A Cycle Without End

A dozen picks from my weekend music haul, half-and-half new releases and newly discovered.

I've been dipping into the PRAH label archives, including their annual 'Scratching The Surface...' samplers, mostly name your price and bursting with curiosities from their catalogue. Choice picks here are from Gentle Stranger and Raven Bush, plus a remix of Stroud-based 4-piece The Umlauts by label mate Hiro Ama. All good stuff and well worth a visit.

There's quite an electronic lean to this selection, spanning Prins Thomas, Luke Vibert and Soulwax, from 10:40 to Pye Corner Audio via 100 Poems, with a bold Bowie cover.

Autumns are new to me and I've been listening to the Through The Re-Construction Of Grace EP on repeat. The remix of Trolley Coin featured here has a real Mark Stewart vibe, which I love. A perfect counterpoint is DJ Lui's edit of a Fad Gadget classic, Lady Shave.

Wrapping things up is a remix of Not On The Radar, the title track of Mark Fry's 2025 album. As a teenager in 1971, Mark released Dreaming With Alice, which went on to become a psychedelic cult album. Three and a half decades later, the difficult second album appeared and Mark's been on a roll since, Not On The Radar being album #5.

And who to remix? None other than Richard Norris, delivering another slice of sonic sunshine.

It was such a fruitful shopping trip that a second 12-song selection will be popping up here sometime this week. In the meantime, try then go off and buy!

1) Boiler Suits & Combat Boots (Hiro Ama Remix): The Umlauts (2022)

2) Cycle: Pye Corner Audio ft. Andy Bell (2026)

3) Once In A While: Gentle Stranger (2021)

4) Løveskatt (Prins Thomas Diskomiks): Ora The Molecule (2025)

5) Winner: 10:40 (2026)

6) Perfect We Are Not: Soulwax (2026)

7) To Ziggy With Love (Cover of 'Ziggy Stardust' by David Bowie): 100 Poems (2026)

8) Floss: Raven Bush (2019)

9) Trolley Coin (Dyslexia Mix): Autumns (2026)

10) Lady Shave (DJ Lui Danceteria Edit): Fad Gadget (2015)

11) Don't Touch (Luke Vibert Remix): The Veees (2016)

12) Not On The Radar (Richard Norris Remix): Mark Fry (2025)

2015: Lady Shave EP: 10

2016: The Veees: 11

2019: Jeté EP: 8

2021: Phantom Thoroughfare: 3

2022: Boiler Suits & Combat Boots EP: 1

2025: Løveskatt EP: 4

2025: Not On The Radar: 12

2026: More Songs About The Sun: 2

2026: Partick Sailing Club Presents PSC#001: The Beautiful Flowers Wait For Peace: 7

2026: Perfect We Are Not EP: 6

2026: Through The Re-Construction Of Grace EP: 9

2026: Winner EP: 5

A Cycle Without End (1:02:04) (GD) (M)

Still Jammin' On The Moon(s)

My shortlist for yesterday's Justin Robertson mixtape ran to 26 tracks, enough for two 86-minute Dubhed selections, so why keep you waiting?

More of an even split between the 20th and 21st centuries, there are some classic remixes of Finitribe and Stereo MC's, a rare B-side from Justin's late 90s alias Gentleman Thief, a deep cut from Lionrock's hugely underrated second album, plenty from The Deadstock 33s and collaborations with Dot Allison, Michael Rother, Nadine Sutherland, Ernie Ranglin and Brix Smith.

More nourishing than a Sunday roast, well, spiritually at least... enjoy the feast!

1) Arikanto (Justin Robertson Remix): DJ Shine (2011)

2) Forevergreen (Forevermost Excellent Mix By Justin Robertson, Mr. Samples & Phunky Torso): Finitribe (1992)

3) I'm In Love... (Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s Remix) (Cover of The Passions): Andy Bell ft. Dot Allison & Michael Rother (2025)

4) Who Are You? (Sleuth Mix By Justin Robertson & Richard Hector-Jones): Larceny (1995)

5) The Liquidator: Lionrock 1997)

6) Spain (The Deadstock 33's Edit By Justin Robertson): The Stranglers (2010)

7) Creation (Justin Robertson Instrumental): Stereo MC's (1993)

8) At Peace In The Barber's Chair: Gentleman Thief (1999)

9) Brix Goes Tubular (Extended Version): Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s & Brix Smith (2022)

10) Ramvong (Justin Robertson Deadstock 33's Remix): Richard Rossa (2014)

11) Seventeen (Justin Robertson Mix): Ladytron (2009)

12) Lost In Space (Lionrock Galactic Boogie Mix By Justin Robertson) (Cover of John Williams): Apollo 440 (1998)

13) Save Me (Album Version By Justin Robertson): Two Culture Clash ft. Nadine Sutherland & Ernie Ranglin (2004) 

