Unauthorised item in the bagging area

Monday 29 February 2016

Bushfarmer


Oh look....yet another slice of excellence from Steve Cobby (this time with Rich Arthurs), hot on the heels of Captivated. This one starts off with a single guitar part and then slowly builds into long, gentle psychedelia. It sounds like sunshine bottled, dawn in an mp3 file, ten minutes of bliss, a brand new ghetto blaster, a good mood guaranteed.

Sunday 28 February 2016

Triangle Folds


This track from James Holden, famous now for remixing Madonna, Depeche Mode and Britney, came out on a DJ Kicks compilation back in 2010 and seems to set out with the ambition of marrying dance music with German electronic cosmische music of the 70s and 80s. He not only succeeds but goes way beyond.

Saturday 27 February 2016

Gentleman Rotter


Another Andrew Weatherall radio show for NTS has appeared with the customary mixture of obscure, exotic and out there tunes. The picture above is purloined from an excellent interview in The Guardian which you can find here, full of laugh out loud quotes and anecdotes. The Rotters Golf Club press machine has gone into overdrive with Convenanza- there are also interviews in this month's Q Magazine and the Wire.

I Bought About A Hundred Candles


Most Iggy Pop albums, even the terrible ones, have something going for them. Avenue B, released in 1999, was a departure from the rock sound he'd cracked on with in the 90s. It had short spoken word pieces, reflective songs with bongos and acoustic guitar, a song in Spanish. It's unfairly overlooked- it sold poorly and wasn't well received by critics or many fans. Written in the aftermath of the break-up with his long-term girlfriend it was a man looking back, reflective, ageing, doubtful, wondering if he was still attractive to women. The song Nazi Girlfriend suggested he was still having some success in that department. The title track is a lovely, jazzy little tune with Iggy actually singing, almost crooning. 'I am gonna need a miracle' he sings, 'on Avenue B'.

Avenue B


Friday 26 February 2016

Captivated


This is a new song from Steve Cobby, producer of not one but two of last year's best albums (Everliving and Revolutions since you're asking). Captivated is a sumptuous tune with a lovely vocal by Emma Fee. Steve has calls it bossa-tech-soul which doesn't sound very romantic but is accurate enough. To do it justice you need to switch off from the world for four minutes thirty-six seconds and do nothing but listen.

Thursday 25 February 2016

Savage


I went to see Savages on Monday night at Manchester's Albert Hall, a late offer of a ticket. I bought their Husbands single and the first album but hadn't got around to the new one yet. The venue is a dream gig venue and the sound is beautifully clear- the drums are mic'd up perfectly. Clad all in black and lit in bright white Savages are sonically separated too, into hard hitting bass and ringing treble. Gemma Thompson's guitar is viciously trebly and capable of crunching noise and sparkling picked notes. Ayse Hassan's bass playing is superb, bouncy, aggressive and rolling. Musically it's easy to spot the influences- Siouxsie, Joy Division, early Bunnymen, PiL- but they do it very, very well. Savages are an intense band and singer Jehnny Beth has presence. She enthuses about the crowd between songs but switches straight back into serious mode for the songs, stops Husbands part way through to check on a injury down the front, tells us one of the songs is 'the sexy one' and at the end walks on the front few rows hands into the crowd. No encore. The ten minute closer Fuckers is all that's needed to send the crowd home sated. If I were a seventeen year old girl- and unless I'm very wrong about reincarnation that's never going to happen- I'd have spent Tuesday looking for three like minded souls to start a band with.



The support act were jaw dropping. Bo Ningen are a four piece long-haired Japanese noise rock band. Their sound is incredibly tight. I can hear Black Sabbath, Sonic Youth and Can. They are tightly drilled and precise, creating a thunderous, ear splitting noise but can stop it dead in a heartbeat. Singer/bassist Taigen Kawabe plays with miniscule finger movements flanked by a pair of long-haired acid rock guitarists and a bang-on-the-beat drummer. When not singing Kawabe moves to the edge of the stage, feet spread apart, making faces at the crowd. In their final song he swings the bass behind his head and ends playing it neck first, body pointing out away towards the crowd. The guitarist on the left swings his guitar around his head by the strap while the one on the right freaks out. Drummer Monchan Monna keeps hitting the beat. I'm not sure how often I'd listen to them at home but seeing them live was a pleasure.

