Such is the arbitrary nature of music that a track that I had never heard before today makes its way forward to place itself in the foremost attic of my mind. For the next hour at least. Has to be heard in the mix I think, to be properly appreciated. Starting things as they mean to go on, and then being followed up by an equally momentous rave monster, tinged with interstellar longing. One for the messy hour. Featured in the previous post.
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Friday, July 19, 2024
Thursday, July 18, 2024
Bleaching Agent - Widowbait EP (Ransom Note)
Title: Widowbait EP
Artist: Bleaching Agent
Label: Ransom Note
Cat Number: R$N46
Genre: Danceable
1: Cahoots
2: Widowbait
3: Of Now But Not
4: Widowbait (DJ Subaru Remix)
Interesting release this. ‘Cahoots’ gets the ball rolling. It’s a mucky piece of guitar led disco with a reptilian vocal. Occupying the middle ground between rock and chug, it’s followed by the title track, which feels like some sort of synthetic country and western. There’s harmonicas in there innit. It also reminds me uncannily of that track ‘Poison Lips’ by Vitalic. It doesn’t really sound anything like it, but that was the first thing that came into my head. “It’s a funny old game Saint”. “That’s football Greavsie”. Anyway, ‘Widowbait’ is much more laid back. The remix by DJ Subaru is a much denser and dubby version, and will definitely be popular on the more discerning dance floors. The press release mentions ALFOS so I don’t have to. Listening to ‘Of Now But Not’ feels a bit strange. It’s production is much cleaner than the other tracks, and it’s that little bit more uptempo, usiing classic Detroit style string samples over a riff with similar provenance, it’s a bit of an outlier here, but no less excellent. All in all, a package that is more than worth your while and one in which each track not only keeps you on your toes, but makes you think. Which is always good.
Track Of The Day: Bitstream - Monolith (Signal)
An amazing, uncategorizable piece of UK electro; ‘Monolith’ has long been a recognised classic, it’s value enhanced by its rarity and beauty. “Bit Stream are brothers Steve & Dave Connor”, (with Rob Hollway at the time).They haven’t released under this name for four years now, with two recentish releases coming out on Frustrated Funk, a label that Dave has also released music on as Adapta. The majority of their output dates from the noughties though. ‘Monolith’ got a rerelease around seven years ago on Vinyl Underground in Northampton, which is where the brothers are from. A jewel in the crown of British electronic music, ‘Monolith’ is a lush piece of electronica which uses a goose pimple inducing melody over an electro template to create a piece of pure magic. It’s one of those tracks that touches the parts others cannot reach.
Monday, July 15, 2024
Track Of The Day: Majic 12 - The Last Battle Pts 1 & 2 (Beau Monde)
A great piece of old school electro, lost in the winds of time. Beau Monde was one of those peripheral labels which dabbled in a genre that, when I was buying a lot of music back in the mid nineties, was peripheral to most of it. I have always loved electro though, and was very susceptible to boutique labels specialising in, what was at the time something that was already in danger of being forgotten. Except by the geeks. And thank god for them because were would we be otherwise. Now I know nothing about Majic 12, except that he was also known as Ultra Modern Art, Lexx & Uriel, all nom de plumes that he also produced as for Beau Monde. His real name is Scott Edward Hodgson and he’s made loads of ace music, a lot of which should be snaffled up while it’s not too pricey on the ‘cogs. Anyway, get your Adidas trackies on, Kangol your tete and start those headspins.
Friday, July 12, 2024
Track Of The Day: Wang Chung - Dance Hall Days (Geffen)
Well, there’s a coincidence. I started writing this and then came across the news that a pair of edits have just been released; one by Peak High and the other form Sean Johnson/Hardway Bros. And it’s free. Needless to say both are essential chug and absolutely ace. However, the original is what we’re here for and, even though it was never a record I even remotely thought of buying at the time, (far too commercial); it’s one of those hardy perennial earworms which, when heard over the supermarket Tannoy, requires enormous self-control to restrain shape throwing in public. The video’s great as well. Those jumpers? All the rage in Wallasey in the early eighties. Stock in trade at M & S at the time. Tucking them into baggy, pleated flannels merely adding to their mystique. It all starts to unravel with the violin posturing, but the haircuts and the mainly random lyrics ensure that there are more distractions to keep you wandering “why?” A heavy layer of nostalgia if nothing else.
Thursday, July 11, 2024
Track Of The Day: John Coltrane - A Love Supreme, Pt. III Pursuance (Impulse!)
I remember buying this record, one Saturday morning in Liverpool, around 1981, 1982 . . . one of those visits to see my dad. We’d go and have a coffee somewhere and after that, I’d wander off to a record shop and spend any money he’d just given me on music. This cost around £3.00 new. It’s a bit of a flimsy pressing, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve still got it and give it a spin from time to time. I was just finding my feet with jazz, a genre I’m still very much learning about and discovering. I must have been around 18 at the time and had made the sideways jump from the funked up sounds I was listening to at the time to their influences and foundation. This track is like some sort of hard bop abstraction, with solos peppered within it. McCoy Tyner’s piano in the first four minutes is stunning, the drumming of Elvin Jones is industrial; Coltrane’s saxophone is savage, and then it all comes to a crashing halt before the last few minutes are taken up by Jimmy Garrison and his double bass, which almost has a Spanish feel to it. It’s all here.
Wednesday, July 10, 2024
Dro San - Labour In Love (Labour Jacks)
Title: Labour In Love
Artist: Dro San
Label: Labour Jacks
Cat Number: LJX002
Genre: Tracky
1: One Legged Scrawny
2: A Culpa é do Tico
3: Oiço Campainhas
4: 4U Paulinho
Sounding very much like something that would have come out on Relief during the halcyon house days of the mid nineties, but also having a certain undefinable something more of now than of then; Dro San’s ‘Labour In Love’, is a release full of minimal bangers. There’s not a lot of sophistication here, but if we wanted that we’d be listening to something else, right? This is visceral, stripped down funk which, for all its lack of finesse, does harbour a certain mystique. It took a relatively long time for music like this to evolve, even though its always been with us so, while I’m well aware I’m going around in circles here, I’m going to begin with the last track ‘4U Paulinho’ which is probably the most individual item here. Detroit style synth stabs allied with frenetic rimshots realised through a fractured lens. ‘One Legged Scrawny’ has a similar itch to be scratched, but is far more restrained and funky. ‘A Culpa é do Tico’ & ‘Oiço Campainhas’ are both of the more pounding variety, with the formers amped up squelching complemented by the latter’s alarm bells over rampant percussion. If you can’t jack your body to these, well there isn’t any point is there?
Track Of The Day: Matthias - Psy Dance (Re Discovery)
I can’t remember how I came across this track, chasing one online tenuous link after another I suppose. Anyway, here we are and its great. How to quantify it? Well, the first thing I notice about it is the beat something that, if slowed down enough, could slide into a set of cerebral chug with ease. Apart from that, what’s noticeable are its floating elements. The undulating, bottom heavy synth; the disembodied vocoder that ensure a healthy amount of dance floor disorientation. There’s also a pervasive Detroit influence here which while not necessarily fully manifested, hangs over the track like 100% humidity.. The rest of the release is also well worth your while.
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