Music

Children of Alice album + new Other Voices 7″

COA website
Children of Alice, the Trish Keenan-dedicated group of James Cargill, Roj Stevens and Julian House, are releasing an album on Warp. Essentially a compilation consisting of their ultra-limited Devon Folklore Tapes cassette ‘Ornithology’ from 2013 (original below left, new cover below right) and their appearances on the Folklore Tapes‘ ‘Calendar Customs’ material . Available to pre-order now from Bleep, the vinyl comes in a mirrorboard sleeve with a fold out poster. Go to childrenofalice.com for a sample.

COA LP front
Also related is the next episode in the Ghost Box 7″ off-shoot series, ‘Other Voices’ which this time features Belbury Poly and Moon Wiring Club. Released a week earlier than the Children of Alice LP on Feb 17th – you can sample it here and pre-order later in the month.
GBX719 front and back 800

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FourFromFoodFridays: 17.2

FourFromFoodFridays 17.2
Four From Food Fridays – a weekly look at four things that have been doing it for me. They can be new or old, any style so long as it’s been getting some rotation in the studio. From top left:
Bam Bam – Where’s Your Child? (Desire) 7″ (finally!)
Clocolan – Nothing Left To Abandon (Enpeg) Digital (STILL listening to this, officially out today)
Various – A Krautrock Sampler (ES) CD cover mount w. Electronic Sound mag #25 – really good!
Run The Jewels – RTJ3 (Mass Appeal) LP/DL (you know these guys)

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Eat or Heat charity gig flyer

Eat Or Heat flyer

Very pleased to be a part of this line up for the Eat or Heat food bank and charity. The event kicks off at 2pm, with music on at different venues throughout the day. Entry to all venues is FREE – you can just turn up on the night. Donations are encouraged – there will be donation buckets for Eat or Heat, but donation not compulsory. And if you want to donate before the event there’s an online link here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/e17-eatorheat-21jan2017. There will also be donations incorporated as part of drinks sales, a raffle, and possibly t-shirts.
More info here and DJs being added all the time.

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FourFromFoodFridays 17.1

FourFromFoodFridays17.1
Four From Food Fridays – a weekly look at four things that have been doing it for me. They can be new or old, any style so long as it’s been getting some rotation in the studio. From top left:
Brian Eno – Reflection (Warp) LP
Coldcut – 6 Music New Year takeover (BBC6Music) Radioshow
The KLF – The Sound Of Mu(sic) (Mixcloud) DJ Food / Mr Trick Fan Mix
Depeche Mode – Big Muff (K_Master Remix) (Soundcloud) Fan Remix

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Flexibition 2017: Stephen Coates #4 – Echo magazine No.2

Echo 2 cover
From the collection of Stephen Coates (The Real Tuesday Weld, Antique Beat, X-Ray Audio), Issue 2 of Echo (“the magazine you play on your phonograph”) arrived in October 1959 containing five off-white, semi transparent flexi discs with features on Steve Allen, Queen Elizabeth‘s Royal Tour, Lady Chatterly’s Lover, the Ahmad Jamal Trio and Le Mans 1959. Art director Tony Palladino did some lovely work in this issue using very modern type treatments, cropped photos and lots of blank space to give it quite a timeless feel.
Echo #2 contents Echo #2 royal tour flexiEcho #2 DH LawrenceEcho #2 Publisher note Echo #2 jazz Echo #2 Riverside recordsEcho #2 flexi stamp Echo #2 Monk stamp2Echo #2 Le MansEcho #2 subscribe2Echo #2 advert2Echo #2 back
Issue 1 was featured a few days back and if you missed a look at issue 3. back in my original Flexibition posts then look no further. To my knowledge Echo lasted for four issues before folding, a potted history of which can be found on Boing Boing by John Wilcock.

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2017: WTF Is Going On?

