More hoovering up the recent crop of promos and new finds in the second Bits & Bobs show of 2007 (not too great with the titles there but I was juggling 20 month old twins at the time).
Starting concurrently, the Emperor Machine remix of White Line Circus makes an excellent bed for Break Reform’s ‘Cut A Map In The Soles of my Feet’ even if I say so myself. Both killer tunes in their own right and I seem to remember that the La Boca sleeve design for ‘Rocket Ride’ is one of their best of the era when they were designers for DC Recordings and the label bearly put a foot wrong for a few years. The Bamboos, still going strong on Tru Thoughts, this time with Ohmega Watts paraphrasing Double Trouble’s ‘At the Amphitheatre’ rap from Wild Style. Skipping a couple of tracks I had completely forgotten that Lost Idol made stuff with heavy beats like this, always one to watch for, glad I was hip to his stuff in 2007. Kids In Tracksuits featured a certain Matt Cutler who most will now know as Lone and I think this track comes from their ‘Get Your Kit On’ EP.

The RamaSutra track is a bit of a tune, seems it was one of the last things he put out in 2003, not sure how I was playing it in 2007. Bit of a sharp cut into !!!’s ‘Myth Takes’ and then into AmmonContact’s ’Drum Riders’ from their album on Ninja at the time, Cut Chemist on the cuts. DJ Dren’s ‘Wot Da Hell’ is from the excellent ‘CTRL C / CTRL V’ comp from 33 Throwdown Recordings, must dig that out again as it has all sorts of cut up goodness on it. Remix heat from Cherrystones for Pedro and more Emperor Machine, this time on his own track but again with a female vocal over it from another track, I seemed to have a thing for this at the time. The song in question is Stephanie Dosen’s cover of ‘Within Without You’ which doesn’t quite work tuning-wise and certainly should have been mixed out by the time The Dragons’ ‘Peace Garden’ arrives in the mix. We were on the cusp of releasing their unissued debut album on Ninja at the time and this track comes from a soundtrack, ‘A Sea For Yourself’.

Up next, an unidentified vocal talking about originality before an Eno track from the second compilation of Curiosities, a pair of collections put together by one of Eno’s studio assistants at the time I believe from selections of the vast catalogue of unreleased material he had. Having been absorbed in Eno’s Lighthouse station on Sonos for most of this and last year – a constant stream of over 400 previously unreleased tracks from his archive – I can see what prompted these CDs. They were meant to be a series but only two were ever released, maybe they didn’t sell or maybe the compiler moved on? Friction = Fire’s Dunmore East was the last track on an Irish compilation on the Alphabet Set label which I must have been given when I performed one of the Head soundtrack gigs over there and Peter Wyngarde’s short outro comes from the actor’s very odd solo album to round things up.

Track list:
White Line Circus – Rocket Ride (Emperor Machine remix)
Break Reform – Cut A Map In The Soles Of My Feet
The Bamboos feat. Ohmega Watts – Get In The Scene
Yoko Ono w. Shitake Monkey – O’ Oh
Natalie Walker – No One Else
Lost Idol – We Can Find Love
Kids In Tracksuits – Real Axe
Regal – Capt. Ahab
Ramasutra – The Curse of the Eye
!!! – Myth Takes
AmmonContact – Drum Riders
DJ Dren – Wot Da Hell
Pedro – Fear & Resilience (Cherrystones mix)
The Emperor Machine – Fear of Woman
Stephanie Dosen – Within Without You
The Dragons – Peace Garden
Brian Eno – Haslet
Friction = Fire – Dunmore East
Peter Wyngarde – Pay No Attention

By 2007 vinyl production was slowing down and a lot of this set was mixed off of CDs or digital files by the looks of the waveform on this file when I booted it up, there’s compression and crushed waveform peaks all over the place. Promos were starting to come in digital form as it was quicker and cheaper to produce CDrs with paper inserts in plastic wallets than mail out 12”s after weeks(!) away at the pressing plant. I think streaming and digital promos were maybe just starting around this time too but the music industry was still in freefall from digital downloading and any costs that could be cut would be. Dublin’s Kormac kicks off the show this week before we’re quickly into ‘The Riddle’, produced by The Sugarman and voiced by Harry Dean Stanton. This came to me via a promo CD and the group were apparently a trio of reclusive South Londoners who self-released this single (with remixes from Ashley Beedle and more) and an album which was possibly promo only. I’m not sure if the vocal is sampled from anywhere but that’s quite a cameo for a debut single if not. DJ Pandaj hails from Italy according to discos and Mirrorsystem was an offshoot of Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy’s System 7 project for the more ambient side as their main group became more techno-orientated. They cover Jam & Spoon’s ‘Stella’ to fine effect before The Bamboos’ try their hand at Max Segdley’s ‘Happy’. And is that Matt Berry talking about Fairlight samplers before it kicks in?

