Saw this doc on King Crimson by Toby Amies last night and boy, it’s excellent – highly recommended. Funny, insightful and touching, far better than the Bowie doc doing the rounds – various streaming events and showings are scheduled in the next month before it gets a release before Xmas. More info on the various contents and formats to be released here
Music
A quick one this week as I’m pushed for time. A half hour from late 2003 which was originally coupled with some left field Xmas songs. This set is a bit disjointed, lots of bits and pieces that I wanted to play but didn’t fit together too well – hence the name of the mix. A mash up of Beyonce that hasn’t aged well kicks things off before Hey Ya, which I’m sure you’ve heard too many times but it was new at the time, please skip if you need to. The mix gets interesting after this with 808 State’s ‘Ancodia’, remixed on the Extended Pleasure of Dance EP 12” with an obvious but satisfying blend into Richard X’s ‘You Used To’ after. Love that transition.
Steinski’s frenetic remix of Melle Mel’s ‘Freestyle’ follows and I think that’s Cut Chemist on the decks. The insane Captain Funkaho crashes in and all over the place with his Dick Hyman-sampled ‘Capt. Chaos’ before we drift into the original – ‘The Moog & Me’. We play out with Boards of Canada’s sublime remix of cLOUDDEAD’s ‘Dead Dogs Two’ which is about as good as it gets.
Track list:
Cropstar – Crazy Prado
Outkast – Hey Ya
808 State – Ancodia (Taters Deep Nit Funky Beat mix)
Richard X – You Used To
Melle Mel – Freestyle (Steinski remix)
Captain Funkaho – Capt. Chaos
Dick Hyman – The Moog & Me
cLOUDDEAD – Dead Dogs Two (Boards of Canada remix)
It’s back! The return of the Trunk Groovy Record Fayre. My Further partner Pete Williams and I will be having a stall again this October at the Mildmay Club, Newington Green. I will have lots of dance 45s if that’s your thing, some records from my personal collection and copies of my new book, Wheels of Light, among other things. Do stop by, the last one was excellent as was the pop quiz and party afterwards.
Do stop by, last year’s was amazing (see photos here), from the daytime fair to the evening pop quiz and after party get down.
And it’s FREE!
October 29th, Mildmay Club, Newington Green, London, N16
Oh my word! Best use of AI so far, from the Wizard’s forthcoming album, Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava, out on Friday, the first of three albums released this month(!)
I’ve seemingly neglected this blog a bit this year save for a lot of the Mixcloud Select weekly entries but that’s because I’ve been so damned busy (which is good!). Last month my friend Elion Paz – photographer, dirt bike enthusiast and now marathon runner – arrived in the UK for three weeks of preliminary shoots and interviews for the second Dust & Grooves book. You may know the first book, a beautiful hardback tome to record collecting published in 2014 with Mr Scruff on the cover, perched atop some of his collection.
Way back then there weren’t many books like this about vinyl collectors and obsessives. Things have changed quite a bit since then it’s fair to say and the next book will cast the net even wider into other areas. While Eilon was here I helped him out with interviews, contacts and also featured in a piece myself focusing on Command record covers (see above).
© Eilon Paz/Dust & Grooves
Our first assignment together was a visit to Zoe ‘Lucky Cat’ Baxter to check out her collection of reggae and Chinese records, here we are sniffing the acetate dubplates.
© Eilon Paz/Dust & Grooves
We then headed to West Norwood to The Book & Record Bar to speak to Alex Paterson of The Orb who pulled out one of his tour boxes, unopened for over a decade and walked us through the contents before we retired to his home to dig into his collection. Alex later told me it was one of his favourite interviews.
Next up was a trip down to Brighton to dig with the ultra-hospitable DJ Format and take a journey through his career with a focus on odd religious records. Here we are messing about with his copies of Marshall McLuhan‘s ‘The Medium Is The Massage’.
© Eilon Paz/Dust & Grooves
Lastly, after much persuasion, we visited Stockport and the incredible collection of Andy Votel, someone Eilon had wanted in the first book but hadn’t been able to fit in. Oh the sights we saw…
Eilon then went to Bristol for several days before returning to his home town on New York last week and running his first marathon at the weekend. His work ethic and vision are nothing short of extraordinary, I know the next book will be right up there with the first.
A short, mellow set from 19 years ago – Johnny Cash’s ‘One Piece At A Time’ is one of the first songs I remember hearing as a child. My dad was/is a mechanic so this song always appealed to him and he explained that it was about a guy building a car out of bits and pieces of parts he’d stolen from the factory he worked at. He would do a similar thing with all manner of bike parts (not stolen!) over a 14 year period when he built his own custom bike later on in life. The track is book-ended by excerpts from the ‘Live At Folsom Prison’ album. Lunz’s ‘Wobbly Flu Twilight’ is a dark and delicate piano piece and then a Blackalicious track produced by DJ Shadow called ‘Changes’ appears, introduced by a short John Rydgren interview from a series called ‘Scenes’. In the interview the artist (who I’m not sure the identity of) talks about changes that he made on the new record and how the record label weren’t happy with it.
This is one thing I always tried to do with spoken word inserts, make the subject matter somehow reference the track it was placed with or over, it wasn’t always possible but when it works it’s lovely. The track was taken from an original beat tape of DJ Shadow’s I was in possession of at the time and I later found out it appeared on the Japanese version of the ‘Melodica’ album (credited to UNKLE) but I’ve never found a copy to check if it’s the same. Keeping on the Shadow theme, I had recently discovered one of the samples from one of my favourite tracks of his, ‘Changeling’ from Endtroducing, in the form of ‘Imagination Flight’ by the Chaffey College Jazz Ensemble, a private press LP with various composers, Charles Argersinger being the writer of the title track.
‘This River’ by Colder, on Trevor Jackson’s Output label has a beautiful, dark piano motif I could listen to all day and Colleen’s ‘Babies’ floats in like a saccharine lullaby. Ken Nordine narrates ‘Little Boy Blue’ from Billy Vaughn & his Orchestra’s 1956 release on Dot, one of his first appearances on vinyl. There’s more of Johnny Cash’s dialogue to the crowd from the Folsom Prison album over the start of Super Numeri’s ‘Coastel Bird Scene part 1’, at the time a new signing to Ninja Tune who would make two albums and singles before various members split into Loka, Snap Ant and Pop Levi. What I didn’t know at the time was that James Morgan aka Snap Ant, had also previously released a 12” on Ntone under the name Ominium which is presumably how Super Numeri came to be on the label. The originally mis-titled Eternals’ ‘Zero Gravity’ is the opening track from the Astropioneers OST of which I have absolutely no recollection of owning but it’s a lovely way to end a fairly sedate set.
Track list:
Johnny Cash – One Piece At A Time
Lunz – Wobbly Flu Twilight
Blackalicous – Changes
Chaffey College Jazz Ensemble – Imagination Flight
Colder – This River
Colleen – Babies
Ken Nordine – Little Boy Blue
Super Numeri – Coastal Bird Scene part 1
The Eternals – Zero Gravity
Opening with Pedro Chamorra’s entry to the Solid Steel intro competition (we got so many good entries it was hard to pick a winner and I used loads of runner up tracks as intros) and we’re off on an hour journey through time and space, punctuated by excerpts from series 1 of the Mighty Boosh. The first series is still my favourite with Howard and Vince’s riffs on music (jazz vs electro) always a joy to hear.
The Kleptones kick the mix off with an odd collage based on Queen samples from their A Night At The Hip Hopera cut up mix, most of their stuff is still online for free at https://www.kleptones.com/. Soulwax’s incredible mix of LCD’s ‘Daft Punk Is Playing At My House’ builds and builds and was one of those rare things, a remix that improves on the original. Kevin Mark Trail’s track was probably a promo 12” with MJ Cole remixes as was the Bluefoot Project Away team mix, coming from a compilation 12” entitled Interesting Flavours on Chocolate Fireguard Records.
