Thursday, August 01, 2013
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Review of Paolo's Sunshine Mix Tape, by Owen Griffiths
Paolo's Sunshine Mix from Glasgow- Vitamin D
Vitamin D- side B
Vitamin D side A
All right, I couldn’t resist a sneaky look at the track
listing before slotting the tape in. Only recognised one name out of the corner
of my eye and after a second or two decided to go at the tape completely blind.
Makes things more interesting that way. Ideally with this tape swap I want to
come across scenes I’m not familiar with, so this blend of (presumably current)
slowish house/ techno/ tech house definitely fits the criteria. Not exactly a
Theo Parrish level of sluggishness or his type of production style- something
slightly different thanthat. I’ll state from the start that I didn’t find a lot of this
dark natured music particularly summertime focussed- it belies tapes' name but that's not a criticism overall. So track by track:
A1. Weird beatless intro that surely samples a movie from
the early days of colour cinematography; imagine the twisted court music of a
1950’s Macbeth feature film or the soundtrack to Ken Russell’s ‘The Devils’.
A2. Elgato is someone I remember from the Dubstep forum
days. I’m probably committing a cardinal sin in Hardwax circles when I say ‘if
I heard this record in a record shop’s headphones I wouldn’t buy it because the
tune doesn’t reallygo anywhere’. Super-repetitive for sure, but in the context of
this tape it scrubs up well enough and I can understand why some people are
happy to fork over 6.99 for it. Not a bad inclusion for Paolo’s set but a piece
of plastic unlikely to find a place in my record box.
A3. I really like this one, properly atmospheric deep house
tune that sounds great mixed out of the previous one. More of this kind of
stuff please.
A4. Skilful blend into this appealing harmonic breakdown-
doesn’t quite live up to it’s initial promise though, especially when it goes
all techy in the second half.
A5. Big track that upwardly slides us out of the trough
created by the rinsed out previous record. Proper late 80’s/ early ‘90’s US
house but no doubt a recently produced bit of mimicry. Good.
A6. It appears that this is the illusive Dub Techno genre
that everyone talks about but I’ve somehow managed to avoid up till now. Bit of a
short filler track (presumably) designed as a bridge between this and the much more upbeat upcoming tune. Okay but too much of this stuff would be irritating.
A7. I could swear by that saxophone that this is a Marc
Kinchen track (edit: it is). This is more my sphere of influence I suppose though
it’s a good one I haven’t heard before- no doubt because it’s a Summer 2011
release rather than from nineteen ninety-whenever. Judging by the Defected records adverts that plague
Youtube at the moment for their new DJ mixes the recent MK one seems
uninspired- though that could just be the A&R people only showing clips of
the radio friendly singles on the short adverts even though there’s plenty of
other gems on the actual CD/ MP3 whatever. Apologies for my ramblings- it’s
hard to get the bad taste out of my mouth looking at what Strictly Rhythm are
playing at by gently pushing former production kings Mood II Swing towards
making lowest common denominator Ibiza house, ie. the antithesis of what
classic NYC house is all about. Whereas FXHE/ Omar S clearly don't give a fuck.
A8. The closest house gets to a Gatecrasher style
euphoria hands in the air moment. Sensibly calms down before the high pitched keys causes the track to rise upwards out of the earth's atmosphere.
A9. A slightly soulless Todd Edwards sound a like fresh from
the cutting house floor. Can’t hold a candle to vintage Todd of course, but a
track in this vein is a welcome release for Summer 2013.
Vitamin D- side B
B1. Nice beatless intro track. I forgot to mention that all
the tracks on side A are beatmatched. The tunes on this side are not. It’s not
entirely clear whether this record is left over from the earlier set as a bridging track to the decidedly eclectic & more laid back second half. Perhaps the tape ran out too soon. But if we assume otherwise and pick up on that word eclectic…
B2… this one sums up the aesthetic very well. It’s some weird live band with a
half-strangled woman singing a disturbing lullaby, alongside one of those
repetitive guitar twangs that I’m guessing reggae musicians invented and refused to give up on. I must
confess to being one of those few people who don’t know who Hype Williams is
(isn’t he a millionaire hip hop producer? Edit: no he’s a video director) but I
know Shangan as being one half of the notorious North Dublin Ballymun estate.
