Danny Brown & The Best Ramen In Years

So not last Friday, but the Friday before (18th November) Plus One Loo and I headed under the Severn to catch Danny Brown at The Marble Factory.

3/5 man definitely 3/5.

Pros

• Loud as fuck (praise be silicon earplugs, don't care, can't hack the ringing ears any more).
• Played 3 maybe 4 of the Rustie produced bangerz off Old in a row, plus Attak
• Interesting venue, quick staff, hooks to hang stuff on.

Cons

• Set finished at 10pm on the dot and the kicking out started a minute after that.
• I'm not a massive fan of Atrocity Exhibition (I know I'm in the minority on this).
• Not entirely sure Brown wanted to be there, sure he shouted out Brixton rather Bristol at one point.

Turns out I only really love Danny Brown when he is working with Rustie. So yeah 3/5. 

What was 5/5 was the ramen we had before the gig. Sticks & Broth take a bow. Had the beef brisket ramen. Best thing I've eaten all year. Not only do Sticks & Broth have amazing ramen, they also possess a killer drinks menu (Plus Loo One had her first highball since Japan) and a banging music policy. When we were eating it was mostly funk and soul but right as we were finishing they only dropped the Bronksi Beat.

Amazing.

Sticks & Broth have a pop up opening soon in the Chinese Supermarket on Denmark Street, and I'm getting back on the train just for that. But come to Cardiff soon yeah Sticks & Broth?

And that right there is all the excuses I need to come back to #Bristol @SticksNBroth #ComeToCardiff

A photo posted by Sammyfax (@ceefaxoflife) on Nov 19, 2016 at 4:07am PST

Related Post: Rustie's Essential Mix

Famicom64

So after my first remix, I've now made my first track since 2009 when I did the odd thing on Nos Da. Me. Look at me. I'm a special little boy. Mummy's little soldier.

Quite. Quiet?

No.

It's called Famicom64 as the fog-horn stab was made on the Commodore 64 Synthesizer Chrome Extension. But cut me and I bleed Nintendo. So it's Famicom64.



Thoughts?

2 Milestones: 500 Posts & My First Remix

This is my 500th blogpost on Ceefax Of Life.

At no point, when sat in my tiny bedroom in Llantwit Major on a grey February in 2009, did I think I'd still be doing this in 2016.

To say things have changed for me since I started this blog is a slight understatement. I'm now married to Plus One Loo. I bought a house. I got a dog. I found a job I really enjoy. And hopefully next month I'll be tearing around Canton in my first car.

Yet one constant in my life has been this blog. There have been times where I have walked away for months at a time, only be dragged back in by one more amazing track, mix or remix that I want to share. 5 times to be exact.

But share with whom? I know I have a small readership, and although I do always check on my pageviews and audience location, most of which seems to be in France now, the only person I'm really writing for is Future Sam (hi me if you're reading this in 2023 or whatevs). Blog is short for weblog, and this is my diary for the stuff I'm into right that minute when I write it. Ceefax Of Life is my personal history, and the fact that other people dig it is a (massive) added bonus.

I clocked that the 500th post was coming up after deleting a load of duplicate articles and drafts over the summer. So I've been wondering how to mark it for a while.

I toyed with once again sharing the track that got me into MPFrees, A Number Of Names' Shari Vari. Yet I've previously written about how this track, The Ill-Ec-Tro-Nic and The Guardian switched me on to starting a blog.

I thought of doing some kind of pun involving Model 500. Obvs.

I even thought that I should start a Facebook Page, seeing that it looks like it's hanging around now. But then it suddenly hit me after watching Aaronson at Gwdihw. These were guys I knew, absolutely slaying it. And I thought, why don't I give music making another go?

As teenager I fought the insistence of Dance eJay 3 to make trance to instead make ambient stuff and pounding techno. I quickly moved on to what was then Fruity Loops and since known as FL Studio. Then I just kind of stopped.

So on Tuesday, while watching Aaronson, I thought fuck it. 2016 can't get any worse. And my skin has grown thicker over the years. I've become more resilient and confident in my abilities that I can now take the jokes if people think my productions are shit.

Now I always knew I struggled with melody, but that I had decent producing and editing skills, so I thought why not give remixing a go? Then I clocked the interludes that Aaronson where playing while changing instrument.

So then I did this last night...



Aaronson's (At Least Here) [Sammyfax Remix] is my first remix. You can hear the original here.

It feels good to be making stuff again. And I hope to do it again soon. Here's to more music and another 500 posts...

Interview: Aaronson - South Wales' Finest Post-Punkers

On Tuesday night Aaronson tore Gwdihw a new one. Ferocious post-punk shook the feathers off that little owl, as Aaronson celebrated the release of their debut album Appearance And Reality.



With my other hat on, I caught up with Mark and Dan from the band in the beer garden after their set. There are however a few things I feel I have to point out before you press play.

1. Yes, I know Bernard Sumner was the guitarist not the bassist in Joy Division and New Order.
2. I forgot to bring a mic stand, so be prepared for when Mark starts banging the table.
3. Peter Crouch is 6' 7" tall.
4. The singer in Young Marble Giants is Alison Statton.
5. I do not need a second invitation to start shouting the lyrics to Bound 2 by Kanye West.

GWTF 20: Soulwax Return

Just when I thought I couldn't get more excited, what with all the Ghost In The Shell stuff and Christmas hurtling towards us, Soulwax decide to come back after flipping ages away.

11 flipping years to be exact!



You can pick up Transient Program for Drums and Machinery for free off the beautiful Soulwax.com. It's a heads up for a European tour and Plus One Loo and I are eyeing up the Amsterdam date in April. See you in The Bulldog!

Richard D. James Is 20

This month is the 20th anniversary of Aphex Twin's iconic release Richard D. James Album. Thump has a rather flowery article on why it matters now, just as much as it did then. It goes without saying that it is one of my favourite albums of all time.

So why am I writing about it now rather than on the anniversary of its day of release - 4th November 1996? Well I was late to RDJ, so I think it's fitting that I'm late in my tribute.

I came across RDJ in sixth form in 2001. And I can still remember the first time I played it in my blood red room in Grangetown. It sticks in my mind just as watching Firestarter on Top Of The Pops does. It bordered on an awakening.

I rewound 4, the opening track of RDJ, several times before listening to the rest of the album. I never rewind on a first listen. I always try and take an album as a whole piece of work. Yet with RDJ and 4, I was completely blown out of the water. I was deep into my drum and bass phase at the time and hearing Aphex Twin tear the genre apart and put it back together again was mind-blowing.

The rest of the album didn't disappoint either. In fact it's a classic. So here's a belated Penblwydd Hapus to the Richard D. James Album.

Related Posts:

• GWTF 19: Early Aphex
• Fingerbib Shuffle
• Fuck Mini Babybels

Enjoy The Silence Ghost In The Shell

Holy mother of Christ, have you seen the first trailer of Ghost In The Shell? As in the live-action remake with Scarlett Johansson? 

Jaw to the floor. One of my favourite ever films remade with the hardest one on Earth (with the possible exception of Christina Hendricks). Even Kasper pops in from brooding in Borgen. Excited doesn't really cover it.

From what I can gather, the music used in the soundtrack is Ki:Theory's industrial/EDM take on Depeche Mode's Enjoy The Silence.

And that's the only slight disappointment for me with the GITS trailer, as Kenji Kawai's score of the original 1995 anime is flawless.

So here's hoping for more trailers soon and with more music that matches the shimmering beauty of 攻殻機動隊.

Related Post: Ghost In The Shell Remix