K2Plant Hire
You may have seen my name loosely connected with The KLF in various different articles over the last few days due to a speculative comment in my end of year post coupled with a year old video made by my old friend Dave Hopkinson that appeared on New Year’s Day teasing a possible return. After speculation and denial we get a confirmation (or do we?). This story seems to be progressing by the hour at the moment. Follow K2PlantHire here

For those wondering what all this is about – here’s some history, a mixumentary by United States of Audio.

A little caper myself and Mr Trick cooked up in 2005, playing at being the JAMMs, wishful thinking for a return…


Some Million Mu notes that I designed for the KLF-themed event held at the Cube Microplex in Bristol in 2015.

MiMuNotesDJFood
1*-LKBgo797kpQnUoHHinbqA

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Flexibition 2017: Stephen Coates #3 – French flexi disc magazines

Theatrorama cover
The French, it seems, went gaga for flexi disc magazines in the late 50s as these four examples from Stephen Coates‘ collection illustrate. The 7″x 7.5″ ring bound format, similar to the American Echo magazines and their own long-running Sonorama seems to have been a winner although there are less pages in these examples which lean towards more specialist subjects. Occasionally included as a supplement with the main magazine, Theatrorama showcased extracts from plays across no less than nine discs and made it to at least a third issue in 1959.Theatrorama flexi 2 Theatrorama indexTheatrorama flexi
Cuisinorama (can you spot a theme emerging here?) followed the same format in the same year with five discs, a full colour cover as well as colour pages inside, concentrating on recipes, restaurants and food prep. You can see more examples of ‘orama’ spin-off publications on this excellent Made In Vinyl page including many of the issues featured here, Echo and the previously featured Soviet magazine, Krugazor.Cuisinorama cover Cuisinorama flexi 1 Cuisinorama flexi 2Cuisinorama back
‘Sound magazine of medical information’ Medicophone, issue seven from 1961. I’ve found evidence of up to 26 issues of this, all with the same cover. This one came with five discs covering such fascinating subjects as the heart and hernias.Medicophone coverMedicophone flexi 1Medicophone insideMedicophone flexi 2
In The Beginning There Was Rhythm, ‘strictly reserved for the medical corps‘ (this is stamped no. 0131 inside) concentrates on jazz and seems to be a freebie produced or sponsored by Vegetaline, a coconut-based lard.

ITBTWRhythm cover ITBTWRhythm flexi 1 ITBTWRhythm flexi 2

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Flexibition 2017: Stephen Coates #2 – Echo magazine No.1

Echo #1 cover
Again from the collection of Stephen Coates (The Real Tuesday Weld, Antique Beat, X-Ray Audio), Echo magazine no.1 (“a magazine of sight and sound”) debuted in 1959 with five two-colour, card-backed flexi discs featuring Mike Nichols & Elaine May, Fred Astaire, Larry Alder, ‘Gypsy’ and Alexander King on the Human Dilemma. Art directed by Cynthia Pennell, the issue has an almost medieval look from the choice of fonts with a more ‘jazz’ feel to the discs which include the red and gold of the cover – sadly lacking in later issues, of which no.2 will be featured here soon.

Echo #1 Publisher noteEcho #1 Fashion flexiEcho #1 Intro offerEcho #1 red flexi Echo #1 Fred AstaireEcho #1 Alder flexi Echo #1 EntertreneurEcho #1 Avant GardeEcho #1 King Flexi Echo #1 Needle hereEcho #1 back

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Flexibition 2017: Stephen Coates #1- Postcard records

Atomium postcard 2
Stephen Coates – he of The Real Tuesday Weld, Antique Beat and the X-Ray Audio project amongst other things – gamely lent me part of his collection of flexi discs and postcard records late last year with the express purpose of me showcasing them on the blog. So here we have the first of several posts highlighting some of the treasures he’s found over the years.
Some of these were on show at the Horse Hospital in 2015 when the X-Ray Audio book debuted but have been hidden since. I especially coveted the nearly 6″ in diameter Atomium postcard above when I spied it back then and inspecting it now I see that it seems to be an idealised painting or possibly a hand-tinted photo with part of the background erased as similar photographs don’t quite match this viewpoint. The song, ‘Marche Atomium’ by M. Leemans, is a swinging brass type number which sadly doesn’t mirror the futuristic architecture it plays over.

