Dust & Grooves Vol.2 is here!

D&G box
D&G spines
I’ve been waiting for this day for several years – Dust & Grooves delivery day! Having worked with Eilon Paz over the last few years on parts of this I know the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into just a small portion of it but nothing prepared me for seeing the final product last week at the launch night in London.

D&G Books 1+2
D&G 1+2 spines
The new book is HUGE, it weighs a ton and looks incredible. The attention to detail throughout is beautiful, with spot varnish and embossing on the slipcase of the deluxe edition plus printed insides and a free poster.

D&G box inside
D&G emboss
D&G poster
D&G slipcase inside
D&G varnish
The first volume has been re-covered and fits snugly with the second, make no mistake, this is a huge piece of work and will test the strength of any bookcase. I’m extremely proud to have contributed three extensive features to the back half of the book as well as several for the Dust & Grooves website (the Alex Paterson one is already up there with several yet to come that didn’t fit in the book). Interviews with Kid Koala, Andy Votel and Tom Ravenscroft fill pages alongside Eilon’s incredible photography and make this a must for all serious diggers out there.

D&G Koala
D&G Peel
D&G Peel 2
D&G Votel
D&G Zoe
We’ll never own all these records but we can share in the knowledge and stories behind them via this tome. As you could see from the photos of the launch party in London the other week, it bought together collectors from around the UK with nothing but goodwill and shared enthusiasm. Well done to Eilon and all the editors, designers and proofreaders who helped make this happen. Grab your own copy here

Portables cover
Let’s not the forget the Portables book that Eilon shot alongside the Dust & Grooves volume 2 one! The man’s a machine and this book lovingly catalogues 222 portable turntables – available now, here

Port 1
Port 2
Port 3
Port 4
Port 5
Portables back

The Electrik Collage show #9 Nov 2024


My latest radio show is streaming from 2pm today wherever you are in the world on @rovr_live New music from Visioneers, LL Cool J, Nidia & Valentina, Robert Leiner, Forsaj, Gaslamp Killer, DJ Prime Cuts, Beautify Junkyards, Paul Cousins, Benedict Drew and more…

Listen at ROVR radio, Friday Oct 25th at 2pm wherever you are in the world. Download the app to get archive access. APPLE or ANDROID

Show #9 Nov 2024
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #13
Visioneers – Today
LL Cool J – The Force
Midnight Heist – Deep Thrust
LL Cool J – Runnit Back
Nídia & Valentina
Nídia & Valentina – Rapido
Visioneers – Heather
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #32
Forsaj – Pierogi Funk
Robert Leiner – My Dream
Lextron – Jaunt
Bush Doctors – Turn It Out
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #36
Alex Kassian – A reference to E2-E4 (Mad Professor’s Quantas Crazy Remix)
Robert Leiner – Analog Days
Gaslamp Killer & Jason Wool – Chaos (Club Edit)
DJ Prime Cuts – Out Time Is Now (DJ Food re-edit)
Dave Lombardo – Vicissitude
Beautify Junkyards – Turn the Tide
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #24
Beautify Junkyards – Here Everything Is Still Floating
Paul Cousins – Tessellation Pact
Dub Squad – Blown Fruit
Lo Five – The Observer Trap
Palomatic – Flutter
Benedict Drew – Optical Frame Work (excerpt)
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #13
Paul Cousins – Thought Loops

Forsaj Invites DJ Food – Subtle Radio mix

DJ Food Subtle mix
My friend Forsaj invited me to do a guest mix for his radio show on Subtle Radio so I decided to do a 30 min excerpt from a current DJ set using 7″s only. A DJ’s set is a constant work in progress and I find it’s good to put things like this down occasionally and listen back to them to identify what’s working and what’s not, what could be done slightly different and get a handle on the general pacing. I’d say this is about 80% there, it could do with a little space here and there with some of the blends but I was deliberately going for very fast changes between records, especially in the first half. Anyway, if you book me to DJ using vinyl then this is some of the sort of thing I’d be playing during 2024/5.

Raw Silk – Do It To The Music (Dub Mix)
Itsu Uno – Noise Of the B-Boy (Break faster mix)
KH – Question
J Large – J Zimbra
King Bee – Cold Slammin’ feat. the Ultramagnetic MCs
The Allergies – Let Me Hear You Say
Itsu Uno – B-Boy Rave for the Ageing Hipster Pt 2
Renegade Soundwave – Thunder
The Minute Men – OK, Alright (Mike Brown Re-edit)
Mister Mixi & Skinny Scotty – I Can Handle It
Aquasky – Another Day (TV edit)
The Todd Terry Project – Back To The Beat
M.C. Showbiz & the Lap 1 Crew – Gotta Turn The Music Up (Hard-core mix)
Adonis – No Way Back
Not Just Gigalos – Take Me To The Disco
Backstreet Inc – Can’t Do It Alone
Heaven 17 – Play To Win

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The Electrik Collage show #8 Oct 2024


Resuming the monthly show with plenty of choice cuts from some of the artists featured last time – Paul Cousins‘ album being a particular favourite along with the new Beautify Junkyards‘ longplayer. Talking of Paul, he has an installation in London at the end of November which should be very interesting, see the flyer at the bottom of the post for more details. Ex-Slayer/Fanthomas drummer Dave Lombardo‘s solo album from last year was a recent discovery and if you love percussion albums like I do it’s a treat and pairs well alongside Valentina Magaletti‘s new album with Nidia, ‘Estradas’. I found a couple of early 80s disco megamixes recently which I’ve re-edited and remastered here and Sean Lennon‘s reworking of his dad’s ‘Mind Games’ into an extended ambient album is something really worth hearing. LL Cool J‘s album continues to thrill as does the Floating Points record and The Gaslamp Killer with Jason Wool. All that and so much more over two hours of uninterrupted music

