Elect Tronik

Today's selection features Tronik Youth aka Neil Parnell, and is a follow up of sorts to last Wednesday's spotlight on recent purchases from NEIN Records, the label Neil co-founded with Ian Considine over a decade ago.

 

In a 2018 interview celebrating 5 years of NEIN, Neil described the label's mission as "trying to spread some dark magic around the worlds dance floors" and this brief, C90-friendly mix attempts to reflect some of that in his own remixes and releases as Tronik Youth.

Most of the tracks are from the last few years, but I have included Tronik Youth's debut in 2006 with a remix of Listen Up! by Gossip. At the time Neil, a record shop boss and DJ, got involved with a friend who ran Back Yard Records. The two discovered and signed Gossip, Neil had a go at doing a remix and the rest is history.

 

If you're new to Tronik Youth and like what you hear, head first to NEIN Records on Bandcamp, where you will find a fair few Tronik Youth releases, re-edits and remixes of other label artists for your listening pleasure. 

However, a quick online search will also throw up a vast catalogue of music released on other labels and with other artists in the past two decades, as 2014's Suicide Doors on tici taci (included here) illustrates.

 

1) Cult Haze (One Of Us) (Tronik Youth 'Ritual' Remix): Dan Wainwright (2021)

2) Wrong System (Jay-Son Remix): Tronik Youth (2024)

3) Suicide Doors (Inaigo Vontier Remix): Tronik Youth (2014)

4) I Say Yes (Tronik Youth Remix): Cosman (2024)

5) Listen Up! (Tronik Youth Remix) (Edit): Gossip (2006)

6) Red Shift (Tronik Youth Remix): MAN2.0 (2022)

7) Serpens Caput (Tronik Youth Remix): Celestino (2023)

8) Ghosted Me: Tronik Youth (2024)

 

2008: Rework It: 5

2021: The Universal Energy Within EP: 1

2022: Red Shift EP: 6

2023: tici taci Decade Volume 1: 3

2023: We Are Nothing But Space Dust Remixes EP: 7

2024: I Say Yes EP: 4 

2024: Tronik Youth Club Edits EP: 8

2024: Wrong System EP: 2

 

Elect Tronik (45:28) (KF) (Mega)

Random Bag

As the title suggests, a dip into my bag of Bandcamp Friday purchases and a selection that's not quite as eclectic as a glance at the line-up might indicate. 

 

1) Obsolescence Programmée: schroothoop (2020)

2) Space Drohne (Duncan Gray Remix): Matt Gunn (2023)

3) Old Hands: The Scientist (2015)

4) Maria De Barro: Disco For The People (2019)

5) You're All In Disguise (Marshall Neeko Remix): Jimmy Riley (2024)

6) End Of Times (Ono-Sendai Sound Version): David Harrow + Little Annie (2024)

7) Eye Co (Cover of 'Jock-A-Mo' by James 'Sugar Boy' Crawford & His Cane Cutters): Marshall Watson (2024)

8) Inspiration (Instrumental) 2: Kerri 'Kaoz' Chandler Presents Arnold Jarvis (2021)

9) Like A Bird: Dan Wainwright (2024)

 

2015: Old Hands EP: 3 

2019: Chapter One Edits EP: 4

2020: Global Riddims Volume 2: 1

2023: Mostly Fiction: 2 

2024: Dad Giveaway: 8

2024: Dan Wainwright: 9

2024: End Of Times EP: 6

2024: Eye Co EP: 7

2024: Solidarity Riddim: 5

 

Random Bag (44:28) (KF) (Mega)

What You Need Is To Be Free

Next Thursday is 29th February, Leap Year's Day, and Dan Wainwright marks the occasion with the release of a self-titled (or untitled, if you prefer) album.

 

I first featured Dan's music here very early on, not even 50 posts in and just getting into gear with daily uploads. Swiss Adam at Bagging Area had switched me onto Dan's music and I was immediately hooked. Broadly speaking, electronic music but with elements of dub, psychedelia, deep-down vocals and equally at home on a pair of headphones or booming from club-or-pub speakers.

 

In the past three years, I've regularly featured Dan's music in Dubhed selections and end of year round ups, not least the excellent Psychedelic Science, a deep, dubby collaboration with Rude Audio and a highlight of 2023.

