Track Of The Day: Gil Scott Heron - Angola, Louisiana (Arista)

 

‘Angola, Louisiana’ comes from the album ‘Secrets’, an album I used to own but sadly don’t anymore. And the reason I’m posting this is because when I looked at the track list I had a bit of a Prussian rush. Honestly, there are a hatful of tracks I could have posted, but this one stands out. ‘Angola, Louisiana’ references a high security prison. More specifically, it is “A courageous message about the unfair trial against Gary Tyler who supposedly killed 13 yrs old Timothy Weber during the assault by white students against a black student's minority recently integrated thanks to new antiracial regulations in '74...GT is still in jail”. That was cut and pasted from a YouTube comment, so it’s a bit all over the place, but you get the picture. Black American music is full of such references. People literally getting away with murder and framing others if they can. “There are more than 6,000 men currently imprisoned at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola—three-quarters of them are there for life, and nearly 80 percent are African American. It's the end of the line for many convicted criminals in Louisiana, which has the highest incarceration rate of any state in the U.S.”

Vass The Mudd Show

Eli Verveine @ The Lot Radio 05-16-2026

The Lot Radio · Eli Verveine @ The Lot Radio 05-16-2026

Ransom Note @ The Lot Radio 01-24-2026

 

The Lot Radio · Ransom Note @ The Lot Radio 01-24-2026

Tia Cousins & Manuol Bone @ Kiosk Radio 15.05.2026

Track Of The Day: Rhythm & Sound - Mango Drive (Wackies)

 

There’s not much to say about this track except that it’s possible to listen to it forever and not get bored. In spite of what feels like a simple structure, dub like this has the ability to suck you in and keep you transfixed. This is anything but smooth though. Because although there are tight boundaries, within those walls there is an elastic reality. 

Robert Hood - Spectra (M-Plant)

 

Title: Spectra

Artist: Robert Hood

Label: M-Plant

Cat Number: MPM52

Genre: Techno

A1: Spectra

A2: E. Dark

B1: Untitled (Spectra)

B2: Fiend

Even though it was released back in 2001, ‘Spectra’ may be a new tune to me as, although I bought a lot of the M-Plant stuff on sight, I think I’d stopped by 2001. Why, I have no idea. I mean I’ve got a lot of records so it could be in there, somewhere. In any case, in his heyday Hood was the innovator, alongside Mills. They both followed different paths though. Both onto their own specific artistic vision and while Mils pursued a sort of sci-fi aesthetic, Hood was gazing more inward. His minimal vision has always been a singular one and his production so crisp and physical that it is still amongst the most forward thinking music of its type today. On the face of things that may not be immediately apparent. However, once you’re locked onto the demented machine funk accordion of ‘Spectra’, you soon realise that this isn’t just any old process. There are myriads of different layers and inflections laid out which mutate with every different listening. It’s not all like that though. Both ‘E. Dark’ and ‘Fiend’ loop the loop and plough a relatively one dimensional furrow. They’re great at what they do however. And the quality of the production as well as the measured way that they let off steam means that they aren’t to be categorised with the normal fare enjoyed by the sweaty techno masses. ‘Untitled (Spectra)’ has a lot more about it. There are swirling phantom noises, for example, and even though it feels linear, there are small indentations  which emphasise the fact that it is a coalition of off-beat chaos. The keys are pure Detroit, and then there’s a violin. This isn’t an easy thing to imagine, let alone make. No problem for Mr Hood though. The devil in the detail.

Track Of The Day: Jun - B1 Outergaze 2 (Capricious)

 

This track comes from someone called Jun, of whom I have no more information, and is on Capricious, a Japanese label. This has atmosphere. Composed primarily of a lilting sub bass and syncopated urgency, along with the inevitable beat to hold it together there is an atmospheric interloper in the form of whirling synth swathes. These elements combine to form a percussive tech monster which threatens to burst once it plateaus, it never quite does that thankfully. It would sound great coming out of yesterday’s TOTD, or the reverse.

Track of The Day: Levon Vincent - Invisible Bitchslap (Deconstruct)

One of the best and most menacing pieces of dance floor focussed dub techno in existence. I doubt there’s anything to beat it, but what do I know. Such a large full sound that would be equally at home in a big room or a front room. Has to be heard on the right sound system though. No half measures with the equalising. This was the first release on Deconstruct, a label Vincent set up with Anthony Parasole which, while it had a short existence, contributed more than the sum of its parts. Vincent’s insistent, linear and tribal beats remind me a lot of what Octave One have always done. And, coming from New York, there’s also the shadow of Danny Tenaglia in there as well. These are Levon Vincent’s beats though, and it’s a pity he’s not still churning them out.

