I Broke The Bolt

Happy birthday, Rolo McGinty... or belated happy birthday, as I'm not 100% sure if it falls on the 14th or 15th June. Call myself a fan?!

 

Well...yes, I do, not least because earlier this year, Rolo gifted the world with a brand new album by The Woodentops, Fruits Of The Deep. Head off to Bandcamp to buy it straight away and later, you can read what I thought of it back in April.

 

To celebrate in slightly different style, I'm not posting a selection of The Woodentops' many indie classics from the 1980s, as you might reasonably have expected seeing as one of them popped up in yesterday's Indie Top 20 post.

 

Instead, I'm focusing on Rolo's beat-heavy excursions, taking in The Woodentops from 1990s and the past couple of years, and squeezing in several tracks from his other projects Pluto and Dogs Deluxe, the latter with Rob Miller. There’s also a collaboration with Andres Y Xavi and a remix for Dubversive, featuring Boy George, who also celebrated his birthday yesterday.

 

Several of the featured tracks have been gifted via Rolo's WebArchive page and remain otherwise unreleased.

 

I've chopped, sequenced, faded and edited tracks together to deliver an hour-long selection that will have you up, down, up, down...then staying down. Consider it your weekend workout!

 

Love and respect to Mr. McGinty, I hope the sun shines and all is fine. Have a good one, Rolo.

 

1) Dream On (Rolo Dub): The Woodentops (2024)

2) Stay Out Of The Light (Midi Mix): The Woodentops (1991)

3) Because Of You (Dub): The Woodentops *

4) Tainted World (Kid Batchelor Rub): The Woodentops vs. Bang The Party (1991)

5) Chainsaw: Ambient Mic **

6) Indian Runner: Pluto (1995)

7) Ambient Filth: Bad Apples ***

8) What Do You See In Me (Max Essa Dub): Andres Y Xavi ft. Rolo McGinty (2022)

9) Smokin' (Original Version): The Woodentops *

10) Police And Thieves (Dog's Deluxe Mix) (Cover of Junior Murvin): Dubversive ft. Boy George (1998)

11) Ride A Cloud (Xavi's Campfire Mix): The Woodentops ft. Kyoko Sato (2023)

12) Ride A Cloud (Rolo's Dub): The Woodentops (2024) 

 

1991: Stay Out Of The Light EP: 2 

1991: Tainted World EP: 4

1995: Rising: 6

1998: Police And Thieves EP: 10

2022: What Do You See In Me EP: 8

2023: Ride A Cloud EP: 11

2024: Dream On EP: 1 

2024: Ride A Cloud (Rolo's Dub) EP: 12

* Because Of You eventually turned up on The Woodentops' 2014 album Granular Tales. This dub and a vocal version date (I think) from the 1990s. The same goes for Smokin’.

** One of three "Experiments with video game play sounds" available online, date unknown. 

*** "A bunch of songs written with Richard Thomas and Konrad Kinard", which Rolo recorded with Richard in Somerset. Date unknown, poss. late 1990s/early 2000s.

 

I Broke The Bolt (1:00:13) (KF) (Mega)

God Save The Ing

...that is, if your thing is dancing, jigging, shaking or some other ing that involves moving, because the next hour and an a half is all about the beats. 

2023 has been a great year so far, musically speaking and as I hope this 14-track selection ably demonstrates. Several long-time favourites have returned with a vengeance: Cerrone, DJ Nature, A Man Called Adam and Four Tet; all delivering music as good as anything in their rich and varied catalogue. 

 

Others have done so in collaboration: Justin Robertson meets David Holmes' Unloved in the Temple Of Wonders; Telefís aka Cathal Coughlan (RIP) and Jacknife Lee holiday in Madrid with Howie B; Hifi Sean and David McAlmont take a dub excursion to another Happy Ending.

 

Some relatively recent discoveries continue to delight: Jezebell, Max Essa and Duncan Gray have all somehow managed to raise the bar with each successive release; how high can they go?

 

The rest are all artists that I've heard for the first time this year: Minus Yogis, Bárbara Boeing, Cee ElAssaad, DjClick and Masha Natanson; all very different, all worth further investigation.

Apart from Four Tet, I'm not sure if any of these artists will be troubling a stage at Glastonbury next week (though to be honest, my eyesight starting blurring after the tenth or eleventh scroll through the seemingly endless line-up page on their website). If they did though, I think they'd smash it.

