A Fistful Of Diamonds Or Just Shards Of Glass...?

No music to get excited about in 2025? Here are half a dozen replies to the contrary, released in the last week alone!

1) Into Dust (Still Falling): Four Tet

2) Cut & Rewind: Say She She

3) Pollyanna: Just Mustard

4) BYE BYE 25!: Kim Gordon

5) Sad Piano (Extended Mix): Daphni

6) I'm Not Done (Therapy Session): Fever Ray

Click on the links to buy the above (and more) from Bandcamp.

 

 

 

 

 

Fruity Piggybacks

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith's upcoming album, due in August, is called Gush and the title track is the third song to be released with an accompanying video. 

As with the first single, Into Your Eyes, there's an intriguing fruit theme, although it has to be said that the banana and orange in Gush suffer a less ignominious fate.

Another artist that I'm familiar with but poorly represented in my own music collection, I own just four Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith songs currently: two from Mojo magazine freebie CDs released in 2018 and 2020; one from 2022's EarthPercent x Earth Day Compilation Album; a solitary remix of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard from the same year.

In an attempt to redress the balance, I had a dig around Kaitlyn's Bandcamp page and unearthed some more treasures from her back catalogue.

The Neptunes EP came out in November last year, a collaboration with Joe Goddard that also sees them remix each others songs. Kaitlyn's remix of Rapid Fire by Joe featuring Laima closes the EP and is a doozy.

2023's Let's Turn It Into Sound Remixes EP reworks three songs from the previous year's album of the same name, including a beautifully chilled-but- glitchy remix of Check Your Translation by fellow Los Angeles resident Hrishikesh Hirway.

2020 album The Mosaic of Transformation also got the remix EP treatment with a breezy and jaunty run along The Spine Is Quiet In The Center by Fools aka Christopher Bear, also an Angeleno. 

From 2017, a remix of I Will Make Room for You by Four Tet from her album The Kid. It's Kieran Hebden, so it's going to be special and this sits comfortably with anything from his own back catalogue. 

Back to forthcoming album Gush and the second single/video release, What's Between Us, which features some morbidly fascinating choreography, though my back is aching in sympathy just from watching it for four minutes.

Gush is available for pre-order right now. There's no Bandcamp Friday this month, so I have added Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith to my shopping list for May. 

Songs For A Friend I've Never Met

Sending love, strength and best wishes.

1) Pray For Me (Acts Of Faith: Act 9, Part 1): SAULT

2) Hello My Friends (Part 2): Hardway Bros ft. Roses Sabra

3) Joyness Magnificent (We'll Find The Light Together) (Live): 100 Poems

4) Loved: Four Tet

5) Pass A Wish (Single Version): Pandit Pam Pam

6) Lovely Day (Cover of Bill Withers): Pepe Link

7) Moving Forward (Cosmodelica Remix - Full Length): Bryony Jarman-Pinto

Songs For A Friend I've Never Met (37:25) (KF) (Mega)

Pump Up My Heart

Ooh, loving this. Dan Snaith aka Caribou has just released his own version of/tribute to the M/A/R/R/S classic, truncating the title to simply Volume.

Dan's been on a bit of a roll, releasing Broke My Heart in June and following it up in July with a brace of remixes by Harry Hayes and Champion aka Reiss Hanson.

On the strength of these bangers, the forthcoming album (I'm assuming there is one!) will be... best played loud.

 

 

Flamingo Out Of Your Mind

Dan Snaith aka Caribou released his first new song in nearly three years at the beginning of April. 

 

Honey is a four-minute banger, closer to the club-friendly style of his other nom de plume Daphni than the unadulterated psychedelic Sixties stylings of Caribou. Yet, Dan has had no hesitation in giving the latter's music over to other artists for a radical makeover, including friend and sounding board Kieran Hebden aka Four Tet.

No surprise then to read that Kieran has had a hand in arranging this song with Dan. Honey is mixed by long time collaborator David Wrench, whose current project audiobooks with Evangeline Ling is no stranger to lure of the dancefloor either.

No sign of any remixes as yet, but Honey is accompanied by a mind-melting video. Avoid staring at blank walls after watching this, otherwise you'll be seeing flamingos for hours afterwards.

On the Bandcamp Friday just gone (and the last one until September), Dan was also offering his digital back catalogue as a name your price option so I took the opportunity to pick up the remix companions for the albums Swim (2010) and Suddenly (2020). I'd had a few tracks of each so it was a good chance to purchase the full collections. 

