Some quick snaps taken around the studio and house, I think I have a thing about spacemen (and women).
Top left: The Alien vault book / Lasstronaut by Ashley Wood from 3A toys / Space Qee from Toy2R / Robot Spacetroop postcard by unknown / Spaceman print by Christian Ward / String Diver figure by Ashley Wood from 3A toys / original cosmonaut drawing from The Search Engine by Henry Flint / Orb: Mission ’92 poster by tDR / Birthday drawing by David Vallade
As it’s SDCC this weekend there are all sorts of treats popping up online; the second trailer for the new Thor film makes me want to see it even more than the first trailer did, the previous two films of which I was never that bothered about and only saw on DVD. There’s actually a decent poster too.
Four From Food Fridays – a weekly look at four things I’ve been loving in the last seven days. They can be new or old, any style so long as it’s been getting some rotation in the studio. From top left:
Raymond Scott – Three Willow Park (Basta) 3xLP+booklet – A treasure trove of electronic experiments, jingles and curios with a 12×12″ booklet full of photos and info.
Various Artists – Popular Electronics (Basta) 4×7″ boxset – Facsimile copies of four 7″s of from the middle of the 20th century which would certainly cost you more than the €50 they want here if you could even find them, all held in a red velvet box with embossed title. Check the Basta site for more.
Nevermen – Mr Minute (Boards of Canada remix/instr) (Lex) 7″ picture disc – Physical release of the BOC remix, backed with an instrumental version.
Various Artists – Calibre Cuts (Calibre) 7″ – A recent discovery, a British disco medley with tape edits, rough loops, FX and dodgy ‘soundalike’ covers that Morgan Khan had a hand in from 1980 (beating Grandmaster Flash by a year).
Stand by your JAMMs (or your browsers) this Sunday https://www.bidolito.co.uk/jams/
There’s not much to say about this post really, I’ve posted about Franco Grignani before, quite recently. The Italian designer has been featured in a couple of exhibitions in London this year, the second of which has just opened. Just look at these images and then go and see this wonderful artist’s work, it’s on display at the Estorick Collection of Italian Art on Canonbury Sq. in London. The simplicity and precision of execution is simply breathtaking.
It has to be said that Andy Votel is really knocking it out the park on the design front with these posters for Jane Weaver‘s upcoming tour. Buy the awesome ‘Modern Kosmology’ album here, one of the best of the year so far.
Four From Food Fridays – a weekly look at four things I’ve been loving in the last seven days. They can be new or old, any style so long as it’s been getting some rotation in the studio. Having a catch up with all things Finders Keepers this week, go here for even more… From top left:
Andy Votel – Gallic Magnetic and the Fractional Crystallization of Space Rock Part 1 (Mixcloud) – Fantastic space-themed mix of French prog / psych / electronic and just plain odd records alongside an exhaustive blog entry on the Oi Polloi website that will have you scrambling for the Discogs / eBay search function.
Andy Votel – Gallic Magnetic and the Fractional Crystallization of Space Rock Part 2 (Mixcloud) – and there’s more… as above, I don’t know where he finds the time.
Doug Shipton – Bile Over Substance (Soundcloud) Mix – Bonkers beats and brutal basslines, a mix made for Vice Romania, up to his usual high standard.
Finders Keepers Radio – Vinyl Vacation Road Trip (Soundcloud/iTunes/Mixcloud) – Latest episode of the crew’s essential podcast, a vinyl roadtrip with guest Stanley Chow
Tickets just went on sale for this at Kamio in Old Street, possibly the last chance to see this set in London before I retire it. It’s the first of a series of themed AV gigs I’m set to do at the venue and they even let me design the flyer. I’ll shortly be announcing several other special gigs for the autumn months too…
Four From Food Fridays – a weekly look at four things I’ve been loving in the last seven days. They can be new or old, any style so long as it’s been getting some rotation in the studio. From top left:
Fracture – Cold & Rain (Cosmic Bridge) 12″ – Rolling thunder at 140 and 160bpm from his new EP on Om Unit’s label – pre-order options with print and/or T-shirt
The Heliocentrics – The Sunshine Makers (Soundway Records) LP – New soundtrack to the documentary film about the LSD makers
Various Artists – Apollo records classics (Solid Steel) Mix – My latest Solid Steel mix of classics from the 25 year old label
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Murder of the Universe (Flightless/Heavenly) LP – still caining this amazing album
I’m not sure if today’s generation of dance music heads know of the impact Apollo made on the electronic scene in the 90s, especially the first half. Apollo was the ambient offshoot of legendary Belgian techno label, R&S, set up to release Aphex Twin‘s ‘Selected Ambient Works’ a quarter of a century ago and distinguish the mellower, more experimental output from the harder, clubbier sounds of the parent imprint.
