The last week has been soundtracked much of the time by this hour long mix from Jesse Fahnestock, a promotional mix for Brighton's Higher Love who have released Jesse's recent single Kissed Again (in his 10:40 guise). You can find Higher Love 059 at the Balearic Ultras Mixcloud page and it's an absolute beaut, a meandering shuffle round some blissed out chugginess, some dub tinged delights, some indie- dance and some loose and lovely Balearica with half the tracks in the mix Jesse's own work as 10: 40. It drifts in with Rich Lane's Coyote, atmospherics, ambience and slide guitar and then Margo Timmins voice appears just below the surface, singing Sweet Jane from The Trinity Sessions back in the late 80s- quite the pairing. Matt Gunn, Kusht and Coco Rosie follow and then a run of unreleased 10:40 tracks before a euphoric section running from Cosmikuro into a re- edited Charlatans song from 1994, then into Kissed Again and then Jesse's re-edit of Hugh Masakela's Strawberries, all multi-coloured, dreamy splendour. Highly recommended.
Tracklist
- Rich Lane/Cowboy Junkies: Coyote Tan/Sweet Jane
- Matt Gunn: Lost in the Drohne
- Kusht: Trippin’ Out Back
- CocoRosie: Good Friday
- 10:40: Coat Check
- 10:40: [Unreleased]
- 10:40: [Unreleased]
- MAKS: North (Yarni Remix)
- Cosmikuro: Gum
- The Charlatans: Come in Number 21 (10:40’s Number 21 with a Bullet Edit)
- 10:40: Kissed Again
- Hugh Masakela: Strawberries (10:40’s Cream Edit)
- Florence & The Scream Machine: Don’t Fight The Love (10:40’s Machine Mash)
- 10:40: See Me Through
As an addition I thought I'd post two songs that provided Jesse with some of his source material. Back in 1988 Canada's Cowboy Junkies recorded an album that seemed to appear out of nowhere and crossed all kinds of boundaries over here. The album pulled together their own songs and some covers with the spectral presence of the church they were recorded in- the natural reverb of Toronto's Holy Trinity church is as important as any of the wood and metal instruments played by the group. The recording was made using a single microphone to pick up all the players and Margo's voice. On Sweet Jane they chose to cover the version from The Velvet Underground's 1969 Live album rather than the one from Loaded. Apparently even professional curmudgeon Lou Reed loved the Cowboy Junkies cover.
By 1994 The Charlatans were a looking a little lost and out of time and their third album Up To Our Hips didn't set the world alight- the next big things of Britpop were already stirring and The Charlatans looked a bit like yesterday's men (many of their contemporaries had already run out of road). The album, produced by Steve Hillage, has endured though, has a groove and feel to it and some of the songs are real fan favourites, songs like Can't Get Out Of Bed, Jesus Hairdo and I Never Want An Easy Life If Me And He Were Ever To Get There. It opens with Come In Number 21, a song that sounds like they've just arrived, plugged in and turned all the switches on, a rehearsal where suddenly things come together on the spot. The guitars are lower in the mix, the drums less obviously based around the 1990 beat, Tim's singing surrounded by the swampy bass, organ and guitars. Time definitely not up.
