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We go again. Nine tracks I've been enjoying recently.

Southside Allstars - Southside Riddim

I don't know what it says about me that sometimes I have to wait 20-odd years to appreciate a music scene, but there we are. This track is also very useful if you need to brush up on your South London geography.

Tyler, The Creator - Noid

Obvs.

DJ Shadow - You Can't Go Home Again

Banged on The Private Press again for the first time in a very long time and I really dug it. Almost went with Walkie Talkie, but it's that little bubbly synth line that comes in around 2:48 (on this radio edit anyway) which swung it in You Can't Go Home Again's favour.

LCD Soundsystem - x-ray eyes

How things change. 10 years ago, I'd have posted a new LCD Soundsystem track immediately, in a separate post. But it feels like they've burned too many bridges what with the big goodbye and then coming straight back plus all the crypto-bros parties.

But hey, indie sleaze is now a thing and here's LCD sounding just like early LCD. Bygones but bygones innit.

Aphex Twin - PAPAT4 [155] (pineal mix)

Like with DJ Shadow, I banged Syro on for the first time in ages and it's a much more fun and enjoyable album than I remember. Also, where the hell have the last 10 years gone?

DJ Subaru - My Love (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)

I was trying to find 'I ❤️ You' by DJ Subaru (as played by Special Treatment a couple of weeks ago on Optimo's NTS show) but no luck on YouTube. However, this spacey chugger came up, and I can't resist a Prins Thomas remix. Thanks algo!

Mums of Death - Golden Axe

Went axe throwing with my mum recently. Learned she used to throw knives. As you do.

I first posted this track in 2011 and it made my end-of-year list too.

Sevendeaths - Wither Me (Cashmere Cat Edit)

Another one from those free LuckyMe Advent comps they used to do, this came up on shuffle on the train into Cardiff the other day and it just fit. 

Underworld - King Of Snake (Everything, Everything)

Man, I love Underworld.

Original image credit: STS-42 crew, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Only just clocked that the previous post was my 24th of the year, which was my target for this year. After the record low of 23 in 2023, I set myself the target of two posts a month in '24 to take me to 24. And hey, look at us. Who would have thought? Not me.

Joy Orbison - Flight FM

A right rumbler to start us off. Might well make my best of the year list, not gonna lie.

Lemon D - Why? (12 Hz Mix)

Man, how good is that distorted kick/bass? Proper d'n'b. Dillinja last post, now Lemon D, I'm on a Valve tip RN.

Massive Attack - Exchange

The last track on Mezzanine, and probably my fave. Used to play that album so so much. Kinda drifted away from it though. So much in fact, that this is the first time I've posted about Massive Attack in the 15 years I've been doing this blog. Wild times. Wild, wild times.

Aphex Twin - #20

AKA Lichen. Still not bought the £40 cassette reissue, still playing the second-hand copy I got from Tangled Parrot in Carmarthen earlier this year.

The Flying Lizards - Move On Up

One of those covers where I'm not entirely sure how I haven't heard it before now. Curtis Mayfield's all-timer is squeezed of all its funk, leaving it so stiff it becomes funky again. An experience.

The Fall - The Classical

I hope he's saying 'obligatory knickers' there.

Lambrini Girls - Company Culture

Spiky sharp lyrics and spiky sharp guitars with a cheap fun video and a great vocal performance. Really into this. 

Floating Points - Fast Forward

I'm just a sucker for spacey propulsive electronic jams like this, I'm sorry but I won't apologise.

Mathew Jonson - Decompression

Grotty, industrial, minimal techno from 2004. Again, I'm a sucker for it.

Original image: Wenceslaus Hollar, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

'Deranged jungle during the day'

Right, there's got to be something in the timing of this tweet (post, whatever) moaning about Mary Anne Hobbs playing 'deranged jungle during the day' last Tuesday (1 October):

The downfall of 6Music is baffling. Going from a station with a clear identity and knowing who it's audience was to the current jumble sale is madness. Not to mention MAH playing 2 hours of deranged jungle during the day. Utter nonsense.

— Anon Opin (@anon_opin) October 1, 2024

And MAH banging Dillinja's rip-snorting 2004 Breezeblock mix out on her Friday 4 October show.

Someone must have clocked it.

As BBC Sounds only keeps its mixes up for a month, here it is on MixCloud...

I'm gonna head down a jump-up rabbit-hole.

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It's a new dawn.

Malcolm McLaren - Madame Butterfly

It's the old 'seperate the art from the artist' thing with Malcolm McLaren for me. Not sure if he did anything truly awful but he always came across as a massive bellend. But he could create magic. Madam Butterfly is simply an incredible six minutes, gloriously of its time but a time I'd rather be in (1984).

Billy Joel - Big Shot

Yeah, I've started watching The Boys about four years after everyone else. And I thought I was done with superheroes.

Captain Beefheart - Hot Head

I remember getting Trout Mask Replica out of Cardiff Central Library as a boy and not bothering to rip it. Left me cold. However this later stanky grinding bar blues smear has something to it.

At The Drive-In - One Armed Scissor

Now this is something I bought rather than ripped as a boy, but lord knows where it went in all the moves. Had it in my head for days and now it's here. Glorious low bit-rate video too.

Loose Joints ‎– Is It All Over My Face (Larry Levan Remix)

Bit of handbrake turn on this playlist but sometimes you have to slam it about. As featured in that Arthur Russell mix I posted about the other day (Arthur Russell produced it like). Just top notch disco house grooves from the masters.

Renegade Soundwave - The Phantom (It's In There)

One of those old bangers I've heard numerous times but never knew the name of like. Huge rave/breakbeat hardocre energy, would love to hear this and feel this in a field.

Leftfield - Swords

Went to see Leftfield a week or so ago. They didn't play Swords but it was still good, proper loud. Orbital also played but they were not good, the nadir being the endless Spice Girls vocal sample towards the end.

The double-bill was all part of Cardiff Music City Festival from the council. It was day after Carnedd said they were closing immediately and had six days to get out. Music city, baby! Still, nice puff piece in The Guardian, you know it's a winner when there's no comments section.

Rustie - Draoidh

I needed something from 2024 in this list, it's looking v. retrograde otherwise. Draoidh is the third track that Rustie has drip released this year and there's still no sign of any drums. Are we looking at an ambient album or the mother of all drops?

Philip Glass - Rubric

Charlie Bones played this today on Do!! You!!! Radio. I asked the boy what he thought of it. 'Pirate-y music'. I'm not going to argue.

Byeeeeee.

Original image: Post of Indonesia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Delayed All Russell Twitch

I've been meaning to listen to this for a little while, but it just goes to show how little I go on SoundCloud now.

Uploaded on 14 August 2024, an All Arthur Russell DJ set from JD Twitch of Optimo would've been on repeat for weeks 10 years ago. Instead, it's taken me till October to get around to listening to it.

Maybe it's the rise of Do You and NTS in my streaming time, maybe it's now the SoundCloud logo is black it kinda gets lost in the apps. (Turns out I can change it back to the old orange - funnily enough it switched around August too). Whatever it is, I just don't go on SoundCloud much anymore.

The mix itself is lush. Don't just take my word for it, the boy came over while I was writing this and said, and I quote "I love this music" and did a little jig. Then he went back to Octonauts. But Octonatus is a firm fave and not a lot competes with that. But Arthur Russell got cut through.