Gangsters, Gangsters, Everywhere Gangsters

Gangsters, the latest single from Mark Pritchard and Thom Yorke's Tall Tales album has arrived with a mesmerising / fascinating / irritating (delete as applicable) video by Jonathan Zawada.

I haven't yet heard the album, but it's piqued my curiosity and I will check it out at some point. This listen took me down a different - and more obvious - rabbit hole of songs with a gangster...with no prizes for guessing where it ends up.

A few special mentions: 

1) I've never seen the video for Gangsterville by Joe Strummer before, so that was a treat even if the audio quality is a bit hissy;

2) In case you don't already know, The Sinister Ducks were a super group, comprising Max Akropolis, Capt. José da Silva and Translucia Baboon, better known to you and me as Alex Green (Jazz Butcher), David J (Bauhaus) and Alan Moore (comics legend), with visuals by Kevin O'Neill (also a comics legend);

3) Up until about 5 minutes ago, I was convinced that the repeatedly sampled line in Gangster Trippin by Fatboy Slim was not "What we're doin' when a" but "Fluff with the women" and I am greatly disappointed to be corrected.

4) It doesn't get much better than the last song, does it?

Had I more time, I would have presented this as a Dubhed selection. Instead, enjoy the videos (where available) and some rather cracking tunes.

 
1) Gangsters: Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke (2025)

2) Big Time Gangsters: Benjamin Zephaniah (1990)

3) Gangster: Dreadzone (2010)

4) Gangster: Electronic (1992)

5) Gangster Of Love Part I & II: Jimmy Norman (1968)

6) Gangster Of Love: Talking Heads (1991)

7) Gangsterville: Joe Strummer (1989)

8) Old Gangsters Never Die: The Sinister Ducks (1983)

9) Gangster Chronicle (Live @ Green Theatre, Kiev) (Cover of London Posse): Tricky ft. Bella Gotti (2014)

10) Cowboys & Gangsters: Gichy Dan's Beachwood #9 (1981)

11) Gangster Trippin: Fatboy Slim (1998)

12) Gangsters: The Special AKA (1979)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monoliths

Four sonic slabs to stir the senses on a Sunday. Rescued from the abandoned shopping trolley of an overstuffed music collection, these are not for the faint hearted - the pieces run between 15 and 23 minutes long - but will hopefully have an energising not enervating effect.

1) When We Return You Won't Recognise Us (Manafon Variation): David Sylvian (2011)

2) III: Taj Mahal Travellers (1974)

3) The Monolith: The Beta Band (1998)

4) Alpha Phase (Retranslated By Global Communication aka Tom Middleton & Mark Pritchard): Chapterhouse (1993)

1975: August 1974: 2

1993: Blood Music: Pentamerous Metamorphosis (Retranslated By Global Communication): 4

1998: The Patty Patty Sound EP / The Three E.P.'s: 3

2011: Died In The Wool: Manafon Variations: 1

Monoliths (1:13:25) (KF) (Mega)

Loop Da Loop Da Loop

Side 1 of a mixtape, recorded sometime in 1999 and bringing another half dozen tracks with rolling beats and repetitive rhythms.

 

The selection starts off with Mark Pritchard reuniting with former Global Communication partner Tom Middleton for a remix/edit of the latter's Summer In Space, released in 1999 under his Cosmos moniker. It's a jazzy, syncopated saunter along the starways. 

 

The boys are back later on with one of their final releases as Global Communication, here remixed by DJ/artist Davidson Ospina, born and raised in Queens, New York and bringing some pulsing, insistent grooves to the floor.

 

Over in Washington DC, Jean-Phillippe Aviance and Victor Imbres aka Alcatraz take on Apollo 440's tribute to Gene Krupa. A cracking tune in it's original form, the remix stretches out the ride to nearly 11 minutes without missing a beat. 

Meanwhile in Europe... German duo Hardfloor meet Dutch duo Work for a meeting of the minds on 1995 single Mahogany Roots, with suitably explosive results.

Side 2 opens with Ben Watkins aka Juno Reactor, but his first appearance on this mixtape is as co-writer (with Wonder Schneider, one half of Secret Knowledge) of Traci Lords' 1994 single Control. Traci first gained notoriety in the adult film industry before moving into mainstream acting and then music, duetting with Manic Street Preachers in 1992 then releasing a solo album (produced by Watkins) called 1000 Fires a couple of years later. 