 

Dan's new album is a different proposition altogether, eight songs of Dan singing, accompanied only by his ukelele. Is there a need for ukelele-playing singer songwriters in the 21st century? Abso-bloody-lutely.

I pre-ordered the album and Dan very kindly posted the CD to me in advance of the official release day, so I've had an opportunity to listen to the album a fair bit in the past couple of weeks.That in itself has proved to be a unique personal experience.

My usual go-to is a plug-in CD/DVD player and I generally listen to (and rip) CDs via the Clan K computer. It's a bit temperamental though and randomly refuses to play certain CDs, despite various attempts at cleaning, coaxing and cursing. Dan's album drew the short straw on this occasion.

My car doesn't have a CD facility so the only other option to hand was a CD & radio that we bought for Lady K when she was little, mainly to play audio books on CD, and which has been long-abandoned. It kind of works, but needs a bit of effort. It requires an absolutely stable surface otherwise the CD skips. The lid no longer stays closed, so you either need to place a weight on it or lift the carry handle to an upright position to (mostly) keep it shut, otherwise the CD stops playing. The back- and forward-skip functions are unreliable. The radio aerial snapped off many years ago.  The once pink-and-white body now looks more mouldy-peach-and-piss-yellow. But it did the job.

 

Logistically, this has also meant that I've inevitably played to the album either late at night or very early in the morning through headphones, which has provided an even more intensely intimate listening experience.

I've been on Dan's mailing list since 2021 so what, from a casual glance at his Bandcamp catalogue, may seem like an abrupt change of direction has been many years in the making. The last couple in particular focused on practicing and finding a voice with the ukelele, with regular YouTube uploads (unavailable now) of Dan's works-in-progress. Even so, the album shows how much further Dan has come in that time.

I can't confess to owning a vast amount of ukelele-led music, yet it feels absolutely right for the songs and album as a whole. These are deeply personal reflections and narratives that benefit from the musical setting. At times, the ukelele stylings reminded me of Spanish guitar generally and the stripped-back sounds of, say, Rodrigo y Gabriela.

Dan's 'practice' YouTube uploads also included covers of John Prine, Neil Young and Willie Nelson, which are also useful pointers to the sound and the feel of the album.

Is it folk? I guess so, the narratives appear to inspired and informed by Dan's lived experience and presented with accessible lyrics that you can imagine being sung around a campfire or in a pub, with others joining in as the occasion demands. The other 'folky' aspect that I really like is that Dan's singing voice retains his regional accent. It's something that I am personally drawn to when listening to music, but feels even more important given Dan's journey to this album and finding his own voice.

You don't need to know about Dan to enjoy the album, the songs welcome you in and enrich you in their own right. However, Dan's openness about his struggle with continuing down the 'easier' and more established path of electronic music, the impact on his health and well being, and the desire to give life to the lyrics and music that he'd been crafting in the background for the past decade or so lends the album a different, affecting quality. 

I was rooting for Dan to believe in himself and take the bold step of saying "this is me" with this album and he's done it. I really, really like this album.

1) I'll Come Running

I came across the Devil 

And he looked into my eyes

2) She Knew What She Knew 

Fresh air of the spring

And the sun is shining down 

 

3) Liberty 

Sadly I didn't bring my kite

So I cannot fly tonight

 

4) Plain To See 

You know I love you, you know I do

You said you don't need it

I said I don't need it too

 

5) Time Are Hard

When I woke up this morning

I didn't think you'd be here with me

  

6) Until There's Peace 

Why don't you talk to me my darling?

 

7) Big Boss Man 

Give me my money, Big Boss Man

I worked so hard

Just to earn my hand

 

8) Like A Bird

Don't be alone

Take what you need

And walk along until you're free

 

 

Three of the songs are available to preview on Bandcamp, though I would encourage you to pre-order ahead of next Thursday's official release as the other five songs are every bit as beautiful. 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Why Why Why Why

My introduction to the magnificence that is The Woodentops' Why Why Why was pretty innocuous.

I bought the double pack 7" single of Everyday Living on the strength of the title track and having the 12" mixes of Move Me and Well Well Well on the bonus vinyl. Rounding out the package on Side 2 was a track, singularly titled Why, which I'd never heard before.

Both the 7" A- and B-sides were remixed by the band with Adrian Sherwood. Both were good songs, the latter a fairly sedate chugger with crashing percussion but no hint of it's subsequent future as a Balearic classic.

