Post-percussion.

Yo!

Been suffering from a touch of blogger's block lately, so excuse the sporadic nature of the posts around these parts this past fortnight or so. It's been a case of starting a post, saving the draft and never getting around to finishing it a lot of the time (both here and over at No Flipping!), so at least the intent has been there.

Anyway, enough of the excuses...

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Liars - Plaster Casts Of Everything (Mute)

The best Liars songs sound like the world ending in some way or another. This is very much in the literal camp. Whereas in the past they've often made the apocalypse sound like the eerie death rattle of all things, this one's a fire-and-brimstone blitzkrieg that lays waste to the Earth in spectacular fashion. All the while, Angus Andrew's creepy falsetto near-screams of the "sweet massacre of death" and other things. Drums pound, guitars rage and it all adds up to one of Liars' best singles yet. Superb.


So, this year's Dpercussion - the last of its kind - was pretty much just like all the others. A mixed bag of bad judgement, piss-poor decisions and shite timing on both a personal and organisational level, we didn't get to see half of what we wanted to see and ended up seeing stuff that we never wanted to in the first place. Here are a few scattered thoughts on the day...

• Norman Jay - quite clearly one of the day's biggest draws - was pretty fucking bad. Only saw a little of him but it was more than enough to draw the conclusion that he has clearly lost it. Playing in a city with a deep-rooted love of soul, funk and disco, he opted for snoozy funky house and - shock horror! - early rave. We'll be taking that MBE back, thangyewverymuch.
• Elektrons, on the other hand, were pretty darned great. Bouncy, summery and steadfast in refusal to let the dodgy sound mix get in the way of starting the party, their set was just the tonic as the day looked like it was heading for a slide.
• 'Trash' by The Whip seems to have been crowned the new Manchester anthem, judging by how rapturously it was received. I'm not sure how I feel about this. It's a cracking song, even better played live and you got the feeling they could have drawn it out for an hour before the crowd got bored of it. However, there's still too much of a whiff of old Manchester about it for me to get behind. It's time we forged a new identity for ourselves, not forgetting the past, just not trying in vain to relive it. Speaking of which...
• I apologise to his friends, family and fans, but Clint Boon is a cunt. His boorish MCing of the main stage late in the day was one of the most cringeworthy things I've ever seen. You're not on the radio now so quit fucking jawing. Introducing each tune by getting the crowd to chant "Boon Army!" or saying "Does anyone want to hear The Smiths?" before dropping 'How Soon Is Now?' should be the reserve of wedding DJs. I used to enjoy going to Disco Rescue on a Saturday night because it used to be quite unpredictable and off-the-wall. His sets, along with his radio show, have become increasingly stale over the past few years and we need to consign him to the bin sooner rather than later. Maybe he can have a big "Who really is Mr Manchester?" dick-measuring competition with Dave Haslam in South one night, with the winner becoming a kind of silent Manc figurehead - a bit like the Queen - while the loser is exiled to Liverpool for all eternity? How does that sound?
• I won't miss the scallies one bit.
• I'm gutted that I missed Dabrye on the Sketch City stage, but my, FC Kahuna's DJ set (actually it was just Dan on his own) was a whole lot of fun. An honest-to-goodness, unpretentious electro-tech set that capped the evening off perfectly (we opted to skip the last hour in favour of necking a few ales in Briton's Protection). Sometimes that's all you need.

Elektrons - Hurry On Down (mp3)

Above photo is from here.

In other news: I'm on this week's Blog Fresh, yakking about, of all things, Elektrons. Serendipitous, don'tcha think?

JMx

"Well I say it's just smoke"

Two posts in two days?! Blimey!

Haven't done this in a bit, but this is well worth dusting off the old SOTW trophy for...

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Various Artists - Firecracker EP 03 (Firecracker)

Okay, before the pedants have a shit-fit, I'm fully aware that this was released last week. I was a bit slow on it though. I picked it up today and wanted to bring it to your attention. This is a three-track EP (four tracks if you count the skit at the beginning of side B) that's just come from out of nowhere to be, according to Piccadilly Records, "THE underground hit of the summer". They're waxing hyperbole of course, but this is insanely good.

On the flip, there are two wildly different tracks from Linkwood and Fudge Fingas and His Fidgety Friends (no, I'm not making this up), the Linkwood one being a deep, soulful downtempo number, while Fudge Fingas and co. weigh in with a nice reggae mini-jam. The A-side is where it's at though. Linkwood Family's 'Peace Of Mind' is a smart, tricksy, party-starting discoid banger, full of soul-drenched, choral vocal snippets, a killer b-line and an overall good-time vibe that's impossible to resist. Get it while you can as it's extremely limited. You won't regret it.


