Sunday, December 31, 2017

Time, What Is It, Really?




I thought I should write something, a sort of token end-of-the-year thingy, but not a chart, even though I like them and find them useful. I haven’t compiled one myself on this blog for over a year, I think, so this post will compensate for that a little. I’ll resume charts at the end of next month, but won’t be anything like as obsessive as MonsieurCedric (Serie Limitee), who wins the prize for the most unnecessary evacuations on Juno this year.

This morning I was perusing my Facebook feed and was taken aback by a post that I’d made on this day last year, commenting on a track from ‘The Conversation’ by CabaretVoltaire (Richard H. Kirk), and saying how it was an album I’d been in the process of rediscovering. Well, I’ve been listening to that record on and off for most of the year, but to have started doing so in 2016 came as a massive surprise. Never one to go in for resolutions me, and have been much better at taking the initiative of late. However, there’s so much I still want to do.


Finally, to take us into the New Year I did another mix. Mixes and blogs are a law unto themselves, but I think most would agree that they exist in some sort of hermetically sealed environment. Me, I’m more than happy to use them as a tangible justification for getting something done. There are few things that make me happier than completing a mix which goes to plan, or posting some words that I’ve articulated in a good way. The more people that listen and read the better, but to finish the task in hand is good enough for me. The posting of mixes is always an interesting one. Is there an optimum time to put it out there? Well, on the basis of the last two, a midweek afternoon is miles better than a Saturday evening. I posted one just before Christmas and had ten plays in a matter of hours, the one I posted last night has been up for over twelve hours and has yet to get one.

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Mix 2 December 2017


Stoking the year's dying embers . . . .

Tetrahymena – Dopplereffekt (Leisure System)
Don’t Stop – CP Smith (Central Processing Unit)
Bernie Knows – Alonzo (WT)
Insights (Sprinkles Alt Mix) – DJ Sprinkles & Mark Fell (Comatonse Recordings)
Verged (Obsolete Mix) – Steven Tang (Emphasis)
A – Inhere 01 (Inhere)
A – Olo 2 (Olo)
Downtime, Turn Around & Go Backwards – Jean Caffeine (Classic)
Mimi Likes To Dance – Merle (Stripped & Chewed)
In Loop – Priku (Pressure Trax)
La Bocca – Mandar (Oscillat)
Rubberbeard (JTC Remix) – Polysick (Minimal Rome)
Outwards From Lanuaka – Grad_U (Redscale)
Drive In – Digidrive (Yoshi)
Alien People – Volruptus (Trip)
Ferrofluid (feat Wolfgangscaltung) – Quadratschulz (Shipwrec)
Pool Dayz (HVL’s Malfunction Mix) – Aleks (Organic Audio)




Wednesday, December 20, 2017

The Quiet Life EP - Jay Shepheard (Chord)




Title: The Quiet Life EP
Artist: Jay Shepheard
Label: Chord Records
Cat Number: CR003
Genre: House

1: The Quiet Life
2: The Quiet Life (Dudley Strangeways Remix)
3: The Dozers Are Coming
4: The Dozers Are Coming (Matthew Burton Remix)

A real game of two halves this. The originals are, in each case, characterised by a loping warmth which chugs along in a very groovy way. Both remixes, on the other hand, are very stripped back, Mathew Burton’s utilizing a distinctive break while Dudley Strangeways going all Maurizio meets Perlon. This makes for a very useful release; Shepheard’s fuller sound being nicely countered by the sparser alternate takes which are anything but predictable.


Tuesday, December 19, 2017

December 2017 Mix




Yeeno – Galcher Lustwerk (White Material)
Sanaga – Tunnelvisions (Atomnation)
Ram – Fred P (Finale Sessions)
Phosphor – Havantepe (Verdant)
Below (Brawther Steroids Remix) – Skudge (Skudge)
Hin Heilaga Brenning – Exos (Thule)
Breezer Dub (Remastered)– Steve O’Sullivan (Mosaic)
Track 1 – Roger Gerressen (Sushitech)
Erklingen Dub – Natan H (Taped Artifact)
Thanks 1000 Times – Omar (Time Passages)
Broken Light – Monomood (Connwax)
Universal Repairs (Nummer Remix) – Onirik (Garage Hermetique)
No Poetry – DJ Qu (Strength Music)
Euroflash – Coni (Dolly)
Distorted Information – Primary Perception (Slow Life)

My Love Turns To Liquid – Dream 2 Science (Rush Hour)

Sunday, December 03, 2017

Cosmic Path - Damon Wild (Infrastructure)


Title: Cosmic Path
Artist: Damon Wild
Label: Infrastructure New York
Cat Number: INF-024
Genre: Techno

1: 1242
2: Aquarius
3: Red
4: Distant Carrier
5: Marslander
6: Sparse
7: Start Point
8: Baritones
9: Amber
10: Light
11: Responder
12: Spacerace
13: Unstable Space
14: Dining on Jupiter
15: Friday’s Orbit (CD Mix)


Damon Wild brings back memories of Synewave, his label which, while I wasn’t an ardent fan of it, came up with the occasional brilliant release. I always remember Wild himself as very much a product of his environment; his output often being a little too hard for my taste, hovering close to the more industrial edge of techno. These days it’s difficult to know what more to do within the genre’s sometimes narrow confines, but Wild shows on this album that his sound is a mature one, and has depth. The collection is aptly named, as each track feels onomatopoeic, and the listener is guided along a lateral line of machine funk along which fine detail is ever more embellished by Wild’s electronic brain; an apotheosis of wisdom garnered under the auspices of restraint.