Listen at ROVR radio, Friday Oct 25th at 2pm wherever you are in the world. Download the app to get archive access. APPLE or ANDROID

Show #8 Oct 2024

DJ Food – Electrik Collage #3
Paul Cousins – Floating Arithmetic
Pete Sasqwax Beat Cult – Initiation Ritual – Part 14
Beautify Junkyards – Raridade de Contrastes
Calibro 35 – Nautilus
Lo Five – Unbecoming You
Listening Center – The Death Of Group D Meter
Paul Cousins – Dismantling The Millieu
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #37
LL Cool J – Murdergram Deux (feat. Eminem)
The Gaslamp Killer with Jason Wool – Hiccups
Listening Center – Cold Panorama
Elestre – Oiseau Tempête
Pete Sasqwax Beat Cult – Initiation Ritual Part 05
Nídia & Valentina – Andiamo
Dave Lombardo – Initiatory Madness
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #2
LL Cool J – Praise Him (feat. Nas)
Move 78 – The Emperor’s New Jazz
Roland Shaw & His Orchestra – Peter Gunn
Beautify Junkyards – Black Cape
Floating Points – Afflecks Palace
Healing Force Project – Mechanical Concept in the Mental Fluid
Pittsburgh Track Authority – Allegheny Acid 01
Mach – Disco Brake
Various – Fear Medley
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #19
Dave Lombardo – Maunder in Liminality
Nídia & Valentina – Nasty
Jem Stone – Serendipity Blues
John Lennon – Seed (Mind Games Meditation Mix)
Elestre – L Abysse

Paul Cousins launch

The Electrik Collage show #7 Sept 2024


This month’s show includes a lot of artists playing at the Castles In Space Levitation ’24 one-day festival at Bedford Esquires on October 5th. Only a week to grab your ticket if you haven’t already! The line up is insane if you like experimental electronic music leaning toward the ambient, modular and psychedelic.

Everyone - IG grid
Also this month I’ve been bowled over by the new LL Cool J album, ‘The Force’, produced entirely by Q-Tip, that wasn’t something I’d expected to happen in 2024. There’s so much great music coming out at the moment including several releases that I couldn’t fit in here or didn’t arrive through the letterbox in time for inclusion, there’s always next month though.

Listen at ROVR radio, Friday Sept 27th at 2pm wherever you are in the world. Download the app to get archive access. APPLE or ANDROID

Show #7 Sept 2024

DJ Food – Electrik Collage #9
LL Cool J – Black Code Suite (feat. Sona Jobarteh)
Bugseed – ash
Elestre – Cosmogramme
Dr Rubberfunk – Shadows Lengthen Into Darkness
Pete Sasqwax Beat Cult – Initiation Ritual Part 02
Lo Five – Unbecoming You
The New Library Sound – Coastal Area
Paul Cousins – Blueprint
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #30
LL Cool J – Basquiat Energy
Elestre – Whizz & Fuzz
Dr Rubberfunk – Slowly, Surely
The New Library Sound – Shipwreck pt.2
Larry Manteca – Securing the Scene
Sculpture – Wave Scroll
AK + MF + UR – E2 E4 303
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #14
The Gaslamp Killer & Jason Wool – Chaos in the Brain
Floating Points – Ocotillo
Healing Force Project – Point Of Oscillation
A’Bear – Glammy Racket
Twilight Sequence – Birds in General- and the Rook
Loula Yorke – Anecdoche
The Soundcarriers – Already Over
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #38
James Adrian Brown – Limbic System
Stone Anthem – In The Forest
Field Lines Cartographer – Enceladus Shine
Jo Johnson – It just is the love it feels

The Tale of the Solid Steel Tapes

Encoded tapesOK, so here’s a little story I’d like to tell as it’s led to some frustration over recent months.
*UPDATE – if you read this before, scroll to the bottom
Readers of this blog will be very familiar with my weekly Mixcloud Select posts each Friday where I digitally encoded a cassette from my archive of old Solid Steel radio shows. This lockdown project ended up lasting four years and led to over 200 sets being posted online for a monthly subscription, ending earlier this year when the cassettes, DATs and CDRs were at last exhausted. My mix archive was digitized at last, hooray! There are some of them above, the red stickers denote ‘done’.

But what to do with the old media filling up my drawers? I put the word out that if anyone wanted to make me an offer for the original tapes or discs then I’d rather they go to a fan than landfill. The first person to ask was Greg from Germany, we struck a deal for 55 cassettes and I duly boxed them up and off they went this summer via courier to Germany. There they are below, two layers tucked into a well- packed and sealed box.

Solid Steel tapes package

A few weeks later and Greg still hadn’t received the package, tracking was consulted and it seems it never made it to DPD’s processing centre after it was picked up from my doorstep by the courier, Transglobal Express, who acted as a broker in the process. Never even made it out of the UK. After contacting them and a lot of back and forth for a few weeks they agreed that they had lost the package and reimbursed me for the amount Greg had paid me as the value of the contents. I in turn repaid Greg so we were quits, I’d lost some money on postage costs and I had no tapes – not the end of the world but annoying. I should add, I’ve used TE for years and this has never happened and I’ve never had a problem with them.

Fast forward to last Friday when someone contacted me via Facebook asking for info on this tape that he’d found pictured on my blog
457344246_534981519219375_2559190081257714743_n
I told him the tale above and he replied, “I buy from an auction site that deals with lost parcels and returns” adding that, “They are mixed up in a lot with some other rare dvd’s that I wanted but this seems important to you so I’ll just send you the link”.

