quite poppy vocals. Everything glistens. There is a strong eighties cold wave feel throughout, but its more animated than normal, bordering on italo. And, although these influences are nothing new, they’re really handled with confidence and panache. ‘Sadari’ is an incredibly punchy three minutes, so it’s definitely crying out for a remix. And again, if there’s one dominant influence, it’s definitely electro, but its put through the centrifuge again and again; ‘Ignorance Is Bliss’ focusing on its disco tendencies, ‘Undertaker’ going harder and darker. Every track on here feels very accomplished and has a narrative with plenty of room for interpretation. Above all else, it’s a dramatic piece of work in which every beat counts.
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