Hamish & Toby B2B XDB - Recorded live from fabric

 

fabric · 031 - Hamish & Toby B2B XDB - Recorded live from fabric

Truancy Volume 365: Mariiin

 

TRUANTS · Truancy Volume 365: Mariiin

Track Of The Day: B(if)tek - Wired For Sound (Murmur)

 

B (if) tek, an all-female group out of darkest Australia who I’m just discovering, released this, an homage to Cliff Richard’s tune of the same name, back in the year 2000. I wonder if it sounded as futuristic then as it does now. I mean Cliff’s original back in 1981 with its roller skating video was avant-garde enough, but this. And as Australlia take part in Eurovision, why not B (if) tek? This would sweep the board. It might even be enough to get Cliff to crawl out from under his carapace and slither into the audience to beam his positive waves towards the stage. 

Track Of The Day: Dorau/Kohncke - Durch Die Nacht (Geiger Mix) (Kompakt)

 

I randomly grabbed this from the shelves and played it for the first time in ages. It comes with a couple of remixes, the other by Wolfgang Voight. This is the one I prefer though. The filtered looped vocal played over the wistful, bittersweet beats. It’s got great chug potential too. Well, almost everything on Kompakt with the schaffel stride has. Great track that takes you somewhere.

Plant43 - Spells For Warding Off Evil (Silver Threads)

 

Title: Spells For Warding Off Evil

Artist: Plant43

Label: Silver Threads

Cat Number: 

Genre: Ambient/Drone

1: Spheres Of Protection

2: The City Lies Silent

3: Broken Hex

4: Music For Surgery

5: Dreams In Viridian

6: Resisting Infernal Gravity

7: Haunted Fields

8: Prey Of The Nocturnal Raptor

9: Bittersweet Tears Fall

10: Dreams In Vermillion

11: Buried Codex

12: Embers Of The Old World Fade

Well, if it’s an immersive experience you want, listen no further than ‘Spells For Warding Off Evil’. The sound design of this album feels like an experiment in expressing a stream of consciousness through the layering of undulating drone patterns against a backdrop of emotive, sonic dissonance. The tracks seem to have the potential to overlay themselves as well, with each of them occupying a specific region of sound that is prone to movement and, as a result, containment. Some tracks are more robust than others: ‘Bittersweet Tears Fall’, for example, feels concrete and onomatopoeic. ‘Haunted Fields’ is the soundtrack to a Battle Of Britain dogfight in a parallel universe, while ‘Dreams In Vermillion’ is the soundtrack to demons being invoked through a short wave radio. That these frequencies operate in regions of the subconscious which have suddenly been rendered concrete. From the ominous, subdued, opening of ‘Spheres Of Protection’, the sound design of which is subtly augmented by ‘The City Lies Silent’. Through to the twin pillars of ‘Buried Codex’ and ‘Embers Of The Old World Fade’, the confrontational former blending into the uncertain and unsettling latter. This is a voyage into sound.

Track Of The Day: Surgeon - Optic (Downwards)

 

This is a cut from Surgeon’s debut album, ‘Communications’ and seems to blend the minimalism of Robert Hood with the scything bleeps of Neil Landstrumm. What’s goos about it is the way the bulk of the track retreats into the distance whilst the bleep remains in the foreground, only to come back of course, but maybe not into as sharp relief as the listener might like. It’s a lovely track to have on the headphones, in spite of its viscerally uncompromising stance and slices up the senses from a different angle compared to its Detroit overseers.

Track Of The Day: e-n - The Horn Ride (Ian's Classic Cut) (Tribal)

 

In some nightclubs in the mid  nineties, the messy, druggy, decadent sound espoused by Tribal ruled the dance floors. Coming from New York, it had a certain depth and versatility about it which saw records on the label find their way into all sorts of DJ sets. ‘The Horn Ride’ was released as a double pack with a range of remixes, but I like this one the most, for its minimalistic darkness Tardis-like ability to invoke a sense of space.

Vladimir Ivkovic ‪@TheLotRadio‬ 05-11-2026

 

Track Of The Day: Magazine - Shot By Both Sides (Virgin)

 

One of the most memorable guitar riffs ever, which first appeared, if memory serves, on ‘Lipstick’ by Buzzcocks. That means of course that Pete Shelley gets a writing credit for this tune. It’s a monster, and this video, which I’ve posted on account of some great crowd expressions and Howard Devoto’s uncanny hairline (defo going through some sort of Roxy/Eno phase with it), is great. I don’t know it’s context though, so if anyone does feel free to let me know. I’ve a feeling it was filmed in Belgium or Holland not long after release. One of my all time most persistent eagworms, and I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve posted it.

