9 in 1 (12)

Babe, are you OK? You've barely touched your playlist of mumbangers, Italo-disco, and one of the funkiest records I've ever heard.

Lone - ROYGBIV

Only one place to start this list and it's with Lone's cover of Boards Of Canada. Yep, not a remix or edit, a straight-up cover. It's a pay what you want jobbie on his Bandcamp, and any money generated goes to the Mind mental health charity.

Stereolab - Brakhage

Stereolab gonna Stereolab. 60s infused space music from the future like.

Q Lazzarus - Goodbye Horses

Epic late 80s - I was gonna say mumbanger, but I'm not sure how big this was - synth-pop? Wikipedia has it as post-punk / darkwave. I don't know what it is, but I think it's stunning - moody, moving, and a little weird. Love it.

Colin Newman - Commercial Suicide

The same could be said of Commercial Suicide, another slice of synth-pop that skews weird from the guy from Wire.

Fleetwood Mac - Little Lies

OK, now this is 100% a mumbanger. The definition of a mumbanger.

MFSB - Mysteries Of The World

This might just be the funkiest thing I've heard. It's dripping in funk. Drowning in it, mate. What makes me love it, even more, is that in the comments section under the video, someone says Ian Wright played it on the radio. I'm choosing to believe that's Arsenal legend, Ian Wright. Shout out to Ian Wright.

Tullio de Piscopo - Stop Bajon

This stomps. And swings. Thumping Neapolitan disco from 1984 that's straight into my Top 10 of 2021. A Do!! You!!! Radio / Charlie Bones staple. Shout out to Charlie Bones.

Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (The Neptunes Remix)

How have I never heard this before? Like seriously, how? Also the first time I've posted about The Neptunes in what, 12 years I've been posting here? Up is down. 

TNGHT - Brick Figures

Another list, another maxi-mini trap banger from your boys Lunice and Hudson Mohawke with a Cool 3D World-style video. This time with a SOPHIE twist in there. Nice nice. 

Related post: 9 in 1 (11)

Christmas Covers Mix

No Christmas Mix again this year, soz. Not sure there will ever be another one, double soz.

But here's something, a mix of Christmas covers done by lots of indie types, including The Fall, Low, Galaxie 500 etc.

My highlight is Zach Malm's take on Walking in the Air. Yes, mate.

Amser Electroneg 003

I wasn't particularly happy with Amser Electroneg 003, so I won't be uploading it to my Mixcloud.

If you're hardcore, you can take a deep dive into the listen again section of Bro Radio, it's under Amser Electroneg rather than The Party this time. Also, there are no shows till January so, it's the one marked 21-12-17 you need.

If you CBA then the tracklisting is yerr:

• Zwolf - Cry Wolf
• Cuélebre - Costa Verde
• Stereoripe - Recharge
• Love Object - Transparent Woman
• Throbbing Gristle - Hot On The Heels Of Love
• Röyksopp - Remind Me
• Devo - Snowball
• Nathan Fake - Silent Night
• Lindstrom - Little Drummer Boy
• Wham - Last Christmas (Slugabed Ruined It)
• Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime (Seven Davis Jr edit)
• GFOTY - Christmas Day
• Bit Shifter - Let It Snow

Riki Buzz

Yet another week and yet another so-so synth-pop album that I've reviewed for Buzz Magazine. This time it's Gold by Riki. My three-star review is yerr.

 

Marigold featuring him from Telefon Tel Aviv is the highlight. Gold came out on Friday 26 November 2021 on Dais Records.

Related post: Love Object Buzz

Amser Electroneg 002

Many may have hoped it was a one-off, but no! Amser Electroneg was back on Bro Radio!

There's been a slight format change as I've been asked to do it weekly, rather than monthly, so on Fridays at 10pm, you can expect to hear electronic music from Wales and around the world. On AE 002 that meant tracks from Japan, Russia, Spain, possibly Iraq and definitely Cymru.

Tracklist:

• Kraftwerk - Numbers
• Ffrancon - Detroit, Chicago, New York, Machynlleth
• Nsue - Rebelde Silueta
• Jules Tropicana - Come On Everybody
• Telex - Moskow Diskow
• Love Object - The Kill
• The Human League - Being Boiled
• Police Academy 6 - Run
• Haruomi Hosono - Sports Men
• Kelly Lee Owens - Melt!
• Underworld - Rowla

I'm back on the air this Friday (17 December 2021), look I even have a proper asset and everything, with a Christmas special. Of a sort. Tune in!

Related post: They've let me back on the radio: Amser Electroneg 001

Love Object Buzz

Another week, another two-star review for Buzz Magazine.

Following Rival Consoles last week, it's the Russian synth-pop duo Love Object this week.

Transparent Woman and The Kill are the highlights and I play them on Amser Electroneg 002 and 003.

Rival Consoles Buzz

I reviewed the latest Rival Consoles album, Overflow, for Buzz a couple of weeks ago. 

My review is yerr and in the double Dec/Jan print edition if you're in South Wales.

NGL, I wasn't a fan but Touches Everything is pretty good.

Overflow by Rival Consoles came out on Friday 3 December 2021 on Erased Tapes.

