Going up the Country

For the first time since 1992 I watched Glastonbury from home this year. There was a lot wrong last year, and not just the mud, but as soon as it started I was of course wishing i'd gone.

The big news was of course Jay-Z headlining, and Noel Gallagher displaying unprecedented levels of twattishness by saying that Glastonbury is an indie festival & Jay-Z wasn't welcome. Well Noel, mate.. the last I heard Glastonbury is a festival of performing arts, and has always been full of hip-hop, funk, soul, jazz & all kinds of shizzle that's not 4 blokes with too many Beatles albums. In fact having been unfortunate enough to stumble across 20 minutes of Oasis' last headline set I think he's wise to keep his mouth shut about pretty much anything to do with Glastonbury.

Jay-Z was of course triumphant, and his come-back to Mr Gallagher at the start of his set was legendary... a bad karaoke piss take that seemed to galvanise the whole crowd. Having a live band rather than just a DJ seemed to make a hella lot of difference as well.... it sounded massive. If you've not watched it you can check it out on the BBC site for the next week or so.

I've got to say that apart from Jay-Z most of the line-up looked & sounded really uninspired. I enjoyed Crystal Castles & MGMT on the telly / internet, but there were FAR too many identicit indie bands of Noel Gallagher's favoured variety.


One band who would have improved things greatly are Poni Hoax, who despite being brilliant and despite being produced by Joakim remain resolutely unknown. I think this second album has been out a short while now, but doesn't seem to have bothered the charts or the NME despite a string of classic singles (Budapest, Involutive Star, & in particular Antibodies.. which shows no sign of leaving my stereo or DJ bag.

I'm in love with the album's opening track, which starts off all goth and then transforms into a krautrock freakout. Albeit a rather gothic one.



PONI HOAX - THE PAPER BRIDE

More psych-rock comes from 'And The Lefthanded' on the new DC Recordings compilation 'Death Before Distemper Vol. 2'.... a must-buy for those who get goose-pimples at the mention of the word 'analogue'.





They apparently hail from Helsinki, but there's so little clue to that in the music that I originally thought it might be another joke by the KLF (who invented a record label - Kalevala - and several fictional bands from Finland).

I think British Airways should play this as you take-off.

AND THE LEFT HANDED - ROCKET ROCK

Finally i've just lifted this straight from 20JazzFunkGreats but it's brilliant... the new single on RVNG of the NRDS, by a mystery producer whose identity is not that hard to uncover. Expertly teased from the Canned Heat original, the hooks and harmonicas are looped into mind-spinning patterns until the terrifying prospect of a new musical genre emerges... line-dance-disco.

WADE NICHOLS - WANDA RODE AGAIN

Rhythm & Sound

Last night in the Roundhouse I watched four unassuming looking folks make the most monumental noise i've ever experienced. I'm sure you've heard by now about the earplugs distributed on the way in, but I still wasn't prepared for the 20 minute physical onslaught of 'You Made Me Realise' at the end of My Bloody Valentine's set. It was like being strapped to a jet engine, and quite an experience. To begin with people nodded their heads, then held onto each other for support, then edged towards the exits as they reached the limits of their endurance. I've always suspected that 'Loveless' wasn't really designed for home listening, and i've never previously managed to crank it up loud enough to reveal its secrets. I'm not sure it was enjoyable, but it was certainly memorable.



Some other sonic futurists whose secrets i've been trying to unlock for many years are Basic Channel, Berlin's masters of dub techno. In their Basic Channel guise, they only released 9 records back in 1993.... which were then followed by a deliberately obtuse compilation with illegible track titles, static, and a label on the back commanding you to 'BUY VINYL'. The compilation was also strangely compiled, being made up with edits of the b-sides and featuring none of their better known tracks.

Now 13 years later, a second compilation is being released with vastly improved sound and a tracklisting that virtually crackles with hits compared to the first one.