Ms. Thing’s ‘Love Guide’ was the Switch-produced cut from the Two Cultures Clash compilation and predates the sort of material he would go on to make with Diplo as Major Lazer. Vincent made one EP in 2004 and two tracks from it are on this mix, the duo of Phil Donkin (bass) and Simon Vincent (piano) formed the group and the broken beat jazz of the Sentinel EP was the result. More broken beats from the Sun Ra cover of Likwid Continual Space Motion Ope-ra, a collaboration between IG Culture and Bembe Segue on a 25 minute version of the classic ‘Space Is The Place’. Two producers who have since become good friends and collaborators team up next as Johnny Trunk remixes Stephen Coates’ The Real Tuesday Weld’s classic ‘Bathtime In Clerkenwell’ into a reggae skank.
Meanwhile back at Ninja Tune the label was signing new acts and one – Loka – remixes the other – Blockhead – in fine fashion on his ‘Sunday Seance’. I always liked Loka, they were exactly what I was after at that point and their first album is a hidden classic. I don’t remember where the Def Harmonic track came from, I can’t recall owning one of their records but maybe it was on a comp? Max Sedgley’s follow up to his massive ‘Happy’ single was almost as big and then it’s the second Vincent cut, bringing jazz to the funk – should have waited with that earlier Mighty Boosh sample. Finishing with a remix from Herbert in which I get busy on the loop pedal at the end we wind things down with Atom TM’s glitchy take on Emiliana Torrini’s ‘Sunny Road’.
Tracklist:
Pedro Chamorra – Solid Steel spot
Kleptones – Precession
LCD Soundsystem – Daft Punk Is Playing… (Soulwax remix)
Kevin Mark Trail – D Thames (MJ Cole Dub)
The Bluefoot Project – Little Miss Selfish (Away Team mix)
Ms. Thing – Love Guide
Vincent – Gift
Likwid Continual Space Motion Ope-ra – Space Is The Place (Prelude…)
The Real Tuesday Weld – Bathtime In Clerkenwell (Jonny Trunk mix)
Blockhead – Sunday Séance (Loka remix)
Def Harmonic – The Deep
Max Sedgley – Devil Inside
Vincent – Sentinel
Brazillian Girls – Lazy Lover (Herberts Busy Lover mix)
Emiliana Torrini – Sunny Road (Atom TM’s Future Folk mix)
Due to being crazily busy this week, not least having to sort a set out for a friend’s wedding on Friday (playing AND taking my decks – this is a real rarity) I’ve not had time to prepare a show this week. But! I did drop a new mix on Sunday for Matt ‘King Megatrip’ King‘s new kickstarter.
Long time listeners to Solid Steel will know the name King Megatrip from back in the 00’s, he was one of the first collectors of old shows online, provided the occasional guest mix and used to send us spoken word samples on CDRs back in the day, culled from old films and records that he would religiously record and edit down. These started as discs with 99 entries as that was the most ‘tracks’ you could fit on a disc and each one had its own cover, track list and number. Slowly the ‘Soundbank’, as it came to be known, grew in size to the point where it was 200 volumes, each track-indexed with the basic premise of the sample and compiled on a DVD. I still use it to this day and Matt has threatened to share a new 200 volume follow up some day.
He’s been slightly distracted however by his Tales To Enlighten project – the first was a 200 page graphic novel detailing the son of Satan and his robot consort, Manfred’s adventures trying to gain enlightenment. He successfully Kickstarted that last year and it was a blast. Now, the sequel – Tales To Enlighten: The New Testament – is here and it’s a whopping 550 pages with 30 artists and a ton more content. He’s aiming to get $20k which means the whole book will cost just $52 once printed – a bargain – and as of writing he’s already got $17k of it after nearly 2 weeks. Help him out if you want a ton of indie/underground comix full of sex, drugs, violence and blasphemy hitting your doorstep (or just to use as a doorstop) soon. If you fancy pledging then head over to the Kickstarter page, there’s loads of different levels and goodies on offer with extra zines, T-shirts and even original artwork.
To try and help drum up some publicity and as a good excuse to fit a new set of funky religious psychedelia together I constructed Songs of Revelation: Further Religious Rock & Spiritual Spoken Word for him a few weeks back, a follow up to last year’s Songs To Enlighten mix.
Track list:
Reformation – In The Beginning
Otis Skillings – A World Mixed Up
Reformation – Reformation ’71
John E. Schroeder & Richard Koehneke – Doors Are For Locking (excerpt)
Truth of Truths – John The Baptist
The Continental Singers – Step Up, Sit Down
Truth of Truths – The Trial
John Rydgren – Cantata Of New Life (excerpts)
The Crimson Bridge – First Suite by Gary Rand (1st movement Searching For Reality)
W. Cleon Shonsen – The Hippy Psalm (Instant Insanity Drugs excerpt)
John E. Schroeder & Richard Koehneke – The Best Tombs In Life Are Free (excerpt 1)
Kent Schneider – The Church Is Within Us, O Lord
The Crimson Bridge – Birthright
John Rydgren – The Lord Is My Shepherd (New Life spot)
Reformation – Let There Be Light
John E. Schroeder & Richard Koehneke – The Best Tombs In Life Are Free (excerpt 2)
Otis Skillings – Love Can Work A Miracle (edit)
Katarzyna Gartner – Kyrie (excerpt 1 edit)
U.S. Apple Corps – Don’t Do Me Nothing
Peter Link & C.C. Courtney – Deadalus
Katarzyna Gartner – Kyrie (excerpt 2)
The Mission – A Feeling
Matt King and James Edward Clark‘s Tales To Enlighten: The New Testament (the follow up to last year’s debut, Tales To Enlighten) went live on Kickstarter on September 1st and has so far racked up over $15k of the $20k needed to print and distribute the 550 page monster they’ve created.
Everybody’s favourite serial killing Satanists are back! A 550-page Occult Anthology featuring 30 amazing indie artists. HELL YEAH! Join their cult and push this huge collection of underground artists and writers into print. Pledge here
Like last time, Matt aka King Megatrip – long time Solid Steel fan and contributor – asked me to put together a religious-themed mix set to help promote the book and the new set is titled ‘Songs of Revelation’. An hour of Religious Rock and Spiritual Spoken word, largely taken from the 60s and 70s when flower power and rock operas infiltrated the church and was co-opted to spread the word of the Lord. Who says the Devil has all the best tunes? There are also more mixes coming, including one that already dropped from Top The Cat – go to the King Megatrip page to hear more including my previous mix https://megatrip-power-hour.fireside.fm/
Premiering this Friday (Sept 16th) is a film about Bowie that looks incredible – I’ve already seen it described as ‘the stargate scene from 2001 mixed with unseen Bowie footage’ which is good enough for me. The blurb states; ‘Told through sublime, kaleidoscopic, never-before-seen footage, performances and music, Brett Morgen’s (The Kid Stays in the Picture, Cobain: Montage of Heck, Jane) feature length experiential cinematic odyssey explores David Bowie’s creative, musical and spiritual journey. The film is guided by David Bowie’s own narration and is the first officially sanctioned film on the artist.’
The accompanying album features a lot of specially made mixes and mash ups for the film taken from throughout his career. I can’t wait to see and hear this. There are also some amazing posters for the film featured on Brent’s Twitter feed, sadly all at a tiny resolution for now.
A section of a Solid Steel from 28 years ago today(!) that popped out at me when looking through the archive. Matt Black and Jonathan More were also in the studio and I’d wager PC was there too as the four of us would often troop up to the KISS studios on a Friday night to pre-record the Saturday night.
Both Matt and Jon would take turns on the mic and the decks with Patrick and I mixing and writing up the PRS sheets of what was played.
Mixing out of something possibly played by PC, I kick off with an often played S’Xpress ‘track’ – ‘Coma’ from a free 45 given away with Record Mirror – that consists largely of heavy respirated breathing and sonar pings. This always served as a good bridge between sets and styles and I used it a lot in my ambient sets a few years earlier. Running into Pat Metheny’s gorgeous rendering of Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint (most likely found via The Orb’s ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’ sampling) and some unidentified ambience (possibly Spacetime Continuum) before DJ Food’s ‘Cosmic Jam’ unsteadily enters the mix.
