Went to see Carl Craig last night at The Soul Tree and very good it was too. I'm having trouble recalling specific details though, but I can confirm that, amongst other tunes, he did play "Strings of Life" or something that sounded like it anyway. I think he edited it live. "Quelle surprise" I hear you say, but his set wasn't quite as predictable as I'm making out. It was a good night, but not quite as well attended as Derrick May last Mayday bank holiday. Mr Craig used Ableton and CDJs, not laying his hand on one piece of vinyl. Thanks to Jim Masters and Largo for bringing him here and for supporting him well.

Had a text off the mad Irishman this morning proclaiming "This is the real deal." Anxious to find out more, I hastily called him to discover that he was lost in a k-hole in the T-Bar in Shoreditch having just heard Matt Styles play a set and starting to appreciate Jamie Jones, whose style he described as "homosexual Terry Francis," or something similar. I was astounded to get anything coherent out of him at all, although the conversation was typically one-way, something that he took pains to advise me of. It was both illuminating and vitriolic. "Faith" got a coating for their treatment of those privileged enough to be on the guest list, as well as pulling Damian Lazarus off the decks thirty minutes early in order to end the night with some "classics." Music these days needs edge, it's boring otherwise. We want it deep, scary and full to the medulla with narcotics. Happiness, who gives a toss? If I want to be happy I'll get my Ballimorey dvd out. I want to be scared shitless while I'm dancing. I see a new genre emerging where electro and minimalism combine to great effect to create something not unlike the "darkcore" mentality that used to be prevalent in drum and bass. The scene needs its "Mr Kirk's Nightmare." Who's going to come up with it?

Here's the playlist from last Saturday's (26/8/06) Machines Are Funky:

Science Fiction (Paperclip People edit) - Carl Craig (Blanco y Negro)

Livin' It Up - Ada (Areal)

Like You (Supermayer mix) - Gui Boratto (Kompakt)

Jonny Davies Interview Pt 1

Get Pony - Fuckpony (Get Physical)

Willie And The Hand Jive (Todd Terje re-kuff) - Rinder and Lewis (Full Pupp)

Just A Woman - Audion/Ellen Allien (Spectral)

Loose Lips Sync Ships - Audiofly and Scarlett Etienne (Kickboxer)

Rekorder 6.1 (Rekorder)

Man In A Box (Chardronnet remix) - Cosmic Sandwich (MBF)

Jonny Davies Interview Pt 2

Jonny Davies Live Set (30 minutes approx)

(No tracklist but the last track is called "Oliver's Twisted")

The Equalizer (Morgan Geist Graphic mix) - Junior Boys (Domino)

My Nightlight (Dapayk remix) - Alland Byallo (Nightlight)

Newbe (Heartthrob's Are You Gay? remix) - Dario Zenker (Esperanza)

Ravers Suck Our Sound (Carl Craig remix) - La Funk Mob (Mo' Wax)

These are not exactly new, but they are a true representation of what I've been playing recently.

A Thing Of Beauty Is A Joy Forever - Technasia (Technasia):

Detroit via France and Hong Kong. Euphoric excellence.

Dump Truck - Cobblestone Jazz (Wagon Repair):

Matthew Jonson continues to impress. Just when you thought there might be something he can't turn his hand to, he goes out and makes hypnotic techno with live instruments. Bleepy and evocative.

Street Knowledge - Tobias (Logistic):

Veteran of a thousand mix cds. This track has popped up everywhere recently. Simple driving techno with a cliched vocal sample that does exactly what it says on the tin to devastating effect.

Rekorder 6 (Rekorder):

Rekorder are purveyors of disturbed, stark minimal electro. If you like it, you'll buy it. The man from his k-hole, he say "yes!"

Crazy (Paradise edit) - Rude Hagelstein (Less):

This has been out for a year or so, but I've only recently found out what it is. First heard it as the opening track off an Ivan Smagghe live set from October '05. Vocals are used to good effect to cause fear in the heart of the listener. This is the type of stuff they play to you in purgatory when they're pretending to be "nice."

My Nightlight (Dapayk remix) - Alland Byallo (Nightlight): Remix of a track that first surfaced a couple of years ago. Dapayk is the master of sleaze.

Mandolina (Robert Babicz remix) - Felix Houzer (Out Of Orbit):

Every set needs a few spinal columns to support its more outlandish extravagances. This is one good set of vertebrae.

Far Away (Jennifer Cardini and Shonky remix) - Mlle Caro and Frank Garcia (Crosstown Rebels):

One step beyond the previous track mentioned. Space is the place as far as this production is concerned. It's as interesting for what happens between the beats as the music itself.

Newbe (Heartthrobs Are You Gay? remix) - Dario Zenker (Esperanza):

God knows why the remix is called what it is. What am I supposed to be thinking of when I listen to this track, muscle marys in chaps with their arses showing? I hope not. It reminds me of a gang of frogs on a tightrope actually, and it's ace.

Oliver's Twisted - Jonny Davies (to be released on Pacemaker): Support your local talent alert. Jonny's come quite far in a short amount of time and will only get better. This is the only track by him that has a name at the moment, so it gets an honorary inclusion.

Mix CD of the Month:

Fliederlieder - Tobi Neumann (Cocoon):

In an already over saturated market this mix shows control, purpose and thought. Have yet to hear Magda's, and I've heard that Cassy's is excellent. But Tobi rules for the moment.

I've started to feel a bit disconnected from events lately. The family's gone on holiday and there hasn't been much going on, apart from the "Flex" party a couple of weeks ago. I'm alone and it's no fun. You always look forward to it though. Those non-commital days, full of endless possibilities which dissolve before you as you choose a life of sloth to appease your burnt-out self.

Anyway, its a far from desirable state of affairs. The radio show is in need of some serious attention too. Events have overtaken me. I'm going to be a father once again and, while I'm looking forward to it, the economics of the situation aren't too appealing. Still, I've got a good Dominik Eulberg mix on at the moment and "The Chase" is pulsating away around me. "Hit those filters!"

