Mixcloud Select 157: Solid Sloth Pt.1+2 (Strictly Kev) 23/06/1996

MS157 Solid Sloth 1+2 23:06:1996
These track lists get harder and harder the further we go back, Discogs and Shazam are called on more and more as the memory gives up and the gaps in the record collection once filled with these tunes appear empty. Back in mid-’96 PC did a show he christened Solid Wood (available on the 20 years of Solid Steel DVD I believe) and a week later we christened this one ‘Solid Sloth’ – not sure exactly why. After a custom Solid Steel intro I’d forgotten that appears to be made from our Journeys By DJ scratches and a DJ Food off-cut we jump into an amazing sound collage of which I have no recall at all. The original DAT this was taken from was seriously messed up and I had to cut all manner of glitches out, not that it’s that apparent in the tornado of sound we’re dropped into. The old Decca LP with the ‘This Is A Journey Into Sound’ sample appears over the top before we’re into Spacer’s ‘Contrazoom’. This was the first time I remember hearing Alison Goldfrapp’s amazing vocals, coming on like Shirley Bassey over a Bond theme mixed with drum n bass, incredible. This mix is littered with a league of producers putting their take on DnB which had, by mid ’96, well and truly made its mark on the electronic music landscape outside of its origins.

Luke Vibert, an early adopter with several Plug EPs under his belt, takes the easy vocals and horns of the Mike Flowers Pops and blends them into a smooth cheese before Amon Tobin carves up the terrain with the frantic ‘Cruzer’ in his original Cujo guise shortly before signing to Ninja Tune under his own name. DJ Shadow’s hard to find Legitimate Mix of Zimbabwe Legit’s ‘Doin’ Damage’ was finally widely available via the Mo Wax Headz compilation so this got an airing along with a suitably downtempo War cut, ‘Four Cornered Room’ which I later found out used to get airplay from Alex Paterson at Land of Oz. Mo Wax was truly in its golden age at this point, every release a winner with multiple remixes across singles from some of the best names covering all genres. DJ Krush’s collaboration with CL Smooth gets a going over by Attica Blues and then I mix in something sampling his and Shadow’s beat from their ‘Duality’ collab, except it features a beautiful synth line over the top. The identity of this escapes me but it smacks of someone like Stasis or As One although I don’t think they’d be that blatant with the beat-swiping. If anyone recognises it then please leave a comment.

A brief hip hop interlude in the form of Erule’s ’Synopsis’ reminds me that I’ve literally just trading this single with a bunch of others for a stack load of comics via a US connection so it’s going back overseas to where I first picked it up. Aphex gives his own unique take on DnB with a mix of his ‘Girl Boy’ single and then we run into a couple of unknowns. I’ve racked my brains (and other’s) to identify this next track, scoured the shelves and Discogs but to no avail, at first it sounds like Squarepusher but it’s a bit too straight for him. Then I thought Danny Breaks/Droppin’ Science but no, too heavy/tricksy in the drum programming – I’m now convinced it’s T-Power in some form or other but I’m damned if I can pin it – please put me out of my misery. The next track is the same, I thought maybe early Hospital Records but no, drawing a blank here too as is Shazam. Mo’ Mo Wax business with the DJ Crystl remix of Dr Octagon’s ‘Blue Flowers’ before the madness of Squarepusher’s complete write-off of Funki Porcini’s ‘Carwreck’ rounds the hour out as PC scratches in his first record for the next set.

Track list:
DJ Food – Solid Steel intro
Unknown – Journey Into Sound
Spacer – Contrazoom feat. Alison Goldfrapp
Luke Vibert & The Mike Flowers Pops – Mfp Chunks
Cujo – Cruzer
Zimbabwe Legit – Doin’ Damage (Shadow’s Legitimate Mix)
War – Four Cornered Room
DJ Krush – Only The Strong Survive feat. CL Smooth (7th Samurai mix by Attica Blues)
Unknown – (Stasis? AsOne?)
Erule – Synopsis
Aphex Twin – Girl Boy (£18 Snarerush Mix)
Unknown – Unknown (T-Power ?)
Unknown – Unknown
Dr Octagon – Blue Flowers (The Flower Bed Mix 2 by DJ Crystl)
Funki Porcini – Carwreck (Squarepusher Mix)

Mixcloud Select 156: Strictly Solid Steel Steve Roach 1/2 hr 29/06/1997

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Summer of 1997, I did a set for Solid Steel that comprised one entire track on one turntable and various others on the other, all slurped together to make a whole larger than the sum of its parts. Said track was all 29 minutes of Steve Roach’s ‘Structures From Silence’, side two of his 1984 album of the same name. Roach has a 40 year career under his belt at this point, debuting in 1982 and clocking up nearly 200 albums so far, releasing between five and ten albums a year. I wish I could tell you where to start but the beginning seems as good as any (Structures… was his third album).

