“I am a simple man”

Steve Harradine posters and original art

Damo Suzuki Steve Harradine
The other day I ran across an eBay seller offering a whole load of Steve Harradine posters and originals. The name was new to me but this UK ex-pat now living in America has shades of Martin Sharp‘s poster genius in some of his work and appears to only have a sparse website. His subject matter seems to mainly be rock music from the 60s through to the 80s but with some contemporary bands too, drawn in pencil or biro and very much in the maximalist psychedelic style of old. All images here are cleaned up from the ebay account linked above.
Below: The original for a Dylan poster from 2001 and an unfinished version from 2002

Dylan original 2001 Steve Harradine 2002
Bob Dylan unfinished 2002
PF Steve Harradine 2005
Above: A reimaging of a 60s Pink Floyd poster from 2005 and
Below: a Paul McCartney print from 2015, Harradine has done the other three Beatles too.

PMC Steve Harradine 2015
Below: A Sky Saxon poster from 2005 with art resued from a withdrawn Widespread Panic poster design from 2002 by Harradine.
Sky Saxon poster-topaz-4x
Widespread Panic Steve Harradine
This fabulous Bowie poster is upscaled from the only tiny image on the web I can find.

Bowie-topaz-low resolution v2-4x

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Buy Music Club Recommends Jan 2025

BMC Jan 2025
And we don’t stop – Happy New Year! Here’s a bunch of music from the last month to get your teeth into for 2025.
There’s a new Hieroglyphic Being album – one of his best for a while, an old Akufen I discovered recently through Bandcamp – absolutely stunning. The new Arcadia library compilation on Buried Treasure is full of treats as is the Kosmologic Research Society – the return of an old project featuring Markey Funk. Space is the place for that one, both inner and outer as is the latet LF58 album on Astral Industries who I’d slept on in recent years but hoovered up several titles from during their Xmas sale. For the beat heads look no further than a new album by Awkward which collects various beats and pieces together and the MagicTouch ‘Lessons’-style 45 on Delic Records, out this month. The new Special Request album wasn’t totally my bag if I’m honest except for the track ‘Don’t Hold Back’ which is dancefloor destruction and will get you from 140-160 bpm with ease during a set.

My next ROVR radio show featuring some of these will air on Friday Jan 17th and this year’s ten shows should be available to listen back to now via the ROVR live app APPLE or ANDROID

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2024

Abear web
It’s that time again, time to wrap things up and turn over a new leaf – or just carry on as normal. As is tradition on this blog, here’s some of what’s been floating my boat in 2024, in no particular order. It’s been a good one, very busy but not too busy on the DJ front, that needs some rectifying in 2025, but extremely satisfying on the work and home front. There are still projects that have been in the pipeline that haven’t seen the light of day including a couple of releases I designed in 2023 that are still not out in the wild, at least two audio treats in production and a few things I can’t announce officially yet. I really would like to get some longform music out there in some form in 2025 as I currently have roughly three albums-worth of material sitting on hard drives waiting for some form to be made of them.

Best Music 2024
Music:
Patrick Carpenter – Electric Envelope (Bandcamp)
Brian Eno – The Lighthouse (Sonos Radio)
Reso – Nut Damage EP (Bandcamp)
Sean Ono Lennon – Asterisms LP (Chimera Music)
Prefuse 73 – New Strategies for Modern Crime (Lex)
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Welcome To The Pleasuredone (Steven Wilson megamix) (Universal)
The New Library Sound – Library Music Series 02 – Oceanography LP (2 Headed Deer)
Beautify Junkyards – Nova LP (Ghost Box)
Jem Stone – The Legend of Kaptain Karnival (Finger Lickin’/Velocity Press)
Paul Cousins – Oxide Manifesto LP (Castles In Space)
Dave Lombardo – Rites of Percussion LP (Ipecac)
DJ Primecuts feat. MC Conrad – Together / Our Time Is Now 12″ (Self Release)
Magictouch – Kyousoku 2/3 7″ (Delic Records)
LF58 – Radials LP (Astral Industries)

Best podcasts 2024
Podcasts:
DjHistory (Bill Brewster)
Oh God, What Now? (Podmasters)
We Buy Records (Tim Scullion / Paul Field)
What Goes Around? (Eamon Murtagh / Deb Grant)
Paper Cuts (Podmasters)
Sound Collage (Achillefs Sourlas)
Not a Diving Podcast with Scuba
Bureau of Lost Culture (Stephen Coates)
Quiet Riot (Alex Andreou / Naomi Smith)
Tales from a Disappearing City (Controlled Weirdness)
The Fanzine Podcast (Tony Fletcher)

