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.