Wowsers, this is special. I’d heard a couple of Dave Aju (real name Marc Barrite) releases before this (and always thought them incredibly well produced), but this is an altogether different beast.
The ‘Heirlooms’ LP was supposed to be a long planned collaboration with his professional jazz musician father, who sadly died before the project could come to fruition. Although not there in person, his father’s contributive recordings (edited and manipulated brilliantly by his son) resonate loudly through this glistening, soulful tome to a man’s love for his musically inspirational father.
I’m not going to get heavily into specifics, but I personally adore the clattering swing of ‘Until Then’, the somehow David Byrnes-esque joy of the epic ‘To Be Free’ and the Rhodes-sodden wonkiness of the perfect closer- ‘Revealing’… But that’s just me. As much as I love imposing my editorial fascism under normal circumstances, I think this beauty is best interpreted by you lot.
This was a completely unexpected find, and made all the more covetable and thrilling because of it. Buy it here.
It’s about that time again: I’ve very pleased to announce that after much to-ing and fro-ing the Heads Down Saturday Summer Sessions will be returning to Caravan again for 2012.
Last year was fantastic, but exhausting, so we’ve decided to bring it back fortnightly so I don’t have to be stretchered out of there come October. As always the music will be a kaleidoscopic trip through Balearica, ambient, jazz, disco, house, soul and funk… It’s a seven hour set so I GO THERE. It all gets played over a wonderful, perfectly tuned Martin Audio system too, so it’s a pretty luxe experience.
As much as it irks me (hardly!) to say so, the other real stars at the HDSS are the chef and staff. The food, wine, cocktails and service here are absolutely unbelievable, so it’s a pretty win/win situation to be honest.
The Heads Down Summer Sessions start 5pm-12am on Saturday May the 12th (next weekend!) so see you then. Here’s a downloadable mix to get you in the mood…
It seems psychedelic, cosmic and Balearic are three words that get bandied around quite meaninglessly these days: they often get used to describe the wishy washy drivel on a million ‘Spirit Of Ibiza’ compilations and concurrently anything with a heavily delayed guitar and tabla. Music lovers are suffering while incense retailers are living in gold houses.
This debut release from ZSOU will not be heard at the Blue Marlin in Ibiza or any other Krug-glugging, speedo-infested beach bar on the Med. For this ladies and gentlemen is the real thing. Full of unexpected melodic changes, vocal treatment trickery and dense but immaculately conceived production, this is serious head music that will also sound frighteningly heavy on a good soundsystem.
Created by A Mountain Of One’s Mo Morris and erstwhile AMOO bass player Merrick Adams, this is another recent example of seasoned producers coming back with premier-league production (see also the recent Velvet Season & The Hearts Of Gold record, aka Joel Martin & Gerry Rooney), inadvertently highlighting the lack of finesse amongst some of the scene’s younger upstarts. I know this makes me sound like the creaky loathsome hater that I am, but I get sent enough crappy nu-disco/house/techno mediocrity EVERY DAY to speak with some alacrity.
So, it’s good then. It also comes in a magnificent cover with a poster version of the sleeve… I mean this is being put out in conjunction with LN-CC, so it’s hardly going to arrive in a used Argos bag is it?
Check out an exclusive mix by ZSOU here and listen slash buy this thing of beauty at the wondrous temple of all things desirable- the Late Night Chameleon Cafe.
Occasionally it seems the slightly more advanced DJ slash producer (in years and taste) feels a need to be true to his roots and and release something that strays from the 120bpm four-to-the-floor template. If you’re Eric Duncan or Harvey (Rub N Tug live and Map Of Africa respectively) this seems to be an OK idea (although anything like this I approach with gritted teeth), and this is another project that thankfully hasn’t collapsed under it’s own portent.
Mother Rose is the new project from Freaks main man Luke Solomon and Howlinʼ Wilf, The Veejays and sometime Polecats guitarist, Andy Neal. Released on strictly limited edition vinyl (initially through Londonʼs LN-CC store and Japanʼs Crue L), Mother Rose 001 sees Solomon and Neal plunge into their shared love of Tom Waits, Talking Heads, The Rolling Stones, Paul Weller, Jah Wobble, Blues, Soul, Funk and… You get the picture.