Good show last night, everything went smoothly and, although I'm still unable to mix on-air,(only one turntable in the studio at the moment, we're having a raffle to raise money for a new one, as well as a new mixer), production values have to be kept high and track selection, and, more importantly when not mixing for two hours, programming, has to be impeccable. Not everyone may agree with me when they see the playlist, but I think things went well.

Click here to get the archive for the last show.

A few good nights out to be had in the coming weeks. First is Erol Alkan's visit to The Fez this Thursday, the 17th, playing alongside Priory ressies Sam I Am and The Fish. Bank Holiday weekend kicks off on Friday night at The Fountain on Regent's St wit the visit of Baby G of Eskimo Records from Belgium, support comes from Luke Mallia (Smutt) and Pete Lever. A little bird told me that Tim "Love" Lee will be popping in to lay for an hour as well. On the Sunday we've got the "It's a Bit 2 Fishy" boat party on the Thames. Ressies Pete Lever, Largo and Jonny Davies are to be joined by guests from Madrid and Rome. Finally back in Cambridge, the one and only Carl Craig plays "Bottom Heavy" at The Soul Tree, supported by Jim Masters and Largo. Miss that one at your peril.

I'll try as soon as possible to get back to more regular posting, but not being online chez moi for the past two and a half months does take its toll. More photos are coming too, although I'm going to have to try and borrow a camera for this Thursday at The Fez. A chart will be in place, I hope, by the end of the week. Keep it locked.

Playlist From "Machines . . ." 12/8/06

Are You Ready? - In Flagranti (Codek)

Pee On You - FPony (INeedAFreak)

Free For All (Soundstream mix) - Rhythm & Sound (Burial Mix)

Sub-Atomic - Mathew Jonson (Cocoon)

Chicken Feed - Bushflange (Offshoot)

Marching Powder + The Strip - A Guy Called Gerald (Lab. Instinct)

Z Program (Mark Henning remix) - JPLS (Clever)

Uhu - Goldfish und der Dulz (Boxer)

Marble House (Rex The Dog remix) - The Knife (Brille/Rabid)

Shammy - The Wee DJs (Touchin' Bass)

Transparenza - Mayer/Voight (Kompakt Extra)

Convolution + Subvariety - In Flagranti (Codek)

Mio Bel Figlio Lucca - Octogen (Soma)

My Fellow Boppers - Felix The Housecat (FFRR)

Some Polyphony - Petter (Border Community)

Skitzoid + NightFlight - A Guy Called Gerald (Lab. Instinct)

Moon Rays - Suburban Knight (UR)

Boy From School (Erol Alkan's extended rework) - Hot Chip (EMI)

Let The Music Play - Shannon

I still don’t know how I got home from it, must be getting older I suppose, and I didn’t even stay that late. I’m talking of course, about the great ‘Flex” party held last Saturday night in a warehouse off Coldhams Lane in Cambridge. I spoke and blathered to and at people I knew and some I’d never seen before. It’s a real novelty to have this sort of gathering in Cambridge, but it still took nearly an hour to get home, due in no small part to me getting lost on the way out of the industrial estate where the venue was situated. So drunk was I that I staggered around in circles for about forty minutes, going down every dead end I could. Should have made amusing viewing for the security staff I suppose.

Here’s a long overdue chart for July:

Sub-Atomic – Mathew Jonson (Cocoon)
Black Dog – Pan-Pot (Mobilee)
Like You (Supermayer remix) – Gui Boratto (Kompakt)
Living It Up – Ada (Areal)
Cellophane – Davidovitch (Kompakt Extra)
Static C – Peter van Hoesen (LAN)
Twirl – Brtschhitsch (Ostgut)
Black Cat, White Cat – Eriko Tanabe (Titbit)
Some Polyphony – Petter (Border Community)
We Share Our Mother’s Health (Radio Slave remix) – The Knife (Brille)

Can’t be arsed writing anything educated about these, as I’m still hungover from last night.

A funny thing happened to me the other day. I received two artist album cds that each contain tons of tracks. They were “Wronger Than Anyone Else” by In Flagranti and “Proto Acid The Berlin Sessions” by A Guy Called Gerald. What made their receipt all the sweeter is that they are both brilliant.

‘Wronger . . .” weighs in with a hefty seventeen tracks, but Gerald’s has twenty four. I was only familiar with one In Flagranti track beforehand, the pitched up excellence of “Just Gazing” which is one of the tracks that opens Ivan Smagghe’s brilliant “How To Kill The DJ Vol.1” (Tigersushi). All the tracks are quite short, no longer than three to four minutes and incorporate a huge amount of decadence and sleaziness. From the medieval italo synths that open the album on “Are You Ready” (which could have come from any amount of places off either of IF’s two brilliant “Mixed Up In The Hague” compilations) , to the electro disco of “Incarnation,”the hillbilly techno of “Eight Consecutive Life Terms” and the euphoric funk of “Escapade,” there is no filler. This is essentially a compilation of earlier released tracks from the previous eighteen months, plus some other stuff. There are no gaps between tracks so the cd sounds like a meticulously – programmed unmixed dj set. There’s Gary Glitter in there too in “Futile Attempt.” I hope that doesn’t put you off though. It’s excellent.

“Marching Powder” kicks off “Proto Acid . . . “ and from then on in we’re in the miasmic world of A Guy Called Gerald. Gerald actually started his recording career in my home town, bringing out his first album “Hot Lemonade” and I think early editions of “Voodoo Ray” on Wallasey label Rham records. His mid-nineties album “Black Secret Technology” was by far the most futuristic take on drum and bass up to that time. So futuristic in fact that in my opinion it bore little resemblance to the genre it was pigeonholed in. It was one of the best from that decade and difficult to improve upon. Not that I think he’s been trying to do that with ‘Proto Acid . . . “ Coincidentally it plays like “Wronger Than . . .” with minute, or no track breaks, but I suppose for the most part the tracks mix into each other, acting as continuations of those previous, (a mix of sorts, if you will.) And, like In Flagranti, he’s gone for a collection of tracks that are aimed squarely at the dancefloor.

