On the horizon…

A quick update on things on the DJ Food front these coming months…

Aside from the usual round of DJ gigs and festival appearances >>> over there on the right hand side column >>>, I’m going to Montreal in less than 2 weeks to research and train at the SAT Dome on the best ways to make full dome content for my planetarium show. This will be followed by a performance over several nights in Montreal mid July. This will be a remixed, updated version of the show I did at the London Planetarium and I’ll be bringing it back to the UK for the winter months before the year is out too.

On the music front, I’ve just finished a mix for 2econd Class Citizen‘s album, a couple of mixes for a DJ Shadow project premiering this summer (not the MPC archive one), there’s a 3 DJ tag team mix on the agenda for a July release and an AV project in conjunction with Carling that will go online at the end of May. The response to the Amorphous Androgynous remix release for Record Store Day has been fantastic, thanks to all who bought copies and sent pictures, the repress should be in next week so all those waiting for copies should get them.

Design-wise I’ve just started work on The Herbaliser‘s 7th studio album artwork which I’m really excited about, there’s also talk of a remix if I can fit it into the schedule. I’ve also just been asked to chair a discussion between two 80’s sleeve design heroes of mine which will be quite mind-blowing if it actually happens. I’ll also soon be announcing a second round of the exhibition of mine and Henry Flint‘s artwork for ‘The Search Engine’ which will be taking place in the UK within the month.

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2econd Class Citizen album preview megamix

May I present for your delectation: a personally mixed, sliced and diced preview of 2econd Class Citizen‘s forthcoming album – ‘The Small Minority’.

I’ve been lucky enough to hear it in progress over the last 2 years and it’s changed and developed to a point where it really all holds together as a complete album rather than a collection of separate tracks.

This is definitely up there alongside DJ Format and Pepe Deluxé as one of my albums of 2012 already. It will get compared to DJ Shadow‘s older work but the folk stylings and Aaron’s violin playing set it apart. If you enjoyed 2009’s ‘A World Without’ album – available to listen to in full here – then this is the logical progression.

This mix is available to download from Bandcamp but it’s only streaming via Soundcloud at the moment. It was a real labour of love and I think I managed to get elements from all the tracks in there at some point including a remix of the single ‘Outside Your Doorway’ – see if you can untangle it all when you listen to the LP.

The full album is available on Equinox Records on May 25th, on CD and double vinyl with a gatefold sleeve plus digital download (Juno will have it a week early). The artwork you can see below is by label boss Gunter Stoppel, the man responsible for the overall look of the label as well as the day to day running of it.

 

Solid Steel Record Store Day round up

Last night I did a Record Store Day round up on Solid Steel on Strongroom Alive radio, you can listen again here

or, if you prefer less chat, catch the non-vocal version with no RSD section here later on today.

I thought I’d put up some pictures of the releases I was chatting about so here you go. Wicker Man 7″ photos nicked from Stuart Ford‘s blog. More on the Vinylmania film here.

 

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DJ Food vs AA RSD 12″ Repress details

OK – due to high demand, a database cock up at Ninja Tune – meaning that the record looked like it was in stock when it wasn’t – and people putting them on eBay for silly money, Ninja are repressing another 500 copies of my 12″ – ON MULTI-COLOURED MARBLED VINYL.

The people who ordered it from the Ninjashop will get one, no black vinyl copies are being pressed, so if you are one of the ones who asked for a black vinyl copy you will get coloured.

This will be the last pressing on coloured vinyl though. It will be the same (or as near as can be) as the RSD one, once orders are fulfilled the rest of the pressing will go up on the Ninja shop.

This will take approx. 2 weeks, sorry for any cock ups, and thanks for your patience. If you still want a refund then contact the Ninja shop, otherwise hold tight and they will contact you when this is all sorted.

Photo above taken from Carl Schalck‘s Facebook page.

The Electric Images In My Mind #16

Well, it’s out, as of Saturday, the new single is available in the shops, online and no doubt on eBay at an inflated price. Record Store Day was very exciting for me this year as I was lucky enough to be participating with Ninja Tune releasing this remix by The Amorphous Androgynous on multi-coloured vinyl. It’s not just for RSD though, you can buy it from the Ninjashop or FSOLDigital and all good record stores that reorder stock, Ninja will be repressing it too in the next week or so although that may be on a different colour vinyl. Please don’t pay crazy prices on eBay or Discogs like some of these flippers are asking, this is not a one time only limited edition, it should be available as long as there is demand. Remember also that there is a download available too with extra radio edits and an exclusive 2econd Class Citizen remix not on the 12″.

