There is a nice interview with Mark Ratcliff in Happenstance Radio music blogs this week, where he explains why it's necessary to drive across London at midnight to hear Andrew Weatherall DJ...
Mark's not a bad selector himself. Here he is a mix he did for Happenstance Radio earlier this year (NB. Any fuck ups in the mixing is due to bad editing by me :))...
The beauty of Tom Cruise, sorry Com Truise!, is that he makes the 80s seem like the epitome of retro cool. Man, he even makes Tom Cruise cool, I watched Risky Business (1983) again and it was alright...The new album Galactic Melt is polished and a solid album, but Cyanaide Sisters shades it for me because it captures the 80s sleazy Cronenburg (think Videodrome) movie vibe so well.
'Slow Peels' is one of a few standout tracks on Cyanaide Sisters...
What a great album. Deepchord (Rod Modell) has really evolved the dub techno sound. The new direction, with stronger beats and basslines mixed with field recordings from the city (Amsterdam) is a real winner. Interesting fact...Rod Modell ceremoniously gave up the master cut of this album "to the murky depths of an Amsterdam canal as an act of gratitude to the city@ - for inspiring this music. Here is the video of this unusual and beautiful act...
Andrew Weatherall on his recent purple patch: "I feel like the proverbial conductor on Titanic – as the music industry sinks I’m the busiest I’ve ever been."
Praise The Lord.
Check out this remix of Toddla T and Roots Manuva, out on August 1 on Ninja Tune.
10 years of unreleased Lotus, remixed by the master blaster Gaslamp Killer...
Speaking of The Gaslamp Killer, we saw him at his gig with Gonjasufi in London last year and he did this amazing mix with a Jimi Hendrix song. Does anyone know what the song is?
A mixtape dedicated to the ambiguities that spice up our everyday lives...
1. Out Hud - The L Train Is a Swell Train and I Don't Want to Hear You Indies Complain 2. Deadbeat - Gimme A Little Slack 3. Moderat - Slow Match 4. Zap Mama feat. Erykah Badu - Bandy Bandy (Carl Craig remix) 5. Jaylib - Champion Sound 6. White Rainbow - Pulses 7. Tobacco - Little Pink Riding Hood 8. Saint Etienne - Your Head My Voice {Aphex Twin remix} 9. Can - Star of Bethlehem 10. Gentle Giant - Funny Ways 11. Madvillain - Great Day {Four Tet remix} 12. Four Tet - Swimmer 13. Falling Free - Curve {Aphex Twin remix} 14. Fuck Buttons - Surf Solar
Kangding Ray's 'Automne Fold' came out around the same time as Portishead's Third and there are definite similarities in style on the two vocal tracks - which says a lot for Portishead's taste (my feeling is that David Letellier got in there first....).
The vocals are a factor that might make Automne Fold more accessible than Or (sorry for tainting with pop sensibilities, but time is so short and so much music to listen to...). But that's only two tracks with vocals - the rest of the album is rich in broodiness, and again the nouveau trip-hop connection is there in tracks which sound like Massive Attack without the vocals on Heligoland - which also came after this Kangding Ray album - remixed by Burial. Hold on a minute, wasn't that Burial / Massive Attack project meant to happen?
'OR' is a darker, sparser album that puts Kangding Ray and his Berlin label Raster Noton once again at the cutting edge of minimal techno. Together this output makes Kangding Ray the unsung hero of moody electronica - anybody that can out innovate Portishead and Burial deserves to be a legend.
