Four From Food Fridays – a weekly look at four things that have been doing it for me. They can be new or old, any style so long as it’s been getting some rotation in the studio. From top left:
The Mothers of Invention – We’re Only In It For The Money (Verve Records) LP – probably my favourite Mothers LP although it’s a close tie with Absolutely Free, Uncle Meat or Freak Out
Various Artists – Unboxed Brain (De:tuned) 12″/DL – 7th addition to the Brainbox compilation from last year
Frank Zappa – the MOFO project/object (Zappa Records) CD – expanded 2 CD version of Freak out! plus there’s a 4xCD version available only from the official Zappa site
Narassa – Viaggio Pop N.1&2 (Cinedelic) Double LP – Italian composers Alessandro Brugnolini and Giuliano Giunti library albums reissued in the most insane packaging
Records
Here’s my mix for the Diggers Dozen vs Soundsci night a few weeks back – all library, all vinyl, all originals, no reissues or comps allowed. I went in for the weirder end of percussion, electronics, jazz, ambient and a bit of big band cheese. Below are also sets by Mr Things and Ollie Teeba and you can hear more sets from Jonny’s Cuba and Trunk here.
I found myself in Penge today, which is a rarity, and there was plenty to see in the quiet South East London suburb. The Penge / Pengeuin paste up above doesn’t really trip off the tongue but it’s always nice to see the orange logo. A little further down the road was a fascinating shop, with a colourful mural outside, that looked like it had been shut for many years. Inside the grilled window were old lamps, bottles, heads and all sorts, stuffed to the rafters but locked up and inaccessible.
Next were a brace of shops with fresh murals on side walls and shutters.
The local charity shops threw up a couple of fabulous covers, brilliant in their unstyled glory.
Later, up the road in Crystal Palace, I came across this amazing stained glass window on a church.
Four From Food Fridays – a weekly look at four things that have been doing it for me. They can be new or old, any style so long as it’s been getting some rotation in the studio. From top left:
The By Cracky Beat (Lowrey’s Chocolate) 7″ – groovy freakbeat promo for chocolate bar
Klaus Wiess – Time Signals (Trunk) LP – Drums & electronics, old library in new form on Trunk
Geoff Barrow & Ben Salisbury – Drokk (Invada) 2×10″ – alternative synth-heavy soundtrack to the Dredd film
Paul Reid – The Sounds of Expo 67 (Sonologue) 7″ Travelogue montage around Montreal’s Expo 67
The Diggers Dozen vs Soundsci ‘My Boosey Weighs A Ton’ launch party at Joyeux Bordel in Old Street the other week was as nerdy and bloke-centric as you’d expect with frequent outbreaks of ‘breakface’ and clusters around the decks as library oddities were pulled out left, right and centre. Various old heads were in attendance and new acquaintances were made until 1.30am when it wound down. Much chatting obscured indepth appreciation of the musical treats going down but Maxwell from DD has kindly snipped some of the sets out of the melee and uploaded them to the cloud of mixes. If you listen carefully you can even hear the faint sound of chatter coming through the needle in the quiet parts. First up, Jonny Cuba (above left, below right) with his ‘spy jazz’ set, then Jonny Trunk (above right).
My mix, alongside more from Ollie Teeba and Mr Thing can be heard here
Not particularly interested in the film or music but that cover design is lovely
This compilation of jazz bandleader / electronic pioneer Raymond Scott first surfaced in 2000 on the Dutch Basta label as both a 2xCD with hardback book and 3 separate LPs in gatefold sleeves. It’s now getting a new reissue as a triple set with booklet and coloured vinyl in a slipcase at a very affordable price by Music On Vinyl. To say that this is an essential release is an understatement, Scott was a pioneer and, along with the Louis and Bebe Barron‘s Forbidden Planet soundtrack, one of the first people to place electronic music in the commercial sphere outside of the avant garde. Composing for adverts, short films and working with Jim Henson prior to the Muppets, this collection is a treasure trove of tones, collages, early electronic compositions, sometimes in an array of versions. J Dilla famously sampled a track from this on Donuts (“The name of the game is Lightworks”) and the vinyl has become expensive now.