Related post: Buzz Back

Ritmo Fantasía Buzz

Man, I had the absolute pleasure of reviewing Ritmo Fantasía: Balearic Spanish Synth​-​Pop, Boogie and House (1982​-​1992), as compiled by DJ Trujillo, for Buzz Magazine this week.

We're talking five stars, we're talking my compilation of the year, we're talking something that good.

Read my review now over on Buzzmag.co.uk, then head over to Bandcamp to buy it.

Check out our ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review of #ritmofantasia @Soundway @djtrujillo below 👇https://t.co/s5tacM3uXH#buzzalbumreviews #NewMusicFriday #compilation #80s #80smusic #synthpop https://t.co/wwj3jMoAj2

— Buzz Magazine (@Buzz_Magazine) November 26, 2021

Ritmo Fantasía: Balearic Spanish Synth​-​Pop, Boogie and House (1982​-​1992) came out on Soundway Records yesterday, Friday 26 November 2021.

9 in 1 (11)

Oh hi, Mark.

A playlist of things I've been enjoying recently, that's what this is, these '9 in 1' lists. Zambian psych rock, high camp house from 1995, rave, maximalist trap, and the spiritual successor to Born Slippy all feature...

Broadcast - Come On Let's Go

As featured on a recent Breakfast Show on NTS with Flo, definitely my favourite host in the new slot, here's a timeless cut from Broadcast. Come On Let's Go is from Broadcast's debut album, 2000's The Noise Made By People and man Trish Keenan went too soon.

Witch - Home Town

"Fuzzy, psych-rock music group from Zambia" is what the YouTube description of this video says. Nails it, though this is proper laid back. Oh and 1973, I'd add that too.

Vegyn - Blue Verb

AKA the ident/sting music that NTS uses. So, it was a bit of pisstake when Charlie Bones dropped it on his new Do!! You!!! Radio show. Yep, if you're not already on it, Charlemange has set up his own station and breakfast show after leaving NTS in dramatic fashion. It is essential listening as always.

Theo Parrish - Soul Control

I'm not sure how you even begin to describe this without using deeeeeeeep. A proper soulful roller from one of the best there is.

TNGHT - TUMS

I'm always a sucker for Hudson Mohawke and Lunice's maximalist trap bangers, and TUMS is no exception. Plus that smile, that damn smile. 

SL2 - DJs Take Control

The Top of the Pops reruns on BBC 4 have finally made it to the 90s so rave delights like this are now going out on TV at 8pm on Fridays. Yes, mate.

Candy Girls - Fee Fi Fo Fum 

Keeping it on a rave tip, I found this on the second disc of The Best of Dance Mania 95, one of 15 CDs I picked up for a quid from The Cabin on Lamby Way, AKA the shop at the tip in Cardiff.

I really don't know what to make of Fee Fi Fo Fum, it's camp cheese of the highest order but that synth line is genuinely affecting and quite melancholic, surely it's been sampled elsewhere?

Whirlpool Productions - From Disco To Disco

And another 90s banger, From Disco To Disco is from 1996 but is plugging into that French filter house sound. One of those tracks that I've heard in lots of places but never knew anything about, so big up Teki Latex for dropping into his Sophia Antipolis mix.

For Those I Love - I Have a Love (Overmono Remix)

The highlight of Overmono's recent Essential Mix is their remix of I Have a Love, which ends up somewhere between a spiritual successor to Born Slippy and a more driven Blinded By The Lights (The Streets that is... not Manfred Mann's Earth Band... though both are bangers, just in different ways). 

Genuinely, this is one of the best things I've heard this year. And it turns out Overmono are Welsh, so that's more hot content for Amser Electroneg, if and when etc.

Related post: 9 in 1 (10)

Hopkins Buzz

I had the pleasure of reviewing Jon Hopkins' latest album for Buzz recently. It's called Music For Psychedelic Therapy and it's well ambient and it's well good. Like five stars good.

I wrote slightly more in my review for November's edition, which should be out and about on the streets of South Wales at the mo, or head on over to the Buzz Magazine site to read it now.

Music For Psychedelic Therapy by Jon Hopkins is out 12 November 2021 on Domino.

Related posts: 

• Still Buzzing
• Bleeping Hopkins

They've let me back on the radio: Amser Electroneg 001

Hey, so I returned to the airwaves for the first time in oof! Over ten years?

Last Friday, as a bit of a tester, Bro Radio broadcast a show I've been working on called Amser Electroneg, which focuses on Welsh electronic music.

Catch up now over on my MixCloud:

Tracklist:

• Cotton Wolf - Ofni feat. Hollie Singer
• Ifan Dafydd - Miranda
• Lifting Gear Engineer - Lo-Hut
• Plyci - Latex
• Ffrancon - Deep Rural Knight
• Kelly Lee Owens - Corner of my Sky feat. John Cale
• Young Marble Giants - Choci Loni
• Islet - Radel 10
• Underworld - Twist
• High Contrast - If We Ever

Thanks to Ben and Bro Radio for the opportunity, and if all goes OK I may be hosting a regular monthly show from CF61 in Llantwit Major. Stay tuned!

Washed Out [and Repeated]

I had a quick dig through my likes on SoundCloud after the EGG MIX drew me back to the platform. 

Buried way down the list was a short mix from Washed Out. And I mean short, like 20 minutes short. Still, it packs in those 2010 vibes, proper chillwave like.