Screenshot 2024-09-20 at 23.57.18
Screenshot 2024-09-20 at 23.57.27
Screenshot 2024-09-20 at 23.57.38

Well, that’s where the parcel went then, no disputing that those are my tapes. After a further bit of chat the informant agree they wouldn’t stand in the way of me trying to get my tapes back so wouldn’t bid on the lot. Weirdly Facebook would then not let me message them anymore and a look at his profile reveals only two photos and no posts – maybe they’d blocked me or something? Weird, anyway…
I contacted the auction house, bearing in mind that this is a Friday night and their office hours are Mon to Fri and the auction ends Sunday, saying that this was my property, offering proof, dates, photos etc. No reply of course, I’ll be ringing them Monday.
So, against my better judgement, I put in a cursory bid for the lot on Sunday but was outbid and it eventually went for £60. This would have incurred a further 50% buyers premium, VAT and delivery charges, at least £90 to get my own property back, fuck that.

Here’s the final lot URL, not sure how long it’ll be up but I can’t see or message the winner in any way. Who are these John Pye Auctions? How did they get my parcel? A parcel I should add with a return address on it. Isn’t it illegal to sell other people’s post? Apparently not it seems. Lost or not, it’s certainly illegal to open someone else’s post without consent. A look at the rest of the auctions reveals all sorts of items including a lot of electrical goods and even some brand new vinyl (box loads of Taylor Swift albums anyone?). This all looks dodgy as hell so I’m not expecting much comeback but how is this legal?

I’m putting this out there in the hope that whoever got them will do some research, see this and contact me so I can get my stolen property back. If anyone sees these tapes for sale elsewhere can they please get in touch because this is bullshit.

UPDATE:
So, what’s happend since I posted this? Sunday I lost the auction to someone else, Monday I rang John Pye Auctions and explained my predicament to a very helpful member of staff who advised me to put a paper trail together proving I was the original owner. She also stopped any further movement on the auction, and I submitted my evidence the same afternoon. Shortly after I’d posted my story I was also contacted by a very helpful gent named James who was also in the auction business and offered to speak to John Pye personally to outline the case. Within two days and a couple more phone calls from the auction house I was informed that they would be sending the tapes back and paying postage. And here they are, I have to say a big thanks to James, John Pye (who were very professional in all of this) and everyone who messaged or commented. Now I just need to find a reputable courier to send them to Greg in Germany…

PS: If you’re new here and wondering about the contents of all these, it’s all on my Mixcloud – 200 uploads, all tracklisted and notated, 4 years of work, you just need to subscribe for access
https://www.mixcloud.com/strictlykev/

Tapes returned

The Electrik Collage show #6 Aug 2024


The second show this month with a load of new music sprinkled with some older selections. Friday 30th Aug, 2pm wherever the you are in the world (the station is time-stamped by region).

Listen at ROVR radio, download the app to get archive access. APPLE or ANDROID

Show #6 Aug 2024 2

DJ Food – Electrik Collage #6
Beastie Boys – Jimmy James (Bsidewinsagain remix)
Jem Stone – Everyone’s Hugging The Horse
Larry Manteca – Bank´s Layout Reconnaissance
Myrth – Myrthiolate (edit)
Bob Dorough – Little TwelveToes (AI instrumental)
Jem Stone – Island Of The Snake People
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #46
The New Library Sound – Diving in Deep Sea pt. 1
Prefuse 73 – Raja
Markey Funk – Chronoscope
Pete Sasqwax Beat Cult – Initiation Ritual Part 11
Pete Sasqwax Beat Cult – Initiation Ritual Part 18
Handyman – The Clapping Song (DJ Food Re-Edit)
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #16
Ruby My Dear – PnT2
Sculpture – Max Ax
akufen – U
Sculpture – Cross Processor
Fluctuosa – Cobwebby
Pete Sasqwax Beat Cult – Initiation Ritual Part 04
Santaka – Burning Head
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #26
Broadcast – I Want To Be Fine
The New Library Sound – Seagrass
Group Modular – Lonely Pylon
The New Library Sound – Underwater Lounge
The South Coast Synth Ensemble – Electronic Counterpoint III
Felbm – Cycli Infini (excerpt)
Jo Johnson – It just is the love it feels
Sean Ono Lennon – Asterisms

New DJ Food 45 Live mix for 2024

DJ Food 45 Live Mix 11th 2024 web
It’s that time of year again, my annual mix debuts tonight on the 45 Live radio show, hosted as ever by the divine Greg Belson on Dublab. You know the drill, all 45s, no other sizes but 7″ vinyl, I’ve dug deep as ever for this, some of these tracks were only bought a week before I made the mix. I’m mining the vintage dance pool once again from the heyday of the late 80s and early 90s and this is probably my most housey entry ever, drawing heavily on the Champion label (Raze get three entries and no, one of them isn’t ‘Jack The Groove’) and beyond. It’s also the most tracks I’ve fitted into an hour for the show, 32 in total, trying to speed up my mixes to make it interesting. I really had fun bashing through this and plenty of the tracks still stand up. I decided to bookend the mix with two spoken samples from the same flexi disc, we start with love and end with sex – enjoy. As usual Greg bookends the show with his own unique selections – you can tune in live at 4am GMT (Aug 17th UK time) as the show goes out 8pm-10pm PST on the west coast tonight. https://www.dublab.com/shows/45-live-radio-show