Drifting in and out of Steve’s sublime synths are snatches of Cluster & Eno’s ‘Wehrmut’ from their self-titled sole collaboration, ‘Riversong’ from Tonto’s Expanding Headband from their Zero Time LP. DJ Spooky gets two tracks in quick succession – ‘Juba’ and ‘Thoughts Like Rain’ from his 1996 Songs of a Dead Dreamer LP then there’s a final electronic track from D.I.A.L. (on Spymania) before we return to Steve for the final say, as we do throughout the set. I’ve left an advert for Wild Brew alcoholic Guarana beer on the end as it seemed the perfect coincidence to come in straight after such a chilled set, such a shame it’s cut short at the end, great ad too.

Normal service will be resumed next week…

Track list:
Steve Roach Structures From Silence
Cluster & Eno – Wehrmut
Tonto’s Expanding Headband – Riversong
DJ Spooky – Juba
DJ Spooky – Thoughts Like Rain
D.I.A.L. – Silent Waves
Wild Brew – Guarana beer ad

Tomorrow Syndicate remix and video


Incredible AI-generated video for the new Richard Norris remix of the Tomorrow Syndicate‘s ‘Hyper-receptive’ from their latest album, ‘Higher Resolution’ on Feral Child. Channelling everything from Moebius‘ The Time Masters designs to pulp sci-fi, the album is available from all good indie stores like Piccadilly Records, Norman, Juno, Rough Trade etc. This single will be available Friday 14th via Bandcamp with all proceeds going to MND Scotland.

Tomorrow Syndicate LP

Mixcloud Select 155: Strictly Solid Steel 25/08/1995

MS155 Strictly Solid Steel 25:08:1995
A late August show with Matt Black and I at the controls in which I kick off with three tracks straight from The Sound of MZEE compilation – a German label obsessed with Britcore rap. The two No Remorze tracks are straight out of the Hijack book of hardcore hip hop but with a German slant. Find their first album if you can, amazing record. Hearts of Darkness were the first release on Manchester label The Ruf errr… Label, releasing a couple of 12”s in the mid 90s before the label went full on hip hop. Alex Reece’s classic swinging remix of DJ Krush’s ‘A Whim’ should be familiar to all Mo Wax heads out there but Chronicles of Intense was lost in the mists of time to me and only Matt’s brief back track near the end gave any clue to it. Also lost is the identity of the stumbling breaks-y DnB cut after it that sounds like it’s nearly tripping over its own shoelaces, even more so when I turn it down to 33 rpm. As ever, if any of you recognise it, please leave a comment. UPDATE: Found it! The Committee – Profound Love on Creative Wax (but played here on 33rpm).

Kirk DeGiorgio’s Elegy slides in nicely and I discovered Kirk has not one but two compilations of rare material on his Bandcamp page featuring a whole host of bits and pieces from singles, comps and the like, no doubt excavated during lockdown – nearly 75 tracks in all spanning 1991-2014 – the man’s a genius. BPMF is a US 12” I picked up whilst working in Ambient Soho, really odd four-tracker that I still have somewhere on the Rancho Relaxo label. ‘Untitled #4’ is a bubbling acid thing that grooves away nicely out of Kirk’s track and then into Redcell (aka B12, a version of which also on a companion release to the Elegy track – ART 7.1/B1214.1). ‘Primitive Lites’ was taken from the then-new ‘Time Tourist’ LP and later featured in our Blech mix, still sounds like a futuristic city at night to me. Meat Beat Manifesto’s ‘That Shirt’, from their criminally under-appreciated Satyricon LP, still makes me laugh and exclaim, ‘It’s a Ben Sherman!’ whenever I chance upon one of their fine wares. Autechre’s ‘Second Bad Vilbel’ from the Anvil Vapre EP plays us out, brand new at the time, we didn’t know how good we had it, this was just another single on white label back then. I think it was either for this or the Keynell EP where I was staying at Sean and Rob’s after a gig in Sheffield and they were sampling kitchen utensils for beats and percussion sounds.

Track list:
Coldcut – Solid Steel intro
No Remorze – Interlude
No Remorze – Condemned To Death
Fast Forward – Day Of Infamy (Instrumental)
Hearts of Darkness – Don’t Fight The Featherweight
Coldcut – Solid Steel jingle
DJ Krush – A Whim (Alex Reece remix)
Chronicles of Intense – Prophecy
The Committee – Profound Love
Elegy – /P Switch
BPMF – Untitled #4
Redcell – Infinite Lites (Primitives mix)
Meat Beat Manifesto – That Shirt
Autechre – Second Bad Vilbel

Donna Summer zoetrope


It’s not every day that you get a text message saying that Donna Summer‘s estate has approved your design’ but that’s what happened a few months back after I designed a zoetrope for the reissue of her ‘Another Place And Time’ album. I even shot and edited this little promo video, yep those are my hands and turntable. The album’s out today on picture disc with die-cut front cover – order here
Use the third party app StroboScopeApp to view it through an iPhone https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/stroboscopeapp/id1260603638

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July Infinite Illectrik release – Magnetic Cartridge Quartet

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A day early but who’s counting, this month’s Infinite Illectrik offering is from the Magnetic Cartridge Quartet, two techno travelogues that stem from locked groove records by Ritchie Hawtin and the Poly Kicks label, mashed up on the Quadraphon turntable.


