I did this quick 2010 mixtape for the | liminal here. It’s also right here. If don’t want to stream from MixCloud, please download here.

Tracklist:

1. Drop Intro / MJ Cole – Angel Riddim (Prolific Recordings)
2. Dubbel Dutch – Pulso (SSSSS)
3. Roska – Squark (Rinse)
4. Lil Silva – No Hooks (Night Slugs white label)
5. Untold – Come Follow Me (Soul Jazz)
6. LV – Boomslang (feat. Okamlumkoolkat) (Hyperdub)
7. Kingdom – Bust Broke (Night Slugs)
8. Ramadanman – Work Them (Swamp 81)
9. Slackk – Theme From Slackk (Numbers)
10. Rihanna – Rude Boy (Loose Cannons Remix) feat. Lady Chann (unreleased)
11. Jam City – Ecstasy Refix (Night Slugs white label)
12. Girl Unit – Wut (Night Slugs)
13. Wiley – It’s Wiley (Showa Eski Riddim) (Prodigal)

Very good mix album. I wrote a bit about it for the | liminal here.

Photo by Scott McMillan

Matt, Rich, Scott and I have started this:

We focus most strongly at the margins, on the music that others may be blind to. We don’t care whether it is electronic, metal, jazz, folk, classical, noise, world music or whatever. We are as excited by the experimental, as we are exhausted by the ephemeral. We listen. We mosh. We think. We dance. We write words. We capture images. We hope to do justice to the art which inspires us.

We are The Liminal. We welcome all visitors with open ears and eyes.

Something for the weather (finally): UK funky, new-step(?) with some 2step and ardkore-era numbers thrown in.

I initially intended this one to be 100% smiley and sunshiny, until I realised I simply don’t have enough tunes that don’t have at least a hint of darkness or sadness. Still, it’s got plenty of sexy and raucous moments. Click the pic to download or listen via Mixcloud link below:

Tracklist (also found in lyrics tab of MP3)

1. Sami Sanchez – Dirty Salsa – (BM Funky 2010)
2. Sticky – Fugitive Riddim – (unreleased 2009)
3. Grievous Angel – Move Down Low VIP – (Soul Jazz 2010)
4. Renegade Soundwave – The Phantom (It’s In There) – (Mute 1989)
5. Ill Blu – Dragon Pop – (Hyperdub 2010)
6. Doc Daneeka – Bumblebee Riddim – (Pattern 2010)
7. Lil Silva – A Million – (Night Slugs 2010)
8. Girl Unit – I.R.L – (Night Slugs 2010)
9. Lil Silva – Perfussion – (Night Slugs 2010)
10. MJ Cole – Flux Riddim – (Prolific 2010)
11. Ragga Twins – 18″ Speaker – (Shut Up And Dance 1991)
12. Joe – Rut – (Hessle Audio 2009)
13. Pangaea – Why (Hessle Audio 2010)
14. MJ Cole – Attitude – (Talkin’ Loud 2000)
15. 2 As 1 – We Got Luv feat. Shelley (El-B dub) – (United Grooves 2001)
16. Groove Chronicles – Stone Cold – (Groove Chronicles 1998?)
17. Burial – Unite – (Soul Jazz 2007)
18. James Blake – CMYK – (R&S 2010)

For any snobs and purists: yes, again this was done with Ableton Live; I don’t have the right space to set up two decks and don’t have a good mixer anyway. I did pay money for these records (not the Sticky one, which isn’t available as a record to my knowledge). Plus, I like Ableton.

Another DJ mix done on Ableton, which I kept forgetting to finish. Probably not overly suited to the weather now; it started as one thing and kind of turned into something else. Great records anyway and very pleased with some of the mixing, though the last track is kind of tacked on. It’s only 42 minutes as I didn’t have much time left on SoundCloud. Hope it works. It’s downloadable too.