At that point Warp and R&S were neck and neck as purveyors of the finest electronica outside of the US, their catalogues combined yielding classic after classic of the genre. Although Warp may have ultimately collared Aphex as one of their main artists it was R&S who got him first for two EPs (Didgerydoo and Xylem Tube) and debut album (later followed by ‘Classics’, a compilation of the EPs and other cuts). Even though ‘SAW 1′ was his only release on Apollo it’s one of his most revered and stands up today as the pioneering work it was.
We were in the middle of the great ambient revival of the early 90s where The Orb and the Future Sound of London were making their early classics, Mixmaster Morris was championing all and sundry from the eclectic Rising High label and Pete Namlook’s Fax label was churning out an album a week from his base in Germany. Into this mix Apollo did battle with Warp’s Artificial Intelligence series with their own roster including David Morley, Biosphere, Robert Leiner, Sun Electric and Locust amongst others. The Designers Republic did many a sleeve for them as well just to add to the Warp comparisons.
The label also featured appearances from Global Communications, early Orbital offshoot Kinetic, The Orb, Andrea Parker, Model 500, The Irresistibe Force, Jam & Spoon, Cabaret Voltaire, John Beltran, Thomas Fehlmann, Dave Angel, Ken Ishi, Billy Ray Martin, Riz Maslen, Pete Namlook… the list reads like a who’s who of electronic and ambient music.
Winding down around the early 00’s it was reactivated five years ago to release new music and this year sees the 25th anniversary of the label with a reissue of ‘Selected Ambient Works vol.1’ already in the shops. Search for Apollo on a digital service like Beatport however and you won’t find it although some of the titles are available under the R&S banner, best head to Discogs to flip through the seven pages of releases and discover the many treasures hidden in their catalogue. Or start with the mix they commissioned me to make from a personal selection of my favourites from back in the day to celebrate, which Solid Steel hosts exclusively from today.
A new feature as part of the 45 Live crew: 11 questions on 7″ digging & DJing with my good self over on their website now ahead of a new all-45 mix I’ll be dropping for their radio show at the end of this month.
I’ll be talking about and showing some of my 360 degree dome show at approx 4pm this Saturday at the GaiaNova 360 Theatre launch event in London’s docklands. This was made to accompany my album, The Search Engine, in 2012 and was only shown in London three times on January 19th at the launch event at London’s Planetarium in Greenwich. It’s played in Birmingham’s planetarium, the Leicester Space Centre and a few festivals as well as multiple showings at the SAT centre in Montreal but it rarely gets an outing these days.
The event is free and features all sorts of other dome content and demos, it’s at Cody Dock Cafe 11c South Crescent, London, E16 4TL this Saturday between 11am and 8pm, it’s free but you have to RSVP here
Here’s some screen grabs, imagine this wrapped around a dome and animated…
Four From Food Fridays – a weekly look at four things I’ve been loving in the last seven days. They can be new or old, any style so long as it’s been getting some rotation in the studio. From top left:
The Allergies – Entitled To That / Get Down On You (Jalapeno) 7″ – Northern Soul-styled summer smasher from the Bristol duo to set up album no.2. Drops in two weeks, pre-order now.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Murder of the Universe (Heavenly / Flightless) LP – Absolutely insane concept album by Australia’s most inventive psych / prog / jazz / rock band
Ilia Gorovitz – Turmoil/Simmering With No End (Rassh Records) 7″ – Fuzzed up heavy beats out of Jerusalem
Bogus Order – Stooge (Ahead Of Our Time) DL – From Zen Brakes vol.2 – a follow up to the first ever Ninja Tune release 27 years later by the one and only Coldcut, full album out today.
Chelsea Space at the Chelsea College of Arts in Pimlico has recently opened an exhibition looking at Oz, it’s obscenity trials and the counterculture magazines of the 60s and 70s that sprang up around it. Featuring every issue of both the Australian and British runs, posters, letters, films and all manner of ephemera from the estates of Richard Neville, Martin Sharp, Felix Dennis and many private collections of those who worked on it, it’s a lovingly curated selection by Cherie Silver who was minding the exhibition when I went last week and was eager to answer questions.