There are a few physical releases in the pipeline featuring edits of some of these pieces, more info when I have it. Also I’ll be having a modified turntable soundclash with Graham Dunning at Fog Fest 2, Iklectik, London on August 5th., tickets on sale soon…

Mixcloud Select 154: March/April Sets 12/04/2004

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An approximation of a DJ Food club set around 2004, this is the kind of thing I was playing out at the time via two decks and a CDJ, still using vinyl, no Serato yet. Kicking off with Peloton’s entry for the Solid Steel intro competition which we’d conducted via the Ninja Tune forum. Sounds like I was plundering the Megatrip Soundbank collection of spoken word for samples featuring the word ‘more’ too over Roots Manuva and Ty’s ‘Oh You Want More?’. This, Alex Cartana and the Rootz n Works rework of Prince’s ‘Sign of the Times’ were examples of the Bangra rhythm style made popular by Missy and M.I.A. around this time. Speaking of Missy, here she is with Timberland over a bit of ‘Dark Lady’ although I can only hear The Human League’s ‘Being Boiled’ with this since our second Solid Steel mix CD.

A little funk section from That Kid Named Miles, Quantic Soul Orchestra (featuring Alice Russell), Roy Budd (from the ‘Vigilante! Remixes EP) Nostalgia 77 and Bobby Shad – (from Coldcut’s Life:Styles compilation of the same year) before a brace of hip hop numbers from Edan & Insight, a mash up of Obie Trice by Dizzy Bull and classic UK old school from Caveman. Back to the funk with classic Roy Ayres and I get scratch happy with Double Dee & Steinski’s James Brown cut up, ‘Lesson 2’ before things go into the unexpected with the I Royals’ reggae cover of the Coronation Street theme. This was possibly the first outing on the show too for my now good friend Stephen Coates’ Real Tuesday Weld with his ‘Bathtime In Clerkenwell’.

MS154 PRS
Another Solid Steel intro entry, this time from DJ Flywheel, for a change of tempo into Billy Squier’s (big) beat break into Steve Miller’s equally classic B-Boy sample-fest and general all round anthem, ‘Fly Like An Eagle’. Not sure what I was thinking with this section, it’s a very odd selection of tunes, possibly more linked by tempo than anything else although Floormaster Squeeze (aka Coldcut) goes pretty nicely into Japan’s ‘Visions of China’. Japan into Serge Gainsbourg into Boards of Canada – not something I’d attempt most days but it sort of works, especially the Indeep track over the top of the latter, something I’d repeat years later in my ‘O Is For Orange’ mix. We end as we began with another jingle competition entry, this time from Laptop Nancyboy, I wonder what happened to them?

Track list:
Peloton – Solid Steel intro
Ty feat. Roots Manuva – Oh U Want More? Refix
Alex Cartana – Hey Papi (Ross Orton Remix)
Prince – Sign ‘O The Times (Rootz n Workz mix)
Grandmaster Melle Mel & Duke Bootee – The Message
Timberland & Magoo feat. Missy Elliot – Cop That Shit
DJ Food – Dark Lady
That Kid Named Miles – Ring of Fire
Quantic Soul Orchestra – Pushin’ On
Roy Budd – Foxy
Nostalgia 77 – Thing
Bobby Shad – I Want You Back
Edan feat. Insight – The Science of The Two
Dizzy Bull – Got Some Teeth
Caveman – I’m Ready
Roy Ayres – Brother Green (The Disco King)
Double D & Steinski – Lesson 2 (The James Brown mix)
The I Royals – Coronation Street
The Real Tuesday Weld – Bathtime In Clerkenwell
DJ Flywheel – The Beaten Match Solid Steel intro
Billy Squier – The Big Beat
Steve Miller Band – Fly like An Eagle
Floormaster Squeeze – Kick Out The James (Again)
Japan – Visions of China
Serge Gainsbourg – En Melody
Boards of Canada – Nlogax
Indeep – Last Night A DJ Saved My Life
Laptop Nancyboy – What’s Everyone’s Obsession With Intros?

Nicole Claveloux posters

Nicole C pill 1970
Recently found whilst looking for something else, four posters by French illustrator Nicole Claveloux ranging from 1970 to 1973. Above appears to promote taking the pill from 1970 and below is an Aviation Tourism poster for the UTA Company from the same year in collaboration with Bernard Bonhomme.