Tracklist: Washed Out - The Fantastic Symphony Mix for Platform. (March 2010)

• Arch M – “Bedrm Band at Caf NVA (edit)”
• The Samps – “Magnetic Thys”
• Samiyam – “Wrap Up”
• Toro Y Moi – “Brubek”
• Koushik – “Homage”
• Osborne – “Afrika (Bullion Remix)”
• Iasos – “Inter-Dimentional Music”
• Jack Nitzsche – “Untitled (edit)”
• The Khalsa String Band – “Song of Bliss”

I think Platform was the magazine/website that spawned Boiler Room. 

If you fancy more of this type of music with terrible attempts at Blue Jam style humour over the top, I made Nos Da around the same kinda time.

[Just as I was finishing writing this post and was sorting the labels out, I found that I wrote about this mix in December 2009. We go round and round and round.]

9 in 1 (10)

Another month, another list. Here's nine tracks I've been enjoying in October 2021, featuring moody post-punk, Thom Yorke sampling hip-hop, and lots of synths as per... 

  

The Roches - Losing True

Think I'm starting to get obsessed with this band. If you told me even five years ago I'd be digging a folk-rock vocal harmony group from the late 70s etc and so forth...

Aphex Twin - Xtal

A bit more like it. Some classic Aphex with the first track from Selected Ambient Works 85-92, made when he was 12 or some shit. Proper ambient techno mate.

The Isley Brothers - Footsteps in the Dark, Pts. 1 & 2

It was a good day when I heard this. So hard not to start quoting Ice Cube when it starts... 

CRS - Us Placers

So this is CRS AKA Child Rebel Soldier AKA Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, and Pharrell Williams. And Us Placers was meant to be the first track of a whole album made up of them rapping over Thom Yorke and Radiohead samples. Instead, it all fizzled out and Us Placers made it to Kanye's, sorry Ye's, 2007 mixtape Can't Tell Me Nothing. I completely missed all this somehow.

Eurythmics - Love Is a Stranger

Picked up Sweet Dreams, Eurythmics' second album in the Dog's Trust, Cowbridge last month for a quid. Well worth it.

Mr. Flagio - Take a Chance

It wouldn't be one of these lists without some italo-disco in here somewhere. Epic, Daft Punk vibes from 1983.

Zombie Zombie - The Beach

A squelchy analogue cover of New Order's The Beach AKA the instrumental and slightly different version of Blue Monday.

Passarella Death Squad - In Heaven

Brooding, throbbing techno that I heard on an old Andrew Weatherall show. A proper moody chugger.

Section 25 - Knew Noise

Big PiL energy here, all doomy, hectoring post-punk with a tidy bassline. This came out on Factory, so I'm a bit baffled why I hadn't heard it before.

EGG MIX

Need a big hit of nostalgia with "ALL YOUR FAVORITE ANTHEMS FROM BEFORE YOU REALIZED"?

estoc · EGG MIX

As featured in Crack Magazine's 10 mixes you need to hear this month, estoc rams, crams, and blends early-to-mid 00s electro and indie rock into an hour of pure joy. 

We're talking your Justices, your Metrics (!), your Yeah Yeah Yeahs. 

We're talking remixes from your Soulwaxes, your Twelves, your Bloody Beetroots (!). 

If you need a lift any time soon, then break out the EGG MIX.

Original image: Pacific Southwest Region USFWS from Sacramento, US, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

9 in 1 (9)

Oof, been a month since my last list, so here's what I've been enjoying in September...

Simple Minds - Theme For Great Cities

Erol Alkan opened his last NTS show with this spooky electro jam from Simple Minds and I used to use this track as my bed on Sam's Sonic Sandwich back in the Radiowave days. Talking of radio, I'm visiting Bro Radio tomorrow...

Dollkraut - Wie Ein (Slow) Groupie

Another cut from Erol's show, this is some brooding post-punky electronic stuff from an artist I know absolutely zilch about.

Folly Group - Butt No Rifle

Fiddly, fidgety, indie rock, currently on the A-list on 6 Music but don't let that stop you.

Oneohtrix Point Never - I Don’t Love Me Anymore

A relatively - relatively - straight down the line track from OPN, almost indie-rock. Too weird to be proper indie-rock, but normcore for Daniel Lopatin. As featured on the first of Ela Minus's excellent new Radio 1 Residency shows.

Boards of Canada - Sixtyniner

Classic BOC, Sixtyniner is off Twoism. They tweeted for the first time in years a couple of weeks ago, linking to a fan-made video for Come To Dust. So there we go.

Jan Hammer Group - Don't You Know

Proper stonking groove on this, an absolute gem from 1977, loop it for days.

Tyler, The Creator - BOYFRIEND

Only on the physical release of Igor, this is still some tip-top hip hop all the same.

Tkay Maidza - Syrup 

More tip-top hip hop, thicker than syrup bass yes mate, tight rhymes too, nice.

Shy FX & T Power - Feelings

Right, let's sign-off of with some rinsing, rolling, d'n'b. Pure summer sounds, I'm missing it already.

Related post: 9 in 1 (8)

Letts Buzz

Nature is healing and I'm back reviewing the odd album for Buzz Magazine.