Wednesday 24 February 2016

Dirty Stop Out


This isn't much more than a minor footnote in Mick Jones' back catalogue but back in 2008 he was involved in a cd released by a group called Dirty Stop Out. The threepiece were a musical outlet for Joe Corre and Luca Mainardi, Mick mainly contributing guitar. Joe Corre is best known as the owner of posh bra and knicker manufacturer Agent Provocateur and the group soundtracked one of the brand's fashion shows. Corre is also the son of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood so grew up in the rock 'n' roll rag trade. Bobby Gillespie, Chris Spedding and Dot Allison were among those also involved. Dirty Stop Out played at the Raymond Revue Bar and bashed out revved up electroclash-rockabilly, not a million miles from Sigue Sigue Sputnik's sound, with songs like Tie Me Up, Sin City and Kinky Melody while younger women danced and removed layers of clothing. This video was made by former Mary Chainer Douglas Hart and while fairly tame probably isn't safe for work (depending on where you work). Apache Girl was the B-side of Tie Me Up, a 7" single and also on an album Agent Provocateur put out called, get yourself ready for this, Cuntro Classics Volume 1.

Tuesday 23 February 2016

The Hawaiian Death Stomp


I found a box of cd recently, cds I made myself between 2006 and 2010. I used to regularly burn compilation cds and make handwritten or typed tracklists and then print covers for them. Is that sad? I'm surely not the only person who did it. Am I? Anyway, one of them was a bunch early 90s progressive dance tracks and in the middle was this by Four Boy One Girl Action, David Homes, Kris Needs, Jags Kooner and Gary Burns being the four boys. It was the first release on Holmes' Exploding Plastic Inevitable record label in 1993. The One Girl was Patti Smith, sampling her 'I haven't fucked much with the past but I've fucked plenty with the future' line. Strangely, in all the time I've been doing this blog, this is Patti Smith's first appearance here. The Hawaiian Death Stomp is long, pounding, percussive and pretty essential.

The Hawaiian Death Stomp

Monday 22 February 2016

Mother Dawn


I keep getting drawn back into the seemingly bottomless world of remixes by The Orb. This one's from a 12" released in 1992 and is the third and lengthiest of the pack, a long dub groove bringing together the best parts of Mixes 1 and 2 while extending them outwards.

Mother Dawn (Buckateer Mix 3)

Blue Pearl were best known for their 1990 hit Naked In The Rain, chart rave which I've got a soft spot for. Produced by Youth, hence the remix connection. 808 State's Graham Massey was involved in producing and remixing too.

Sunday 21 February 2016

We Count The Stars


Just a month since the Woodleigh Research Facility album and now Andrew Weatherall and Nina Walsh follow it with a second record. Convenanza is out under Weatherall's name but the personnel is pretty much the same as WRF. A couple of the tracks are sonically in that same groove, the dub bass and drum machine backing joined by some early ACR like guitar, some wandering trumpet and on Thirteenth Night a track that picks up almost exactly where Screamadelica's Shine Like Stars left off. Weatherall's vocals give this a more song based feel even if the musical backing doesn't follow any strict verse-chorus structure, with phrases and lines plucked from his notebook. The Confidence Man sounds almost like a late period Clash remix, where a song turns into an extended groove. There's a lot to enjoy in both albums, music from the margins (or South London) you can get lost in.



There's an interesting interview with Andrew and Nina here if you're after more background to the both records. There's also a laid back but righteous hour long mix from Lord Sabre here, made up of records unearthed when he was forced to relocate from his studio last year. Final thought- can we now expect a new Weatherall album on a monthly basis?