And now for something completely different... Having all but cut American indie rock out of my diet after a succession of disappointing albums from some of the scene's leading lights (Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, Wilco et al), along comes a new Sunset Rubdown album to renew my faith. However, Random Spirit Lover just highlights how special a songwriter Spencer Krug really is and how most of the more highly regarded mopes have nothing on him.

Krug can melt your heart with grotesquerie and that's no mean feat. Say what you will about Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes frontman whom Krug is said to imitate by some), but I find his songs to be too studied and calculated, whilst Krug exudes a charm and a feel for instinct that Mercer lacks. Songs like 'Winged/Wicked Things' and 'The Taming Of The Hands That Came Back To Life' display a carefree, childlike spirit that elevates Krug above most, if not all his peers. Now I'm really looking forward to that Wolf Parade follow-up.

Sunset Rubdown - Winged/Wicked Things (mp3)

In other news: I am owning High Voltage this week, with five (count 'em!) reviews on the front page. Click through to find out what I think of albums by GoodBooks, The Strange Death Of Liberal England and Chicane and singles from The Cribs and Lightspeed Champion.

Laters,

JMx

In and out like a thief in the... daytime.

Howdy!

Just a quick one today...

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Burial - Ghost Hardware (Hyperdub)

Bit of a slow week this week, but that's not to say that this 12" of all-new tracks from Burial isn't worthy of the SOTW title. Three absolute blinders populate Ghost Hardware, the best of which being the title track, a skittery, spooky, clanking, bass-heavy head-nodder that despite, or possibly because of all the static-y effects and concrete-esque found sounds is both alluring and oddly soothing. 'Shutta' is in a similar vein, if slyly more confrontational, while 'Exit Woundz' is even more sparse and minimal than we're used to from Burial. Arguably one of the most thrilling, idiosyncratic and forward-thinking producers that Britain has to offer.

Not much else to report today, really, other than to tell you to look out for some new mixtapes coming later in the week. It's been a while since I've uploaded any, so I thought I'd pull my finger out. I've threw quite a few together and I intend to up them over the course of the next couple of weeks, intermittently. Watch this space!

In the interim, here's something that I'm liking at the moment for your listening pleasure...

Camille - Ta Doleur (Henrik Schwarz Remix)

Not exactly new but I'm all about the Schwarz at the moment. Enjoy!

In other news: I'm on this week's Blog Fresh Radio talking about Escort. Also, check out my reviews of the new Ratatat remix album and the debut full-length from Cristian Vogel's new band Night Of The Brain over at High Voltage.

Laters,

JMx

Bon anniversaire!

Happy Monday to you all!

Everyone have a good weekend? Glad to hear it. Let's crack on then, shall we?

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Ame - Balandine EP (Innervisions)

Following the hypnotic, preternaturally excellent 'Fiori' on Ostgut's Shut Up And Dance! compilation of techno music for ballet dancing to, comes this bonafide club-slayer on their own Innervisions label. 'Balandine' comes on all Carl Craig-like at first before traversing down a more direct route. I'm tempted to say that it is essentially just a big dumb techno track, but there's smarts in them there peaks and troughs that bely the tracks's single-mindedness. Turn down the lights, flick the strobe on and get lost. 'Enoi' on the flip recalls Henrik Schwarz' darker moments and is no less thrilling either. Ame are steadfastly staking a claim for techno artists of the year right now, so don't get left behind.

Sticking with the realm of club music, three of the most intriguing, exciting labels around are currently enjoying reaching landmarks of varying longevity and they've all decided to release compilations celebrating that fact. Let's take a look.


Matt Edwards (Radioslave, Quiet Village, er, Rekid) launched his label Rekids (a co-venture with James Masters) a little over a year ago now, with the release of his own 'My Bleep', under the Radioslave moniker. Since then, it has quickly developed into a label with an astonishingly high hit-rate and an identity all of its own (helped by the eye-catching, idiosyncratic, sparse artwork that adorns each release).

Rekids Compilation One consists of two discs: the first being a kind of greatest hits set, cobbling together some of the highlights from Rekids' first thirteen 12"s, with the second being a collection of remixes of said releases. Listened to as a whole, the second disc fares better than the first, as it's a more varied set, taking in both trippy and upfront disco (QV and Prins Thomas' re-dos of Toby Tobias' two Rekids releases), crowd-pleasing techno (Claude Vonstroke's wobbly take on Luke Solomon's 'Ghosts') and spooky minimal glitch (Radio Slave's monumental mix of Matt O' Brien's 'Serotone').