And for October's issue, it was the latest in the excellent Late Night Tales series, Version Excursion from the legendary Don Letts.

Read my review yerr or find a physical copy out and about on the streets of South Wales.

Related article: Django Django Buzz Buzz 

Radio 1 Residency Reworked

BBC Radio 1's Residency has reworked its format for autumn/winter 2021.

Gone are the eight DJs a month for six months at a time on Sundays. Now it's two DJs every week for a month on Thursdays. And it looks like it's all change on the DJ front, which means that:

• Amelie Lens
• Anz
• Avalon Emerson
• Carista
• Carl Cox
• DJ EZ
• Joy Orbison
• Sherelle

Have all finished their residencies. TBH, it's only really Avalon Emerson that I'm gonna miss from that list.

Anyway onwards and upwards, first up in the new format is Todd The God (the other one), Todd Edwards, the New Jerseyite god of UK Garage. Yes, mate. Ela Minus follows (not listened to that one yet, but it's up on BBC Sounds) and in the following months, Shygirl and Maya Jane Coles will join the roster. I didn't catch the others as Denise Lewis kept interrupting. 

To clarify, I'm starting Couch to 5k from scratch again after the summer off and for some reason, my man Michael Johnson isn't on there any more. Shame they didn't take my suggestions on board for new coaches, but Denise is OK.

I think #Couchto5K can be improved by including Ric Flair, Gerry Adams, Grace Jones, and Kat Slater as the coach options.

— DJ Sboncen (@CeefaxOfLife) February 4, 2021

Back to Todd Edwards, I'm still working my way through the first show, but already Chris Lake & Armand Van Helden - Work! is a highlight.

Related post: Radio 1's Residency: Spring 2021 Update

Empty blogroll: 404s, Simon Reynolds, and Floridian post-punk

I had a trawl through some old bookmarks last weekend. Yeah, it's pretty rock and roll out here in the rural Vale. 

I was curious to see which of the old mp3 blogs were still up, never mind still posting. I mean I was talking about the decline of the mp3 blog format in 2013, but I was hoping that the sites were still available. 

Yet at the risk of getting all Retromania, I'm saddened by how sites like The Beat!, No Pain In Pop, Waves At Night, Altered Zones, and so many more are either 404s or worse, taken over and hosting VPN or trading spuff. Is this astroturfing? Digital squatting? There's definitely a term for it, Tedium will have something I'm sure. 

Thankfully some are still up with archives you can trawl through rather than go via the Wayback Machine. The Ill-ec-tron-ic (last post 2012), Rose Quartz (2013), 20jazzfunkgreats (January of this year, so maybe will come back?) remain. And would you look at that Simon Reynolds is still rocking with Blogger, posting regularly across multiple strands; blissblog, Energy Flash, and yes Retromania amongst others.

Let's wrap this up with something from blissblog then, something post-punk too as it's been a long while since we had a bit of that. Here's the Floridian post-punk outfit The Stick Figures with the knotty but funky N-Light.

Image credit: SPUI, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

9 in 1 (8)

A decidedly backwards-looking list this time around. Like, there are two tracks from this millennium. Quit living in the past, Marge.

  

Michael McDonald - I Keep Forgettin'

Always a struggle not to bust into Regulate.

Steely Dan - Dirty Work

Ah, the Dan. How'd it take me so long? 

The Selecter - Missing Words

Two-tone rarely pulls on the heartstrings, but the chorus on Missing Words is properly affecting. 

Lee Scratch Perry & The Upsetters - Jungle Lion

God, I used to hammer this in Falmouth, back in the Radiowave days. RIP.

Womack & Womack - Conscious Of My Conscience

Cringe title but what a groove. From the same album as Teardrops, I need to get on that vibe.

Change - Mutual Attraction

Looking at the YouTube comments, this has something to do with Luther Vandross? Whatever, it's all about that bassline.

Todd Terje - Snooze 4 Love

Slipping into this one like a warm bath, a warm bath in space, yes mate, build it.

LFO - We Are Back

How great is this video? Apparently, it's the official one. As if I couldn't love this track anymore it features clips from Twin Peaks. Still bangs.

White Lies - Death (Crystal Castles Remix)

Ariel Pink last week, Crystal Castles this week, on the cancellation express. Fuck it, this too still bangs.

Related post: 9 in 1 (7)

Detroit Chicago New York Machynlleth

Did you know that Machynlleth in Powys is twinned with Belleville, Michigan? The Belleville from the Belleville Three - Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson - as in the birthplace of Detroit Techno?

I didn't until this excellent article from David Owens on Nation.Cymru. 

Nor did I know about Ffrancon, but he certainly knew the connection. His recent album Gwalaxia: Belleville 1315 / Machynlleth 1414 joins the dots between Detroit Techno and radical Welsh politics and went straight into my Wishlist on Bandcamp.

Big fan of that artwork too.

9 in 1 (7)

I could've just put the soundtrack to Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on the Nintendo DS on this list, I've been playing it that much. Violent Micro Machines, love it. 

But no, here's some bangers instead...  

The Gloaming - Allistrum's March

Well, there was only one place I could start. Charlie Bones has left the building. He quit his breakfast show on NTS last Friday. The Do!! You!!! Breakfast show is no more... on NTS anyway. 