Saturday 20 February 2016

Not The Same


More new stuff- new stuff is a good thing. My internet friend Henry has sent me a new song from his group. Zula are part of a thriving DIY scene in New York and this is my favourite from them to date. Busy, melodic, expansive and effortless. The guitars shimmer over layers of keys and vocals, which build and fall and build again.

Friday 19 February 2016

Getting Away With It


I've been off work this week, half term holiday. Not done very much, pottered about, visited an exhibition at The Lowry, popped into town and went to a record shop or two, took the kids out, attended a protest meeting where I met Johnny Marr... that sort of thing.

Trafford Council, the Tory run council where we live, have recently announced that as they have no legal obligation to provide transport for disabled and special needs young people over the age of sixteen that they would be withdrawing the service. Most disabled youngsters from the borough attend Brentwood Special School in Timperley and come from all over Trafford. Transport with an escort is essential for these kids. They cannot travel independently. Trafford Council is in favour of 'independence' but most of these young people will never be independent as the rest of us know it. Travelling on a public service bus is simply impossible. Not to mention dangerous. The policy is due to be enforced for all of them from September. This will affect our son Isaac. He cannot travel independently, it is out of the question. Under this policy the choice we will have is to either  pay Trafford's proposed parental contribution (£400 per month) or to take him to school ourselves. The school is several miles away. As I have to leave for work at 7.30 this obviously affects Mrs Bagging Area's ability and freedom to work if she has to make an hour's round trip at 8am and then again at 3pm.

More outrageously they cut the transport instantly for eleven young people last September without warning. This has adversely affected the children and the families- some autistic children have been completely disrupted by the loss of transport. Some have needed new medication as a result. At least one parent has lost their job and others have had to give up work or renegotiate with their employers. Some children have been unable to attend 16-19 education. The transport axe fell without warning and in some cases the council asked parents to provide evidence that their child was still disabled, including a girl with Downs Syndrome- as if she had grown out of it when she turned 16. The total cost of the savings for this year is £70, 000, which is a drop in the ocean in the finances of the wealthiest borough in Greater Manchester. Central government have cut local government funding and asked them to make further cuts. Trafford's Tory ruling group have bent over backwards to accommodate them.

Trafford Council's motto, displayed proudly on their recently refurbished town hall (multi-million pound refurbishment I might add), is Hold Fast That Which Is Good. Enabling disabled young people to attend school might fit into the category of 'that which is good'. The education provision in Trafford is rated as Outstanding. Cutting services for the one of most vulnerable groups in society is not. Many other councils in the north-west have decided that although they are not legally bound to provide such transport for disabled and special needs youngsters, they are morally bound to do so. Conservative Party morality is clearly something else entirely.

On Wednesday night we attended a protest at Trafford Town Hall before full council met. Several Labour and Lib Dem councillors have spoken on our behalf. An online petition has over 2000 signatures. The council have delayed a final decision so far. As we stood in the dark outside the town hall with our banners and placards a familiar figure came into view. Johnny's niece attends Brentwood Special School so he has a personal involvement. And that is how I ended up on the steps of Trafford Town Hall standing next to Johnny Marr- a man whose poster was on my wall as a seventeen year old, whose records I have bought religiously over the last three decades- as he shouted the words of a chant I made up for the benefit of the council and cameras. Was I freaked out? Just a little. The Manchester Evening News report is here with our son Isaac to the left of Johnny in the first picture. Maybe best to ignore some of the mealy mouthed comments at the bottom. The protest was on ITV Granada's 10.30pm news too. Let's hope the press attention counts for something as the Tory ruling group meet to consider their final decision.  So while the protest and the campaign are the most important aspect of this, and persuading Trafford Council to accept their responsibilities is the number one priority I have to say I was a tad giddy about meeting Johnny Marr and before leaving we had time for a brief chat and photo opportunity. Top man Mr Marr.

