If golf ever had one redeeming feature it's Brian Bennett - Chase Side Shoot Up

Tweet

There is a golf thing going on soon, the Ryder cup, one group of dullards face a group of simpletons in what is the quite easily the most pointless spectator sport ever created. I know this because my father still watches it religiously; one of the pleasures of unknotting the apron strings is that it no longer interferes with my radar until it shoes Mark Kermode's Film Review from it's slot (a most essential listen).

I would rather grate my penis to a stump and throw gunpowder on the wound than watch it.

It does however have one redeeming feature, the infamous BBC Golf theme Brian Bennett's 'Chase Side Shoot Up', a wonderful piece of proggy space synth with a slight whiff of funk to it. 

Download: Brian Bennett - Chase Side Shoot Up  MF

Another case in point that boring sports have the best themes...

Oh and maybe this...

...and although I have a soft spot for snooker

The Match of the Day theme is shit though and proves that the better the TV theme the more boring the sport.

D. D. Denham - Electronic Music in the Classroom

Tweet

I am obsessed with 1970s and 80s science artwork: I don't care for the science fiction stories or even shamefully the theory, but the art of science. I like the Sci-fi and educational book covers (as you'll gather from my latest mix artwork), the geometry, the precision and colour; like space simplified into a spirograph drawing.
There also seems to be a certain type of music that accompanies old Science education videos of the 70s, all analogue synths plipping, plopping, going all airy, then breaking up like air particles. I imagine the music to be made not by someone who makes music to change lives, shag girls or because they're no good at anything else, but just someone who likes experimenting with the different sounds that can be created by putting you fingers on a button at certain times.

Like the literature artwork, the prog-like synth music and pastel shaded educational television, 'Electronic Music in the Classroom' by D. D. Denham (Jon Brooks) is full of charm and has a type of British eccentricity to it; sounding like the laboratory of a reclusive genius.
I'm really falling in love with this record and you should to, released on Cafe Kaput it's available to download and stream from the D. D. Denham bandcamp page .

As an added bonus here is a clip from the hilariously accurate first series of Look Around You 

Paul Westerberg - Knocking On Mine

Tweet

'Knowledge is power, got your books go read 'em'

'Wisdom is ignorance; stupidity I call freedom'

My mate sent me a message that simply said 'knowledge is power', he smugly subscribes to National Geographic so who am I to question his source of power?

Free album download: Voyageurs - ☰ ☱ ☲ ☳ ☴ ☵ ☶ ☷ ☶ ☵ ☴ ☳ ☲ ☱ ☰.

Tweet

Thanks to yvynyl for the heads up on Voyageurs a fantastically hypnotic psychedelic drone band, they remind me of Wooden Shjips, Earth and a tiny bit Spacemen 3 but I'll let you make your own mind up. 

Their unreadably titled album '☰ ☱ ☲ ☳ ☴ ☵ ☶ ☷ ☶ ☵ ☴ ☳ ☲ ☱ ☰' is up on their bandcamp for free and is worth every second you'll invest in giving it a listen. Listen to the stream after the jump.

oOoOO EP out this week. Listen to it at XLR8R.com

Tweet

The term is 'witch house', we've mentioned it before (Lake Radio remember?), oOoOO, pronounced however you feel, seem to be the leading act of what could possibly be 2010's best musical fad on the genre's home label Tri-Angle Records, and it's actually pretty lovely.
It 's just nice ethereal, lo-fi, softly-synthed, drum machined house, they even have a bit of groove to 'em as you'll hear from this track Hearts from their self titled EP.

Download: oOoOO - Hearts (MF)

Listen to the whole EP for free at XLR8R who have an exclusive stream for a week click here
Then buy it from boomkat here.

Have You Heard... Akido?

Tweet

I have started doing some writing for www.theplayground.co.uk, contributing to a new featured called 'Have you heard...?' I have already featured slacker pop rockers Fanzine  who are sure to win the hearts of Replacements, Pavement and Japandroids fans, and now I turn my attention to Canadian electronic shoegaze dub pop experimentalists Akido. Be sure to read the article here.
The third Akido album Gamechanger is available to download on bandcamp for as little or as much as you like. Have a listen on the widget below.