Bringing this side to a close in spectacular fashion is Leftfield with Afro Ride, as remix of Leftism album highlight Afro-Left and featuring Djum Djum, who they'd previously collaborated with on the 1990 single Difference. Afro Ride takes the original, takes it for a night on the tiles and ends up at a heaving club, nine minutes feeling like it could go on forever.

1) Summer In Space (Mark Pritchard Edit): Cosmos ft. David Laudat (1999)

2) Mahogany Roots (Work Remix By Olav Basoski & Erick Eerdhuijzen): Hardfloor (1995)

3) Krupa (Alcatraz Within The Joint Remix vs. @440) (Remix By Jean-Phillippe Aviance & Victor Imbres): Apollo 440 (1996)

4) The Way (Davidson Ospina Mix): Global Communication (1996)

5) Control (DJ E FX San Frandisco Dub): Traci Lords (1994)

6) Afro-Left (Afro Ride) (Remix By Neil Barnes & Paul Daley): Leftfield ft. Djum Djum (1995)

 

Side Two (45:31) (Box) (Mega)

Side One here

A Quiet Glade In A Burning Forest

Side 2 of a mixtape, recorded sometime around 1997, featuring the music of Mark Pritchard & Tom Middleton in a variety of guises, but mainly Global Communication.

 

First off however is one of their remixes as Reload. The 147 Take of In Mind by Slowdive appeared on Side 1 and was recently highlighted in a typically great post by Swiss Adam over at Bagging Area. Their remix of On by Aphex Twin is a close second as my favourite remix that Mark and Tom did as Reload, but then the song is a thing of beauty to begin with so how could they possibly go wrong?

Next up is Link, one of Mark Pritchard's many, many solo projects. This remix of Arcadian by Global Communication originally appeared on Warp Records compilation Artificial Intelligence II, running to just under ten minutes. In order to squeeze it into a C90 side, I crudely faded it out halfway through. Unlikely Side 1, where I restored the minimal cut to a track, I've kept this one in to maintain the original sequencing and running time.

The Grid aka Dave Ball and Richard Norris were enjoying much-deserved success with a brace of UK hit singles, Texas Cowboys reaching #21 in October 1993 and then Swamp Thing crashing in at #11 in June 1994, peaking at #3 a month later, spending a total of 12 weeks in the Top 20. Rollercoaster didn't enjoy quite such a chart run, entering at #19 in September 1994, then #22, #42, #70 and out of the Top 100 by mid-October. It's an underrated single and contained a hidden gem in Global Communication's ambient reworking of the song. I say 'hidden' but the remix was that good that it appeared on several compilations, including Survival 2000 and respective 'best of' remix collections by Global Communication and The Grid *

 

Epsilon Phase is the closing track on Mark and Tom's radical overhaul of Chapterhouse's Blood Music album, originally released as a limited edition double CD in 1993. I discovered the Global Communication CD all on its own in the secondhand trough at Replay Records in Bristol and bought it without hesitation. It was roughly another ten years before I bought and heard the parent album by Chapterhouse for the first time!

 

Nav Katze (translates as 'Nervous Cat') were a Tokyo-based female rock group who released music between 1987 and 1997. Initially a trio, by 1994, Nav Katze were Miwako Yamaguchi and Naoko Iimura, with male producer Yuji Sugiyama as unofficial third member. Wild Horse appeared on the first of two remix compilations titled Never Mind The Distortion, in a beautiful 15-minute journey with Global Communication, easing in with synth washes and snatches of vocal before heading into more percussive territory in the latter stages. Like much of Mark Pritchard and Tom MIddleton's music from the early/mid-1990s, Wild Horse should have been all over like-minded compilations of the time but according to Discogs seems to be relatively rare.

 

* I realised when researching and writing this post that tracks 3 to 5 of this selection are the exact same sequence as the last three tracks on the aforementioned Remotion: The Global Communication Remix Album from 1995. I bought the compilation for my girlfriend at the time but I have no recollection whether I was so inspired by the running order that I was compelled to replicate it for my mixtape or if I was simply being a lazy git. Probably a bit of both and definitely no coincidence!

 

On a completely unrelated note, after 2 years, 2 months and 18 days and 685 posts, I've received my first takedown notice via Mega. It was for my recent posting of Django Django and was submitted by one of those companies that appear to specialise in actively finding and shutting down any potential infringements. I'm wondering whether my uncharacteristic decision to include the artist's name in the post and MP3 title made it easier for the bots to home in this particular Dubhed selection. 