I've never been to Ibiza so I missed the opportunity to hear the song played out there. However, the first inkling I had that Why Why Why was so much more than a B-side was hearing 1987's Live Hypnobeat Live album. Here, the acoustic strum and Rolo McGinty's insistent vocals come to the fore, creating an uptempo rhythm that drummer Benny Staples follows. Staples was a co-writer, along with Rolo and guitarist Simon Mawby, and it's a fascinating example of how the song evolved from it's studio origins to those exploratory live performances.

The video heading this post is from a later live performance at the Dominion Theatre in London circa 1988. It stretches Why Why Why out even further to over seven minutes but not a second is extraneous. Makes me wish I'd been there back in the day, it ust have been an incredible experience.

I've included three other versions of Why Why Why, starting with Adrian Sherwood's extended mix from the 12" single, just under eight minutes of On-U goodness. 

 

Next up is the Balearic Re-Edit by Tony Johns & Dave Boreham, which appears to date from 1988 but I'm not sure if it had a release prior to it's appearance on the (excellent) Before During After compilation in 2013. Still sounds pretty fresh to these aging ears in 2023.

Last up and a first time discovery when putting this post together is A WTF Acid Dub Remix, one of eight commissioned by and released on Wall Of Sound in 2016. Despite the obvious interpretation, WTF is in fact an acronym for the remixers, Dan Wainwright and Trevor Fung. Trevor is a legendary DJ and key player in the Balearic movement of the late 1980s, whilst Dan has been a regular on this site for his glorious 21st century take on psychedelic electronica. The pair strip the song - and tempo - right back, with Rolo's vocal pared down to a titular chant and "are you ready now?". 

 

Admittedly, none of the remixes can match the live performances but it's wonderful to see Why Why Why - and The Woodentops - continue to inspire three decades later.

 

In Space We Trust

The final selection of 2022 highlights was becoming a bit of a monster. This nearly ended up as a 22-track, two-and-a-half hour megalomaniamix, such was my difficulty in paring down the many, many songs that I've loved this year but which hadn't made it onto the previous selections this week. 

 

Nobody needs a monster mix on New Year's Eve though, me included, so here's a rather more reasonable 10 track selection at just over an hour. I could quite decide if I was creating a club or a chill out area but hopefully enough to get a party started...in our case, Clan K, the cat, some food and party games and skipping Jools Holland's Hootenanny.

 

More of the usual suspects but a couple of new (to me) artists, BT COP and Residentes Balearicos, that were respectively introduced via the superb Shelter Me and Higher Love Vol. 2 compilations earlier this year.

 

And, just under the wire for consideration in 2022, I got home from work to find that my first package from my Last Night From Glasgow subscription had arrived. Four beautifully packaged coloured vinyl albums from Popup, Billy Reeves and The Soup Dragons and - most eagerly anticipated of all - on double yellow vinyl, Happy Ending by Hifi Sean and David McAlmont. Needless to say, the latter made my night/week/year.

 

Following yesterday's single of the year award, guess what? They've only gone and done it again.

 

2022 has seen some outstanding albums that I've lived with and listened to repeatedly. However, in face of incredibly strong competition, Happy Ending is just perfect from start to finish. I will be coming back to it again (and again) in future posts but in the meantime, no better way to close this compilation and my 365th post in 2022.

 

Happy Ending is my album of the year. 

 

Thanks for your support and comments and for continuing to inspire and motivate me on a daily basis. I never thought that I'd still be going, two years after starting this blog, but the constant delight of new music, unearthing personal favourites and being introduced to artists and music that I'd missed altogether is stronger than ever.

 

I hope, however you're marking this evening and whoever you're spending it with, that you have a wonderful New Year's Eve and a fantastic start to 2023.