Track listing – Early House / Hip House mix ’86-91 – Aug 2024

Dee-Lite – What Is Love? (Holographic Goatee Mix) 1990
E-Zee Posse – Breathing Is E-Zee (Instrumental) 1991
Turntable Orchestra – Gonna Miss Me (Vocal) 1988
Pulse – Shut Up Already (Fierce Mix) 1987
Frankie Knuckles – Your Love 1989
Wally Jump Junior & The Criminal Element – Cut Me Loose 1986
D.L. Kool – Get On Up 1989
Criminal Element Orchestra – Put The Needle On The Record 1987
Emilio – Do It Again Emilio 1988
D.J. Lelewel – Amgic Atto II (The Deep Edit) 1989
Tingo Tango – It Is Jazz 1990
The Funky Worm – Hustle! (To The Music) 1988
Plus+One feat. Siren – It’s Happenin’ 1990
Frank K. feat. Wiston Office – Everybody Lets Somebody Love 1991
Raze – Let The Music Move U 1987
Sterling Void – Set Me Free (Music Mix) 1988
Liquid Oxygen – The Planet Dance (Move Ya Body) 1990
Musto & Bones – All I Want Is To Get Away (Bones Beats) 1990
Raze – Bass Power (Power Bass remix) 1991
Bootleggers – Hot Mix 3 1988
Jazzi P – Feel The Rhythm 1990
The Beatmasters – Warm Love (The Field Hippy Mix) 1989
Toni Scott – That’s How I’m Living 1989
101 – Just As Long As I Got You (House Mix) 1989
Mr Lee – I Can’t Forget 1987
Raze feat. Lady J – All 4 Love (Break 4 Love 1990)
Doo Lally ‘D’ – Floorshaker (Dynamite edit) 1991
True Faith w. Final Cut – You Can’t Deny the Bass (Dub) 1989
Hi Tek 3 feat Shamrock – Come On and Dance (Radio Mix)1990
Reese & Santonio – Truth of Self Evidence 1988
Frankie Knuckles – Baby Wants To Ride 1989
Lee Lewis – French Kiss (The Remix) 1989

Electrik Collage show #5


The new episode streams today at 2pm-4pm, Friday August 2nd, wherever you are in the world.

Listen at ROVR radio, download the app to get archive access. APPLE or ANDROID

Show #5 tracklist Aug 2024

DJ Food – Electrik Collage #25
The Allergies – No Flash (feat. Ohmega Watts)
Beastie Boys – So What’cha Want (Bsidewinsagain remix)
Long Distance Dan – Keep Your Back Straight
Prefuse 73 – Holy Water
Concretism – 39 Furnival Street
Pye Corner Audio – Deeptime
Manuel Göttsching – E2-E4 (MARIUS Rework)
Language Field – Plume
Steve Reich – 2×5: Movement 3 Fast (Vakula mix)
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #20
Underground Housing Authority – Here I Am (DJ Food Edit)
Jem Stone – Cardiac Cadillac
Bsidewinsagain – Top Rock Plate Spin
Disco Experience – Special Disco Mix by Ben & Benny (DJ Food Edit)
Bsidewinsagain – B-Boy Break (feat. Bobby Corridor)
Lone Bison – Origin Story (Paul Cousins Mix)
Floating Points – Del Oro
Suzi Analogue – Can We! [Acid Techno Uziflip]
Reso – Henk
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #11
Prefuse 73 – Empath Lords
OSCOB – Дажьбо́г
Santaka – No Rivers Here
Broadcast – Colour In The Numbers
Jem Stone – Kaptain Karnival is Alive
Deadchannel9000 – Commuter Dub
2econd Class Citizen – Just Live

DJ Food and Hannah Brown – Upside Down Records set 13/07/24


The in store mix that Hannah Brown and I did last Saturday at Upside Down Records in Deptford is now up on their new Mixcloud – give them a follow.
Two sets from me, one from Hannah (her first slamming set didn’t record sadly) – all fully trackmarked.
There’s still a crate of my records for sale at the shop, with more joining them soon… Pay them a visit, one stop from London Bridge on the overground.

Foood Records Upside Down
Track list:
Strictly Kev mix 1
David Essex – Rock On
Jack Wilkins – Red Tribe
Santaka – No Rivers Here
Spacetime Continuum – Flurescense
Special Request – That Wisnae A Microdose / Melon Farmer / Epsilon
Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia – Obsidian (Organically Decomposed)
John Heckle – The 4th Dimension
Spiral Deluxe – The Cosmos
Caustic Window – Cordialatron
Murcof – Maiz
Akufen – Late Night Munchies
Luke Vibert – Everybody
Radio Slave – Dedication
Lalo Schifrin – Quiet Village
DJ Format & The Simonsound – Holy Thursday

Hannah Brown
Lonnie Liston-Smith – Expansions
Another Taste – Time Is On Our Side
Nu Genea – Disco Sole
Mildlife – Magnificent Moon
Phantom Handclap Band – Judge Not (Ray Mang remix)
Vivian Vee – Alright
Pleasure Pool – Ask Your Body
The Units – High Pressure Days (Todd Terje remix)
Talking Heads – Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)
Brother Resistance – Dancin’ Shoes Rapso
Surprise Chef – Crayfish Caper (Nuyorican Broken mix)

Strictly Kev mix 2
Martina Topley-Bird – Soul Food (Charles Webster’s Bangin’ House Dub)
Dream 2 Science – My Love Turns To Liquid (Beat Foundation Liquid Lustre mix)
Tin Man – Flip
Dream 2 Science – My Love Turns To Liquid (Padappella)
Four Tet – Peace For Earth
Sam Clarence – Sextant Daktari
Unknown – Beam Me Up (Creative Use)
Bon Voyage – Ils Disent Que L’orient Est Rouge
Chicago Housing Committee – Six Million Dollar Acid
Rockers Revenge – Rockin’ On Sunshine
D Train – You’re The One For Me (Dub)
Renegade Soundwave – The Phantom
Marshall Jefferson present Truth – Open Our Eyes
Baby Ford – Fordtrax
Cabaret Voltaire – Easy Life
Mr Lee – I Can’t Forget
S’Express – Mantra System
Frank K (feat. Wiston Office) – Everybody Lets Somebody Love
Sueno Latino – Sueno Latino

