The old memory’s not what it was

I dunno if i’m alone in this, but i’m always missing out on records I actually own. Many’s the time i’ve gone to check a tune someone else is playing only to find out I have a copy, or i’ve gone for the flip of something i’ve been hammering and I realise it’s actually much better. I think it happens an awful lot with the ‘Album’ – if some producer who usually does twelves puts out a 5 disc album, I just can never get to know all the tracks on the album. There’s a balance to be struck between knowing the tunes well enough to mix them, and listening to as many tunes as possible to see if they’re worth getting to know. Sometimes tunes slip through the cracks. That’s ok – when you discover them, they’re like a present from the past.

Classic case in point last week. I found ‘Ping’ by Kode 9 on the Rephlex ‘Grime 2’ compilation. What the fuck! How did I miss out on this? It’s right up my dark little alley. Proper unsettling vibes provided by some haunted accordion and a reverse powertool sounding thing. Also INCREDIBLE in the mix. One of the most minimal techno sounding dubstep tunes out there. Kode 9 is pretty much the man. He runs one of the only absolute buy on sight labels – Hyperdub, and he’s just released an album of tunes with the anti-falsetto Spaceape. Buy it from one of the sites listed at Hyperdub. Kode 9 deserves your money.
Download Kode 9 – ‘Ping’

 

Interesting

So i’m back from Japan. I expected to really enjoy myself, but I didn’t expect to like it so much. Mostly it was the people – really nice, friendly, helpful and respectful. Just a really nice place to be. I’m already dying to go back. The record shops were great, particularly in Shibuya, although I couldn’t track down any japanese noise. Pick of the bunch was Joe’s Garage in Kyoto. Talk about a treasure trove. I got three magma albums there. Three of the fuckers!! I’ve got a bit of Magma down below for download. If you don’t know them, they’re a french group with a nice line in operatic space prog sung in a made up language. They’re also Steve Davis’ favourite band, which is far more interesting than Matthew Stevens’ ridiculous hair, or Cliff Thorburn’s suits or whatever. Joe’s Garage also had the first two Kraftwerk albums which i’m gonna link up one day. They were about 60 blips each though, so I gave them a miss. I kind of regret it now. I love those two albums. They were done before they discovered synths and they’re just really dreamy krautrock.

Anyway, here’s the Magma. The album is like one continuous piece, so the tracks start and stop fairly abruptly.

Magma – Nebehr Gudahtt
Magma – Mekanik Kommandoh

Buy Magma Music

SIX TIME WORLD CHAMPION MOTHERFUCKERS

 

See you suckers later

Ha ha, i’m off to Japan. No posts for a few weeks. Have this piece of awesomeness to make up for my absence: Oaysis – ‘Outcry’, one of Moving Shadow’s finest moments.

Download Oaysis – ‘Outcry’

 

Shibui

I’m off on holiday to Japan in a week or two with the lovely Kate. She’s got a blog about it here. We’ve both wanted to go there forever, me for the ninjas, robots and pachinko, and her for the baths and clothes shops. No doubt we’ll pick up a few records over there too.

Anyway, I was flicking through one of our many guidebooks and I came across this term they use: Shibui. Here’s the canned definition:

“Shibui (渋い) is a Japanese term which refers to a particular aesthetic of simple, subtle, and unobtrusive beauty.”

I love words which don’t translate into one equivalent word. They give you a little peek into where they came from.

So, here’s a tune which is quite shibui. I was going to post this before I came across the word and give you a big schpiel about Sonic Boom and that, but i’ll save that for another day. It’s John Massoni w/ Sonic Boom – ‘Organ’ from ‘The Sundowner Sessions’. I know fuck all about John Massoni – I bought the CD off Sonic after a truly outstanding E.A.R. gig a few years ago. I totally and utterly love this tune. It transports me. Reminds me a bit of ‘So Hot (Wash Away All Of My Tears)‘ by Spacemen 3, it has the same plaintive fragility about it.

Buy ‘The Sundowner Sessions’ off Sonic Boom’s website

Download ‘Organ’

 

Show archived at Breaksblog

The excellent Breaksblog.biz are now archiving the radio show for me and Stacks. Hit the link for the latest show, kicks off with 40 minutes of Dubstep, then the jungle starts. Big shout to Tim for the support. Bo!