I think Gerald’s lp is superb as well. It’s upfront and raw. He called it proto acid because “ . . .it’s how I feel house/techno music would have sounded if the whole rave thing hadn’t happened in England.” Well, I guess we’ll never know, and if my aunty had a dick she’d be my uncle. Then he goes on to say “ . . . when I say proto acid I’m saying this stuff has a direct lineage to Chicago and Detroit in the mid-to-late eighties.”
That’s undeniably true, but it also sounds very European. To me it’s a more polished version of what I have always understood to be played at high volume in muddy fields across Europe at the many raves that still flourish there, France’s Teknivals, to name but a few. It’s better for the polish though.

Buy them!

Wronger Than Anyone Else (Codek) – In Flagranti: released 18/9/06
Proto Acid The Berlin Sessions (Laboratory Instinct) – A Guy Called Gerald:
released 29/8/06

So, I finally went to the Fez last Thursday. Sam and James from the Priory were playing supporting Adam Freeland. I had work the next day, so didn’t make it to the end, but enjoyed myself while I was there. What to say, good, lively crowd for a Thursday night but more to the point good club and sound. Sam and James played till midnight and then came Adam Freeland. To call him a breaks dj would be missing the point I think. He’s a meticulous set programmer and encompasses a lot more than most. Anyway, I liked him and I’m not a great breaks fan, so you get the point. I also heard he got married last week in Ibiza, so congrats!


The latest episode of “Machines Are Funky” was aired to the world last night from 209 Towers in the heart of Cambridge, and once again I found myself on the receiving end of some technical problems. I must be a jinx. I’d decided to do a mix for the second hour which, in the end, only lasted about forty minutes because the clutch went on the remaining Numark deck, the other one having gone during another one of my shows a few weeks back. I noticed a lack of control with the offending article as I was mixing in my second track but managed to keep things together until the power cut during my penultimate tune. As luck would have it this happened during a breakdown which mimics the effect of a record slowing to a standstill (something I fondly recall Laurent Garnier often doing when I used to go and check him at his monthlies chez The Rex). I picked my spot and cued the last track in.
Listen to the archive here.

Oh, and next month Erol Alkan’s coming to town for the Priory. Better report and pictures will ensue, plus I’m going to try and get an interview.

Here’s the playlist for Saturday’s show:

Sea Hunt – Patrick Cowley (Megatone)
Free For All (Soundstream mix) – Rhythm and Sound (Burial Mix)
Crackzilla – The Aquanauts (UR)
Dime Bar – Mark Henning (MMR)
The Brainwasher (Erol Alkan’s Horrorhouse dub) – Daft Punk (Virgin)
Got You On My Mind – DMX Crew (DAR)
The Vineyard (Peter Ford remix) – Florence (Eevolute)
Numbers and Notes – Octagon (Soma)
It’s Obvious – Quiroga (Titbit)
Fire (Swahili Meets Mozart mix) – Silent Phase (Transmat/R&S)

In the (mini) mix:

Cellophane – Davidovitch (Kompakt Extra)
“Give Me” (No Ears mix) – Rob Mello (Disco 45)
Man In A Box (Chardronnet mix) – Cosmic Sandwich (MBF)
This Never Works – Fraktion (Resopal Red)
Seeing Through Shadows – Locodice (Minus)
Mystical Rhythm (Naz remix) – Vince Watson (Alola)
Black Cat, White Cat – Eriko Tanabe (Titbit)
Static C – Peter van Hoesen (LAN)
Twirl – Brtschhitsch (Ostgut)

Back to being Smashey and Nicey:

Stacks and Stacks – Marc Houle (Minus)
You Got Good Ash (Gabriel Ananda remix) – Marek Bois (Trapez)
Underdog – Dinky (Horizontal)

Machines Are Funky Playlist: 1/7/06

I had to do this show just after England lost to Portugal in the World Cup quarter-final. Normally the affairs of the national team don't involve me too much, but I was well fed up.

Solomon’s Prayer - Luciano & Thomas Melchior (Cadenza)
Repeat Offender - Derailleur (Dust Science)
Theme From Murder Capital (The Ride) - Lonny & Melvin (Kraft)
One More Hour (Mark Henning remix) - Aaron Hedges (District of Corruption)
Electrolatino (main mix) - Senor Coconut (Multicolor)
Simpler - Marc Houle (Minus)
Dial Zero (Modeselector remix) - My Robot Friend (Soma)
Mardi Gras - Crowdpleaser & St Plomb (Mental Groove Ltd)
Cult Copy (mix 2) - Aardvarck (Rushhour)
C1 - Dandy Jack & The Third Leg (Perlon)
Dance of Energies - Jaquar Woman (Dust Science)
Let’s Break - Sound stream (Sound stream)
Wake Up (Mark Henning remix) - Todd Bodine (Immigrant)
L’Nuit (Dominik Eulberg remix) - Pier Bucci (Crosstown Rebels)
Klaatu Barada Nikto - Scape One (Pnuma)
Version 4 - The Separatists (Soma)
Somewhere - Geddes Vs Audiofly presents Rekleiner (Moodmusic)

Will McClaren turn out to be a Sven Mini Me?

This is well overdue, but better late than never.

