A two-in-one offering today as we kick off the year proper with a blend of robot-themed tracks from late 2000. This sowed the seed for my Remember The Future mix seven years later, constructed from records about robots. Jon More fave and Solid Steel spoken classic ‘Music For Robots’ kicks things off then into the Electro The Robot version of MBM’s ‘Original Control’ with samples from an actual robot built by the Westinghouse Electric Corp in the late 30’s.
Kraftwerk should need no introduction and then we have an oddity from a soundtrack by Milton & Anne DeLugg called Gulliver’s Travels Beyond The Moon. ‘Rise, Robots, Rise’ is a stomping brass affair that gives way to an always funky Rufus Thomas dance number, ‘The Funky Robot’.

After that mix of mechanics it’s back to business as usual with the reissued-on-7”-at-the-time ‘Brutus Drums’ by Eddie Warner and a precursor to the first Now, Listen mix in the form of Sabu Martinez’s ‘Hotel Alyssa’. I think this had been bootlegged at the time and the early 00’s were a ripe era for all sorts of ‘unofficial reissues’ popping up in shops no doubt making a few people a bit of cash in return. Much like the web at that point it was still the Wild West and huge shops like HMV regularly carried bootlegs with no questions asked. Freeform Arkestra was always a great tune to play out with that plucked bass sample and building tension. Some chancer called DJ Food follows and then into an evergreen classic from the box, Camping Gaz & Digi Random’s ‘Circus World’. Around this time I found five mint copies of this in the bargain box in Soul Jazz Records (now Sounds of the Universe) for a pound and proceeded to give them away to anyone who would take them. The combination of Circus clowns, ska, screaming children and theremin solo has never been bettered or even attempted by anyone else.

The covers above and below were from a (very short) period where I was going to make a custom cover for each mix, around the year 2000 when I think I got a decent inkjet printer for the first time and could print glossy colour images. This lasted for approximately three Solid Steel mixes but I did make others for one-off themed sets like the Kraftwerk Kovers and the interview shows.

Into part 2 of the original show with Robert Klein’s hilarious ‘Record Offer’ of every record ever recorded, “we drive a truck to your house!”. Klein has several 70’s comedy records that are worth tracking down as he covers the usual topics of sex and drugs in a manic style. A Ninja classic from Up, Bustle & Out into Coke Escvedo’s ‘Runaway’ leads into ‘Funkyacidstuff’ from Luke Vibert via a 12” of archive material on Planet Mu, the same one where the track ‘Analord’ gave the Aphex series its name.
Photek’s name has been coming back up a lot recently it seems and ‘Terminus’ was possibly the last track he made that caught my attention before he fell off the radar. A B side on one of the Virgin releases, this huge downtempo monster just tramples over everything else in size and scope, proper widescreen break beats with bouncing bass, distorted drums and synth stabs. The Prodigy were occasionally mining this vein too and another B side, ‘Molotov Bitch’ follows with its ‘Ants Invasion’ sampling melody line. Klute plays us out with ‘Kahno’ from a 12” release on the Certificate 18 label. More spoken word crops up that would later be used on Now, Listen too, this was from an airline travel record about the Far East I think although the name escapes me.

There’s a part 3 saved for next week…

Part 1
Forrest J. Ackerman – Music For Robots
Meat Beat Manifesto – Original Control (Electro The Robot)
Kraftwerk – The Robots
Milton & Anne DeLugg – RIse, Robots, Rise
Rufus Thomas – The Funky Robot
Eddie Warner – Brutus Drums
Sabu Martinez – Hotel Alyssa
Freeform Arkestra – Freeform Theme (Raw Deal mix)
DJ Food – Rubber Samba
Camping Gaz & Digi Random – Circus World

Part 2
Robert Klein – Record Offer
Up, Bustle & Out – Aqui No Mas
Coke Escvedo – Runaway
Luke Vibert – Funkyacidstuff
Photek – Terminus
The Prodigy – Motolov Bitch
Klute – Kahno

This was the last quarter of a show broadcast 11/11/2002 in a show with DK and The Unabombers, very much a chill out, wind down half hour. The original CD is described ‘Amb half hour’.