An overdub of Reich’s ‘Come Out’ interjects and there seems to be up to four sources going here – possibly two decks and two CDs. Mantronix’s ‘Mega-Mix (’88)’ is an often overlooked trip hop precursor, this sounded like the future of hip hop 1988. Justin Warfield was looking back to 1968 to move hip hop forward in the early 90s with his classic ‘My Field Trip To Planet 9’ album and Tim Simenon wisely grabbed him to front the huge ‘Bug Powder Dust’ single from his third Bomb The Bass LP. The Dust Brothers (pre-Chemical) gave it their big beat worker before the term was even coined, nicely cutting up the bass line lifted from ‘Dark Lady’ which in itself was lifted from…
Opening the next section is the famous ‘Closing of Places of Entertainment’ speech that Coldcut often played on the show – segueing into Autechre ‘Flutter’, their protest at the Criminal Justice Bill which stated that any gatherings with repetitive beats could be shut down and prosecuted. They decided to produce a track without repetitive beats, played here on my preference of 33rpm. I was heartened to hear a dedication from Matt for my old flatmate Chantal (Passamonte) who was leaving London for Sheffield at this time to go and work for Warp. Some Ninja business in the form of Up, Bustle & Out’s ‘Nightwalk’ from their debut LP (not ‘Lazy Daze’ as is read out later) into La Funk Mob’s ‘Motorbass Gets Phunked Up’, Ritchie Hawtin’s remix which seems to be jumping all over the place. Slamming straight into this is the no-compromise of Bedouin Ascent’s amazing ‘Internal Bleeding’ and then we’re rocking out with La Funk Mob’s ‘357 Magnum Force’ again from Mo Wax’s original golden run. Orbital’s ‘Sad but True’, my favourite track from their patchy third LP (after the peerless first two albums admittedly) brings the electro funk. The final track is Mu-Ziq’s aptly-titled, ‘Metal Thing #3’, I had a habit of upping the ante with my music choices until things were really quite brutal and it would take one of the others to bring things down a notch, in this case with a reggae set from Jon after the jingle at the end of this set.
S’Xpress – Coma
Pat Metheny – Electric Counterpoint I -Fast
DJ Food – Cosmic Jam
Steve Reich – Come Out
Spacetime Continuum – unknown
Mantronix – Mega-Mix ’88
Bomb The Bass – Bug Powder Dust (Dust Brothers remix)
Autechre – Flutter
Up, Bustle & Out – Nightwalk
La Funk Mob – Motorbass Gets Phunked Up (Electro Funk remix)
Bedouin Ascent – Internal Bleeding
La Funk Mob – 357 Magnum Force
Orbital – Sad But True
Mu-Ziq – Metal Thing #3
I’m fairly sure that this was the first kind of psychedelic mix that I did, largely made up of records bought whilst on tour in North America with Kid Koala and Amon Tobin during the Spring of 2000. It kicks off with something from the Blast First compilation Nothing Short of Total War (Rock Music Report) and then into some whispering piano talk from The Mothers of Invention. John Simon’s ‘Painting For Freakout’ precedes The Electric Flag’s incredible 10 minute … uh, ‘Freakout’ on the All You Can Eat soundtrack which is a fine record in the tradition of the Monkees’ Head and parts of this mix would end up in my rescore for that film later. Rod McKuen jumps on the hippy bandwagon with his soothing tones from the Takes A San Francisco Hippy Trip album with ‘Of Girls’ – warning the cover is more psychedelic than the record. The Three Ring Circus made one single and an album with a clown through a kaleidoscope on the cover which which was enough for me to check it out. Goblin’s ‘Blind Concert’ is from their classic Suspiria soundtrack and the Two Daughters track is from a Cherry Red comp from the early 80s, Perspectives and Distortion, which has all manner of interesting post punk, new wave experimentation on it including an early solo Matt Johnson track.
The Monkees’ ‘Opening Ceremony’ montage from Head makes an appearance, in the middle of the mix, before we segue into a bit of Barry Gray’s ‘Breakaway’ from the Space 1999 soundtrack, as sampled a few years previously by Tipsy for their ‘Space Golf’ tune. Susan & The Children’s Chorus was a Sesame Street spin off record, not actually on Sesame Workshop, the label of the TV show. I was already collecting funky Sesame St material around this time before approaching the company to license their Pinball Number Count and later put together a compilation. I dived into Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention pretty hard in the early 00’s, spurred on by his music concrete tape collages and Cal Schenkel’s amazing cover art. The Landlords’ ‘The Landlord’ is from the soundtrack to The Landlord – who’d have thought? This was basically an Al Kooper pseudonym and the OST has a few nice bits and pieces on it as well as a great cover.
Along with Zappa I was hoovering up David Axelrod productions including the more far out Cannonball Adderly ones and it took a little while to track down Soul Zodiac where Rick Holmes narrates the 12 signs over spacey jazz. A fairly pedestrian cover of ‘The Sound of Silence’ follows, the amount of cheap easy listening albums with vaguely funky versions of old standards was mind boggling back then. The Beatle’ ‘Jessie’s Dream’ – should probably be Aunt Jessies Dream I think and is from their Magical Mystery Tour film, it probably came from a bootleg of psyche-era stuff I was into along with all the Beach Boys Smile sessions I could find. ‘Bendix 2: The Tomorrow People’ comes from one of the greatest compilations of all time, Raymond Scott’s Manhattan Research Inc. on Basta which was newly released at the time and caught the ear of a certain J Dilla. We play out with the title track from probably the UK’s nearest equivalent to Scott, Joe Meek from his freaky space travel epic I Hear A New World, probably also a bootleg from around that time.
UPDATE: I found a second copy of this tape and it was subtitled ‘US Vinyl Excavations Pt.1’ so here is the missing part, I’ve updated the title to reflect that.
The Mothers of Invention – Are You Hung Up?
John Simon – Painting For Freakout
Rod McKuen – Of Girls
Three Ring Circus – Fantastic Voyage
Goblin – Blind Concert
Two Daughters – Return Call/We Are
The Monkees – Opening Ceremony
Barry Gray – Breakaway
Susan & The Children’s Chorus – The Counting Song
The Mothers of Invention – Flower Punk
The Landlords – The Landlord
Cannonball Adderly – Cancer
Groovin’ Strings and Things – The Sound of Silence
The Beatles – Jessie’s Dream
Raymond Scott – Bendix 2: The Tomorrow People
Joe Meek & The Blue Men – I Hear A New World
This gorgeous Riso print with metallic gold ink by Raimund Wong will be on sale at the Suzanne Ciani gig this October at EartH in Hackney. The line up is a no-brainer with The Oscillation / Vanishing Twin / Tomago’s Valentina Magaletti also on the bill. Tickets still available here
A quick round up of what can now be seen as a golden age for UK and US independent hip hop from the middle of 2000. This is the first half of an hour long mix that concludes with a psychedelic mix (next week).
Def Tex on the Ninja-affiliated Son Records from their Synchronise EP – hugely underrated IMO, early PUTS from their second album and Jurassic 5 making their second album comeback with lead single, Quality Control. One Cut – straight outta Bristol from a 12” that now goes for an eye-watering price due to its Banksy cover then Mark B & Blade with a crazed cut up instrumental of their ‘Ya Don’t See The Signs’ 12”. Styles of Beyond were from the US and made a ton of singles, this one was actually from 1998 and The Nextmen’s DJ cut from their debut LP, ‘Amongst The Madness’.
‘The Last Tune’ from Task Force’s amazing Voice of the Great Outdoors single samples a snatch of ‘Caravan’ from some easy listening LP I can’t remember now – check the whole 12” if you can. Advertising The Invisible were Brad from The Nextmen and Cept 148 and I totally recognise that bass sound but can’t place it. Yes that is a Morcheeba track but it’s a banger featuring Biz Markie and we finish with a classic from the Jungle Brothers although it’s the remix version.