 

1) First Rays Of A New Life: Dan Wainwright & Elle Redding (Mother Oak)

2) Proof Of Stake: BT COP (Shelter Me: various artists)

3) Silent Disco Sucks (Duncan Gray Remix): Pete Bones & The Stones Of Convention (Hyena Hopscotch Remixes)

4) Balearic For President: Residentes Balearicos (Higher Love Vol. 2: various artists)

5) Summer Lovin' (Full Length Version): Cerrone & Purple Disco Machine (Summer Lovin' single)

6) Dexter In Dub (Bedford Falls Players Remix): Perry Granville (Dexter In Dub single)

7) Space Is Us (Basement Jaxx Remix): Telefís ft. Sean O'Hagan (Space Is Us EP)

8) Jezebellearic: Jezebell (Jezebellearica Volume 1 EP)

9) Sail On: Al Mackenzie (Sail On single)

10) Beautiful: Hifi Sean & David McAlmont (Happy Ending)

 

In Space We Trust (1:02:00) (Box) (Mega)

Waves Out Of Phase

Another dive into the music that I've been enjoying so far in 2022. The selection has a slightly more melancholy edge than I was intending, but otherwise just a sample of the outstanding sounds that have emerged over the past six months.

 

No surprise to see Andy Bell, Trentemøller and Momus, whose albums have been highlights for quite some time. Telefís (aka Cathal Coughlan and Jacknife Lee) and Katy J Pearson are relatively new acquaintances, whilst the prolific Dan Wainwright has released not one but two albums so far, the latest with his partner Elle Redding. 

 

Enjoy!

 

1) Adar Newlan: Imarhan ft. Gruff Rhys

2) Thickener (Full Fat Original): 10:40

3) Bowroux (Ed Mahon Remix): Pete Callard

4) Totentanz: Momus

5) Cue The Tears (Anton Newcombe Remix): Dot Allison

6) All Too Soon: Trentemøller ft. Lisbet Fritze

7) Bright Star: Anaïs Mitchell

8) Talk Over Town: Katy J Pearson

9) Sing The Blues: Dan Wainwright

10) The Kindness Of Others (Concretism Remix By Chris Sharp): Dohnavùr

11) We No Normal (Anger Management): Sherwood & Pinch ft. Daddy Freddy, Ghetto Priest & Jen Jen

12) Archbishop Beardmouth At The ChemOlympics (Radio Edit): Telefís

13) Mother Oak: Dan Wainwright & Elle Redding

14) Holiday In The Sun: Andy Bell

Waves Out Of Phase (1:08:40)

Is There Room In Your Life For One More Trip To The Moon?

In case you were disappointed by Friday's lack of beat-laden bangers, here's a suitably slipshod mix to see in Saturday. 

As usual, it's an eclectic mix spanning 1993 to 2022. It may not keep you moving, as k.d. lang implores, but you will hopefully get an involuntary twitch or jerk here and there. I would like to apologise for the cack-handed segueways and fade ins but if I did, I'd have to do so for each and every track. Hopefully, the quality of the tunes will encourage you to overlook my enthusiastic but amateurish approach...!

A couple of current loves in here, including one of many excellent remixes of the current David Holmes single and the latest in a consistent series of great one-off tracks by Pye Corner Audio aka Martin Jenkins. There are some reworkings of musical legends Gong, Kraftwerk and The Cure and - I couldn't resist - two helpings of Andrew Weatherall, back-to-back. 

The opening twofer by Baron Von Luxxury aka Blake Robin and k.d. lang remixed by Tony Garcia may be a bit of red herring regarding the subsequent direction of the mix, but I think it just about works. 

I've also dropped in a bit of uptempo Four Tet, from Kieran Hebden's excellent 2020 album Parallels, as well as Confidence Man. The latter track might be from 2017, but their current album Tilt is on constant rotation at Casa Khayem.

 

To close, another Dubhed favourite, Dan Wainwright. Dan and his partner Elle Redding have just released a new album, Mother Oak, which I received this week, so expect to a further appearance here in the not too distant future.

1) I'm Not Bad, I'm Just Drawn That Way (Instrumental): Baron Von Luxxury (2013)

2) Just Keep Me Moving (Wild Planet Mix By Tony Garcia): k.d. lang (1993)

3) It's Over, If We Run Out Of Love (Working Mens Club Remix): David Holmes ft. Raven Violet (2022)

4) A Sprinkling Of Clouds (Belly Dance Mix By System 7): Gong (1999)

5) Evidence The Enemy: Andrew Weatherall (2017)

6) Bubblegum (Andrew Weatherall Remix): Confidence Man (2017)

7) Aerodynamik (Intelligent Design Mix By Alexis Taylor & Joe Goddard): Kraftwerk (2007)

8) Wrong Number (Crossed Line Mix By Omid Nourizadeh): The Cure (1997)

9) Parallel 8: Four Tet (2020)

10) Dirty Window Of Opportunity: Pye Corner Audio (2022)

11) Nothing Ever Stays The Same: Dan Wainwright (2021)

Is There Room In Your Life For One More Trip To The Moon? (47:45)

Waiting For My Life To Change

Another Bandcamp Friday, another clutch of new songs to add an already impressive 2022. Ten random selections of highlights from the year so far, some so newly purchased that I listened to them for the first time whilst compiling this playlist.