‘Tell Me’ and the Daniele Baldelli remix of ‘Mellow Down’ are the ones to check here, but you’ll have to take my word for it as there’s nowhere to listen to it (I could only stream it from the promo site), which is a bit bloody-minded in my opinion (vinyl only or not). Sorry about that. Well, at least you know it’s almost out there now, and word son, you’ll need to be quick.
Estonian singer Maria Minerva seems to be making a bit of a name for herself on the (suddenly everywhere) 100% Silk label and the aggravatingly hip Not Not Fun label. This is a tune she put together with Ajukaja, her old mucker and 90′s rave mate from the motherland. It’s an assured collaboration from two people who sound like they understand each other’s taste.
It’s quite an odd, at times slightly discordant tune that offsets it’s straight (and heavy) beat with wonky pitch-shifted vocal samples and a wonderful vocal that meanders without ever getting painfully abstract. I have absolutely no idea what she’s talking about (it’s sung in foreign innit) but the singing reminds me of the performance on this old Francois K remix for some reason. It’s not the most brilliantly produced record in the world (it gets a little busy and harsh in places), but it’s got tons of character and groove.
As only 200 copies of this post punk oddity have been pressed, I’d get busy with the cheddar yo.
What’s this? A 12″ featuring an original and a remix from two of my favourite contemporary artists? Massimiliano Pagliara (with the excellent Discodromo) and the constantly surprising Soft Rocks are in FULL effect on this release, ably assisted by trusty deckhands Cos/Mes and Kid Who who also represent on the remix front.
I’m a huge fan of Pagliara’s; my original copy of the Toxic Love EP is now so worn that it’s more usable as a frisbee than a record, and ‘I’ll Never Be’ from his ‘Focus On Infinity’ LP is one of my most relentlessly thrashed records from the last five years (my wife groans when I play it). Discodromo caught everyone’s attention on Dissident and has been steadily building steam ever since. Soft Rocks of course have recently released their debut LP on ESP Institute containing the future classic ‘Air’ (amongst other bombs). Make no mistake, this is an all-star lineup.
Ah, I almost forgot Cos/Mes. I’ve never really bought into these guys so much; I always found them overrated and victims (or beneficiaries) of the ‘but they’re from Japan!’ mentality. This time however they (with the help of Max Essa) totally deliver with a tropical acid workout that is going to have the more bearded amongst you drooling down the front of your Albam dungarees and all over your new thigh-high Grenson brogue boots. Argh!
What makes this record relatively rare amongst these producer’s discographies is that this is a straight-down-the-middle dancefloor record. Latin percussion rattles excitedly over analog drum machines and warmly expansive synth bass, only to be bum-rushed by the most gleefully hug-inducing synth chords known to mankind. Soft Rocks for their part (predictably but brilliantly) take it in a Balearic direction- in fact everyone on this 12″ plays their role perfectly. This is perhaps some of these guys’ best work and it’s on a vinyl-only 250 copy release, which, let’s face it, is pretty bonkers. Get involved!
This is the debut release on Gerry Rooney and Joel Martin’s new Lucky Hole imprint and the first release as Velvet Season & The Hearts Of Gold, which they describe as ‘all about sharing their love of music with the world, having fun and not taking things too seriously’. Well despite all this, this is an incredibly serious piece of production by two of the underground’s best kept secrets.
Joel Martin is, of course best known for his work with Radioslave’s Matt Edwards as Quiet Village; I regularly find myself revisiting their early WhateverWeWant Records releases (especially at my Caravan residency, where they’re early-doors anthems) as they’re completely timeless pieces of sonic esoterica. Gerry Rooney is best known as DJ Harvey’s partner in the original edit label Black Cock, the classic edit imprint that launched a thousand bottom-feeding intro-extending bootleggers of dubious reputation. Still, they weren’t to know were they?