You may have seen me mention it a few times over the last 18 months but his show has been a lifesaver. Every day, from 9am till midday, it's got me through the pandemic, working under the stairs and now out in the country, Charlie Bones has been there bringing the vibes. 

Onwards man, onwards, can't wait to hear what you'll be doing next.

Allistrum's March was the opener for the final show and over which he announced his departure. Man, I'm gutted.

Fatima Yahama - What's A Girl To Do

One of many jams from the final Do!! You!!! my word I wish I caught this when it came out in 2004. That synth line is to die for, what a vibe, convertible cars and empty motorways and beaches at night, yes mate.

Joy Orbison - Better

The choice cut from Still Slipping Vol 1. Joy Orbison's first long-player. Big up for calling your Bandcamp Toss Portal, boo-urns for charging £5.99 postage for a cassette.

Prefuse 73 - Detchibe

Another one of those rediscoveries from having the CDs out again, this is on an old Mr Scruff mix CD. I do have One Word Extinguisher but hey, I pulled out Keep It Solid Steel Volume 1 first. Still sounds futuristic despite coming out in 2003, unreal beat-making.

Kola Bendy - Song of the Fisherman

Creep Zone gonna Creep Zone, James Pants brought the Soviet-Siberian disco on his most recent show. Seriously, someone should just do an edit of the last 5-10 seconds, splice in the instrumental at 1:40, absolute jam.

David Bowie - Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola

Space Oddity in Italian anyone? As in sung in Italian by David Bowie? Wuzza wuzza.

Todd Rundgren - Sometimes I Don't Know What To Feel

A second "x in 1" appearance in a row for the original Todd the God (apologies to Todd Edwards). The horns on this are divine, proper soul music. Love it, what a groove, wish my Dad hadn't kept this from me all those years. I reckon he would've dug that track at the start by The Gloaming as well. Oh well.

Haley Bonar - Kismet Kill

Completely missed this in 2016, big 90s indie rock feel here and the "We're the kids who've got kids at parties" line cuts deep RN.

The Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar

It was my birthday recently and as I sat down for breakfast with the boy, Star Guitar came on. Life ain't so bad sometimes y'know? Also, shout out to the late-night MTV2-ness of the video.

Related post: 9 in 1 (6)

Field Day Throwback

I got a notification from MixCloud that someone had 'favorited' my Ceefax Of Life Presents Field Day Mix 2011.

"A mix of bands and artists that I look forward to seeing at Field Day 2011 on Saturday August 6th." I forgot all about it until that sweet, random dopamine hit of a like. 

So, I'd thought I'd give it a spin after some quality cask ales in The White Hart and The Old Swan Inn.

Ah.

Not one but two Ariel Pink tracks.

Well, I can't rewrite history.

Aside from that, it's alright like, and I'm quite happy with the transition from SBTRKT to James Blake in particular. I'm also happy that someone found a 10-year-old mix I did and listened to it, that it's still there, and that there's still a little bit of randomness and chance on the internet. Because, y'know it feels like being online is an increasingly sanitised experience with gated communities controlled by tax-dodging overlords.

Which I write on a platform owned and run by Google. On a Chromebook. 

Ah.

Still, give my old mix a spin yeah? And a like?

9 in 1 (6)

Here we are again. Nine tracks I've been enjoying this past week or so. 

Some old stuff that sounds like new stuff, some new stuff that sounds like old stuff. Dub reggae, EBMish techno, a krautrock-y remix and so much more. It's another one of these x in 1 (x) lists, baby.

   

Tim Burgess - I Got This (Andy Votel Remix)

Turns out that guy who does those listening parties on Twitter makes music too. Andy Votel spins The Charlatans singer's latest release into a propulsive krautrock jam. Tidy stuff and surprisingly the first Andy Votel remix on this blog.

Wet Leg - Chaise Longue

This is my song of the summer. Big Le Tigre vibes. Deadpan female vocals, indie disco action, daft lyrics. Was always gonna be into it. Frank is a fan too. 

Biz Markie - Bennie and The Jets

BENNIE! A perfect example of something that isn't technically a good performance, but is a brilliant performance through sheer personality, stagecraft, and fun. RIP Biz.

Todd Rundgren - Can We Still Be Friends

Rundgren was another one of those acts my Dad liked but he thought I wouldn't. Can We Still Be Friends is from a later album but I've been listening to A Wizard, A True Star a lot recently from my Dad's collection.

Willie Williams - Armagideon Time

Will I be cancelled if I say that my first thought when this comes on is to go 'rub-a-dub-dub-dub'? Came across this again on an old DJ Vadim mixtape. As in a mix that I taped from the radio years ago. For I am ancient.

NN - Deception (Original Mix)

Head down, dark and stormy techno with big EBM energy. Amelie Lens opened her recent Residency show with it. Brutal.

Panda Bear - Cosplay

David Holmes played this on a recent NTS show and man did it make me wish I wasn't stuck at my desk on a grey weekday. It's from the Animal Collective's...  I was gonna say drummer but he does kinds everything in the band... It's from his 2015 Crosswords EP. 

Brân - Y Gwylwyr

Shout out to NTS once again. Welsh psychedelic folk-rock from 1975. Into it.