Nic Clav Aviation- Tourism - UTA Company., 1970
N claveloux LOVE
The Love poster above is from 1973 and was Danish in origin, as was the Romeo & Juliet poster below, both designed for a Dutch bank, Sparekassen. The former was for the annual ‘Savings Day’ in 1973, the latter as a giveaway for new account openers in 1970 and published by Minerva Poster, Copenhagen. Ahhhh, the 70s…
N claveloux R&J

Mixcloud Select 153: Tales of the Tape 21/07/2002

MS153 CDR
Break out the TDK D90s, make sure the tape is tightened using an old pencil or biro lid and pop the door of the cassette deck for this collection of pause button-enhanced electronica from mid 2002. Obsession with bootlegs and mashups was still relatively new at this stage and the discovery of Cassetteboy was a key link in the chain. Their meticulous cut ups of TV and radio shows added to the (toilet) humour of the movement and made sure nothing ever got too serious. That they would end up doing material for the Guardian website was something I doubt any of us could have foreseen. This mix is strewn with excerpts from The Parker Tapes, their debut album on Barry’s Bootlegs (an offshoot of Spymania who first gave us Squarepusher), parts of which I would also include in my Raiding the 20th Century mix some years later.

Amon Tobin’s Out From Out Where LP was released this summer and the track ‘Back From Space’ opens the show before Antipop Consortium’s amazing ‘Ghostlawns’ creeps in, still sounding as fresh as the day it was released. The clipped minimalism of Murcof took everyone by surprise when he debuted on Leaf, coming on like a classical Akufen, the beauty of which I totally spoilt by running a Cassetteboy Jamie Oliver sketch over the top – “I’m gonna whack my old man, right up his alley” – yes, quite. Monkey Magic’s ‘More Than We Know’ I had to look up – seems it was a lone 12” on the Deep-Water label and I’m not sure if the Monkees cut up at the end was part of the track or not. Cujo aka Amon Tobin’s sole album was reissued on Ninja Tune around this time and it’s great to hear the contrast although I quite like the cheesy silliness of ‘Popsicle’ myself, sounding more like something Tipsy would have put out than his later material.

MS153 PRS
Sinewave – ‘Attack Of The Triffids’ – this was Canadian drum n bass artist, Mark Wiebe, not sure where I got this, maybe given it on tour? That guy has some drum editing skills, I do love rediscovering all these old tracks when digging out 20+ year old shows. Apani B Fly’s ‘Ghost Cauldrons’ was a hip hop that was remixed by Blacklodge and Patrick Pulsinger, the latter of which proceeded to cut up Herbie Hancock’s electronic rendition of ‘Cantaloupe Island’ from his Japanese Dedication album all over the track. Computer Jockeys’ ‘Ping Pong’ was another that had me reaching for Discogs and this appears to have first been released in 1999 on the Harvest label – yes, that Harvest – but was included on a compilation is 2002 which is probably how I found it. Steinski’s remix of Moloko’s ‘Small World’ was taken from his Nothing To Fear Solid Steel mix CD that never was – and now Roisin Murphy is a fully fledged Ninja artist.

Another brief Cassetteboy interlude precedes Edan w Eric Ferguson’s ‘Clinical Rhymes’, an old school freestyle over classic B Boy beats – Edan still untouchable, just wish he’d make more records. Herbert remixing Fridge wasn’t a pairing I’d have ever put together but it works as Matthew Herbert smooths out the rough edges and adds female vocals to beautiful effect. More Cassetteboy before we finish with a rather jovial Witchman remix of The Orb and the tape is ejected.

Track list:
Amon Tobin – Back From Space
Antipop Consortium – Ghostlawns
Murcof – Maiz
Monkey Magic – More Than We Know
Cujo – Popsicle
Sinewave – Attack of the Triffids
Apani B Fly – Ghost Cauldrons (Patrick Pulsinger remix)
Computer Jockeys – Ping Pong
Moloko – The Id (Small World – Steinski version)
Edan w. Eric Ferguson – Clinical Rhymes
Fridge – Ark (Herbert Fully Floooded mix)
CassetteBoy – Your Love is Like Benelyn
The Orb – Ow Much? (Witchman 2975 mix)

Fog Fest 2 (Iklectik Boogaloo)

FF2
I’ll be going head to head with Graham Dunning‘s mechanical techno set up with my Quadraphon turntable on August 5th at Robin The Fog‘s second Fog Fest bonanza at our favourite London venue, Iklectik.
Graham’s turntable escapades have to be seen to be believed and he was very inspirational in kicking me into gear to build my own variation on a modified turntable some years back. So it’s thrilling to be able to collaborate on a performance with him, who knows what sweet music we will make? Also returning to the line up from last year is Steve Davis whose Utopia Strong group goes from strength to strength (ba-dum-tish!). I have to confess that the other names on the bill are new to me but Robin knows his onions so I’m sure the whole thing will be joyous.
Tickets available soon…