Perhaps this studio hook up was a misguided experiment by some well meaning new
age drugs councillor to get her class of poor junkies to describe their anxieties
through the medium of experimental music. What was it the liberal teacher said
in the film heathers- “Whether to kill yourself or not is one of the most
important decisions a teenager can make”. Incidentally this record has a short
period of silence in the middle that had me twice rushing to my cheap ghetto
blaster to make sure it wasn’t chewing up the tape.
B3. How I imagine a Kraftwerk LP sounds, really. I’m a bit
ignorant on that count. Turns out that this is the Human League in art college
mode, before they discovered catchy choruses. Had they waited ten years before
making it they could’ve shrink-wrapped the twelve and punted it round Berwick
Street stores pretending it was a hot US import from some precocious black producer from Chicago or Detroit.
B4. Teutonic sounding female vocals on a live sounding band.
Not my favourite track from the tape. Has what seems like an exciting key change at the end
that actually turns out to be…
B5. A perfectly clean segue into this track here. Not sure how to
describe it really. Say no more
B6 Now this Faust record is a nice and cheerful indie ish
thing that could arguably have been made anytime in the last forty years.
Proper sunshine stuff at last. Though it seems like it was cued up at the fag
end of the track, I would’ve appreciated hearing it in its entirety before it
goes into the jingly jangly guitar feedback outro.
B7. Borderline fiddly dee music with hippyish overtones,
perhaps found by Paolo digging through maw & da’s dusty twelves that have
languished in the loft for years. The lyric comes correct with a chorus of
“this morning I woke up”. It is safe to say that Sunshine has arrived.
B8. Picking up the pace with an uptempo ‘70’s guitar
instrumental a la Fleetwood Mac. I mean that in a good way, not in an ironic
hairstyle way. Clearly the peak hour track of this side of the tape as we’re
coming up to the final furlong. This is the second time my wikipedia searches have
turned up the work Krautrock. Not sure what to make of that given my ignorance
of the style. Owen's’ opinion- “nice enough”. The Red Army Factions verdict-
“Vapid imperialist music purveyed by the Fascist Pig State to anaesthetise the
German youth to the existentialist Capatalist corruption that stunters their growth, swinehundt"”. I'll let you decide whose view is more accurate.
B9. A clean break and then a well-chosen punk tune to round
things of. “Do we miss you, do yes we do. You’re father sends his regards to
you. Will I write, well once in a while. I’ll send my love and a molotov
cocktail too!” Late 70's cockney Punk at it's more accomplished.
-------------------------------------
All in all I think this cassette has parallels with my own
in that one side is definitely stronger than the other one. I’ve listened to
side A half a dozen times (and will put it in again) but despite a few okay
records the b-side can be a bit more of a chore- saying that I will make effort to get into it. Top marks for effort. Was this the kind of thing I expected from the Dissensus Tape swap? Fuck knows, because I didn't know what to expect really.
Saturday, July 06, 2013
Sweet/sour tape review by paolo
I got my tape a few weeks ago. I have no idea who it's from but it's nicely packaged in gold chocolate-type packaging, like you'd find around a Galaxy bar or a Ferrero Rocher. One side is coloured pink with the word SWEET, the other side is coloured green with the word SOUR.
I've never reviewed anything before so I'm just going to go through it track by track and sum up at the end.
Sweet side
1. Lady singing a sad, wistful song over a 4:4 beat. This sort of sounds like something that you might hear in Starbucks or possibly on a moody advert for Apple, which I would normally hate this stuff but it actually works well. It's quite emotionally affecting. Off to a good start
2. Nice head-nodding house tune. Not exactly bedroom music but not a big dancefloor tune either. Would be good for doing housework to on a sunny day
3. Slightly more downbeat house tune, with bittersweet, yearning vocals and strings. Nice bassline
4. I think this is what would be called 'boogie'. I saw Krystal Klear DJ recently and this is like something he would play. It certainly is a sweet summer tune.