It's the first disc though that will become the label's calling card as it moves into its second year. Having achieved so much in the first twelve months, it's hard to see where Rekids will go next, but with the master-of-all-trades, Edwards at the helm, it's sure to be exciting finding out.

Luke Solomon - Ghosts (mp3)

Toby Tobias - A Close Shave (Prins Thomas Disko-Tek Miks) (mp3)


On the block for ten years now, it's easy to be snarky towards Sonar Kollektiv. Their jazzwise brand of electronic music often errs too much on the side of coffee-table tastefulness all too often for my liking. That said, anniversary comp Ten Years, Who Cares? (self-effacing tendencies come in handy for fending off criticism) is a mostly pleasurable, if erratic listen.

Jazzanova's accompanying mix is more successful than the up-and-down unmixed collection that inhabits disc one. It's perhaps fitting that the label founders remain the most interesting artist on the SK roster, but you can't help that SK's, and J-nova's thunder has been stolen by the rise and rise of Innervisions, once an adjunct of Sonar Kollektiv. If you like your house and techno with a twist of jazz however (or vice versa), then you can't really go far wrong with this collection. Just don't blame me when you start idly poring over the Ikea catalogue and fetishising everything you see.

Siriusmo - U-Again (mp3)

Jazzanova - Let Your Heart Be Free (2007 Edit) (mp3)


Ah, Get Physical. Has it really been only five years? Seems like this German label has been around forever, so seismic has their impact on European house and techno music in the last half-decade been. The conglomerate of Booka Shade, DJ T and M.A.N.D.Y. have released some of the most prominent, enduring underground dance music of the noughties so far (I'm thinking 'Mandarine Girl', 'Lucky Bastard', 'Tonite'), but they've also proved themselves to be great talent scouts too.

The emergence of the likes of Chelonis R. Jones (everything he does is great), Elektrochemie and Audiofly X (all present and correct here) have highlighted the label owners' ear for where dance music is heading. This compilation, while undoubtedly pretty great, feels like a bit of a missed chance though. Perhaps by wanting to give the punters something altogether new, instead of money for old rope, they've bypassed an opportunity to hook in the newbies by failing to even bother compiling the label's past highlights.

Disc one is a collection of remixes of former glories, the best of which being Earl Zinger's outlandishly askew re-rub of Elektrochemie's 'Pleasure Seeker', Herbert's funk-concrete remake of Chelonis' 'I Don't Know', and the surprisingly brilliant string orchestra cover of Booka's 'Night Falls'. Disc two goes down the route of exclusives and, as such, is a varying set of brilliant one-offs and hmmm... interesting off-cuts. We don't really need to hear 'Body Language' again, but it would have been nice. And where the fuck is Fuckpony?!

Booka Shade - Night Falls (Larry Gold String Version) (mp3)

Elektrochemie - Caiti (mp3)

In other news: read my reviews of The Aliens live, The Stills' new album and Black Lips' new single over at High Voltage.

"If I'm sued into submission, I can still come home to this."

'Ow do!

Couple of things to get through this Bank Holiday (or Memorial Day, if you're North American scum. Joke. No offence.) evening. First things first...

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - ALL MY FRIENDS (DFA/EMI)

Okay, hands up who saw this one coming? A surefire front-runner for single of the year is released today in the form of 'All My Friends' by LCD Soundsystem. I'm sure you all know it off by heart by now, but this bumper pack gives a new spin on the song (not that it really needed it, mind, but a little enjoyment enhancement is no bad thing). I wittered on the other day about the John Cale remake, but the Franz Ferdinand cover has its charms too. Granted, they over-egg the pudding with regards to the original's New Order-isms, but at least it's got some energy.

The cover of Joy Division's 'No Love Lost' that was originally supposed to be on one of the 7"s is conspicuously missing in action (it's excellent and well worth seeking out*), but we do get the bananas new song, 'Freak Out/Starry Eyes' for our hard-earned. An epic cut-and-shut of two entirely different songs - the first being a magnificently strident dub-disco workout, with added horns and the second being a slice of Nancy-sung, camp psych-electro, doot-doot - it's yet more proof of LCD's stature as one of the best bands around right now. Oh, and there's a DJ Harvey remix too, that's typical Harvey and bears very little resemblance to the original whatsoever. Buy it! All four formats, people!

Download the video from Cliptip!


