...the first of which was that all of the music on today's selection is twenty years old. Gulp.
In 2003, I was married but Lady K had yet to arrive. Mrs. K and I were living in central Bristol. We lived very close to the Hen & Chicken pub, which hosted the fabulous Comedy Box which we went to a lot. It was (and still is) a fantastic place to catch up-and-coming performers as well as well established names who would use the venue for Edinburgh Festival work-in-progress shows. In 2003, we saw Ed Byrne, Tommy Tiernan and Dara Ó Briain, the latter for the second time having first seen him support (and surpass) Emo Phillips.
Musically speaking, 2003 appears to have been a gig-free desert. However, i listened to and discovered a lot in that year as in any other year since the mid-1980s, although there would have been a bit of culling, trading and adjusting my physical vinyl and CD collection. In 2003, there were already boxes in the loft that would involve specific trips to rummage, retrieve and record for mixtapes to support my daily walk to work.
A fair few of the music here can be tracked back to that period, some I acquired much later, but I'm struck by how fresh it all still sounds. Some are sadly no longer with us, some are still actively recording, performing and arguably producing some of the finest music of their career, all gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside after listening to them again.
The final realisation (more a reminder, really) came whilst putting this post together. The closing track - and inspiration for today's title - is California Sunshine by Abakus aka Russ Davies, son of Dave Davies and nephew of Ray Davies of The Kinks. This is an earlier/original version of a track that subsequently appeared on his debut album That Much Closer To The Sun in 2004. Beautiful.
1) Good Luck (Tim Deluxe Dub) (Remix By Timothy Liken): Basement Jaxx ft. Lisa Kekaula (2003)
2) Sister Saviour (DFA Dub) (Remix By James Murphy & Tim Goldsworthy): The Rapture (2003)
3) Nebulus (Vox): Fluke (2003)
4) Microtronics Five: Broadcast (2003)
5) Blue Room (CocoDaBank Remix By Chris Coco & Rob Da Bank): The Orb ft. Jah Wobble (2003)
6) The Conductor (Remix By Thin White Duke aka Stuart Price): The Faint (2003)
7) Familiar Feeling (Martin Buttrich Remix Edit): Moloko (2003)
8) Still My World: Andrew Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood (2003)
9) Soul Shakedown Party (Gaudi Dub Remix By Daniele Gaudi): Bob Marley & The Wailers (2003)
10) California Sunshine (Original Version): Abakus ft. Ranajit Sengupta (2003)
2003: Blue Room (promo 12"): 5
2003: Danse Macabre Remixes: 6
2003: Familiar Feeling EP: 7
2003: Good Luck EP: 1
2003: Microtronics Volume 01: 4
2003: Sister Saviour EP: 2
2003: Still My World (Japanese promo CD): 8
2003: Switch EP: 3
2003: Youth In Dub: Orchestra Mystique: 10
2020: Gaudi: Remixes 1995-2020 (25 Years Special Edition): 9
A Series Of Realisations... (54:48) (Box) (Mega)