Atomium postcardback

The tiny, beautiful but fairly unremarkable postcard below takes on a new importance when you turn it over to discover that the Beach Boys‘ ‘Help Me Rhonda’ is etched into the front image. Or ‘Help Me Rondoo’ as it’s spelt here. It measures 12cm x 10cm and, despite sounding like you’re listening to the song through a sandstorm, you can easily make out the pop classic, possibly a live version to boot which has very odd soft and loud parts near the end.

Beach boys card frontBeach boys card back

The 19cm x 16cm postcard below is the Polish singer Maryla Rodowicz as a young woman, and the song pressed across her face was the one that made her famous, ‘Malgoska’.

Maryla Rodowicz frontMaryla Rodowicz back

US Marines were allowed to record messages home for their loved ones and discs came with a pre-printed design as well as an envelope that broadcast the contents for the postman and recipients. This one is unused, approx 6.5 inches across and has a second hole stamped in the center label, presumably to steady the disc when it was being cut. The darker ring over the illustrations is a thick, shiny layer where the grooves would have been cut. The cartoons make war out to be a fairly light-hearted affair.

US Marine letter record

US Marine letter

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Remastered Spiritland set from 11.12.16 + track list

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My set from Spiritland on Dec 11th was uploaded to Mixcloud but was so quiet you could barely hear it. I got to work on the file and remastered it whilst compiling the track list for the full 5 hours. Photo by Karla Davis