Electrik Collage show #4


Oh happy day! My monthly radio show continues, the next episode streams today at 2pm-4pm, Friday July 5th wherever you are in the world. Featuring bits and pieces from the in-box, recent buying trips whilst trying to keep a good portion of it current or new. There’s a huge chunk of music from the Cheeba Cheeba Record label – is this the new trip hop? 2econd Class Citizen, Vanishing Twin, Pye Corner Audio, Suzi Analogue and tons more over the two hours. There’s also an intriguing KLF re-edit from Frenchbloke which gives ‘What Time Is Love’ a different feel plus a killer post-rave tune from The Joy that I dug up from the early 90s.
Listen at ROVR radio, download the app to get archive access. APPLE or ANDROID

Show #4 tracklist July 2024

DJ Food – Electric Collage #40
T the Human – Tune In
Suzi Analogue – Like GoGo ft. NappyNappa
2econd Class Citizen – Return To Yesterday
Bugseed – Macaroni
Kuja – Stoned Days ft. Bugseed
Deadchannel 9000 – Overload
DJ Food – Electric Collage #23
2econd Class Citizen – Know Less
Bugseed – Crystal Morning pt.2
Dokbrass – Labour of Love
Vanishing Twin – Afternoon X
Dr.Doppler – 10 00.dibz
Chilla Ninja – I revolve around science
Emperors New Clothes – Twister
Vanishing Twin – Marbles
Shankar Family & Friends – Lust
DJ Nio – Es Campur
DJ Food – Electric Collage #2
The Joy – Shine (Hyperphoria Mix)
Pye Corner Audio – On the Clock
The KLF – What Time is Love (Pure Trance) (Frenchbloke in 8T version)
Suzi Analogue – Watch Me Jump [AXIS Version]
Praise Space Electric – Diggin’ At The Dig In (Break Mix)-mastered
Captain Ring – Cock (Super Disco Fakes)
Santaka – 555
Pye Corner Audio – Chronos
DJ Food – Electric Collage #5
Concretism – Automated Teller Machine
Lion Chorus (Scene Two)
Broadcast – Follow The Light
Patrick Carpenter – What Monet Heard

Upside Down Records in store – Saturday July 13th

Upside Down Records poster web July 13th
This one has been on the cards for a while, an extended Saturday afternoon in store at Upside Down Records alongside my partner in crime Hannah Brown. We’ll both be spinning randomly all afternoon while you browse the racks at South East London’s finest new used record emporium – Upside Down – brainchild of ex-Rat Records manager Philippe Giron as I’m sure you will know if you read this blog regularly.

Mixcloud Select 200: Coldcut Solid Steel 3hr Spacetime mix 21/10/1994

MS200 3hr Spacetime mix 21:10:94 pt.1 tape
I’m ending on an epic – after more than four years, 199 uploads and seven exclusive mixes – a three hour Solid Steel with Matt, Jon and myself from October 1994. As the show aired between 1am-3am on a Saturday night/Sunday morning and the traditional time of putting the clocks back is 2am – smack bang in the middle of the show – we get an extra hour. For this reason, this mix was referred to as a Spacetime mix, due to the fact that we time travelled during it and thus needed several tapes to fit it on. I’ve got nearly two and half hours, some of which would have been taken up by adverts and some may have been missed with tape turnovers but let’s just say the remainder has disappeared into the space time continuum.

I’ve also slaved over this track list between Shazam, Matt & Jon’s incomplete track backs in the recording and my own fading memory. I’ve nearly got it but not quite. The fourth tune at the 15 min mark was really annoying me as I know it, Jon says it’s ‘Todd Terry – Bad Boys’ but there’s no such track that I can find. UK original Todd Terry licensee Champion had an offshoot called Bad Boys Records in the early 90s so I checked there but it’s none of those releases. Turns out it was his Hardhouse alias with the dub of the B side ’11:55’, subtitled ‘Bee Boys Dub’. When we were (hand) writing down the track lists on the PRS sheets for Kiss we’d sometimes not know exactly what had been played in what order, were cribbing through a pile of discarded records, some of which were white label promos and just had to guess. Then sometimes we couldn’t read each other’s hand writing or ran out of time to go through the list, with Matt’s favourite get-out clause being, ‘and other mystery beats’. All in all it created confusion and no doubt frustration for those who wanted to track down the songs but had no access to any form of internet database like Discogs.

MS200 3hr Spacetime mix 21:10:94 Pt.2 tape
My section is roughly in the middle with Matt and Jon either side, I’ve left them in for this one as it’s the only three hour show I’ve got in the archive and it’s the last of this run. I think the Art of Noise is my entry point with maybe the Attica Blues as the exit – no idea on the female led ‘dabba daaah’ tune after it or the Hendrix-sampling trip hop track after that which is, again, naggingly familiar. I’d got the white vinyl FSOL ‘Smokin’ Japanese Babe’ 12” shortly before this show and was so taken with it I played both sides in full alongside a bit of old school electro. I’m not going to go through every track as I’m writing this Thursday night but I hope you enjoy this nearly two and a half hour ‘rub’ to end this epic archive project. When all is said and done, the left over tapes are minimal; a one and half hour Sphinx mix from the end of 1994 (we did a lot in that year!) a few personal mixes that I did for friends that never aired on Solid Steel and a live recording of PC and I in Bristol in 1997 which is mostly Patrick leading. I’ll send that one to him and maybe he’ll put it up, the others I may put up for free later but for now I need a break from the weekly uploads.

If you still want access to all these uploads you’ll have to subscribe but I anticipate a drop off in numbers which is fine, the work is done and I thank everyone who contributed along the way, especially those who have been here from the start (are there any?). I’ll let someone else do the math but there’s quite a few hours worth up here now and these are just up until 2007/8, not the years after which should be a bit more readily available in general via solid steel.net, Mixcloud, Soundcloud and various other places. I’ll be concentrating on my new monthly radio show on ROVR – the Electrik Collage – the third of which dropped last Friday – listen back here. It’ll be good to be looking forward and playing new music – like we did on Solid Steel – rather than getting stuck in the nostalgia trap, nice as it can be. I’m keen to make the shows that soundtrack these times that I’ll hopefully enjoy listening back to in 20 years time.