 

Happiness & Art Blakey

It’s funny the things which make you happy. Some guy I don’t know taking over a business in a country that I don’t live in any more = WOOHOO!!!!

Martin O’Neill is the new manager of Aston Villa and i’m still pinching myself. I lived in Birmingham as a kid. The only thing I brought with me was a love for the Villa which i’ve been unable to shake off despite years of mediocrity. True, Doug is still there, but all the signs point towards him finally relinquishing control. I’ll hold off on the champagne until he’s gone.

To help me celebrate, i’ve picked out an Art Blakey tune. He does balls out, straight ahead joyful jazz like no-one else i’ve heard. I have no idea what this tune is called, or what album it’s from – it was ripped from a CDr belonging to the Triple A. If you know, feel free to fill me in, i’d love to know. There’ll be more Art Blakey to come in the future, most likely from the crazy Orgy in Rhythm and African Beat albums.

Art Blakey Track

Buy Art Blakey stuff

 

Exit

Some ambient. It’s important to remember, I think, that ambient shouldn’t just be music without beats. Brian Eno sez:

” Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting. ”

Of course, it’s easy to do the ignorable part, but a good bit harder to do the interesting bit.

This track really nails it. The first time I heard this track it was background music; the second time my ears pricked up every now and then; the third time, my eyes were closed, I stopped what I was doing and I went for the ride. It’s a long track, and is a bit reminiscent of Basinski’s ‘Disintegration Loops’ – a ‘riff’ which ever so gradually morphs through time. I love that unchanging / changing thing.

It’s also licensed under Creative Commons, so share away. Thanks to Statto from Subvert Central for the tip.

Formication – Exit

Download the album here

The band’s website

 

Sonny Sharrock

“I want the sweetness and the brutality,
and I want to go to the very end
of each of those feelings…
I’ve been trying to find a way
for the terror and the beauty
to live together in one song.
I know it’s possible.”

I had this album recommended to me in the music folder on Rllmuk. I’d not heard of the guy before, and I was pretty surprised when I got my hands on it. It’s intense, devotional music – I suppose you’d call it free jazz, and it does have it’s chaotic moments, but there’s a unity and purpose to the playing which pleases me greatly.

It’s really defined by the vocals from Sonny’s wife. It’s real voice-as-instrument stuff, with no need for lyrics or other such pointless fripperies (although there is one part that sounds like she’s riffing on ‘Every Time We Say Goodbye’). Sonny gets his guitar on in earnest on ‘Blind Willy’, which is a gorgeous little folk interlude from the madness. The whole album’s not like anything i’ve heard before, but then maybe I just haven’t heard enough free jazz.

More info & tracks on his own website, and a decent bio on allmusic.com.

Buy the album Sonny Sharrock – Black Woman

Sonny Sharrock – Black Woman.Mp3

 

For nod’s sake

This is where I robbed the name ‘Get Up With It’ – It’s the last studio album Miles Davis released before he ‘disappeared’ in the mid 70s. Released in 1975, it collects a variety of snappy little numbers recorded in the preceding five years. Well, snappy might be stretching it a bit. Only two of the tracks are under ten minutes, and two others weigh in at over 30 minutes. Self Indulgent? Maybe, but that’s not always a bad thing, especially when you have the musicians Miles had at his disposal for these sessions: Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, John McLaughlin and Billy Cobham, to name only a few. And, of course, the mighty Teo Macero on production and edits. You can even hear him doing some mad mixing desk cuts on ‘Rated X’. Pioneering stuff.

‘Get Up With It’ is a pretty murky album, full of molasses grooves and treacly licks. It took me a couple of listens to even start getting my head round it, but now it’s clicked, I love it bad. There’s a HELL of a lot of listening on there. I’ve picked one of the more cheerful tracks – ‘Maiysha’, a latinesque, opium groove – but there’s plenty of highlights. Buy ‘Get Up With It’

Miles Davis – Maiysha

 

Is this thing on?

Okay, first post. I thought i’d kick off with some Soca! Soca! for me should always have an exclamation mark. It reminds me in some ways of super bouncy, cheesy euro-techno, all stabs and happy lyrics. The key difference is, of course, that Soca! isn’t crap. This one is by Machel Montano – he’s from Trinidad & Tobago. I was lucky enough to go on holiday in Tobago a couple of years ago – it’s such a laid-back place, it’s strange how they love this mad, energetic music. Anyways, here you go:

Machel Montano – Craziness!!