Records shops I went to for the first time in 2024 and would recommend:
Tenpin Records, Purley
Rook Records, Hackney
Perfect Lives, Deptford
KillaCutz, Amsterdam
Platypus Records, Amsterdam
Zap Records, Amsterdam
Friendly Records, Bristol
Kingsland Records, Dalston
Crazy Beat Records, Upminster
Bananarama, Antwerp
Grey Records, Antwerp
Decktronix, Rochester
Klang Tone (at their new address), Stroud
Pressing Matters, Hastings
Bear Tree Records, Sheffield
Rob’s Records, Nottingham
FAC1968, Nottingham
B.B.E. Store, Hackney
Off The Record, Haringey
Recycle Vinyl, Dalston

Events Gigs 2024
Gigs / Events / Exhibitions:
DEYA Brewery, Cheltenham with Tom Ravenscroft
Light Surgeons’ Takeover @iklectik, London
Baba Yaga’s Hut Takover @iklectik, London
Screenprint24, @Centrespace Gallery, Bristol
Repainting Subway Art @New Walk Gallery, Leicester
Upside Down Records launch, Deptford, London
The New Obsolescents in-store @Wow & Flutter, Hastings
Anne Desmet @guildhall, London
Deliaphonic @Coventry University, Coventry
The Straat Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Seeing the Tulip gardens in the Netherlands
Yoko Ono @ Tate Modern, London
Enzo Mari @ The Design Museum, London
Rise of the Vandals show, York
Grace Jones, Crystal Palace Park, London
Peter Kennard @The Whitechapel Gallery, London
Dele Sosimi Wah Wah 45s 25th anniversary @Village Underground, London
The The @Brixton Academy, London
Taking one of my sons to his first record fairs
Seeing my other son start art college
Levitation’24 – Bedford Esquires, Bedford
The Groovy Record Fayre, @ The Mildmay Club, London
Dust & Grooves Book 2 launch @BBE Store, London
Paul Cousins – Atomized Listening @Stone Nest, London
Prime Cuts, Rival Self and Aroe @Rook Records, London
Electric Dreams @Tate Modern, London

Packaging Design 2024
Pye Corner Audio – LP (Ghost Box)
Woo – Robot X LP (Independent Project Records)
Various Artists – Cheeba Issue.1 7″ and Dan Lish comic (Cheeba Cheeba Records)
Drumetrics 10″ record box
Listening Center – Sight and Scene LP (Castles In Space)
Lone Bison – Talk About It / Origin Story 12″ (Castles In Space)
Sculpture – Max Ax 2×10″(LtR Records/Psyche Tropes)
Jo Johnson – Let Go Your Fear LP (Castles In Space)
Beautify Junkyards – Nova LP (Ghost Box)
His Name Is Alive – How Ghosts Affect Relationships 6xLP box set (4AD)
Organic Pulse Ensemble – A Thousand Hands LP (2 Headed Deer)
Jamie XX – In Waves 3xLP (Young)
John Lennon – Mind Games Meditation mixes 3xLP (Universal)
John Lennon – Mind Games Super deluxe box set (Universal)
SD_OA – alla prima cassette (Detroit Underground)
Eilon Paz – Dust & Grooves v1&2 Deluxe Slipcase set

Artists 2024
Artists:
Cordula Kagemann
0010×0010
iloobia
Ruben Sutherland
Alex Klim
Lovepusher
MZ Optics
Soda
Ian Bertram
Alex Eckman-Lawn
James Harren

Comics books 2024
Books / Magazines / Comics:
Judge Dredd: A Better World – Rob Williams, Arthur Wyatt, Henry Flint (2000AD/Rebellion)
Petrol Head book 1 – Rob Williams / Pye Parr (Image)
Bioripple – Nir Levie
Moonray books 1+2 – Brandon Graham / Xurxo G. Penalta
A Decade of Handmade Music Packaging – Time Released Sound
Write Lines – Steve Emery (Velocity Books)
Strange Things Are Happening – Richard Norris (White Rabbit)
Blotter – Erik Davis
Dawn Runner – Ram V / Evan Cagle (Dark Horse)
Precious Metal – Darcy Van Poelgeest / Ian Bertram (Image)
Grommets – Rick Remender / Brett Parson (Image)
Lore Remastered #1 – T.P. Louise / Ashley Wood (Image)
The Sacrificers – Rick Remender / Max Fiumara (Image/Giant Generator)
Ultra Mega – James Harren (Image)
Zerox Machine – Matthew Worley (Reaktion Books)
Dust & Grooves vol.2 – Eilon Paz