Did somebody say remix of the year? No? Okay then, here goes nothing. Prins Thomas' jaw-dropping re-version of Hatchback's 'White Diamond' has certain areas of the disco underground frothing at the mouth at the moment and it's not hard to see why. The art of the remix is an oft-sullied one, with many of its practitioners preferring the take-the-money-and-run method of reinterpreting other people's work. There are some remixers out there however who take what they're given, break it down and remould it so that the end product bears their own indelible stamp or trademark. Carl Craig is one, Henrik Schwarz another, but Prins Thomas has really come into his own this year, reaching a peak with this peerless piece of music.

It really is a "piece of music", too. There's no other way to refer to it. The words "tune", "track", even "song" seem too trifling and insignificant tags. A deliberate, slowly-unfurling slab of aural bliss, clocking in at a not-long-enough seventeen minutes and eighteen seconds, it bears comparison to works from artists such as Brian Eno, Phillip Glass, Steve Reich, The Orb (when they used to knock out stuff like this for fun) and Terry Riley, but is most definitely a Prins Thomas production. I know very little about the source track (Hatchback is one-half of Windsurf with Sorcerer, I know that much), but this seems like very much a stand-alone thing.

Minimalist in texture but vast and expansive in feel, Prins Thomas' mix of 'White Diamond' is, barring some other heart-stopping wonder coming out of the blue, THE remix of the year. Now that I've built it up waaay too much, find out for yourselves, for one week only...

Hatchback - White Diamond (Prins Thomas Miks) (mp3) (link removed due to attack of conscience)

It doesn't happen often, but I felt guilty enough to actually take this one down. If you grabbed it in the 24 hours it was up, please cherish it, keep it close to your chest and if you like it, buy the vinyl when it comes out. If you'd like to hear a snippet and you don't mind listening to my voice, then check out this week's edition of Blog Fresh Radio.

Coming this summer on This Is Not An Exit.

In other news: Over at High Voltage, you can find out what I got up to at this year's Futuresonic and what I think about the newly-released Sunkissed mix of Norwegian disco and the like.

Also, find out just what the Kathy Diamond live experience is like over at The Console and read my thoughts on the season finale of Lost on my TV blog, No Flipping!

Laters,

JMx

*Oh, what the hell, may as well go for two cease-and-desists for one post...

LCD Soundsystem - No Love Lost (Joy Division cover) (mp3)

Listen up!

Howdy!

Just thought I'd drop in on you all, see how things are. How are things with you? Life treating you well?

I went to Futuresonic over the weekend, which was nice. I missed Faust though, due to a bout of man 'flu, which wasn't all that nice. Did manage to catch TTC, Black Devil Disco Club, ex-Kraftwerkmensch, Wolfgang Flur and some hippy woman making music out of running a mallet around some bowls filled with different measures of water. A fun time was had by all.

Anyways, I'm writing a feature on that for High Voltage, so I'm sure you'll get to find out more in the not-too-distant future.

Haven't done this in a while...

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Escort - All Through The Night (Escort)

I think I make this the third time that Escort have been my single of the week, after 'Love In Indigo' and 'A Bright New Life'. This concludes the run of singles that precedes the guys locking themselves away in the studio and coming up with what should be a shoe-in for disco, nay, pop, nay, all-genre album of the year. 'All Through The Night' is probably their most upfront cut to date, featuring sexed-up lyrics, squelchy synths and some unabashed 80s electro-pop nods. Fantastic, life-enhancing disco that makes you wonder why all the bands who aren't as good as Escort haven't just thrown in the towel yet. A liberal dash of radio play and a CD release away from world domination. Just remember where you heard about them first. It probably wasn't here but, y'know, remember anyway.

Buy it from Piccadilly Records

So lately, I've been experimenting with Audacity software and having a crack at putting together a mix. I'm not a DJ (although I would like to be if anyone fancies putting me to work), so the mixing nous is a little lacking, but if you're willing to listen without prejudice, the first fruits of my labour can be found both here and over at The Console, for your listening (dis)pleasure.

The mix that I threw together for The Console is a kind of fuzzed-out, psych-garagepunk-funk-soul affair, taking in the likes of The Sonics, Love, The Staple Singers, Eddie Bo, Baby Huey and loads more. Let me know what you think.

The mix I've compiled for this very blog, however, is a more discocentric one and I've given it an intentionally pompous name...

