New Ninja Tune Psyche / Fuzz / Rock mix on Solid Steel

I’ve been planning this since the summer but only had time to put it down recently, this is some of my favourite music on Ninja Tune over the last few years, quite a few overlooked tracks and artists as well as some new tracks from the XX set. Ninja Tune first became known for ‘Trip Hop’, alluding to ‘Trippy Hip Hop’, but what about all the other trippy music released on the label over the years? Bands like Super Numeri, The Slew, Yppah or the Dragons? I’ve put together an hour of guitar fuzz, wah wah, delay and heavy beats focusing on the acid rock and psychedelic stylings of the label and it’s Big Dada and Counter offshoots.

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Solid Steel Radio Show 5/11/2010 Part 3 + 4 – Strictly Kev by Ninja Tune & Big Dada

Posted in DJ Food, Ninja Tune, Solid Steel. | 1 Comment |

Tokyo today

Ninja advert 650I’m in Tokyo, Japan, it’s just gone 10am Friday Nov 5th (remember, remember). Got here yesterday and it’s amazing as ever, big Ninja XX gigs today and then off to Osaka tomorrow. Walking through Shibuya last night we looked up and saw an advert for the gigs playing out on a huge screen. I also visited my favourite Manga and toy haunt, Mandarake, to buy presents for the boys. Have a great Guy Fawkes night in the UK, heading out for breakfast…

Mazinger 2 650Mazinger1 650

(if my wife is reading this, no, I didn’t buy them anything from this case you’ll be glad to hear)

Posted in Gigs, Ninja Tune, Toys. | No Comments |

Mr Benn ‘Big-Top Benn’ book reissued

KKK 1 Cassette coverSherpaASG DE056 Front cover 1000px 72dpiASG DE056 Back cover 1000px 72dpiASG DE056 Label B 1000px 72dpi

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Tate Books have reissued the vintage David McKee book ‘Big-Top Benn’ in hardback, handy for that Xmas present where you want to impress the parents as much as the kids. It’s gorgeous too, alternating between colour paintings and black and white line work, with some of McKee’s freakiest work landscape-wise. All the pictures are drawn ‘flat’ with the perspective seemingly looking down from above, if a road turns in a different direction the houses or hills follow it so that, sometimes they are upside down on the page. Mr Benn trying on his clown’s costume in the changing room illustrates this perfectly too.

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Talking of David McKee, when my wife was 5 years old, her (very hip) mother took her to a McKee book signing in Kensington for the release of a Melric the Magician book. Upon meeting the artist, my wife, who was very shy then, was completely speechless, to make her feel better McKee drew a witch on a broomstick with a cat on the inner cover and signed it.

Posted in Art, Books. | 1 Comment |

Happy Halloween at the Haunted House of Rock

Happy Halloween to everyone! By the time this is published, I should be in the US possibly playing an unannounced spot at the Do-Over Halloween party in LA, that’s if I can get out of bed after the marathon 3 days that preceded it on the Ninja XX mini-tour. Anyway, in preparation I was going through my collection in search of Halloween and Horror-themed tracks and I found this. Picked up years ago in a record shop in Exeter I believe, it’s the Jive UK issue of Whodini’s ‘The Haunted House of Rock’ which has a unique sleeve.

Whodini frontWhodini back

The cover illustration is by Graham Humphreys who many of my generation will recognise as the artist who provided the posters and covers for the UK releases of Evil Dead 1 & 2, Nightmare On Elm St 1,2 & 3, Creepers, Basket Case and more (not getting typecast or anything). That’s great enough but check out the (s)lime green vinyl and skull label, beautiful.

Whodini labelWhodini disc

Posted in Art, Design, Records. | 1 Comment |

Final line ups for Ninja XX US mini-tour

Ninja Converse Ninja Tune, Converse, and XLR8R present Ninja Tune’s 20th Anniversary!  Please join us for a special night of music to commemorate and celebrate 20 years of Beats and Pieces.  Also get exclusive downloads from Ninja artists as well as all updated event info at xlr8r.com.  Anybody who comes to the event will be eligible to win a free pair of custom Ninja Tune Converse… we’re talking only 62 in production! (61 once I get my pair! but not sure if the ones on the left will be the final design I submitted)

New York – October 28th
Located at: Santos, New York
Lineup: Amon Tobin, Kid Koala, DJ Food & DK, Poirier, Toddla T & Serocee, DJ Kentaro, Eskmo, High Priest (of Anti-Pop Consortium), Small Change, & visuals by Strangeloop.
Tickets // Facebook

.FREE WITH RSVP!
Converse Presents San Francisco – October 29th
Located at: 1015 Folsom, San Francisco
Featuring Ninja Tune DJs Amon Tobin, Kid Koala, DJ Food & DK, Toddla T & Serocee, Eskmo, Kentaro, Ghostbeard, additional special guests include Ill Gates, Lowriderz feat. AnTenNae & Laura (Muti-SF), Motion Potion (Sunset), J.Boogie (Om), DJ Centipede of Mophono (Bastard Jazz), Ripley (Surya Dub), Ren the Vinyl Archaeologist (True Skool), Toph 1 (Red Wine), Senor Oz (Afrolicious), Malarkey (Juke Joint), U9Lift, Visuals by Strangeloop
RSVP // Facebook

