Track Of The Day: Boogie Down Productions - South Bronx (B-Boy Records)

 

Before I got into house, etc, I was really into hip-hop, and when I moved down to London, Elephant & Castle, in June 1987, I had just started seriously buying it. Of course I can’t remember the name of the shop, but it was a small one off Walworth Rd., much closer to the Camberwell end than the Elephant one. There were record shops on every street corner back then, or so it seemed. Anyway, this particular one was mostly US imports I think, and it had a small, but perfectly formed hip-hop section. I’d heard that Scott Le Rock had recently been murdered in New York, but wasn’t that familiar with his music, so I bought ‘Criminal Minded’ on sight and found out all about the beef between the Bronx and Queens. I’ve still got this record within a few metres of me, but I doubt I’d find it in five minutes. I saw BDP live at The Town & Country club a couple of years later and it was one of the best hip-hop Gigs I ever went to. Better than EPMD mumbling and miming their album.

Track Of The Day: Larry Heard feat. Mr White - The Sun Can't Compare (Alleviated Records)

This track needs no introduction, except to say that it was being played by everyone and no one could possibly ruin it, unless they didn’t play it all. A contender for the best vocal acid track, as well as evidence that Larry heard can do no wrong. And the reason I’m posting it is because I just heard in on an Optimo mix. Which is nice.

LAST DRESDEN RECORDING AT CORSICA

DRESDEN · LAST DRESDEN RECORDING AT CORSICA

Recorded at Houghton - Vlada (2025)

Houghton Festival · Recorded at Houghton - Vlada (2025)

Recorded at Houghton - Al Wootton ( Pinters Set - 2025)

 

Houghton Festival · Recorded at Houghton - Al Wootton ( Pinters Set - 2025)

Track Of The Day: Sloth & Dormant - Yellow Cake (Thrive)

 

Posted as ‘Yellow Cake’ on Youtube, but as ‘Bush Life’ on a recent Instagram post on the real_tech_house account, I’m not too sure what to put. However ‘Bush Life’ on Pete’s Bandcamp comes up as a different tune. I could look for it downstairs, but would probably be incommunicado for the rest of the day. Anyways, this is a great piece of hypnotic, driving, druggy, groovy music. Everything was pitched up in those days so, in the spirit of some recent posts I’m going to say that I’d pitch it down. Not by much, but just enough to make it sound funkier and more lubricated. Another piece of magic from Mr. Hurst which has aged well.

Kerrie - Waves Of Reverie (Cultivated Electronics)

 

Title: Waves Of Reverie PT 1

Artist: Kerrie

Label: Cultivated Electronics

Cat Number: CE 049

Genre: Electro

A1: Enter The Vortex

A2: Beware Of Monotony

B1: Waves Of Reverie

B2: Funk Fidelity

I get the “waves” element instantly. ‘Enter The Vortex’ is made up of just that. It’s a heavy, slightly fidgety piece of electro that eternally unfurls over the electronic matrix that supports it. ‘Beware Of Monotony’ is sparser but no less imposing. A vocoder intones something that I don’t quite understand, but has me craning towards my speaker in hope. The melody sounds like a flock of seagulls on acid (the birds, not the group). This one is all about the bass. The title track leans in a similar sonic direction to what has gone before, and maybe falls in between the opening two as far as weight is concerned. There’s a feeling of tempered relentlessness, something which is further emphasised on ‘Funk Fidelity’, whose abrasive beats and rawness round off this release in style. It’s no holds barred stuff this, the type of electro that reimagines the genre squeezing into that techno nether region and not escaping.

V/A - Minacore Vol. 1 (Mina)

 

Title: Minacore Vol. 1

Artist: Various

Label: MIna

Cat Number: MINA001

Genre: Beats

1: Phoebe - Swamp Head

2: Violet - Early Shift

3: BLEID - 8AM PM

4: marum - Nothing Gold Can Stay

It’s a mixed bag this; ranging from the acid-tinged stomp of ‘Swamp Head’ to the beatless 1970s-tinged electronica of ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’. In between ‘Early Shift’ gives us drum and bass with some interesting tempo switches and ‘8AM PM’ invokes tribal abandon through layers of percussion. If we’re picking faves, as would be the case on such a release where difference is such a calling card, ‘Swamp Head’ takes the plaudits, with its 303 infused chug. However, each tune is an exercise in shape throwing tenderisation, from the most pummelling (‘8AM PM’), to the lightest of palpitations (‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’). And ‘Early Shift’ being the most dynamic.

Intergalactic Gary at MITHA

 

MITHA · Intergalactic Gary at MITHA

Track Of The Day: Joy Division - Disorder (Factory)

 

The opening track from one of the best albums ever released, and one I remember buying very clearly., I was with my dad and brother on the way down to, or back from a holiday. He had recently left my mum and was showing some sort of paternal duty by taking us on a holiday to Seaford on the south coast. We stopped in London and I went to HMV at the tTottenham Court Rd end of Oxford Street. ‘Unknown Pleasures’ had just been released and was all you could see when entering the shop. Factory definitely had their marketing dept. On full alert with it. Anyway I think it cost £2.99 at the time and I remember thinking that it, along with ‘Electricity’ by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark both had very tactile sleeves. ‘Disorder’ is such an incredible opening track. Curtis’ lyrics are amazing and sonically it takes you to a place that most bands of that time weren’t capable of, or hadn’t conceived. You can feel the way things were going to evolve well before New Order started. Every element is perfect.

Track Of The Day: DJ Ali - In The Day (The Leaf Label)

 

Definitely a b anger this one. DJ Ali came up with some quite original tunes when tribal west coast house was at it’s peak. However, most of those he’ll be remembered for were vocal led by Tim Fuller. ‘In The Day’ is a more functional piece in that respect. However, there is a lot more to it than meets the ear. It drives along relentlessly, powered by level upon level of percussive bombast, all of which is topped off by the most subtle use of the 303 which is, as far as I’m concerned, it’s hallmark.

Track Of The Day: Moodymann - Bosconi (Planet E)

 

The other side of ‘Dem Young Sconies’, so often overlooked; ‘Bosconi’ is every bit as sonically interesting as the A, probably because it really does sound that it came out of the same recording session. The two tracks are two sides of the same coin, with the more languid, horizontal sound of this track playing off against something more upfront and abrasive. Kenny Dixon Jnr very quickly established a sound which is simultaneously abstract and soulful, wrapped it in mystique and, in the process, became house music’s most enigmatic producer. It can often feel like he gets away with murder, but that’s all part of the appeal.

Track Of The Day: Miles Davis - Interlude (CBS)

It’s been a while since I posted anything by Miles. How did that happen? Anyway it’s Monday, I’m resting up after some minor surgery and out of action, so how about an interlude that lasts over twenty minutes and is a completely immersive piece of fusion. And I think the world is starting to catch Miles up as far as this era of his artistry is concerned. The album on which this features, ‘Agharta’ divided a lot of listeners at the time. Which I imagine was part of the motivation for making it in the first place. I guess that’s easy to understand when comparing stuff like it, recorded in an afternoon in 1975 at a concert in Osaka, to what came before ‘In A Silent Way’. There’s such a minimalist approach, particularly to Davis’ own input, compared to what was previously expected of jazz musicians. So without wanting to overstate anything, this is as out there as it gets, at any period in the evolution of music.

004.15-BARDO-IVAN+VLADIMIR

 

Vladimir · 004.15-BARDO-IVAN+VLADIMIR

Sound Metaphors Mix Series 48 : DJ Sundae

 

Sound Metaphors · Sound Metaphors Mix Series 48 : DJ Sundae