If There Is Hell Below. Podcast 19

Tweet

Click here to subscribe via itunes
Download: If There Is Hell Below... Episode 19


Episode 19. 'Thank god you're safe Callum'... he's been missed but he's back and he's brought some fine tracks with him: Al Stewart, Radio Dept. Cymbals Eat and more. Rob is there like furniture, a ranting settee that brings with him some Das Racist, Marsha Hunt, John Grant and some Megafun.


Tracklisting 
Das Racist - You Can Sell Anything
Soft Powers - It's Like a Dream
Megafun - Carolina Days
John Grant - I Wanna Go To Marz
Beach Fossils - Face It
Al Stewart - Turn Into Earth
Chad Valley - Anything
Radio Dept. - The New Improved Hypocrisy 
Cymbals Eat Guitars - Wavelengths
Seeland - Black Dot, White Spider
Twin Shadow - I Can't Wait
Marsha Hunt - Hot Rod Poppa 






Tracklisting for episode 18 is now up by clicking this link here

Free Download. Seeland - The Black Dot, White Spider EP feat Tom Furse (The Horrors) Remix

Tweet

Seeland jumped straight back into my attention last night when I was introduced to the Tom Furse (him off The Horrors) remix of Black Dot, White Spider. Taking the already quite electronic krautrock sounding track and turning it into a Neu! song - I have no problem with this - rather that than a generic dubstep, electro, tech remix (yawnsville). The Black Dot, White Spider EP featuring said remix, the original single and a couple of other curious remixes is available on the widget below.

  

The new Seeland album 'How to Live' is out now on LOAF buy it from Boomkat today

Leatherboy @ Lock Tavern Sunday 26th Sept w/ Richard Fearless, Spiderwebb and The Diddlers.

Tweet

This night looks well worth checking out. I don't doubt that Richard Fearless (Death in Vegas), Spiderwebb (Horrors), Leatherboy and Sexbeat will play nothing but the best psych, garage, biker rock, horror, soundtracks and other musical curiosities. However I'm torn between going to this or catching The Soundcarriers at Cecil House, equally unmissable.
Even if I don't go, I can continue enjoy this Leatherboy mix he recently put together; a man after my own heart it features some K-Rock, Arthur Russell, heavy breaks and lo-fi psych. Check it out on mixcloud below.

Leather Boy - Wedding Night 2010 by Leatherboy on Mixcloud

Stuff From Another Blog. Aquarium Drunkard Mixtape: LA Burnout 2 - Still Burnt (A Compilation)

Tweet

Aquarian Drunkard always put up good tracks and this compilation is no different. After you've checked out this fine collection get yourself over to Aquarian Drunkard for more goodies.


"Sean Howe and Aquarium Drunkard are back with L.A. Burnout 2: Still Burnt. Continuing in the vein of last year’s L.A. Burnout, the 25 tracks compiled within exemplify the not-quite-there nature of the city, particularly what was being laid down in the 70s. Play this mix around dusk while driving through Topanga with the windows rolled down — it’s the next best thing to time travel.  Get Burnt after the jump……"


Download: LA Burnout 2: Still Burnt - A Compilation(megaupload)


Tracklisting
Brian Wilson – Smog High
Shango – Day After Day
The Originals – California Sunset
Brewer & Shipley – Dreamin’ In The Shade
The Mamas & The Papas – Mansions
Hill Barbata Ethridge – L.A. Getaway
Terry Melcher – Rebecca
Terry Allen – There Oughta Be A Law Against Sunn…
The Everly Brothers – Ventura Boulevard
Boffalongo – Snow White Lady
Charles Lloyd – TM
New Riders Of The Purple Sage – High Rollers
The Main Ingredient – California My Way
Ned Doheny – Postcards From Hollywood
Orange Colored Sky – L.A. (Los Angeles)
Boz Scaggs – Hollywood
Johan Blomgren – California Sundown
Tim Buckley – Freeway Blues
Terry Melcher – Beverly Hills
Bobby Womack – Daylight
Art Garfunkel – 99 Miles from L.A.
Ambulance LTD – Arbuckle’s Swan Song
Leon Ware – Why I Came to California
Gabor Szabo – Theme From Valley of the Doll
Don Everly – Southern California

Maybe OK Go's time would be better spent trying to write a half decent song

Tweet

When you take away the well choreographed and well thought out video what are you left with? A truly forgettable song. Still the dogs are good and the video will get loads of hits, that's what's important right?
Go back and write songs.