Thursday 18 February 2016

Garden Of Love


There's a lot of good new stuff around right now- must be record labels warming up for spring or something. This is hot off the press/file converter, a new song from French duo The Liminanas with whispered vocals, a lovely picked out melody line and 60s beatnik style. Oh, and Peter Hook's beautiful, brilliant bass playing. I love this right now. What more can we ask for? Fits in very well with yesterday's Unloved song too.



Garden Of Love is also a poem by William Blake from Songs Of Experience. A bit of poetry for your Thursday...

I went to the Garden of Love,
And saw what I never had seen:
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.


And the gates of this Chapel were shut,
And Thou shalt not. writ over the door;
So I turn'd to the Garden of Love,
That so many sweet flowers bore. 


And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tomb-stones where flowers should be:
And Priests in black gowns, were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars, my joys & desires.




Wednesday 17 February 2016

At The Moment You Could Say I'm Presently Optimistic


I really enjoyed Guilty Of Love by David Homes' Unloved project which came out last autumn. There were two long Weatherall dub mixes too which were rather good. Now there's a new song ahead of an album in March. When A Woman Is Around is even better than Guilty Of Love- rumbling drums, Wall of Sound production, ex-MC5 man Wayne Kramer's guitar and Jade Vincent's sultry vocals combining to bring 60s Hollywood into 2016. I'm in an open topped car in sunglasses and a bowling shirt, slipping between lanes and the palm trees. Actually, I'm not- I've looked out of the window. It's still South Manchester and its close to zero.

Tuesday 16 February 2016

She's A Sad Tomato


Watching an R.E.M. documentary the other night reminded me a) what a good band R.E.M. were in the 80s but also b) how they kept that going into the mainstream- such an unlikely band to be stadium size, multi-million selling albums big. After Automatic For The People I always think they tail off very quickly but the fade was delayed longer than that. I didn't think too much of Monster when it came out but Crush With Eyeliner is really good- it shimmers and throbs and has groove. New Adventures In Hi Fi has several 90s peaks on it too. Being massive and mainstream and still being interesting is a difficult trick to pull off. In retrospect they should have called it a day when Bill Berry left- that would have left everything intact.



Which then led me to this 90s Sonic Youth masterpiece. Sonic Youth crossing over with New York fashion shows and Cara Delevingne in tow. Sonic Youth crossed back pretty quickly.

Monday 15 February 2016

Ultimate Care


Electronic duo Matmos have an album out later this month, one track, thirty-eight minutes long, made up entirely of sounds created using a Whirlpool Ultimate Care II washing machine. It was made by sampling the sounds of the machine during its cycles but also the sounds of drumming it, prodding it and rubbing it. You could dismiss this as just a high concept art project. However the excerpt below sounds pretty good. It's very rhythmic, as you'd expect, but the melodies, clanks and thunks keep it interesting.

Sunday 14 February 2016

I Got Nasty Habits


Later on on Friday evening I flicked through the channels and chanced upon the final forty minutes of Shine A Light, Martin Scorsese's recent Rolling Stones film. I say recent, I've just checked and it came out in 2008. Is that recent? It was grimly compelling. Most of the film is a live performance in a smallish New York theatre. Keith has that pirate thing going on, still stick thin, eyeliner and bangles and by the looks/sound of it, his guitar playing is still a good thing- raucous and raw. Ronnie Wood is Ronnie Wood, take him or leave him. There are three backing singers who do quite a lot of the work. What to make of Mick Jagger? Energetic, yes. He performs like the CEO of a multi-national company- which is what he is. They played/massacred Live With Me, originally from 1969's Let It Bleed, arguably their best, most dangerous album. Christine Aguilera turned up for an ill-advised duet.