Track list:
The Sex Pistols – Anarchy In The UK
Beastie Boys – Fight For Your Right To Party
The Aloof – Society
Hardhouse – 11:55 (Bee Boys Dub)
The Transplant – Afrocentric (Come Together)
Bedouin Ascent – Internal Bleeding
Acacia – Cord
Hydra – Song For a Fish
Spacetime Continuum – Ping Pong
LFO – Tied Up
Mephisto Odyssey – Dream of The Black Dahlia (Keyboard mix)
Art of Noise – Opus 4
The Firesign Theatre – Everything You Know Is Wrong
Far Out Son Of Lung – Ramblings of a Madman
Far Out Son Of Lung – Zeebox
Vapourspace – Gravitational Arch of 10
The 7th Plain – Think City
The Octagon Man – The Demented Spirit
Hashim – Al-Naayfisch (The Soul)
La Funk Mob – Motor Bass Gets Phunked Up (Electrofunk mix)
Herbie Hancock – Rockit
Arthur Baker – Breaker’s Revenge (Extended Vocal version)
Unknown – unknown ambient
Autechre – Montreal
Silence – Omid/Hope
Massive Attack – Euro Child
Inky Blacknuss – Desolator
Far Out Son Of Lung – Are They Fighting Us
Far Out Son Of Lung – Smokin’ Japanese Babe
Attica Blues – Contemplating Jazz
Unknown – female vocal
Unknown – unknown trip hop
Single Cell Orchestra – Call Me
The Auteurs va Mu-Ziq – Lenny Valentino (Mu-Ziq #3) (on 45rpm)
Spring Heel Jack – The Sea Lettuce
Yellow Magic Orchestra – Tong Poo (The Orb remix)
Freak Power – unknown

Electrik Collage show #3


My new monthly radio show continues, the next episode streams at 2pm-4pm, Friday June 7th wherever you are in the world. Featuring bits and pieces from the in-box, recent buying trips whilst trying to keep a good portion of it current or new. There are dips back in time, sometimes where I’ve recently discovered something I missed a few years back. There are some re-edits too – usually just a nip and a tuck for my DJ sets to trim tracks down slightly but in the case of the Radio Slave mix I’ve actually combined elements of two different remixes and then edited them down. The Bishops of the Holy Rollers Fallout Shelter track is about the joys of VD, a little 45 I picked up recently at Mr Thing’s shop in Hastings, Pressing Matters – definitely one to check out. I’ve made some Electrik Collage jingles that will feature throughout the shows from now on (see one above) and there are over 40 of them so tune in and collect the set. Listen at ROVR radio, download the app to get archive access. APPLE or ANDROID

Show #3 tracklist 7th June 2024

DJ Food – Electrik Collage #12
Bassbin Twins – WORK
Reso – Raid
Effersay – This Sound
Indo Tribe – Obstinta
S’Express x Daddy Squad – Je Suis Acid (DJ Food edit)
Varonos – The Trip (ft Yanna Thomas)
Akufen – Death of a Mascot
Bassbin Twins – TUFF
Radio Slave – Children Of The E (DJ Food North+South Re-edit)
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #45
Patrick Carpenter – Lucky 7
The Dining Rooms – Common Questions
Jlin – Challenge (To Be Continued)
DJ Fokus – Get A Bearing
Jlin – Challenge (To Be Continued II)
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #27
Markey Funk – Japanese Fonts
Bishops of the Holy Rollers Fallout Shelter – It’s Free
Prefuse 73 – Vast Wildlife Poison (Scene Two)
Memorials – A Guaranty of Sanity
The Luvmenauts – Doing Jazz
Justin Warfield – All Of The Time
Homeboy Sandman & Edan – Unwavering Mind
Hard 2 Obtain – Babble On
Clocolan – Humantime
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #35
Champagne Dub – Refreshment Guy
Bsidewinsagain – 5 Minutes Of Fire (Instrumental)
Acid House Therapy – Existential Plasmodia
Hieroglyphic Being – Ogee
DJ Shadow – Changeling / Transmission 1 (drumless)

Mixcloud Select 199: Coldcut Solid Sphinx Strictly section 25/11/1994

MS199 Tape
As I’ve said before in these missives, a Solid Sphinx was an ad-free, minimal chat mix for two hours. The upside being that both we and the listeners could dive in and really immerse ourselves into the music without interruption between 1-3am. The downside is now evident when listening back and trying to identify the songs contained within as there were no track backs to let people know what was played. The old memory is unreliable three decades later and Shazam can’t identify everything you throw at it and so the track list for this upload is far from complete. Once again I implore anyone with a better recall to fill in the blanks here as I’m struggling although a couple are annoyingly familiar.

This show was at the tale end of 1994 and, to my trained ear, features all four of us in the original two hour rub. Kickstarted by PC, then I, Matt and finally Jon each took approx 30 minutes to mix and match whatever we had been feeling that week. This is just my section and I will forewarn you, it gets pretty nasty in places, certainly not a chill out half hour, you can almost feel the testosterone dripping from the speakers. Unknown DnB track 1 – no idea – in fact it may not even have come from my box, the lines are blurred as to where and when each of us end and begin but the second track, Caustic Visions, is definitely me. One of the group – I think his name was Tim possibly? – visited Ambient Soho one day brandishing their new single (actually Caustic Visions 2) and a brace of very well-designed promo posters. I was immediately taken with them and the disc was a fresh-sounding mix of acid, Gabber and industrial noise with a clear nod to Aphex Twin in both style and title (Caustic Window being one of his aliases). Always looking for the latest thing, I jumped on it and kept in touch, collecting several of their other releases, some of which were on Industrial Strength, the US hardcore techno label run by Lenny Dee. At one point I was convinced that Gabber would be the next thing to blow up but it never really caught on in the UK to the extent it did in Europe.