5. Going a bit deeper here but still house. Features a glockenspiel and a voice saying 'you're searching' a lot. It's been pissing it down with rain all day but the sun comes out when this track is on (I don't think the two things are connected but it fits with the summertime vibes of this tape)
6. More boogie, this time with cut-up vocals about looking into my eyes. Still rolling along at about 110 bpm. Goes a bit piano house about halfway through
7. Tempo goes up slightly (I think). This one has a sort of dark yet funky bassline, a bit like 'I Feel Love' by Donna Summer. There's a woman saying the same thing over and over but I can't make out what it is
8. This is bouncy as hell. There's a big fat bassline and a really low voice talking with a high-pitched voice about something or other, and a bunch of people singing about how much they like techno funk. This would be great to dance to when drunk
9. More chilled but still funky. Somebody sings about electronic funk and how it can't be stopped, and there are also robot voices
10. Lipps Inc - Funky Town. This is the only track on the tape that I recognise and it's a belter. Amazing disco-pop, if you've never heard it
11. Eighties-sounding synthpop/house/electro tune, with big room vibes and a catchy synth line. Also someone saying 'move up, get down'
12. The start of something a bit more downbeat with sad-sounding piano that is cut off by the end of side one
Sour side
1. Sleazy electro funk, nice and slow. Carrying on where the first side left off, with a lyric about hugging your brother from another town. Very eighties in a good way
2. Disco pop about having a high school crush with a catchy hook. Could be described as sultry
3. Boogie disco with a sample from 'The Hall of Mirrors' by Kraftwerk and French vocals. Still got the bouncy summertime vibes of the first side
4. More boogie but more house than disco, complete with vocals about the beat not stopping until the break of dawn
5. Upbeat house tune which just seems a bit nondescript/bland to be honest
6. This is better. Vocal classic-sounding acid tune with loads of energy, must be an excellent club track
7. Bouncy house tune with a big fat bassline and a deep vocal asking if I'm afraid of the boogie monster (I'm not)
8. Cool, almost garagey house track. Quite deep but maintains the bounciness
9. Big room tech-house stomper, which I'm not really feeling so much. Maybe just not in the right mood
10. Wicked hardcore tune to finish the tape. Has a guy singing about not speaking the language or understanding the words and awesome synth stabs. I feel I should recognise this for some reason but I don't. This perks me up a bit and gives me a wee adrenaline buzz
Overall, this is ninety minutes or so of choice summertime house/disco/boogie music which I imagine would be ace to dance to. Whoever mixed it is solid technically and allows each track to play out for a decent amount of time, which I like. Also exposed me to a bunch of music I'd never heard before because I don't listen to a lot of this sort of thing
I've never reviewed anything before so I'm just going to go through it track by track and sum up at the end.
Sweet side
1. Lady singing a sad, wistful song over a 4:4 beat. This sort of sounds like something that you might hear in Starbucks or possibly on a moody advert for Apple, which I would normally hate this stuff but it actually works well. It's quite emotionally affecting. Off to a good start
2. Nice head-nodding house tune. Not exactly bedroom music but not a big dancefloor tune either. Would be good for doing housework to on a sunny day
3. Slightly more downbeat house tune, with bittersweet, yearning vocals and strings. Nice bassline
4. I think this is what would be called 'boogie'. I saw Krystal Klear DJ recently and this is like something he would play. It certainly is a sweet summer tune.
