Track Of The Day: The Black Dog - Parallel (General Production Recordings)

 

First released in 1991, and then later in 1995 as part of a compilation, ‘Parallel’ is a great example of the incredible sound that The black Dog were producing at that time. The design and density of this track is as good, if not better, than anything that came before and has been released since. It’s wonderful when hearing music like this for the first time and trying to imagine what inspired it. Your head really starts spinning at the thought of the multiple concepts that are involved in the imagination necessary to put this tune together. So apart from the music, the mystical dimension to this composition really comes through. And once the grey matter has grasped the calibration of transcendence, you are in the right place to be taken somewhere else.

Track Of The Day: Mood ll Swing - I See You Dancing (Groove On)

 

If we all hang around long enough every Mood ll Swing release will make it onto these pages. It’s as inevitable as Tom Cruise winning an Oscar in his dotage. Anyway, as far as I can see this gen hasn’t been posted yet. Iy has the hallmark groove of a classic Mood ll Swing track with added drum rolls, but what sets it apart is its synth work, which up close sounds like a wildly flanging guitar. One to raise the hairs on the back of your neck on the dance floor when all else is lost to inebriation me thinks.

Track Of Yesterday: Galaxian - Forget About It (Foul-Up)

This is one of Galaxian’s best, even though it might sound a bit earnest for some. Atmospheric and, as a result of some sterling work with disembodied voice transfiguration, sinister and poignant simultaneously. (Read that last bit in the exaggerated accent of a hippy Californian futurist). A set ender if ever I’ve heard one, leaving the crowd to disperse to their early morning food for thought.

Trommel.241 - Carl H [recorded live at Evasion Festival 2025]

 

trommel · Trommel.241 - Carl H [recorded live at Evasion Festival 2025]

Track Of The Day: Sten - Eccentric (Dial)

 

File this under “one of those tracks I’d forgotten I’d bought but I’m glad I did”. Sten, aka Lawrence is the label head of Dial, along with Carsten Jost and Turner. And this piece of gothic flavoured, cinematic deep house sounds like it emerged straight from the watery, boggy steppes with its menacing credentials intact. It’s a wall of sound tune, immersive, sinister and uncanny which has the power to sweep you away on the dance floor or, equally, take you to another dimension while sitting in your metaphysical drawing room wrapped up in your thoughts and insulated from the outside world.

Track Of The Day: Morgan Geist - Lullaby (Environ)

 

A quarter century since this was released. That makes you think innit. I can remember going into Black Market Records in Soho to buy this. And when ‘Miura’ came out shortly after 9/11 I repeated the process. This is such a great, understated track though. Three parts electro and three parts disco, lifted from the lino onto the dance floor. I used to play ‘24K’ out a lot more, but would throw this on if the crowd needed a Kraftwerk fix. Bloody marvellous.

Innershades - Heritage Vol 2 (Altered Circuits)

 

Title: Heritage Vol. 2

Artist: Innershades

Label: Altered Circuits

Cat Number: ALT023

Genre: Evocative Sleaze

1: Mind State

2: System Breach

3: Fuse Memory

4: Rhythm Composer

I guess if anything it falls into the loosely-categorised compartment of “club music”, currently used as a coverall for the dark, the seedy and the messy, then this might be a good example. The kick is stronger on ‘Mind State’ and ‘Rhythm Composer’, with the latter running away with itself into the hills of trance. ‘System Breach’ and ‘Fuse Memory’ are lighter, and a little slower. There are certain motifs that cover most bases here though. Such as the electronic barrel organ sound that Innershades seems to be particularly fond of. This dominates ‘Mind State’ particularly and pops up sporadically on tracks 2 and 3. It has arpeggios in its DNA. There’s a very euro disco through the looking glass feel to the whole release which is a very good thing. However, a little bit more variation on a theme would be nice.

Anne Clark - Our Darkness (Dark Entries)

Title: Our Darkness

Artist: Anne Clark

Label: Dark Entries

Cat Number: DE-340

Genre: Electro Disco

1: Our Darkness (Remix)

2: Our Darkness (Dub Mix)

3: Our Darkness (Razormaid Mix)

4: Sleeper In Metropolis (Extended Remix)

5: Poem For A Nuclear Romance

I have to confess that this is a new one on me, whether or not it was played in the clubs I used to frequent in mid 80s Liverpool. A very minimal, dense and autodidactic piece of work. The vocal is spoken and comes across as somewhere between a proclamation and a poem, delivered in such a way as to amplify the pain between the lines.This type of stuff has always been appealing on the discerning dancefloor, the one that treads a fine line between hope and despair. So, It’s easy to see how it was so influential in the early Chicago and Detroit scenes. There’s not much variety between the three versions here btw. ‘Sleeper In Metropolis’ goes down a similar path, utilising slowed down breakbeats and an intense, arpeggiated synth. ‘Poem For A Nuclear Romance’ terminates this release and is very much of its time. I’m glad I didn’t hear this at the height of the cold war. Maybe play it before watching ‘Threads’, just to get in the mood?

 

Track Of The Day: The Slits - So Tough (Island)

 

Still sounding fresh today, ‘So Tough’ appeared on ‘Cut’ and has funk in spades. The rest of the world is still catching up with stuff like this, in spite of it being almost fifty years old. And if there is one group which was ahead of the curve at this time it was The Slits. No other quartet playing at that time made light of such a wide range of influences and, in the process, managed to fuse them into something unique. The Pop Group would not have existed without them, nor the next generation of DIY beat combos. Their influence runs deep and they aren’t lauded enough.

Track Of The Day: System 7 - Alphawave (Plastikman's Acid House Remix) (Butterfly)

 

Here are gentle hippie folk System 7, aka Steve Hillage and Martine Giraudy, getting theremin treatment from Plastikman, aka Richie Hawtin, at the height of his powers. There’s something so satisfying about the sound that comes from the 303 on this track. It’s ust a kick and a long drawn out acidic squelch until the handclaps come in, and they sound magnificent too. This is big room techno before the concept existed, but the beauty of it is is it’s excellent. Not a loopy cop out. And once the hi-hats come in at around4 minutes there’s no going back. The intensity just builds and builds. Layer upon layer of sound battering you into submission. And yet it manages to remain eternally funky.