Another recent reissue saw Scott’s triple LP ‘Soothing Sounds For Baby’ set get a silver vinyl repress and while not as essential is an intriguing listen given that it was supposed to be an ambient record for newborns when it’s actually quite unsettling in places and far from what I’d term soothing. But as an extended work of electronic music from the early 60’s it’s often overlooked because of its novelty nature. BUT! Continuing the triple album theme, this was just posted on the Raymond Scott website:
“The long awaited second collection of Raymond Scott electronica is finished. The album, titled Three Willow Park: Electronic Music from Inner Space, 1961-1971, will feature over 60 previously unreleased recordings by Scott from the decade before he left to work for Motown in L.A. Most of the tracks were recorded on devices he invented, and the Motown Electronium will be heard for the first time on disc. The 3-LP set, which serves as a companion to the Y2K 2-cd set Manhattan Research, Inc., is scheduled for release in 2017 on Basta, and will include a 20-page LP-sized booklet and a 300-page downloadable pdf of archival artifacts.”
Just take my money… follow @_Raymond_Scott_ on Twitter for forthcoming info
Four From Food Fridays – a weekly look at four things that have been doing it for me. They can be new or old, any style so long as it’s been getting some rotation in the studio. From top left:
Temples – Volcano (Heavenly) LP/CD/Cass/DL
Thundercat – Drunk (Brainfeeder) 10″ box set/CD/DL
Vermont – II (Kompakt) LP/CD/DL
Rob Thomsett – Hara / Yarnandoo (Now Again Reserve Series ) LP / CD
The #WeeklyGroove Series & #Giveaway Week 5: Strictly Kev (DJ Food)
This week Dust & Grooves have made me the subject of their Weekly Groove giveaway series
By end of week, they will give a fine-art print from their photo archives, signed by @eilonpaz and a signed, quadruple 12” version of my album ‘The Search Engine’.
To participate in the giveaway, tag a friend on the #WeeklyGroove posts on @dustandgrooves Instagram account ONLY.
Four From Food Fridays – a weekly look at four things that have been doing it for me. They can be new or old, any style so long as it’s been getting some rotation in the studio. From top left:
Major Force West – 93-97 (Mo Wax) LP – RIP Toshio Nakanishi – otherworldly productions
Children of Alice – Children of Alice (Warp) LP – Mindbending audio collage
Bigmouth podcast – #42 (Audioboom) Podcast – The Magnetic Fields, SS-GB and 40 years of 2000AD
Ian Helliwell – Tape Leaders (Sound On Sound) Book + CD – Indispensable history of British electronic pioneers + compilation of electronic/concrete obscurities
Next Thursday – going to be a fun night!
This is the second part of a special exclusive on the new Soundsci album, ‘My Boosey Weighs A Ton’, the music of which is made completely (and legally) from samples provided by the Cavendish music library (formerly Boosey & Hawkes). Below are photos and recollections by Darrell Krum who also designed the album artwork, he focuses on the details during their visit to the archive to search for material to sample. You can see more photos in part one here and order the album here, freshly released today – only 500 copies and half of them are already spoken for apparently.
“Our visit to the Boosey & Hawkes archives; quite literally, for a nerdy, nostalgia obsessed, record collecting geek like myself, the type of experience dreams are made of! And I’m not even joking – I actually do have dreams about discovering places like this! From the minute Jonny told me we’d been granted access to the B&H vaults my mind began racing, excitedly picturing this mythical little world I’d had a brief glimpse into through the Whosampled “2014 Samplethon” promo video. I was really quite envious watching that footage of Jonny and the other guys digging through boxes and boxes of Library music in some dingy old basement so couldn’t wait to get in there and start rooting around for myself!
My recollections of the day itself are much like Jonny’s – I’d describe it as some what of a sensory overload! Within a matter of 30 seconds or so, we’d transitioned from a hive of noise and activity up on the manic Holborn high street, through a very bright, plush reception area, down to this dark, damp, underground vault hidden away amongst a labyrinth of corridors. What we stepped into was exactly what I had imagined and hoped for – a mass of seemingly organised chaos! That lovely musty smell was rife throughout, with walls saturated in mould; ideal conditions for treasure hunting – diggers know! The tranquility of the place as well, such a huge contrast to hustle and bustle of the busy streets just a few meters above our heads. If given the choice, I know where I’d rather be!
I must admit, from a record collectors point of view, it was some what of a bitter-sweet experience; on the one hand an amazing, once in a lifetime opportunity to explore these historic archives, but on the other, slightly frustrating knowing we couldn’t take anything away with us! Kinda like putting a kid in a sweet shop and telling him he can look and marvel at all the delicious treats on offer but unfortunately can’t eat any! From that perspective I always knew it was going to be a tease, but essentially we were there to do a job, and the objective of that job was to document the Boosey / Cavendish archives with the aim of utilising some of the photos for Soundsci’s album cover. So while it was hard to resist the temptation of spending the whole day listening through the huge catalogue of vinyl at our fingertips, we were very aware that our time was limited and an opportunity like this couldn’t be wasted. I think we were down there for five or six hours but could easily have spent a couple of days sifting through everything, and still not scratched the surface!
Simon’s focus was predominately on the wide angle shots, trying to capture the vastness of our surroundings, while my attention was drawn to some of the finer details contained within. Besides the thousands of records, there were endless amounts of original reel-to-reel masters (who knows, maybe some great unreleased material amongst it all?), account ledgers, publishing contracts and payment receipts (I loved reading through these, seeing the names of many legendary Library musicians and composers written on general admin documents – was a real buzz!), copyright manuscripts, etc, etc, just tons of really interesting artefacts… some of it dating back hundreds of years. And the patina… Wow! That was attracting my eye as much as anything else! Using the word “patina” is a very nice, fanciful way of putting it – basically we’re talking about some serious, heavy duty rot and decay! Many of the reel-to-reel boxes were damp and riddled with mould, some falling apart at the seems. Obviously not great for the tapes stored inside but the subject of absolute beauty to me! So, while Simon was working his way round the rooms with a camera and tripod snapping scenes of a broader nature, I was feverishly rifling through the shelves and boxes scouting out material to use for more detailed close-ups. Included here are a selection of photos I took on my iPhone, some of which were used for reference when directing shots of a higher quality on Simon’s Canon.
It was a real privilege experiencing what was probably the closest I’ll ever get to a working space within the 1970s music industry. Like being in a time capsule, and surely one of the last of it’s kind. Such a shame that pretty much everything contained within those walls is now packed away in cold storage, unlikely to ever be seen, or appreciated in the same way, again.
I’d just like to say thanks to Arun Sethi at Cavendish, and of course Jonny and the Soundsci crew for the such a great opportunity!” – Darrell Krum
Thanks to Darrell for sharing these photos and thought and you can get your hands on the results now! The LP is released today and I’m pleased to announce a launch party in conjunction with Digger’s Dozen on March 9th at the Joyeux Bordel bar in Curtain Rd, Shoredtch on March 9th. Ollie and Jonny will be playing as well as Chris Read (Who Sampled), Jonny Trunk and myself. Each DJ gets twelve records only and the theme will be library of course.
Jack White‘s Third Man Records just opened a brand new record pressing plant in Detroit, featuring eight completely new record presses, the first new ones to be built in decades. The attention to detail is stunning from the label branding on the employees’ uniform to the work space mural created by a local artist Robert Sestock (that’s him by his mural below). That someone as successful as White visibly invests so much into such a business (both his and the music industry) and the city, which desperately needs such investment, to the benefit of so many is admirable. The plant is a work of art and Third Man will go down as one of the great labels when the history books are written. Loads more info at Third Man Records‘ site.
This is the first part of a special visual exclusive on the new Soundsci album, ‘My Boosey Weighs A Ton’, the music of which is made completely (and legally) from samples provided by the Cavendish music library (formerly Boosey & Hawkes). Below are photos by Simon Ashton and recollections from group member Jonny Cuba on their visit to the archive to search for material. These are the last days of the archive as you see it here, shortly after this it was packed up and put into storage so thanks to Simon and Jonny for these pictures and thoughts. Part 2 on Monday will feature more shots by sleeve designer Darrell Krum.
My pace quickened as we strode towards our destination, High Holborn in the heart of old London. As we crossed the road, I wondered what treasures were stashed just out of sight of the bustling High Road. I ushered my fellow adventurers Darrell and Simon into a grand building. The dull glow of architectural light was in high contrast to the brightly lit area immediately around a smart reception desk. We were surrounded by an aura of quality and affluence. However, before we even reached the desk we took a sharp turn through a set of almost invisible double doors.
We traveled along corridors and down numerous staircases. The decor took us back time the further we ventured and at last we reached our destination. The vault. There was a heavy door made of thick steel and as we stepped inside Darrell immediately remarked upon the strong odour, a mixture of musty paper and damp. As we ventured deeper into the labyrinthine cave the smell enveloped us and the damp was clearly manifest on the walls and on some of the treasures contained within.