5. Going a bit deeper here but still house. Features a glockenspiel and a voice saying 'you're searching' a lot. It's been pissing it down with rain all day but the sun comes out when this track is on (I don't think the two things are connected but it fits with the summertime vibes of this tape)
6. More boogie, this time with cut-up vocals about looking into my eyes. Still rolling along at about 110 bpm. Goes a bit piano house about halfway through
7. Tempo goes up slightly (I think). This one has a sort of dark yet funky bassline, a bit like 'I Feel Love' by Donna Summer. There's a woman saying the same thing over and over but I can't make out what it is
8. This is bouncy as hell. There's a big fat bassline and a really low voice talking with a high-pitched voice about something or other, and a bunch of people singing about how much they like techno funk. This would be great to dance to when drunk
9. More chilled but still funky. Somebody sings about electronic funk and how it can't be stopped, and there are also robot voices
10. Lipps Inc - Funky Town. This is the only track on the tape that I recognise and it's a belter. Amazing disco-pop, if you've never heard it
11. Eighties-sounding synthpop/house/electro tune, with big room vibes and a catchy synth line. Also someone saying 'move up, get down'
12. The start of something a bit more downbeat with sad-sounding piano that is cut off by the end of side one
Sour side
1. Sleazy electro funk, nice and slow. Carrying on where the first side left off, with a lyric about hugging your brother from another town. Very eighties in a good way
2. Disco pop about having a high school crush with a catchy hook. Could be described as sultry
3. Boogie disco with a sample from 'The Hall of Mirrors' by Kraftwerk and French vocals. Still got the bouncy summertime vibes of the first side
4. More boogie but more house than disco, complete with vocals about the beat not stopping until the break of dawn
5. Upbeat house tune which just seems a bit nondescript/bland to be honest
6. This is better. Vocal classic-sounding acid tune with loads of energy, must be an excellent club track
7. Bouncy house tune with a big fat bassline and a deep vocal asking if I'm afraid of the boogie monster (I'm not)
8. Cool, almost garagey house track. Quite deep but maintains the bounciness
9. Big room tech-house stomper, which I'm not really feeling so much. Maybe just not in the right mood
10. Wicked hardcore tune to finish the tape. Has a guy singing about not speaking the language or understanding the words and awesome synth stabs. I feel I should recognise this for some reason but I don't. This perks me up a bit and gives me a wee adrenaline buzz
Overall, this is ninety minutes or so of choice summertime house/disco/boogie music which I imagine would be ace to dance to. Whoever mixed it is solid technically and allows each track to play out for a decent amount of time, which I like. Also exposed me to a bunch of music I'd never heard before because I don't listen to a lot of this sort of thing
Thursday, May 09, 2013
The Noughties Cower Behind Me And Are Abased
I don't think anyone had sent me a cassette for about a decade when I received this FOUR YEARS AGO. Several years down the line I've started buying them again and they've plopped through the letterbox with reassuring regularity.
I shat myself when I saw the new Tape Swap on Dissensus. After a mild heart attack about not having reciprocated last time with a tape of my own it turns out that I had. Thank fuck. I don't want to get into Danny's bad books.
Also, incredibly, I managed to find the one (or at least I think it was this tape?) that Bassbeyondreason (if it was him?) sent me. It's a Maxell UR C90, which came wrapped in the cover of a Toyah single, which is still around here somewhere and regularly confuses the shit out of me when I am rifling through my sevens.
The cassette case has “hope you endure the music!” written on it in black felt tip pen. Which I have. Several times I think, but not for several years now. It's good – a proper “everything but the kitchen sink” affair which still has a slightly drunken aesthetic of its very own. I assume there was a track-listing but I suspect that this would have been on a piece of paper which has long since been recycled or perhaps lies hidden in a secret compartment of my former abode. So I shall do this review “blind” and promise not to use spotify and google or whatever.
SIDE ONE
(1) Starts off in fine style with some anarcho punk crud-fi business about not wanting to die in a nuclear holocaust. Good bass. Had finished before my laptop hard started up.
(2) Then some vintage disco funk. The daughter taps her pencil along to the drum break. Which is as close as you get to an endorsement in this house.
(3) Spoken word about some woman named Barbara losing weight. “What are you listening to Dad, it sounds like The Muppets?”
(4) Yankee hardcore: “there's nothing wrong with being sensitive and looking like a dork”. A searing critique of jock culture? Kinda. I have to explain to the daughter that the vocal about treating women like shit is a parody of idiot men. Hmmph.
(5) FEEDBACK AND THRASH! GRUFF MALE VOICE INTONING ABOUT SOMETHING UNPLEASANT! Realm of grindcore, methinks! Good testosterone music. Followed by a slightly bizarre segue into...
(6) Harry Enfield's “Loadsamoney” novelty single from the Stock Aitken Waterman era. It's not very good, but seems recorded quite badly which makes it tonally interesting at least.
(7) “BLEEEEAAAAAAAGH!” More thrash. I was never really into all this but it still takes me back to my youth. Men with denim and lots of bad hair trying to persuade me that I will really like some album with cliched horror lettering on the cover. Good times. This one goes on too long though I reckon.