DJ Food – Spiritland 11/12/16 track list…

The Heliocentrics w. Melvin Van Peebles – Prologue (Now Again)
Bernard Szajner – The Fremen (Cache Cache)
Voyager – Arrival (excerpt) (Union City Recordings)
Basement Jaxx – Stanley (Sunday Best Records)
unknown – Blue (CDR)
DJ Shadow – I’ve Been Trying (Third World Orchestra’s Folkumbia Remix – DJ Food edit) (https://soundcloud.com/punk-cho)
DJ Shadow – Come On Ride (Through The Cosmos) (Secret 7s / Island)
DJ Shadow – Dark Days (Spoken For Mix) (MCA)
Andre Previn – Executive Party Dance (UA)
The Dragons – Peace Garden (Rural)
Kool & The Gang – Summer Madness (De-Lite)
Stan Getz – Bonjour Tristesse (MGM)
Fourtet – I’m On Fire (part 2) (Text)
Lalo Schifrin – Joy To The World (Lo Recordings)
Warner Jepson – Deck The Halls (Shinkoko.com)
The Soulful Strings – Little Drummer Boy (Cadet Records)
Warner Jepson – Silent Night (Shinkoko.com)
J. P. Massiera – Silent Night (Finders Keepers)
Warner Jepson – Good King Wenceslas (Shinkoko.com)
Vincent Geminiani – Ophis Le Serpentaire (Jazzman)
Paul Schutze – Doubts About Waking (edit) (Extreme)
Alice Coltrane – A Love Supreme (Impulse)
Arnaud Robotini – The Choir Of The Dead Lovers (Blackstrobe Records)
Brain Machine – Massive Dying Stars Vibrating Like Giant Speakers (Tinae)
Chapterhouse – Beta Phase (Global Communication remix) (Dedicated)
Voyager – Arrival (excerpt) (Union City Recordings)
Howlround – OH feat. abandoned playground (The Fog Signals)
Sheila Chandra – One (Indipop)
Eurhythmics – The City Never Sleeps (Capitol)
Annabel (lee) – (1849) (IF Music/Ninja Tune)
Beautify Junkyards – Constant Flux (Ghost Box)
Cavern of Anti-Matter – Zone Null (Duophonic UHF Discs)
Stepkids – La La (Stones Throw)
Broadcast & The Focus Group – The Be Colony (Warp)
Vanishing Twin – Floating Heart (Soundway)
Stereolab – Miss Modular (Duphonic UHF Discs)
Sirconical – Moondance (Twisted Nerve)
The Twelve Hour Foundation – Sun and Air (Part 2) (Bandcamp/Environmental Studies)
Voyager – Arrival (excerpt) (Union City Recordings)
The Orb – A Huge 54 Minute Mix Mk.2 (excerpt 1) (CDR)
Grace Jones – Don’t Cry, It’s Only The Rhythm (ZTT)
Grace Jones – Rough Slave (Better Days version) (unreleased)
Flying White Dots – Slave To The Grid (soundcloud.com/flyingwhitedots)
Grace Jones – The Crossing (Ooh The Action) (ZTT)
The Orb – A Huge 54 Minute Mix Mk.2 (excerpt 2) (CDR)
Szuletet – Domino (Bandcamp) https://afxtribute.bandcamp.com/releases
David Sylvian – Home (Virgin)
Paul Schutze – Doubts About Waking (edit) (Extreme)
Sheila Chandra – Nada Brahma (Indipop)
Camille – Ta Douleur (EMI)
The Beastie Boys – Something’s Got To Give (Live) (Grand Royal)
NT – Distances By Air (RCA)
Annis le Neve – Stories (Apeman)
Grandmagneto – Night Fever (Big Single)
The Karminsky Experience Inc. – The Fifth Peg (Patterns of Behaviour)
The Hellers – Take 46 (Command)
The Karminsky Experience Inc. – Through A Prism Backwards (Patterns of Behaviour)
The Karminsky Experience Inc. – The House Band Takes A Break (Patterns of Behaviour)
The Casuals On The Square – Moonbound (Trans International Airlines)
Nino Nardini – Tropicola (Jazzman)
Vincent Geminiani – Ophis Le Serpentaire (Jazzman)
Jacky Chalard & Dynastie Crisis – Les Scandales (Fat City)
Bomb The Bass – One To One Religion (Skankapella) (Stoned Heights)
Scarper – Lacuna (Jani R Remix) (Plexus)
Drog – Curtains (Bandcamp) https://afxtribute.bandcamp.com/releases
The Shamen – Possible Worlds (Reverse) (One Little Indian)
Nico Motte – Morning Mist (Antinote)
As One – Where Did He Go… And Why? (De:tuned)
Steve Hauschildt – Same River Twice (Kranky)
Queen – In The Space Capsule / Ming’s Theme (EMI)
As One – Where Did He Go… And Why? (Heinrich Mueller Lamb Shift Model) (De:tuned)
Nico Motte – Necroville (Antinote)
The Emperor Machine – Introduction To Outer Space (part 1) (DC Recordings)
E.A.R. – Interlude (Earworm)
V.I.V.E.K. – Mantra (System Music)
E.A.R. – Transistor Music (Earworm)
Boards of Canada – Satellite Anthem Icarus (Warp)

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FourFromFoodFridays 16

FourFromFoodFridays17Four From Food Fridays – a weekly look at four things that have been doing it for me. They can be new or old, any style so long as it’s been getting some rotation in the studio. From top left:
Trevor Jackson meets Trevor Horn (NTS) Interview
Clocolan – Nothing Left To Abandon (Enpeg) LP
Manuel Gottsching – E2:E4 (MG.ART) LP
DJ Food – Live at Spiritland 11.12.16 (Mixcloud) DJ set

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Clipping. at Corsica Studios

Clipping1Great gig to finish the year with – clipping. at Corsica Studios.
After a very moody door exchange where I was asked first for photo ID and then if I either worked for the police or the council (!?) we got inside an absolutely rammed room.
Clipping deliver a shot blast to the inside of your skull, sometimes it’s sheer noise and you can’t make out the beats or tempo and then it suddenly locks in and you find the whole room head-nodding in unison. Daveed Diggs‘ incredible delivery propels each song using multiple time signatures, single, double and even triple time raps, dancing all over the rhythms eked out of little more than beats, bass and static. At times it seems that the roof is about to come off but there’s so little actual sound in the track that it feels more like floating in space. You want to mosh but there’s a 130 bpm tune actually only bouncing at 65 but with builds that sound like the nastiest German techno but no 4/4 kick drum to pin it down.

