I’ve been experimenting with photo colouring / enhancing / animating apps like Remini and similar on various things recently and thought it would be interesting to feed some classic black & white record sleeves into the apps and see what came out. The results are fun, extremely fast – usually about a minute, and have the delayed joy of waiting for a Polaroid to appear. It seems to work better with images that contain a lot of tones rather than high contrast like some seen here. Colours are patchy, sometimes missing parts of the body and there’s a lot of sepia or beige for skin tones which occasionally gets things wrong if the images are abstracted. It’s also not seemingly able to recognise non-Caucasian faces too easily and architecture comes out in an ad hoc way. Some of them do very odd things with text (see the Yussef Lateef cover at the bottom) and sometimes adds strange colour artefacts – notice the blue/red object on the Dirk cover repeated on the Marshal McLuhan. 
Records
I found the time to visit the Third Man London shop today and was completely taken with the whole concept and design. Not only is it a record shop but also houses a small basement for live gigs, a book dispenser, a Record-o-gram booth for recording records and masses of merchandise from clothes, badges, turntables, audio gear and anything you can slap a Third Man logo on. I’d recommend a visit just to see what a lovely piece of interior design it is, part shop, part venue, part curio store and museum of Third Man artefacts. Just a very bold statement of intent.
It’s on Marshall St near Carnaby St in Soho, you can’t miss it.
A new ambient compilation is released on Ninja Tune side label, Ahead Of Our Time in November, curated and mixed by Coldcut and Mixmaster Morris in association with Calm, the mental health app designed to help you manage stress, sleep better and live a happier, healthier life. Check the track list below for a seriously impressive line up.
You can listen to a mix of 10 tracks if you use the Calm app here. The comp will be available on 2xLP and 2xCD with nearly 30 tracks on the CD edition. Listen to two previews and order here
Saturday’s Groovy Record Fayre, organised by Jonny Trunk (Trunk Records) and Ian Shirley (Record Collector) was an absolute blast. Further cohort Pete Williams and I had a table selling vinyl, CDs, ephemera, comics, books and more and it was more than worth our while. Loads of people stopped by to say hello and browse and later on, after the stalls had been cleared, there was a pub quiz on music. After this, Martin Green and Jarvis Cocker stepped up to DJ and some of the tables were cleared for a full on party. It was the first time we’d danced in public for 18 months and it felt fantastic, tune of the night was The Inhuman League with ‘You Were Working As A Waitress In A Cocktail Bar’ – look it up if you don’t know it. Thanks to everyone who came along, said hello and bought something, I hope they do it again next year.
Ian Shirley (Record Collector / Om Swagger)
Doug Shipton (Finders Keepers)
Mark Pawson (Pawson Novelties)
Lizzy
Jonny Cuba (Soundsci / Other Mirror) and Ollie Teeba (The Herbaliser / Soundsci)
Martin and James (The Karminsky Experience Inc.)
Julian House (Intro / Ghost Box / The Focus Group)
L-R James (Karminski Experience Inc.), Edwin Pouncey (Savage Pencil), Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth / Ecstatic Peace)
Andrew (Let It Gibbon)
Gavin (Spun Out Of Control), Martin Green (Smashing / Duovision), Jonny Cuba (Soundci / Other Mirror)
The ubitquitous Tony
Shane Quentin (Garden of Earthly Delights), Edwin & Jill, Alan Gubby (Buried Treasure Records / Revbjelde)
Martin Green and Mark Moore (S’Express)
Lawrence (Felt / Denim) and Trevor Jackson (Playgroup / The Underdog / Bite It!)
Adam Seth-Ward (Kesselrunners) and Robin The Fog (Howlround / The New Obsolescents)
Hannah Brown and Jonny Trunk
Martin Green and Jarvis Cocker
Paul Putner and Jonny Trunk
I’ll be having a stall with my Further co-pilot, Pete Williams, this weekend at Jonny Trunk‘s first Groovy Record Fayre which, I’m reliably informed, will double as a celebration of 25 years of Trunk Records with DJs, a quiz, three bars and snooker tables in a glorious listed building. I’ll have various bits of Ninja Tune ephemera like promo CDs, flyers, posters, plus of course, some vinyl, comics and other oddities I can dig up. It’s all free, details above.