Tracklist:

1. Svalastog – The Wood Metal Friction (Rune Grammafon 2006)
2. Edward Larry Gordon – All Pervading excerpt (1978 / Universal Sound 2010)
3. Monolake – Infinite Snow (Imbalance 2009)
>> Organisation – Tone Float excerpt (RCA 1970)
4. DVA – Natty (Hyperdub 2010)
5. Tortoise – Gigantes (Thrill Jockey 2009)
6. Moritz von Oswald Trio – Pattern 3 (Honest Jons 2009)
7. Ramadanman – Blimey (Hessle Audio 2008)
8. Pantha du Prince – Abglanz (Rough Trade 2010)
9. Burial – Exit Woundz (Hyperdub 2007)
10. TVO – The King In Yellow (Highpoint Lowlife 2009)
11. Mala – Learn (DMZ 2007)
12. Demdike Stare – Forest Of Evil (Dusk) section (Modern Love 2010)

Squiggle & Skank

Last time I did a mix, it was a 69(ish) minute selection of tracks, exclusively from 1969*, for my friend’s 1969 Baby! Night.  As enjoyable as it was sharing that stuff, 2009 has generally been one of the least retro-fixated of recent years for me. And while there’s been plenty going on elsewhere, I’ve been most excited by the UK Bass Continuum (cheeky moniker compromise, © me) with which I’ve had something of an on/off relationship with for many years.

This mix then, is all about the dancefloor and mostly about this year with a couple of key (for me) older tracks** thrown into the two main sections. Between the synth heavy, wonky/purple/future garage/post-dubstep of the first and the UK Funky of the second, I’ve taken a little detour across the pond and back into the eighties. There’s some kind of logic in there, I swear. Pretty pleased with most of the Funky section, varied as it is with more “serious”, experimental tunes*** bookending a bunch of bashy vocals.

I put this together on Ableton Live, which I’ve never used before. I tried to not overdo it with effects or take too many liberties with re-editing tracks. There’s probably some inconsistency in volume and a couple of tracks’ sound quality might be slightly below par due to my own vinyl ripping, so sorry about that.  Hope you enjoy.

TRACKLIST:

In the last year Goodman has ramped up productivity and cast his net wide, releasing a slew of squiggly synth-drenched, well-it-is-140 BPM-but-wot-do-we-call-it gems from Zomby, Joker and Ikonika, alongside Flying Lotus and Samiyam’s wonked-to-fuck hip-hop, Cooly G’s er, funkstep and Darkstar’s Stephen Hawking vocalling future garage. In 2009, Hyperdub is definitely leaning more towards the hyper than the dub. All of which initially makes the presence of tonight’s first main stage draw, Kevin Martin’s King Midas Sound, a bit of a head scratcher. Kicking off the recent 5 compilation with KMS’s “Meltdown”, a lovely melancholy vocal slipping over a big bassline and slo-mo hip-hop drums, seemed wilfully contrary. Nice enough in a Massive Attack/Smith & Mighty nearly twenty years ago kind of way, but not vital.

Luckily, my judgement proves a little harsh and hasty as, live at least, KMS are more than worthy guardians of the dub end of Hyperdub. Entering to air raid sirens, draped in red light and swathes of echo, Roger Robinson calls us in from the cold as Martin gets to work, spontaneously but expertly twisting, shaping and re-shaping the grooves and showering us in all the right spots with warm effects. And a warm shower it is, luxuriant and enveloping, the flipside of the bomb dropping carnage of Martin’s The Bug and Razor X projects.  Where those weld dancehall nihilism to hardcore noise, KMS’s vibe draws together lovers rock and dreampop/shoegaze*. It’s a hazy, twilit sound that soundtracks perfectly the terrible weather outside, simultaneously offering sanctuary from it. By the time second vocalist Hitomi comes out front, everyone is hypnotised, eyes to the front, swaying and nodding in place as it’s far too crowded to skank.

By contrast, Kode9 & The Spaceape are pretty much all about the hyper right now. Bedecked rather tellingly in a Parliament Mothership Connection t-shirt, Goodman goes for colour and funk tonight. The drums are busy, fidgety and about as far from the barely-there bass pulse minimalism of early singles like “Sine” as they could be. Spaceape’s stoned and stretched stylings have also given way to a more vigorous, crowd-facing vocal style. The world-weary sci-fi-meets-dread exhortations remain in place but, patois notwithstanding, the delivery is now more James Brown in the dancehall than LKJ trapped in a machine. Shaking and waving his arms, possessed by the groove, he’s in danger of appearing like he might even been enjoying himself. The only shame is that, with the room rammed to danger point, the enraptured crowd can’t truly catch the spirit and join in with the party that’s happening in front of them.