Amongst the prizes I saw was a huge leather bound master score, handwritten, of Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’. Ledgers and books of ancient share certificates spilt out of numbered boxes. However, all these things were secondary to the real treasures. Shelves and shelves of reel to reel tapes, vinyl LP’s and shellac 78’s. Digger’s Manna.
The archive has now been packed away and moved to an industrial space outside of town. London changes, but the nooks and crannies where culture and mystery collide are remembered by us in our music and art. – Jonny Cuba
Listen to Jonny, joined by Ollie Teeba – the other half of the production duo in Soundsci – on Jonny Trunk‘s OST show a few weeks back where they layout how they went about making the album, play cuts and joust with Señor Trunk over who has the rarest library and soundtrack cuts. You can pre-order the album here before it drops on Monday – only 500 copies and half of them are already spoken for apparently.
Four From Food Fridays – a weekly look at four things that have been doing it for me. They can be new or old, any style so long as it’s been getting some rotation in the studio. From top left:
Moby – Long Ambients 1: calm, sleep (free) (DL) – 4 hrs of ambient for free
The Dandelion Set – A Thousand Strands 1975-2015 (Buried Treasure) LP/CD/DL – a thousand influences, styles and rhythms
Revbjelde – Revbjelde (Buried Treasure) LP/DL – as unpronouncable as it is indescribable
Soundsci – My Boosey Weights A Ton (2NX) LP – Modern Hip Hop made entirely from the Cavendish sound library
I finally got time to pop into Orbital Comics and see their small but packed exhibition of 2000AD offshoots, tie-ins, cash-ins, memorabilia, music, magazines, toys and so much more. Not having an opening party because it would clash with the comic’s own 40th celebration a couple of weekends ago they’ve decided to have a closing party on Friday March 10th where there will be a podcast recording and music by yours truly among others.
I also just guested on the Big Mouth podcast pre-record, talking about the comic’s legacy which will be available online this coming Sunday. More details as I have it.
(Mark, Robin, Dan, Chris, me, Ian – out of shot Zoe, Hannah and Alan – who was taking the photo)
On Saturday I was invited to be a guest on the OST show on Resonance FM – this time with Robin The Fog ably sitting in for an absent Jonny Trunk (away on Basil Kirchin business in Hull). Joining us in the studio were Alan Gubby (Buried Treasure), Mark Pilkington (Strange Attractor Press), Dan Wilson (Radionics), Hannah Brown (Kvist), Ian Helliwell (Tape Leaders book and so much more), Chris Sharp (Concretism) and Zoe ‘Lucky Cat’ Baxter who stayed on after her show beforehand.
The reason was twofold – to try and present a sonic picture of all the artists who would be contributing / playing at The Delaware Road event at Kelvedon Hatch Nuclear Bunker on July 28th. If you’re not up to speed on exactly what The Delaware Road is then please go here.
The gathering was also to highlight a very special prize bundle assembled from all who’d be taking part that’s being auctioned off in aid of Resonance FM’s annual funding drive. Here’s a photo of most of the items to be included:
Here’s a link to The Delaware Road At Kelvedon Hatch Audio Apocalypse Survival Kit auction in aid of ResonanceFM
Here’s a link to buy tickets for The Delaware Road gig on July 28th
and here’s a link to the 2 hour show featuring music from a lot of the prizes featured above.
Today 04.02 is World Cancer Day, Belgian label, De:tuned have got together with Touched (first ever vinyl release for them) to bring the ‘Covert II’ EP with all proceeds donated to Touched – Music for Macmillan Cancer Support. The five artists on the EP are all unnamed, can you guess who they are? Order digital or limited vinyl here
All artists, The Designers Republic & Matt Colton at Alchemy Mastering offered their work for free.
Four From Food Fridays – a weekly look at four things that have been doing it for me. They can be new or old, any style so long as it’s been getting some rotation in the studio. From top left:
Jamiroquai – Automaton (Virgin/EMI) single / video
The Indo-British Ensemble – Curried Jazz (MFP) LP
Art of Noise – Beatbox (ZTT) 7″
Arandel – Aleae (Infine) DL/LP
Ian ‘Swifty’ Swift and Gamma Proforma launched the book they’d been working on for 2 years last night at the Exposure Gallery on Little Portland Street, London (opposite the Heavenly Social). Packed to the rafters with faces I recognised from over the years (Ross Allen, Neville Brody, Chris Allen…) it was a resounding success even though I couldn’t stay long. The book in question is huge and everything you’d want in an overview of the man’s career – go get it here now before it sells out.