Amon Tobin‘s 2002 album, ‘Out From Out Where’ is reissued today on Ninja Tune. It’s pressed on gold vinyl, l’ve remade the sleeve from the original files and it now includes a double sized poster. Order here https://ninjatune.net/release/amon-tobin/out-from-out-where
Does what it says on the tin, all vinyl 45s, a mix of Freestyle, Hip House, Acid & Bleep circa 1989-91 – a very fertile time for the dance music scene with the initial euphoria of acid house giving way to the first generation of bedroom producers with affordable samplers. Debuts Friday night/Saturday morning US/UK time August 20th on the 45 Live show with Greg Belson via Dublab.
Out tomorrow – on sale at 8am GMT for Bandcamp Friday so set your alarms – Clocolan’s This Will End In Love album on Castles In Space.
Orange vinyl LP and red or purple shell cassette in clamshell case – from the Castles In Space bandcamp page.
Above is a scroll through different stages that the cover image I made went through before reaching the final state.
I can’t recommend this podcast enough if you like anything to do with vinyl (including the bad bits), delighted to be asked on as a guest.
Paul and Tim are great hosts and produce a fine nerdy show for fans of vinyl in all it’s forms. Find out the 3 items in my collection that I treasure the most and more on the great We Buy Records podcast Summer Special pt1.
Also Gareth tackles new vinyl & Brighterdayvnl shows us his fancy bits. Plus warping vinyl, indie label chat & a pop quiz.
The 4xLP reissue – the original Kaleidoscope LP repressed on blue/white vinyl and the all new Kaleidoscope Companion featuring unreleased/alternate tracks ’97-2000 on orange/red vinyl in gatefold sleeve w. download – is out now! The average price seems to be around the £25-30 mark which is a bargain for 4 bits of coloured vinyl in a gatefold sleeve if I say so myself.
Buy here : (support record shops if you can)
Norman Records. http://bitly.ws/dZwy
Bleep http://bitly.ws/dZwC
Resident http://bitly.ws/dZwJ
Sister Ray http://bitly.ws/dZH8
Phonica http://bitly.ws/dZHq
Ninja Tune http://bitly.ws/dZwN
Bandcamp http://bitly.ws/dZwR
Full Digital / streaming links: https://djfood.lnk.to/kaleidoscope
The new Companion LP tracklist: The Crow features in two forms – Crow (Slow) and The Rook + Type 3 – The Quadraplex EP has been remixed and edited into a new 13 minute epic that includes unreleased material, the keen-eared with recognised Stealth as the backing for the Xen Cuts remix of The Ageing Young Rebel although this is a different mix, and Boohoo is an early version of The Sky At Night. All tracks on the companion were recorded around the time of Kaleidoscope.
Just announced, Amon Tobin‘s 2002 classic, Out From Out Where, is being repressed in a new edition this September. Pressed on opaque gold vinyl with fully printed inner sleeve, a 60x30cm poster and phosphorescent varnished sleeve. I remade the artwork from the original near 20 year old files and I’m so pleased with this as it’s one of my personal favourite designs, not just for Amon but for any artist I’ve worked with.
Pre-order here:
I was thrilled to be asked to remix ‘Global Eyes’ on the exclusive 10″ with the deluxe box set of
The The‘s Comeback Special live set. See and hear the full show plus loads of extras.
Due out this October – pre-order now live plus there’s a special screening at The Troxy, the venue for the third London night back 3 years ago.
Oh just get this, it’s so good, a whole album of drums by Michael Cavanagh, drummer for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Comics legend Glenn Fabry even did the front cover!
Sure, Star Wars packaging has been done before, not least by I Love Acid for their Rave Wars 7″s (including original figure sealed to each cover). But this new 45 from Krash Slaughta featuring Phill Most Chill has nailed it and stuck a 7″ to the cover of a 12″ sleeve. Love the Snowspeeder spiral detail on the label. There are even some still left on his website!
Also on the retro Star Wars tip – now that The Mandalorian has at least restored some of the old school faith in the franchise – modern and retro Mandos.
People are receiving their copies of Celestial Mechanic – ‘Citizen Void’ LP on Utter.
Due to reasons too dull to go into here there’s no DL with the vinyl but,, if you post a photo of your copy on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and tag us in, I’ll send you a code.
