Jammin' On The Moon(s)

Returning to Justin Robertson, with an 86-minute Dubhed selection, spanning thirty five years, 13 tracks and countless happy times listening to his music.

Justin's current output as Five Green Moons gives the same thrill as listening to his early remixes of the likes of Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets, many a time buying music just because his name's attached, confident that I would never be disappointed.

Three and a half decades in, and no sign of that, or of Justin slowing down, even though I wonder how he also fits in time to write, paint and DJ on top of all this!

And yes, that is "Vol. 1" appended to the mixtape title...

1) Jamit: Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s (2023)

2) Beglammered (Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33's Remix): The Asphodells (2013)

3) Number Nine: Lionrock (1995)

4) Turning Light (Justin Robertson’s Deadstock 33’s Meditation): Amber Arcades (2016)

5) Love Movement (Album Version By Justin Robertson & John Vick): Revtone ft. Tracey Karmen (2001)

6) This Is Fascism (Destroy All Nazis Mix By Lionrock aka Justin Robertson) (Cover of Consolidated): New Fast Automatic Daffodils (1996)

7) Thrill Me (Justin Robertson's Temple Of Wonders Remix): Unloved (2023)

8) Keep On Giving (Justin Robertson Remix): Dub Federation (1993)

9) The Mystic Toad (The Deadstock 33's Re-Lick) (Remix By Justin Robertson): Mojo Filter (2018)

10) Turn It Yes (Justin Robertson's Five Green Moons Dub): Jezebell (2026)

11) Voilà, Voilà... (Lion Rock Orchestral Dub) (Remix By Justin Robertson): Rachid Taha (1993)

12) Start A Fire (Justin Robertson's Revtone Vocal Mix): Radio 4 (2003)

13) Moon Ocean: Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s (2023)

1991: Keep On Giving EP: 8

1993: Voilà, Voilà EP: 11

1995: An Instinct For Detection: 3

1996: This Is Fascism: 6

2001: Justin Robertson Presents Revtone: 5

2003: Electrify EP: 12

2013: The Asphodells Remixed: 2

2018: The Mystic Toad EP: 9

2023: Heavenly Remixes 8: 4

2023: Moon Ocean EP: 13

2023: Polychrome Remixes EP: 7

2023: Ritual EP: 1

2026: Turn It Yes Remixes Vol. 1 EP: 10

Jammin' On The Moon(s) Vol. 1 (1:25:48) (GD) (M)

Baby Baby

In 2020, Four Tet released the wondrous Baby, featuring Ellie Goulding looped to perfection over a shimmering, glistening surface of rippling beats.

Fast forward to 30th April 2026, and Tony Romera has offered a pumped up remix that manages to hit hard, without losing the sensitivity of the original.

RamonPang has also remixed 2009's Love Cry and you find the 2026 remixes and their original versions in one handy EP, Baby Love Cry, for a mere three quid via Bandcamp.

Supermarket Sweep

It's nearly that time again, so here's half a dozen 2026 releases that will be scanned at the checkout on Bandcamp Friday and undoubtedly troubling a Dubhed selection or two in the near future.

First up is Broken Chanter with two songs from fourth album This Could Be Us, You, Or Anybody Else. JC from The Vinyl Villain reviewed the album a couple of weeks ago, reflecting that he "long ago run out of superlatives to describe just how much joy and happiness comes [his] way with every new Broken Chanter album."

It was JC and The Vinyl Villain that switched me on to Broken Chanter back in 2020 and, late though I was, I'm up to speed with JC's take on things. I haven't heard the album in full yet but, on the strength of these two, it's an early contender for the 2026 'best of' list.

The brilliantly named Sister Ray Davies, aka Adam Morrow and Jamie Sego, recently released Holy Island Baby, a remix EP companion to last November's debut album Holy Island.

Five reworked songs, including two by the mighty Pye Corner Audio, which are worth the purchase price alone.

Speaking of Pye Corner Audio aka Martin Jenkins, Bandcamp Friday often sees a one-off single drop. This may or may not happen, but either way you can pre-order new album More Songs About The Sun, which is due in June. 

A sequel of sorts to 2022 album Let's Emerge!, More Songs About The Sun features Andy Bell (Ride/GLOK) across several tracks, a spoken word contribution from writer Ian Rankin and even vocals from Martin himself. Great stuff.

What can I tell you about Autumns? Not a lot, to be honest. Autumns is Christian Donaghey and his Bandcamp page has 80+ releases going back to 2014. It was February's 2-track EP, Through The Re-Construction Of Grace, that grabbed my attention.

Opening with a blistering remix of Trolley Coin from last year's Through The Construction Of Grace EP, things ramp up on the flipside with the wonderfully-titled (but with "don't try this, kids" advisory) Spit On A DJ For Therapy.