On the record Live With Me blasts into life with a ferocious bassline, played by Keith (which explains it) and slashing guitar chords. It is Mick Taylor's first recorded appearance with the band- maybe he was showing them exactly what he could do. Bobby Keys contributes a sax solo, a sax solo I can actually live with, and then there's Mick's libidinous lyrics. The legend of the wild, libertine, English Stones is all over these lyrics. 'I got nasty habits' Mick opens with, 'I take tea at three'. His best friend shoots water rats and feeds them to his geese. In verse two Mick tells of his 'hairbrained children', with 'earphone heads and dirty necks, so Twentieth century'. These verses are all there to build up to his attempts in the chorus to woo someone, someone who has a place between Mick's sheets. The third verse goes into 18th century overdrive, with a butler, the French maid, a cook, chauffeur and some slap and tickle in a place behind the pantry door. Louche, lairy, Carry On but with hard drugs. The band are so hot the tape must have been overheating.

Happy Valentine's Day.


Live With Me

Saturday 13 February 2016

One Million


At some point while away in London this blog passed one million page views. One million! I've no idea how this compares to other blogs, how many page views other bloggers have had/get but it seems like a bit of a milestone.

Tom Furse of The Horrors has remixed the new Cavern Of Anti-Matter album into one seventeen minute megamix, a psych/cosmiche feast.


Wednesday 10 February 2016

What Is To Be Done?


It's been a week or two since Timothy J. Fairplay graced these pages. Happily he's back with another project, this time a collaboration with Alessandro Parisi under the name Dynamite Winter Palace. Ice cold synths deep into Russia. 80s drum machines set to stun. The song below is called What Is To Be Done, which as I'm sure you know was the title of a political pamphlet written by Lenin in 1901. In this work Lenin argues that dedicated Marxists should form a party to lead the working class towards revolutionary Marxist ideas- to become the vanguard of the proletariat. This short book then led to the split between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. And several other historical events, not least the Russian Revolution of October 1917.



I am going to London today, staying through until Friday, with a group of sixth form students taking in various historic and cultural sites (plus the Westfield shopping centre to ensure their capitalist desires are satisfied). I shall see you all at the weekend.

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Home Sweet Home


Following in a line from yesterday's post, a wobbly line maybe but a line nonetheless, comes this long, blissful, dubbed out remix of Pop Will Eat Itself by The Orb themselves. This remix takes Pop Will Eat Itself into all sorts of places they might not have got to on their own- a proper excursion on the version. The Orb's remixes from the early-to-mid 90s are compiled on a pair of double cd albums called Auntie Aubrey's Excursions Beyond The Call Of Duty which I can't recommend highly enough if you don't have them. They can be picked up pretty cheaply second hand too.

Home (Home Sweet Home Remix)

Monday 8 February 2016

Raise Your Hands


This tune from 1990 by Indica All Stars was released on The Orb's WAU! Mr Modo record label. Listening to it you will see why. This is dub-house or reggae-house with a skanking bassline, a very 1990 vocal sample borrowed from Marshall Jefferson and enough charm to put a big smile on your Monday morning face.

Open Your Eyes (Original)

Sunday 7 February 2016

Jack-Knife


I've posted this before but an internet friend has requested it again and I am happy to oblige. Jack-Knife is a lesser known Andrew Weatherall remix, released on a limited edition ep in 2006 by Berkshire dance-rock band Arrows (previously known as Delphian Complex. I think they reverted to this name later on too). Weatherall chops it up, rockabilly inspired, live drum kit, buzzy bassline, slashing guitars and shouting.

Jack-Knife (Weatherall Remix)

Saturday 6 February 2016

The Hurt




Rikki Turner has walked a long road from Manchester to Berlin via Paris (Angels). His new group The Hurt have their debut single Berlin out on Valentine's Day on Play And Record Records. Berlin is the sound of a gathering storm, a walk through the city at night- mirrors crack, lovers are lost, touches are cold. Electronics and driving guitars, doomy bass, gothic touches and Rikki's urgent baritone vocal but shot through with a touch of pop, 70s Bowie/Eno style. Tremendous, powerful stuff.



The single's B-Side The Dead has been remixed by Suddi Raval, formerly one half of Together who were responsible for Hardcore Uproar and a blindingly good remix of The Durutti Column. It's a dark, dangerous acid house version with 808 squiggles and washes of backing vocals before the Hacienda groove kicks in. Rikki's echo-laden vocal hovers over the breakdown and then the bleeps and kickdrums return. I can't share it at the moment but you'll want to hear it when the single comes out.