!!! (aka Chk Chk Chk)’s ‘Yadnus’ is still such a tune, love that swinging glam beat on anything. DJ Kentaro featuring Spank Rock from his debut Ninja Tune LP next and you’ve never felt smaller as a DJ than when you have to step up to play after him in front of a home crowd in Tokyo, truly humbling. Tiga’s ‘You Gonna Want Me’ takes inspiration from Altern8’s ‘Infiltrate 202’ which in turn sampled Candi Staton’s ‘I Know’ vocal (amongst other things) and this version is the Van She remix. Deekline & Wizard’s collaboration with SOTO on Ghetto Blast Ya uses the metronome tick as a percussion device and I think I must have played the radio mix of Tim Deluxe’s ‘Let The Beats Roll’ here as I remember a much longer intro on this than here. l played this to death in the clubs for a while back in the day, there’s a great dub version too if you’re not into the vocal.

The Chris Carter feat. Fine Cut Bodies track is almost speed garage and I’d forgotten that Mark Spiler tune, how crazed, not sure what time signature that’s in. Pendulum’s ‘Blood Sugar’, this came out between their first and second albums and was kind of where I checked out as the next record upped the guitar quota and left me a bit cold. Fracture and Neptune were (are) always good value and were spearheading a kind of return to Photek-era DnB in the 00’s. Can you tell the DJ Fresh mix of DJ Shadow is off vinyl? I had to turn it up on the file here as the drop from the previous track was like a cliff face – such a killer club track but that abrupt ending was always difficult to get out from. Fracture & Neptune are back to play us out with a big Steve Miller Band sample on ‘Ventura’ and there’s a random drugs spoken word collage to finish. Back for part 2 next week…

Track list:
Kormac – Mr Heidi Hi (intro)
The Sugarman – The Riddle
DJ Pandaj – The Lazy Trip Project
Mirrorsysytem – Stella (Duende mix)
Bamboos – Happy
!!! – Yadnus
DJ Kentaro – Space Jungle
Tiga – You Gonna Want Me (Van She remix)
Deekline & Wizard vs SOTO – Ghetto Blast Ya (VIP)
Tim Deluxe – Let The Beats Roll
Chris Carter feat. Fine Cut Bodies – Frogmarch
Mark Splier – Globul Bleu
Pendulum – Blood Sugar
Fracture & Neptune – A Clue
DJ Shadow – Enuff (DJ Fresh remix)
Fracture & Neptune – Ventura

I fell in love with Javi P3z’s music when I discovered his and Camping Gaz’s ‘Circus World’ 12” on Novophonic and played it to death. It’s strange mix of skanking batucada with theremin top line mixed with circus clowns and children cheering (yes, really). Totally unhinged and unlike anything else, I once found five copies in a bargain bin for £1 each and proceeded to give them to anyone who would take one. Here’s his follow up, under another of his many aliases – ‘Safari-Hari’ – an equally audacious romp through the jungle if less on the crazed side but beautifully packaged in a cardboard shopping bag as part of the Onze Sports double 7”.

Mr Melvis – ‘A Walk Through The Powerhouse’ was featured on a 2xCD compilation of “Strange and unusual music from the Exotica Mailing List” put together by my friend Otis Fodder on his Comfort Stand label. Otis and I had met online when he started the 365 Days Project in 2003, posting a weird and wonderful track or album every day via the WFMU website. This was a great resource in the early days of file-sharing on the web and the whole project is a wonderland of treasures. Otis was a resident in Montreal at the time (or was it Toronto?) and we later met up a few times when I toured over there, bonding over our love for strange music from the margins. Despite saying ‘never again’ once the year was up, he repeated the feat through 2007 and both are still archived online. http://wfmu.org/365/

Anyway, Mr Melvis is covering a favourite, Raymond Scott’s ‘Powerhouse’ before we subtly shift into a deep house masterpiece of a remix by Charles Webster that totally captivated me when I heard it. Doing away with all but a single phrase from Martina Topley-Bird’s ‘Soul Food’ Webster grooves on a cappella cooing and deep bass pads and I could listen to this all day, I wouldn’t call myself a deep house fan but this could covert me. M*A*R*Y was a Richard X alias, this track was the sole release on a split 7” single with Liquitex until 2022 when an archive album appeared called High Noise Cassette – no doubt the product of lockdown hard drive excavation like so many of us. The Emperor Machine was a no brainer for me as soon as I heard Andrew Meecham’s analogue radiophonic stylings and this was the beginning of a golden run of releases on the DC label through the 00’s. NSM I don’t remember much about but it was short for New Sector Movements, IG Culture’s loose collective of broken beat collaborators.