 

1) A Part Of You (Club Mix): Cerrone

2) Follow Your Dreams: DJ Nature

3) Fruity Blues (Balearic Mix By Minus Yogis): Minus Yogis

4) It's Science Baby (Funkified): A Man Called Adam

5) Trading Places (6PM): Jezebell

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

7) Short Haul: Duncan Gray

8) Beautiful (Hifi's Dub Excursion): Hifi Sean & David McAlmont

9) Baile Do Silêncio (Donald Dust Remix): Bárbara Boeing

10) Njalo (Full Length Version): Cee ElAssaad

11) Come Come The Rain (Club Mix): Max Essa ft. DC Mathias

12) Strawboy Supernova (Madrid Metal By Howie B): Telefís

13) Three Drums: Four Tet

14) 24022022 (Fluo Sobre RMX): DjClick & Masha Natanson

God Save The Ing (1:28:44) (Box) (Mega)

Keep On Falling

After yesterday's high energy workout, time to chill out and calm down with an ambient-themed selection.

Thirty two years, thirteen songs and one hour with some stripped back versions of some popular pop songs, an unexpected cover version and a few that are hopefully new to you or at least not heard for a long time.

Sit back with your favourite brew, close your eyes and think lovely thoughts for the next sixty minutes.

1) Dominica (Kenneth Bager's Sunset Ambient Mix): RüF Dug (2016)

2) Golden Brown (Fila Brazillia Remix-Ambient) (Cover of The Stranglers): Better Daze (1997)

3) Brilliant Fault And Sky Was Blue (Ambient Version) (Remixed By LFO): Soft Ballet (1992)

4) So Swell (Ambient Version By James & Brian Eno): James (2001)

5) Love Comes Quickly (Blank & Jones Ambient Remix): Pet Shop Boys (2003)

6) Shot In The Back Of The Head (Ambient): Moby (2009)

7) Ruined In A Day (The Ambient Mix By Booga Bear aka Cameron McVey): New Order (1993)

8) Walking Down Madison (6 a.m. Ambient Mix By Howard Gray) (Single Edit): Kirsty MacColl ft. Johnny Marr (1991)

9) Call A Wave (Return To The Deep Ambient Mix By Mark Moore & William Orbit): Malcolm McLaren & The Bootzilla Orchestra (1989)

10) Ambient 2: Turin Brakes (2005)

11) Come Come The Rain (Ambient Version): Max Essa (2021)

12) Pulsing (Citadel Ambient Version): GLOK (2020)

13) Geek Love (Irresistible Ambient Mix By Mixmaster Morris): Bang Bang Machine (1993)

 

1989: Call A Wave EP: 9

1991: Walking Down Madison EP: 8

1992: Alter Ego: 3 

1993: Geek Love EP: 13

1993: Ruined In A Day EP: 7

1997: Remix Project: 2 

2001: Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) EP: 4

2003: PopArtMix: The Hits (limited edition 3x CD): 5

2005: JackInABox (hidden track): 10

2009: Wait For Me (Deluxe Edition): 6

2016: Island Remixes EP: 1

2020: The Citadel EP: 12

2021: Miró In The Bathroom: 11

 

Keep On Falling (1:00:42) (Box) (Mega)

The Music Of Light, That's Our Song

It's been a bit of a rum month, so I’ve been digging into my digital crate for some uptempo tunes for the last Friday in February. Being me, there's a melancholy edge to quite a few of them and the pacing is all over the place, but hopefully you'll be too busy moving your hips and waving your hands to care. Just make sure you put down that hot drink before you press play. 

We get down to business with Max Essa and a wonderful remix by Mark Seven of Uptown Vibration that - in my mind at least - has an intro that continually makes me think it's going to launch into A Certain Ratio's cover of Shack Up. More of them later.

audiobooks are Evangeline Ling and David Wrench. Wrench has a mightily impressive CV but I first heard of him via his link to Julian Cope. audiobooks are remixed here by Bruise, a duo featuring Darren House, better known to me as Diesel of Rocky & Diesel, Ballistic Brothers and X-Press 2 fame.

There was a lot of love for Blancmange over at The Vinyl Villain this week, so it would be remiss of me not to include Pete Herbert's remix of one of their finest moments from the 1980s. Living On The Ceiling is possibly their finest song, but it’s a tough call.

Coming in at the tail end of the 1970s, A Certain Ratio were smashing it in the 1980s and, like Blancmange, have been enjoying a purple patch this decade. 2021's Loco Remezclada saw a bunch of artists remix their album Loco, with deeply satisfying results. Featured here is Manchester-based DJ and producer Kirby Halliday aka Muddy Feet, delivering a cracking version of Always In Love. 

 

Speaking of cracking tunes, Hifi Sean and David McAlmont have released a whole album of them with Happy Ending. All In The World was remixed by Hifi Sean himself, a pulsing, energetic tune that retains just enough of David McAlmont's vocals to hit that sweet spot (though the vocal-free dub is excellent, too).