Anyway, I really liked what CV did and kept an eye on them for the few years that they were active as they always seemed to be occupying their own corner of the techno world. Three unidentifiable tracks follow; a rattle-y Amen-led DnB breakfest that seems to pre-figure Plug and Squarepusher with those rapid-fire machine gun edits and another that stops and starts like a scratch DJ who can’t keep their finger off the turntable stop button. Bridging the two is a wall of looping 8-bit noise that was also by Caustic Visions but the two DnB tracks show off my love of highly-detailed drum cut up programming before DJ Crystl’s classic ‘Let It Roll’ arrives to calm the waters somewhat. Crystl was originally the DJ with UK rap group The Brotherhood under the name of DJ Pump Action but left to pursue a DnB career before they achieved commercial success. ‘Let It Roll’ was a fresh sound at the time, even though the genre was still in its infancy. Racing in at what almost seems like double time is another unknown tune, and I’m barely keeping it in time at points before the actual track breaks down itself and shudders to a stop.

Mark Van Hoen’s Locust project was a big favourite back then, he didn’t and still doesn’t sound like anyone else and there were a lot of Aphex copyists around in the early 90s. You stood out by being original and having your own sound. With his spindly IDM and Designers Republic-designed sleeves he should have been on Warp by all accounts but wound up on the next best thing, R&S. I’d forgotten the next classic; this got a LOT of play at the time, a Sabres of Paradise remix of the Wolfgang Press of all people! They did two of which this was the second and I’m mixing the extended percussion breakdown of ‘Trans Europe Express’ over the middle of it for some time. The last track was a frustrating head scratcher until I ran across it by complete chance whilst researching something else just yesterday. Coming on like a slower version of Soul Coughing’s ‘Super Bon Bon’ (the Propellerheads remix – they must have used the same break) – it was local group Camberwell Butterflies with a track entitled ‘Gloop’ from their sole release on The Chill Out Label.


Next week is upload 200 and I’ve still not decided what it will be… with that I bring this round of Mixcloud Select weekly uploads to an end after 4+ years of almost weekly activity. The CDrs are done, as are the DATs and there are just a handful of tapes left. My third show for ROVR radio debut’s today at 2pm worldwide with two hours of new music and a sprinkling of oldies or obscurities. Tune in at 2pm wherever you are in the world

Track list:
Unknown DnB 1 – unknown
Caustic Visions – Contortion
Unknown DnB 2 – unknown
Caustic Visions – Virex
Unknown DnB 3 – unknown
DJ Crystl – Let It Roll
Unknown – Unknown
Locust – Good God
The Wolfgang Press – 11 Years (Sabres Main Mix 2)
Kraftwerk – Trans Europe Express
Camberwell Butterflies – Gloop

Mixcloud Select 198: Coldcut Solid Sphinx live – Strictly highlights 14/10/1994

MS198 Tape
As described in earlier posts, a Solid Sphinx was an occasional Solid Steel show – usually live – with no ads and very little talking. It might have been that there were no ads booked in that week, no ‘reads’ (KISS-affiliated announcements to be made during the show) or just that there were only a few ads lined up and we conveniently forgot to air them. Either way, it was heads down and concentrate on the mix for two hours rather than have an eye on the clock for the next ad break.

What we have here are some edited parts of a 2 hour Sphinx where I was in control, I think Matt started the show off with a 30 minute mix, then me, then PC finished up, I don’t think Jon was around for this one. It’s marked as live on the tape which means we probably did it Saturday night directly to air whereas we usually pre-recorded it on a Friday night around 9pm if memory serves. I’ve snipped out some bits here and there just to make it a bit more digestible but you get the flavour – trip hop, electro, old school hip hop and spoken word interludes. I had acquired a copy of the Firesign Theatre’s Everything You Know is Wrong album and eagerly added some passages in here and there to add to the usual Coldcut Word Treasure jingles. We kick off with the end of Matt’s mix, some early jungle, and I come in with a Digidub tune that was a regular spin back in the day.

Cue Coldcut’s ‘More Beats’ on 45rpm then switched down to 33 for a tempo change before the underrated and overshadowed (by UNKLE on the A side) Howie B vs Major Force ‘Martian Economics’ – a fab slice or early trip hop if ever there was one. I loved that 12”, to me it embodied everything I wanted from ‘trip hop’ – dusty drums, weird electronics, samples and spoken world with a sci-fi touch. M.S.P. stood for Manic Street Preachers and the track ‘Faster’ was taken from a ‘promo’ 12” named Done & Dusted, featuring versions of MSP tracks made over by The Dust Brothers before they had to change their name to the Chemical variety of siblings. This was early big beat colliding with rock – as the Chems would perfect later, more electro than trip hop but still coming from similar sources, very exciting at the time – no idea if I still have it in the collection.

Kraftwerk cycle into the mix with ‘Tour de France’ – never ages – before an ambient breakdown I can’t identify and a clip of Matt Black’s dad reading a text called ‘The Ninth World’. There was an ad break here, or the tape ended but we proceed with Air Liquide’s ‘ The Increased Difficulty of Concentration’ and into Two Sandwiches Short of a Lunchbox which was Andrea Parker and David Morley on the Apollo label, an ambient subsidiary of R&S records. Weirdly I’ve just designed an LP sleeve for David for De:tuned records, how odd the way things circle back? The Dust Brothers are back with ‘Dust Up Beats’ from their My Mercury Mouth EP, I was obviously smitten and hoovering up everything I could find by them (which was probably less than 5 releases at the time including remixes). We slip into a couple of old hip hop classics, evidently played directly from Street Sounds Electro 4 by the sound of it as the two mix into each other exactly the same. I still think D.St’s mix of Herbie Hancock is one of the greatest mega mixes of all time, he obviously had access to the studio tapes and a proper studio to do it in but it’s a superb creation.