Film:
Scala!!!
Dune
Tramps
Furiosa: A Mad Max saga
Eno (version 3.10 + the V&A showing)
Sculpture – ‘Cross Processor’

What Have I Done 2024
Another year over and what have I done?
Published a huge piece with Ian Peel about the 40th anniversary ZTT releases
Had my Bonobo zoetrope featured in the Turn On exhibition in Luxembourg
Had a remix of Slim Vic locked grooves featured on the Because We Love Music 24 compilation from Lamour Records
Released a 20th anniversary cassette & T-shirt of my Raiding The 20th Century mix with Delic Records
Contributed to the 45 Live 200 episode with a 7 minute mix plus my annual 1 hr mix
Played the 2nd Candlemas event at the Royal Foundation of St Katherine
Made a CD version of the Future Sound of London’s ‘Pulse Five’ EP for FSOLdigital
Designed the A’bear LP for Castles In Space – out in 2025 hopefully
Designed the Morphology ‘Fractures’ LP, David Morley ‘Fashion’ 12″, Robert Leiner’s ‘Analog Days’ LP, AsOne’s ‘Requiem’ LP and Dan Curtin’s forthcoming LP for De:tuned
Wrote pieces on Andy Votel, Kid Koala, Alex Paterson, Zoe Baxter, DJ Format and Peel Acres for the Dust & Grooves 2 book and website, played at the book launch in London and curated the December You Dig? newsletter
Gave a talk on creative practice at the Confetti industry week in Nottingham
Started a new 2 hr monthly radio show: Electrik Collage on ROVR Radio
Had an in-store performance and LP cover display with The New Obsolescents at Wow & Flutter in Hastings
Played at the Deliaphonic event in Coventry with PuttyRubber and The New Obsolescents
Played in-store with Hannah Brown @ Upside Down, Deptford
Designed the Inside Outside EP and band logo for Dave Barbarossa’s new band, Third House
Contributed to the 40th anniversary release of something that will be announced in 2025…
Played at Levitation’24 alongside Graham Dunning for the Castles In Space all-dayer
Made a 30 min mix for Forsaj’s show on Subtle Radio
Co-compiled an album of early 90s electronica under the Telepathic Fish banner for Fundamental Frequencies, due in 2025
Designed two zoetrope discs for US band, Nile’s ‘Annihilation of the Wicked’ album – out in 2025
Put together The Clerkenwell Kid’s ‘Songs For Crow’ double 3″ CD
Designed an 8″ zoetrope for Acid Lathe featuring two Quadraphon tracks that will be out in 2025

RIP:
John M. Burns, Les McCann, David Soul, Annie Nightingale, Silent Servant, Marlena Shaw, Brian Griffin, Damo Suzuki, Wayne Kramer, Steve Wright, Dan Hillier, Joan Hills, Marian Zazeela, Ed Piskor, Keith LeBlanc, Patti Astor, Trina Robbins, Peter Ceresole, Roger Johnson, MC Duke, MC Conrad, Paul DJ Regal Eve, Duane Eddy, Steve Albini, Roger Corman, Chuck Roberts, James Chance, Donald Sutherland, Bill Viola, Herbie Flowers, James Earl Jones, Larry Todd, Lillian Schwartz, Dave Watts, Quincy Jones, J Saul Kane, Lennie D. Ice, DJ Alfredo, Jimmy Carter.

Granny tat Nigel Waymouth reworking of 1966 orig

Looking forward to:
Raiding the 20th Century Expanded version 20th anniversary cassette release 18/01/25
Reactivating my Infinite Iklectik label for some releases
Leigh Bowery exhibition at the Tate Modern
Paul Gorman’s ‘Granny Takes A Trip’ book
The opening of the V&A East Museum
Sophia Satchell-Baeza’s ‘Sensual Laboratories’ book
Concluding the Swan Songs trilogy ?

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Revolution Tapes No.5 – House Music Composite – Jay B. Ross & Associates, 1980s

House Music Composite tape
More from the stash of record industry cassettes I found at Revolution Records in Penge this summer:

Bearing the name and address, Jay B. Ross & Associates, 100 N. La Salle, Suite 815, Chicago Ill. 60602 plus a phone and telex number (which really dates it) plus the title ‘House Music Composite’, typed onto a paper label on one side of the tape, this cassette has no other info. A quick web search reveals that a Jay B. Ross still operates in Chicago (albeit at a different address now) and is a ‘Royalty Retrieval Agency’. Elsewhere an official entry for their activities states: “Jay B. Ross Royalty Retrieval Service provides legal services for creators in the entertainment industries. We specialize in music publishing, contractual agreements, royalty retrieval, Will & Estate, and copyright law.”