(8) Ska punk? We are truly taking the scenic route here! We should all unite, apparently. Why not? Seems to have keyboard horns - a pet hate of mine, but it's OK when the double speed skank kicks in. I suspect the curator of this tape has had as many drunken dances in seedy punk clubs as I have.
(9) Then some Vybz Kartel (?) on a repetitive gynaecological tip which I am really really hoping that the daughter doesn't hear. Awkward. Good tune though.
(10) More your anthemic balls-out epic rock with loooong intro. Great riff but terrible slurred rawk vocals.
(11) Gospelly soulful funk. With a bit of distortion which I think is unintended but pretty crunchy and great nonetheless.
(12) Some folky christian hallelujah stuff. Yep. A bit stiff compared to the “Oh Brother Where Art Thou” OST. Possibly because this is more modern and more european? It skips a bit, which might be Satan's influence.
(13) Nasty X-rated anti-social American punk about a security guard who calls up working girls on the job. “I watch topless dancers and I wonder if I have cancer”. Riiiiiiiiiight. Quite cool – exactly the kind of thing you want on a mixtape – I know there's a tonne of good USA punk out there but I'm fucked if I'm going to wade through it myself.
(14) A folksy reel, I guess you would call it. Good accelerations. I point out to junior that this is a weird tape. “Oh yeah, like none of your other stuff is weird, Dad...” Fair play. Oh hang on – this has sort of a breakbeat thing happening as well? “World” music alarm is twanging?!
(15) Screams and incoherent vocals. Japanese? The Boredoms or something? Ace. Lots of short bursts of noise. Then MOAR thrash. It's good to have some of this now and again, it certainly stops things getting too polite. It has also driven the daughter from the room, although the cat remains. This sounds like one of those seven inches which has 18 tracks on one side.
(16) Some kind of militant female chanting call and response.
(17) A female vocal intones “Free Jah Jah Children” and there is about 10 seconds of bassline. END OF SIDE ONE.
(1) Kicks off with a song from the TV show Lassie which is all campy country and pretty great for an opener.
(2) We are then into some hey nonny nonny folk stuff with a female vocalist doing something “until she is sore” which is pretty great, in a Wickerman kind of way?
(3) An ace thrash cover of what I assume is a Wurzels song about cider? I went to a posh Hauschka and Johan Johannsson gig at the Barbican last year and the guy I was with bought me cider by mistake – I got a proper suburban teenage flashback off it. Mixtape novelty business! Someone knows my level...
(4) Next track is folksier again with more of a glam rock feel somewhere and a male vocal. Appears to be a penny whistle solo. Hmmm. Much of this track was obscured by my better half coming in having just finished her work and wanting a chat. I bet Simon Reynolds never gets that.
(5) Some proper vinyl clickery heralds the next track which takes us to... AFRIIIIIKKKKKKAAAA! Bhundu Boys twinkly guitars and maybe the sun will stay out tomorrow. Hard to know what these chaps are singing about but it's a million miles away from all that “Afro-Noise” dreck. It's got a long freakout at the end where the tempo ramps up. Proper.
(6) Then someone is gargling over bar-room bluesy rock. They are “lie-ing in a bed of fire” apparently which seems like a serious health and safety violation. This is exactly the sort of music I don't have any of. Nor do I want any of it, really, except perhaps as a soundtrack to some demented roadtrip?
(7) Boom! Hip-house techno redemption! With snare rolls! Hands in the air! And a bit of echo in the breakdown. This sounds like 90s and possibly German? That rather good midpoint between the Venga Boys and Happy Hardcore. FUN and not for the purists. (which is perhaps the over-arching philosophy of the tape). Some nice hoovery bits with breakbeats. First tune that I am tempted to find out what it is...
(8) Piano balladry? Why? WHY? “In the spiritual sky”? Like a hippy Elton John. “If you are so attached to the material world - it is hard to see the one you looooove” it seems. I can only imagine the look of utter ridicule I would get from the one I love if I mooted detaching ourselves from the material world.