 

afterlife is a one-man act, Steve Miller, described in the Resident Advisor bio as "the sunset phenomenon, purveyor of romantic and melancholic mood music". Who better to guide a tune through the night and blinking into the sunrise than Sean Johnston in his Hardway Bros guise? This is kind of how I imagined a Slam remix of Ultramarine might sound, very 1990s yet perfect for a 2020s winter weekend too.

Jezebell should need no introduction if you're a regular visitor to this blog as I've featured them many times. Like A Certain Ratio, Pete Bones turned over his album Hyena Hopscotch to a clutch of creatives and the results were impressive. Jezebell have only been releasing music for a couple of years but have hit the mark each and every time. My regular stream of Bandcamp mailing list updates included the good news that there are more Jezebell remixes coming out next month, which will undoubtedly feature in future posts.

 

Abstract Incognito is also known as DJ Pants and to friends and family as Aditya Mehta. His music is inspired by "his love for bright sunny weather and warm coastal breezes" and I first heard of him last year, following Max Essa's trail to his Jansen Jardin label and the rather fine Collection Number One compilation. Another track with a strong 1980s vibe, this time a little swingbeat soul.

 

Speaking of the 1980s…cripes, I hadn't twigged the underlying theme when I was stitching this selection together! Mark Rae - taking a break from Rae & Christian - released The Tracks Of My Psychedelic Soul in 2021, containing a very familiar sample from one of my favourite bands underpinning a very satisfying mash-up.

 

I know very little about Unu' Marika aka DJ Marika aka Florin Marica, other than they are based in Romania and run the Selectro Records label, this track appearing on the 22-track compilation Free Download in 2021. Much of it made up of hit-and-mix remixes of artists as varied as Echo & The Bunnymen, Cardi B, Dead Or Alive and Massive Attack. This remix and accompanying dub by Romanian producers Sakdat & Balaur aka Paul Andrei & Loko Trashman are the highlights.

 

I've been following Nicolas Laugier aka The Reflex for many years, from his early outings with unofficial/bootleg reworks to the present day with official 're√isions' for the likes of Róisín Murphy, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and UNKLE. Here, he returns to a stone cold classic from the Bar-Kays, teasing out 1978's Holy Ghost to a satisfying eight and a half minutes.

 

Resident Advisor states that Deo'Jorge is a "well-known figure in New York's infamous underground off-location party scene". Sadly for me, being located in rural Gloucestershire in England, there's a distinct lack of an underground off-location party scene, but I can still appreciate Deo'Jorge. I originally bought his Robotic Souls EP in 2021 on the strength of featured remixes by Hardway Bros and Prins Thomas but the other tunes were pretty darn good too, as evidenced here by Do Androids Dream.

 

I like Jane's Addiction but haven't particularly bought their albums and have even less sense of Perry Farrell's other work with Porno For Pyros and as a solo artist. Therefore, I can only describe his 2021 compilation The Glitz; The Glamour: Remixes as an impulse purchase. It was a good one, though. Oh The Sunn! is a collaboration with The Avalanches and provides today's post and mix titles. Oh, and I've included the lyrics below if you want to sing along.

 

Hola Estrella are another act that I know very little about, apart from the fact that they are an Italian duo who appear to share my love of "obscure and psychedelic disco sounds and cosmic emotional tracks" - I mean, what's not to love? I believe Velax is Russian born but residing these days in Mexico City. As for AGD, you've gotta be kidding me, I haven't a clue! However, I will say that I'm very glad that they all come together for the closing track on this selection, Les Etoiles.

 

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

1) Uptown Vibration (Mark Seven Downtown Mix): Max Essa (2022)

2) The Doll (Bruise Remix By Christian Campbell & Darren House): audiobooks (2021)

3) Living On The Ceiling (Pete Herbert Version Darkness): Blancmange (2021)

4) Always In Love (Muddy Feet Remix By Kirby Halliday): A Certain Ratio (2021)

5) All In The World (Hifi's Electro Flux): Hifi Sean & David McAlmont (2022)

6) Resistance (Hardway Bros Remix By Sean Johnston): afterlife (2021)

7) Submissive Background (Jezebell Remix By Jesse Fahnestock & Darren Bell): Pete Bones & The Stones Of Convention (2022)

8) Me Gusta Dancing: Abstract Incognito (2022)

9) The Tracks Of My Psychedelic Soul (Redux): Mark Rae (2021)

10) Stelele (Sakdat & Balaur Remix): Unu' Marika (2021)

