Mad Friday

Today is the first day of my two week Christmas holiday. It feels like it has been a long time coming and that suddenly Christmas is on top of us. Today is also Mad Friday, the day the pubs will take huge amounts over the bar as workplaces empty for the holiday and everyone is out drinking. Tomorrow morning will see many sore heads and discarded Christmas jumpers. To celebrate all of that here's a bumper post, rounding up several recent releases, two of which are coming out today- who puts out music on 22nd December? Matt Gunn and Duncan Grey for two. 

Matt Gunn's new release is the Sidestep EP, two tracks for those who want to celebrate the festive season with some chuggy, fizz bomb, 303 madness. Sidestep 303 is the sound of a swarm of bees inside a bass bin, the Roland's FX causing all manner of dancefloor mayhem likely to turn patches of carpet worn out and sticky. The second track, Blib Grunt, opens with chanting, which is then joined by a massive breakbeat. There's more synth knob twiddling loopiness, FX and filters, vocal samples and crunchy electronic excitement. Both are available here. 

Red Snapper's 2023 ends with a Moist remix of Suckerpunch, a track recorded and released on their excellent Live At The Moth Club album and now remixed by Moist. This is low slung and murky, a trip hop groove that churns, what could be slowed down horns, and as above, Mr Roland's 303 kicking up an intense storm. Natty Wylah provides the vocals. At Bandcamp there's a vocal version and an instrumental. 

Also out today and pushed into the Christmas rush is Tici Taci Decade Volume 4, the final compilation release celebrating ten years of Duncan Gray's Tici Taci label. Volumes 1 to 3 were uniformly superb, wall to wall sci/ disco/ house/ cosmic/ electronic chug. All four including Volume 4 can be found here. Volume 4 is at Bandcamp here. If you're looking for an intro to Tici Taci Decade Volume 4 or a soundtrack for your Mad Friday night, Duncan has helpfully done an hour long mix of all the tracks featured, all artists that have put out material on the label in recent years- Sons Of Slough, Fjordfunk, The Long Champs, Richard Sen, Rude Audio and Dan Wainwright, Martin Eve, Jack Butters, Craig Bratley, Mr BC, Boy Division and Duncan himself. It is the best hour long machine funk, indie dance, dub infused, nu disco mix you're likely to click play on today and I commend it to the house. Listen here.