Rikki was lead singer in Paris Angels whose Perfume (All On You) is a big Bagging Area favourite. In The Hurt he's joined by former Paris Angel and former Black Grape Wags, Jack Scraggs and Keith Higgins. Before parting company with The New Southern Electrikk the group recorded Rikki's song Brown Eyes which I loved and posted.




Friday 5 February 2016

93


Having posted songs by Bjork and Sabres Of Paradise in the last few days, both from 1993, it struck me that that year looks like an interesting one, a really good one. I kind of took it for granted at the time. Looking at John Peel's Festive 50 and the NME's end of year list as a couple of starting points there's a lot of variety and several different scenes going on. There's a Jon Savage compilation album that came out a year ago- Perpetual Motion 1988-1993- which celebrates (in his view) a new kind of psychedelia characterised by indie-dance, house and  rave. Savage is currently promoting his new book 1966. I don't think '93 was quite as revolutionary as '66 and it doesn't fit into Tony Wilson's 1955-1966-1977-1988 cycle either but there was a lot going on and more good music than you could shake a stick at.

Bjork's Debut was fully dancefloor informed, making the switch from skittery, post-punk indie to house seem completely smooth and obvious, engineered by Nellee Hooper's production skills (honed with Massive Attack and Soul II Soul). I've been soaking up Debut on the way to work this week- there's not a weak song on it and it's a completely alive album, full of fun and interesting, ear-catching sounds, and on half of the songs four-to-the-floor beats that keep it fresh and propelled. Andrew Weatherall put out out Sabresonic, his first fully formed album outside his production work on other group's albums. Sabres Of Paradise preceded the album with the peerless, mighty Smokebelch II 12". One Dove's Morning Dove White also came out in 1993, a Weatherall produced lost classic, a morning-after/coming-down album much loved round here and by other bloggers. Orbital's untitled 'green' album came out with Chime, Satan and Belfast as its centrepieces. Leftfield and John Lydon firebombed Los Angeles. Ultramarine's United Kingdoms drifted in and out beautifully. Underworld's dubnobasswithmyheadman was released in January 1994, but presumably worked on to perfection through '93. There are a multitude of other first rate house singles and records in '93 too- Secret Knowledge's Sugar Daddy for one, Disco Evangelists' De Niro for another, Jaydee's Plastic Dreams for one more. I'm sure other people can suggest others I've missed. Even the chartbound dance pop was properly good- Sub Sub's Ain't No Love. Maybe what was happening in retrospect was the last gasp of acid house as it had started in 1988, five years of innovation and ecstasy, just starting to peter out as dance music split into a hundred sub-groups. Portishead, Tricky and trip hop were just around the corner. Drum and bass too.

Peel's list and the NME's both have placings for the last gasps of grunge and alt-rock- Nirvana, Sugar, The Breeders, The Lemonheads, Grant Lee Buffalo, Afghan Whigs, Hole and Dinosaur Jr. The Fall have a mere ten songs in the Festive 50 and The Infotainment Scan in the NME's albums of the year. New Order came back from hiatus with Republic, not a classic album but it's got Regret on it. St Etienne's So Tough refined their sound- Avenue, You're In A Bad, Hobart Paving. Paul Weller cemented his revival with Wild Wood. Teenage Fanclub, Tindersticks and The The put out good records. PJ Harvey chucked in Rid Of Me. Suede's debut, Blur's Modern Life Is Rubbish, Boo Radleys' Giant Steps, the Manics Gold Against The Soul, The Verve's A Storm In Heaven, Elastica and Pulp are all in there, signposting what was going to happen with Britpop but those records all have some spark and imagination about them and, Blur apart, none of the retro homogeneity of what came a year or two later. Cypress Hill, The Goats and The Pharcyde made albums that showed that hip hop still had life in it too. There'll be loads more below the surface. I'm sure there are a lot of years you could re-look at and discover a similar diversity of sound, style and invention but 1993 seems to have it spades and somewhat under the radar too in being thought of one of those 'classic' years.