Two of the previously owned remixes included the above mentioned artists, so here's Never Come Back from Suddenly, reworked by Four Tet, and Odessa from Swim stripped down to a 'drumapella' by David Wrench. I'm looking forward to listening to the rest over the coming week.

 

 

 

 

Maman Chérie

Celebrating Neneh Cherry, born 10th March 1964, and in my opinion one of the greatest artists ever to grace this planet.

 

Sometimes, this blog virtually writes itself, the planets aligning to provide serendipitous moments and opportunities.

 

Realising a short while ago that it was Neneh's 60th birthday today kick started this week's entire birthday-themed posts. 

 

Today is Mother's Day. Sundanese is the second largest language spoken in Indonesia. The Sundanese word for mother is...Neneh.

 

Chérie translates from French as darling, but Neneh also adopted the name for an EP of remixes by French artists in 1997. 

 

So really, it was always going to be Neneh Cherry today, whether I was consciously aware of it or not. 

 

On the surface, Neneh has 'only' released four solo albums since Raw Like Sushi turned the world on its head in 1988. But her work and cultural impact goes much deeper and wider than that.

 

School drop out at 14. Arriving in London at 15 and hooking up with The Slits. The Cherries. New Age Steppers. Rip Rig + Panic. Hanging out with The Wild Bunch in Bristol and the origins of Buffalo Stance as a B-side remix for Morgan-McVey (the latter soon-to-be husband and musical partner Cameron McVey).

 

And then there's Neneh continual collaboration and reinvention, with Matt Johnson (The The), Tricky, Seven Seconds with Youssou N'Dour, appearing on Top Of The Pops whilst pregnant, effortlessly brilliant in the 2007 BBC2 cookery show Neneh and Andi – Dish It Up with bezzy mate (and Rip Rig + Panic bandmate) Andi Oliver.

Continuing to astonish in the 21st century, Neneh has worked with Swedish trio The Thing and formed cirKus with husband Cameron McVey, daughter Lolita Moon and Matt Kent. Neneh's last two albums have been a further evolution of her music in partnership with Kieran Hebden aka Four Tet.

 

Bearing all of this in mind, there's no way that I could do justice to Neneh with merely one Dubhed selection. So, to celebrate, here are two one-hour selections, twenty-two tracks strong. Not a comprehensive career-spanning collection - no New Age Steppers, for example - but it does attempt to convey why I think Neneh is one of the greatest artists ever to grace this planet.

 

There's a self-deprecating comment attributed to Neneh as a "singer that does a bit of rapping". She is - and always has been - so much more. An icon and a legend, in the true sense of the words.

 

Happy birthday, Neneh, and thank you. You are loved.

 

Volume One

1) Money Love (Perfecto Mix By Paul Oakenfold & Steve Osborne): Neneh Cherry (1992)

2) You're My Kind Of Climate (Party Mix): Rip Rig + Panic (1982)

3) Weightless (Album Version By Kieran Hebden): Neneh Cherry (2014)

4) Buffalo Stance (Give Me A Muthuf***ing Breakbeat (Sukka Mix) By The Dynamik Duo): Neneh Cherry (1988)

5) Unattended Bag (Whatever/Whatever Unreleased Mix By Justin Strauss & Bryan Mette): cirKus (2009)

6) Kong (Parris Remix By Dwayne Parris-Robinson): Neneh Cherry (2018)

7) Kisses On The Wind (Moody Mix By David Morales): Neneh Cherry (1989)

8) You've Got Me Thinking (Unreleased Mix): The Beloved ft. Neneh Cherry (1993)

9) Think Twice...: Groove Armada ft. Neneh Cherry (2002)

10) Undecided (Deep Radio Mix By Deep Forest): Youssou N'Dour ft. Neneh Cherry (1994)

11) Buddy X (Masters At Work R&B Version): Neneh Cherry (1993)

12) Had You In Me: Neneh Cherry ft. Tricky (1998)

 

Volume Two

1) Bob Hope Takes Risks (12" Version): Rip Rig + Panic (1981)

2) Slow Train To Dawn (12" Version): The The ft. Neneh Cherry (1986)

3) Dream Baby Dream (Remixed By Four Tet aka Kieran Hebden) (Cover of Suicide): Neneh Cherry & The Thing (2012)

4) Crack Baby: Neneh Cherry (1996)

5) Koochie (Air Remix By Jean-Benoît Dunckel & Nicolas Godin): Neneh Cherry (1997)