If you like your pop of the jangly variety, then husband and wife Carl Mann and Kat Mann have got it and then some, performing as Shapes Like People. Their single Lately was recommended to me by Kathryn on BlueSky and it's a shimmering, summery stunner. Sounds even better now that the sun's shining.

Ending on a high, spiritually, metaphorically and literally, is long-time favourite of this blog, Jesse Fahnestock and a fresh release as 10:40.

Winner is constructed around a familiar twangy guitar sample (there's a clue in the title) and it continues the journey that Jesse has been on, via 10:40, Electric Blue Vision, Jezebell, Powder Wax and RetroFit, in pursuit of that perfect synthesis of old and new, borrowed and blue. Personally, I think Jesse nails it every time and his latest release is (excuse the pun) a winner.

Bad Hair Day

Momus sings Michel today, to mitigate the mendacious machinations mirroring the maelstrom in my mind.

Momus is Nicholas John Currie, whose music is much loved around these parts, whether his own compositions (of which there are many) or his takes on other artists' songs (of which there are also many).

Michel is Michel Polnareff, another prolific songwriter whose vast inventory has been revisited and reworked many times over the years, Momus being the latest.

My Regrets is a cover of the 1968 song Mes Regrets, one of several covers of Polnareff compositions commissioned by Robert Dye which Momus has been posting every few days.

It's a lovely cover and I was also struck by the simple yet effective use of the looped video snatch. I've no idea what the source is, or who the featured actor is, but I'm struck by her eyes, the incredible jaw line and the rollers. 

In 1999, French label XIII BIS Records released A Tribute To Polnareff, which is worth tracking down, not least for the songs but the artists selected to cover them, including Nick Cave, PIzzicato Five, The Residents and these three.

 

 

Kool Kim

Happy birthday Kim Gordon, born 28th April 1953.

I don't know what the current stereotypes and tropes are about what you "should" be doing as a septuagenarian, but thank goodness that Kim is doing her own thing which, in her 73rd year, includes releasing her third solo album, Play Me.

I've picked three songs from the current album, and three klassic Kim kuts, one from Ciccone Youth and two from Sonic Youth. I've intentionally avoided repeating selections from my Kim Gordon and Kim Deal tribute last March.

1) Play Me: Kim Gordon (2026)

2) Dirty Tech: Kim Gordon (2026)

3) Sub Con: Kim Gordon (2026)

4) Addicted To Love (Cover of Robert Palmer): Ciccone Youth (1988)

5) Kool Thing: Sonic Youth ft. Chuck D (1990)

6) Sacred Trickster: Sonic Youth (2009)

And, as Bandcamp Friday's coming up this week, why not treat yourself? You can find Kim's solo output plus the Sonic Youth Archive, both chock full of delights.

Have a great one, Kim!

 

 

 

 

 

Feel The Beat Of My Heart With Every Step

Back to my birthplace and some new (to me) music and, unusually (for me), some jazz courtesy of Bristol seven-piece 6161.

Not just any jazz, though. According to the Bandcamp biog, this is "a surge of fiercely drum led and brass heavy alt jazz"

6161's self-titled album came out last March, composed, arranged and led by Matt Stockham Brown, whose skills with the sticks and skins has been employed by artists including Massive Attack, Rodriguez, Gregory Porter, This Is The Kit, Get The Blessing, Robin Kester, Squirrel Flower, Liz Lawrence, Paraorchestra, Cosmo Sheldrake, Cloth and Shabaka Hutchings.

The full band line-up is: 

Matt Stockham Brown (Drums, Electronics & Percussion)

Dan Moore (Synths)

Pete Judge (Trumpet)

Tom Taylor (Baritone Saxophone)

Jake McMurchie (Tenor Saxophone)

Sophie Stockham (Tenor Saxophone)

Riaan Vosloo (Electronics + Additional Bass)

In January, a companion album of 6161 remixes was released and in April (this weekend, to be precise), they wormed their way into my consciousness. By way of comparison and complement with the featured video for Up, here's a remix of the same by Ben Nascosto (aka Jim Barr), followed by Up Sneak, a medley of sorts of Up and Sneakanon, by Examples Of Twelves (which include Riaan Vosloo in their number).

 

If you like any or all of these, then 6161 and 6161 (Remixes) are well worth your time and money.

If you want to catch Matt in action in a live setting, he appears to be on the road a fair bit, performing with other musicians, which you can keep track of via his website.

A Great Big Bundle Of Culture

A debut Dubhed selection for Billy Bragg today, two sides, thirteen songs, forty-four minutes and fifty-nine seconds of music.