Track list:
Def Tex – Written Response
People Under The Stairs – Code Check
Jurassic 5 – Quality Control
One Cut – Underground Terror Tactics
Mark B & Blade – Ya Don’t See The Signs
Styles of Beyond – Spies Like Us
The Nextmen – We Originate
Task Force – The Last Tune
Advertising The Invisible – Making Heads Turn
Morcheeba – In The Hands of the Gods
Jungle Brothers – J Beez Comin’ Through (remix)
Part 2 of the Version Aversion mix kicks off with another ‘dictionaroake’ cover, of Ken Nordine’s ‘Flesh’ of all things! Go here for more of an explanation of this strange medium: http://www.dictionaraoke.com/ I’d always loved ‘The Man With The Golden Arm’ theme, hearing the Jet Harris version on a tape my dad had when I was a kid. What happens if you take three different versions and synch them up to play simultaneously, cutting back and forth frequently? Listen and find out. This strings and drums version of ’Strawberry Fields Forever’ was possibly taken from one of the Anthology compilations, chock full of interesting Beatles outtakes.
The Roy Meriwether Trio take on the Nina Simone’s ‘I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free’ and then we get another excerpt from the Langley Schools Music Project album, this time with excerpts of a radio documentary interspersed telling the story of how it came to be. Bowie’s ’Space Oddity’ gets the treatment and again, the eerie oddness of not quite trained voices with strange arrangements gives it a unique quality. Monk Higgins provides Gang Starr with a sample on ‘Little Green Apples’ from his ‘Extra Soul Perception’ LP and ‘Brother’ John Rydgren pervs out over ‘Music To Watch Girls By’. Finally, a remix rather than a cover, Bill Laswell does the impossible and takes electric Miles Davis and makes something decent out of it from the Panthalassa remix project. This 1998 album is worth tracking down, Laswell gets given the masters to run riot with in the studio and creates four extended soundscapes, each ranging around the 15 minute mark from music written 1969-74. It’s respectful as he doesn’t attempt to contemporize the sounds, instead extended and dubbing them out into Orb-like epics, an hour of fusion-era Miles, reimagined 25 years later by a master.
Track list:
Ken Nordine – Flesh
Billy May & His Orchestra – The Man With The Golden Arm
Jet Harris – The Man With The Golden Arm
Jack Nitzche – The Man With The Golden Arm
The Beatles – Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 7)
Roy Meriwether Trio – Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free
Langley Schools Music Project – Space Oddity
Monk Higgins – Little Green Apples
John Rydgren – Music to Watch Girls By
Miles Davis – Rated X /Billy Preston (Bill Laswell reconstruction)
My now annual mix for those lovely 45 Live people goes out this Friday night (PST) or Saturday morning (GMT) depending where you are in the world. Greg Belson is still running the show which must be approaching its 150th episode soon. Airing on Dublab at 8-10pm every 1st and 3rd Friday, it’ll be available afterward via their site or Mixcloud. I’m again mining the late 80’s for early house, acid and freestyle (lots of Todd Terry productions). I thought I’d exhausted these theme a few years back but tracks just keep popping up and I have more than enough for two more mixes moving into the 90s.
The first of two ‘Version Aversion’ mixes – various covers in all sorts of styles – I love a good cover version, one that takes the original and does something weird with it ideally. The opening ‘Girl From Ipanema’ is a good example – this kind of cover was called ‘dictionaraoke’ – using computer-generated words to voice a cover version. There were a spate of them on the web around this time and I have a feeling it’s connected to Negativland by the mentions on this website http://www.dictionaraoke.com/ . Having just had the beginnings of the mash up craze (which was still gaining momentum) and being perpetually on the look out for the latest thing, I was convinced this was the answer. Instead it was a fun novelty that got old quite fast.
The Lenny Constanza version of Kylie’s ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’ I have a vague memory might have something to do with Rob Galliano. The only mention of it on Discogs is on a compilation called The Selector from Hungary but I’m sure I have it on a 7” somewhere.
Julius Brockington’s version of ‘Rock Steady’ gets mixed with a bit of Aretha’s original, not always successfully but there’s some nice scratching in there. Johnny Hammond smooths out Carole King’s ‘It’s Too Late’ into an easy organ instrumental before Breakestra cover The Vibrettes’ ‘Humpty Dump’ in convincing analogue style. Mixing Digital Underground’s ‘The Humpty Dance’ over the top at rapid speed may not have been a good idea but it occasionally works. Christ, an Elbow track! This cheeky rinky dink cover of Destiny’s Child was from something on Twisted Nerve, possibly the Jukebox series of 7”s that yielded all sorts of oddities.
The Langley Schools Music Project was one of those records that just appeared and everyone was talking about it. The first of the privat press ’school music’ recordings I remember being reissued and their take on The Carpenters’ eerie but evergreen, ’Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft’ is so epic it has to qualify as one of the greatest covers ever. Little Miss Trintron was another Twisted Nerve oddity who produced one single and a couple of compilation appearances before disappearing leaving this 8-bit version of The Eagles’ ‘Hotel California’ for us to mull over. Again, placing the original vocal over parts of it at a greatly reduced speed wasn’t maybe the best idea in the world. With all these little mixes where they’re mainly unmixed selections I was trying to tart them up and give value for money by overdubbing spoken word and extras on top, usually using a computer by this stage.
No mix next week as I’m on holiday but there will be the second part of this set once I return.
Track list:
Mittelschmerz – Girl From Ipanema
Lenny Constanza – Can’t Get You Out Of My Bed
Julius Brockington – Rock Steady
Johnny Hammond – It’s Too Late
Breakestra – Humpty Dump
Digital Underground – The Humpty Dance
Elbow – Independent Woman
Langley Schools Music Project – Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft
Little Miss Trinitron – Hotel California
You may have seen that Kool Herc‘s estate is going under the hammer at Christies this month. Everything from turntables and disco equipment to glasses, photos, belt buckles and records from the man called The Godfather of Hip Hop. Most interesting to me are the reams of flyers for the old Bronx jams featuring home made, hand drawn and collaged examples of the earliest form of Hip Hop promotion. There are plenty by Buddy Esq. probably the most gifted and well known exponent of early rap design work and there are fascinating little details dotted throughout about the way jams used to be from a time long since passed.
Below are my favourites and you can view the full auction online here:
“no drugs, no weapons, no sneakers”
“first 25 jazzy ladies free” – who decided?
“sneakers one nite only” love how cut and paste this is
How young are the Furious Five here?
That’s a lot of acts on the bill!
Lot of Zulu crews there
‘Guaranteed to perform’, the others might not be there but…
How many typefaces?
“giving away $50 to some lucky person, sincerely, Flash” – also “Creole’s got something special for the young ladies”
“Shea, please call me, love always, herc” – flyer done by Herc
Do you think that’s Shea?
I’ve been compiling this, off and on, all year, while listening to the 340+ unreleased tracks on Brian Eno‘s Sonos HD radio station, The Lighthouse. If I had the phone nearby I’d check what’s playing, make a note of the track number and year and write a short description. I was intrigued to see how often tracks repeated (not very often), how long it would take me to hear all of them (over 6 months) and what the ratio of good to average to bad was. It became quite addictive as I’d fill in more each day, a bit like collecting cards in a numbered sequence, filling in the blanks each day. Of course as time went on I’d hear more repetitions and less new tracks so filling in a new entry was like finding another piece of the puzzle. After a while I began to give them star ratings from 1 to 5; 5 being amazing, as good or better than anything he’d ever released, 4 great, 3 good, 2 so-so, 1 skippable.
For those interested, the highest number I’ve heard has been #349 (all the tracks are titled by number and year), the oldest was from 1989, newest from 2021. There were occasional different versions of previously released tracks from Nerve Net and Drawn From Life and many that had similar undertones to albums like Apollo or Ambient 4. The shortest was around a minute and 30 seconds, the longest approximately 24 minutes at a guess (there are no times on any of the tracks). If a title has been given to a piece in one of the two Lighthouse interviews it’s included in brackets. Where there’s no entry, I’ve not yet heard that track on the stream.
If albums on average have 10-15 tracks then that’s over 30 albums worth, or maybe The Lighthouse IS an album? It’s like being let into a secret vault every time you tune in, catching glimpses of precious (and sometimes not so precious) gems as the algorithm cycles through the selection. Similar to Aphex Twin‘s Soundcloud dump a few years back, this is the archive mother lode from one of my favourite artists.
