One more month and then we’re done for the year and it’ll be time for best of’s and round ups. But what’s been tickling my fancy this month? Space Drum Meditation have a new 4 track single up for pre-order with a release at the end of Jan. Cate Francesca Brooks releases more gorgeous ambience under the banner of ‘The Blanket Tapes’ and Jem Stone is back with a remix of ‘Neon Tuxedo Hotel’ from his ‘The Legend of Kaptain Carnival’ album. ‘Depoimentos Do Futuro’ (Testimonials From the Future) us a new compilation of Portugese Hauntology from the Russian Library label and finally Janine A’Bear‘s album is out on Castles In Space, I think I did the cover art well over a year ago. Paranoid London have a new 2-tracker out and Jimi Cauty under his TowerBlock 1 alias mines the KLF‘s sonic legacy for elements of ‘Music For Funerals and Bricklaying Ceremonies’, the soundtrack to the recent Birkenhead People’s Pyramid festivities in Liverpool. Move 78 release the second album of 2025 and it’s another contender for album of the year, they really can do no wrong at the moment, with this and the ‘Game Four’ long player I think they’ve found their voice as a group. Field Lines Cartographer found his a long time ago and here’s another slice of quality in the shape of ‘Aperion Anxiety’. Honorable mention for Hieroglyphic Being who’s released five EPs of varying quality this month alone.

Another month of great music greets us as we power into Autumn – Jo Johnson‘s ‘Alterations Vol.1’ is another contender for the album of the year list, made up of tracks and remanants that she released as they were finished over the course of the year, collected now into an album with the follow up already begun – check her Bandcamp page for more. I recently discovered the band SML on International Anthem which is why this list includes two of their releases and the ever-prolific Future Sound of London also feature twice with an expanded version of ‘A Controlled Vista’ and a new release, ‘Unrealities’ which sees the release of longform pieces made for the Touched Music online listening parties.

Analog Mutants‘ brilliantly-named ‘Brothers of Invention’ is some contemporary hip hop that throws back to the 00’s in style and Ac1D Vicious is manic drum ‘n’ bass on the Beat Machine label’s Swinging Flavors series of dance 45s. Although we have to wait until January for the album, Barry Adamson graces us with one track from his ‘Scala!!!’ film soundtrack and, because it’s Halloween, it’s time for the latest Delights release, this time from Voxatone, returning for a second outing with some fuzz drums that compliment Adamson’s spy jazz perfectly. Last but not least, James Adrian Brown releases the first single from his forthcoming debut album proper – ‘Generator’ – with a host of remixes from the likes of Warrington Runcorn and Field Lines Cartographer.

A bit late this month as stuff is still busy but winding down on the promo front and I’m starting new projects finally. Loads of new music again to sooth the soul; 2 Headed Deer continue their Library Music Series with the third release: The Occult – very good it is too, reminiscent of early Ghost Box in places. Tezeta were a new name to me when I bumped into Sean from Klang Tone Records in Soho the other week. He furnished me with their new album on his label and it’s a killer, the perfect midpoint between jazz and afrobeat and not a bad track on there. Project Gemini have a new album out with Wendy Martinez but this little 45 I’d missed from earlier this year arrived in the post with it and it hits the spot for me. Sherman Heath is a new name on a new label, Coarse Fish Records, whose debut TGVM EP contains a whole host of tracks and is well worth checking out.

Marshall Jefferson on Utter? Yep. If you dig 24 minute meditational house designed to do Tai Chi to then this is your release of the year, even better is the digital version with bonus 18 min Vertical and Horizontal mixes by Joakim and an acapella. Nebraska has been digging in the DATs again and come up with four unreleased gems, my favourite being the Dudley Moore-sampling ‘Cinema’. Kista‘s new album veers between old school cut and paste hip hop homages to tripped out mushroom folk with hard breakbeats and Move 78 announce their second album of 2025, which I’ve heard in full and is another contender for LP of the year – no kidding. Finally it’s a classic reissue from Polygon Window aka Richard D James, I don’t need to say much about this other than, if you don’t know it then you need it in your life.