If you’ve never seen issues before then here’s a chance, there are some that can be looked through and one wall lays out the Magic Theatre issue, comprised entirely of a stream of consciousness collage. It finishes on July 14th and is free, usually open between 10.30-11am.
* I rather like the graphic above, subverting George Orwell‘s 1984 maxim, unfortunately they could never have foreseen the Big Brother they’d be watching half a century later.
Italian artist and designer Franco Grignani is the subject of a free exhibition at the M&L Fine Art gallery near Green Park in central London at the moment. The precision of the execution is breathtaking and there’s another exhibition opening in July which should have more of his design work.
Atom Tan ran for two issues and launched the careers of Jamie Hewlett, Philip Bond and Alan Martin, later to be the breakout stars of Deadline magazine with, of course, Tank Girl, leading the charge. They created Atom Tan themselves and copies are rare as hen’s teeth and expensive if they ever appear. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of it’s publication they’ve reprinted it, added extra ephemera, a poster and a couple of badges, all for a tenner but only 500 copies exist so be quick. Get it here
Four From Food Fridays – a weekly look at four things I’ve been loving in the last seven days. They can be new or old, any style so long as it’s been getting some rotation in the studio. From top left:
Si Begg – Blueprints (Shitkatapult) LP – Hauntological, radiophonical transmissions inspired by his grandfather’s old notebook.
Global Warming Records – Expanding Arid Zones (Bandcamp) Hand sprayed cover LP with a double album of experimental techno workouts largely played live by Franziska Lantz
Aeon Seven – Seven Breaks / Christian Madden – Everybody Get In Line (45 Live) 7″ – Two new releases from the 45 Live crew this week – get a discount when you buy both.
Paul Hartnoll – Numbers (Electronic Sound) 7″ – Cover version of the Kraftwerk classic only available when you order the magazine from their online shop.
Following the inaugural release of Boca 45′s ‘Soul on Top’ in late 2015, 45 Live has not one but two new releases out this week. A nifty little break-filled dance floor number by Aeon Seven and an organ and horn-led couple of cuts from Christian Madden – best known as keyboardist with The Earlies. Both tracks are taken from his latest album, ‘The Wrecking Place’, released earlier this year. and the B-side, ‘Eating It All’, is the one for me here with its spy jazz touches and spindly keyboard and odd meters.
Aeon Seven serves up a slice of mid tempo wah-wah, horn and organ funk with accompanying Chuck D sample that will nicely slide into any dance floor set.
Get Christian Madden – ‘Everybody Get In Line’ here
Get Aeon Seven – ‘Seven Breaks’ here
Or get a 45L7002 & 45L7003 Double-pack offer at a cheaper price for both here
Elsewhere the 45 Live collective goes from strength to strength with festival appearances (this year’s Masked Ball was huge), an enlarged roster of nearly 25 DJs and a new night in Manchester at Band On The Wall from October. The fortnightly radio show on Dublab, hosted by Greg Belson, continues with the station recently gaining an FM license and I’ll have a new mix appearing over the summer.
Si Begg‘s (aka Cabbageboy) new album, ‘Blueprints’ (out June 16th via Shitkatapult) has a very interesting story behind it:
“The concept for the album sprang fully formed when Begg came across the notebook, a beautifully preserved leather-bound volume, annotated in his grandfather’s precise hand. The book was filled with meticulous diagrams of compressors and parallel air ducts, graphs recording comparative noise levels at different factories, statistical information detailing the thermal efficiency of power stations, alongside blueprints for futuristic machines yet to be built.”
There are some lovely videos to go with some of the tracks which definitely have a dose of the Ghost Box / Radiophonic about them.
Si Begg – Blueprints (Observation 2 : Isometric Projection) from si begg on Vimeo.
He also did a mix for Darkfloor Sound’s Mantis Radio charting electronics and its evolution from the 1950s to present day, taking in Delia Derbyshire, Mika Vainio, Stockhausen, Daphne Oram, Cluster, Philip Glass, Negativland, Tangerine Dream, John Carpenter and even Hawkwind (it starts after the first hour).
I ran across these the other night, comic artist Alex Ross does realistic versions of the characters from the Yellow Submarine cartoon film. His take on the Love Glove, Blue Meanies and Jeremy the Nowhere Man are quite unsettling but beautiful. The single Beatle images are offered as sets of prints direct from Alex’s site but they’re not cheap! The long image at the top was offered last year by Dark Hall Mansion, see more details here.