Music by Saron Hughes, Howlround, Peter Harris and myself – a soundtrack to the Rian Hughes‘ novel, ‘XX‘
(paperback released August by Picador Books)
Yellow vinyl LP + 7″ + print + info sheet Buy now
If you’ve been enjoying the ASCII animations we’ve been posting with the Celestial Mechanic posts then you can make your own with Andreas Gysin‘s online app
Finally released on vinyl today on Utter – Celestial Mechanic – ‘Citizen Void’ LP – a soundtrack to the
Rian Hughes novel, ‘XX’ published by Picador Books (paperback released Aug 9th)
Music by Celestial Mechanic – a collaboration between DJ Food, Saron Hughes, Robin The Fog (Howlround) & Peter Harris
Yellow vinyl LP + 7″ + print + info sheet – designed by Rian Hughes with silver spot print and inner sleeve – this is limited so don’t sleep as it will be out in shops too.
Pre-order https://bit.ly/3y5C7eK
Animation generated at ASCII Playground
*un-mute for sound!
Finally released on vinyl tomorrow on Utter – Celestial Mechanic – ‘Citizen Void’ LP – a soundtrack to the
Rian Hughes novel, ‘XX’ published by Picador Books (paperback released Aug 9th)
Music by Celestial Mechanic – a collaboration between DJ Food, Saron Hughes, Robin The Fog (Howlround) & Peter Harris
Yellow vinyl LP + 7″ + print + info sheet – designed by Rian Hughes with silver spot print and inner sleeve – this is limited so don’t sleep as it will be out in shops too.
Pre-order https://bit.ly/3y5C7eK
Animation generated at ASCII Playground
*un-mute for sound!
Finally released on vinyl this Friday on Utter – Celestial Mechanic – ‘Citizen Void’ LP – a soundtrack to the
Rian Hughes novel, ‘XX’ published by Picador Books (paperback released Aug 9th)
Music by Celestial Mechanic – a collaboration between DJ Food, Saron Hughes, Robin The Fog (Howlround) & Peter Harris
Yellow vinyl LP + 7″ + print + info sheet – designed by Rian Hughes with silver spot print and inner sleeve – this is limited so don’t sleep as it will be out in shops too.
Pre-order https://bit.ly/3y5C7eK
Animation generated at ASCII Playground
*un-mute for sound!
Finally released on vinyl this Friday on Utter – Celestial Mechanic – ‘Citizen Void’ LP – a soundtrack to the
Rian Hughes novel, ‘XX’ published by Picador Books (paperback released Aug 9th)
Music by Celestial Mechanic – a collaboration between DJ Food, Saron Hughes, Robin The Fog (Howlround) & Peter Harris
Yellow vinyl LP + 7″ + print + info sheet – designed by Rian Hughes with silver spot print and inner sleeve – this is limited so don’t sleep as it will be out in shops too.
Pre-order https://bit.ly/3y5C7eK
Animation generated at ASCII Playground
*un-mute for sound!
Heads up – New/old release/reissue package now up for pre-order – 4xLP – the original Kaleidoscope LP repressed on blue/white vinyl and the all new Kaleidoscope Companion featuring unreleased/alternate tracks ’97-2000 on orange/red vinyl in gatefold sleeve w. download, out mid July (and yes the label has them in hand, no 6 month wait)
Pre-order here : (support record shops if you can)
Norman Records. http://bitly.ws/dZwy
Bleep http://bitly.ws/dZwC
Resident http://bitly.ws/dZwJ
Sister Ray http://bitly.ws/dZH8
Phonica http://bitly.ws/dZHq
Ninja Tune http://bitly.ws/dZwN
Bandcamp http://bitly.ws/dZwR
Full Digital / streaming links: https://djfood.lnk.to/kaleidoscope
New Companion tracklist: The Crow features in two forms – Crow (Slow) and The Rook + Type 3 – The Quadraplex EP has been remixed and edited into a new 13 minute epic that includes unreleased material, the keen-eared with recognised Stealth as the backing for the Xen Cuts remix of The Ageing Young Rebel although this is a different mix, and Boohoo is an early version of The Sky At Night. All tracks on the companion were recorded around Kaleidoscope
1. The Ents Go To War
2. Prototype I & II
3. The Crow (Slow)
4. A Strange Walk
5. Hip Operation
6. Skylark
7. Zoom Zoom
8. Quadraplex (A Trip to the Galactic Centre)
9. See Saw
10. Stealth
11. The Rook + Type 3
12. Boohoo