Founded in 1969, Ross was a legend in the law profession and the music industry who worked with the likes of James Brown, Ray Charles, Muddy Waters and Woody Guthrie among many more and once negotiated the largest advance ever paid to a music entertainer for a pay-per-view performance for James Brown. He also had a TV show where he would interview celebrities (mostly his clients) and give tips on negotiation – there’s even a YouTube channel to view clips. His involvement in the early Chicago house music scene was large as an article here explains as well as fleshing out Jay B’s history. He received a Lifetime Achievement at the Chicago Music Awards in 2008 and died in 2018 but his company still operates.

I’d imagine this tape was an in-house publishing/licensing showreel sent out to prospective labels and I’m guessing the timeframe, from the tracks I can identify, was around 1986-87. My house music history is spotty so I’m using Shazam and Discogs to try to find info on this. Artists seem to get two tracks a piece and it’s likely that there are unreleased bits here as some of the songs are godawful (I’m warning you in advance for the second half) and could even be demos. Saying that, I’m putting this up as a piece of history as it’s not on Discogs and I’d like to know more about it if anyone recognises anything.

First pair of tracks I can’t find anything on but the male vocalist is begging you for ‘Nocturnal Passion’, the second pair are Andre Wade’s ‘The Flight of Jacking Your Body’ on Play House Records (or Kool Kat in the UK) in two versions but I can’t identify which mixes they are. This track seems to have a checkered history, some sources credit it as Mike Macharello featuring Andre Wade and simply call it ‘The Flight’ but there are later remixes of the same track under the name The Fascination in 1989. Anyone care to elaborate please?

The third pair are male vocal led songs in the Prince mode with only a rudimentary grasp of pitch. Adonis’ classics ‘Now Way Back’ and ‘We’re Rocking Down The House’ follow, no mistaking them. The next pair are mostly instrumental in the Kevin Saunderson / Ten City mode with ‘Close Your Eyes’ repeated in the second cut. Hold on to your hats for the next three tracks as it gets rocky from here; cheesy female-led tracks in need of some serious autotune (if such a thing existed), and the final, ‘Jack My Body’ is excruciating. Things get only marginally better with a trio of male vocal tracks to finish, horrendously out of tune but so buried in the mix it’s hard to hear what’s being ’sung’. The first seems to take ‘Pump Up The Volume’s bass line as a starting point, the second is painful and the third sounds familiar but I can’t place the bass line. Any info appreciated!

Track list:
Unknown – Nocturnal Passion
Unknown (Same artist) – unknown
Andre Wade – The Flight of Jacking Your Body
Andre Wade – The Flight of… (unknown mix)
? – Bop Never Stops
? (Same artist) – Jack Tonight
Adonis – No Way Back
Adonis – We’re Rocking Down The House
Unknown – Untitled
Unknown – Close Your Eyes
Uncredited – I Got To Have Your Love
Uncredited (Same artist) – I Can Make You Feel Good
Uncredited (Same artist) – Jack My Body
Unlisted – Untitled
Unlisted (Same artist) – Untitled
Unlisted – Untitled

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Raiding The 20th Century Expanded version 20th anniversary release

Raiding 20th expansion
Available for pre-oder now via the Delic Records website in Japan, the ‘Words & Music Expansion’ version of my Raiding The 20th Century mix with additional spoken word by Paul Morley. This turns 20 years old in January 2025 so we’ve put it onto cassette, split perfectly in half over each side and there is a QR code on the inlay that takes you to a multi-page extra booklet of bonus material. Released January 18th, pre-order here

Raiding 2

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Rock Circus’

Amsterdam Rock Circus 1972-topaz-cgi-4x
A rare poster for a festival in Amsterdam at the Olympic stadium in 1972. Note Sgt. Pepper’s Band – was there a Beatles tribute band that early on?

Rock Circus advert
Even though there was no actual circus involved in the above concert there’s a link between that festival and Chipperfield’s Circus that took place in the UK around Christmas that year. Joe’s Lights – a legendary light show crew that evolved out of the Joshua Light Show – performed at both the Dutch gig and an actual circus at the Rainbow Theatre in London. Thanks to the ever-diligent Neil Rice for the poster image on this one.

Chipperfields Circus poster web
Circus imagery was popular in the sixties, most obivously from the inspiration John Lennon took from Pablo Fanque’s Circus Royal poster for the lyrics to ‘Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite’.