Uhu – Goldfish And Der Dulz (Boxer Sport)
Disposable Elvises EP – Krikor presents Mix and Match (Omerta)
Tandem EP – Hemmann & Kaden (Freude am Tanzen)
This Never Works – Fraktion (Resopal Red)
Silverbird Casino EP – Villalobos/Schwarz (Diamonds & Pearls)
Zukunft – Crowdpleaser & St Plomb
Serotonin Smile – Renato Figoli (Gumption)
In My Song – The Mole (Wagon Repair)
You Got Good Ash Remixes – Marek Bois (Trapez)
Espirit – Miskate (Alphahouse)

So I made the journey over to Barca for Sonar weekend. Arrived Thursday afternoon and left Monday morning. Stayed with friends (thanks Olivier & Valerie) and partied on the beach. We didn’t club at all but went out every night to parties organised by cousin Mathieu, who is currently working for Andy Cato of Groove Armada fame. This blog is long overdue, and I’ve forgotten the minor details, but the first night it belted down, we went to a restaurant, ate fideoa (I think that’s how you spell it. It’s squid ink spaghetti, cut small and served with loads of seafood in a paella dish thingie), and I saw the biggest cockroach in my life which crawled across the backs of two women after flying off Olivier’s back. I thought it was an Atlas Moth at first. I suppose it had been blown over from Africa and came back to Earth during the storm. It was huge and when I get my new computer next week, and have a bit more time, I’ll post some pictures of the beast it most closely resembles.
Anyway, I digress. Friday night Olivier, who records on Fiat Lux as Exotica, was due to do a pa. We took a taxi filled with his gear (which was almost fifty times more massive than Alex Smoke’s the next night) down to the beach. Scarlett Etienne was playing when we arrived, but not for too long, we maybe caught about twenty minutes of her set. After her Quiroga of Titbit records from Italy played. He was very good so I chatted to him and he’s sending me some stuff to play on my show. A very nice man indeed. Olivier then stepped up, but was beset by technical problems almost from the start. He had to stop after about twenty minutes of constant tinkering with his equipment. I’m still not sure what the exact problem was, but maybe there was too much humidity? His equipment worked fine when we got it back to the flat. Olivier, post a comment and remind me what exactly went wrong. Next up were Audiofly who played a solid set after a slow start.
The Saturday, saw Rolando play. I’ve been told I was harassing him, but at least I kept on my feet, unlike Olivier who crawled into bed early. Spoke to Lars Sandberg (Funk d’Void), who lives out there and is a friend of Olivier’s, Valerie’s and Mathieu’s. Met Dave from Soma who gave me a few cds. Thanks very much to him for them.
On the Sunday Alex Smoke played, and was excellent, but it only went on for half an hour. Elmer Schubert had been on before him, and was excellent too, but any mood which had been carefully built up came crashing down when Andy Cato got on the decks. The crowd loved it, but I didn’t, and he played for a long time. I sound like a right miserablist, which isn’t true. The crowd loved it, and it was a good party, but I didn’t enjoy the music. Big tune after big tune very British house. Not my cup of tea.
I had a great time though. Also got to the Kompakt party and caught a bit of Michael Mayer and Koze’s sets, Get Physical were another hundred metres or so further on, everyone kept dancing all weekend, great paella (as always ) at Olivier and Valerie’s . . .roll on next year!

I've just come back from Barcelona with bad post-traumatic party disorder so I thought I'd post this asap. More posts within the week, including photos of some of my exploits

Playlist for last Show:17/6/06

Chimps – Claude Vonstroke (Get Physical)
Breathe – Wee DJs (Touchin’ Bass)
Burn The Elastic (Chris Duckenfield mix) – Violet (Radio Rhythm)
Budapest (Joakim Italo dub) – Poni Hoax (Tiger Sushi)
Sangita – DJ 3000 (Mo-Tech)
Freeze – KCL Project (Octopus)
Moppal Kiff – Wighnomy Brothers (Freude-am-Tanzen)
Humanoid – Stakker (Westbury)
Open Your Eyes – Bruno Pronsato (Philpot)
Base – Wee DJs (Touchin’Bass)
Curveball – Mark Henning (Einmaleins)
Bounce Your Body, Gabi – Undo (Factor City)
A Bit Patchy – Switch (Dubsided)
Switch The Light – Fuckponydelic (Ineedafreak)
Death Is Not The End – Shut Up And Dance (Shut Up And Dance)
Rien ne vas Plus – Phage and Daniel Dreir (Highgrade)
Say It – House of Black Dress (Fresh Meat)
Le Jockey CDR

A ducks-eye-view of Strawberry Fair.

So, Strawberry Fair was on Saturday, and 209 broadcast from the Arts Tent for the whole day. “Machines . . . “ went out at its usual time, 7-9pm, with Pete Lever (local Cambridge dj and all-round nice person on the local scene) providing the guest mix between 8 and 9. Playlist for the first hour below. I didn’t get Pete’s tunes on paper, as I was producing for him at the time and had to keep focussed on the mixing desk. He played some good stuff though, fragments of which are listed.

Was in Paris last week and bought the new mix cd on Kill The DJ, “The Dysfunctional Family” which is mixed by Chloe and Ivan Smagghe. God it’s slash yer wrists, suicidal stuff. Ivan’s shaved off his beard and looks like some sort of defrocked medieval court jester. Sleeve notes refer to his “gender being fucked-up . . .” or something like that. Various comparisons between “gender” and “genre,” make for an uncomfortable listening experience. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like it though.

I’m writing this from the computer at work for the next few weeks, as the domestic one has broken down. Posts will not be as frequent as I’d like, but it’s Sonar next week, and the show is going every two weeks from now. A new powerbook in July methinks, and then things will really take off.

Oh’ and big thanks to Pete for organising the afternoon at the Standard on Mill Road yesterday, Where I played, from 4 to 5.

Machines Are Funky: Playlist 3/6/06

Ride The Pony – Fpony (Get Physical)
The Poke (Your Turn To Work Me Mix) – Adonis & The Endless Poker (NME)
18 Years – Crowdpleaser & St Plomb (Mental Groove Ltd)
Boy From School – Hot Chip (EMI)
Nutshell – Graziano Avitabile (Italic)
Minus 61 In Detroit – David Holmes (Go Discs)
Transparenza – Mayer/Voight (Speicher)

Pete Lever “Interview”

Narcotic Syntax Track off “Superlongevity 4”
Rodeo – Und (Trapez Ltd)

Pete Lever Mix from 8-9.