Los Angeles – October 30th
Located at: Echo/Echoplex, Los Angeles
Lineup: Amon Tobin, Kid Koala, DJ Food & DK, Toddla T & Serocee, Eskmo, DJ Kentaro, Ghostbeard, Thavius Beck, special guest Cut Chemist and visuals by Strangeloop
Tickets // Facebook

also in the offering: guest appearance by myself and possibly Kid Koala at a special gig Sunday afternoon in LA…

Posted in DJ Food, Gigs, Ninja Tune, Solid Steel. | No Comments |

splashOff to the US Wednesday for a 4 day jaunt that will take in NYC, SF and LA and hopefully a lot of friends along the way… First major stop should be Noah Uman’s  Coffee Break For Heroes & Villains show on famed radio station WFMU. His show is on at midnight until 3am 27th/28th of October so lord knows what physical state I’ll be in at that hour.

It’s mainly Hip Hop with a bias towards old school and golden periods seemingly although he does play more contemporary stuff too. I’ve dug out some oldies and oddities to play and it’s pretty relaxed on air so I expect we’ll be talking Hip Hop shop too at some points. Oh yeah and it’s not a mix show so don’t expect any great blends.

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More info: wfmu.org/playlists/NU •   WFMU 91.1 fm & 90.1 fm •   www.coffeebreakradio.com

Posted in DJ Food, Music, Radio, Records. | No Comments |

Augustine Kofie at White Walls Gallery

Really looking forward to checking this out when I’m in San Francisco next week, thanks to Remi the Rough for pointing it out.

A short time lapse documenting the pre-production and set up of my first solo art show in San Francisco, California at White Walls Gallery. All documented days before the public opening on October 9, 2010. Includes documentation of both a mural as well as the large triangular found object installation including drafting table.

Keepdrafting post here:

Music: Tail end of S. Maharba‘s ‘Organs’ mixing into 4x4Tracktor‘s ‘Organs Revised’ [Take Your Pleasure Seriously]. An excerpt from Kofie’s soundtrack for the show, available free to listen/download here:

Posted in Art, Design, Event. | 1 Comment |

Canterbury Carboot bargain

I played at the Farmhouse in Canterbury on Saturday and had an excellent night (thanks Sean, Victoria and James) – try the excellent food on the menu courtesy of chef Rob if you’re in the area.

On Sunday morning I went to a local carboot sale and found this gem for 20 English pence. Apart from the beautiful cover it features excellent Radiophonic Workshop pieces on the B side from John Baker and Delia Derbyshire, including ‘New World’, which is better known to a generation of 70’s school kids for it’s closing seconds which were used for the theme to John Craven’s Newsround.

MMM front
MMM back

Posted in Design, Records. | 1 Comment |

3rd Demdike Stare EP coming, mix CD and new podcast

demdike
artworks-000002581467-iqocss-originalEasily one of the most interesting acts out there at the moment, Demdike Stare have the third in their trilogy of EPs ready to drop soon. Apparently called ‘Voices of Dust’, containing 9 tracks and over 50 minutes long (!), it will be with us at the end of November inside another lovely Andy Votel sleeve. Not only that but there are plans to collect all three EPs onto CD, a new mix CD – Industrial Desert – was out last week (still waiting for mine) and a new-ish podcast is up on Unsound’s soundcloud page.

UP#13 Demdike Stare’s Unsounded Podcast by unsound

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Ninja Tune XX USA shows final line ups

So here are the final details of the up coming shows in the States, looking forward to these but not the lack of sleep I’m going to have doing them. The San Francisco show is RSVP only, check the details at the bottom of the flyer for entry. Also I’ll be guesting on Noah Uman’s show on WFMU in New York from midnight 27th/28th Oct. Don’t know what I’ll be playing or saying but it will probably involve Hip Hop somewhere in there.

NY_Screen shot 2010-10-06 at 7.02.55 PMSF_Screen shot 2010-10-11 at 11.39.23 PMNinjaXXFlyerLA

Posted in Event, Gigs, Ninja Tune. | No Comments |

OTOBahn this Friday

otobahn

Love this Kraftwerk parody for a FREE gig this Friday in Dalston, London.

FRIDAY 15th October 2010
Times : 8pm

FREE ENTRY

“An adventurous collage of raw and intoxicating sounds from the last century and beyond…” A free evening of music with DJs Mandrew B, Mapsadaisical, Mike Modular & Radioolio, playing ambient, kosmiche, jazz, dub, radiophonics and more…

Posted in Art, Design, Gigs, Kraftwerk, Music. | No Comments |