It basically comprises 6 of the original A-sides, including probably their best known track 'Phylyps Trak'. They pioneered a sound that has been endlessly imitated since, however none of the copyists can come close to this masterful blueprint. Reverberating metallic sounds seem to shift in form in front of your eyes, while the whole thing is steeped with dub reggae as much as Detroit Techno. It might not hit you straight away but it'll never really leave you.

BASIC CHANNEL - OCTAGON


Some other BC greatness not from the album:

QUADRANT - HYPERPRISM

MODEL 500 - STARTLIGHT (MORITZ VON OSWALD REMIX)

Lost & Found

The upcoming Black Ghosts album seems to be creating a bit of a buzz, which is no great surprise after the quality of the singles that have been slipping out over the last year or so. Part of their success has been down to their impeccable choice of remixer, but Diplo's a no-brainer & guaranteed to serve up a tasty spread.

THE BLACK GHOSTS - REPETITION KILLS YOU (DIPLO REMIX)

Probably my favourite Black Ghosts remix was the version of 'It's Your Touch' by Ashley Beedle, and he's donned his velvet glove again for this remix of The Whip. It's a bit house & even rather trancey for my usual tastes, but somehow it works for me....

THE WHIP - BLACKOUT (ASHLEY BEEDLE GENERATION NEXT REMIX)

Another big tune of the moment comes from Moscow via Toronto, with Proxy's 'Dance in Dark' coming out on Turbo Recordings. According to the internet, it samples 'Schwarzkopf's 'Dancing In The Dark'', but that means nothing to me. All I know is that it's a cunning blend of extreme darkness and beatific light.

PROXY - DANCE IN DARK


I realised i've not pimped my art here for a while, so here goes...

If you've taken a stroll through Shoreditch anytime in the last year, you'll have seen Bortusk Leer's luminous monsters around the place. I've got some excellent originals left, spraypainted on nice paper....



Shuby has also been busy with her wheatpaste recently, and has done some beautiful hand-painted prints. I'd love to see these on a record sleeve if anyone's interested!



I've also got work left from three of New York's hottest talents... Dain, Gaia & Damon Ginandes






Sorry for the sales pitch, but i'm trying to get some money together to put on a big show later this year. Anyway, check my shit out here.... www.prescriptionart.com. I've got some really great stuff coming soon, so sign up to the mailing list. Cheers!

Radio Fireworks

I seem to have disappeared again. Sorry about that.

I've spent the day listening to everything I can find from the mysterious 'DISSONANT' label... which isn't that easy as all of their one-sided 12"s are limited to only 1 or 200 copies.



I'm not as blown away as I was hoping after reading some excitable stuff on the web, as not all the releases are as great as they've been sometimes made out to be... but it's certainly a label worth exploring - and they're certainly best when keeping away from the minimal techno & getting their funk on. These two are great:

CAGE AND AVIARY - TELEVISION TRAIN

ALI RENAULT - ZOMBIE RAFFLE

A CD compilation available at Phonica is probably your best way to sample the label.

EDIT: MP3s REMOVED BY REQUEST: ""We are very much anti-mp3 - especially when they are played in public, mainly because they sound nasty but also because of the way they cheapen and ultimately erode musical culture."


I've been playing a lot of old skool tunes recently, and this track from the new Surkin single is a perfect blend of piano house & Detroit Techno. Well looking at Hype Machine it's probably not new anymore, but I only heard it recently. The music's looking back & so shall I.



SURKIN - WHITE NIGHT TWO

Finally the sporadically brilliant In Flagranti hit one of their sporadic high points with this track from their new 'Firmly Planted Memories' EP.

It sounds remarkably like an Optimo re-edit, and i'm sure must be an edit of something old. It sounds like some kind of mental post punk track with a frantic disco bassline added. Good stuff indeed!

LORD ISIS - ERDOEL


Edit: Thanks to Kev for digging out the original... !