Pete played a wide array of tracks, starting off with Metro Area 4. I didn’t get my act together and make a list, so you’ll have to tune in here.

Finally, check out another excellent Philip Sherburne article from Pitchfork, this time on what it means to be minimal.

I’ve seen the future and it works. . . .







Chart: May’06

Switch The Light/Pee On You – Fuckponydelic (INeedAFreak)
Now I’m Weak EP – Tolga Fidan (Vakant)
Sun & Ice - The Field (Kompakt)
Duckbeats 2 – Chris Duckenfield (Odori)
Elektronische Musik – Interkontinental 5 – Various Artists (Traum)
Superlongevity 4 – Various Artists (Perlon)
Interstellar Fugitives 2 – Underground Resistance (Submerge)
25 Bitches Pts 1 & 2 – Troy Pierce (Minus)
Stecker EP – Styro 2000 (Bruchstuecke)
Say It – House Of Black Dress (Fresh Meat)

I want more vocals, even snippets would be nice.

I’ve heard a few mix cds this month, none of which have really done it for me. “Bugnology 2” by Steve Bug (Poker Flat) is particularly disappointing. No. 1 was excellent.

Oldie of the month:

When The Funk Hits The Fan (Mood II Swing When The Dub Hits The Fan) – King Britt Presents Sylk 130 (Ovum)

Cambridge is the new Berlin!

A couple of days ago I was sitting in the window of Café Brazil on Mill Rd when who should walk in but Mark Henning. He had a heavily bandaged hand, and told me that he was just getting his life in order (probably a little dramatic, that) after having left his job. He was also looking forward to playing Jena tonight, for Freude-am Tanzen, and Watergate in Berlin tomorrow, which he described as probably “the biggest gig of my life.” Due to go on around 4am tomorrow, he should catch Berlin at it’s most lively. Hope it goes well for him.

A word about Legends at Cambridge City FC. Badger Attack was supposed to be on tonight, but was cancelled yesterday by Legends. No licence and a complete lack of organisation is the answer I’m afraid. Unfortunately there isn’t much else in Cambridge. The scene up to now has been building up a nice bit of momentum over the past year, but now it is in danger of gathering moss. I know that Jonny aka “Le Jockey,” is amongst a secret cabal charged with building a sound system for the place, so there is yet hope.

A chart will be posted over the next couple of days, as well as any other news deemed worth mentioning. Watch this space.

Oh, just to make sure there’s something cheerful to kick off with. Great Cup Final yesterday. The man above was the difference.

There is a terrible shortage of decent venues in Cambridge. A fact underlined by the cancellation, earlier this week, of The Priory’s May Ball. Originally scheduled for last night on Cambridge City Football pitch, the soiree, organised through the ubiquitous Legend’s Bar, had been flyered for a month and was due to take place under a marquee on the football pitch, not in the bar. Of course, the venue forgot to ask the groundsman until a few days before. When asked the groundsman probably said something like “a marquee on a football pitch that we almost certainly can’t afford to re turf filled with 400 or so sweaty ravers, are you mad?” And so I received a text on Wednesday telling me it was off. This is the turd on the cake, following on, as it does, from the first Obvious being double-booked, and the last Badger Attack having no bar and closing an hour early. We need another venue, and quickly.

Tonight we’ve got Josh Wink at Bottom Heavy. Following on from Derrick May two weeks ago, another heavyweight of the one’s and two’s makes his way to Cambridge to star in Jim Master’s and Largo’s Sunday night shebang. Mr Wink has, in my opinion, always been a better dj than producer, and has always maintained a high, twisted standard behind the decks. He’s in town to promote his contribution to the Ministry’s “Sessions” series. Should be good.

Some labels which are doing it for me at the moment: Einmaleins, Mobilee and Foundsound. Many more of course, but these three are ones that I check all the time and seem to have forged their own sound, each of which offers a subtle twist on the minimal blueprint. More label spots imminent.

Photos:
Dread at the controls

George and Sam. George, my mum always closes her eyes when she's having her photo taken.

Karl robot dancing and repairing hardware in the heat of the moment.

George, your foul-mouthed host, and Sam.

Holly and Phil from "The Scene."





Tourette’s Can Afflict Us All

Yesterday was the first full broadcast day for 209 Radio from our new premises, The Howard Mallett Centre in Cambridge. My guests were Sam, organiser and resident dj at the Priory, and Priory promoter George. We arrived around an hour before we were due to go on air. Phil and Holly were busy seamlessly presenting “The Scene,” so we relaxed and I took a few photos. Little did we know what carnage would soon erupt around us.

We took to the studio a little before 7 pm to get a feel for the place. The familiar surroundings of Karl’s living room had been replaced by the more pressurised, but ultimately more professional environment of the broadcasting studio. The show started well, and came together seamlessly for the most part. I made the competition questions as awkward-sounding as possible, (translations at the end of this article), but apart from that, and Sam’s sweaty palms, the show was going swimmingly.

Then all hell broke loose. I’d already loaded the cd containing James’ (The Fish, and Sam’s Priory djing partner) mix for the second hour of the show. However, on coming back to look at the cd display and to pfl (pre fade listen) the cd to check the levels, I saw that the display read “no disc.” Stress crept out from nowhere and myself, George and Sam began frantically looking for the missing cd, turning everything over in the studio in the process. The problem was that I’d absent-mindedly left the microphone channel open and anyone listening could hear me putting Gordon Ramsay to shame in the swearing steaks as we searched high and low for the missing medium.

Pete from Loop Soup had just come back from playing some gigs in Greece and switched on his computer. He phoned the station to tell us what was happening. Karl appeared at the studio door, ashen-faced, pointing at the mixing desk and open mic channel. Emmanuelle, my partner, was listening at home, and my kids were rolling around the floor laughing at my pain. Needless to say we quickly brought the whole episode to a hasty close, but were was the cd?