The Linda Lewis track was released on Riz Maslen’s Council Folk label on a 7”, a beautiful acoustic number. ‘Ghosts In The Weewee’ was a mash up I did using Japan’s ‘Ghosts’ and the instrumental of a Japanese Kool Keith with Natural Calamity release called ‘In The Wee Wee Time’. The sparseness and tempo of both seemed to work but it’s a bit out of tune in places and was more of an experiment than a club track. The version of The Cinematic Orchestra’s ‘Oregon’ was from the ‘Horizons’ single I think, possibly the same one on the Every Day album.

Andrew Pecklar – Steam, I have no recollection of where this comes from and Discogs isn’t yielding any info either, if anyone has any info please let me know. Amon Tobin ‘The Whole Nine’ was from the B side of the ‘Verbal’ single, Amon in brilliant cinematic mode. JG Thirlwell’s Steroid Maximus alias had been reactivated and ‘The Trembler’ was the opening track from his third album, ‘Ectopia’. By this time I’d met Jim and remixed a track for him for his ‘Blow’ album, alongside Amon, banking it as a favour for a vocal at a later date. This would take another ten years when he honoured his word and contributed to ’Prey’ on The Search Engine album.

Ill Chemist was a friend of Steinski’s and ’Take This, Brother’ is taken from a CD called The BreakBeatles he gave me while in NYC. Obviously this is not official but it was one of the best Beatles cut ups at this time (this is long before The Grey Album) and the whole package was really well done. Ollie Teeba and I had a plan to do a Beatles cut up megamix back in the 90’s under the name The Big Beatles, sadly it never came to pass.

Tracklist:
Linda Lewis – I Keep A Wish
Flexus – Ghosts In The Wee Wee
Cinematic Orchestra – Oregon
Andrew Pecklar – Steam
Amon Tobin – The Whole Nine
Steroid Maximus – The Trembler
Ill Chemist – Take This, Brother

This set was on the end of the Scanner vs Openmind tape and dated 05/02/1995. I had to re-pitch it down slightly as the tape I dubbed it from was running a little fast and Matt’s voice at the end seemed quite high pitched originally. It’s also a bit overloaded in the second half but that was radio reception coupled with tape compression for you.
Drum n Bass was getting exciting, trip hop is bubbling up from the cracks in the pavement and Ninja Tune was finding its feet and direction, something that would continue to build for some years to come.

I’m unsure of the first track, Matt says it’s Deep Blue ‘The Helicopter Tune’ but I don’t think it is and I don’t have a copy of that so it wouldn’t be me playing it, maybe he did before me? I have a feeling it may be from Germany’s Smokin’ Drum Recordings label who put out some really interesting DnB in the early to mid 90s. If anyone knows then please leave a comment. D’Cruze is another artist who’s not released anything for 20 years, one of the original Boogie Times / Suburban Base Records crew.

Studio Pressure aka Photek – this might be one of the first times I’d played him and I do the little 45 to 33 rpm switch down trick to change the tempo in Bomb The Bass. ‘You See Me in 3D’ was a B side and I still play it to this day, a great breaks cut up track, just pure driving beats at 120 bpm.
Bridging this and The Herbaliser’s then-forthcoming debut single on Ninja Tune is, possibly, Akbar Ali Khan but that could have been flown in off a CD by Matt.

More trip hop with a trio of promo Ninja tracks ensues with a Marden Hill remix of 9 lazy 9 from the forthcoming Ninja Cuts compilation and one of Ashley Beedle’s takes on DJ Food’s ‘Consciousness’. Spank Da Monkey’s track came from the Fusion Flava’s Chapter 1 12” EP which was an early UK collection of trip hop beats with a graffiti tag cover. Orin Walters who would go on to record as Afronaught and a be a part of Bugz In The Attic was part of the group. I also slipped in Trouble Funk’s ‘Pump Me Up’ for good measure.