Shawescape Renegade - Exoframe (Tresor)

 

Title: Exoframe

Artist: Shawescape Renegade

Label: Tresor

Cat Number: Tresor. 382

Genre: Electro/Techno

1: Light Years From Earth

2: Mechanise 9

3: Terraformers Warning

4: Terraformers Warning (Arpanet Terraformation Quanta Remodel)

5: Ignition One

Shawescape Renegade, aka Jeremiah Shaw is a new name to me, which just goes to show how out of the loop I am I suppose. Anyway, it’s an early Tuesday morning in Suffolk, the dog is being lazy and doesn’t want to go out, so I’ve started listening to ‘Exoframe’, his debut release on Tresor. And it’s stated well, apart, that is, from me typing “Shawshank” and having to go back and correct my mistakes. I guess a release like this represents a milestone of sorts in the evolution of electro as there aren’t that many new artists breaking through and coming from Detroit always carries extra kudos. However, no one gets a free pass so it had better be good. And, while it isn’t going to revolutionise the genre in one fell swoop, it’s everything that you want an electro funk excursion to be. The production is pleasingly heavy and crisp without being excessive. The bass is concave and economical filling a lot more space than might be apparent. And the emphasis is on the beats throughout, which are all strictly electro with the exception of ‘Mechanise 9’, where the steam hammers take over and the beat is ironed out. The Arpanet mix of ‘Terraformers Warning’ doesn’t differ that much from the original inasmuch as its trace elements are recognisable in a much more urgent, fidgety take which sounds like it’s been recorded inside a washing machine inside an echo chamber. The bookends, ‘Light Years From Earth’, and ‘Ignition One’, are the funkiest tracks on this release. Both of them coast through the twilit electro hinterland within the chassis of a metaphysical lowrider powered by their own beat flatulence, and who doesn’t like that?

Track Of The Day: Public Space - Menuditis (Underwater)

 

This is one of a handful of releases I still have on Darren Emerson’s Underwater label from around the mid nineties. It’s the B side to ‘Prometheus’ and showcases a young Steve Rachmad effortlessly doing what he does best. This isn’t as complex as many of his releases from around that time, with his output on 100% Pure being particularly high quality, as well as that on Fragile. It is, though, as good as it gets for contemporary dance floor focussed techno that isn’t loop based. There are dubby, depth-endowing overtones to it, as well as good momentum (the two don’t always sit side-by-side). And, as you would expect from Steve Rachmad, great production and clarity. Lovely stuff.

Track Of The Day: Two Lone Swordsmen - Bim, Jack & Florence (Emissions Audio Output)

I played this album own its entirety for the first time in ages today, and even though it’s pretty solid from start to finish, this track is the one that had me bopping around the kitchen more than any other. It’s also the one that, more than any other, evokes the album title. Listening to it puts me on a conveyor belt of slow, unfolding rave drives. Full up to the eye with beans while being taken on a tour of any city I happen to been. All control has been surrendered to the chauffeur. I’ve been on a few with perhaps the most surreal being one in New Jersey one hot and sticky Friday night. Literally on the wrong side of the tracks. Sliding silently past wooden houses with large porches, everyone put on them getting pissed in the middle of the night.

Track Of The Day: Pink Floyd - The great Gig In The Sky (Harvest)

 

I don’t own any Pink Floyd records, but some tracks are so incredibly pervasive it’s impossible not to be affected by them in some way. And just seeing the cover of this album takes me back to the first floor of John Menzies in Liscard in the mid seventies. It was everywhere. I bought so many records there, but this wasn’t one of them. Having said that I wouldn’t have liked it at that age. My tastes weren’t more highly evolved than glam rock at the time. I think my proclivities were ok in that capacity though. Anyway this is a great piece of screaming. Never loses the focus and in doing so comes up with one of the most memorable pomp rock riffs. Probably.

Track Of The Day: John Coltrane - Blue Train (Blue Note)

 

‘Blue train’ has one of the most memorable and, consequently, whistled intros ever. During the eighties when I first started buying jazz Blue Note was obviously one of the places I started. And I think ‘Blue Train’ was the first album I bought by John Coltrane. The cover is amazing as well. Coltrane frozen in some sort of thinker pose. A friend of mine who has a talent for drawing sketched me this portrait and it hangs on the wall just outside my bedroom as the moment. The other thing about it is that John Coltrane looks like a young Frank Bruno. More in some photos than in others.

XDB at Chat with a DJ - ARTE Concert

 

Track Of The Day: Cabaret Voltaire - Be Free (Mute)

 

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a Cabs track. This is the opener from the last album, ‘Shadow Of Fear’ which came out own 2020 just under a year before its composer, Richard H. Kirk died. So  it followed ‘The Conversation’ which had come out in 1993 as the two albums under his sole stewardship up to that time. And even though it was just him, it certainly doesn’t lose anything that make it unmistakably of its type. Many would say that its more genuine because of this. I’m a fan of the combo approach though and while I think RHK rarely put a foot wrong, a lot of my favourite Cabs offerings come from the Mallinder era. I don’t think anything they ever put out betters ‘The Conversation’. ‘Shadow Of Fear’ was a nice way to bow out, albeit unintentionally, and tracks like this embodies everything that CV came t be known for over the years. The funk, the sense of space and menace. The sample which ever so slightly dissonant. The undercurrent of   middle eastern rhythm patterns, more pervasive than you might have realised.

