Low Life was a collaboration between Ben Sims and Mosaic boss Steve O’Sullivan, and the three tracks on here do veer slightly away from the standard minimal Mosaic sound. That is both good and bad. Good for trying something different, bad because it’s a sound I really like. I chose this from the release mainly because I love the sound of the drums. There’s also the underlying spoken word sample, which has a shelf life of fragrant smoke. I’ll wager that the driums are at the newest of Ben Sims, and most of the rest is the work of Steve O’Sullivan. Of course I could, and usually am, wrong. Off on my hols tomorrow so more posts in a week or so. Also a new mix coming up. Hold on to your hats!
Saturday, July 25, 2026
Friday, July 24, 2026
Track Of The Day: Electrospy - Voice (Mix 1) (Brain Coral)
A great piece of groovy proto tech house. Rare as hen’s teeth nowadays, hence the high Discogs prices, but sanity has prevailed and it can be found digitally. It comes in two mixes and I prefer this one as it’s groovier and more linear than the other version. A pitched up version is the second track on Terry Francis’ ‘Architecture’ mix. One of the fruits of the Wiggle heyday. Anyway, I prefer it at the speed it was recorded at. Horses for courses and all that. An underrated tune and one that someone needs to rerelease.
Track Of Yesterday: Infiniti - Walking On Water (Tresor)
A piece of dub techno from Juan Atkins who, even though he isn’t necessarily known for churning this stuff out, produces something fresh and a little bit different. It feels like quite an organic piece of work, which is something rare in the synthetic world of a genre which, apart from obvious influences from other areas, seems to have arrived zipped up and ready to go from nowhere. Maurizio was doing it before I guess, and everyone else has been producing facsimiles. This is ok if you like it, which I do.
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Track Of The Day: Sunrise Society - Astral Travel (Sterac Mix) (Pacific)
One of those tracks where what isn’t done plays as much of a part as what is. Sterac has always been very good off the ball, and this remix is all about patience and construction. In that sense it is as great a stand out peak time tune as a mixing tool. The drums are particularly pleasing. There seems to be exactly the right weight on every beat. And when the cymbals come in they sound like a deluge. However, it’s by no means Rachmad’s best work and one can be forgiven for thinking there’s not much to it. Not a bad piece of ordinariness though.
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Track Of The Day: Dawl - Asylum (Tone Dropout)
I love everything about the Tone Dropout label. The analogue purity and depth of the productions, (now I’m going to find out that they’ve all been made on Ableton). The logic and the graphics. Most of all though it’s how the music makes me feel. They hearken back to a rave I was at, or was I? Break beats and acid rule the roost and the tracks slip into more groove-laden tunes to rock the boat a little and remind you that, even though the music is top notch and takes you back, a little bit of chaos in the mix is always a good idea. ‘Asylum’ is typical of the label. Everything I’ve already described as well as a reliable functionality which is much more than the sum if its parts. Lovely stuff.
Track Of Yesterday: Maurizio - Domina (Carl Craig's Mind Mix) (M)
One of those Carl Craig remixes that makes you regret he’s still not churning stuff this good out. I guess we all change. Different priorities, etc. This is amazing though. A little bit like his later remix of ‘Johnny L’. It has an eponymous, repetitive vocal allied with a bittersweet backing. An embryonic exploration into the possibilities of sound. A track where Detroit techno collides with IDM, (WHATEVER THAT IS), and an emotive dose feeling borne of an explorative sensibility is sprinkled on top. I posted the other side of this a few years back. Something much more conventional, in spite of it being distilled straight from Maurizio’s creative juices and having featured on Eddie Richards’ ‘Essential Mix’ back in 1996. Something that the late Peter Pulford recorded for me. This is out on it’s own though. A more wistful piece of electronic music you will never hear, let alone one that can do it on the dance floor. Beautiful.
Monday, July 20, 2026
Track Of Yesterday: Faze Action - In The Trees (Nuphonic)
At the tail end of the twentieth century, one of the sounds that dominated deep house clubland, particularly in London, was that of Nuphonic. And Faze Action was its standard bearers. ‘In The Trees’ is one of those tracks that probably invented the term ‘nu-disco’. Now that category has mutated to become a byword for Balearic in more recent times. This track, however, could only have come out of The UK. There’s great attention to detail and a reverential use of orchestration that typifies the times. London was very much the centre of the dance music universe at that time and tracks like this helped to put it there. And, even though it wears its influences on its sleeve, there is more than a whiff oof the timeless about it. Funny that the track it most reminds me of is ‘Clubbed To Death’, the downtempo classic which also indulges itself in the symphonic.
Sunday, July 19, 2026
Saturday, July 18, 2026
Track Of The Day: Chuggernaut - Darkstrut (IMIX)
This is one of the most genuine tracks of the day I’ve posted. Reason being is that I only discovered it today. I’ve just posted Grant Dell’s session on The Mudd Show and, looking at the comments pin YouTube somebody decided to do everyone a favour by trying to compile a trackless. They didn’t get very far. However, they did manage this and open or two others. What’s more, the people behind this are DJ Catt, DJ Rico & Wyatt Earp, late of Casa del Soul fame (well, not DJ Rico). Now as explained in a post earlier this week, I’ve jus offloaded a few from that label. I did keep some though, and this release of a similar standard to that label’s best work. This track is from the ‘Casatek’ EP, so it’s hiding on plain site. And selling for a pretty penny on Discogs. It’s got what you want. Sleazy spoken word vocals over a deliberate chugging bass. Not chugging in the ALFOS sense, but I see no reason why this track couldn’t cross over into the world of pre 122 bps given the chance. It’s woozy, messy and magnificent. Say no more.
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