Clipping2
What was great was hearing kids 25 years younger than me rapping along word perfect, every line, every nuance, every shift in rhythm, just as I and my mates had done at Beasties, Cypress Hill or Public Enemy gigs a quarter of a century ago. This is their equivalent. They knew the old stuff best and when the group finished with the avant garde space opera of ‘Splendor & Misery’ and dropped into tracks from ‘Midcity’ and ‘CLPPNG’ they got the response they wanted.

Clipping3

‘Wriggle’ burst into its 303 acid second half and then got pushed up into an AFX Amen-punishing d’n’b version and ‘Body & Blood’ is still the most terrifying sex with power tools track ever.
With monochrome static and bit-crushed graphics projected across the band in the tiny run down black box of a room this was absolutely the best place to see them. So refreshing, so exciting, so far out I’m not sure it even qualifies as hip hop.

Clipping4

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Trevor Jackson meets Trevor Horn


Trevor Jackson‘s 3hr interview with Trevor Horn from his NTS show is unmissable. Aside from being full of track after track of Horn-produced classic pop and experimental remixes it also manages to yield details and anecdotes that even on old devotee like me who’s listened and read everything going hasn’t heard before.
Great to hear something about ‘Legba’, ‘Relax’ just never ages and ‘Don’t Cry… It’s Only The Rhythm’ is broken down for you. Great work Trevor.

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DJ Food at Spiritland 11.12.16

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Sunday night saw my second set at Spiritland, this time for a 5 hr slot instead of 4. The chance to spread out and play a non dance floor selection in public is always welcome and the sound system there is particularly good with highly polished electronic music and deep bass tones I’m finding. In the mix you’ll find a short Xmas medley and part of an exclusive 54 Minute fan mix of The Orb’s ‘A Huge, Ever Growing, Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre of the Ultraworld’ interspersed with some special mixes of Grace Jones‘ ‘Slave To The Rhythm’ that I compiled. Some of the photos below are by Karla Davis and Arthur Arkin.
(The mix is a bit quiet, you need to turn it up) I’ve remastered the file now for maximum volume.

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FourFromFoodFridays 14

FourFromFoodFridays14
Four From Food Fridays – a weekly look at four things that have been doing it for me. They can be new or old, any style so long as it’s been getting some rotation in the studio. From top left:
Graeme Miller and Steve Shill – The Moomins OST (Finders Keepers) LP
Bad Lip Reading – Seagulls! (Stop it now) (YouTube)
JG Thirlwell – Music of The Venture Bros Vol.2 (Ectopic Arts) LP
Radio Trip / Left (Markey Funk remixes) (Delights) 7″

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Last Dan Lish post of 2016

DLishBlackSheepjpg_largeI’ve not posted any Dan Lish Egostrip images for a while and he’s been crazily busy doing covers for all sorts of artists so it’s good to see the world catching on to his talent. As always, you can buy various giclee or lithograph prints over on his site and hopefully 2017 will see him complete the 100 drawings he wants to do before he collects them for a book.
Above: Black Sheep. Below: The Beatnuts, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Melle Mel 1, Melle Mel 2, a revised Madlib/Lord Quas/MF Doom, Marley Marl, Snow Goons ‘Goon Bap’ album artwork.D_LIshBeatnuts D_LishGMFlash+Furious5 D_LishGMMelleMel D_LishGMMelleMel2 D_LIshMadlib2 D_LIshMarleyMarl D_LIshSnowGoons3 D_LIsh SnowGoons1+2

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