Mixcloud Select 152: Drum N Bass N Piano 03/01/2005

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Kicking off 2005 in full-on DnB style with a monologue from Armando Iannucci’s Time Trumpet radio series, a not entirely serious look at music through the ages, which glues this set together. Steaming in with Pendulum’s remix of Concord Dawn’s ‘Tonite’ we’re into 170bpm dance floor destruction straight away and it rarely lets up. I loved Pendulum early on, before and around the first album, I felt they really revitalised DnB for a while after years of it going down a dark, minimal 2-step path which sounded like music for ketamine and a good kicking rather than the euphoric party it had been just a few years before. The Good Looking stable and its ilk were too soft for me back then although I’ve reappraised that since, mellowing with age and all. Back then I wanted my DnB hard and fast, with intricate drum programming and stomping basslines and Pendulum bought all that back with a twist and a swing only previously heard in the Brazilian styles of DJ Marky and Shy FX & T-Power. Of course it all went horribly wrong once they became a stadium band and started using guitars but for a few years there were some great singles and remixes.

There were a spate a white label DnB reworkings of RnB/Pop hits for a good while too in the mid 00s, post-bastard pop where hip hop and soul met in the charts and then got a good rinse out on the dance floor. Here, Beyoncé’s ‘Naughty Girl’ gets the treatment, apparently by T.C. from Bristol. The DJ Deval track I barely remember but it was on Reformed Recordings, a sub label of Formation. Fracture & Neptune were the first producers I remember who paid homage to Photek and Hidden Agenda with their early records. More Pendulum with ‘Back 2 You’, much more electronic than their later work and then Dynamite MC, for my money one of the best MCs to hold it down over DnB, breaks, hip hop or garage over the years, so funky. Here he trades verses with Skibadee to brutal effect, this used to go down a storm. That rework of Britney’s ‘Toxic’ is just too fast isn’t it? I think was the first release on a label called Toxic who also released the earlier Beyoncé retool.

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Zen ‘Monster Munch’ – had to look this up, thought it might have been an alias of DJ Zinc but no, it’s another Reformed release, what a bassline! HUGE hoover bass! Fracture & Neptune back again, with the second track from their 12” on Breakin’, this time sampling Vangelis’ Blade Runner, what’s not to like? Ghost People I had to look up too and then realised that the artist name was actually Influx UK and I’d had it round the wrong way all these years – whoops, those white label promos! More early Pendulum with ‘Trail Of Sevens’ which starts out more like Link’s ‘Chameleon’ than their later stuff, then there’s that breakdown and the rave synths come in with that bass bounce and precision percussion and we’re in some rapid-fire car chase scenario. Fracture & Neptune are back for another slice, ‘Too Doggone Funky’ is a perfect example of how to dig for breaks and not always fall back on the ol’ faithful Amen. Killer track, love it when DnB goes out on a jazz trip like this, will have to go and dig the 12” out, I had a big DnB cull a few years back but I’m pretty sure this didn’t go – again taking notes from the Photek school of production, could be ‘KJZ’ part 2.

We’re back in Pendulum territory again although this is DJ Fresh from his Breakbeat Kaos label (no.2 actually) that he ran with Adam F and which Pendulum were associated with early on. And here’s a DJ Deval track I definitely remember, his remix of RSL’s ‘Wesley Music’ – a rare case of a 130bpm anthem being retrofitted into a new speed and genre without losing the vibe of the original although it’s a bit long! My attention span doesn’t run to five minutes of one track in the mix these days it seems. But suddenly – Cheese! Richard that is – ha ha I’d forgotten this too, one of the best to do it but what a rude awakening, then it’s exit stage left from Iannucci’s museum of lost keyboards. See you next week.

Tracklist:
wasps – Stolen Solidly intro
Armando Iannucci – Museum of Lost Keyboards
Concord Dawn – Tonite (Pendulum Remix)
Beyonce – Naughty Girl (Unknown remix)
DJ Deval – Jah Creationz
Fracture & Neptune – Untightled
Pendulum – Back 2 You
Dynamite MC feat. Skibadee – Over Here Now
Britney Spears – Toxic (Unknown remix)
Zen – Monster Munch
Fracture & Neptune – Continuities
Influx UK – Ghost People
Pendulum – Trail of Sevens
Fracture & Neptune – Too Doggone Funky
DJ Fresh – Foreigner
RSL – Wesley Music (DJ Deval remix)
Richard Cheese – Milkshake

Welcome To The Pleasuredome original art up for auction

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After owning Lo Cole‘s original paintings for Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Welcome To The Pleasuredome for 20 years it’s time to pass them on to another Frankie fan. They’re going up for auction via Omega Auctions on July 4th – you can view the lot here.
These are the original cover, inside and back cover paintings Lo made for the album and I’ve requested the three paintings be kept together and sold as a set. An interview I made with Lo and the story of the artwork is here on my Art of ZTT site. With the release of ‘Relax’ approaching its 40th anniversary this autumn and the 40th of the LP next year, it’s time to pass these on. Possibly the ultimate Frankie collectable.