On Thursday, I posted the above photo on BlueSky with the comment 

"Compared to the cost of reality, this is starting to look like a bargain…"

Billy is someone who's always provided value for money when it comes to a dose of reality, whether his own songs or covers of other politically-motivated artists. As such, this selection includes Billy's takes on Woody Guthrie (twice, one with Wilco, the other with The Blokes) and Bruce Springsteen.

I've included two of Billy's best known songs, Levi Stubbs' Tears and A New England, as well as a clutch of songs from this century. For some, Bragg went downhill the minute he started adding other musicians and instruments, experimenting with different styles ('baggy' remixes of Sexuality in the 1990s, adopting an American accent in the 2010s) and, well, getting older. Not me.

Whilst I haven't been a committed fan, I remember those appearances on The Tube in the 1980s with fondness and my intermittent and infrequent dips into Billy's catalogue more often than not uncovers gold.

Side One

1) A13, Trunk Road To The Sea (1983)

2) Run Out Of Reasons (1997)

3) Mansion On The Hill (Cover of Bruce Springsteen) (2003)

4) Ingrid Bergman (Cover of Woody Guthrie): Billy Bragg & Wilco (1998)

5) The Marching Song Of The Covert Battalions (1990)

6) Cindy Of A Thousand Lives (1991)

7) A New England (1983)

Side Two

1) England, Half English (7" Remix By The Lobster Boys): Billy Bragg & The Blokes (2002)

2) Levi Stubbs' Tears (1986)

3) Chile Your Waters Run Red Through Soweto (Live) (Cover of Sweet Honey In The Rock) (1988)

4) All You Fascists Bound To Lose (Cover of Woody Guthrie): Billy Bragg & The Blokes (1999)

5) No One Knows Nothing Any More (2013)

6) The Saturday Boy (1984)

1983: Life's A Riot With Spy vs. Spy EP: A7

1984: Brewing Up With Billy Bragg: B6

1986: Talking With The Taxman About Poetry: B2

1988: Help Save The Youth Of America EP: Live & Dubious: B3

1990: The Internationale EP: A5

1991: Don't Try This At Home: A6

1997: The Boy Done Good / Sugar Daddy EP: A2

1998: Mermaid Avenue: A4

1999: Mermaid Avenue Tour / You Can Call Me Cupcake: B4

2002: Take Down The Union Jack EP: B1

2003: Born To Run 2003, Volume 2 (Uncut magazine promo CD): A3

2003: Must I Paint You A Picture?: A1

2013: Tooth & Nail: B5

Side One (22:17) (GD) (M)

Side Two (22:42) (GD) (M)

Youth Is Wasted On The Young

Youth aka Martin Glover could never be accused of slacking off. Since picking up a bass and co-founding Killing Joke, he's been a constant in my musical consciousness since the 1980s and shows no sign of slowing down in 2026.

Youth's CV includes production, collaboration, "supervision" and remix credits for artists ranging from Tom Jones to The Irresistible Force, Transglobal Underground to Cast, Du Blonde to Crowded House, The Orb to Shack and back again.

This ten-track, hour-long selection is rooted in the early 1990s, occasionally branches out into the 21st century and features some of my favourite reworks.

There's the Led Zeppelin-sampling cavernous boom of Björk's old band The Sugarcubes, with late period classic VItamin. 

This is preceded by a mighty dub of Killing Joke circa 1994, when the original line-up not only reformed but dove even deeper into the dub oceans they had previously explored a decade and a half before.

The remixes of Walking On Air by Frazier Chorus were a game changer, and I would have loved to have heard what Youth would have done if let loose on the entire album Ray, not just a couple of songs.

And Natacha Atlas' breathtaking ululations find a perfect complement in Youth's remix of Yalla Chant, which cropped up on a disproportionate number of my mixtapes in the mid-late 1990s.

Not that the remainder are any less of an experience, whether it's teaching old Goths new tricks (Peter Murphy, The Mission), flirting with pop (The Art Of Noise, P.M. Dawn) or going toe-to-toe with legends (Bim Sherman, Jah Wobble). Youth takes it all in his pace, weighted down with plenty of bass.