Air - Virgin Suicides Live @ American Legion Hall

Tweet

Well this is a treat. It must've been more than a year since I harped on about Air, but I couldn't hold it in any longer, not after finding this gem on the rather delightful 36 15 Moog blog; a Paul Durango site which features nothing but Moog releases.
This is Air playing - in my opinion - their second best LP the Virgin Suicides soundtrack recorded at the American Legion Hall back in 2000. What a joy it would've been to be there and what a joy it is to hear lying back at the end of the day with a good set of headphones on.
Enjoy!

Download: Air - Virgin Suicides Live @ American Legion Hall, Hollywood (23/01/2000) (MF)

Tracklisting
1. Intro
2. Dark Messages
3. The Word 'Hurricane'
4. Intro
5. Clouds Up
6. Highschool Lover
7. Afternoon Sister
8. Dirty Trip
9. Empty House
10. Dead Bodies
11. Cemetary Party
12. Playground Love
13. Suicide Underground
14. Encore 1 Intro
15. Talisman
16. J'ai Dormi Sous L'Eau
17. Encore 2 Intro
18. La Femme D'Argent

It's now time to put on your 3rd eye glasses for Prince Rama

Tweet

WOW!  It should be quite obvious to regulars that I love psych and I mention it a lot, a lot of what I post has an element of the psychedelic, I could try to write something about this track and video without mentioning the silent-p word, but I'd be a fraud and denying it it's one true definition. It's fantastically kaleidoscopic and has got me hungry for some more Prince Rama; chances are I'll be gushing over them on the next pod. 

Their fourth album album Shadow Temple is available from the Paw Tracks website here and while you wait for that to slip inside your house you can listen to their other releases at their bandcamp site here.

Glasser - Ring

Tweet This is me doing what blogs do. Putting up blogs of songs already on every other blog. I like this though.
(via True Panther)

The Sweet - The Juicer

Tweet

Whenever I'm around my Dad and the sound of The Sweet come out the TV, radio, Hi-Fi or my mouth singing - that 'oooooooh ahhhhhh' bit on Blockbuster is so bloody satisfying to sing -  he'll always recount how during a holiday in Butlins Brian Connolly walked past us in the canteen. Dad was clearly starstruck, I was about 8 so probably could care more about him giving me a coin to put in a Street Fighter machine.

Like my Dad all those years ago at Bognor Regis, today I was struck by the Sweet.  Listening to Cherrystones typically great 'Entertaining the Unobvious' mix out came what sounded like some forgotten late 60s garage rock stomper. 'What the hell is this!?' I said in that wonderful pricked up ear glee one gets when they discover that utterly blows them away that they'd never heard before.
It was the sound of the Sweet before they went all Blockbuster and became icons of glam rock.

The Juicer is criminally nestled on a budget split album with The Pipkins who had a novelty hit with the utterly awful 'Gimme Dat Ding'. Juicer is as good as any fuzzy guitar and big beat garage rock track I've heard, it's got a dirty sexy groove purpose built for hip shaking,

Download: The Sweet - The Juicer (MF)

A real freaky scene. Le Voyageur - Heldon

Tweet

It's songs like this that make me spit out my coffee laughing when a Lady Gaga says her music is interesting, unique and is 'art'.

VID & Free Track. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble "Drips/Take Notice" feat Flying Lotus.

Tweet
Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble "Drips/Take Notice" feat Flying Lotus from Miguel Atwood-Ferguson on Vimeo.

