20 QUESTIONS / 001 / RICHARD “AMPO” HAMPSON / IS IT BALEARIC?
Where are you based and is this your home town?
193 / London Club Playlists / 004 / Le Beat Route
Le Kilt was small and on a Tuesday night, but inspired by its success, Ollie O`Donnell, an old friend of Sullivan`s, and Steve Mahoney, start a Friday night party at the larger Le Beat Route.
191 / London Club Playlists / 003 / Le Kilt
If St Moritz was a short-lived knee-jerk reaction to the Futurism of The Blitz and Hell somewhere in between then Le Kilt seems to be an attempt to re-dress the balance. Claw back some sanity. At least on a musical front. Hosted again by Chris Sullivan, this time with Graham Ball, and with the “St...
ONE THAT GOT AWAY / 001 / PETER TOSH / LEGALIZE IT / DELICIOUS VINYL
Blink and you missed it Record Store Day exclusive 10” picture disc.
Reviews / PROMO`D / 08 / 05 / 12
VARIOUS / PERSONAL SPACE / CHOCOLATE INDUSTRIES Larry Heard`s Alien seaside synths, the strange garage-studio Blues of Doug Hream Blunt. Vocals shredded by cheap mics and concrete reflections. A Bill Wither`s Georgia back-yard groove. Sun Ra`s spaceways. A `luded out Prince Charles and The City Beat Band. The YMO done moved to Harlem. The lo-fi...
190 / London Club Playlists / 002 / Hell
St Moritz closes, possibly due to the influence of Soho`s nefarious underworld, possibly because it had served its purpose, in providing a musical alternative to The Blitz.
189 / London Club Playlists / 001 / St Moritz
One of the good things about having been buying records for a long time is that you amass what can only be described as a library (one of the bad things is of course that records end up everywhere, your greed conspicuous). Tons of stuff that has been filed away and not listened to in...
187 / PRODUCERS SERIES #17 / LEE “SCRATCH” PERRY
Dr Rob goes in heavy on Lee “Scratch” Perry and can’t fail… When I was a youth, reggae was the thing. I was 15 in 1981 and the Brixton riots were just around the corner, instead of thirty years ago. While at school, we went from Two Tone to toasting pretty fast. UB40 quickly ditched...
Reviews / PROMO`D / 19/04/12
FRANCIS BEBEY / NEW TRACK / BORN BAD A great compilation, on French label Born Bad, of the work of African musician Francis Bebey. It took me a while to track down a copy as everywhere seems to have sold out, so a big thank you Lighthouse Records in Tokyo. A kora, kalimba, a kick-drum...
Reviews / PROMO`D / 14/04/12
ORGANS OF LOVE / BONE / OPTIMO Dark Electro Cabaret from Jim McKinven, previously with One Dove. Laurie Anderson`s “X=X” and “White Lily” meet Add N To X. Goldfrapp`s choo-choo ch-boogie with torn stockings and a flick-knife instead of silk Agent Provocateur camiknickers and platforms. “Facefuck” is something German. Joe Meek getting blown by The...
One Thousand Cranes
On my recent trip back to the UK I was lucky enough to bump into my old friend Kevin Summers, of Anomaly. He had come to a house party thrown in honour of my return, thinking it was the host’s birthday, but that’s beside the point (he did bring a nice card). Whilst reflecting on...
179 / TOKYO TRACKS 012 / TOHOKU EARTHQUAKE / 1ST ANNIVERSARY / MARCH 11 / 2012
Today is the first anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake, and I wanted to do something. Not a collection of sad songs, or conversely defiant anthems of solidarity. Not an in depth investigation or update on the state of Japan, North of Tokyo, South of Hokkaido. But something. How could I do nothing on this day?...
176 / PRODUCERS SERIES #16 / HARRY HOSONO
Having been with Psyche rockers Apryl Fool and Folk rockers Happy End during the late 60s and early 70s, a then successful but still pretty conventional singer song-writer, Haroumi Hosono, famously put together the Yellow Magic Orchestra, recruiting session players Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi, and in doing so changed the face of Japanese popular...
Reviews / Promo’d / 09/02/12
COSMIC HOFFMAN / SPACE DISCO / EMOTIONAL RESCUE One side is Kriedler & Cluster, Von Spar & Froese, on a Tangerine Dream Kosmische Space Rock trip to the void. The other a Balearic Cosmic chugger that builds and builds without every really going anywhere. It doesn`t need to. A touch of the ‘Stop Bajon’s’ about...
Reviews / PROMO’d / 25/01/2012
SUN ARAW & M. GEDDES GENGRAS MEET THE CONGOS / ICON GIVE THANK / RVNG ITNL. / FRKWYS VOL. 9 Innergaze’s Not Not Fun groove, Hype Williams’ post-Aphex melodies, shards of King Sunny Ade Ju Ju guitar. Shattered into Morse. ON-U’s gotta be the obvious reference. ‘Some Bizarre’ or The Missing Brazilians. Bim’s work with...