11) Holy Ghost (Reborn) (The Reflex Re√ision By Nicolas Laugier): The Bar-Kays (2021)

12) Do Androids Dream: Deo'Jorge (2021)

13) Oh The Sunn!: The Avalanches ft. Perry Farrell (2021)

14) Les Etoiles (Velax Cosmic Dust Reix): Hola Estrella ft. AGD (2021)

The Music Of Light (1:29:10) (Box) (Mega)

 

 

Oh The Sunn! by The Avalanches ft. Perry Farrell 

The entertaining lights
When the sky and stars at night
Fashioned by divine light

 

Divine
Divine designer
Under lights, suicide

 

No, we don't understand
Why they treat us so mean
No, we don't understand it at all
But we'll do our best
To stand the test
And we'll never turn back no more (the big, big, beautiful lights)

 

No, we don't understand
Why they treat us so mean
No, we don't understand it at all
But we'll do our best
To stand the test
And we'll never turn back no more (under lights, suicide)

 

The music of light
The music of light
That's our song
Love is our song
It's what we've known all along
Love is our song
Big, big, beautiful life
Love is so powerful
Love is so strong
Love is our right
But we've known all along

 

No, we don't understand
Why they treat us so mean
No, we don't understand it at all
But we're doing our best
To pass the test
And we never turn back no more
Love is our right

 

No, we don't understand
Why they treat us so mean
No, we don't understand it at all
But we do it our best
To pass the test
And we never turn back no more

 

Keep The Vibes Alive

Max Essa aka UK-born, Tokyo-based artist Max Bruce appeared on my radar last March with his stunning trio of remixes of What Do You See In Me? by Andres Y Xavi. I'm typically late to the party, as Max has been doing his thing since the early 1990s and has released a ton of albums, singles and remixes in the 21st Century alone whilst also running his own label, Jansen Jardin.

Completing the triangulation of sound, the UK and Japanese influences are bathed in Balearic sunshine, creating a groovy yet meditative sound that transports the listener back to the late 1980s/early 1990s. No surprise that there's a track called Blame It On Rea.

I've picked a ten song, one hour selection, mostly Max's own songs, mostly from the last couple of years, all available on Bandcamp. There are a few remixes along the way - Cantoma (aka Phil Mison), MCLD (aka André Mcleod), Natural Hugh (an Essa alias) and Charles Webster's remix of Max's Come Come The Rain, the latter especially apt as that pretty much sums up the weather here at home for the past week.

The Christmas and New Year celebrations are officially over at Casa K. The tree's been removed, the decorations packed away and we're all back at work today. This is my oasis/escape for an hour, at least.

1) Hearts In Flood (Alternative Version): Max Essa (2021)

2) Jigsaw Moon (Single Version): Max Essa (2021)

3) North Shore (Max Essa Instrumental): Cantoma (2011)

4) Fingers & Thumbs: Max Essa (2021)

5) Canopy: Max Essa (2021)

6) Lovers Then Strangers (Vacation Edit): Max Essa (2015)

7) Fountains: Natural Hugh (2021)

8) Love FM (Max Essa Remix): MCLD (2021)

9) Come Come The Rain (Charles Webster Remix): Max Essa (2018)

10) Blame It On Rea: Max Essa (2016) 

 

2011: Out Of Town: The Remixes: 3 

2015: Lovers Then Strangers EP: 6

2016: Blame It On Rea EP: 10

2018: M.O.D.F.D.M.V/Come Come The Rain EP: 9

2020: Palmetto Green LeMans/Fountains EP: 7

2021: Jigsaw Moon/Jules Y Cynthia EP: 2 

2021: Love FM EP: 8

2021: Miró In The Bathroom: 1, 5

2022: Fingers & Thumbs/I Can't Sleep EP: 4

Keep The Vibes Alive (1:00:35) (Box) (Mega)

Thinking About All That Sunlight

Bringing the beats back home for the weekend with (just under) an hour of electronic grooves from 2022 that have got me shuffling around and throwing shapes. 

 

First up we have Steady State aka Dublin-based DJ and producer Eric Whelan with the title track (in German) of the excellent Shelter Me compilation. Out on the Paisley Dark Records label for six weeks only in May, all profits from album sales went to national housing and homelessness chariy, Shelter. A reliably brilliant selection featuring Jezebell, Richard Sen, Matt Gunn, Pete Bones and Bedford Falls Players amongst others, Beschütze Mich was the opening song and a highlight.