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Mixcloud Select 151: Solid Steel Sound Museum Part 2 15/11/2008

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We return for part 2 of my 15 year Solid Steel anniversary show – the Solid Steel Sound Museum. Another romp through my favourite moment from the archive from ’92 through to the mid 00’s. The mix of MBM’s ‘Electro The Robot’ into Kraftwerk’s ‘The Robots’ – did someone want the show with that mix on it? Still not found it, sorry. Love that Wookie/808 State mix, hard to pull off but just about works. Frederic Galliano into the Bundy K. Brown remix of ‘Timber’ – so good, Ken is channelling electric Miles in that second half of the mix to my ears. Thankfully I chilled things out a bit for the second half of this compilation and it’s a bit less frenetic after ‘Mr. Blue Sky’.

Not too much more to say, it’s certainly odd for me to hear things that were recorded at very different times next to each other, sometimes over a decade apart. Normal service will be resumed next week, I estimate we have enough to take us up to #200 before the well is dry, probably including some exclusives along the way. Thanks for listening…

Tracklist:
DJ Shadow & the Grooverobbers – Hardcore Instrumental Hip Hop
Samson & Deliilah – There’s A DJ In Your Town
DJ Shadow & the Grooverobbers – Hardcore Instrumental Hip Hop
Dirtstyle DJs – Bionic Booger Breaks
Meat Beat Manifesto – Electro The Robot
Kraftwerk – The Robots
West Bam – Monkey Say, Monkey Do
Think Tank – Hackattack
Wookie – Scrappy
808 State – Cubik
Strictly Underground – Strictly Hardcore advert 
Circuit Breaker – Overkill
Unknown – The Space Race dialogue
Circuit Breaker – Frenz-e
Public Works – Blue Beautiful Place
ELO – Mr Blue Sky
Ken Nordine – Blue
David Sylvian & Robert Fripp – Bringing Down The Light
David Sylvian & Holger Czukay – Plight & Premonition
Leonard Nimoy – Quequeg and I
Barbarella – Barbarella (Irresistible Force remix)
David Sylvian – Gone To Earth
This Mortail Coil – Firebrothers
B12 – Theme From Space
Sequential – Mission
Ken Nordine – The Sound Museum Pt 3
Frederic Galliano – Espaces Barouques Part 1
Coldcut – Timber (Bundy K Brown remix)
Skylab – Knickers Of A Girl
Nightmares on Wax – Night Interlude
George Carlin – God
The Orb – Star 6,7,8,9
Boards of Canada – Happy Cycling
Boards of Canada – Sometime In The Future (Geoghaddi minimix)
Boards of Canada – Aquarius (Peel Session)
Ken Nordine – Orange
DJ Shadow – Press Cuttings (The Private Press minimix)
Ken Nordine – The Sound Museum Pt 4
War – Four Cornered Room
Phlabby – So Much About Music  

Mixcloud Select 150: Solid Steel Sound Museum Part 1 15/11/2008

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Mix 150! (plus add a handful of exclusives) Thanks to everyone for sticking with me on this, people come and go and I’m always grateful for the hardcore who tune in each week, especially when I’m writing these notes last thing at night on a Thursday in time for Friday morning. For the 150th edition I thought we’d have a special anniversary show – the Solid Steel Sound Museum.
I’d previously made a mental note to cut off shows at 2007 as that’s when stuff started appearing online via Soundcloud but this show dates from 2008 although most of it is from much earlier than that. By then I’d been a part of Solid Steel for 15 years and had done a similar show five years previously to celebrate a decade on the radio, ’10 Tons of Steel’, which shares some of the same content as this set. By coincidence it’s nearly 30 years to the day when I first appeared as a guest alongside Openmind DJ Mario (11/07/1993) but since this is upload 150 we’ll celebrate early and part 2 will fall closest to the anniversary.

This hour is basically a compilation of some of my favourite moments and mixes from the first 15 years on the show and it jumps through times and music styles like nobody’s business so, if you want a calm, linear listen then maybe this isn’t the show. To me it embodies what Solid Steel was all about, stylistically all over the place, liberally sampling from everywhere and slathering spoken word over everything like it was going out of fashion. I was surprised, listening back, how much old 80s and 70s material was in the selection, especially in the first part, there are also snatches of old Coldcut shows that I didn’t feature on like that evergreen CC vs The Orb one which so influenced me 18 months before I joined them on the airwaves. Bits of my Raiding the 20th Century mix drift in and out as we freewheel through the years and the radio dial including the odd bit of genuine atmospheric interference and a load of classic KISS FM jingles.

I’m not going to attempt to step through the track list, some of the original shows segments of this were taken from have already aired and there’s a lot here that will be familiar to most. A couple of things I’d forgotten about though; mention of a Coldcut remix of Black Sheep’s ‘Strobelight Honey’, I must ask them about that. The medley of versions of ‘The Clapping Song’ I used to do live from 7”s in my DJ sets back in the early 00’s, the Strictly Kev Back In Town intro was done after I spent a week in the Big Apple, visiting the Children’s Television Workshop, hanging with Steinski and buying records, I chopped up a load of blacksploitation trailers on my return to intro a show of my finds. Ken Nordine helps tie things together with his Sound Museum track which is where the mix title obviously comes from. The image I’m using for this (as there is no tape or Cdr) is one I used at the time, of the vinyl floor of The Treasury, a place PC, Amon Tobin, Kid Koala and I visited in Johannesburg back at the turn of the century

Part 2 next week…

Tracklist:
Steinski  -Theatre of the Mind (CDR)
Ken Nordine – The Sound Museum Pt 1
DJ Food – Raiding the 20th Century (part 1 excerpt)
The The – Infected (energy mix)
Sigue Sigue Sputnik – Hackattack
Negativland – Downloading
Sigue Sigue Sputnik – Love Missile F1-11
Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On?
Gwen McCrae – Compared To What?
Timmy Thomas – Why Can’t We Live Together?
KLF – America No More
Pepe Deluxe – Go for Blue (Viva Voce remix)
Pink Floyd – Goodbye Blue Sky
Coldcut vs the Orb intro
DJ Food – Raiding the 20th Century (part 3/4 excerpt)
Black Sheep – Strobelight Honey (Coldcut remix) (unreleased)
Mark the 45 King – 900 Number
Spacepimp – K9 Law
De La Soul – You Got
Bobby Byrd – I Know You Got Soul
Aretha Franklin – Respect
The Beatles – Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise)
Beastie Boys – Sounds of Science
The Breakbeatles – Feel Alright
Chemical Brothers – Setting Sun
The Smiths – London
Pigbag – Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag
Ken Nordine – The Sound Museum Pt 2
DJ Food – Raiding the 20th Century (part 1 excerpt)
Japan – Life Without Buildings
Michael Brook – Albino Alligator
Andrew Poppy – Goodbye Mr G
Nino Nardini – Catch That Man
*commercial break*
Steinski  -Theatre of the Mind
Strictly Kev – Back In Town intro
Robert Klein – Every Record Ever Recorded
The Herbaliser – Something Wicked (Bossa remix)
ECC – K-Tel Greensleeves ad
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
Les Surfs – Claptape
Anita Harris – The Clapping Song
Josie & The Pussycats – Clapping Song

June Infinite Illectrik release – The Infinity Curve

ii10 cover web
This month’s Infinite Illectrik release is two polyrhythmic percussion phonomontages by The Infinity Curve, one of several aliases for my Quadraphon turntable experiments. Recorded earlier this year and utilising an array of locked grooves from the drummer Julian Sartorius’ locked groove record, these are some of my favourite recordings so far and point in a direction I’d like to continue in.

Humanoid – Sweet Acid Sound 12″

Humanoid cover
New artwork I created for the latest 4 track 12″ from Humanoid – out this Friday June 2nd on De:tuned records on black or red marbled vinyl and DL. A great slice of acid with a reworking of an old 808 State classic thrown in too.

Always a pleasure to work for this label and to get to design for artists and releases of this calibre is a dream. Just wrapping up another 12″ design for later in the year today.

Order here: https://detunedrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sweet-acid-sound

Humanoid back
Humanoid 303
Humanoid back red
Humanoid front red
Humanoid label A
Humanoid label B
Humanoid logo
Humanoid sticker

Mixcloud Select 149: Strictly Session – Coldcut Solid Steel 29/03/1998 Pt.2

MS149 tape
Part 2 of last week’s tape excavation and we kick off with the first fruits of Mark B & Blade’s collaborations, released on Jazz Fudge as the Hitman For Hire EP, an amazing record that I had the pleasure of providing artwork for. Shot one rainy Friday night in DJ Vadim’s Kingston loft studio using the reflections in a circular subway mirror – good times, RIP Mark B. Here he chops up Mantronix’s production of Just Ice and makes it his own, with Mr Thing on the cuts and Blade on fine form, just excellent hip hop. Amon Tobin remixes Gus Gus’ ‘Polyesterday’ on 4AD, one of his first remixes, and another Ninja Tune group, The Herbaliser, remix The Invisible Pair of Hands before neatly segueing into Boards of Canada’s ‘Aquarius’. Always a bugger to mix with the beat-less intro chords, I actually manage to drop it in on beat here but that old BoC detuning gets you every time, there is no harder band to mix melodically, everything sounds out of tune with everything else, it’s one of their secrets.

DJ Vadim lopes into view with ‘Aural Prostitution’ from his debut LP on Ninja and then into Pt.2 of Skylab’s ‘?’ release. I loved Skylab, they embodied everything that I thought the phrase ‘trip hop’ should have but ultimately didn’t – electronics, heavy beats, swirling psychedelia and weird spoken word from the most left field records they could find. Unfortunately the phrase is usually reserved for bands like Portishead these days who are up next with a Parlour Talk remix which really is not that comfortable to listen to, I’m sorry, should never have played this one. Req is back briefly with the Linn Mix of his ‘I’ track from part 1 and so is a snatch of the KLF UFO mix of the Pet Shop Boys then we play out with the soothing tones of Kid Koala and Money Mark’s track from the Funkungfusion compilation, ‘Carpel Tunnel Syndrome’. Kid Koala was still working on his debut album at this point (from which this track’s title was taken) and played typewriter for beats under Mark’s soft keyboards.

This was an exclusive for the comp (as were most of the tracks at the time) and it’s an interesting snapshot in time for the label which was just coming off the back of its first flush of success and was looking to the future. You have a Roots Manuva track which predates his Big Dada releases, the first music from what would become The Cinematic Orchestra under the name J Swinscoe (then still working in Ninja’s shipping department). The mix of artists were drawn from sub label Ntone as well as Ninja and the outlook was far more electronic and jazz-based. It was a turning point for the label at the time I felt and I think the comp was received with some confusion from fans and critics but it pointed to the future, away from the trip hop label and onto new horizons. By the time the Xen Cuts anniversary album rolled around 2.5 years later it would all make sense and several of the artists featured here for the first time would be making their marks with their own records.

Track list:
Mark B & Blade – Use Your Head
Gus Gus – Polyesterday (Amon Tobin remix)
The Invisible Pair of Hands – Sloppy’s Not Sloppy Any More (The Herbaliser vs Invisible Pair of Hands remix)
Boards of Canada – Aquarius
DJ Vadim – Aural Prostitution
Skylab – ? Pt.2
Portishead – Elysium (Parlour Talk)
Req – I (Linn Mix)
Pet Shop Boys – It Must Be Obvious (UFO mix)
Kid Koala & Money Mark – Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Kaleidoscope flyers and badges

Kal1.2 Apr 14 67
The Kaleidoscope was a psychedelic rock venue run by the management of the band CANNED HEAT. It only lasted about a year from 1967 into 1968 and was one of many unsuccessful efforts to create a viable Fillmore type venue in Los Angeles. A mixture of police pressure and bad management did for it in the end but it had some fantastic posters, which were always circular, mostly numbered and designed in all manner of styles of the day. The strong typographic design of the logo was used liberally across their advertising, sometimes being sliced in half or half hidden but so readily recognisable that it didn’t matter. I’ve tried to find as many of the posters as possible and put them in the order the nights appeared in below.
(images sourced from around the web including RockPosters.com and Heritage Auctions).

Kal2 Apr 22 67

Kal3 May 12 67
After the first three nights in 1967 the club took a break and relocated to 6230 Sunset Blvd where it reopened in 1968 and stayed for most of the year, the venue was renamed The Aquarius Theatre starting with the LA residency of the musical HAIR.
Kal4 Mar 22 68

Kal5 Mar 28 68

Kal6 Apr 5 68

Kal7 Apr8 68

Kal8 April 12 68

Kal9 Apr 22 68

Kal10 May 17 68
There seems to be no visual record online of posters numbered 11 or 12 but the dates suggest maybe whoever was numbering them made a mistake as no.10 is only a week before no.13

Kal13 May 24

Kal14 May 31 68

Kal15 Jun 7 68

Kal16 Jun14 68
Below is a promo postcard which had a couple of months worth of dates on the back, whilst it was not numbered as #17 in the series the time frame suggests it would have filled that spot.

Kal17 Jun-Jul 1968 Postcard - Kaleidoscope Hollywood
Kal17 Jun-Jul 1968 Postcard back

Kal18 Jun 28 68

Kal19 Jul 4 68

Kal20 Jul 6 68
After poster #20 there seem to be no visual references for physical posters but these newspaper ads in the Los Angeles Free Press featuring circular designs with one numbered ‘No.24’ suggest that the series was ongoing.

Kal21 Jul 14 68

Kal22 Jul 27 68

Kal24 Aug 23 68
Below is a rare promo sticker for the club which came up for auction a while back, similar to the promo badge I posted before, this is pretty rare.

Kaleidoscope club stickerSnapinsta.app_339813615_751759136570533_5852692975519633638_n_1080
Unconnected but in a similar vein, the promo badge below was also auctioned recently, I love oddities like this.

Jefferson Airplane - 1966 Promo Button

Rock Posters shows off original art

Wes Wilson - 1966 Ink On Poster Board - w  Artist Notations
Rock Posters.com has opened up their archives and is selling some of the original art to some classic posters by Wes Wilson and Lee Conklin.

Wes Wilson Wailers poster
I love seeing original art of any kind, it gives a further look behind the curtain at the process and prowess of the creators. None of this is cheap, mind, but given these are one of a kinds it’s no surprise. I’ve included the originals alongside the posters here.

Haight Ashbury Festival - Wes Wilson - 1969
TROTAges poster
The printing plate (or one of them) was sold some years ago at auction for this too, seen here in red on metal, the poster was in purple and green inks.

TROTAges printing plate
Lee Conklin - 1969 Ink on Paper - Fillmore West
Lee Conklin poster