First thing on Saturday I asked people to tweet pictures of their purchases and I’ve featured the best here. That’s Frederic Toye below, waving a copy outside Music Mania in Ghent, Belgium and I had photos from all over Europe as well as one from the US as well.

Thanks to Alex Koenig, Cheetahbreaks, Dan Doughty, DJ Hombre, Dobshizzle and his united colours of RSD, Frederic, Hang The DJ, Kidavenger, Lemonmeringuesy, Lukestereo, Phil Clarkson, pipeandslippers and Toby Whitebread for posting these and making my day. This is my absolute favourite of the bunch though, sent by David Gorrod, with a little help from Arthur.

 

The Electric Images In My Mind #15


Here’s the link to the release page for the DJ Food vs The Amorphous Androgynous 12″ remix of ‘The Illectrik Hoax’ for Record Store Day 2012. There won’t be any ‘buy’ links until Monday because it’s against RSD rules to advertise a release with a pre-order option before the day. The ‘Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble’ mix is 17 minutes long and comprises 3 ‘tracks’:

DJ Food‘The Illectrik Hoax’ feat. Natural Self (The Amorphous Androgynous Remix)
DJ Food & The Amorphous Androgynous – ‘Don’t Pray, Don’t Bother (We’re Evil)’
DJ Food & The Amorphous Androgynous‘The Electric Images (In My Mind Never Die)’

Phew – pretty complicated huh? I’m going to be making tracks with one word titles from now on… There are now 1500 copies on multi-coloured, marbled vinyl, pressed at MPO in France, and the three tracks are split across two sides, cut at 45rpm.

There’s also a 4-track download too with the full 17 minute Amorphous Androgynous mix plus radio edits of ‘The Electric Images (In My Mind Never Die)’ featuring Natural Self and ‘GIANT’ featuring Matt Johnson. Exclusive to the download is the remix by 2econd Class Citizen of ‘The Illectrik Hoax’ as premiered at the Planetarium shows in January.

To say I’m pleased with this release is an understatement, everything about it, from the remixes to the artwork to the actual vinyl discs, I’m 100% happy with. For it to be part of Record Store Day too makes it even better. Don’t worry if you can’t/don’t get one on RSD, Ninja will have 70 copies in the Ninja shop for sale on Monday 23rd and they plan to keep it in print as long as there is demand.

Rat Records instore for RSD this Saturday

I’m playing at Rat Records in Camberwell between 12-2pm this Saturday for Record Store Day, alongside Andy Smith and others. This is my local record shop, selling used vinyl and CDs and they have a regular weekly turnover of goodies at affordable prices. Even though they won’t be stacked to the gills with all the other RSD releases I’ve got a box of my DJ Food vs The Amorphous Androgynous 12″s to sell there, possibly even some limited copies of ‘The Search Engine’ with the flexi disc too.

So, if you can’t make it into town or don’t want to battle the masses for the 1 copy of the release that the shop decided to order and just want to browse in a fully stocked used store, listening to great music, then come on down. The nearest tubes are Oval or Elephant & Castle and then it’s a bus to Camberwell Green and you can see it from the main crossroads.

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The Electric Images In My Mind #14

When we commissioned The Amorphous Androgynous to remix ‘The Illectrik Hoax’ little did we know what we had let ourselves in for. Not only did they produce a 17 minute, 3 part remix, a 30 minute mix for Solid Steel (airing this Thursday night on Strongroom Alive) and another ‘basement jam’ work in progress mix, but also  – this priceless artifact accompanied the remix when it was delivered.

Several people have been asking about a DJ Food release entitled ‘Post Mash Analysis’, but I’m sorry to say, it’s a reference to this text, which we sent out as part of the press release, and some shops have listed as the title. The remix 12″ and download will be available this coming Saturday, April 21st, as part of Record Store Day, and afterwards via the Ninjashop and FSOLDigital online stores. The release page on the Ninja site is taking a bit longer than expected, partly because the titles are too long for the site to cope with (arf) and we’re still trying to find out the position on posting pre-order info before the actual day with RSD, only 5 days to go now though.

 

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Scottish dates in May postponed

It’s with great regret that the dates at The Reading Rooms in Dundee and Chambre 69 in Glasgow that I was to undertake with DK have been postponed. This is due to a run of bad luck the gig organiser has experienced recently and the dates will hopefully be rescheduled soon. Hopefully any ticket purchasers can contact the venue and get their money back.