(9) Some funky jazzy breakbeat electronica follows. With kung fu film vocal sample? We must be back in the 1990s again? Not a complaint from me – far from it! Little bit of wobble going on also. Fair takes me back innit. I'm impressed that all this stuff is completely new to me, man is doing good. Some fucked up bits on the vinyl it seems too. Proper. Goes on a bit long though.
(9) Some NOISE! Feedback and shit. Plodding rock submerged beneath it. Fab. Glitched up or maybe a jumping record? Possibly this is a mash up of an actual metal record and an experimental noise thing? Great idea. Doom! Sweat! An exhortation to “KILL! [something indistinguishable]”. This is what I hope Wolf Eyes would sound like, but I bet they don't.
(10) Cheesy disco, OBVIOUSLY. Oh actually it's a Sesame Street tune. GOLD. Not heard this one either, even though I grew up on Muppet Show LPs (and have encouraged my own offspring to do the same). Various characters over slap bass – what's not to like? Cuts short. END OF SIDE TWO.
Phew!
JOHN EDEN
I shat myself when I saw the new Tape Swap on Dissensus. After a mild heart attack about not having reciprocated last time with a tape of my own it turns out that I had. Thank fuck. I don't want to get into Danny's bad books.
Also, incredibly, I managed to find the one (or at least I think it was this tape?) that Bassbeyondreason (if it was him?) sent me. It's a Maxell UR C90, which came wrapped in the cover of a Toyah single, which is still around here somewhere and regularly confuses the shit out of me when I am rifling through my sevens.
The cassette case has “hope you endure the music!” written on it in black felt tip pen. Which I have. Several times I think, but not for several years now. It's good – a proper “everything but the kitchen sink” affair which still has a slightly drunken aesthetic of its very own. I assume there was a track-listing but I suspect that this would have been on a piece of paper which has long since been recycled or perhaps lies hidden in a secret compartment of my former abode. So I shall do this review “blind” and promise not to use spotify and google or whatever.
SIDE ONE
(1) Starts off in fine style with some anarcho punk crud-fi business about not wanting to die in a nuclear holocaust. Good bass. Had finished before my laptop hard started up.
(2) Then some vintage disco funk. The daughter taps her pencil along to the drum break. Which is as close as you get to an endorsement in this house.
(3) Spoken word about some woman named Barbara losing weight. “What are you listening to Dad, it sounds like The Muppets?”
(4) Yankee hardcore: “there's nothing wrong with being sensitive and looking like a dork”. A searing critique of jock culture? Kinda. I have to explain to the daughter that the vocal about treating women like shit is a parody of idiot men. Hmmph.
(5) FEEDBACK AND THRASH! GRUFF MALE VOICE INTONING ABOUT SOMETHING UNPLEASANT! Realm of grindcore, methinks! Good testosterone music. Followed by a slightly bizarre segue into...
(6) Harry Enfield's “Loadsamoney” novelty single from the Stock Aitken Waterman era. It's not very good, but seems recorded quite badly which makes it tonally interesting at least.
(7) “BLEEEEAAAAAAAGH!” More thrash. I was never really into all this but it still takes me back to my youth. Men with denim and lots of bad hair trying to persuade me that I will really like some album with cliched horror lettering on the cover. Good times. This one goes on too long though I reckon.
(8) Ska punk? We are truly taking the scenic route here! We should all unite, apparently. Why not? Seems to have keyboard horns - a pet hate of mine, but it's OK when the double speed skank kicks in. I suspect the curator of this tape has had as many drunken dances in seedy punk clubs as I have.
(9) Then some Vybz Kartel (?) on a repetitive gynaecological tip which I am really really hoping that the daughter doesn't hear. Awkward. Good tune though.
(10) More your anthemic balls-out epic rock with loooong intro. Great riff but terrible slurred rawk vocals.
(11) Gospelly soulful funk. With a bit of distortion which I think is unintended but pretty crunchy and great nonetheless.
(12) Some folky christian hallelujah stuff. Yep. A bit stiff compared to the “Oh Brother Where Art Thou” OST. Possibly because this is more modern and more european? It skips a bit, which might be Satan's influence.