Catherine Anne Davies aka The Anchoress delivers another beautifully balanced cover of a song that Jackson Browne wrote when he was 16 and Nico recorded for her debut solo album, Chelsea Girl, in 1967. In between, a smattering of songs from albums that set the bar high early from Andy Bell, Dan Wainwright, Mr. Oizo & Phra and Trentemøller. Momus' latest album officially dropped on 1st April and I wrote about it here. Confidence Man have also released their latest, Tilt, and on a single play so far, it's enormous fun.

 

David Holmes & Raven Violet have followed up last year's superb Hope Is The Last Thing To Die with the equally brilliant It's Over, If We Run Out Of Love. The song was initially released on Valentine's Day and a clutch of remixes have just dropped. Darren Emerson and Hardway Bros aka Sean Johnston deliver superb mixes, but they're all good, as this one (of two remixes) by Lovefingers & Heidi Lawden amply demonstrates.

 

I knew absolutely nothing about Jeshi, being drawn in by the flurry of label and artist mail drops that come in prior to Bandcamp Friday. A quick Google search reveals that Jeshi is from East London, has previously worked with slowthai and Vegyn and "turns the richness of British culture in swerving, genre-moulding rap". Ross From Friends, better known to his chums as Felix James Clary Weatherall, "provides his own compressed, fidgety interpretation of techno/house". It's a good combination.

 

Closing the selection and quite rightly celebrated on Bagging Area yesterday, is a track from the latest EP by Jesse Fahnestock aka 10:40. The lead track is a 2021 highlight, Kissed Again, originally appearing on the excellent Higher Love Vol. 1 compilation and deservedly getting a release in its own right. Its accompanied by two new songs, Coat Check and Fin, the latter described as "a haunting blissed out beauty tailor made for the majesty of a warm summer sunset". I can vouch for the fact that it works equally well on a dark, cold spring night and a bright, frosty April morning. What better way to finish the playlist, before hitting replay again?

1) These Days (Cover of Nico): The Anchoress

2) Riverside: Andy Bell

3) Relieve The Pressure: Confidence Man

4) Ruin From The Flood: Dan Wainwright

5) It's Over, If We Run Out Of Love (Lovefingers & Heidi Lawden Low Tide Mix): David Holmes ft. Raven Violet

6) 3210 (Ross From Friends Remix): Jeshi

7) Influencer Village: Momus

8) Hits Me (Instrumental): Mr. Oizo & Phra

9) Glow: Trentemøller

10) Fin: 10:40

Waiting For My Life To Change (49:48)

Can Anyone Ever Really Get The Chemistry, You Know?

This selection has been done completely on the fly this morning and entirely made up of new digital purchases in the past couple of days, mostly via Bandcamp Friday. It's a reasonably relaxed affair, with occasional musical prods to get your attention.

Swiss Adam introduced me to Andres Y Xavi last year and their collaborations with Rolo McGinty (The Woodentops) were fantastic. What Do You See In Me originally appeared as a dub and it's just been released as an EP, with two further Xavi dubs and a trio of excellent Balearic remixes from Max Essa. I've gone for the full vocal to start things off, Rolo in fine form against a gentle acoustic backdrop and the promise of a beautiful summer to come.

 

Dan Wainwright, another Bagging Area recommendation, released his latest album From The Ground Up in January. Two listens in and I'm loving it. In the promo info Dan describes this as a very personal record that "tells a story through metaphor about being neurodiverse and learning to accept and love [himself] as being unique". If you've enjoyed Dan's music as I have, then this album takes it to whole other level.

 

I stumbled across Ribas Abbas whilst down a Bandcamp rabbit hole, and I'm glad I did. Based in Amsterdam, Ribas' music appears to be a mix of originals and re-edits, all available as a free/name your price download. I've started with two re-edits, one by Christine & The Queens and the other, featured here, a re-edit of Pilooski's 2015 song Completely Sun, featuring Jarvis Cocker.