Track Of The Day: Steve Miller Band - Fly Like An Eagle (Capitol)

I’ve had this in my head for the past few days and even though it’s the type of track that I wouldn’t have given much attention to when it came out, I can only hold up my hand and say that it was an age thing. The “Time keeps on slippin’’lyric is an ultimate ear worm and the track may not have been such a classic were it not for that. Anyway, it’s as funky as it gets, so when you’re shopping for chicken Kievs ion Tesco that’s all the matters. And is it Balearic?

Recorded at Hougthon 2025 Ogazon

 

Houghton Festival · Recorded at Hougthon - Ogazón ( 2025)

Recorded at Houghton - DJ Masda (2025)

 

Houghton Festival · Recorded at Houghton - DJ Masda (2025)

Track Of The Day: Grant Green - Idle Moments (Blue Note)

I remember when I first heard this track. I bought the album on cd and also bought a portable cd player. A Philips. I took them both home, which was an ex-girlfriend’s flat in Palmers Green (had to move in after getting evicted from a squat). It was a Friday after work, knackered. Put it on and it did its job. There’s only one way to go once you start listening to this. It should be on the NHS for insomnia. Masterful. One of the most horizontal fitted minutes in music.

Traxx on Dek (LiVe) at Psyche Out Good Room NYC April 2026

 

The Nation · Traxx on Dek (LiVe) at Psyche Out Good Room NYC April 2026

Intergalactic Gary b2b Mowgli (extended set) at Sonoor 27/04/2026

 

Mowgli · Intergalactic Gary b2b Mowgli (extended set) at Sonoor 27/04/2026

Track Of The Day: Will Powers - Adventures In Success (Island)

 

Although like ‘B-Movie’ very much of its time, ‘Adventures In Success’ couldn’t be more different. It’s tempting to call it a novelty record, but it’s really not. Sounding not too dissimilar to Tom Tom Club, it’s message may feel tongue in cheek, but it’s out there anyway and when it was released, even though the eighties were just underway, the self-centred message couldn’t be clearer. Not that there’s anything wrong with being successful if the ruthlessness that often goes with it can be sidestepped. Anyway, that’s enough gravitas. Tune!

Track Of The Day: Gil Scott Heron - B-Movie (Arista)

 

One of those tracks that changed me a little bit forever. I first heard this on one of those NME giveaway cassettes. And at that time I hadn’t heard of Gil Scott Heron. However, this tune, produced at around the beginning of Reagan’s America introduced me to him and from then on I was hooked. As mentioned in a post I wrote when he died, I then went out and bought everything I could find by him from Reaction Records in New Brighton. I don’t have those records anymore but I wish I did. Anyway, the title refers to the type of film in which Ronald Reagan starred a lot and where someone often saved America at the last minute. A great track which summarises America in the 80s and continues the thread of conscious poetry/lyricism started with ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’.

Track Of The Day: Reeko - Para El Conjunto De Las Esferas (KR3 Records)

 

Superior dark, sinister electro that I heard for the first time today. There’s so much scope and room to roam within this track. Everything hits perfectly. The beat is heavy, but skips off the firmament with more of a bounce than a thud. It’s the pervasive flange which is this tune’s calling card though. It sounds like a goth helicopter staring through a night sky full of freaks. Great sound design on this track. 

Track Of The Day: Talking Heads - Heaven (Sire)

 

If I could go back in time one of the first things I would do would be to go and see Talking Heads live. It is to my eternal regret that this didn’t happen when it was possible. Anyway, this is one of their best and I’ve posted the live version because, along with The Eurythmics’ ‘1984’, this album was on display everywhere when I last visited Berlin, in 1984. I say last because I’m going back there next month. I guess things may have changed a little. For the better or worse? When I went it was pretty raw, I went to the Dschungel, which was, I believe, a hang out of David Bowie and Iggy Pop a few years earlier. When I went ‘You Spin Me Round’ was on the wheels of steel and it was very hi nrg. 

Colin Dale - Abstrakt Dance Show - 30.04.2026

Trommel.244 - Truly Madly [ >>> 21.06 in Barcelona for Trommel x Half Baked x LA Aso show]

 

trommel · Trommel.244 - Truly Madly [ >>> 21.06 in Barcelona for Trommel x Half Baked x LA Aso show]

Set 48.6 Yaron Sobel

 

Yaron Sobel · Set 48.6