UPDATE: at least another 75 tracks added since Sept 2023 – have heard #424 and counting and some tracks are from 2023, the longest one is over 24 minutes(!)… I noticed that at least two tracks from the Top Boy soundtrack that Eno released in September feature on The Lighthouse, I will mark them when I find them.
Track list: (UPDATED 23/12/23)
001 (2018) Algorithmic rhythm system groove w. male vocal ** (5.01)
002 (2018) Almost an ‘I Zimbra’ remix, Give it up and turn it loose bassline & female vocal – (title: Funk Groove Reduced) ***** (3.23)
003 (2018) Wooah yay, slow vocal sway ** (4.23)
004 (2019) Night drive passing cars, sudden end *** (3.28)
005 (2010) Slow beats glissando echo *** (4.54)
006 (2021) Dark low rumble bass pad, winding in and out *** (3.36)
007 (2019) Short solo keyboard lament ** (2.29)
008 (2019) Gated choir crawl abruptly stopping ** (2.41)
009 (2019) Stunning beauty but so short ***** (1.45)
010 (2019) Hovering guitar noodle *** (2.29)
011 (2018) Dark laidback plod with lead electric guitar *** (3.35)
012 (2011) Low sub bass ambience, v. short **** (2.15)
013 (2018) Computer controlled upbeat rhythm w. languid melody/‘lonely time’ vocal **** (4.31)
014 (2018) Uptempo sequencer tightness ** (4.37)
015 (2018) Gated voice over insistent machine rhythm ** (4.55)
016 (2018) Eno brings the machine funk w. female vocals ** (4.02)
017 (2018) Excellent fast paced rhythm w. drums and skronk piano **** (3.43)
018 (2021) Dark piano tension **** (9.59)
019 (2020) Super calm deep drift **** (3.27)
020 (2020) Hovering quiet piano *** (6.28)
021
022 (2018) Dinky keyboard workout ** (2.20)
023 (2018) Mid tempo funky wah wah w. distorted vocal sample, deep bass kicks ** (4.42)
024 (2021) Rapid Edits on machine funk *** (3.28)
025 (2018) Spiky funk excellence – love this one ***** (3.36)
026 (2021) Cheeky little number, almost reggae ** (3.44)
027 (2021) Beautiful space drift w. violin and electronics ****
028 (2015) Jaunty vocal funk w ping ponging electronics *** (4.14)
029 (2015) Twangy offbeat vocal country song ** (3.36)
030 (2017) Climbing sinister piano ** (2.59)
031 (2017) Airy piano drift / Slow hovering w. minor key piano ** (3.24)
032 (2017) Short wistful ambient *** (1.56)
033 (2015) Fast double time picking pattern *** (7.41)
033 (2015) Fast double time picking pattern *** (7.41)
034 (2017) Marimba with splashy snare ** (4.48)
035 (2009) Sweet high synth modulations descending *** (4.04)
036 (2009) Solo cautious piano / Wandering solo piano w. birds ** (4.31)
037 (2009) Aphex-ish Wandering piano and occasional wordless vocal delay interjections **** (4.13)
038 (2009) Moody Warszaw-ish Solo piano patterns (title: Eagleman 22)** (4.04)
039 (2009) Hesitant solo keys ** (2.48)
040 (2021) Slow, sustained, quiet decaying strings *** (5.05)
041 (2019) Slowly unfurling tones *** (5.02)
042 (2015) Any man… Dead Can Dance-ish medieval vocal *** (5.08)
043 (2015) Suspended vocal tones w. odd jungle interlude *** (6.20)
044
045 (2018) Solo soaring/searing string section *** (7.57)
046 (2011) v short Sinister gongs **** (2.18)
047 (2018) Jaunty bass synth riff * (4.03)
048 (2019) Bass plod and positive chords *** (6.04)
049 (2019) Short ringing, decaying loops **** (3.29)
050 (2020) Bright twang guitar and mysterious mood *** (3.48)
051 (2020) Plod bass dreamy underwater w. descending piano **** (2.15)
052
053 (2019) Floaty synths, buoyant melody, bit new age-y * (4.08)
054 (2020) Yawning expanse Fripp-like guitar w. shimmering bottom end rumble **** (5.55)
055 (2017) Chirrups and thunks, fading ** (2.39)
056 (2019) Thumping climber with whistling * (4.19)
057 (2019) Epic throbbing string soundtrack *** (5.53)
058 (2019) Sweet solo synth Shimmering *** (3.25)
059 (2019) Rushing and rising washes of bright synth *** (3.11)
060 (2020) Squalling funky guitar over bouncy rhythm ** (3.29)
061 (2011) Slow acoustic lament ** (5.01)
062 (2018) Synth strings, earnest, church- like ** (3.30)
063 (2020) Sawing cello and pitch bent strings * (3.05)
064 (2020) Underwater electronics **
065 (2020) Lightly gated church organ w. bubbling bright top end ** (2.46)
066 (2020) Dark shifts / Alien beasts viewed from afar *** (2.52)
067 (2020) Gently bubbling sorrowful surges **** (4.42)
068 (2020) Swamp ambient w. industrial overtones and buzzing malfunctioning electronics ** (4.22)
069 (2920) Industrial alarm warning with flourishes ** (3.45)
070 (2002) Twanging country vocal tune (3.50)
070 (2021) High pitched solo synth ** (3.50)
071 (2015) Bright, plucked machine guitar and drums, almost hi-life *** (3.29)
072 (2001) Creepy keys electric mood *** (8.42)
073 (2002) Expansive Bass exploration / winding drone ** (5.06)
074 (2002) Abstract audio synthesis / mysterious world *** (12.15)
075 (2002) Squalling fast funk w. synth brass *** (3.04)
076 (2002) Female spoken word (spots) over languid keys and deep bass **** (3.18)
077 (2002) He doesn’t want to be found, fast vocal song *** (3.13)
078 (2002) Jaunty sky saw Fripp guitar ** (3.17)
079 (2009) Rolling vistas ambient *** (6.34)
080 (2002) Frankly awful vocal country * (4.59)
081 (2002) Meandering country twang w. mournful bass *** (3.41)
082 (2002) Gentle vocoder vocal and electric guitar ** (5.09)
083 (2002) Bright keyboard ditty * (2.13)
084 (2002) Twangy guitar and bass idea ** (2.13)
085 (2002) Bouncy pop instrumental ** (4.43)
086 (2021) Low Humming w. signal bleeps ** (4.35)
087 (2021) Ambient lullaby humming w soaring strings *** (7.07)
088 (2021) Electro thrumming with yawning sawtooth surges *** (4.43)
089 (2021) Quiet keyboard figures ** (2.57)
090 (2021) Deep sea dive **** (5.22)
091 (2021) Springy bleeps and whirring w. heavy beat ** (2.28)
092 (2021) Low night time creeper ** (3.29)
093 (2021) Complex bass bounce, machine beat with skittering high synth **
094 (2021) Heavy Fairlight beat, Indian scales and time stretch *** (3.27)
095 (2021) Gravelly spring beat w. odd bass figure ** (2.43)
096 (2018) Fast funky drum, guitar & horn flourishes w. keyboard escapades **** (4.01)
097
098 (2021) Air snares skittering w. bells and industrial kettle drum ** (4.26)
099
100 (2001) Questing solo keys *** (3.46)
101 (2002) Gorgeous soaring sad keys **** (4.05)
102 (2002) Tentative keys in reverb soup, short ** (2.52)
103 (2003) Juddering gated bass beat with glissando guitar ** (3.41)
104 (2004) Gnarly distorting bass w bouncing pings **** (3.33)
105 (2004) Vocal guitar dirge * (4.04)
106 (2004) Swinging Eno vocal song with yearning guitar ** (4.03) (title: All The Bloody Fighters)
107 (1997) Lilting loop *** (4.24)
108 (1997) Short mysterious piece ** (2.32)
109 (1998) Upbeat xylophone ditty, great chorus *** (1998)
110 (1998) Building chord sketch for pop song ** (4.57)
111
112 (1998) Wobbling experiments – quite Aphex-ish ** (5.52)
113 (2021) Twinkling synths short ** (2.22)
114 (2015) Bubbling bright synth motifs occasionally coalescing into brief rhythms *** (2.31)
115 (2021) Beautiful soft focus morning ***** (6.11)
116 (2021) Classic Eno ambient drift voices **** (5.39)
117 (2021) Synthetic melodic runs almost identical to Funki Porcini’s ‘6 Minutes To Manchester’ *** (2.05)
118 (2021) Minimal suspense, fading *** (5.15)
119 (2011) Excellent Fast breakbeat cut up ***** (2.37)
120 (2020) Understated deep piano pads *** (2.54)
121 (2020) Gorgeous ambient drift ***** (6.08)
122 (2000) Vocal choir jolly ditty Slow That Bell ** (4.30)
123 (2000) Vocal song Run Out of Time ** (5.33)
124 (2000) Short strummy vocal song * (2.05)
125 (1998) Euphoric synth melodies ** (6.44)
126 (1998) Short eerie Eastern synth figure ** (1.33)
127 (1998) Ticking filtered sinister apprehension w. disturbances breaking through **** (5.56)
128 (1998) High pitched atonal crystalline rhythm pattern ** (2.28)
129 (1998) Church organ plays sea shanty * (2.08)
130 (1998) Odd little bass mood *** (3.04)
131 (2015) Japanese percussion & horns *** (2.46)
132 (2015) Mysterious mechanical groove **** (2.42)
133 (2015) Industrial trip hop beats + phased, gated noise – excellent **** (3.15)
134 (2015) Bright airy synth , fast beats *** (3.00)
135
136 (1998) Stumbling solo piano ** (3.26)
137 (1997) Jolly but slightly annoying descending melody * (4.23)
138 (1997) Cheeky electronic rhythm w DAT glitch fx ** (2.31)
139 (1997) Apollo-esque ambience ***** (11.08)
140 (2020) Soft reverb piano, contemplative *** (4.30)
141 (2011) Super lush ***** (6.51)
142 (1998) Distant tinkly reverb piano *** (10.40)
143 (1998) Apollo-ish drift, beautiful as only Eno can do ***** (11.34)
144 (2000) Dreary vocal pop with Bontempi organ * (3.48)
145 (2002) Minimal Darkness tubular echoes *** (10.29)
146 (2002) Lush strings pulling in and out of focus **** (7.12)
147 (1997) Slowly see-sawing drone *** (4.01)
148 (1998) Downbeat moody chugger ** (5.32)
149 (1998) Version of ‘Blissed’ from The Drop, Piano, bongos and insistent chink **** (4.23)
150 (1998) Climbing starlight filtered melody, glistening, twinkling *** (3.53)
151 (1998) Electronic bird screeches ** (3.47)
152 (1998) Aimless keyboard doodle * (2.30)
153 (1998) Stilted electric piano solo ** (2.48)
154 (1998) Icy high keys ** (3.44)
155 (1998) Hesitant flute-esque keyboard exploration * (2.25)
156 (1994) Scary Deep space choir *** (6.27)
157 (1994) African drums and metallic solo ** (4.15)
158
159 (2009) Solemn/sweet notes suspended *** (5.22)
160 (1991) Unreleased version of Fractal Zoom with distortion ***** (2.02)
161 (1991) Indian Violin and tablas ????
161 (2011) Slow, soft drifting pads **** (5.39)
162 (1991) Sneaky Bar jazz ** (4.02)
163 (1991) Sneaky Bar jazz II ** (3.57)
164 (1991) Eno vocal w. acoustic guitar, slap bass and keys – funky breakdown * (4.55)
165 (1991) Hey nonny nonny, Indian strings, London Bridge is falling down. * (3.49)
166 (1990) Ambient 4-ish – one of the best here ***** (12.02)
167 (2010) Slight sustained solo synth figure, hovering * (9.01)
168 (2019) Long decay piano & strings, slow sparse *** (9.26)
169 (1998) Purring undulating loop surges building to harsher noise *** 12.05)
170 (1989) Gentle Amazon forest ambience with birds, insects, building dread drone and bells **** (11.50)
171 (1995) Unbelievably beautiful dark ambience, celestial drift ***** (9.48)
172
173 (2017) Uplifting full band cut ***** (3.02)
174 (1994) Generative Xylophone noodle jazz * (3.39)
175 (1994) Insistent chugging machine rhythm w. whipping – long! *** (17.47)
176 (1994) Industrial hum / Stomping trip hip beat w. shimmering synths – long! **** (11.47)
177 (1994) Squeezebox & woodblock ** (4.22)
178 (1994) Percussive eastern rhythms ** (4.52)
179 (1994) Vocal harmonies and solemn keyboard * (1.50)
180 (1994) Eighties ambience with slithering background menace *** (2.18)
181 (1994) Menacing loop w. sudden random jazz piano *** (9.11)
182 (1991) Late night wander **** (3.14)
183 (1991) Nerve Net era snaking bass funk *** (4.47)
184 (1991) Off kilter bass mood *** (4.53)
185 (1991) Another Green World-like guitar and piano journey *** (2.46)
186 (1991) Atonal melody meander – Aphex before Aphex *** (3.39)
187 (1991) Sprightly, frantic urgent twiddling eastern melodies *** (2.51)
188 (1991) Godlike genius ambient ***** (5.34)
189 (1991) Slap bass and organ groove, Fractal Zoom-like drums ** (3.14)
190 (1991) Deep broody ambience / ‘The Electrician’-like dread **** (4.27)
191 (1991) Deeper broody ambience / Distant suspense, deep bass tones **** (5.56)
192 (1994) Short, sparse, hesitant bongs * (2.07)
193 (1994) Light, bobbling, slightly creepy ambience **** (6.05)
194 (1994) Low strings, acoustic, background female choir harmonies *** (4.29)
195 (1994) Low hovering cello *** (6.07)
196 (1994) Low whirring menacing drones and strings *** (3.56)
197 (1994) Low synth bass w high weirdo keys * (2.43)
198 (1994) Military tattoo drums w. metal banging and airy keys * (3.52)
199 (1994) Waves of voices, rushing, percolating noise, chiming bell, industrial thud *** (9.35)
200 (1989) Marsh-like Ambient 4 whistling birds ***** (14.55)
201 (1991) Organ-led vocal song *** (3.23)
202 (2005) Sombre string synths soaring and diving *** (3.29)
203 (1995) Hysterical piano and modulating sub bass machine jazz *** (3.36)
204 (1995) Watery submerged piano cascade reverb *** (8.06) an alternative version of ‘A Long Way Down’ from ‘Another Day on Earth’
205 (2001) Short filtered rising falling drum ** (2.55)
206 (2018) Live drums w. menace *** (4.09)
207 (2020) Cautious keys, building, dropping *** (5.25)
208 (2021) Fast bleep-y keyboard algorithm composition, sounds like early LFO or Autechre *** (3.54)
209 (2021) Gorgeous ambient drift / Distant reverb flutes, this one is lush – long too ***** (7.47)
210 (2020) Soft focus waves ebbing and flowing **** (4.57)
211 (2021) Solo piano algorithms & building strings *** (2.49)
212 (2021) Violin top note ambience, soft low and slow **** (12.53)
213 (2018) Euphoric ambient pads *** (3.21)
214 (1991) Eastern keyboard figures * (5.04)
215 (1991) Wailing vocal ballad with piano ** (5.33)
216 (1991) Off-kilter creep jazz bass riff w. soaring synth guitar solo and random piano * (4.46)
217 (1991) Fractal Zoom-ish upbeat funk w. squalling synths, metallic drums **** (5.35)
218 (1991) Vocal version of another song with different backing ** possibly 215 (5.18)
219 (1991) Dark ocean seabed *** (8.26)
220 (1991) Duplicate of another track here (163 Sneaky Bar Jazz II) eastern keyboard melody on fast tapping rhythm ** (3.57)
221 (1991) Arabic jam *** (2.52)
222 (2019) Ambient version of faster break number, excellent slow swoop **** (3.56)
223 (2021) Guitar and piano meander * (3.31)
224 (1994) Scary swirling **** (11.18)
225 (1991) High pitched ambience – beautiful and long ***** (12.25)
226 (2001) Singing bowls *** (3.25)
227 (2001) Choir singing bowls ***** (6.13)
228 (1995) Creeping ambience *** (3.26)
229 (1991) Deep ambient, winding drone w. distant movements **** (5.54)
230 (1994) Urgent snappy machine rhythm w. bubbling xylophone menace **** (4.23)
231 (1991) Stately synth bombast – same track as 232 despite year difference * (4.28)
232 (1994) Solemn synths – same track as 231 despite year difference * (4.28)
233 (2020) Spatial drift w. skittish surging signals *** (8.14)
234 (2020) Low droning cello ** (7.28)
235 (2020) Fading mournfulness / Low slow strings sweeps *** (4.44)
236 (2000) Offbeat machine funk and twisting bass **** (3.49)
237 (2000) Ominous drone ** (5.40)
238 (2000) Trampolines no beat with fast violin, short * (1.56)
239 (1996) Sombre strings ** (4.35)
240 (2000) Late night radio hiss, bobbing tempo and interference building to gorgeousness **** (5.11)
241 (2020) Insistent percussion over mysterious drone *** (2.28)
242 (1995) Digital horns over tepid rhythm – more sneaky bar jazz? * (4.16)
243 (1996) Whirring ambience *** (5.09)
244 (1996) Plinky Piano / Duelling solo pianos * (3.00)
245 (2021) Twangy guitar and backwards tape loops ** (4.05)
246 (2000) Early version of ‘Bloom’ from Drawn From Life **** (4.28)
247 (2021) Solo piano repeat figures *** (4.40)
248 (2020) Buzzing gated rhythm surging, ping pong highlights *** (2.13)
249 (2000) Dark fuzzy menace – Electrician-like ** (5.39)
250 (1994) Fast throbbing industrial engine rhythm w. floating electronics – long jam *** (12.12)
251 (2020) Desolate windy tundra **** (5.03)
252 (2020) Short slight tension, bright, Vangelis-like *** (4.11)
253 (2000) Ghostly vocoder ambience / Synthetic vocal poem with eerie accompaniment *** (5.01)
254 (2000) Acoustic light *** (2.51)
255 (2021) Distant girl reverb ambient *** (3.36)
256 (2021) Warm bass, high shimmering tones, hovering **** (7.29)
257 (1996) Fast percussion + bass, pursuit *** (7.40)
258 (1996) Lilting late night keys **** (3.14)
259 (2021) Double-timed bass with half time percussion and keyboard flourishes *** (5.10)
260 (1994) Insistent bobbing rhythm with synth washes and exploratory keys ** (3.32)
261 (1991) Gorgeous ambient, one of the best on here ***** (18.06)
262 (1998) Short bass groove with sinister keys *** (3.39)
263 (2009) Beautiful rising/falling synth chords w. muted kick drum **** (5.23)
264 (1994) Ominous background riff w. new bulletins and football match *** (2.26)
265 (2000) Two dogs in the night – excellent female spoken voice dark bass groove ***** (4.13)
266 (2019) Undulating pulsing techno *** (3.55)
267
268 (1996) Banging techno w. very bad scratching down to downtempo trip hop w. Miles David trumpet – very un-Eno **** (2.50)
269 (2000) Odd meandering wordless vocal w. sprightly melodic keys **** (7.41)
270
271 (2021) Downtempo doom-y band groove w. synth horns and percussion *** (3.14)
272 (2021) Ringing chime triplets ** (1.57)
273 (2018) Speedy skittering techno jazz w. organ solo and distorted vocal ***** (3.39)
274 (2018) Hiiiieeee!!!! *** (3.53)
275 (2018) Solo tremolo guitar ** (4.35)
276 (2020) Minimal plucked bleeps * (2.11)
277 (2010) Beautiful sparse chime keys – gorgeous **** (5.43)
278 (2021) More machine funk, algorithmic edits and high pitched top notes *** (2.44)
279 (2010) Lilting piano and odd strings – (title: Ross & Cromarty) ** (3.32)
280 (2021) Soft xylophone type melodies ** (2.05)
281 (2020) Grinding bass groove **** (4.03)
282 (2020) Murky reverb keys** (3.35)
283 (2020) Creepy pings, oriental tones *** (2.10)
284 (2018) Fast throbbing helicopter drumming *** (3.15)
285 (2006) Banging trip hop beats and breaks **** (3.04)
286 (2021) Off kilter machine funk *** (3.40)
287 (2019) Fractured transmissions breaking through, rumbling, becoming clearer ** (6.34)
288
289 (2018) Drum machine edits & wah wah funk **** (2.14)
290 (2103) Dark ambient kick short *** (3.30)
291 (2017) Bell-like tones **** (8.47)
292 (2017) Mournful woodwind ambience *** (15.17)
293 (2013) Live band jam, wandering guitar plucks, squealing solos, Drawn From Life-ish ** (8.34)
294 (2021) Bass synth noodle & stabs * (3.35)
295 (2011) Filtered fast breakbeat, throbbing bass and mysterious keys, DnB tempo *** (2.38)
296 (2016) Mid tempo bobbing gated pad / Gently bobbing keyboard instrumental ** (296)
297 (2019) Excellent moody downtempo beats and electronics ***** (4.50)
298 (2020) Arabian Eno vocal, uptempo live drums **** (4.05)
299 (1997) Epic choir and State of Independence vibe / pitched vocals **** (4.20)
300 (2019) Sweet descending reverb motif, building *** (4.57)
301
302 (2018) Meandering lightness & bass drops – long and beautiful! ***** (21.34)
303 (2004) Chugging rhythm w. wordless auto tuned vocal song idea, euphoric keys, short then fade*** (3.15)
304 (2009) Double time kick drum progression under triumphant organ melody ** (2.43)
305 (2005) Vocal song about eyes w. electric guitar and organ accompaniment ** (3.27)
306 (2004) Piano decays + ticking, short spoken word ‘almost like now’ *** (3.12)
307 (2004) Solo Eno vocal and piano *** (1.48)
308 (2006) Brian sounds miserable vocal song * (4.26)
309 (1996) Choir in space- short *** (2.15)
310 (2000) Beautiful undulating ambience, sunny warmth **** (9.58)
311 (2000) Slightly atonal glimmering crystal synths and washes ** (6.12)
312 (2000) Terry Riley-esque organ figures *** (4.05)
313 (2000) Drums w. echo & keys jam * (10.27)
314 (2000) Version of ‘Persis’ from Drawn From Life. Plodding beat and strings ***** (5.17)
315 (1999) Stark drum break reverb w. distorted electric bass *** (4.04)
316 (1999) Offbeat dark jazz rhythm w. surging monster sounds **** (5.23)
317 (1999) Shimmering crystal ambience **** (5.43)
318 (1999) So so-lo synth melody ** (6.59)
319 (2000) Frippertronic-like interweaving ambience **** (4.12)
320 (1999) Soaring & dive bombing ambience ***** (7.23)
321 (1999) Downtempo beats and drill bass ** (8.01)
322 (1999) Downtempo gated bass, drum machine and 80s-ish synth song arrangement ** (4.30)
323 (1999) Vocoder version of ‘Two Voices’ from Drawn From Life ***** (4.35)
324
325 (2019) Sweet ethereal melodies, Xmas-y ** (3.09)
326 (2021) Short Beautiful solo piano **** (2.08)
327 (2014) Female vocal experiments bird-like calls **** (6.52)
328 (2020) Squelchy fast machine funk ** (4.11)
329 (2000) Building Kinetic machine rhythms *** (8.06)
330 (2012) Neon Lights-ish pleasant synth and drum machine song ** (4.48)
331 (1999) Solo Arabian synth melody noodle * (2.41)
332 (2021) Abrasive chime reverb drone w. undulating high notes **** (8.57)
333 (1999) Short church organ figure ** (1.20)
334 (2021) Very fast drum machine percussion and wailing eastern synth w. micro edits *** (3.21)
335 (2019) Uplifting synth in 6/8 time *** (4.03)
336 (1999) Insistent throbbing foreboding click rhythm, snaking melody **** (9.10)
337 (2020) Odd, weird, slow, disjointed ** (3.11)