 

In fact, you get three divine JCs for your trouble (though sadly not this one). Aside from Jarvis Cocker, Julian Cope and John Cale both get the re-edit/remix treatment, courtesy of Paisley Dark Records and their excellent Edits Box series. As is there weren't reason enough to buy, on Bandcamp Friday all of the artists agreed to donate every penny spent on releases to the fund raiser United Help Ukraine, with the label match funding donations up to £100. 

 

I enthused about the new Trentemøller album, Memoria, last month but after streaming it for the last couple of weeks, I have finally got around to buying it. Lisbet Fritze is the perfect choice of vocalist for the album, as evidenced in current single, No More Kissing In The Rain. 

 

On a similar retro vibe, I belated picked up The Divine Comedy's most recent album, Office Politics. Not what I expected - in a good way - with Neil Hannon channeling his inner Goldfrapp on this song. This is preceded by Sleaford Mods, remixed by the Hartnoll brothers to great effect. Parental advisory: you might want to skip this one as, true to form, there's a lot of effin' and jeffin' going on.

 

Xan Tyler makes a welcome return to these pages, following 2021's collaboration with Mad Professor, Clarion Call, which I loved. Whilst I'm looking forward to a new Xan Tyler album this year, this selection steps back to 2020 and Let It Come Down, essentially a solo project by legendary producer Kramer. So far, just the one album - Songs We Sang in Our Dreams - predominantly instrumentals with Xan providing vocals on a couple of tracks, including this beauty.

 

Closing the selection is the wonderful Dnipro by Ukrainian duo Ptakh_Jung, which I discovered earlier this week, and the brilliant Catherine Anne Davies aka The Anchoress. Following last month's cover of R.E.M., here is a wonderful version of The Tradition by Halsey, Davies accompanied by Charlie Cawood to haunting effect. 

 

A perfect way to close the selection, and a prompt to further explore the vast musical soundscapes these artists have created. Buy now.

 

1) What Do You See In Me (Max Essa Extended Vocal Mix): Andres Y Xavi ft. Rolo McGinty (2022)

2) Underwater Cities: Dan Wainwright (2022)

3) Completely Sun (Ribas Abbas Remix): Pilooski ft. Jarvis Cocker (2020)

4) I Don't Rate You (Orbital Remix): Sleaford Mods (2021)

5) Infernal Machines (Album Version): The Divine Comedy (2019)

6) No More Kissing In The Rain: Trentemøller ft. Lisbet Fritze (2022)

7) They Were On Hard Drugs (Matt Gunn Edit): Julian Cope (2022)

8) Hush Hush: Horton Jupiter vs. John Cale (2021)

9) Don't Let It Go To Your Head: Cleo Sol (2021)

10) Pennies: Let It Come Down (Kramer & Xan Tyler) (2020)

11) Dnipro: Ptakh_Jung (2020)

12) The Tradition (Cover of Halsey): The Anchoress (2022)

 

Can Anyone Ever Really Get The Chemistry, You Know? (1:02:34)

It Smells Like Something Set Apart From Time

After yesterday's preemptive start to my favourites of 2021, here is a selection of my most played songs of 2021 so far. Anything released post-September will be at a disadvantage simply because they've been available for repeated listens for relatively less time. Even so, it was still hard to whittle down to an even dozen. 

 

Opening with Andy Bell, the preview/pre-release from the Another View remix album and arguably the standout track. Brian Dougans & Garry Cobain have delighted with another subscription-only 'Calendar' album this year, with an exclusive new or archive track each month; May's FSOL offering was a particular highlight. The Limiñanas collaborative album with Laurent Garnier was excellent and I especially love this penultimate track featuring Bertrand Belin. Hifi Sean's re-remix of Fire Island's 1998 cover of The Style Council's Shout To The Top is arguably the new definitive version of the song. 

 

Kelsey Lu has been an enduring favourite of the past couple of years and their collaboration with Boys Noize was accompanied by a stunning animated video. Jane Weaver released one of the best albums of the year with Flock, as did The Anchoress with The Art Of Losing. I first heard of Dan Wainwright this year via his Hope & Deliverance EP and Feel was a winner, as was Joe Muggs' mash-up of Lorde's Solar Power & Primal Scream's Loaded with the appropriately named Lorded. Long-time fave Ladyhawke made a mighty comeback with Guilty Love featuring Broods and yet another great video. 