 

Anyway, Box and Mega links have now been removed from the offending post and, in a bit of housekeeping, I'm now running a tighter ship on how long links stay up in general. Whenever I post the corresponding side of a mixtape that's appeared previously, I'll continue to add new Box and Mega links to the older post.

 

1) On (Reload Mix): Aphex Twin (1993)

2) Arcadian (Remix By Global Communication) (Edit): Link (1994)

3) Rollercoaster (The Global Communication Yellow Submarine Re-Take): The Grid (1994)

4) Epsilon Phase (Retranslated By Global Communication): Chapterhouse (1994)

5) Wild Horse (Global Mix Communication): Nav Katze (1994)

1993: Blood Music: Pentamerous Metamorphosis: 4

1993: On EP: 1

1994: Artificial Intelligence II: 2

1994: Never Mind The Distortion: 5

1994: Rollercoaster EP: 3

Side Two (45:55) (Box) (Mega)

Side One here

Viewed From Outside

Back to the future...The Future Sound Of London, that is. This is a 30-minute mix by Brian Dougans & Garry Cobain, tying in with Record Store Day 2016. It was originally broadcast in the closing segment of The 6 Mix With Nemone on BBC 6 Music on Saturday 16th April 2016, roughly 1.30am or thereabouts. Nine tracks from 1991 to 1994, including B12 (as Redcell), Reload (aka Mark Pritchard & Tom Middleton), Luke Slater (as Morganistic) and closing with an (at the time) unreleased FSOL track.

 

1) Papua New Guinea (12" Original): The Future Sound Of London (Papua New Guinea EP, 1991)
2) Mad Monks On Zinc (Original Mix): Holy Ghost Inc. (Mad Monks On Zinc EP, 1991)
3) Schottkey 7th Path: Aphex Twin (Selected Ambient Works 85-92, 1992)
4) Paradroid: Redcell (Redcell EP, 1992)
5) Go To Sleep: Laurent Garnier (A Bout De Souffle EP, 1993)
6) Le Soleil Et La Mer (Original Mix/Album Version): Reload (Auto Reload EP: Volume 2 / A Collection Of Short Stories, 1993)
7) In The Shadow (Original Version): Morganistic (In The Shadow EP, 1992)
8) Basscadet (Bcdtmx): Autechre (Basscad,EP, 1994)
9) Viewed From Outside: The Future Sound Of London (1994) (Ramblings Vol. 1 EP, 2017 / Music For 3 Books, 2021)

Nemone's Electric Ladyland Mix: The Future Sound Of London (29:59)

A Pool Of Calm In A Sea Of Chaos

Side 1 of a mixtape, recorded sometime around 1997, featuring the music of Mark Pritchard & Tom Middleton aka Global Communication and Reload. Their remix of In Mind by Slowdive is memerising and a precursor to their similarly radical overhaul of Chapterhouse's Blood Music album the same year. The selection closes with the transformative Ob-Selon Mi-Nos By Mystic Institute aka Mark Pritchard & Paul Kent, which itself transformed into 14:31 by Global Communication on their seminal 1994 album, 76:14. This remix originally had a couple of minutes lopped off to squeeze the tracks onto one side of a cassette; this recreation features the full 15-minute version.

1) Amor Real (Remix By Global Communication): Jon Anderson ft. Milton Nascimento (1995)

2) In Mind (Reload Remix (The 147 Take)): Slowdive (1993)

3) Maiden Voyage (Original 8'07>5'23 Version): Global Communication (1994)

4) Le Soleil Et La Mer (Original Mix): Reload (1993)

5) Ob-Selon Mi-Nos (Re-Painted By Global Communication): Mystic Institute (1993)

1993: 5 EP: 2

1993: Auto Reload EP / A Collection Of Short Stories: 4

1993: The Cyberdon EP (Reload Remixes): 5

1994: Maiden Voyage EP: 3

1995: The Deseo Remixes: 1

Side One (47:14) (Box) (Mega)

A Crawl Around The Clubs Getting High

Dusting off some sorely neglected (by me, at least) club cuts, ready for the Friday dancefloor, personally these days a patch of carpet between the sofa and the TV. I'd forgotten how much I love these songs: the Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and Cortney Tidwell tracks are particular delights; Fred Falke and Mark Pritchard are guaranteed to get me shaking (although there's now a simultaneous creaking and rattling); the brief detour to Japan via 5th Garden & Pizzicato Five brings a smile every time; Prins Thomas, James Zabiela & DJ Q bring some serious beats and, to cap it all off, one of my favourite ever remixes by The Orb. The original version of Home by PWEI supplies today's post title. Happy Friday, everyone!