It's a Monday: take a load off your mind, ease the last of the hangover out your head and let Miguel Atwood-Ferguson's jazz orchestra and hip hop astronaut Flying Lotus take you to a place of cosmic tranquility with their reworking's of Lotus' track Drips and J Dilla cut Take Notice.
This is just about the finest live vid I've seen all year, this is the kind of performance where you envy each person lucky enough to see it in front of them for real. After you've watched this, be sure to download the track from bandcamp and get it on your Steve Jobs approved playmachine.

Stereolab remix Serena Maneesh - D.I.W.S.W.T.T.D. Wow!

Tweet

For some reason I haven't got round to listening to the new Serena Maneesh 'S-M 2: Abyss in B Minor' album in full, bit silly because I liked what I'd heard (was a wee bit 'Vanishing Point' era Primal Scream) and I enjoyed their debut.
Even though this Stereolab remix has essentially been turned into a Stereolab song, I'm most deff gonna be turning my ears towards S-M 2: Abyss in B Minor this weekend.


You can pick up this track on limited 12" sometime in October through 4AD.

If There Is Hell Below. Podcast 18

Tweet

Click here to subscribe via iTunes


Download: If There Is Hell Below... Episode 18 (right click, save link as)


Episode 18. Rob is joined by guest host Asa White this week, who delves into a bag of reggae, country, funk, folk, new wave and R&B and pulls out some gems along with some of Rob's current favourites.

Tracklisting
Jim Henson - The Countryside
XTC - Season Cycle
Fanzine - Susan
Tim Hardin - She's Up To Something New
The Sadies - Violet & Jeffrey Lee
Deep Throat - Run Linda Run
Wanda Robinson - A Possibility (Back Home)
Raspberries - Let's Pretend
Electric Sandwich - On My Mind
Augustus Pablo - Jah Light
Macy Skipper - Goofin' Off
1973 - Bye Bye Cellphone

Kon & Amir Present Off Track Volume III: Brooklyn

Tweet

This compilation compiled by record digging heavyweights Kon Amir is their third in the essential Off Track series and picks out the best rarities from the Ghetto Disco, Funk and African Boogie of mid-70s Brooklyn.

"Off Track III finds the New York/Boston-based pair shining light on another diverse array of underexposed vinyl. The eclectic African disco and soul cuts Amir highlights on his disc are Americanized by style but inherently authentic in feel, demonstrating the very best of the region’s dance music from the period following Fela Kuti’s mid-70s creative peak. Some standouts: Tee Mac’s 1980’s insistently catchy ‘Living Everyday’; Effi Duke’s percussive masterpiece ‘The Time Is Come’; and Christy Essien’s glorious ‘You Can’t Change’, which features famed bandleader Geraldo Pino’s Show Train outfit. Also in the mix are a couple of cuts from unsung Nigerian star Dizzy K. Falola aimed at sophisticated dancefloors. "

Check out some choice cuts from the compilation compiled in a mix below. 

Kon & Amir - Off Track Vol. Iii: Brooklyn (Mix) by Moovmnt on Mixcloud

Buy Kon & Amir - Off Track Volume III: Brooklyn from Sounds of the Universe

Jim Henson - Time Piece (short film)

Tweet

I'm gonna be playing a song by Jim Henson for the next podcast, which has had me looking up his other non-muppet projects. He was a pretty talented guy. Time Piece is a short experimental film featuring Jim rushing through life with the percussive jazz of Don Sebesky soundtracking the rhythm of life, as you'd expect from him it's great fun and got him an Oscar short film nomination back in 1968.

The Sound of Space... Literally.

Tweet

Brian Cox has returned to the BBC with his enviously thick head of hair and a new series Wonders of the Solar System. A wonderful little program that has the profound effect of making me feel less stupid after watching it. Sure all of that knowledge will be pushed out of my brain later to make way for an extreme hatred of a couple on Coach Trip, but for a brief window i'm Patrick Moore trapped in David Crosby's body.