Photo by Jude Greenaway
It’s been a very busy month, revitalising my O is For Orange audio visual set for the gig at Faith in Strangers in Margate last week and doing promo for the Telepathic Fish album which is out in just under a month. There’s so much going on that I can scarcely keep up at the moment. I’m just finishing my annual 45 Live mix which airs a week today and starting on a guest mix for Bleep next whilst making final tweaks to the video files for last week’s gig. My longtime friend David Vallade had the premiere of a project he’d done with Great Ormond Street Hospital this Thursday at Outernet, the huge corner video screen at Tottenham Court Road station. He’d provided illustrations that had then been animated for the campaign which aims to raise money to build a children’s hospital. It’s on all month on a half hour loop for all to see free.

Doug Shipton‘s monthly night at the Tate Modern corner bar continues with Malcolm Catto and Paul Sinclair dropping fuzz funk bombs last Thursday, there’s no August one as we’ll be gearing up for the album launch party but it’s back in September. The Mindfood 5 fanzines are back from the printers, the badges arrive any day and the LPs are currently in customs with the mixtapes being made this week, just the cover inlays to make for those. I’ve ordered a special liquid wheel for the party and will be foraging in the loft for original banners this weekend, David has already found two from 30 years ago which will be making an appearance at the party. Tickets can be found here

I’m posting a slightly depleted Buy Music Club Recommends this month and it’s a week late, mainly because I’ve also been doing a lot of mixes over the month of July and didn’t have much time to listen to new music outside what I was wrangling into a new form for the Telepathic Fish mystery mix cassette, and a guest mixes for Dublab alongside Doug Shipton – forthcoming soon. Also dropping this month are features in The Guardian and Electronic Sound magazine among others.

The lack of updates on here recently really does point to the fact that I have been super busy recently, not through lack of wanting to share stuff. One day I won’t have a pressing deadline that doesn’t allow me the luxury of uploading all manner of wonderful content to this blog. Or needing some downtime to let off some steam. Last week was all accounts, mortgages and life stuff and this week it’s all light shows. Plans are afoot in many camps, some of which I still can’t reveal, also the heat doesn’t help.

There’s been a lot of carbooting this summer and I seem to be picking up esoteric badges here and there along with picture frames, art materials for my kids and even the odd record. Find of the year so far was this battered but beautiful copy of the limited edition Robert Rauscherburg-designed Talking Heads LP, ‘Speaking In Tongues’.

I made it to Birmingham to see the Henry Chalfont exhibition, caught up with Snub and Sprite contributing to the 2000AD-themed wall at the Hi-Vis graffiti jam and managed to score some lovely original comic art from Hunt Emerson all in the same day.

Given the weather we’ve been having it’s appropriate that I’ve just finished ‘Heatwave’ by John L. Williams, a look at British news and culture during the long hot summer of ’76 – very good it is too.

Finally, the Telepathic Fish enamel badge samples have arrived and look amazing, lucky purchasers of the deluxe edition of the compilation will be getting one of these come September 5th.

Currently there is no time to do a radio show because I’m engaged in preparing mixes elsewhere for others, no doubt they will all arrive at once in a musical glut after months of gestation. Speaking of which, here’s this month’s recommendations from the ever-flowing sea of sound. The Natural Yoghurt Band have put out two albums this year already, ‘Parasol’ is the newest, Markey Funk is back for another Delights 45 with the excellent double-header as The In Sound Company. Awkward has collected a load of beats under the title, ‘Hardcore Restoration 2’ and Hawksmoor has been experimenting with tape loops in the style of Howlround or Paul Cousins for Castles In Space‘s new CD imprint, Lunar Module.

Album of the year contender is from Coastal County who follow their superb debut from 2018 with ‘II’ – that’s it in the centre of the pic at the top. Fans of Axelrod, Gainsbourg, Schifrin et al should check it – also RIP Lalo, we’re losing so many greats at the moment. Tortoise get remixed by all and sundry and the mysterious Telefax Productions hip houser from last year gets a set of remixes – I know who’s behind it but am sworn to secrecy. Ternion Sound make the kind of dubstep I like, and look at that logo, beauty. Last but not least, I may have had something to do with the (may the) fourth part of the Rave Wars saga, ‘The Acid Awakens’, which sold out very fast due to each 7″ coming with an attached Star Wars figure.