Track list:
Unknown – Niceness (Smokin’ Drum Recordings?)
D’Cruze – Lonely
Studio Pressure – Touching Down… Planet Photek
Bomb The Bass – You See Me In 3D
Akbar Ali Khan – unknown
The Herbaliser – The Real Killer
Spank Da Monkey – Down Side Up
9 Lazy 9 – Train (Marden Hill remix)
Trouble Funk – Pump Me Up
DJ Food – Consciousness (Ashley Beedle Dub)

This half hour comes from a disc with two mixes on it (see MS 81 for the other) although I’m not convinced the date on the disc matches with the actual transmission dates on the solidsteel.net website so I’ve made an educated guess as to the TX date. Sometimes I wrote dates the mixes were made on the discs when archiving which would have been in the files titles. I’d send these off to DK, the show producer, and they would air when he had a slot for them unless they were time-sensitive. In this case, a mix made in November of 2003 saw the light of day over a month later.

An excellent updating of the Meat Beat classic ‘I Got The Fear’ opens the set, just check those drums, no one makes heavy beats like Jack Dangers and with long time collaborator Ben Stokes aka DHS on the remix (his classic ‘House of God’ still stands up) it just gets better. DJ Revolution was always one of the funkiest of the wave of turntablists who came up in the wake of the ISP, X-Men, Beat Junkies era of the 90s. Here he faces off against The Allies, a DJ Craze, A-Trak, Infamous and DVLP coalition of world class DJs in ‘4+1’ from his album, ‘In 12’s We Trust’.

It’s odd doing these mix round ups and checking Discogs for details on records and artists that were made by seemingly major players at the time only to find they haven’t released anything for over 10 years. Koushik seemed to be a unique talent amongst the Stones Throw roster even if he wasn’t as prolific as some on the label and his mix of beats and acoustic guitar songwriting stood out. ‘One In A Day’ comes from his second single of the same name. The Bran Flakes were Otis Fodder and Mildred Pitt’s cut n paste project, full of fun and silliness, and ‘Give Yourself A Stereo Check Out’ comes from their 2000 album, ‘I Don’t Have A Friend’. Otis was running the 365 Days Project on WFMU at this time and we bonded over the weird and wonderful world of vinyl oddities. He would of course do his own Solid Steel guest mix at one point and we still keep in touch to this day.

Nestled inside or on top of these tracks are several other oddities, Not The Nine O’Clock News’ Hi-Fi Shop sketch where Mel Smith wants to buy a ‘gram-o-phone’ and the young salesmen in the shop – played by Griff Rhys-Jones and Rowan Atkinson – give him a hard time over the technicalities of a stereo set up. Also floated in are excerpts from a Tom Baker voice over session outtake compilation that was doing the rounds on the web at the time and has subsequently been sampled by people like Wagon Christ. The internet was throwing up all sorts of material as speeds got faster and people started sharing audio clips on forums and servers.

Belleville Rendez-vous is a beautiful animated film from the same year and this track must have been inspired by the electro swing fad around at the time. The Evolution Control Committee track is an insane bit of cut up fun in a similar style to the Bran Flakes with some samples of a young Ken Nordine in the mix by the sound of it. This track originally turned up on the Free Speech For Sale compilation by Snuggles. The DJ Ordeal track shows how you can also do something poignant and charming with cut ups and dodgy pause buttons and comes from an odd four track 7”. Ordeal released loads of cut up/concrete music in the 00’s but again, another artist who hasn’t had a release for over a decade. The Scala cover of Nirvana’s classic was odd and unique 18 years ago, little did we know that this sort of guff would be soundtracking every Hollywood blockbuster trailer in the future.

Tracklist:
Meat Beat Manifesto vs DHS – Cease To Exist (DHS remix)
DJ Revolution vs the Allies – 4 +1
Koushik – One In A Day
The Bran Flakes – Give Yourself A Stereo Check Out
Ben Charest – Belleville Rendez-vous (version Francaise Par -M-)
Evolution Control Committee – IGA Giant Pineapple Party
DJ Ordeal – You Win 4 I
Scala – Smells Like Teen Spirit

I was looking for a Halloween/horror mix for ages for this week’s upload but just cannot find it anywhere (anyone got any ideas?). I’ve chosen this one instead as a little half hour entitled Strictly Research Labs with a mix of electronica from the summer of 2000. This must first play of ‘Monacle’ from the as yet unreleased Quadraplex EP which wouldn’t see the light of day for 6 months. The set is peppered with spoken word snippets taken from the Survival Research Laboratories documentary based on Mark Pauline’s incredible industrial robot performances.