Some music. I don't think I've ever posted PJ Harvey before, which is pretty poor of me.



More Bjork too, cos I'm in the mood...

Thursday 4 February 2016

Sing Michael Sing


If anyone missed it my contribution to JC's Imaginary Compilation Album series appeared at The Vinyl Villain earlier this week, ten songs and a bonus track that make up my Big Audio Dynamite compilation. You can read it and listen to the songs here if you want to. It led me to thinking about a Mick Jones Clash ten track compilation and then also a Mick Jones career one. The Clash one would have to be songs Mick sung and could look something like this...


Side 1. The Prisoner//Jail Guitar Doors//Stay Free//Gates Of The West//Lost In The Supermarket

Side 2. Train In Vain//Up In Heaven (Not Only Here)//Police On My Back//Somebody Got Murdered//Innoculated City

That means leaving out Protex Blue, I'm Not Down, Hitsville UK and Should I Stay Or Should I Go. I'm open to suggestions- and could easily change my mind tomorrow.

A career spanning compilation would need side 1 to be entirely by The Clash and side 2 B.A.D. and beyond I think.

Side 1. The Clash Jail Guitar Doors//Gates Of The West//Train In Vain//Lost In The Supermarket//Up In Heaven (Not Only Here)

Side 2. B.A.D. Medicine Show//B.A.D. V Thirteen// B.A.D. Contact//Carbon/Silicon Why Do Men Fight?//Carbon/Silicon Big Surprise.

I could take off a C/S song and put another B.A.D. one on quite easily. If you don't know Mick's work with Carbon/Silicon there's a ton of stuff out there, much of it freely available. Why Do Men Fight? was a rollicking guitar tune. Big Surprise sounds like the beginnings of a solo project, a man looking back, misty eyed. It's also a gorgeous little tune.

Wednesday 3 February 2016

Something Important Is About To Happen


Between 1992 and 1994 I shared a flat with a friend. We both bought records and for reasons of limited finances and common sense he bought some records and I bought others. This meant that when we went our separate ways I was short of a lot of records from that period which I knew very well but now didn't have, some of which I filled in and some I never got around to. Years later I went to my collection looking for Debut by Bjork- and didn't have it.

Big Time Sensuality is one of my favourite songs from the time- the throb of the bass, the rush of the synths, the sheer giddiness of the vocals- and a fantastically memorable video too. It also perfectly illustrates why Bjork went solo. Would this song have been improved by Einar shouting over it intermittently? It would not.



The version of the song that soundtracked the video single release was the Fluke mix, more clubby. The album version is here if you want to compare and contrast. And this is one of Justin Robertson's thumping, arms-in-the-air remixes.

Big Time Sensuality (Justin Robertson Lionrock Wigout Mix)

Tuesday 2 February 2016

New Energy


I'm caught in an electronics groove right now and this is blindingly good. Recent postee Daniel Avery remixed by Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve team of Norris and Alkan. After a slow, hazy intro everything suddenly snaps into sharp focus- like a beam of white light trained right between the eyes... and then it all becomes very t-r-i-p-p-y indeed. There's some old school electro in here to, to keep you moving.

Monday 1 February 2016

Apne Slusa


Scandinavia has been producing some very good house and electronic music for some time now- classy stuff with a smidgeon of disco, warm electronics, chuggy basslines, pitter-pattering drums, a gentle slow motion throb. I've written several times about Paresse (from Stockholm) whose sound I love and who makes very evocative balm for the ears and brain. Norwegian DJ and producer Prins Thomas has been doing his thing for well over a decade, honing his sound, always inventive, precise and absorbing. This long but never dull track came out in 2014 and is here today to welcome in February. I think everyone's glad to see the back of January 2016.

Apne Slusa (Lang Versjon)