I don’t remember this DJ Zinc boot of ‘Milkshake’ either, no idea where I got that, dodgy offbeat mix by me there too, sloppy. Coldcut remix the Dr Who theme, this was another that came and went with little fanfare although there’s plenty of work in there transforming it into a half time dub with female vocal replacing the main melody. In fact I can’t find any info about it on Discogs so I’m wondering if it even came out? I asked Jon More and he confirmed that the Beeb shelved it, to quote the Guardian: “The best series of songs inspired by Dr Who is annoyingly locked away in a record company vault. In 2004 the BBC planned an album called Resistance Is Futile: Doctor Who Remixed, which was to feature St Etienne (who finished recording There There My Brigadier), 808 State (The Master’s theme), The Orb and Coldcut. But production delays had it jostling with the launch of the revamped TV series and it was scrapped.” I’ve spun the infamous outtake of Tom Baker in the vocal booth over the beginning which was a popular meme doing the rounds in the early days of file downloading. LCD Soundsystem’s amazing ‘Yeah’ still sounds utterly relevant and exciting and I’m thinking I must have compiled some of this mix using my old Numark CDJ as the pitch shift up and subsequent phase FX into the DJ Zinc track after bear all it’s hallmarks. Bit of Kylie over the top there before the switch and that’s quite a tempo increase, hold tight! ‘Next Tuesday’ was from Zinc’s Faster album, a decent attempt to make a well rounded dance album covering all styles rather than just club bangers.

Aaaah, Sixtoo and Damo Suzuki – what a track, what a beat, could listen to this all day, was so proud to have had a hand in bringing Rob to Ninja Tune back in the day, wasn’t for everyone but it floated my boat. This is a really random selection, we go through the heavy Krautrock-isms of Sixtoo to dark electronic rap via the Shadow Huntaz and then acoustic pop from Air. P-Love’s ‘Clausland Man Rd’ from his time on Bully Records (with my dodgy scratching over the top) into Ricci Rucker’s ‘New Dirt’, always interesting on the scratch/beat tip – rounding out a truly eclectic selection of contemporary tracks of the day.

Listening back to this (and a lot of the mixes in this archive) I’m reminded how much music soundtracks our lives and how I’m not currently soundtracking the present day by recording shows of current music and digging finds. I guess I didn’t expect to be listening back to these mixes nearly 20 years later and getting so nostalgic for the eras they evoke. Maybe when this is over I’ll start something new but it’s a big commitment and I’m not sure I could do it every week anymore. Maybe a new kind of show, I don’t know, what kind of music-related show would you tune in to?

Track list:
Digital Onze – Safari-Hari
Mr Melvis – A Walk Through The Powerhouse
Martina Topley-Bird – Soul Food (Charles Webster’s Bangin’ House Dub)
M*A*R*Y – 73 Club
The Emperor Machine – Expanding in Reproduction
NSM – Trying Times
Kelis – Milkshake (DJ Zinc remix)
Delia Derbyshire – Dr Whooligan (Coldcut remix)
LCD Soundsystem – Yeah (Stupid version)
DJ Zinc – Next Tuesday
Sixtoo feat. Damo Suzuki – Storm Clouds and Silver Linings
Shadow Huntaz – Razbar
Air – Cherry Blossom Girl
P-Love – Clausland Mtn Rd
Ricci Rucker – New Dirt

I’ve completely forgotten which show these were recorded for on 6 Music or why they needed two 16 minute mixes (if anyone remembers please drop a comment) but they’re on a disc with a private mix I did for my then wife in February of 2004. Parts of this resemble DJ sets of the day including the whole ‘Clapping Song’ routine with multiple copies on 7” that I’d switch between in quick succession. J Star who kicks things off did a series of white label reggae mash-ups at the time that were some of the best around, crazy to think people were actually pressing these bootlegs on vinyl but I suppose it’s no different to the multitude of 7” re-edits doing the rounds today. As the real Cure morphs into Kurtis Rush’s Missy Elliot/George Michael medley I thought I’d better double check if my memory was still correct as to who was behind the name. Yes, Kurtis was in fact Erol Alkan who made a trio of white label mixes around 2001/2002 and was also rumoured to be behind the Kylie/New Order blend that she premiered at the Brits that year.