Posted in DJ Food, Gigs. | 1 Comment |

The Electric Images In My Mind #13


In the in-box today: a 30 minute ‘Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble’ mix for Solid Steel by The Amorphous Androgynous including a reworking of a Gil Scott Heron track. This will be broadcast live on Solid Steel on April 19th via Strongroom Alive and then out on the web the day after via the usual Solid Steel channels. On the 19th there will be a chance to win a copy of one of these beauties too so tune in: 7-9pm. Also in the mail was an unreleased ‘basement jam’ version of ‘The Illectrik Hoax’, an abandoned version of the remix before they went in the direction you’ll hear on this disc.

Interview on Contemporary Talks

I did a rather long and in depth interview with Elinros from Contemporary Talks the other week about pretty much everything really, music and design of course but we also ventured into motives, methods of creation, my childhood and how things ended up the way they did.

If you want to know what a Telepathic Fish is, if I’ve ever touched a sound or what I consider my best work then head over here, maybe have more than 5 minutes to spare though.

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Solid Steel – Yppah 1981 & DJ Food KKK7 preview

Mine and Yppah‘s mix from last night’s Solid Steel – without chat, you can listen to me and Jon fluff our lines over on StrongroomAlive if you want. Yppah’s mix contains tracks all released in 1981, and, coincidentally, ends with Kraftwerk’s ‘Computer World’ before we get a taste of half of the Kraftwerk Kover Kollection vol.7 which debuts here tomorrow in full.

Record Store Day at Rat Records, Camberwell, SE5

I’ll be spinning for a couple of hours down at Rat Records in Camberwell, SE5 on April 21st for Record Store Day to celebrate the release of my remix 12″ with The Amorphous Androgynous. I should be bringing a box of 12″s for the occasion and I’ll try and rustle up the last copies of the limited CD/comic/flexi disc version of ‘The Search Engine’ album too. There will also be in store sets and appearances from DJ Andy Smith, Julia Finnimore and Serafina Steer – god knows where everyone is going to go as the shop isn’t huge.

Rat Records is a small but perfectly formed used record store nestled in the heart of Camberwell, close to where I live and a place I’ve lived around most of the two decades plus that I’ve been in London. They are also one of the only used record stores South of the river, along with the Record & Tape Exchange in Greenwich and Soul Brother in Putney, so they don’t benefit from the passing trade of the Soho stores.Because they are a used store they don’t have the ordering power to get new RSD product like the shops that sell new releases but I want to support them as they always make an effort for RSD. My good friend David Vallade has, once again, produced a poster for the occasion – nice touch with my character there :). Not sure exactly what time I’m be playing but it will be a 2 hour selection around midday.

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The Electric Images In My Mind #8

Pretty excited about this release and it’s been a long time coming. This is the CD Promo version of the forthcoming DJ Food & The Amorphous Androgynous remix 12″ due out on Record Store Day (April 21st). The 12″ contains the 17 minute long Amorphous (hereafter referred to as AA) remix of ‘The Illectrik Hoax’ featuring Natural Self, from my album ‘The Search Engine’. This will be split over two sides of the 12″, on multi-coloured vinyl and cut at 45 rpm for extra loudness.
The CD (which isn’t available in stores I’m afraid, although a download will cover most of it) contains radio edits of one section of the remix plus a shorter version of ‘GIANT’ featuring Matt Johnson from the aforementioned album. Exclusive to the CD and download is a beautiful ambient/acoustic remix of ‘The Illectrik Hoax’ by 2econd Class Citizen which fitted perfectly into my ambient interpretation of the record at the London Planetarium launch party, he really took it to another place.
AA on the other hand do everything you expect and more, 17 minutes split into three distinct tracks: ‘The Illectrik Hoax’ (AA remix) is a madcap jam session, trampling the original track in the dust, ‘Don’t Pray, Don’t Bother (We’re Evil)’ takes the tempo to half time and grinds without mercy until ‘The Electric Images In My Mind (Never Die)’ ups the ante for full all out sonic battery. Natural Self‘s vocal is rephrased and twisted into a repeat refrain that keeps coming back for more over the last eight and a half minutes.

Taken all together they form yet another of the AA’s ‘Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble’ remixes, the likes of which have graced Oasis, Paul Weller and Pop Levi in the past. I’m very pleased to be added to that list and I’ll post pictures of the vinyl version and details of where you can order it as soon as I have them. The artwork is by yours truly with a little help from elements Henry Flint created for the album cover.

More posters from Scraffer

Yet another batch of posters arrived from Scraffer (via Henry Flint) to be signed and then sent out to buyers. Above is a small selection of doodles by Henry for the Madman’ print, of which every one has its own bespoke illustration by Henry inside the thought bubble. I think these are close to selling out now whilst the ‘Life Cycle of a Machine’ print is definitely sold out – don’t worry if you ordered and didn’t receive one yet, I just signed the last batch. The ‘Cosmonaut’ print below is also still available as we made that in a higher run.