Yer Mam!'s Disconautical Journey Across The Discoverse In 72 1/2 Minutes

Tracklisting:

01 Karma - Beach Towel (I:Cube Remix)
02 Lindstrom And Solale - Let's Practise
03 JJ Cale - Ride Me High (Mischief Brew Re-edit)
04 Lopazz - Migracion (Fujiya & Miyagi Remix)
05 Black Devil Disco Club - The Devil In Us
06 Glass Candy - I Always Say Yes
07 LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
08 Magnus International - Kosmetisk
09 Fleetwood Mac - You Make Lovin' Fun (Trail Mix)
10 Escort - All Through The Night
11 Toby Tobias - A Close Shave (Brontosaurus Remix)
12 Kelley Polar - Rosenband
13 Baby Oliver - Hypochondriac
14 Blondie - Llamame (Call Me) (Original 12" Instrumental Mix)

Like I said, these are my first cracks at actually putting a mix together, so be nice. I promise I'll get better in future. I intend to make this a running feature. Any feedback whatsoever will be appreciated.

Laters,

JMx

On the ones and twos.

Howdy!

Just a quick one tonight. First up, the belated single of the week.

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Battles - Atlas (Warp)

And lo, the first warning shot from Battles' face-meltingly excellent full-length debut proper, Mirrored is fired. It's called 'Atlas' and it totally fucking rocks. Layers of crunchy electronics and distorted guitars are piled atop a galloping glitter beat, while Ty Braxton sings sweet nonsense into a voice manipulator. Punchy, visceral and, dare I say it, life-affirming, it's math-rock, Jim, but not as we know it. Think Animal Collective with the funk and you're halfway there. Blistering stuff.



Secondly, a shameless plug. Saturday 14th April sees the monthly instalment of Get Girl. Kill Baddies. Save Planet. at Manchester's venerable night-spot, the Night & Day Cafe. Alongside the residents, Grammar and Pasta Paul are ex-Bureau synthist and keytar fetishiser, Flickerrr and yours truly. Yes, I'll be spinning the platters that matter, rinsing the plates and drink-driving the wheels of steel for a cameo DJ set. Hopefully, you'll all be able to come out and watch me make a tit of myself/turn the dancefloor into a writhing, lurching mass of bodies worshipping at the altar of disco.

If you fancy it, e-mither the guys at ggkbsp@googlemail.com and you'll be able to get in for four quid. That's two whole English pounds cheaper than you would pay normally! Bargain! Supplying the live music on the night are Zapped By A Million Volts and Shakes, so you know that you're in for one hell of a night.

Plug over.

Laters,

JMx

Yer Mam!'s radio rocks!

Not a lot to report today, really. No single of the week as they're a load of shite. Seriously, not one decent song among them. Actually, there are a few, namely the new Kings Of Leon, the Mindless Boogie 12" of re-edits and Chin Chin's 'Toot D'Amore' with added Prins Thomas mikses, but nothing that I thought merited the coveted title.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that if you want to put a voice to the blog, I recorded a guest spot, via telephone on this week's Blog Fresh Radio show. I'm the one wittering away about The Field around 36 minutes in. Just click through on the link, download the show and listen to my ill-informed chatter. Quite a few other bloggers have contributed and, I must say, that they all, to a man, knock my spot into a hatted cock. Also, I must mention that I adopted the talking style of a roughneck Manc gangster when I recorded it. I don't always sound like I eat gravel for breakfast. Or maybe I do?

Laters,

JMx

P.S. Read some single reviews I did for High Voltage, if you so wish. Calvin Harris and Viking Moses! both get tore a new one, while Brakes get the 'meh' treatment.

I'm not a man, I am a machine.

Hey gang!

Let's rush this post through before the Man United V Middlesborough FA Cup quarter-final replay, shall we? First up, it's single of the week time. Bit of a dry week for singles (good one for albums though, with newies from Modest Mouse, Ted Leo, The Aliens and Panda Bear) and it was a toss-up between the new Bebel Gilberto remix 12" - with two re-works each from Prins Thomas and Mungolian Jet Set - and the winner. Which is...

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Maximo Park - Our Velocity (Warp)

It's the return of everyone's second favourite geordie rockers (after Lindisfarne), Maximo Park, and what a return it is. Refreshingly energised, but without feeling anywhere near as artificially artful as anything off the first album, it's a good taster for the surprisingly excellent Our Earthly Pleasures album. It's not the best though, just wait until you hear 'By The Monument' and 'Karaoke Plays'. About as good as commercially-skewed britrock gets these days.

Elsewhere, Fran Donnelly has written an intriguing live review of Friendly Fires for The Console. Haven't really heard much about them before this, but the embedded video of their cover of 'Your Love' is fantastic. Not as good as the original though...

Frankie Knuckles & Jamie Principle - Your Love (mp3)

Talking In Stereo have an excellent Beppe Loda video for all the beardies out there and The Ledge from The Indie Credential doesn't like R.E.M.'s New Adventures In Hi-Fi and he's not afraid to tell everyone about it.

And, um, that's about it for now.

Laters,

JMx