Edwin Birdsong - Cola Bottle Baby

Right, now there's sampling, and then there's Daft Punk lifting the whole opening 20 seconds here for Harder Better Faster Stronger. My life is a lie.

Yachtbitch

At the bottom of this week's Popbitch newsletter, there's a link to a 45 song YouTube playlist called Yacht Rock Beach Bar. Plenty of Steely Dan, Hall & Oates, Michael McDonald, you know the vibe...

It's also on Spotify. Talking of Spotify, have you've seen Weird Spotify Playlists? Sterling effort. There's even an Endless Thread podcast about it.

Burlington Bangers

Back in May, while I was still bowling around Canton, someone on Burlington Terrace with a love for late 90s / early noughties dance music had a clear out of their CDs. And I was there to swoop. Just as I was trying to offload DVDs before the move to Llantwit Major, I was picking up more physical media off the street.

However, I was walking Cady at the time, so I had to limit myself to one handful of CDs from the stack. Turns out my tiny hands can carry seven CDs comfortably while controlling a hellhound. So here's my track selection from each album I picked up.

Sébastien Tellier - L'Amour et La Violence

From his 2008 album Sexuality, L'Amour et La Violence is a really pretty, peppy, but fragile piano ballad. Keep meaning to listen to more of this album. I've always had a soft spot for Sébastien Tellier since La Ritournelle and that weird Eurovision entry.

Underworld - Rowla

From Underworld's BIG era, when they had Darren Emerson involved, this is just pure big room and progressive, throbbing and pulsing, yes mate, love it. 

Robyn - Konichiwa Bitches (Trentemøller Remix)

Sadly it wasn't the Robyn album but The Trentemøller Chronicles that was there. CD1 is rarities or offcuts from the Dane's back catalogue, but I can't be arsed finding out which as it's just dull as ditchwater tech-house. 

The second disc however is a round-up of his remixes and is a much better proposition. There are reworkings of Röyksopp and The Knife, but it was always going to be Robyn that takes the top spot. This remix is glitchy and has that guitar twang sound that appeared on loads of stuff after Kill Bill and is just fun. Unlike disc one.

The Beta Band - Broke

Squares would've been too obvs for a wild maverick like me, so here's Broke from their second studio album Hot Shots II.

The Tornados - Love and Fury

Orbital's Back To Mine CD is peak late 90s / early 2000s. A post-club chill-out CD featuring The Divine Comedy and John Barry & His Orchestra. By Orbital. And just look at that artwork. Monkey Dust pushes it close but jeez this could only have happened in 99-03.

Also, could this track sound any less like it's called Love and Fury?

Brian Eno - Deep Blue Day

Trainspotting OST innit. Very nearly didn't pick it up as it is in every single charity shop in the land, but y'know, it's good like. Easy to sneer now, and that Sleeper cover of Blondie is ropey, but it's a good soundtrack. Why Eno though? Well, I already have Underworld on this list so... yeah.

And if you're counting six tracks here and wondering what happened to the seventh CD, it was Hot Chip's debut - Coming On Strong - and I don't know why but I have absolutely no desire to listen to it.

9 in 1 (5)

More random bangers.

   

Sfire - Sfire2

This has something to do with SOPHIE, but I definitely know it's an icy synth-pop banger. Honestly, one of the best things I've heard all year.

The Cure - The Walk

More synths, more 80s. Honestly, that should be the tagline for this blog.

Prefab Sprout - Golden Calf

Pivoting to Prefab Sprout fandom was not something I was expecting in 2021, but here we are.

Burial - Space Cadet

I've not kept close tabs on Burial's career TBH, maybe he's done this for a while, but I would never expect Burial to sound so joyous, so Balearic. Lots of samples going on here including Diana Ross for the main vocal refrain, but leave it to Reddit to dig up the obscure Finnish synth-pop that kicks in around 7 minutes.

Prince - I Would Die 4 U (Extended Version)

I don't think this is the version I was after, but fuck it, a ten-minute wig out of probably my favourite Prince track is always good. I am however very grateful I never dressed as Prince for Halloween, that would never be good.

Adam Pitts - Gazza

South Walian Speed Garage anyone? Well, on a Cardiff label anyway? Haŵs have you sorted.

Ben Norman - Got To Be

You bet I'm still on an Italo-disco tip after last Sunday's result.

Italo Monitor - Balla Marinetti (Der Mussolini)

More Italian music because why not? This time rather than kitsch disco it's some industrial synth punk.

DJ Food - Scratch Yer Hed (Squarepusher Mix)

One of the joys of having my own office space is that I can have all my music out. This features on Zen RMX, a comp I've not played for yonks. Yonks I tell you.

Related post: 9 in 1 (4)

Box Music

Maybe I wasn't talking bollocks after all.

Euro 202?, illness, and the gentle chaos of unpacking your entire life meant that I've not had the chance to fire off some hot content on here. Plus we only got the broadband properly hooked up last week.

So, I'm gonna continue where I left off from last time, from the music of moving day to the first track I played in the new house.

With no internet, I was left to using the Alexa Dot as a basic Bluetooth speaker for an unpacking soundsystem. Linking up the Poco, I fired up the SD card, hit shuffle, and the first song of a new era was...