6) Together Now: Nearly God ft. Neneh Cherry (1996)

7) Everything (Vilod High Blood Pressure Mix By Ricardo Villalobos & Max Loderbauer): Neneh Cherry (2014)

8) Accordion (Jim O'Rourke Remix): Neneh Cherry & The Thing (2012)

9) Manchild (Smith N Mighty Remix By Rob Smith & Ray Mighty): Neneh Cherry (1989)

10) Woman (La Funk Mob Remix): Neneh Cherry (1998)

 

Volume One (1:04:26) (GD) (M)

Volume Two (1:01:54) (GD) (M)

What Have I Done? Where Have You Gone?

Today's selection features Caribou aka Dan Snaith and is a good example of one of the motivating forces behind this blog, a simple excuse to rummage around in my virtual record box and dust off some music that I haven't listened to in a while. 

Dan Snaith's been poorly served by my collection in that regard as I have relatively little of his music, far less than I thought to be honest, a few hours' worth spread across EPs, album tracks and remixes for other artists. Hardly anything from the past decade either, which I need to address.

I first encountered Dan Snaith via Jockey Slut, an essential read in the 1990s*. By the start of the 21st century, it was on it's last legs I guess but in those final moments it delivered a brilliant series of cover-mounted CDs across a year titled Disco Pogo For Punks In Pumps. Volume 4 (March 2003) kicked off with Hendrix With Ko by Manitoba, Snaith's original stage name.

 

By chance, I happened to be at a record fair shortly after and, amongst my music haul, came away with a promo CD of the Jacknuggeted EP by Manitoba. Shortly after releasing second album Up In Flames, Dan Snaith was subject to threats of legal action from Richard 'Handsome Dick' Manitoba and thus Caribou was born.

As both names suggest, Dan was born in Canada and I don't know if it's the foreknowledge of this but listening to his music evokes imagery of driving through forests, mountains in the background, passing by vast lakes and grasslands, a hint of hidden life deep beyond the trees that race past in a blur. Or sometimes, it just sounds like a modern take on Sixties psychedelic folk. Either way, there's something comforting yet uncomfortable about listening to his work. 

Over three quarters of an hour, you can find out for yourself, as Dan meets Hot Chip, Oh No Ono, Kelley Polar and Jack Tennis and revisits his old band before returning home with David Wrench to watch the sun go down and day turn to night. Beats a washed out Wednesday in the UK, in my book.

 

1) She's The One (Hot Chip Remix By Joe Goddard): Caribou (2007)

2) Eleanor Speaks (Caribou Remix): Oh No Ono (2010)

3) We Live In An Expanding Universe (Caribou Remix): Kelley Polar (2008)

4) Melody Day (Four Tet Remix By Kieran Hebden): Caribou (2007) 

5) Olé: Manitoba (2003)

6) Sun (Jack Tennis Remix By Tobi Schwermann): Caribou (2010)

7) After Hours (Album Version By Dan Snaith & David Wrench): Caribou (2007)

 

What Have I Done? Where Have You Gone? (44:56) (Box) (Mega) 

 

* In 2022, following a successful crowdfunder campaign, the creators of Jockey Slut launched a new twice-yearly magazine called Disco Pogo.

Flowers Don't Get Old...At Least, Not The Ones You Sent Me

Sticking with last week's Bandcamp Friday haul, this is a 45-minute selection of remixes from one-off singles and EPs, including a couple from last year that I missed first time around. 

in celebration of Liz Truss being confirmed as Prime Minister (this immediately sprang to mind), I've dropped a few Truss-isms into the mix.

More BF goodies tomorrow.

1) All That You Want (Joe Goddard Remix): Ibibio Sound Machine (2022)

2) "Cheesy Truss" (2014)

3) Looking At Your Pager (Solomun Remix): KH aka Kieran Hebden (2022)

4) "Literate Truss" (2013)

5) Flat Strings (Tronik Youth Remix): Cosmosolar (2022)

6) Sub Spacial (A Space Age Freak Out Dark Paisley Mix): From Beyond (2021)

7) Red Shift (Jezebell's Inner Child Mix): MAN2.0 (2022)

8) Safesurfer (The Machine Soul Innerworld Dub): Julian Cope (2021)

9) Cherokee (Dennis Bovell Remix): Animal Collective (2022)

10) "Awkward Truss" (2022)

Flowers Don't Get Old (45:42)