1) Carambola (Mark Pritchard Remix): Azymuth (2000)

2) I Feel Bonnie (House Mix): Hot Chip ft. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (2010)

3) Kanal (Prins Thomas Sure Oppstøt): Telephones (2010)

4) Don't Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up (Ewan Pearson's Objects In Space Vocal Remix): Cortney Tidwell (2007)

5) Candy (James Zabiela Remix): Spooky (2008)

6) Animal (Fred Falke Remix): Miike Snow (2009)

7) Cooking (Arling & Cameron High Pressure Mix): 5th Garden (1998)

8) Love's Theme (Saint Etienne Mix): Pizzicato Five (1997)

9) R U Still In To It? (DJ Q Remix): Mogwai (1998)

10) Home (Orb Sweet Sin And Salvation Mix): Pop Will Eat Itself (1995) 

A Crawl Around The Clubs Getting High (1:16:17)

Chic Thug Stuttered Through A Stereo Dream

I have too much collected music. Simple as that. I listen to music for at least 2-3 hours every day, directly tuned in through my headphones, in the background whilst I'm working from home or soundtracking my business commutes across Gloucesterhire. I try to discover new music, revisit old favourites and dust off songs neglected in the depths of my hard drive. This selection falls into the latter category, Apple Music stating plainly (though with a possible hint of cybernetic smugness) that I have failed to give any of these songs an airing since November 2013. Jeez, that's nearly 8 years ago, where did the time go?!

The common thread here - apart from the fact that they're all very long - is that I first heard them in the 1990s, a time when I was fully immersed in electronic and ambient music. Gavin Bryars' truly epic Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet dates from two decades previously, originally paired with his equally epic The Sinking Of The Titanic. However, like many, I first heard the song on the radio - possibly Annie Nightingale's wee hours BBC Radio 1 show - in the re-recorded version with Tom Waits from 1993, which places it with the other songs in this selection. 

The post title is a line from the album version of the opening song (in this remix arguably better titled Eno's Removing The Band), Brett Anderson trying to channel Mark E. Smith, perhaps.

 

1) Eno's Introducing The Band (Remix By Brian Eno): Suede (1994)

2) Mogwai Fear Satan (Mogwai Remix, LP Version): Mogwai (1998)

3) Democracy (The Russian Tundra Mix By Le Petite Orb & Sheldon Isaac): Killing Joke (1996)

4) Wild Horse (Global Mix Communication) (Remixed by Tom Middleton & Mark Pritchard): Nav Katze (1994)

5) Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (Album Version): Gavin Bryars (1975)

Chic Thug Stuttered Through A Stereo Dream (1:24:22) (KF) (Mega)

Keep Your Loving Warmer

In contrast to last week's summer washout mix, the beautiful blue sky weekend has inspired this week's 90 minute mix of blissed beats and summer sounds.

 

1) Asteroid ('Pearl & Dean Present' Theme): Pete Moore (1968)

2) Shout To The Top (Hifi Sean Mix): Fire Island ft. Loleatta Holloway (2021)

3) Lagrimas De San Lorenzo (Massivan Upcycled Remix): Chris Coco & George Solar (2021)

4) Forgive & Forget (Isabella 'Machine' Summers Remix): The Kooks (2015)

5) Indica (Pye Corner Audio Remix – GLOK Re-Edit): Andy Bell (2021)

6) Cosmorama: Beautify Junkyards (2020)

7) ¿Que Tal America? (Mericana Mix): A Man Called Adam (1996)

8) Intergalactic You, Intergalatic Me: Troubleman (2005)

9) Electric Blues (Full Length): The Soup Dragons (1991)

10) Feel: Dan Wainwright (2021)

11) Murphy's Law (Extended Mix): Róisín Murphy (2020)

12) This Rhythm (Fred Falke Remix - Radio Edit): Filthy Dukes ft. Samuel Dust (2009)

13) Inner Flight (FakeID In Outer Space Mix): Primal Scream (2005)

14) Alive: Hanni El Khatib (2020)

15) Touch Me With Your Love (Instrumental Version By Two Lone Swordsmen aka Andrew Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood): Beth Orton (1997)

16) Do Do Do: Mike Polizze (2020)

 

Keep Your Loving Warmer (1:30:19)