(13) Nasty X-rated anti-social American punk about a security guard who calls up working girls on the job. “I watch topless dancers and I wonder if I have cancer”. Riiiiiiiiiight. Quite cool – exactly the kind of thing you want on a mixtape – I know there's a tonne of good USA punk out there but I'm fucked if I'm going to wade through it myself.
(14) A folksy reel, I guess you would call it. Good accelerations. I point out to junior that this is a weird tape. “Oh yeah, like none of your other stuff is weird, Dad...” Fair play. Oh hang on – this has sort of a breakbeat thing happening as well? “World” music alarm is twanging?!
(15) Screams and incoherent vocals. Japanese? The Boredoms or something? Ace. Lots of short bursts of noise. Then MOAR thrash. It's good to have some of this now and again, it certainly stops things getting too polite. It has also driven the daughter from the room, although the cat remains. This sounds like one of those seven inches which has 18 tracks on one side.
(16) Some kind of militant female chanting call and response.
(17) A female vocal intones “Free Jah Jah Children” and there is about 10 seconds of bassline. END OF SIDE ONE.
SIDE TWO
(1) Kicks off with a song from the TV show Lassie which is all campy country and pretty great for an opener.
(2) We are then into some hey nonny nonny folk stuff with a female vocalist doing something “until she is sore” which is pretty great, in a Wickerman kind of way?
(3) An ace thrash cover of what I assume is a Wurzels song about cider? I went to a posh Hauschka and Johan Johannsson gig at the Barbican last year and the guy I was with bought me cider by mistake – I got a proper suburban teenage flashback off it. Mixtape novelty business! Someone knows my level...
(4) Next track is folksier again with more of a glam rock feel somewhere and a male vocal. Appears to be a penny whistle solo. Hmmm. Much of this track was obscured by my better half coming in having just finished her work and wanting a chat. I bet Simon Reynolds never gets that.
(5) Some proper vinyl clickery heralds the next track which takes us to... AFRIIIIIKKKKKKAAAA! Bhundu Boys twinkly guitars and maybe the sun will stay out tomorrow. Hard to know what these chaps are singing about but it's a million miles away from all that “Afro-Noise” dreck. It's got a long freakout at the end where the tempo ramps up. Proper.
(6) Then someone is gargling over bar-room bluesy rock. They are “lie-ing in a bed of fire” apparently which seems like a serious health and safety violation. This is exactly the sort of music I don't have any of. Nor do I want any of it, really, except perhaps as a soundtrack to some demented roadtrip?
(7) Boom! Hip-house techno redemption! With snare rolls! Hands in the air! And a bit of echo in the breakdown. This sounds like 90s and possibly German? That rather good midpoint between the Venga Boys and Happy Hardcore. FUN and not for the purists. (which is perhaps the over-arching philosophy of the tape). Some nice hoovery bits with breakbeats. First tune that I am tempted to find out what it is...
(8) Piano balladry? Why? WHY? “In the spiritual sky”? Like a hippy Elton John. “If you are so attached to the material world - it is hard to see the one you looooove” it seems. I can only imagine the look of utter ridicule I would get from the one I love if I mooted detaching ourselves from the material world.
(9) Some funky jazzy breakbeat electronica follows. With kung fu film vocal sample? We must be back in the 1990s again? Not a complaint from me – far from it! Little bit of wobble going on also. Fair takes me back innit. I'm impressed that all this stuff is completely new to me, man is doing good. Some fucked up bits on the vinyl it seems too. Proper. Goes on a bit long though.
(9) Some NOISE! Feedback and shit. Plodding rock submerged beneath it. Fab. Glitched up or maybe a jumping record? Possibly this is a mash up of an actual metal record and an experimental noise thing? Great idea. Doom! Sweat! An exhortation to “KILL! [something indistinguishable]”. This is what I hope Wolf Eyes would sound like, but I bet they don't.
(10) Cheesy disco, OBVIOUSLY. Oh actually it's a Sesame Street tune. GOLD. Not heard this one either, even though I grew up on Muppet Show LPs (and have encouraged my own offspring to do the same). Various characters over slap bass – what's not to like? Cuts short. END OF SIDE TWO.
Phew!
JOHN EDEN
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