The track in question is the charmingly named ‘Camel Toe Central’ (which I guess could be an alternative name for an American Apparel photo shoot), an immaculately produced stripped-back drum, bass and percussion workout. The gorgeous ambient intro is worth the price of admission alone, but when the sub bass drops all bets are off. This is deep, exciting, ultra dynamic music from two men who have spent enough time in loud dark rooms and windowless studios to know how to push your buttons and toy with your emotions… The clever buggers. Buy buy buy.
The Bicep boys have been fiddling around on their analogue gear for a while now (when they’re not posting on their literally world-famous blog) and they’ve made some good music, but, BUT: this is the sound of producers coming of age in a major way.
‘$tripper’ is a (you guessed it) stripped back and passionate homage to the sound of New Jersey house past: a slow, heavily swung sacrificial offering to the gods of crystal MDMA, virtually oozing with bodily fluids. A diva groans, pads shift, and beats bang. It doesn’t look much on paper, but this is a sweat-catalyzing whore of a record made for dirty, stinky basements. And it’s the best out there.
Apparently there’s going to be a very limited vinyl run which will hit the shelves on April 16th; considering it’s had over thirty thousand plays on Soundcloud I get the feeling they won’t hang around for long. You have been warned!
Output. Playgroup. The Underdog… Not to mention an incredible archive of era defining art design. The man casts an unmistakable silhouette against the backdrop of UK underground culture. It’s Trevor Jackson and he’s at the Basement Sessions. Undoubtably one of my favourite interviewees to date.
Release Numero Uno on Still Going’s (aka Eric Duncan and Liv Spencer) imaginatively named label Still Going Records has just hit the shelves and, I’m pleased to announce, all the imagination has been fruitfully saved for the eclectic psychedelic goodness that lies within these 12″ grooves.
The 4/4 drum loop is about the only predictable element in a tune that swirls, contracts and then unfurls in shockwaves of guitar, vocals (from Fischerspooner vocalist Lizzy Yoder) and euphoric strings. I heard a rumour that ‘D117′ totally blew the doors off at Cosmo‘s last Loft party (a discerning bunch if there ever was one) and I believe it, 100%.
They’ve come a long way from ‘Still Going Theme’ (has it really been five years already?) and this to me signals a duo and label who’re intent on taking it a little outside the cyclically well-worn paths that make up the road map of dance music.
I’m intent on getting Mr Duncan (one half of Still Going, one half of Rub ‘N Tug and one whole of Dr Dunks) in for an interview soon (we’ve tried before but there were typically annoying scheduling problems)… Rest assured it will happen. Buy this record here.
Getting our slabs together for next week's @AllSaints_ Basement Sessions podcast http://t.co/bEhDjd3a and it's sounding RIDICULOUS:) 10 hours ago
Off to see Kindness at the 100 Club tonight for their first LDN gig. One of my records of the year so far, so genuinely excited about it... 2012/05/15
Gastrosonic goodness @CaravanExmouth Heads Down Session TONIGHT from 6pm. Here's a mix to get you in the mood... http://t.co/rKiIu5vA 2012/05/12
@semtek_dbafraid it's on all weekend I think; I don't know how often they restock dude... There's a lot of bits for hardcore CDG fans only:/ 2012/05/11
awesome- glad you're feeling it man. “@BatinaDaria: #FF My fav DJs: @CMJCT and @TJHutt81 #FF My fav brand @AllSaints_” 2012/05/11
Went down to the Dover St Market sale event this morning and it was predictable bedlam. Decapitations, maiming, cold Comme-driven murder. 2012/05/11
@Josewa I can DEFINITELY see that! 2012/05/10
@Josewa Sounds like you've got it all worked out. Sch-mon! 2012/05/10
In the kitchen avoiding the depths of misery that is 'The Iron Lady'. How did Meryl Streep end up in what appears to be a 1995 TV movie? 2012/05/10
My god, the roast potatoes at @PizzaEast are mind-warpingly good. I think I had some kind of carbo-zone-out-of-body-experience. 2012/05/10