338 (1999) Oh this is really good! Beautiful soaring ambience ***** (6.29)
339 (2004) Eno vocal harmonies meets odd pop w. edited screech guitar and wayward piano ** (3.44)
340 (2021) Insistent strumming w. airy pads – short! *** (3.29)
341 (1999) Uptempo tribal drums, wah guitar, percussion and stereo electronics FX – funk jam **** (2.41)
342 (2021) Euphoric synth stomp ** (3.16)
343 (1999) Shimmering high pitched crystals **** (14.29)
344 (2013) Winding acoustic and piano shimmer ** (7.48)
345 (1999) Funeral procession solo keys** (2.17)
346 (2020) Galloping almost acid techno fading into ambience *** (2.09)
347 (1999) Crystals dropping – stunning ***** (2.58)
348 (2005) Upbeat vocal pop ditty, down down ** (5.21)
349 (1999) Excellent moody throbbing 6/8 beat & bass, War of the Worlds-ish synth motif ***** (5.33)
350 (2004) Rhodes-y solo ambience ** (4.58)
351 (1996) Mid tempo funk bass/guitar w. meandering keyboard + female instructional vocal ** (4.48)
352 (2000) Woozy high keyboard figures *** (3.33)
353 (1996) Sustained voice and keyboard drift meld *** (6.42)
354 (1996) Short stark piano piece ** (1.58)
355 (2021) Electronic autechre-ish mood ** (3.58)
356 (2004) Jangly acoustic vocal song, “I saw you there” ** (3.34)
357 (2019) Synth bass and glitched, loping beats ** (2.00)
358 (1996) Fast guitar funk w. keyboard solos and robotic drums *** (3.32)
359 (1994) Organ workout, short * (2.09)
360 (2000) Gorgeous ambient lushness ***** (7.28)
361 (2000) Bass synth exploratory w. delays ** (3.29)
362 (1996) Pitch-bent high synth solo, George Duke-esque * (3.52)
363 (1999) Bright, positive vocal pop tune * (6.42)
364 (2000) Undulating high pitched keyboard solo figures ** (2.06)
365 (2019) Slowly surging keyboard collage *** (3.10)
366 (2000) Gentle suspense, singing bowls tapping, builds to dark mood *** (7.57)
367 (2020) Plodding slow loop w sax/cow moo ** (3.42)
368 (2020) Mournful suspense *** (6.13)
369 (2020) Slow, sombre, languid guitar and keys ** (4.28)
370 (2020) Edited tabla workout with bass zooms and insistent piano *** (4.12)
371 (2021) Slow, meandering, open plains drift w. Skittish high pitched vocal **** (4.36)
372 (2020) Subdued mood movement ** (4.20)
373 (2020) Slow, mournful organ piece w. sparse beats ** (3.19)
374 (2021) Piano and Oboe-ish tension ** (3.22)
375 (2005) Country Eno song * (4.01)
376 (2005) Reverb-y downtempo song, swing hi-hats, ‘it’s no’ vocal *** (2.44)
377 (2006) Space radio signals, sparse w. huge swells *** (3.47)
378 (1994) TFF Shout-esque beat with wobbly top line ** (5.54)
379 (2000) Spooky climbing keys w reverb *** (5.16)
380 (2000) Sleep, sleep, vocal song idea ** (2.57)
381 (1999) Muted guitar squall and distant vocal repeats ** (2.10)
382 (2021) Gated epic chords ** (4.49)
383 (1999) Swirling atmospherics, ominous tension ** (3.00)
384 (1999) Muted Jazz drums w filtered atoms loop delays ** (5.06)
385 (1994) Gorgeous synth ambience **** (3.25)
386 (1996) Nerve Net-ish dark insistent groove with tapping and huge shifts *** (8.22)
387 (2021) High pitched dark ambience, Eno cyber vocal ‘In the last world’ **** (3.52)
388 (2021) Intrepid gongs **** (3.40)
389 (2020) Minimal shifting bass ambience w. panning high notes *** (4.08)
390 (2020) Urgent passing data surges in the night ** (2.49)
391 (2020) Soft beats and underlying static with minimal melodic flourishes ** (2.48)
392 (2013) Winding feedback screech pad and sombre ambience ** (2.24)
393 (2019) Solo keyboard melody idea *** (1.56)
394 (2017) Ticking beats and Kraftwerk-ish vocoder voice *** (2.29)
395 (2018) Inside a huge metallic tunnel ** (4.03)
396 (2020) Soft spooky-voiced wailing lament * (7.11)
397 (2019) Gated, almost Silent Night melody ** (3.28)
398 (1994) Fast machine rhythm, industrial w. fluctuating blobs and high synth lines, Long jam! *** (14.42)
399 (2011) Gorgeous drifting ambience with gaps, stereo panning – lush and very long ***** (24.20)
400 (2023) Long decay generative piano figures *** (13.33)
401 (2021) Fast sci-fi beats and urgent synths with micro edits **** (3.22)
402 (2022) Very odd, almost tribal electronica with decays *** (2.54)
403 (2023) Creeping suspense *** (4.44)
404 (2019) More amorphous gorgeous ambience ***** (5.04)
405 (2023) Stunning, how does he do it? ***** (5.09)
406 (2017) High female vocals ambience + reverb *** (3.03)
407 (2019) Cocteau’s-like guitar shoe gaze *** (3.38)
408 (2018) Pitched down Laraaji-like acoustic plucking with strings *** (7.30)
409 (2023) Wordless male and female voices swirling about the ether with crows. Soft far away tocking ** (4.51)
410 (2023) Quivering wordless ghostly voice + piano * (2.35)
411 (2019) Jaunty bright synth piece ** (3.09)
412 (2023) Percussion and electronics joined by male voices *** (2.44)
413 (2023) Lantern organ wurlitzer with faraway explosions ** (3.12)
414 (2023) Throbbing hum with choir-like synth voices ** (4.24)
415 (2023) Deep moody ambience with ticking ** (3.47)
416 (2023) Beautiful ambience, rising and falling, wordless high vocals, end of your life credits stuff, possibly related to 415 in places *** (6.39)
417 (2023) Otherworldly, mysterious deep space – gorgeous **** (3.27)
418 (2023) Fast jazz jungle jam with recorded documentary voice background and ominous sax *** (4.39)
419 (2023) Slow, deep bass synth and percussive rocking ** (4.11)
420 (2019) Epic Ship-like ambience with Eno singing *** *clicks (7.32)
421 (2023) Meandering medieval drone * (5.52)
422 (2023) Theme to a deep sea dive, inside the diving suit *** (7.56)
423 (2020) Solo organ piece, dips between funeral and euphoria *clicks ** (4.11)
424 (2023) Slow techno beat with bright overtones and female choir *** (3.43)
UPDATE 2024: There are at least 25 new tracks from 2023 and 2022 added as of Feb 2024 bringing the total up to 449. #429 will also be available on the forthcoming Eno documentary soundtrack album.
425 (2023) (3.27)
426 (2022) (3.21)
427 (2023) (5.34)
428 (2023) (4.46)
429 (202?) (5.43)
430 (2023) (2.13)
431 (2023) (1.20)
432 (2023) (2.24)
433 (2023) (4.51)
434 (2023) (3.29)
435 (2023) Thin synth with moody bass and washed-out female vocals. (6.26)
436 (2023) (5.35)
437 (2023) (4.39)
438 (2023) (9.22)
439 (2023) (1.16)
440 (2023) (3.43)
441 (2023) Muffled vocal sounds with minimal, hesitant beat (3.48)
442 (2022) (4.15)
443 (2022) (4.54)
444 (2023) Electronic birds with drifty ambient strings and light (8.59)
445 (2023) (5.00)
446 (2023) (2.31)
447 (2023) Solemn but beautiful piano ambience with long decay *** (6.54)
448 (2023) (4.16)
449 (2023) Airy, low atmospherics, building and fading with sinister shimmer (3.56)
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.
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.
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.
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…
So here it is, sans the film of course, but that’s out there if you dig a little