Chuck Brown & The Soul Searches’ pre-Go Go classic ‘Ashley’s Roach Clip’ is immediately recognisable for the drums that Eric B & Rakim nicked for their ‘Paid In Full’ classic. I add in a Jungle Brothers acappella which really needed to be chased along with the wavering tempo. Coldcut of course remixed ‘Paid In Full’ into an even bigger classic and it’s their ‘instrumental’ of the mix under the title ‘Not Paid Enough’ that begins the second mix, with Martine Girault’s beautiful ‘Revival’ over the top which was enjoying a errrrm… revival at that time. Out of this is the Play School breakbeat monster ’Bang On A Drum’ that Coldcut sampled for the outro of their remix and then we get into some country and western hip hop comedy with Ricky V. Valentine who I’m still no wiser as to the identity of. This little skit appeared on a 12” on the C Side Trax label and Ricky was never heard of again. This Kid Named Miles’ cover of ‘Ring of Fire’ didn’t leave my DJ box for about five years I think, always a great end of nighter and Nicky Thomas’ version of ‘Soul Power’ pads out the end of the mix.

Track list:
Pts.1&2
J Star – No Diggity
The Meters – Hand Clapping Song
Shirley Ellis – The Clapping Song
Malcolm & The Humphries Singers – The Clapping Song
Ray Russell – The Clapping Song
Pia Zadora – The Clapping Song
The Cure – Close To Me
Kurtis Rush – George Gets His Freak On
Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers – Ashley’s Roach Clip
The Jungle Brothers – Jimbrowski (acappella)
Coldcut – Not Paid Enough
Martine Girault – Revival
Play School – Bang On A Drum
Ricki V. Valentine – Ghetto Classics
This Kid Named Miles – Ring Of Fire
Nicky Thomas – Soul Power

Tony Morley was the guest this week – who had then just launched his Leaf label – still going strong all these years later and releasing great music too. We met through Chantal aka Mira Calix (RIP) who interned at 4AD where he was working at the time and DJ’d with him at Robin ‘Scanner’ Rimbaud’s Electronic Lounge at the ICA. We invited Tony to play at both Telepathic Fish and onto Solid Steel and later he and I would go on a possible midlife crisis pilgrimage to Dusseldorf together to see the old men of techno perform their Man Machine and Computer World albums but that’s another story. This mix is a weird one, the selection is all over the place and the mixing too, maybe I was too busy chatting and not concentrating much, consider this all about the selection rather than any mix skills.

Starting as I ended a few weeks back with Jimi Tenor’s ‘Cafe Europe (live)’ (which Jon refers to as easy listening funk) there’s an oddity from a Flora Purim promo that was doing the rounds with remixes of her back catalogue – the best of which was the Guy Called Gerald one which is horribly out of tune with Jimi for a few bars at least. This clatters into a Doctor Rockit track from his Ready To Rockit EP on Clear, ‘Cameras & Rocks’, where this Matthew Herbert alias took his usual modus operandi of making tracks solely from sounds listed in the titles. After this is some unknown breakbeat track, possibly from the American New Breed label but I can’t place it and neither can Spotify but the Jaziacs & Snowboy tune after I had not heard in years and bought back many good memories. Hunt this 12” down (starting at 99p on Discogs) it’s a great snapshot of the acid jazz/trip hop crossover happening at the time which a huge dose of old school scratching over ‘Beat Street Strut’ on this track.

PC used to do a great impression of the Doctor Rockit track next, the opener of the aforementioned Clear EP but I’m not sure what the big electronic interference is that suddenly appears, possibly a mixing desk mistake! Then the DnB is back with Luger, from guest Tony Morley’s Leaf label, this was the third release I believe. An odd trio of Keith LeBlanc tracks follow from his Global 2000 album under the name Spike (he’d dropped the ‘DJ’) which was CD only, unusual for me to play three in a row from the same artist. Jimi Tenor is back and then Bjork thunders in after what was most likely an advert break there – tune! Some un-ID’d DnB after – maybe more Droppin Science? and then another tune that I’d not heard in years. Gliderstate’s ‘Landscapes’ – what a beautiful piece of music – airy, melodic DnB with hints of jazz that still retains some weight via those pushing hi hats driving it along. More Clear business with the best title from the Greg Fleckner Quartet’s ‘A Gentle Intro To The GFQ’ 12” in ‘Oi, That’s My Bird’ but definitely not a good mix with Gliderstate, ouch. I’m not sure I even tried to mix Up, Bustle & Out’s ‘Ninja Principality’ out of this but it still sounds tough, Clandestine Ein could program them beats.

Track list:
Jimi Tenor – Cafe Europa (live)
Flora Purim – What You See (Ghost of Flora’s Dream remix by A Guy Called Gerald)
Doctor Rockit – Cameras & Rocks
Unknown – Unknown
Jaziacs & Snowboy – Give It Up Me
Doctor Rockit – Hello
Luger – Pass Agent (Leaf)
Spike – Change
Spike – Story Of Violence
Spike – The Mark
Jimi Tenor – Europa (Main Theme)
Bjork – Army Of Me
Unknown – unknown
Gliderstate – Landscapes
Greg Fleckner Quartet – Oi, That’s My Bird
Up, Bustle & Out – Ninja’s Principality