Benefit of Mr Kite poster
razz revue cover Rare 1972 RAZZ REVUE Magazine (Phoenix AZ Underground Press) V.1 #1
The Rolling Stones also got on the bandwagon with their ill-fated Rock n Roll Circus which was recorded for a TV special but remained unofficially released until the mid 90s. Above and below; the front and back cover of Razz Revue magazine featuring Jagger in ringmaster garb from 1972. The Revue originated from Phoenix, Arizona, ran for 16 issues and took a satirical look at pop and rock culture, via interviews and comics. The cover image is probably by Bob Boze Bell, the mag’s resident cartoonist, and the redneck character attacking Jagger is the Roper-Doper, his regular strip in the mag.
Razz Revue back
Rolling Stones 3D 1967
While we’re talking about the Stones here’s two adverts I found on my travels round the web too. The first advertising their ‘3D’ (actually lenticular) Their Satanic Majesties Request album and the second plugging a 1990 Steel Wheels concert broadcast in actual 3D.

Rolling Stones 3D 1990

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The Electrik Collage show #10 Dec 2024


My latest radio show is streaming from 2pm today wherever you are in the world on @rovr_live New music from The Beat Machine label, Visioneers, Totem Projects, Jem Stone, Robert Leiner, Beautify Junkyards, Bernard Fevre, Space Drum Meditation, Paul Cousins and more plus a vintage megamix from the vaults.

Listen at ROVR radio, Friday Dec 20th at 2pm wherever you are in the world. Download the app to get archive access. APPLE or ANDROID

Show #10 Dec 2024
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #22
Ticklish – Lost
Naco – Wavefunk
Paul Cousins – Artefact 12
Pablo Dread – Hardcore Blips (Fanu Remix)
Time Signature – Brklyn (Slow)
Visioneers – Mystic Brew
Beautify Junkyards – Dancers Reward
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #31
Midnight Heist – Teriyaki Sauce
Totem Projects – You
Totem Projects – Love
MagicTouch – Kyousoku 2
Visioneers – Red Cactus (album version)
Jem Stone – Fake Ghost
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #41
As One – Fractured Light
Akufen – You Look Delicious
Varonos – A Hauz U
Robert Leiner – Echobox
Various Artists – House Mix ’90
Space Drum Meditation – Oviraptor
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #33
Beautify Junkyards – Somersault
Paul Cousins – Thought Loops
Akio / Okihide – Phoenix At Desert
Virgo – Prelude
Bernard Fevre – Earth Message
Bernard Fevre – Central Way
Space Drum Meditation – Sarkanda

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Oddities: The League of Sunshine Makers

TLOSM badge
A few weeks ago I stumbled across this badge on eBay from a seller in the UK. The name piqued my interest as The Sunshine Makers was a documentary about Tim Scully and Nicholas Sand, two west coast chemists who manufactured Orange Sunshine LSD in the sixties, considerd the gold standard of acid production.

I wondered if this was connected in some way? Maybe something produced by and for those in the know who also made or distributed the drug? An innocuous signifier to those hip to it that confirmed the wearer as someone to be trusted maybe? The back of the badge bears the hallmark: W.O. Lewis Badge which must be Lewis Badges from Birmingham and puts the origin of manufacture as the UK. They had no info on it either as their records only go so far back.

Badge hallmark
I couldn’t find anything about ‘the league…’ on the web aside from the above documentary and a reference to a 1935 cartoon of the same name which is most likely a coincidence rather than anything else.

It niggled me that there was nothing out there, and there was no info in the original eBay listing either but I did find a mental health organisation called Shine who also used a light house in one of their logos. A google picture search returned a very similar looking badge under the name ‘LightKeepers of the Missions to Seamen’ which is appararently an organization that supports seafarers, including those who work on lighthouses and lightships.

Lightkeepers of the missions to Seamen
I wondered if the lighthouse pictured was a clue so contacted the Association of Lighthouse Owners in the UK to enquire if they had any reference for it.
Their response came back:
“We’ve checked our catalogue and drawn a blank. If we had such a badge, we would have been sure to record the text. The badge depicts a generic rock lighthouse. If it was meant to represent any particular lighthouse or lighthouse service, one would expect more of a clue.
It might not be lighthouse-related at all. Christian churches and charities frequently appropriate the word lighthouse or lighthouse symbolism for their own missions.”

Now there’s a thought, anyone recognise or know the origins of this oddity? Please leave a comment if you do.

