'Tis the season, appaz. Last week The Futureheads released a whole album of Christmas songs called... Christmas.
I'm not sure I'll be slapping down £15 for the CD, but there are a few bangers on it. If I ever do another Xmas Mix, then their cover of 'What's This?' from A Nightmare Before Christmas will 100% be there...
Finger on the button as ever, here's Daniel Avery's latest Essential Mix from last month.
As Pete Tong's charmingly naff intro puts it, expect two hours of "euphoric shoegaze, ambient soundscapes, and submerged techno."
It's available on BBC Sounds for the next month, or just head to SoundCloud like...
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Not one song from 2025 beb! Here are some tracks I've been enjoying recently...
Yeah, it's basically LCD's Dance Yrself Clean. Except this was recorded in 1982. I hope he got some royalties.
Yeah, Halloween was last week. Next year, I'll do a 6 Music Dads Halloween playlist. I promise. Honestly, remind me.
What an album Ju Ju is, by the way.
Yeah, slow that shit doooooowwwwn.
Who remembers Deutschland 83? Man, that was good TV. Anyway, The Space Lady does a cover of what would become the theme tune to the series, originally done by Peter Schilling. I feel The Space Lady works really well in a list/mix/radio show, but not sure I'd want an album or gig of it, y'know?
As played by Flo Dill the other week.
What a slow jam this is, by the way.
Straight outta Do!! You!!! It might take a few spins, but when it hits, it stays hit.
Honest to God, if you told me I'd be posting a Van Morrison track when I started this blog in 2009, especially after that dogshit Green Man show, I would simply not be having it.
Just Doom doing Doom things.
Yeah, it wasn't Saltburn. It was an M+S ad that did it. My bones are dust.
What a video this is, by the way.
A recurring theme in these lists is me always choosing the oldest and crispiest video on YouTube if I can, and today is no exception. There's higher fidelity out there, but I know this tune from taping Fabio off Radio 1 back in the day. Taping as in taping with shitty cassettes recorded over and over again. Hiss me, Hardy.
Anyway, this absolute d'n'b roller from 2001 was featured in Reduced 39, Mumdance's Substack, where they post 5 tracks and 2 DJ mixes every Thursday. And that's it, all links, no words. Jump in and jump up.
Original image: Dave Dyet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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Been sitting on these for a while, as the last 9 in 1 was over two months ago. Strong possibility I've forgotten where I came across these, a journey for us both to share.
I think this is on an old Tigerbeat6 Compilation, gimme a sec... yep, track 16 on this.
Tidy, glitchy early-naughts electronica. Plus, you've gotta love an 11-year-old YouTube video with 700 views.
Heard this on so many mixes over the years. Maybe I should put this later in the list.
It's a moody cover of George Michael's Careless Whisper on a selection of organs. What more do you need in life? I think I heard this on Radio Alhara.
I definitely know where I was for this one. A couple of pints deep in the White Hart. Absolute 80s Banger.
Yeah, not a clue on this one. Super spacey proggy techno for the 23rd century from Chicago in 1996.
This duo seemed to get a lot of support from NTS a couple of months back. Not Welsh despite the name, but we can forgive, laid back motorik 90s chillout vibes, with a bit of Islet to it.
Bit of doof doof as we head to the exit. Touch of Teachers to it but with the focus on Detroit Techno.
I know we had Pat Benatar earlier, but this is somehow even more 80s. Incredible. The video is also a treat, bordering on parody. Then the bit that Alan Braxe and Fred Falke sampled for Intro just drops from nowhere. Top top stuff.
Original image: Musée Saint-Raymond, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
I'm a little behind on my podcasts, as I'm not running much at the mo (got an issue with my new daps), so I've only just got around to No Tags 53. It's an interview with Holly Dicker about her book, Dance Or Die: A History of Hardcore, which delves into the earlier years of the scene in Germany and the Netherlands.
Dicker mentions Mescalinum United's We Have Arrived as v. important in the pod, and this absolute stomper, often regarded as the first hardcore techno track, is still a joy. I was more familiar with Aphex Twin's remixes of it on his Classics comp, but the original's rawness is something to behold.
There are newer versions uploaded to YouTube, but I had to go with this crunchy version with the throwback rave graphics...
And Dance or Die is in the basket, I just need to get around to finishing Butter by Asako Yuzuki first.
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