Well, the cd player, compressors, etc, are all set up on an angled rack at around 15 degrees. What had happened was the cd had actually slipped back over the sliding door and into the mechanism of the player. Luckily I had enough records to keep us sailing on an even keel, so while Karl opened up the player to extract the cd, I played on. Nero came to mind. You couldn’t make it up.

As soon as Karl got the disc and rebolted the cd player, he put the disc back in to play, and guess what happened? Yep, I went to open the cd tray again and nothing came out. It had slipped into the machine again. We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Karl had to go through the whole sorry process again. I got to complete my impromptu mini-mix on the station’s new decks, which were fine, and that was that. Of such events are broadcasting history made, but I do feel a bit of a tit. To compound my evening, my bus didn’t turn up, I got soaked, and had to shell out £13 for a cab. I was seriously pissed off when I got home.

Competition questions. Reply to machines@209radio.co.uk, or by leaving a comment below. Please don’t forget to leave your contact details.

To win two copies of the new Ellen Allien and Apparat LP “Orchestra of Bubbles” (to read an excellent review of this album by Philip Sherburne, click here)answer this insultingly simple question.

What is the name Ellen Allien’s label?

To win two wristbands (winner and guest) for the Saturday part of London’s
Encompass festival, answer this even more insultingly simple question.

In which city is Soma Records based?

Good luck y’all.

Playlist for Machines Are Funky: 6/5/06

The Dance – Rhythim Is Rhythim (Transmat)
Ghostrider – Lars Wickinger (Traum)
Urban Wind – Matt John (Perlon)

Priory Interview Pt. 1

5.3 – Rekorder (Rekorder)
Ride (Der Schmeisserlovelysplinetmix) – Aswefall (Kill The DJ)
Noite de Carnaval (Matthew Herbert dub) – Cibelle (Crammed)
The Dance (Mr Negative remix) – Thugfucker (Was Not Was)

Priory Interview Pt 2

The Intergalactic Baptist Church – Underground Resistance (UR)
Intimacy Girl (Someone Else remix) – Heartz4 (HelloRepeat)

Hastily-arranged Minimix:

El Encuentro – Alex Under (Plus 8)
Silent Shout (Troy Pierce Barado en Locombia mix) – The Knife (Brille)
Frequentraeger (Pan-Pot remix) – Misc (Sender)
Finger Food – Phage & Daniel Dreier (Higrade)
Fancy (John Tejada remix) – Suxul Music (Suxul)
Cannon Shakedown – Lansley & Brockespeir (Substatic)
The Cat’s Pyjamas – Sweet n’ Candy (Einmaleins)
Rotums Kanoner – Steady Cam (K2)
Fueron Dos Y Volvio Uno – Damien Schwartz (CMYK)
25 Bitches – Troy Pierce (Minus)

The ramblings of a madman . . .


So, we left Cambridge at the ungodly hour of 8:30 am on our way to fair Londinium. As I type this, more than 24 hours after, I have just fragmentary memories of yesterdays shenanigans. Anyway, things looked momentous from the moment we left, with certain individuals not having slept the night before and being determined to carry on under the condition that sundry substances were shovelled down their respective gullets. I spoke to lots of complete strangers on the bus, which was nice. I also ate my last morsel of the day at around 11 am, a toasted chicken balti ciabatta with a mango, passion fruit and orange juice. The healthiest thing to pass my lips all day.

Once on the boat technical matters threatened to hold us up, but thankfully these were ironed out quite quickly and the tomfoolery commenced in earnest. I was determined to keep control, so I swore an oath to pace myself in order to feel fresh for Derrick May at the Soul Tree later on. And that’s it really. It was nice on the boat, good atmosphere, good tunes generally and a party atmosphere, which is how it should be. You’re not going to these events to chin stroke are you? I bumped into a lad I see most days getting on my bus to work, never spoken to him before, but we had a chat and of course I’ll be sure to ignore him when he gets on as usual tomorrow morning.

As the afternoon drew to a close, it clouded over on the river and started to get a bit breezy. We went all the way to the estuary, so everyone was keeping an eye out for a whale coming back upriver. By this time I was so wasted I was seriously calling into question the idea of going out later on, but I’d luckily made arrangements that I couldn’t back out of. Battered and bruised on the bus, I was an easy target for drug jabberers. I had my ears chewed off by two blokes in quick succession. One was a company director and epitomised reserved middle England. When he found out I was older than him he couldn’t believe it. I have that effect on people occasionally. The next guy was very friendly, a nice bloke, but I couldn’t understand half of what he was saying. He also started smoking on the bus, an unforgivable offence that, when reprimanded, turned him all childlike and contrite. It never occurred to me to stop him rolling up and I was nearly as surprised as him when he was told off for it. It wass around this time though, that I got my second wind.

Arriving in Cambridge at around 8:15, I was corralled into the Cow were Karl and the 209 Radio massive were all in attendance for his birthday bash, which would be finished off in fine style by Mr May about 7 hours later. Robert met me in the bar and I started hitting the Jack Daniels and cokes, as well as something else. Suddenly I started to feel extremely animated and was buzzing around chatting to everybody. We stayed in the bar foe a couple of hours, going into the Soul Tree around 10:30. It filled up steadily. Largo played a completely different, and better, set from what he’d played earlier on on the boat. Jim Masters took things up a notch, so by the time Derrick May appeared, we were at boiling point. Derrick then went on to slay us with a set of sonic mastery, exclusively vinyl-based, I didn’t see him use any cds. I tried to say hello, and he was more tolerant of my sorry state than I thought. He liked my t-shirt, with the portrait of Giorgio Moroder on it, but he thought it was Frank Zappa.

This was easily the best night out I’ve had in Cambridge. Admittedly, the standard hasn’t been particularly high, but activity over the past few months has been more intense than usual. I hope this is the beginning of some intense clubbing activity.