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Let’s have some psychedelia

Various Forbidden Love RCA 18S-11
It’s been a while and things have been piling up on the desktop so… above is a Japanese jazz album called, I believe, ‘Forbidden Love’, released on RCA in I’d guess the late 60s. It includes covers of The Beatles and The Mindbenders and the cover looks like either Victor Moscoso or Peter Max but maybe it’s a take off of that style that was so prevalent back then.
Below is a Muppets Electric Mayhem LP sleeve I discovered by Matt Taylor after seeing his poster for McCartney’s Got Back tour featured below.
EM 2
McCartney poster matt taylor
Below are three Portable Flower Factory 45 sleeves, a project from Bob Dorough with cover versions of popular songs for kids on the Scholastic label made between 1970-1972. The artist is uncredited but what fabulous sleeves.

PFF 1
PFF 2
PFF 3
Below is an advert for a psychedelic light from a girl’s comic from 1970, love the “Invite BOYS to assemble Love Lites.. and stay for a come together Jam session” line. Below that a light show of the laser kind for a Beatles-themed run at the Laserium, probably around 1983.

light show comic ad 1970-topaz-text-shapes-4x
Laserium - Beatles poster-topaz-text-shapes-2x

SF Pop Fest poster by Carson-Morris
Carson Morris illustrated San Francisco International Pop Festival poster from October 1968.

Love BB&HC 1966
Love and Big Brother & The Holding Company poster with an early design by Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley from 1966 (+ lights by Bill Ham!)

Yardbirds Doors poster
The Yardbirds / Doors gig at the Fillmore, 1967 by Bonnie MacLean with the original below

Yardbirds Doors original Bonnie MacLean

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Mini CDs #31: The Clerkenwell Kid – Songs For Crow

SFC box
Another entry in the stalled but occasional Mini CDs series (I have loads yet to feature), The Clerkenwell Kid, aka The Real Tuesday Weld, aka Stephen Coates – just released Songs For Crow. A double mini CD release with download, badge and concertina booklet that I put together at top speed with Stephen some months back. Available in two versions: a deluxe gift box with discs and ephemera…

SFC deluxe
…or an audio Xmas card edition. Order either or both, here

SFC Audio Xmas card

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More King Gizzard posters by Jason Galea

KG Inglewood
More killer examples of Jason Galea‘s poster work for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard who seem to eternally be on tour this year. Through the magic of apps like Procreate we can see one minute timelapses of how these posters were created, films of which Jason posted on his Instagram the day after I started on this entry.

KG Inglewood 3
KG Inglewood 2


KG San Diego 2
KG San Diego

His poster art book just arrived too – ten years of flyer and poster work!

posters cover
posters 4
posters 3
posters 2
posters 1

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Buy Music Club Recommends December 2024

BMC Dec 2024
Nearly the end of the year but no ‘best of’ round ups when we still have four weeks to go, that always appears at some point on Dec 31st on this site. Still a virtual avalanche of great music turning up out there, the Visioneers album being a good example of old tunes made new coupled with some new ones harking back to a golden age. The Virtual Dreams II compilation of 90s ambient music from Japan is quite otherworldly as is As One‘s new album on De:tuned (cover by yours truly, *cough*). Top left is abstract electronica by graffiti artist Soda, exclusively on cassette – think LP5-era Autechre and you’re in the ballpark. Middle image is the new Bakesale comp from Cheeba Cheeba Records, haven’t heard it all yet but they’re a great label and the release comes with a Dan Lish comic so it’s an instant buy. Bottom middle is the MagicTouch single I posted about before, up for pre-order and bottom right is Bsidewinsagain‘s tribute to Depth Charge and The Octagon Man – RIP J Saul Kane.

My latest ROVR radio show featuring some of these (including an exclusive edit I made of a DJ Prime Cuts track) was aired on Friday Nov 22nd and should be available to listen back to now via the ROVR live app APPLE or ANDROID

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Dust & Grooves Vol.2 is here!

D&G box
D&G spines
I’ve been waiting for this day for several years – Dust & Grooves delivery day! Having worked with Eilon Paz over the last few years on parts of this I know the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into just a small portion of it but nothing prepared me for seeing the final product last week at the launch night in London.

D&G Books 1+2
D&G 1+2 spines
The new book is HUGE, it weighs a ton and looks incredible. The attention to detail throughout is beautiful, with spot varnish and embossing on the slipcase of the deluxe edition plus printed insides and a free poster.

D&G box inside
D&G emboss
D&G poster
D&G slipcase inside
D&G varnish
The first volume has been re-covered and fits snugly with the second, make no mistake, this is a huge piece of work and will test the strength of any bookcase. I’m extremely proud to have contributed three extensive features to the back half of the book as well as several for the Dust & Grooves website (the Alex Paterson one is already up there with several yet to come that didn’t fit in the book). Interviews with Kid Koala, Andy Votel and Tom Ravenscroft fill pages alongside Eilon’s incredible photography and make this a must for all serious diggers out there.