A brief blast of the Firesign Theatre before a track I’d forgotten all about, GTO’s ‘Dub Killer’ from their Data Trax vol.1 12” – a great example of odd little B side experiments that would turn up on dance singles around this time, very Renegade Soundwave / trip hop-sounding. Autechre’s ‘Teartear’ from Amber is up next, a track I still play out occasionally with its tempo switch down. Sheila Chandra was a big element of my ambient sets a couple of years earlier after I found a clutch of her LPs in Cheapo Cheapo’s in Soho. Her ‘Mecca’ track from the Roots & Wings album is a bit out of tune here but mercifully not for long. Tori Amos’s ‘God’ appeared in a variety of mixes including three from Carl Craig but my favourite was by The Joy – possibly their only remix work aside for one for D:REAM – and a 12 minute+ epic. Looking them up I found they were fond of long tracks with two mixes of their debut, ‘Shine’, clocking in at 27 minutes each(!). Denise Johnson was part of the group and they did work with her later, it’s very much in that post-ambient / baggy / Screamadelica / long Sabres of Paradise remix mode that was the thing around then.

Encoded tapes
Only one more entry until we hit the magic 200 mark and this series comes to an end. I probably have less than 10 tapes left and not all of them are going to be uploaded as I don’t want to go over the 200 mark at the moment. I also have drawers full of encoded cassettes I don’t want/need now so if anyone wants to make me an offer to take custody of them then feel free. I’m trying to clear things out that have been with me for decades that I don’t need.

Track list:
Coldcut – Solid Steel intro
L.S. Diezel & Launch Dat – Rougher Than A Lion
Coldcut – More Beats (on 45/33 rpm)
Howie B Vs. Major Force E.M.S. Orchestra – Martian Economics (Unified Plant Theory)
M.S.P. – Faster (7-11 Dub)
Kraftwerk – Tour de France
Matt’s Dad – The Ninth World
Air Liquide – The Increased Difficulty of Concentration
Two Sandwiches Short of a Lunchbox – Too Good To be Strange
The Dust Brothers – Dust-Up-Beats
Pumpkin & The Profile All-Stars – Here Comes That Beat!
Herbie Hancock – Megamix
The Firesign Theatre – Everything You Know Is Wrong!
GTO – Dub Killer
Autechre – Teartear
Sheila Chandra – Mecca
Tori Amos – God (The Dharma Kaya mix)

Buy Music Club Recommends June 2024

Buy Music Club June 24
Getting back into some 90s hip hop this month, some new – dare I say it – trip hop and other assorted styles. The Dave Morley is a new cover designed for De:tuned and if you ever wanted my re-edit of the Sesame Street ‘Pinball Number Count’ then I found out recently that Galaxy Sound Co. have put it (uncredited) on a 45.

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Mixcloud Select 197: DJ Food Live In NZ Edit (Dec 2003) 29/04/2004

MS197 DJ Food Live In NZ Edit (Dec 2003) 29:04:2004 CDr
A typical club set from around the early ’00s with a mash up of DnB, acappellas, hip hop and other beats, recorded live whilst on tour in New Zealand at the end of 2003. The recording is fairly compressed as it must be a feed from the desk and we drop in probably for the latter half of the set as it’s in full flow and I’ve reached the drum and bass section. I probably had two decks and a Numark CDJ for this and several classic mixes are in there including PC’s ‘Mirror In The Bathroom/Square Off’ combination from Now, Listen, DJ Zinc/Rodney P, Nas/DJ Shadow and Beastie Boys/Lisa Maffia which were all staples of the set around this time. There’s a live take on the Obie Trice beat cut up featured on a previous mix upload and I float a bit of Shirley Bassey’s ‘Light My Fire’ over Un-Cut’s ‘Midnight’ track who sample the strings from her version. Anyway, I won’t pontificate on the contents but there’s lot of obvious stuff in here including 3 DJ Food tracks which is a rarity for me.

MS197 DJ Food Live In NZ Edit (Dec 2003) 29:04:2004 PRS
We’re heading towards upload 200 and I’ve still decided what I’m going to do for it but thanks to everyone who’s stuck with this for the last four years. We’re nearly there, virtually everything worth hearing is encoded and uploaded now and it’s going to be good to move on from this and concentrate on my new monthly show on ROVR radio where I’m trying to concentrate on new music if possible (or new to me). The next show is June 7th but you can listen back to the first two episodes via the phone app which gives you access to the archive.

Tracklist:
2 Tall – Luminous Thongs Solid Steel intro
Krust & Die present – Movin’ Fast
Nextmen vs Cyantific feat. Dynamite MC – High Score
Un-Cut – Midnight (Mist 2003 remix)
Pharoah Monch – Got You (DnB remix)
DJ Zinc – Reach Out (remix)
Rodney P – Riddim Killa
The Beat – Mirror In the Bathroom
Mask – Square Off
DJ Food – Scratch Yer Hed (Squarepusher remix)
DJ Food – Mr Scruff Megamix
DJ Shadow – Right Thing (Z Trip Party mix)
Nas – I Can (acappella)
DJ Food – Dark Lady
Quantic Soul Orchestra – Pushin’ On (acapella)
Diverse, RJD2, Lyrics Born – Explosive
Prince – Sign O The Times (Rootz n Workz remix)
Return of the Returner – Throwdown No.1
Obie Trice – Got Some Teeth (acappella)
Phill Most Chill – On Tempo Jack
Beastie Boys – 33% God
Lisa Maffia – All Over (acapella)
Dsico – Bille Jean Dub
Derrick Largo & Trinity – Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough