Mixes / Podcast

Revolution Tapes No.3 – Disco Mix Club Previews Jan/Feb 1983

DMC tape 1
Founded by Tony Prince and named after his radio show, Disco Mix Club began releasing tapes in 1983 to provide a promo service for DJs in the UK. Subscribers were vetted to make sure they were practising pro or semi-pro DJs and a subscription service provided promotional tapes and vinyl (and later CDs) of upfront dance music, megamixes and remixes by a cache of DJs working with the club. This cassette isn’t listed on Discogs and dates from just before any that are there (the first is February 1983), sounding more like a promo for the company at times, it could well be the first DMC tape or certainly one of the first. Initially the organisation would send out between two and four cassettes a month before vinyl versions arrived mid-1984.

DMC tape 2
Side 1
Tony Prince intro and interjections over Shalamar Megamix 1 by Alan Coulthard – 11.27 mins
Love the way he pronounces ‘genuinity’ (is that even a word?) and the address of DMC near the end.

The unexpurgated Shalamar mix is available on the February 1983 DMC tape

Excerpts from the K-Tel’s ‘Disco Dancer’ album interspersed with very of their time DMC jingles in between sections highlighting mix crossover points between tracks – 3.21 mins
Tracks included:
Evelyn King – Love Come Down
Rockers Revenge – Walking On Sunshine
Raw Silk – Do It To The Music
David Christie – Saddle Up (ooof!)
Shakatak – Easier Said Than Done
Imagination – Just An Illusion
The Sugarhill Gang – The Lover In You
Daryl Hall & John Oates – I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)

The K-Tel album in question is this one, again, mixed by Alan ‘The Judge’ Coulthard (due to his training in law). One of the founding DJs of Disco Mix Club, Alan provided many mixes for the company from 1982-86 before he parted company with them, returning in 1992. He sadly passed away in 2021.

DMC advert inc. Indeep – Last Night A DJ Saved My Life – 0.42 mins

Excerpts from 22 forthcoming ‘disco’ releases introduced by Tony Prince
Each preview runs for approximately 3 minutes before Prince cuts in to introduce the next one and information usually includes the label and release date. Most are slated for January or February of 1983 hence my guess at the date of this tape as none exists on the cover although I’d also guess this was recorded in late 1982 making it one of the first DMC tapes.

Tracks:
Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (just the first of many singles from Thriller)
Ray Parker – Bad Boy (no hit here for Ray but Ghostbusters was only 2 years away)
Syl Johnson – Ms. Fine Brown Frame
Aretha Franklin – Love Me Tonight
Thompson Twins – Love On Your Side (their first big breakthrough pop hit)
David Jospeh – You Can’t Hide Your Love
The Peech Boys – Do Something Special (future classic)
Set The Tone – Dance Sucker (obscure post punk/ electro funk from Glasgow)

DMC tape 3

Side 2:
The previews continue…
Stevie Wonder – Frontline
Bobby M – Lets’ Stay Together (The Al Green classic later covered by Tina Turner to great effect)
The Dazz Band – Let It Whip
Icehouse – Hey Little Girl (minor hit here that’s stood the test of time)
Melba Moore – Mind Up Tonight
Kajagoogoo – Too Shy (which of course ended up going to No.1)
Bumble & The Bees – My Life
Level 42 – The Chinese Way (another huge hit to be)
Janet Jackson – Come Give Your Love To Me (no hit here but her time would come)
Howard Johnson – Say You Wanna
Stone – Girl I Like The Way You Move (absolute monster electro funk, check the B side Dub mix for some serious tweaking electro – sampled by many later)
Art School & The Mighty Motor Gang – Emotion Explosion
Jerome Jasper – I’ll Do Anything For You
Rockers Revenge – The Harder They Come (another cover but no follow up hit here guys)

DMC tape 4

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Revolution Tapes 2: Various Artists – Megamixers No.1 / No.2

Megamixers 1It’s been a while coming but I’ve finally had some time to dive into the pile of cassettes I got at Revolution Records in Penge this summer. Just to refresh your memory; I found a stash of tapes that obviously came from someone who worked in the dance music industry in the 80s and 90s and the next round of posts will be my attempts at deciphering what’s on them. Most have little or no info on them but now we have Discogs and Shazam so finding out about their contents is a little easier than back in the day.

This first tape is simply entitled ‘Megamixers No.1 / No.2’, recorded on a TDK tape and most likely dates from 1986. It’s essentially two DJ mixes but there’s more to it than that. I’m putting these up on my Mixcloud Select subscription page so if you’d like to hear then sign up for £3 p/m for access including over 200 archive mixes from the Solid Steel days.

Side 1

Up until the Art of Noise track this mix is the 1983 Disconet Top Tune Medley from Vo.6 Program 9 – mixed by John Matarazzo and Mike Arato. Disconet was an American DJ pool series of albums with hot promo tracks and exclusive remixes or megamixes similar to the UK’s Disco Mix Club.

I’m guessing whoever made this tape had that record and added their own extras onto the end.
After Thomas Dolby you’ll notice that the pace of blends slows somewhat and the tracks are cut into each other rather than beat mixed, there was also a jump in volume when AON was introduced which I’ve levelled out here. Both Trouble Funk tracks are intercut back and forth before introducing the Beastie Boys’ ‘Hold It Now, Hit It’ (which samples a piece of ‘Drop The Bomb’ for its chorus – there’s the connection) and a big drop in tempo. There’s an extended section at the end where it sounds like the DJ is playing with two copies of the instrumental for a bit after the main song finishes and then we get an album cut by Lovebug Starski. This plays in full and, after a pause, the mix reconvenes in the middle of a couple of hip hop tracks, probably a previous set that was taped over.

Tracklist:
Shannon – Let The Music Play intro
Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance
S.O.S. Band – Just Be Good To Me
Yazoo – State Farm (Extended Version)
Herbie Hancock – Rockit
Madonna – Holiday
Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
Freez – AEIOU
Shannon – Let The Music Play (12” version)
Lime – Angel Eyes (remix)
Irene Cara – Flashdance… What A Feeling (Extended remix)
Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
Thomas Dolby – She Blinded Me With Science (Extended Version)
Art of Noise – Legs (Inside Leg Mix)
Trouble Funk – Drop The Bomb
Trouble Funk – Pump Me Up
Beastie Boys – Hold It Now, Hit It
Beastie Boys – Hold It Now, Hit It (Instrumental)
Lovebug Starski – Say What You Wanna Say
Salt ’n Pepa – The Showstopper
Roxanne Shante – The Def Fresh Crew (cuts off near the end)

Megamixers 2
Side 2

This side sounds like it was a mix by the DJ rather than a pre-recorded megamix – sadly (or thankfully) it cuts off in the middle to make way for three Beastie Boys and Run DMC demos

Tracklist:
Rochelle – My Magic Man (Magic Mix)
(an unknown house track is mixing in near the end but then abruptly cuts off early)

Beastie Boys – Time To Get Ill (demo version)
Run DMC – Slow & Low (demo version)
Beastie Boys – I’m Down (demo version)

At this point the tape cuts into two Beastie Boys demos from Licensed to Ill – the acoustic version of ‘I’m Down’ (a cut that never made it onto the album) and a version of ‘Time To Get Ill’ – that are different to any of the other demos on the web that I could find, certainly better quality. Also inbetween the two is a hissy recording of Run DMC’s original demo of ‘Slow & Low’ which they originally wrote and the Beasties would later record. I ran these by my friend Noah Uman in the US who has an amazing archive of hip hop and a ton of knowledge and he came back with, “The song I’m Down was meant for Licensed To Ill but the Beatles blocked it, I’m pretty sure it showed up semi commercially on a CMJ release (College Music Journal) in 1986.”

This might be the more rock guitar-orientated version that’s out there on the web. The Run DMC recording would later surface in much better quality on an expanded version of King of Rock but I’ve tried to clean it up here as best I can, the tape sounds like it’s recorded through a sock.
About the Run DMC demo Noah said, “The Slow And Low demo of Run DMC doing it, I actually uncovered that from a DNU tape (do not use), whenever I saw that written on tapes I knew we had to check it haha…After I had it released on the reissue it started popping up on bootlegs, one of my few proud record industry moments!”
I’m guessing that whoever had access to these tracks had to quickly find a tape to record them onto from another industry source, hence the random inclusion in the middle of a side.

(The mix reconvenes in the middle of an unknown house track before…)
Kenny ‘Jammin’ Jason – Jam Tracks
Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk – Jack The Bass
Unknown – (more Jam Tracks?)
Mantronix – Hardcore Hip Hop

And that’s it, a snapshot in time from the early to mid 80s. Disco mix classics on side 1 with golden era hip hop cuts and a snatch of early house music on side 2 with some rap history interjected randomly in the middle. More soon, I’ll try to get them out on a weekly basis on a Friday morning as before and if anyone is interested in the actual tapes, they’re for sale if you want to make an offer (although this one is already sold).

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The Electrik Collage show #6 Aug 2024


The second show this month with a load of new music sprinkled with some older selections. Friday 30th Aug, 2pm wherever the you are in the world (the station is time-stamped by region).

Listen at ROVR radio, download the app to get archive access. APPLE or ANDROID

Show #6 Aug 2024 2

DJ Food – Electrik Collage #6
Beastie Boys – Jimmy James (Bsidewinsagain remix)
Jem Stone – Everyone’s Hugging The Horse
Larry Manteca – Bank´s Layout Reconnaissance
Myrth – Myrthiolate (edit)
Bob Dorough – Little TwelveToes (AI instrumental)
Jem Stone – Island Of The Snake People
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #46
The New Library Sound – Diving in Deep Sea pt. 1
Prefuse 73 – Raja
Markey Funk – Chronoscope
Pete Sasqwax Beat Cult – Initiation Ritual Part 11
Pete Sasqwax Beat Cult – Initiation Ritual Part 18
Handyman – The Clapping Song (DJ Food Re-Edit)
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #16
Ruby My Dear – PnT2
Sculpture – Max Ax
akufen – U
Sculpture – Cross Processor
Fluctuosa – Cobwebby
Pete Sasqwax Beat Cult – Initiation Ritual Part 04
Santaka – Burning Head
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #26
Broadcast – I Want To Be Fine
The New Library Sound – Seagrass
Group Modular – Lonely Pylon
The New Library Sound – Underwater Lounge
The South Coast Synth Ensemble – Electronic Counterpoint III
Felbm – Cycli Infini (excerpt)
Jo Johnson – It just is the love it feels
Sean Ono Lennon – Asterisms

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New DJ Food 45 Live mix for 2024

DJ Food 45 Live Mix 11th 2024 web
It’s that time of year again, my annual mix debuts tonight on the 45 Live radio show, hosted as ever by the divine Greg Belson on Dublab. You know the drill, all 45s, no other sizes but 7″ vinyl, I’ve dug deep as ever for this, some of these tracks were only bought a week before I made the mix. I’m mining the vintage dance pool once again from the heyday of the late 80s and early 90s and this is probably my most housey entry ever, drawing heavily on the Champion label (Raze get three entries and no, one of them isn’t ‘Jack The Groove’) and beyond. It’s also the most tracks I’ve fitted into an hour for the show, 32 in total, trying to speed up my mixes to make it interesting. I really had fun bashing through this and plenty of the tracks still stand up. I decided to bookend the mix with two spoken samples from the same flexi disc, we start with love and end with sex – enjoy. As usual Greg bookends the show with his own unique selections – you can tune in live at 4am GMT (Aug 17th UK time) as the show goes out 8pm-10pm PST on the west coast tonight. https://www.dublab.com/shows/45-live-radio-show

Track listing – Early House / Hip House mix ’86-91 – Aug 2024

Dee-Lite – What Is Love? (Holographic Goatee Mix) 1990
E-Zee Posse – Breathing Is E-Zee (Instrumental) 1991
Turntable Orchestra – Gonna Miss Me (Vocal) 1988
Pulse – Shut Up Already (Fierce Mix) 1987
Frankie Knuckles – Your Love 1989
Wally Jump Junior & The Criminal Element – Cut Me Loose 1986
D.L. Kool – Get On Up 1989
Criminal Element Orchestra – Put The Needle On The Record 1987
Emilio – Do It Again Emilio 1988
D.J. Lelewel – Amgic Atto II (The Deep Edit) 1989
Tingo Tango – It Is Jazz 1990
The Funky Worm – Hustle! (To The Music) 1988
Plus+One feat. Siren – It’s Happenin’ 1990
Frank K. feat. Wiston Office – Everybody Lets Somebody Love 1991
Raze – Let The Music Move U 1987
Sterling Void – Set Me Free (Music Mix) 1988
Liquid Oxygen – The Planet Dance (Move Ya Body) 1990
Musto & Bones – All I Want Is To Get Away (Bones Beats) 1990
Raze – Bass Power (Power Bass remix) 1991
Bootleggers – Hot Mix 3 1988
Jazzi P – Feel The Rhythm 1990
The Beatmasters – Warm Love (The Field Hippy Mix) 1989
Toni Scott – That’s How I’m Living 1989
101 – Just As Long As I Got You (House Mix) 1989
Mr Lee – I Can’t Forget 1987
Raze feat. Lady J – All 4 Love (Break 4 Love 1990)
Doo Lally ‘D’ – Floorshaker (Dynamite edit) 1991
True Faith w. Final Cut – You Can’t Deny the Bass (Dub) 1989
Hi Tek 3 feat Shamrock – Come On and Dance (Radio Mix)1990
Reese & Santonio – Truth of Self Evidence 1988
Frankie Knuckles – Baby Wants To Ride 1989
Lee Lewis – French Kiss (The Remix) 1989

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DJ Food and Hannah Brown – Upside Down Records set 13/07/24


The in store mix that Hannah Brown and I did last Saturday at Upside Down Records in Deptford is now up on their new Mixcloud – give them a follow.
Two sets from me, one from Hannah (her first slamming set didn’t record sadly) – all fully trackmarked.
There’s still a crate of my records for sale at the shop, with more joining them soon… Pay them a visit, one stop from London Bridge on the overground.

Foood Records Upside Down
Track list:
Strictly Kev mix 1
David Essex – Rock On
Jack Wilkins – Red Tribe
Santaka – No Rivers Here
Spacetime Continuum – Flurescense
Special Request – That Wisnae A Microdose / Melon Farmer / Epsilon
Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia – Obsidian (Organically Decomposed)
John Heckle – The 4th Dimension
Spiral Deluxe – The Cosmos
Caustic Window – Cordialatron
Murcof – Maiz
Akufen – Late Night Munchies
Luke Vibert – Everybody
Radio Slave – Dedication
Lalo Schifrin – Quiet Village
DJ Format & The Simonsound – Holy Thursday

Hannah Brown
Lonnie Liston-Smith – Expansions
Another Taste – Time Is On Our Side
Nu Genea – Disco Sole
Mildlife – Magnificent Moon
Phantom Handclap Band – Judge Not (Ray Mang remix)
Vivian Vee – Alright
Pleasure Pool – Ask Your Body
The Units – High Pressure Days (Todd Terje remix)
Talking Heads – Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)
Brother Resistance – Dancin’ Shoes Rapso
Surprise Chef – Crayfish Caper (Nuyorican Broken mix)

Strictly Kev mix 2
Martina Topley-Bird – Soul Food (Charles Webster’s Bangin’ House Dub)
Dream 2 Science – My Love Turns To Liquid (Beat Foundation Liquid Lustre mix)
Tin Man – Flip
Dream 2 Science – My Love Turns To Liquid (Padappella)
Four Tet – Peace For Earth
Sam Clarence – Sextant Daktari
Unknown – Beam Me Up (Creative Use)
Bon Voyage – Ils Disent Que L’orient Est Rouge
Chicago Housing Committee – Six Million Dollar Acid
Rockers Revenge – Rockin’ On Sunshine
D Train – You’re The One For Me (Dub)
Renegade Soundwave – The Phantom
Marshall Jefferson present Truth – Open Our Eyes
Baby Ford – Fordtrax
Cabaret Voltaire – Easy Life
Mr Lee – I Can’t Forget
S’Express – Mantra System
Frank K (feat. Wiston Office) – Everybody Lets Somebody Love
Sueno Latino – Sueno Latino

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Electrik Collage on ROVR radio

ROVR schedule
Friday 12th April sees the start of my new monthly show on ROVR Radio – streaming 2pm-4pm wherever you are in the world. Electrik Collage will be 2 hours of music culled from my current DJ sets and listening choices with a bit of older material thrown in as well but I’m going to try and keep the balance to newer music as there’s so much out there. The station has a great line up of selectors and you can stream it live from your desktop or access archived shows via the phone app which is free to download. No ads, no playlists, no algorithms, no chat, just music.
Tune in live here https://rovr.live/#/

ROVR line up

ROVR bio

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2023

Best LPs 2023Music:
Kosmischer Laufer – Volume 5 LP (UCR)
Soia, Julien Sénélas, Jérôme Vassereau – In C for 11 Oscillators and 53 Forms LP (unjenesaisquoi)
Cate Brooks – Tapeworks DL (Cafe Kaput)
Memorials – Music For Film: Tramps! LP (State 51 Conspiracy)
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – PetroDragonic Apocalypse… LP (Album of the year)
Field Lines Cartographer – Moonbuilding Sessions LP (CiS Subscription Library)
Brian Eno – The Lighthouse radio station (Sonos) (most listened to)
Niholoxica – Source of Denial LP (Crammed Discs)
SareemOne – Olivine Window
Coast Contra – Breathe & Stop Freestyle/Never Freestyle/Scenario Freestyle
Move78 – Grains LP
Heiroglyphic Being – The Moon Dance LP (Apnea)
Raj Pannu – Past Crimes EP 12″ (To Pikap Records)
Gordon Chapman-Fox – The Nine Travellers LP (Castles In Space Subscription Library)

Podcasts:
Oh God What Now?
Cartoonist Kayfabe
Jonny Trunk’s Patreon Show
What Goes Around
The Bunker
The Bureau of Lost Culture
Not A Diving Podcast with Scuba

Best of Live events 2023-2
Gigs / Events:
Art of Noise @Jazz Café, London
The Light Surgeons – SuperEverything launch @iklectik, London
Quadraphon debut @Ramsgate Music Hall, Ramsgate
Beyond The Streets exhibition @Saatchi gallery, London
Pop Up Subculture festival, Stroud
Holotronica, @IMAX Bristol
Sunroof / Finlay Shakespeare @iklectik, London
0282 Club, the library, Burnley
Paul Cousins @iklectik, London
The Light Surgeons – The Consensual Hallucination @iklectik, London
Memorials at the State 51 Summer Psych party @State 51, London
Queens of the Stone Age @Glastonbury
FogFest2 @iklectik, London
JG Thirlwell & Emsemble @Bush Hall, London
The Book & Record Bar 10th anniversary party, London
Machina Bristronica, Bristol
Visiting Peel Acres with Eilon Paz of Dust & Grooves
Nihiloxia @the Jazz Cafe, London
NEXT Festival, Bratislava, Slovakia

Best design 2023
Design / Packaging:
Yves Malone – A Hello To A Goodbye LP (Castles In Space)
Drumetrics – Phuzzle (Drumetrics)
Waclaw Zimpel – Train Spotter LP (State 51)
David Boulter – Factory 3″ CD (Clay Pipe Music)
Fluctuosa – Wetware EP 12″ (Analogical Force)
Fluxus – Orbit & Shine LP (Castles In Space)
Floating Points – Birth4000 12″ (Ninja Tune)
Cate Brooks – Easel Studies LP + badge (Clay Pipe Music)
Brian Eno – Top Boy OST CD (Beatink)

Artists:
Kallamity
Soda
Nick Taylor (Spectral Studio)
Louise Mason
Francis Castle (Clay Pipe)
Tradd Moore
KO_Computer
Kishi Omori
Autone1
Mike Mignola
Geometric Love
Anna Readman
Zoe Thorogood
Colin & Maria @ Time Released Sound

Best books 2023
Books / Magazines / Comics:
Medical Grade Music – Steve Davis & Kavis Torabi (White Rabbit)
Doctor Strange – Fall Sunrise – Tradd & Heather Moore (Marvel)
Tales To Enlighten – The New Testament – Matt King and James Edward Clark
Beyond The Streets exhibition book
Pop – Milton Glaser (Phaidon)
Kevin O’Neill Apex Edition (2000AD)
Mark Stafford – Salmonella Smorgasbord (Soaring Penguin Press)
Savage Impressions – Bruce Lichen (Independent Project Records)
Hexagon Bridge – Richard Blake (Image)
Monica – Daniel Clowes (Fantagraphics)
Acid Valley – Luke Insect
Petrol Head – Rob Williams & Pye Parr (Image)
Lawless – Dan Abnett & Phil Winslade (Rebellion)
Giant Robot Hellboy – Mignola/Fegredo (Dark Horse)
Facelss & The Family – Matt Lesniewski (Oni Press)

Film:
Barbie
Squaring The Circle : The Story of Hipgnosis

What Have I done 2023
Another year over and what have I done?
Designed a retro jungle cover for District 1727 release Rinse Out The Raw Steel
Opened for The Art of Noise two nights running at the Jazz Cafe
Designed The Home Current & Peter Wix and UNE CDs for Spun Out Of Control
Performed at Candlemas with Julian Hand, Heena Song, Paul Naudin and Whyte Light Visuals
Started working with visual artist PuttyRubber with my Quadraphon turntable at live gigs
Designed the Stasis 12″‘Quondam Sequences’ for De:tuned
Edited a short video for Holotronica after their Bristol event (not sure this ever got broadcast/finished actually)
Restarted my Infinite Illectrik label with 7 monthly releases from May
Mixed two new volumes of The Funky Eno with selections provided by Nohbodhi
Gave talks about Wheels of Light in Stroud and Brighton
Collaborated with Graham Dunning live with visuals by PuttyRubber and Chromatech for FogFest2
Appeared on the 45 Live and What Goes Around podcasts
Wrote the theme for the new Why? podcast
Remade and remixed Amon Tobin’s Permutation LP artwork for the 25th reissue
Continued the weekly Mixcloud Select series of archive mix uploads
Designed and illustrated Wonders of the Undersea World LP for Trunk Records including a sheet of stickers to make your own cover design.
Designed zoetropes for T Rex, Donna Summer, Dr Who, Lily Allen and Steps(!)
Designed the Pulse Five EP, poster and postcards for FSOL, working with Jonas Ranson again on the screenprint
Designed the De:tuned 15 logo and T-shirt for the label’s fifteenth year in 2024
Designed the Clerkenwell Kid Junkyard Melodies album + ephemera and 3″ Xmas Winter Warmers companion CD for Stephen Coates/The Real Tuesday Weld
Designed the A’bear album sleeve for Castles In Space
Contributed vintage graffiti photos to the second Old So Kool book about the UK graf scene in the 80s
Ongoing research into at least three other book projects…

RIP:
Alan Rankin, Jeff Beck, David Crosby, Burt Bacharach, Raquel Welch, Alain Goraguer, Lee Purkis aka In Sync, Paul O’Grady, Al Jaffee, Jah Shaka, Mary Quant, Mark Stewart, Frank Kozik, Andy Rourke, Peter Jones (Colourscape designer), Martin Amis, Kenneth Anger, Tina Turner, Astrud Gilberto, John Romita Snr, Glenda Jackson, Jane Birkin, Paul Rubens, Jamie Reid, Michael Parkinson, David McCallum, Mark the 45 King, Benjamin Zephaniah, Ian Gibson,

Looking forward 2024
Looking forward to:
Candlemas II
Gary Hustwit’s Eno film
The Time Released Sound Book – A Decade of Handmade Music Packaging
Furiosa – A Mad Max Saga
The Hoppy documentary
Richard Norris’ autobiography, Strange Things Are Happening
Sophia Satchell-Baeza’s ‘Sensuous Laboratories’ book
The The’s new tour
Doug Shipton’s new Fundamental Frequencies label
More collaborations

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New 45 Live mix tonight on Dublab and more

DJ Food 45 Live Mix 10th 2023 v2 web
My now annual 45 Live mix has come around again, a set made entirely of 7″ records of any persuasion. The crew has been running for nearly a decade now, originated by Boca 45 and Pete Isaac to celebrate the 45 format. As usual I’ve been stockpiling dance singles from the late 80s and early 90s and this year’s offering is heavy with Hip House, a genre that shone brightly for around a year in 1989 having notable releases in both the UK and US with us Brits arguably being the first to get a track out with The Beatmasters featuring the Cookie Crew in 1987.

That doesn’t feature here but there’s plenty of UK action to balance things out including a bit of Skacid (Ska + Acid) and even a bit of Bleep. As usual Greg Belson will be holding things down Stateside as the host of the show (which hits episode 200 next year) and my mix will feature at some point in the middle of the show. You can tune in live at 4am GMT (Aug 5th UK time) as the show goes out 8pm-10pm PST on the west coast tonight. https://www.dublab.com/shows/45-live-radio-show
UPDATE: Here’s the show

PS: No Mixcloud Select upload this week because of this mix, back on it with more 90s tapes next week.

IPM_SQUARE-ADVERT
Of course Aug 5th is a big one as it’s the first iteration of a new book and zine fair, initiated by Velocity Press in the same spirit as the indie label market. I’ll be popping my head in as Four Corners Books have a stall and it will be good to support. Then I’ll be heading straight to Iklectik to set up for the second annual Fog Fest party, hosted by Robin The Fog (shhhhh… it’s his birthday, bring cake). I’ll be taking part in a modified turntable soundclash with Graham Dunning alongside visuals from PuttyRubber and Leon Trimble and from the rehearsals we had the other week it should be a lot of fun (see below). Also on the bill are Robin in his Howlround guise, Steve Davis DJing and live sets from Lauren Sarah Hayes, Nad Spiro and tpwiikatj. Here’s a snippet from our rehearsal the other week

FogFest 2 Poster v1 - web
I almost forgot, today is the return of Bandcamp Friday and the monthly Infinite Illectrik release is out – for ii012 it’s the (re)turn of the Electrostatic Headshell Assembly with a 3 track techno/electro set recorded earlier this year. There’s more to come before the year is out including some new names to the label and possibly even a physical release to round the year out.


ii012 cover 2 web

Also – more Food-related collaborations if you want to support digitally today or any other day:
https://djfood.bandcamp.com/
https://celestialmechanic.bandcamp.com/
https://thenewobsolecents-cis.bandcamp.com/album/the-superceded-sounds-of

Posted in DJ Food, Infinite Illectrik, Mixes / Podcast, Music, Quadraphon, Radio, Records. | 2 Comments |

Tripping The Light Fantastic on the Bureau of Lost Culture

9G9A3660

I joined Stephen Coates again on his excellent Bureau of Lost Culture podcast the other week alongside Optikinetics co-founder Neil Rice and FX wheel artist and light show operator Jennie Caldwell to talk psychedelic light shows in support of my book, Wheels of Light.
Neil recounts his first light show experiences, starting one of the main companies making equipment for light show in the ’70s and the rise and fall of the industry. Jennie was part of the second generation of artists who saw it rise from the ashes in the second summer of love, when acid house and dance music arrived and revived the artform for a while. They both have tales to tell and I learned plenty from listening to them.

She also took some excellent shots a few weeks back when Optikinetics lit the Raven Row gallery for the publisher Four Corners Books at the book launch.

9G9A3750
Stuart Warren-Hill (Hexstatic / Holotronica) and Neil Rice (Optikinetics)

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Brendan and Emma from Insight Lighting with Geoff Blindt (Mystic Lights) who contributed some photos to the book.

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Neil Rice and I, he really should have a co-author credit, he helped me so much during the research.

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One of my Solar 250 projectors with a custom-made Wheels of Light FX wheel for the night, made by Larry Wooden of Orion Lighting, also present showing original art and wheels from the 70s and profiled in the book.

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(left in hat) Chris Thomsett (Innerstrings), (middle) David Fowler (Optifanatics) and (right with beard) Nigel Bailey (The Odd Light Show)

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Posted in Books, Bureau of Lost Culture, Event, Mixes / Podcast, Packaging, Radio. | 1 Comment | Tags: , , , ,

Mixcloud Select 113: The Monkees’ Head – DJ Food Rescore, 2001-2005

CD DISC ON BODY

This post is dedicated to Bob Rafelson, the director of Head, who passed away this week, RIP.
Back in 2001 I was asked to compose a turntable rescore for a film of my choice for a club night in Budapest, Hungary called Cinetrip. At the time I was really starting to explore psychedelia through digging trips in the US and Canada and thought this would an ideal way to soundtrack something weird and wild that would hold the attention without too much dialogue.

Head Flyer - Size1

Sometime around the late 80’s I’d taped The Monkees’ freak film flop from TV as it intrigued me when reading the blurb. I was pretty confounded by it, this wasn’t the squeaky clean boy band with the ‘here we come…’ hi-jinx of their Saturday morning TV series. This contained cut up sequences, solarized freak outs, Vietnam war commentary and more fourth wall-breaking than you could shake the dandruff out of your hair to. It made no sense, consisted of an ever-changing series of completely different scenes designed to link songs and concepts together before looping back on itself and returning to the start. There was little plot to follow, just The Monkees as they jumped from genre to genre, location to location, costume change to character evolution.

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Music choice ranged from present day right back to the 60s, a psychedelic flavour of course but elements of library, soundtracks, jazz, electronics, trip hop and spoken word to fill the few talking moments all fitted over an over-evolving selection that was refined each time I played it. After the initial performance I severely reworked the parts for The Big Chill Festival where it had evolved into a three turntable and FX performance that was so complex and stressful to perform that my legs weirdly seized up the minute I’d finished the set! I did another nine performances – mostly in the UK and Ireland but also playing at the Portuguese short film festival to a bemused audience – until it was retired in 2005.

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After this I decided to preserve the set by making a DVD with both the original and my alternate soundtrack selectable via the audio menu, adding in some of the original film dialogue in the edit to mesh the sound and vision together a little more. The disc came wrapped in mirror board card to mimic the original soundtrack LP packaging and included a random flyer from one of the nine different cigarette card-sized ones made for the Dublin performance. These were sold online via the Ninja Tune forum and later on I uploaded the whole thing to the Internet Archive for posterity. This mix has never been put up solo on the web and I’ve never done a track listing for it, preferring for people to have to work it out. Sometimes it’s good to have a mystery to dig into, although a lot of tracks are fairly obvious to anyone with a decent musical knowledge. Also I sampled a few bits later on…

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So here it is, sans the film of course, but that’s out there if you dig a little

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The Exploding Galaxy at the Bureau of Lost Culture

99 Balls Pond Road
At Xmas I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Jill Drower‘s ’99 Balls Pond Road’ book which is a weighty tome that had been expensive and hard to come by for some time. I devoured it over the holiday and into the new year before deciding that I had to contact Jill and invite her to Stephen Coates‘ Bureau of Lost Culture podcast. Her story of the performance art collective who were part of the first wave of kinetic art and the psychedelic underground in the 60s whilst squatting at the Dalston address of the title is an eye opener.

Finally tracking her down, she kindly agreed to come in and tell her story, a rare female voice in a sea of men who have so far largely written the history of the movement. She doesn’t pull her punches on the inequality of women, the class structure of the underground and the collusion between police and gutter press in suppressing their happenings and invasion of the home.

There are two versions of the book; the original, large format, picture-heavy coffee table book entitled ’99 Balls Pond Road’ which will cost a bit more but is worth every penny. Or the new paperback-sized, picture-light, more affordable version entitled ‘The Exploding Galaxy – Performance Art, LSD and Bent Copper in the Sixties Counterculture’, which is a mouthful but sums up the contents far better than the original title.

TEG book blurb

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I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee podcast interview


I did an interview with Giles Sibbald for his I Wanna Jump Like Dee Dee podcast (now on season 5!). I’ve known Giles for a while through MU magazine where he designs and I do the singles reviews and he put me in touch with drummer, Dave Barbarossa who I’ve been working with recently.
We had a long chat about all sorts including creativity, inspiration and technology if I remember correctly (it was a while back) :) Check his podcast out, he’s had many interesting people on already and not your usual run of the mill guests either.
Full links: https://apple.co/3s8rqqJ     https://spoti.fi/3rgEBGR     https://youtu.be/-yODjgBrvFE

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Pirate TV Blooper reel 2021

For the last 6 months I’ve been editing the weekly 2 hr Pirate TV audio visual shows that Coldcut‘s Matt Black has been doing with his wife, Dinaz and assorted guests like Mixmaster Morris on Twitch.

Along the way I’ve been setting aside little moments from the sublime to the ridiculous, all in good spirit, mainly because they made me laugh or were special.

Here’s a compilation of those moments while Pirate TV takes a break for a bit, many of the show highlight edits I’ve been making are available to view on Coldcut’s YouTube channel too.

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Mixcloud Select 87: Xmas collection 22/12/2003

MS87 CDr Better late than never, Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all my subscribers for tuning in each week for your vintage slice of archive Solid Steel! Here’s a short but sweet swinging selection from 2003 leaning heavily on the hip jazz end of things and includes my favourite festive song of all time, The Soulful Strings’ version of ‘Little Drummer Boy’.

As I recall, this set takes liberally from an excellent compilation put together by Martin Green called ‘Cool Yule, The Swinging Sounds of Christmas’. Stick it on whilst preparing the dinner and raise a glass to having made it through another year. Have a great one, see you on the other side…

MS87 PRS

Track list:
Tony Rodelle Larson – Cool Yule
Herbie Hancock – Deck The Halls
Bill Darnell & The Smith Bros – We Wanna See Santa Do The Mambo
Bill Cosby – Merry Xmas Mama
John Rydgren – A Christmas Reflection
Lalo Schrifrin – Joy To The World
Billy Taylor & David frost – Bright Star In The East
Soulful Strings – Little Drummer Boy
Dickie Goodman – Santa & The Satelitte Pt 1&2 (edit)
Phil Spector – Silent Night
Ed ‘Kookie’ Burns – Yulesville

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Project OO by Touched Music

Project OO cover web
I’m incredibly proud to have been asked to contribute a promo mix of a selection of tracks from the next Touched Music charity compilation, ‘Project OO’. This compilation of 58 ambient and electronic tracks is in aid of a disabled seven year old named Oona with an undiagnosed condition similar to cerebral palsy. In her short life she has had emergency operations and requires specialist physio which costs thousands of pounds a year. Although she can barely walk she has learned to swim and this has been an epiphany.

Eudora Summer 1

Martin Boulton at Touched Music has pulled together 58 electronic artists to form ‘Project OO’, a compilation to raise funds for Oona’s treatments. The quality here is off the scale with some of the most beautiful tracks I’ve heard in ages, many interspersing samples of Oona and friends at play which tugs at the heartstrings even more. The compilation features many familiar names including 808 State, The Future Sound of London, Scanner, Plaid, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Mouse On Mars, John Beltran, Mark Van Hoen, Paul Blackford and many more.

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The release comes as a 5 CD set with slipcase and download. I’ve selected 20 of my favourites for this preview mix which will also be getting a super limited release on CD too. The set is released on Dec 10th at 9pm via the Touched Music Bandcamp. Please give it a listen, the music is beautiful and by buying a set you could help make a difference to Oona’s life.

There will be a free virtual listening party tonight at 7.30pm UK time too
https://www.facebook.com/events/482528636516824

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New 45 Live DJ Food mix

DJ Food 45 Live Mix 8th 2021 web
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.

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New ‘Above The Clouds’ guest Mix for Jonny Cuba radio show

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Long time friend and music ally, Jonny Cuba – of Dynamic Syncopation / Soundsci / Other Mirror and more – invited me to make a mix for his new radio show / podcast via the Jason Charles podcast network. Each show is themed with a different guest choosing the theme and providing a 30 minute – this episode’s is ‘Above The Clouds’.

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The Bureau of Lost Culture: The Comix Underground with Tony Bennett

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I had the absolute pleasure to spend an afternoon recently at Soho Radio with Stephen Coates and special guest Tony Bennett, the founder of Knockabout Comics  – underground and alternative publisher since 1975. We chat to Tony about his history in the counter culture, publishing some of the greats of the genre from Robert Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, Alan Moore, Hunt Emerson and more including his run-ins with the law, customs officers and trials for obscenity.

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It’s hard to think of another publisher who has done more in the underground comics medium in the UK and Tony was a delight to chat to. He bought along a whole pile of books for Stephen and I including a copy of his very first self-published and very hard to find comic, Trip Strip from the early 70s. Pictured above are just a handful of the comics Knockabout have printed and distributed over the years – for more check their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/knockaboutcomics/

Trip Strip

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Big Mouth podcast – 10th April

I was asked back as a guest reviewer on Andrew Harrison and Sian Pattenden‘s excellent Big Mouth podcast this week. If you want to hear me getting tongue-tied and being largely less eloquent then Andrew, Sian and other guest Michael Hann, then hit the link. The film, Nomadland, TV series, Wellington Paranormal and new albums from Raf Rundell and Matthew E. White all get reviewed.

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