D&G Koala
D&G Peel
D&G Peel 2
D&G Votel
D&G Zoe
We’ll never own all these records but we can share in the knowledge and stories behind them via this tome. As you could see from the photos of the launch party in London the other week, it bought together collectors from around the UK with nothing but goodwill and shared enthusiasm. Well done to Eilon and all the editors, designers and proofreaders who helped make this happen. Grab your own copy here

Portables cover
Let’s not the forget the Portables book that Eilon shot alongside the Dust & Grooves volume 2 one! The man’s a machine and this book lovingly catalogues 222 portable turntables – available now, here

Port 1
Port 2
Port 3
Port 4
Port 5
Portables back

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Revolution Tapes No.4 – Trax Records Sampler 1987

Trax tape 1
Supposedly produced by label founder Larry Sherman in 1987 according to the Discogs entry, the tape kicks off side A with a ten minute megamix which I’d say was of UK origin by the use of spoken word samples and scratches, maybe Double Trouble who did lots of mixes for compilations round this time. No track list for this but it includes ‘Hey Rocky!’, ‘No Way Back’ and more. Next up we have approx one minute snippets of forthcoming releases with a spoken word intro to each and here’s where the fun starts. The Discogs entry has simply copied the track list from the tape inlay but several listed titles don’t feature, some are by different artists and a couple aren’t listed at all. You can see from my photo that the previous owner had scribbled out the corrections as they listened to it. The tape plays a bit faster than most of the recordings released and you can hear all of this over on my Mixcloud Select channel, subscribe for £3 p/m to gain access to over 200 uploads.

Trax tape 2
Side A:
Various Artists – Trax Records Medley

– Soon To Be Released Cuts
Dalis And Co. – Rock Steady (announced as by Barnes and Brand but eventually released as just Dalis in 1987)
On The House – Give Me Back My Love (eventually released as ‘Give Me Back THE Love’ in 1987)
On The House – Got To Go (announced as ‘Just A Little Bit’ – possibly unreleased elsewhere)
The Jungle Wonz–Time Marches On (not on the tape)
Kevin Irving – Children Of The Night (released 1987)
Kevin lrving – Ride The Rhythm (announced as by and released as Marshall Jefferson / On The House with Marshall Jefferson – this is the Frankie Knuckles Mix I think, released 1986)
Kevin lrving–If You Want Me (not on the tape)
Eric Bell – Your Love (this is the instrumental – released 1987)
Harry Dennis & Bam Bam – Risky Love Affair (possibly unreleased elsewhere)
Dezz – I Like It (possibly unreleased elsewhere)
Dezz–You Stole My Bass Line (not on the tape)
William S.*–Never Let You Go (not on the tape)
Hercules–Lost In The Groove (not on the tape)
Darryl Pandy – Chains (possibly unreleased elsewhere)
MG2 – My House Is Bigger Than Your House (this was actually the first release on the Hot Mix 5 Record label in 1986)
Fingers – Never No More Lonely (released on Jack Trax on the Fingers Inc. Another Side LP in 1988 and 12” in 1989)
The Housemaster – (no title) (this is a version of Terry Baldwin’s ‘Housemaster’ but a different one from the mix released in 1987)
Kevin Irving – Can’t Let Go (possibly unreleased elsewhere)
Sweet D.–Move My Body (not on the tape)
Robert Owens–Never No More Lonely (not on the tape)

Trax tape 3

Side B:
– Catalog Hits (with year of release added after the title)

Boris Badenough – Hey Rocky! 1986
Marshall Jefferson – Move Your Body 1986
On The House – Ride The Rhythm (remix) (announced and released as by Marshall Jefferson / On The House with Marshall Jefferson – not sure which mix this is but it doesn’t sound like the one released) 1986
Jungle Wonz – The Jungle 1986
Adonis – No Way Back 1986
Adonis – We’re Rockin’ Down The House 1986
Santos – Work The Box 1986
Mr. Fingers – Can You Feel It 1986
Robert Owens – Bring Down The Walls 1986
Liddell Townsell – Party People Jack Your Body 1987
Jesse Saunders – Funk-U-Up 1984
Jesse Saunders – Waiting On My Angel 1985
Lillian – Night Flight (released on Precision Records) 1986
Fresh – Dum Dum (Reprise) 1984
Sweet D – House Trax (announced as ‘Thank You’ – released as ‘Thank Ya’ in 1986)
Farm Boy–Jackin’ Me Around (not on the tape)
Dezz – Beat Me Till I Jack (actually released under the name Fat Albert in 1989!)
Dezz – Funny Love (actually released on Precision Records under the name Dezz 7 in 1985)
Sampson Butch Moore – House Beat Box 1986
Radio Fashion – You Get What You Deserve 1987
Virgo – Free Yourself 1986
Jack Master*–Sensuous Woman Goes Disco (not on the tape)
Farley Keith*–Funkin With The Drums (not on the tape)
Sleezy D*–I’ve Lost Control (not on the tape)

Here’s an interview with Larry Sherman from Soul Underground magazine in 1988 – he sure didn’t pull his punches!