Afe Ato Yen Bio by De Frank Professionals, a super slice of Ghanian Afrobeat. Pure #Valecore.

Talking of Valecore it would be remiss of me not to mention Bro Radio, the local community station, which has a studio is Llantwit Major. It's been an absolute joy having a proper local station, mixing hyper-local news and mum bangers, including dropping Kiss From A Rose from Seal when I was sorting out the garage. Well worth a listen.

Manix Moving

Well, I was talking bollocks in that last post.

I'm back baby, hooking the Poco up to Chromebook to bring you some absolute heaters/links to ancient songs on YouTube.

I thought I'd share some music from the move, a soundtrack from Canton to Llantwit Major.

After handing the keys over to a buy-to-letter (why did I bother thoroughly cleaning the place for a landlord?), we jumped in the car, slapped on 6 Music and heard... Slipknot. I'm not looking up what song, it wasn't Wait and Bleed, so I don't care. 

But just as we were passing St Athan, we got Feel Real Good by Manix, which was the energy we were going for...

Major News

I'm going back to where it all began.

I started CeefaxofLife in February 2009 out of pure boredom while living in Llantwit Major. Working part-time and trying to fill the time, this blog was a way to keep busy and keep my audio editing skills up, while I figured out what the hell I was doing.

And it's to Llantwit Major that I'm moving to today, with a wife, child, dog, car, and... career? Well, a full-time job anyway. A lot changes in 12 years. A lot stays the same.

You may have noticed a drop in posts recently, and that's to do with packing, panicking and stress that goes with a house move. That won't be rectified when we get through the door. We're not gonna have internet for a while, plus there's lots of DIY to do and footpaths to explore.

So I'm thinking it might be an apt time to wrap this up, bring it full circle, say goodbye to CeefaxofLife. Or I might get bored again and need an out. It's not like I'm planning to stop listening to music, far from it. I mean I'll have space to get the decks out again.

Anyway, we'll see. But for now, it'll be a little quiet here. Just like Llantwit Major.  

Sorry, Dad

We finally made it up Fan Brycheiniog to scatter my dad's ashes. We chose his birthday to do it. Better late than never.

Naturally, I've been thinking about my dad a lot. What we had in common (it's cricket season after all) and what we didn't. One area we didn't see eye-to-eye on was music. Now, my dad liked music, just none of the stuff I liked. And vice versa.

In particular, I found it bizarre that he treated all hip-hop, even classic rap like De La Soul and NWA, as this new fangled sound. Like, he was in his mid to late 20s when hip hop went mainstream, surely he grew up with it.

Then I got it.

Loo and I were watching The Hit List the other day. And I couldn't get a single one of the 2010s music questions right. 80s, 90s, 2000s yep. But the 2010s? Nothing in the tank. Loo smashed it mind, spending the decade in retail helps. 

But I kept thinking, I was 25 when the 2010s started, surely I was still with it? I mean, I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird and scary to me, and it'll happen to you, too.

Goddamn it. Sorry, dad, I get it now. 

I'm still not gonna get into Yes, though Roundabout ain't bad...

Speak soon.

10 in 1 (5)

Another month, another random list of music I've been listening to. I say random, I think four of these are electronic tracks from the early 80s. And none from 2021. 

Hmmm.

Kraftwerk - Techno Pop

It was the 40th anniversary of the release of Computer World this week. This isn't from it. Look, it's my blog, I'll do what I want.

Alice Coltrane - Galaxy In Turiya

A gorgeous piece of music I've heard here and there for years and never knew the name of until now. Cosmic jazz?‌

Thundercat - Funny Thing

Loop it. Loop it for days. Well, longer than 1 minute 57 seconds anyway.‌

Wagon Christ - Saddic Gladdic

As featured recently on Jake FM on NTS, this takes me back to my Llantwit days, all Ninja Tune and The Blue Room, hour-long bus rides to Cardiff and walks on the beach.

Ghostwriters - Swizzle

Trippy minimal electronics from 1981? Always.‌

Haruomi Hosono - Sports Men

I was certain I'd posted this before. Sports Men is the stand out track on Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976-1986. A low-key banger from the Yellow Magic Orchestra member.‌

Aphex Twin - Bbydhyonchord

AKA the other good track off Drukqs.‌

Gary Numan - Music for Chameleons

AKA the song that Alan Partridge plays air bass to in the caravan. It's actually Cardiff's Pino Palladino playing the fretless bass on it.

Kelly Lee Owens - Corner Of My Sky ft. John Cale

I liked this track even before I knew the music video was Michael Sheen having serious issues with his toaster.‌

DMX - Who We Be

RIP.

Related post: 10 in 1 (4)

The Day The Muzak Died

I listened to a great podcast on the history of Muzak the other day.

Yes, really. 

And I really could have used it when I was writing my dissertation all those years ago. That classic was on in-store radio rather than Muzak but there's a lot of crossovers. And I still have an interest in the functionality of music. I suppose that's an overspill of liking dance music.

Anyway, this podcast. It's called The Day The Muzak Died and it's part of a BBC Radio 4 strand called Seriously.

While listening to it I started thinking about Spotify and its mood playlists and how that could be our new Muzak. Whereas before Muzak was selected by management to extract the maximum output from workers, do we use Spotify playlists as muzak to extract the most work out of ourselves? 