It’s the uniformly excellent sets from the DJ booths that really get the celebrations going though. When both of Corsica’s rooms are open and there’s space to move and breathe, the event actually becomes a party. Early on, Quarta330’s semi-live set brings his 8-bit videogame-music-in-a-dubstep-shaped-mangle to the floor, where his twisted melodies and pitch bending bass drops induce a fair few grins. The alien tones and sprightly midrange presence set the tone for much of the evening’s proceedings; his remix of Kode9’s “9 Samurai” even crops up underneath Spaceape in their live set – seemingly more in sync with their current mode of operations than Goodman’s original.

Elsewhere, Samiyam (also live tweaking his own material) is so animated, rocking dementedly and mouthing along to vocal samples, his enthusiasm quickly transfers to the crowd. He only loses us when he pushes the beat-juggling trickery slightly beyond wonky and past danceability. Meanwhile, DMZ’s Mala tears up the second room with a slew of dubstep classics.

Later, Cooly G, flanked by a couple of her girls, brings both glamour and depth following sets by Darkstar and Ikonika, who both manage to seamlessly weave Burial’s hauntological 2step into their vivid future funk selections. But the final word really goes to the curator, Kode9, whose epic four-hour set overlaps with all of these. Stepping up to cheers, he begins with what must be a new Zomby dub, all dayglo swirls and offbeat accents. He’s not setting a template though, as within three tunes he’s already into Roy Davis Jr’s gospel garage classic “Gabriel” and soon after he’s guiding us through the (dare I say it?) deep end of UK funky. Navigating every twist and turn of the UK bass continuum, every surprise is a welcome one, not least a half-hour grime classics excursion which in turn eventually leads us into the jungle. ALL basses (sorry) covered.

*If you haven’t done so already, download King Midas Sound’s mix for FACT right now.

So, now I’m thinking further about that aspect of extra-musical knowledge that comes with any record: the time when it was made. I’d be lying if I said that my impressions of E2-E4 aren’t at least mildly coloured by my astonishment at its date of creation (1981). This doesn’t take away from the magnificence of the actual sonic at all (which I won’t go into on this occasion) and it’s not the sole peg to hang any argument on, but time is most definitely in there, casting an unavoidable shadow.

I could so easily trip onto very slippery Möbius strip of an argument here but I can’t help feeling that the aforementioned knowledge – and this probably goes for any record – adds to the thrill of discovery, whether you hear something when it’s new and completely original or are appreciating it after the fact. I know I’ve had a hard time evangelising to some about, say Ultramagnetic MCs’ Critical Beatdown or Slint’s Spiderland (I came to the latter two or three years after its release, but before the advent of Mogwai et al) to newcomers who are used to everything that has come in their respective wakes. On the other hand, I can remember having the exact same kind of flooring epiphany I experienced with these albums when I first heard the Velvet Underground, an act that were well and truly over by the time I was born. I could picture the New York streets, conjour images of the political climate, the art scene and all the band’s connections, understand (at least vaguely) VU’s ever-so-important outsider status vis-a-vis the mainstream of the counter culture (if that isn’t a contradiction in terms). This is why in one sense it’s a tremendous advantage of our age that we can access so much of recorded history so easily and also why the persistence of anachronistic styles and affectations can be so infuriating.

Yet all this said, it’s pleasantly bewildering that, in the case of E2-E4 you can’t quite picture all the extra-sonic baggage that would seem to fit the sounds spinning around your mind. There were no big raves and underground dance clubs when the album was actually made; there are no visions of sweat or bright lights to be had here. And somehow, via its absurd birthing and subsequent history (remade by Carl Craig etc), this record which genuinely does sounds a lot like a lot of others**, is utterly unique.

Some perfect “chill out room” material from Göttsching in his Ash Ra Tempel days:

*Of course, in the case of Sueño Latino’s self-titled rip-off Euro rave monster, it sounds, give-or-take an 808, exactly the same.

** Unlike, say Kraftwerk, whose relationship to the dance music continuum is also partly accidental and arbitrary and who sound a bit like a lot of records that they either did or didn’t inspire.