1992: Forevergreen (The Justin Robertson Mixes) EP: 2

1993: Creation EP: 7

1995: Who Are You? EP: 4

1997: City Delirious: 5

1998: Lost In Space EP: 12

1999: We Generate Love EP: 8

2004: Two Culture Clash: 13

2009: Light & Magic: Remixed & Rare: 11

2010: Spain EP: 6

2011: Arikanto EP: 1

2014: Ramvong EP: 10

2022: Brix Goes Tubular EP: 9

2025: I'm In Love... EP: 3

Jammin' On The Moon(s) Vol. 2 (1:25:41) (GD) (M)

If you've still got room for desert, please indulge yourself with this trio of JR selections from the Dubhed archives:

 

Truth In The Palm Of Her Hands (Lionrock singles and remixes 1992-1997)

Dip Your Hip (JR/Deadstock 33s tracks and remixes, 2001-2023)

Deadstock Holiday (JR remixes 1990-2023)

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

Cosmic Era Marital Home Melodies

Would Spacemoth exist without Stereolab? Possibly, possibly not, but I'm very pleased to make their acquaintance via t'internet.

Do We Exist? is the first song on Spacemoth's second album, Inward Eye, due in June. 

Pipe And Pistol is the third track from first album No Past No Future and the second song by Spacemoth that I heard, less than one hour before writing this. 

Maryam Qudus, for she is Spacemoth, has enhanced her music making craft as freelance producer, engineer and "noisemaker" with a CV including the likes of Toro Y Moi, Death Cab For Cutie, Tune-Yards and Sasami, and the experience has fed into her own songs, bending instruments into new shapes (metaphorically not literally).

Last week, the ever-dependable KEXP invited Spacemoth in for a session and Maryam performs as a four-piece with Marika Stuurman, Derek Barber and Cody Rhodes. 

Opening with Do We Exist?, there are two more songs from Inward Eye (Round In Loops and UFObird) and one from the debut (Internet Fantasy); all four are excellent and in the post-session chat with host Cheryl Walters, Maryam is an engaging interviewee.

You can but both Spacemoth albums on Bandcamp and various items of merch from the official website.

This Film's Crap

How can it be that David Holmes' debut album is over 30 years old?!

This Film's Crap Let's Slash The Seats managed two weeks in the UK album charts in July 1995, peaking in its first week at #51. That said, not bad for a largely instrumental album, soundtracking imaginary movies that you may think twice before watching anyway.

The singles were no less uncompromising: Minus 61 In Detroit coming in at over nine minutes and album opener No Mans Land pushing the envelope even further, twelve minutes and forty five seconds of nerve tapping twitchiness.

Like Johnny Favourite, the non-album single that preceded them, neither single managed to break out of the Top 80 in their 1-2 week stay in the charts.

Record label Go! Beat played what I guess they thought was their trump card by following up with a third and final single the following April, with Gone. Another lengthy album track at just over eight minutes, Gone at least got a radio edit for the single release, although whether it could be described as 'radio friendly' is another matter.

Propelled by bass, guitar (courtesy of Keith Tenniswood) and a shuffling percussion, the key selling point is the guest vocal from Sarah Cracknell of Saint Etienne.

The lyrics are confined to a mere eighteen words

I'm gonna hide

She don't even know

I'm gonna run away

And you can never go on anymore

And you can never go on anymore

...although I'd always heard that final refrain as 

And you can never go home anymore

...which I prefer, but what do I know?

Gone fared slightly better than the previous three singles, although by 'better' I mean that it managed a single week in the chart at #75. 

Not that David appeared bothered in the least. Six months later, he was back with My Mate Paul, his first Top 40 hit, and a second album (Let's Get Killed) the following year, which did the same. And then he got properly into soundtracks, which was a game changer.

This Film's Crap Let's Slash The Seats is the David Holmes album I revisit the least, not because it's not much good but more that I need to be in a certain mood/frame of mind to listen to it. 

At the weekend, to mark a re-release of the album for Record Store Day, a video (and radio edit!) emerged of the kind-of-title-track Slash The Seats.

As a reminder of David's first album, and Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns' first major (co)production project following the part of The Sabres Of Paradise, it's an astonishing piece of music that still hits hard, three decades on.

Let's Calibrate And Check Our Specs

To celebrate the deluxe edition reissue of Beastie Boys' 2004 album To The 5 Boroughs, an animated video has been commissioned for It Takes Time To Build.

Track four, side one, twenty two years old and still sounds like it could be a brand new single release. 

I was listening to To The 5 Boroughs just last month and it's up there with their best. A response to the 9/11 tragedy, a love letter to New York, a scathing indictment of the US government, it still resonates today. It Takes Time To Build in particular could easily swap out Bush for Trump and remain relevant.

Videos were as much a part of Beastie Boys' world as their music, and Ad Rock, MCA and Mike D always brought their A game. It Takes Time To Build does a good job in it's unavoidable animated format, but I've included the four singles from back in 2004 as a reminder of how each new release was essential viewing.