First off, we are now FM . . . at least from later on this year. OFCOM awarded 209 Radio a five-year FM licence, which means we are now a “proper” radio station, albeit within the confines of Cambridge. This is a big deal for everybody involved. I’m looking forward to establishing my show on the airwaves, while continuing to enhance its online presence. Happy and exciting times ahead I’m sure.

Back to Friday night. I arrived at Legends Bar, (Cambridge City FC in case you don’t know), to be told by the door staff that there was no bar. I soon learnt that the “club” was shutting an hour early. Consequently quite a few people stayed away. Well they shouldn’t have. It was a novel experience to have an international recording artist play Badger Attack, I was even more surprised when I found out a few months ago that Mark Henning actually lives in Cambridge . . . I must find out where and get another night organised because he was class. Playing off a traktor-enabled laptop and vinyl he proceeded to slay the small band of faithful groovers who had kept the faith. Pete Lever played a solid warm-up. I had a great time. Oh, I tried to take some photos but couldn’t. Technology pissed all over me. I remember an ad in the 80s for betamax video recorders with John Cleese saying that they were so simple to operate that “. . even a cat can use one . . “ I had a mental picture of that cat with my camera in my head all night.





The Dance (Mr Negative remix) – Thugfucker (Was Not Was): This is electro that just about errs on the right side of cheese. Uberteutonic-sounding vocals urge the listener to do line dance-like things on the dancefloor while the track pummels you into submission. Ignore the original and head straight for the remix.

Horizons – Sebo K (Mobilee): Strangely enough, this track instantly reminded me of LTJ Bukem’s drum and bass classic of the same name. It’s probably the symphonic foundation and lush syncopation.

Hoarding-Various EP – Silent Paul (Enemy): The track titles are almost worth the price alone. Varied three tracker that gives full value for money and has more than a hint of darkness about it. Having said that, “On A Date With A Woman We’ll Call “Julie” “ has more than a touch of uplifting atmospherics about it.

Audio Therapy EP – Shelter Boyz (Stripped): Linear deepness. Nothing too complicated, it’s all in the detail, or lack of.

To There – Shane Berry (Trapez Ltd): Very understated, atmospheric deep techno by Mr Berry, whose previous release on the same label was something of a minor classic in Cambridge. “To There” is a steady builder with Captain Nemo on the Nautilus’ organ. “For A Moment” and “Sigh” make up the b-side and keep it moody and generally at the low end of things.

Goosehound Presents The Unfound EP (Goosehound): Similar in many ways to the “Hoarding-Various EP” a four tracker showcasing various artists, in this case the ubiquitous Butane, Someone Else remixing Ezekiel Honig and the less currently well-exposed The Suffragettes and Barem. It’s well packaged in a cartoon comic-style sleeve.

El Encuentro (Plus 8) & El Dilivio Azul (Trapez) – Alex Under: Both excellent slabs, highlighting Under’s talent as, in my opinion, the most talented of the techno new school, (along with Luciano). He seems to like Robert Hood and makes good use of synthesised string stabs. Which is nice.

Dawning – Dettmann/Klock (Ostguton): This is a new label run by Berlin’s Berghain club. It’s the first single, the first release being the Andre Galluzzi mix cd a few months back. It’s good.

The Vietnamese EP – Italoboyz (Treibstoff): These boyz aren’t Italian, nor does their music sound “italo” in the slightest. It’s London-based minimalism; dirty, gritty, a few pregnant pauses here and there, some grunty vocal samples . . .this is grubby minimalism for sweaty freaks.


Knock-Kneed – Steadycam (K2): Fast becoming a must-buy label for me. K2 is starting to plough its own furrow of off-kilter electro minimal. This is Steadycam’s second release on K2. I don’t have the first one, but after this I may have to search for it. I played C.LA.U.D.I.A. by MUFO a couple of shows ago and had some very interesting feedback about it. This is another strong release from K2.




Mix CDs:

Sci-fi Hi-fi – Luciano (Soma): Luciano does the business. As already mentioned in an earlier post, a lot of these tracks have been around for a while now, so there’s nowt too fresh here. It’s well-programmed though. Having said that, he could have done better.

DE9 Lite – Richie Hawtin (Mixmag) : Given away with this months issue. I like it, but that’s really because of the tracks. Rumoured not to be Hawtin at the controls but one of his minions. Who cares. It was free.

I’d like to write a coherent review of what went on last Saturday night, but I can’t. Suffice to say I enjoyed myself, as did everyone else. If I have any complaints it’s a small one about the venue. A bit lacking in atmosphere is the Junction. I’d only visited it a couple of times before its refurbishment, so I was a little surprised when upon entering it after it had been done up I found virtually no changes had taken place; the proverbial lick of paint had been applied and that’s it. To get to the point, it could be, and has had the opportunity to be, so much better.

Terry Francis was fifteen minutes late, but rocked it once he got there. He was followed by Jim Masters, who did the big room techno thing well, after him it was Billy Nasty. Things got messy and I played the role of “club floater” bobbing from place to place saying things to people, some of whom I didn’t know. It was all very profound and meaningful at the time.

Anyway, The Priory are very busy now, supporting the Drumattic Twins this Saturday at Anglia Ruskin University, and playing the Labour of Love boat party on the 30/4. Then they’ve got their May Ball on the 15/5 on the Cambridge City Football club pitch. Before any of that though, we’ve got Badger Attack at Legends this Friday, 21/4, with CleverMusic’s/Multivitamins’ Mark Henning, with Pete Lever and Robin Howells. This is something I’ll defo be attending and posting photos for. I can say that with some certainty as it’ll be me who’ll be taking them. Unlike last Saturday. I’ll post a link to The Priory’s website, or elsewhere, when any surface.

The Easter Weekend is upon us, and in Cambridgeshireland there is a plethora of things to do. I shall be in attendance at The Priory’s big one at The Junction; the likes of Terry Francis, Jim Masters and Billy Nasty are playing.