(And yeah, I'm aware I bash Spotify a lot. I fully acknowledge there are also the Focus Beats mixes on BBC Sounds and the Infinite Mixtapes on NTS, services and stations I use.)

Then there's how the pandemic plays into this. I've always leaned on music to work to, especially instrumentals. Yet it's become essential since working from home for over a year if only to block out a toddler and dog and everything that goes on in a home as I type, and type, and type under the stairs, pressing buttons to make numbers appear in my bank account at the end of the month.

Jeez, that got depressing quick. Still, that shouldn't put you off listening to The Day The Muzak Died. It's a fun doc and I thought that even before Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo rocked up. He's there sharing stories of making E-Z Listening Muzak covers of Devo songs as a preshow soundtrack for the band's gigs in the early 80s.

Big New Age energy. Alongside Mongoloid, there's also excellent Muzak versions of Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 and Funkytown by Lipps Inc that are used in the podcast. There are worse ways to spend 30 minutes either under the stairs or elsewhere.

Related post: Monday Morning Mixtapes For Offices

Original image: Kevin Collins from Reno, Nevada, US, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Happy Aphex Twin Day!

It's that most magical day of the year - Aphex Twin Day!

What I didn't realise until I read this New York Times article was that Avril 14th is 20 years old.

Drukqs came out in 2001.

20. Years. Ago.

Related post: Fuck Mini Babybels

10 in 1 (4)

Here we go again with 10 more tracks getting me through the lockdown. 

Yes, I've had a jab, but the pubs still aren't open in Wales, so it is still lockdown, buddy. 

Anyway, he's a load of old post-punk, rave, and weird stuff.

Force Dimension - Tension (Red Version)

I want to say this is Belgian New Beat or EBM but IDFK. As played on Optimo's NTS show on 23 March. Well intense, well industrial. Getting re-released soon IIRC.

‌Metronomy - The Look (MGMT Remix)

As part of the push for the 10th-anniversary release of The English Riviera, this new wonky AF remix from MGMT has surfaced. It doesn't appear on the repackaged album but it's kinda cool if not a patch on the original IMO.

‌Friendly Fires + The Asphodells - Before Your Eyes

Andrew Weatherall teamed up with Friendly Fires in 2014. Why have I only just learned about this? The result is 8 minutes of chugging, building, spaced out indie-dance-rock bliss. RIP man. 

‌Delroy Edwards - I Love Sloane

Yeah, I got nothing on this. Barely a minute long, I dunno if there's a longer edit, but this super lo-fi instrumental worms its way in. 

‌Grauzone - Eisbaer

Apparently, a cult hit in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in the early 80s, here's some stellar post-punk about a polar bear.

‌Television - Marque Moon

This in no ways feels 10 minutes long. What a song.

‌Raffaella Carrà - Black Cat

Camp AF stompy disco from Italy? Yes mate.

‌Le Tigre - Deceptacon

Man, this takes me right back to uni. As heard on 6 Music before they had to start playing maudlin Blur instrumentals to appease the soul of Prince Philip. Not quite as bad as when they made Judge Jules play Coldplay for the Queen Mother's sins, but close.

‌Global Method - Good Life (Orbital Remix)

Once again I ask, how has it taken me till 2021 to learn that Orbital did a remix of Good Life? I know it's cheesy but I love that flute or pan pipe whatever you get on old rave records.

‌Boards of Canada - Amo Bishop Roden

Creepy weird BOC named after someone at the Waco siege? Yes mate.

Related post: 10 in 1 (which is actually 10 in 1 (2) but I f-ed it up the A)

Original image: Quatrostein [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Oneohtrix Mix Essential

I am weeks late on this but I think Oneohtrix Point Never may have dropped the mix of the year. Daniel Lopatin did his first Essential Mix a few weeks back and it slaps.

The centrepiece of the mix is the mashing together of the raging techno of Pluto by Björk (as produced by Mark Bell of LFO) and Liquid's hardcore classic Sweet Harmony. Yet while both those tracks are well-known, I'd never come across the kitsch dutch synth-pop of Robots in Love by The Robots.

And that's about all I know about The Robots. Anyway, you've still got a couple of weeks left to listen to the mix on BBC Sounds. Do it.

Picking Up For You

It's somehow 10 years since Metronomy released The English Riviera, so it's time for an anniversary edition with previously unreleased bonus tracks.

Lead amongst these is Picking Up For You, a laid back jam fitting in with the vibe of the album. Yet you can see why it didn't make the cut at the time. Not that it's not decent, it's just The English Riviera is a sublime album. 

And to be fair all the new bonus tracks are listed as outtakes:

• Aquarius (Outtake)
• Picking Up For You (Outtake)
• French Organ (Outtake)
• Friends (Outtake)
• The Ballad Of The 17 Year Old (Outtake)
• Jazz Odyssey (Outtake)

Big fan of the retro-fitted video based on the album's artwork for Picking Up For You too:  

And there's a cassette. I'm very tempted by the cassette. Do I need it though? 

Should I spend £13 on an album I already own on a medium I can't play right now? My Sony Walkman WM-B52 is currently dead and Techmoan is always warning about the crapness of new tape players. What would Martin Lewis say? I wonder if Big Mart likes Metronomy?