 

The Orb had dropped off my radar for some years but Adam @ Bagging Area pulled them front and centre with a brilliant remix by Gaudi, as a taster for their excellent remix album. Rounding things off, my favourite song from probably my favourite album of the year by John Grant, who I managed to miss live on stage this year, making for a record four times. 2021 was a great year for music, but on this basis 2022 will surely be even better.

1) Indica (Pye Corner Audio Remix – GLOK Re-Edit): Andy Bell

2) Ride Or Die (Single Version): Boys Noize ft. Kelsey Lu & Chilly Gonzales

3) Fledgling Sun: The Future Sound Of London

4) Au Début C'était Le Début: The Limiñanas / Laurent Garnier ft. Bertrand Belin

5) Sunset Dreams: Jane Weaver

6) Shout To The Top (Hifi Sean Mix): Fire Island ft. Loleatta Holloway

7) Feel: Dan Wainwright

8) Lorded (Lorde v. Primal Scream): Joe Muggs

9) Show Your Face: The Anchoress

10) Guilty Love: Ladyhawke & Broods

11) Ital Orb (Gaudi Remix (Iron Chair) By Daniele Gaudi): The Orb

12) The Rusty Bull (Album Version): John Grant

It Smells Like Something Set Apart From Time (1:03:43)

And You Know I've Nothin' To Gain

Bandcamp Friday proved to be another treasure trove, although I was (a little) more restrained than the last couple of months. Aside from catching up with the Why Not and Heartbreak EPs from Unloved, featuring a plethora of remixes from Andy Votel & Jane Weaver, Gwenno, Hardway Bros, Limiñanas, Richard Sen, The Vendetta Suite and Andrew Weatherall, I bought a clutch of more recent releases from artists I've been switched onto this year.

 

I've included a trio of selections here, but please take it as read that I'm suggesting you buy the complete album/EP as they're all good!

Let Me Down Gently (10:40's Torn Parachute Dub): Spacemen 3 (from the Sleepwalker EP) 

 

The Universal Energy Within (Mytron Remix By Jacek Janiszewski): Dan Wainwright (from The Universal Energy Within EP)

What Do You See In Me (Dubapella): Andres Y Xavi ft. Rolo McGinty (from Higher Love Vol. 1 by various artists)

 

My Converse Look Like They've Had A Hard Life

There has been so much good music coming out this year and the monthly Bandcamp Friday has seen me splurging on a regular basis. I'm still immersing myself in purchases from the last few months, but here are a dozen gems. Amongst them are a couple of nods to my birthplace (the Slack Alice compilation and James Dyer aka Chez De Milo), a couple of legendary producers delivering the goods (Dennis Bovell & Hugo Nicolson) and artists that I've belatedly discovered this year (SAULT, Rheinzand, Dan Wainwright, Andres Y Xavi). 

1) I Hope You Die A Painful Death: Fever 103° (from Slack Alice: 5th Birthday Compilation)

2) You From London: SAULT ft. Little Simz (from 'NINE')

3) Tres Freak: Gene Kennedy & Matt Prehn (from The Wild Army Vol.5 EP)

4) Strange World (Richard Sen Remix): Rheinzand (from Remix EP 1)

5) Spandau Mechanix: Bad Tracking (from Slack Alice: 5th Birthday Compilation)

6) All I Have Known (Dan Wainwright & Massey Remix): Super FU (from Cocoons EP)

7) Swanky Modes (Dennis Bovell Mix): JARV IS... (from Swanky Modes (Dennis Bovell Mixes) EP)

8) Bushwa (Smagghe & Cross Version By Ivan Smagghe & Rupert Cross): Chez De Milo (from Bushwa EP)

9) Railton Ruckus (Hugo Nicolson Remix): Rude Audio (from Railton Ruckus EP)

10) The Disco Dragger: Wet Signals (from Wet Signals EP)

11) Sparking Plugs (Hardway Bros Sueno Cosmico Remix): Deo'Jorge (from Robotic Souls EP)

12) Walking In The Sun (Coyote Higher Vibration Remix): Andres Y Xavi ft. Rolo McGinty (from Walking In The Sun EP)

 

My Converse Look Like They've Had A Hard Life (1:17:49)