1) The Art Of Slow Love (Remix By Youth): The Art Of Noise (1991)

2) A Watcher's Point Of View (Don't 'Cha Think) (Youth Extended Mix): P.M. Dawn (1991)

3) Freaks Of Nature (Natural Dub Mix By Youth & Ott): Dub Trees ft. Bim Sherman (2000)

4) I Am My Own Name (Youth Remix): Peter Murphy (2015)

5) Another Cult Goes Down (Portobello Mix By Youth & Greg Hunter): Killing Joke (1994)

6) Vitamin (Babylon's Burnin) (Remix By Youth): The Sugarcubes (1992)

7) Tower Of Strength (Lysergic Dub) (Remix By Youth): The Mission (1994)

8) Walking On Air (Dub Instrumental) (Remixed By Youth): Frazier Chorus (1990)

9) Inspector Out Of Space: Youth Meets Jah Wobble ft. Rhiannon Sharkey (2020)

10) Yalla Chant (The Lesson Four Remix By Youth): Natacha Atlas (1995)

1990: Ray/The Baby Album (ltd 2x CD): 8

1991: A Watcher's Point Of View (Don't 'Cha Think) EP: 2

1991: The FON Mixes: 1

1992: Vitamin EP: 6

1994: Exorcism EP: 5

1994: Tower Of Strength EP: 7

1995: Yalla Chant EP: 10

2000: Nature Never Did Betray the Heart That Loved Her: 3

2015: Remixes From Lion: 4

2020: Acid Punk Dub Apocalypse: 9

Youth Is Wasted On The Young (1:00:07) (GD) (M)

Friday On Friday

There's a long-running and ongoing series on BlueSky called #FallFriday which - no surprise here - sees people posting a song by The Fall on a Friday.

This is my first contribution to #FallFriday and of course I had to be a clever dick by picking a song that guest stars Gavin Friday.

Clear Off! wasn't even a single, but followed on from Draygo's Guilt on Side 1 of the Call For Escape Route EP, a 1984 12" single which came with a free 7" single, racking up five songs in total. All bloody good songs, too.

Clear Off! isn't Gavin's only collaboration with Mark E. Smith and co., maybe I'll feature either or both when I finally have the nerve to create a Dubhed selection for The Fall...

When the off license asks

I've been 2 months

Checks the crack

On their forehead

Should comb a hair

Over that

And these Czech shoes

Are a bloody reminder

And this town

Is not much different

The clothes, the stooped appearance

Over the hill

Goes killer civil servant

I still remember

The white leafy border

The scheiss in winter

Over the hill

Goes killer civil servant

There's a song she had before

Borough town

That had the snappy rejoinder

Who's there?

What's wrong?

Clear off!

Overhead A Rainbow Appears In Black And White

You can depend on Half Man Half Biscuit to have a song for every occasion.

Warning: this video contains images of Simon Cowell, Jeremy Clarkson, Bono, Jeremy Kyle and "rubber faced irritant" Phil Cool.

 

Pulling the ice axe from my leg

I staggered on

Spindrift stinging my remaining eye

I finally managed to reach the station

Only to find that the bus replacement service had broken down

After wondering to myself whether or not

It should actually be called a train replacement service

I walked out onto the concourse and 

Noticed the giant screen seemed to have been tampered with

Probably by a junior employee

Disgruntled commuters were being regaled with some dismal TVM

Involving a tug-of-love-custody-battle

Stockard Channing held sway

Down in the High Street somebody careered out of Boots 

Without due care or attention

I suggest that they learn some pedestrian etiquette

i.e. sidle out of the store gingerly

Embrace the margin

Fat kids with sausage rolls

Poor sods conducting polls

There's a man with a mullet going mad with a mallet in Millets

I try to put everything into perspective

Set it against the scale of human suffering

And I thought of the Mugabe government

And the children of the Calcutta railways

This works for a while

But then I encounter Primark FM

Overhead a rainbow appears

In black and white

Shite Day

I guess this must be National Shite Day

This surely must be National Shite Day

Don't tell me, it's National Shite Day

Float... float on

Float... float on

Barry... Herpes

I got a letter from Stringy Bob

Still on suicide watch

Screws not happy

Spotted a Marsh Fritillary during association

Was roundly ignored

What news you

I felt sorry for him

He'd only been locked up for public nuisance offences

One of which saw him beachcombing the Dee Estuary

Found a dead wading bird

Took it home, parcelled it up

And sent it off to the rubber-faced irritant Phil Cool

With a note inside which read: 

"Is this your Sanderling?"

Another time saw him answering an advert in the music press

"Keyboard player required: Doors, Floyd, etc.

Must be committed, no time wasters"

You can guess the rest

I always imagined he would 

Simply wander off some day into the hills

To be found months later

His carcass stripped by homeless dogs

His exposed skull a perch for the quartering crow

I folded away the letter and put it in my inside pocket

All of a sudden I felt brushed by the wings of something dark

May the Lord have mercy on Stringy Bob

Shite Day

I do believe it's National Shite Day

It all points to National Shite Day

Someone's declared it National Shite Day

Shite Day

My birthday! 

On National Shite Day

No bogroll, it's National Shite Day

Cue drumroll, it's National Shite Day