Trax interview

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The Electrik Collage show #9 Nov 2024


My latest radio show is streaming from 2pm today wherever you are in the world on @rovr_live New music from Visioneers, LL Cool J, Nidia & Valentina, Robert Leiner, Forsaj, Gaslamp Killer, DJ Prime Cuts, Beautify Junkyards, Paul Cousins, Benedict Drew and more…

Listen at ROVR radio, Friday Nov 22nd at 2pm wherever you are in the world. Download the app to get archive access. APPLE or ANDROID

Show #9 Nov 2024
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #13
Visioneers – Today
LL Cool J – The Force
Midnight Heist – Deep Thrust
LL Cool J – Runnit Back
Nídia & Valentina
Nídia & Valentina – Rapido
Visioneers – Heather
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #32
Forsaj – Pierogi Funk
Robert Leiner – My Dream
Lextron – Jaunt
Bush Doctors – Turn It Out
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #36
Alex Kassian – A reference to E2-E4 (Mad Professor’s Quantas Crazy Remix)
Robert Leiner – Analog Days
Gaslamp Killer & Jason Wool – Chaos (Club Edit)
DJ Prime Cuts – Out Time Is Now (DJ Food re-edit)
Dave Lombardo – Vicissitude
Beautify Junkyards – Turn the Tide
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #24
Beautify Junkyards – Here Everything Is Still Floating
Paul Cousins – Tessellation Pact
Dub Squad – Blown Fruit
Lo Five – The Observer Trap
Palomatic – Flutter
Benedict Drew – Optical Frame Work (excerpt)
DJ Food – Electrik Collage #13
Paul Cousins – Thought Loops

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Magictouch – Kyousoku 2 / Kyousoku 3 (Delic Records)

Magic Touch 1
I’m lucky enough to have a dub plate copy of this as I’m doing to some work with the Japanese label Delic Records at the moment. They kindly sent me a copy for my set this Tuesday at the BBE store for the Dust & Grooves launch party (with a line up like that you need something special in the bag).
‘Kyousoku’ translates as ‘teaching’ or ‘instruction’ = ‘Lesson’ (as inspired by Double D & Steinski’s Lesson megamixes). The contents are exclusively sampled from 70’s-80’s Japanese artists and instructional records and a limited release is planned for next spring – keep an eye on their Bandcamp for more info
Magictouch (@dupeginger)
Delic Records (@delic_ishiyama)

Magic Touch 2

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Forsaj Invites DJ Food – Subtle Radio mix

DJ Food Subtle mix
My friend Forsaj invited me to do a guest mix for his radio show on Subtle Radio so I decided to do a 30 min excerpt from a current DJ set using 7″s only. A DJ’s set is a constant work in progress and I find it’s good to put things like this down occasionally and listen back to them to identify what’s working and what’s not, what could be done slightly different and get a handle on the general pacing. I’d say this is about 80% there, it could do with a little space here and there with some of the blends but I was deliberately going for very fast changes between records, especially in the first half. Anyway, if you book me to DJ using vinyl then this is some of the sort of thing I’d be playing during 2024/5.

Raw Silk – Do It To The Music (Dub Mix)
Itsu Uno – Noise Of the B-Boy (Break faster mix)
KH – Question
J Large – J Zimbra
King Bee – Cold Slammin’ feat. the Ultramagnetic MCs
The Allergies – Let Me Hear You Say
Itsu Uno – B-Boy Rave for the Ageing Hipster Pt 2
Renegade Soundwave – Thunder
The Minute Men – OK, Alright (Mike Brown Re-edit)
Mister Mixi & Skinny Scotty – I Can Handle It
Aquasky – Another Day (TV edit)
The Todd Terry Project – Back To The Beat
M.C. Showbiz & the Lap 1 Crew – Gotta Turn The Music Up (Hard-core mix)
Adonis – No Way Back
Not Just Gigalos – Take Me To The Disco
Backstreet Inc – Can’t Do It Alone
Heaven 17 – Play To Win

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