I’m really looking forward to seeing Mr Francis for the first time in a few years. I was at Wiggle regularly from late 1997 to 2000. We’s just moved over from France, and the Wiggles at Happy Jacks, under an arch by London Bridge, were some of the most hedonistic, sweaty little shindigs in town. I last went to a Wiggle at the end of October last year. I was a little disappointed. Good party but no more surprises. Terribly formulaic. I would love to think its best days weren’t behind it but I fear they are. Even though he seems to be the headliner, Terry’s playing from 11-12:30, which is a pity because it’ll just be starting to warm up then. Fabric’s contractual obligations making themselves felt I reckon.

Billy Nasty should rock the spot though. Jim Masters is up from 12:30 to 1:30 with Mr Nasty following until 3am. Last time I saw him was under a marquee at Sonar ’04, were he was doing a showcase for his Electrix label. He treated the crowd to some hard-edged electro that never descended into booty bass territory, so fine by me. Priory residents Sam I Am and The Fish guide us to the dawn, well, until 4am.

Expect a full review and some photos next week.

From There To Here And Now . . .

is the name of the new double cd mix by Rolando on NRK and it’s ace. Two cds, (before you’ve even heard them you know they’re almost certainly going to represent
“two sides of Rolando’s personality,” “the contemplative and the bonkers,”), that do a lot to re-establish the soulful side of electronica in our current musical climate. I’m listening to cd 2 as I type and Derrick May’s mix of “Sueno Latino,” which never fails to get the hairs on the back of you neck grooving. Good work from The Aztec Mystic, now resident in Edinburgh.

CD1:
1. Sound Stream - Soul Train2. Trackheadz - My Love3. Da Sunlounge - Baby How Long (Johnny Fiasco Edit)4. Ame - Basic Track5. Theo Parrish - Falling Up (Carl Craig Mix)6. Nick Holder - No More Dating DJs (John Ciafone Dub Mix)7. Next Evidence - The Light (Rolando Mix)8. DJ Sneak - Bad Mutha9. Quentin Harris - Let's Be Young10. High Caliber - Tunnel Vision11. Floorplan - Funky Souls (Club 246 Mix)12. Hipp-e - Dazed 'n' Confused13. Ritzi Lee - Je Suis Ici (Orlando Voorn Mix)14. Trevor Rockliffe ft. Blake Baxter - Relax15. Tommie Nevada - Stargirl16. Kerri Chandler - Bar A Thym (Foremost Poets Vocal Remix)17. Andreas Saag - Release The Groove18. John Thomas - U Say Come On19. Rolando - In-Transit

CD2:
1. Malik Alston - Butterfly2. Trackheadz - Amor Por Ti3. Tokyo Black Star - Black Star4. Quinn - No More Drama5. David Alvarado - The Day6. Trackheadz - Jah Shall Come7. Tread - Opacity Omen8. Indigenous Space People - Across The Universe9. Sueno Latino - Sueno Latino (Derrick May Illusion Mix)10. Vince Watson - Cycles

DJs Who Make Mix Compilations But Don’t Like Them:

Mix comps in general that is. James Holden did it to us last month with “At The Controls,” (React) and Luciano’s about to with “Sci-Fi Hi-Fi Vol. II” (Soma). I’ve heard a few in my time, most recently “Boogybytes Vol. 01” (BPitch) by Kiki and “Fabric 27” by Mathew Dear as Audion, both of which were great. Of course there’s a plethora of them out there, and we all know the old chestnut about “not being able to condense a 24 hour set into 80 minutes, but surely good music is good music? Holden’s tracklisting was, to some, inventive, and it was certainly well-programmed, but the bottom line is that if you don’t like the tunes, then you’re not going to buy it. I anticipate a bit of a backlash for Luciano who, in my opinion, has missed an opportunity. He finished his mix at the beginning of this year. Look at the track listing and tell me what he’s produced isn’t radically different from the multitude of live sets he was playing during the last few months of ’05. Soma have sat on the release of this one for too long. I can’t see this selling as well as it could have. Hope it does though. If it’s half as good as Ewan Pearson’s launch for the series (which, along with Dominik Eulberg’s “Kreucht & Fleucht” (Mischwald) were mix cd highlights of last year. For an excellent review of the Eulberg cd, click here), it’ll be worth it.

Here’s a full tracklisting for last Saturdays show, which can be found here. Jonny hasn’t included the labels in his tracklisting and, although I know them, I’m much to lazy to fill them in.


Machines Are Funky: 1/4/06

Charlie’s House (Apparat remix) – Nathan Fake (Border Community)
Grace (Anxiety) – Troy Pierce (Underline)
Atrau – Me – Undo (Factor City)
First One – Shaka (Floppy Funk)
Unbreakable (Exercise One Fragile mix) – Sweet n’ Candy (Dumb Unit)
Warm Soul – The Architect (Karloff)
U Can’t Touch This – Jerome Plays The Bass (Be My Sheep)
La Demission du Coach – Sarah Goldfarb (Triebstoff)
Land of Confusion – Armando (Djax-Up Beats)

Jonny Davies aka Le Jockey In The Mix
1. Dextro-Do You Need-Holden Noise Tool2. Mandy Vs Bookashade- Body Language-Afrilounges Deep Reconstructed Mix3. Anja Schneider & Sebo K- Rancho Relaxo-Jennifer Cardini & Shonkys Eifel Tower Mix4. Trentmoller-Serenetti-Hemmann & Kaden Remix5. Ryan Crosson-Painters Day- N/a6. Matthias Tanzmann-Bulldozer-Robags Herbstmoosmutzel Remix7. Trentmoller-Polar Shift- N/a8. Anja Schneider & Sebo K-Side Leaps-Magda Remix9. Matthias Tanzmann-Bulldozer- N/a10. Shane Berry-Fillertet 2- N/a11. Elektrochemie-Pleasure Seeker- N/a12. Nathan Fake-The Sky Was Pink-Holden Remix12. Dextro-Do You Need-Holden Remix