While searching for some youtube clips of jazz, funk, psych, hip hop project The Heliocentrics, I bumped into a video not by the Stones Throw act, but a track that consisted of collected sounds taken from space.  It was pretty damn cool; space is like my new specialist subject after watching Brian Cox and music is like my favourite so... *that David Brent hand gesture when he merges his hand together and bites his bottom lip*.



Pretty bloody cool yeah? Cosmic even? Just atmosphere moving through space, light beams, meteors, stars etc making the most incredibly ambient sounds, it's like we didn't need those wank ambient acts in the first place - the universe had mastered it already.

As mentioned below in the clip blurb all the sounds were taken from a podcast recorded in 2008 called the Jodcast: a twice-monthly astronomy podcast and it's dead interesting like...

Download the Sounds of Space podcast here

That Giorgio Moroder Track DJ Shadow Borrowed - Tears

Tweet

DOWNLOAD: Children of the Mission (Giorgio Moroder) - Tears (Mediafire)

A friend of mine put some DJ Shadow up on his Facebook today - of course it was from Endtroducing: the album he will forever be living off. It got me thinking of his track Organ Donor and the fact that he doesn't really do the track he sampled -'Tears' by Giorgio Moroder's project 'Children of the Mission' - any favours: it's not a bad song, it's just Tears is too good to really just take a snippet and add some Hip Hop beats.



To me it lacks the subtlety of the original, I love DJ Shadow but it's straight in with the drums and it's gone from 0-epic in but a few bars, it's straight in with the fucking, rather than getting down to some essential foreplay before bringing you to climax (jesus christ, why have a I written that?). I like a bit of break beat and urgency is always great for the dance floor but sometimes it's nice to build into the epic and keep people waiting for the boom of those drums, thundering organ and a choir that sounds like an assembly of the gods.
Organ Donor is a classic of it's time from a monumental album but between Shadow and Giorgio - I'm going with the Disco pioneer.

Further Delights from an Astral Garden

Tweet

Click here to subscribe via iTunes

Download: SPACEHIPS - Further Delights From An Astral Garden (right click, save link as)

Further Delights From An Astral Garden by Ifthereishellbelow on Mixcloud

After more than a year's absence Spacehips returns with his new mix 'Further Delights from an Astral Garden': a short but (hopefully) fulfilling journey through out there Jazz, wigged out psych rock, erotica, kosmiche and some tasty breaks for dancers. 
Enjoy!

Tracklisting

Untitled - Unknown Artist

The Feed-Back - Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza

Arkestry - Flying Lotus

Cloisters - Bill Dixon

Stepping Stones - Johnny Harris

Tiny Circles - Wolf People

In The Haze of Drugs - Cosmic Trip Machine 

Panda - Dungen

Shitkicker - Malachai

Zold Borostyán - Sarolta Zalatnay

Aguaturbia - Erotica

Soul Clap - Dreams of Tomorrow

Tweet

House music. House... music. For me it can be a wee bit sickly and a tiny bit tacky, bit like it's older brother disco: when disco is good it's magnificent, when it's bad it's John Travolta in his diamond studded pants... disgusting... utterly disgusting. 


Soul Clap are a pair of DJs and Producers from Boston. I warmed to them with this little bio snippet


"Elyte and Cnyce's paths were crossed for all time when a Sun Ra light beam sent from Saturn collided with the P-Funk Mothership and sent them tumbling to earth. Now, Soul Clap time travels on a musical spaceship of dopeness... "


I can dig on that and I can dig on this.


FREE DL! Dreams Of Tomorrow by Soul Clap


From the other cuts I've heard from these two, this is my favourite, the rest balance a little on the wrong side of my house tolerance (I'm pathetic with it).


It's worth checking out their website, blog and I can currently vouch for their podcast being a thing of greatness. Check it here

Dust off that anorak Belle & Sebastian are back...

Tweet

Back with a new Happy Hardcore sound: shunning their boy/girl indie love songs for the timid, for an altogether more accessible and offensive sound. Write About Love is the next thing you're likely to hear thundering out of sweet little tarted up Corsa and the best thing you're gonna hear at the back of the bus.

Download Write About Love free from their website HERE