 

Cosmosolar is Alejandro Gamba from Argentina, who I first heard in June via his remix of Mundo D's Fight Your Enemy, which I've featured in a previous selection. I picked up Cosmosolar's All The Reasons EP on Bandcamp Friday in September, a four track feast with the title track featuring here. Another release on Nein Records, like Paisley Dark, a label that's relatively new to me that's fast become a go to for quality music.

 

Omri Smadar featured in the same selection as the Mundo D/Cosmosolar remix in July and this is another track from the rather special Phase Of Motion EP. Yuksek was on remix duties last time; this time around it's Omri himself with neighbour Obas Nenor aka Ronen Sabo.

 

I've been a fan and follower of Luxxury's music for a loooong time, initially coming via remixes and re-edits of the likes of Health, Led Zeppelin, Donna Summer, Little Boots and David Bowie. Blake Robin has also been producing his own music since the mid-2000s. Third album, Alright, came out in July and continues the theme of 1980s-inspired pop/dance tunes, drenched in Californian sunshine. 

 

A Mountain Of One also released their third album in 2022, Stars Planets Dust Me, emerging in early May. It completely passed me by until Swiss Adam highlighted the clutch of remixes accompanying second single Star over at Bagging Area in August. All highly recommended. For this selection, I've gone for the laidback grooves of Dublin DJ and producer Arveene Juthan. As an aside, today's photo/album cover is a cheeky, remixed nod to Swiss Adam's original holiday photo accompanying his post.

 

What Do You See In Me by Andres Y Xavi featuring Rolo McGinty (The Woodentops) had been out in 2021 but in March a remix package was released, including three sublime Balearic classics from Max Essa. I've previously selected the vocal mix; I've gone for the instrumental here which despite Rolo's absence is still a wonderful, blissful 8 minutes.

 

Ibibio Sound Machine released their fourth studio album Electricity in March and I completely missed it. Luckily, Jez over at A History Of Dubious Taste came to the rescue by posting a review a couple of weeks later and I immediately purchased the album in April. Produced by Hot Chip, the album is chock full of tunes that you can't help but move to. The album is still on heavy rotation, six months later.

 

You may have guessed from my review of last Saturday's Blancmange gig that (a) I like them a lot; (b) I like the post-reformation/Neil Arthur 'solo' Blancmange a lot; and (c) I like current album Private View, released at the end of September, a lot. Everything Is Connected, track seven of ten on the album, is one of the reasons why.

 

Franc Moody were completely unknown to me until I bought the 100-track EarthPercent x Earth Day Compilation Album, a digital behemoth that spawned a Dubhed Selection in early September. From what I can gather, Franc Moody are a London-based six-piece formed by Ned Franc and Jon Moody, performing a contemporary update of 70s/80s pop funk. Perhaps inevitably, they've also remixed Jamiroquai. The instrumental song featured here isn't entirely representative of the other songs I've heard but I was sufficiently intrigued to check out Franc Moody on YouTube and I'd recommend a peek.

 

The selection closes with Al Mackenzie (D:Ream, Field Of Dreams) and Sail On, his tribute to the greatly missed Andrew Weatherall. It's a beautiful song tinged with melancholy and optimism, Al's one-take vocal of the title all that needs to be said, really. The song is still available as a free/name your price download on Bandcamp, with all profit from sales going to I'm Homeless, get Me Out Of Here!, a Birmingham-based homeless charity that Al supports. Do the right thing.

 

It was only when writing the sleeve notes that I realised the link between the first and last songs, which feels even more pertinent with the departure of KamiKwasi, the return of Jeremy Hunt (if that's not Cockney rhyming slang by now, it should be) and the continued downward spiral of our un-Truss-tworthy PM. When I worked for Shelter many years ago, the aspiration was working towards a day when there was no longer a housing crisis and Shelter and other like-minded charities would no longer be needed. We're continuing to accelerate in completely the opposite direction, so thank goodness there are people and charities out there every day, trying to help and make a difference.

 

1) Beschütze Mich (from Shelter Me): Steady State

2) All The Reasons (from the eponymous EP): Cosmosolar

3) Smolyan (Night Mix) (from the Phase Of Motion EP): Omri Smadar

4) Midnight Special (Edit) (from Alright (Deluxx)): Luxxury

5) Star (Arveene Remix) (from the eponymous EP): A Mountain Of One

6) What Do You See In Me (Max Essa Extended Instrumental Mix) (from the eponymous EP): Andres Y Xavi

7) Casio (Yak Nda Nda) (from Electricity): Ibibio Sound Machine

8) Everything Is Connected (from Private View): Blancmange

9) Water (Instrumental) (from EarthPercent x Earth Day Compilation Album): Franc Moody

10) Sail On (from the eponymous single): Al Mackenzie

 

Thinking About All That Sunlight (57:00)