The Wagon Christ remix of David Sylvian appeared on the CD of his ‘Godman‘ single and manages to retain both the original and be quintessentially Luke Vibert at the same time, one of his best remixes IMO. Alder & Elius were on the Skam label with the weird Andy Warhol-sampling 7″, the 23 Skidoo track is from their reformation rather than their golden era. The Federation started out on Mo Wax but this track was from the B side of a 12″ on Indochina. Andy Votel does his thing with The Avalanches before the finish with Stratus, a 12″ on the Pussyfoot label offshoot, Fragments, that contained none other than Martin Jenkins aka Pye Corner Audio.

Tracklist:
David Sylvian – Godman (Wagon Christ remix)
Alder and Elius – King of Pop
DJ Food – Monacle
23 Skidoo – Ayu
Mos Def – Umi Says
The Federation – Sea of Green
Avalanches vs Andy Votel  – Thankyou Caroline
Stratus – Uplink

I’ve no idea where this came from, it was on a DAT tape with no info, it’s definitely me playing but I’ve no idea the date aside from these tracks are all from around 1996. It’s trip hop all the way though with UNKLE’s mix of Tortoise opening and on into the Sonic Assault mix of Attica Blues’ ‘Tender’. Danny Breaks’ ‘Science Fu’ Pt.2 is followed by something I just cannot remember and Spotify cannot identify – anyone got any ideas? I’m think it’s maybe European?
UPDATE: Edward ZentaurusMan – one of Solid Steel’s biggest fans – has set me straight, it was by Si Begg and the exact date was 29/12/1996 – thanks Edward!
Brighton graffiti artist Req makes his debut on wax for the Skint label at the end and it’s all done in under 30 minutes. The presence of random spoken word samples makes me think this was recorded up at Ahead of our Time studios in Clink St rather than KISS FM and it’s fairly basic on the mixing side of things. I’m wondering if it was even broadcast, it’s unusual to have no date on something.
Fun fact: I painted and sealed the walls of the studio above once it was built (we never got round to properly painting it after), it stood inside the main office of Ninja Tune in London Bridge, sound proofed and the Journeys By DJ mix, A Recipe For Disaster and Let Us Play were largely recorded there among others.

Tracklist:
Tortoise – Djed (Bruise Blood Mix)
Attica Blues – Tender (Sonic Assault Mix)
Danny Breaks – Science Fu (Pt.2)
Si Begg – Nothing Is True Zen Say
Req – 8 Models In A Sauna

I felt like a bit of hip hop and found this hour where I was playing catch up with a load of mid 2005 releases, the quality is outstanding with a leaning towards West Coast artists in particular, the underground was really firing 15 years ago. Not too much to say about this really except that it contains a couple of Soundsci demo mixes that changed a little by the time they were released.

Tracklist:
Pangea / My Private Utopia – Solid Steel intro
Cage feat. Jello Biafra – Grand ‘ol Party Crash
Stateless – Exit
Blackalicious – Rhythm Sticks (remix)
SoundSci – The Remedy (demo mix)
Porn Theatre Ushers – She’s Busted
Madvillain – Rhinestone Cowboy (Fourtet remix)
Quasimoto – Bully’s Hit
Tom Caruana feat. Arch Co – It’s Arch
Hot Karl feat. MC Serch – Let’s Talk
Madvillain – Strange Ways (Koushik remix)
Madvillain – interlude
Koushik – Too Many Ways
Living Legends – Good Fun
Nextmen feat. Dynamite MC – Spin It Round
Edan – Fumbling Over Words That Rhyme
Natural Self feat. Alice Russell – I Don’t Need This Trouble
Quasimoto – Rappcats 3
Edan feat. Percce P – Torture Chamber (Cut Chemist remix)
SoundSci – The Illness (demo mix)
APSCI feat. Mr Lif – See That?
Ultramagnetic MCs – Poppa Large (Devil McDoom remix)
Ch3vy – Hard Massage