 

 

 

If you don't like the news then press eject

Baby Davis getting older can't take a rain check

It's time to let'em know what we expect

Stop building SUV's strung out on OPEC

Hold up wait up you know we come correct

You wanna change things up, well hey just get set

It's easier to sit back than stick out your neck

It's easier to break things than build it correct

We've got a president we didn't elect

The Kyoto treaty he decided to neglect

And still the US just wants to flex

Keep doin' that wop we gonna break our necks

It takes a second to wreck it

It takes time to build

You gots to chill

Hate filled people wanna keep us in check

Tearin' down each other is what they expect

If you want love well hey that's a bet

We've got to give before we can get

Waiting like a batter who is on deck

When it's time to wreck shop then shop I'll wreck

So let's calibrate and check our specs

We need a little shift on over towards the left

I don't really know but I suspect

I think it's due time that we inspect

How they get their information and their facts are checked

Another press conference someone's talking out their neck

It takes a second to wreck it

It takes time to build

You gots to chill

So step up to the window and place your bets

Is the US gonna keep breaking necks

Maybe it's time that we impeach Tex

And the military muscle that he wants to flex

By the time Bush is done what will be left

Selling votes like E-pills at the discotheque

Environmental destruction and the national dept

But plenty of dollars left in the fat war chest

What the real deal why you can't connect

Why you hating people that you never met

Didn't your mama teach you to show some respect?

Why not open your mind for a sec?

It takes a second to wreck it

It takes time to build

You gots to chill

In It's Own Good Time

I got a bit carried away with today's selection.

I was keen to create another long-form piece, three to four tracks, each around the twenty-minute mark. I ended up with a short list of eight, couldn't whittle them down any further, so I used them.

A single, eight-song selection would have clocked in at nearly three hours, so instead I've sequenced the tracks into two separate 'phases', each coming in at 83-84 minutes.

The music  spans the last five decades, though mostly comes from the 21st century. There are two 'oldies'. Tangerine Dream were properly introduced to me through listening to The Orb in the 1990s. Green Desert was recorded in 1973 but not finished and released until 1986, as part of the vinyl box set In The Beginning...

I read about Les Rallizes Dénudés first, in Julian Cope's absorbing and essential Japrocksampler, and were one of many such bands that I actively tracked down after finishing the book. There are relatively few official Les Rallizes Dénudés releases, and tons of unofficial ones. Enter The Mirror usually clocks in at around ten minutes, but the version here comes in at double that.

The Arch Drude himself follows suit, having put out what seems like dozens of albums , particularly the Rite series, featuring extended jams and/or streams of consciousness. Last year, Julian returned with I Dream The Cosmos Atavistic.

Likewise, Moby has been putting out music like this ever since he put out a 33-minute ambient version of 1994 single Hymn. His Long Ambients/LA series is exactly as the title describes. It may send you to sleep, but then that was Moby's intention all along.

A surprise addition in 2003 was Paddy McAloon's album I Trawl The Megahertz, not least the 22-minute opening song. If you've not heard it, I won't spoil things with a description. Suffice to say it's a radical - and beautiful - departure from his work as Prefab Sprout. When the album was reissued in 2019, it was rebranded as Prefab Sprout, but this is a one-of-a-kind record from a one-of-a-kind artist.

Dungen were recommended to me by my friend John, Swedish prog/psych rock for the modern age. Today's featured song is Midsommarbongen, which you can translate without too much trouble as 'The Midsummer Bong' which probably tells you all you need to know about what the music sounds like.

The first track on Phase 1 and the last track on Phase 2 are courtesy of Richard Norris, who has released 20-minute ambient pieces on a monthly basis for years now, transforming it into an art form.

Spring - Alban Eilir is from Richard's 2023 edition of his Music For Healing series. It not only felt like a timely inclusion, but also features some beautiful trumpet floating throughout. Land by Deep Earth Network is so fresh that it came out in March. An "earth inspired sonic journey" created by Danny Hammond, mastered by Richard and featuring shack- and field-recordings and spoken word, including those inspiring today's post title.

Phase 1

1) Spring - Alban Eilir: Richard Norris (2023)

2) Green Desert: Tangerine Dream (1973)

3) LA3: Moby (2016)

4) I Trawl The Megahertz: Paddy McAloon (2003)

Phase 2

1) Enter The Mirror (Mars Studio Version 2): Les Rallizes Dénudés (1980)

2) Psalm Zero: Julian Cope (2025)

3) Midsommarbongen: Dungen (2001)

4) Land 1: Deep Earth Network (2026)

1986: Green Desert: A2

2003: I Trawl The Megahertz: A4

2005: Dungen 1999-2001: B3

2012: Mars Studio 1980: B1

2016: Long Ambients 1: Calm. Sleep.: A3

2023: Music For Healing: Equinox 3: A1

2025: I Dream The Cosmos Atavistic: B2

2026: Land: B4

In It's Own Good Time (Phase 1) (1:24:01) (GD) (M)

In It's Own Good Time (Phase 2) (1:23:37) (GD) (M)

If that's not enough and you want to fill your boots/mind/day with more of the same, take your pick!

Chic Thug Stuttered Through A Stereo Dream (August 2021)

Conchoidal Fracture (January 2022)

Monoliths (May 2023)

Sendimentary Sedentary (October 2023)

Urban Head Musics (July 2021) / More Urban Head Musics (February 2022)