Who Needs New Music ?

Time to move this up a gear I think.......

Heres some tunes for you...

Electro auters Maps tackle Alison Goldfrapps new 'folk' direction....
Goldfrapp: A&E (Maps remix) http://www.mediafire.com/?lgtmpydmzfw

Psychedelic pop of the highest order...
MGMT: Time To Pretend http://www.mediafire.com/?t10bez0ejji

Anthony Hegarty in disco dub shocker....
Hercules And the Love Affair: Blind http://www.mediafire.com/?moy1uxzenmx

Superior live take...
Hot Chip: Boy from School (US Version) http://www.mediafire.com/?yjgmvsw9jjm

Oldie but still rocking...
CSS: Lets Make Love And Listen To Death From Above http://www.mediafire.com/?rna1banejdw

Sublime New Order styled electro pop...
Presets : Girl and The Sea (Cut Copy Remix) http://www.mediafire.com/?mm9dzxrtzi0

Pop/dance/techno/fat girl one hit wonder crossover remix...
Gossip: Standing In The Way Of Control (Tigre Mix) http://www.mediafire.com/?01detzt2gyc

DFA supremo slow burn piano funker...
LCD Soundsystem: All My Friends http://www.mediafire.com/?lxpta2ixwnr

Welsh/LA Delorean plugging electro...
Neon Neon: I lust For You http://www.mediafire.com/?mo0dwzpugji

Laid back country balearica...
Lambchop : Up with The People http://www.mediafire.com/?wxfjvqnvxwy

What are words worth...?
Tom Tom Club: Wordy Rappinghood (12) http://www.mediafire.com/?d1je95zqdpt

Paradise Garage meets Hammersmith...
The Clash: The Magnificent Dance http://www.mediafire.com/?ztlv7yxomz2

Pop supergroup hits the floor...
Electronic: Get The Message (DNA Groove Mix) http://www.mediafire.com/?42zg11g3jgz

Original Rockers: Push Push http://www.mediafire.com/?xo1otzzatyb

Chess Moves- Remixed by Keith Le Blanc

Originaly published in Notion Magazine - March 08

VARIOUS ARTISTS
CHESS MOVES
CHESS/UNIVERSAL
BLUES


There are plenty of examples of the old adage ‘If it aint broke- don’t fix it’, but maybe none more self evident than the shameless remixing of a labels back catalogue to flog ‘product’.

Enter then, Keith Le Blanc mainstay of thstone cold classic blues of all time.

Why then mix the two? In a never more obvious case of, ‘if it aint broke’ Le Blanc and Chess Records founder Marshall Chess have joined forces to rework the labels impeccable back catalogue.

The artist nurtured under Chess patronage in the 1950’s such as Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters and Memphis Slim; provided the backbone of blues that launched the careers of Elvis, The Beatles and The Stones and in turn provided a catalyst for the sixties and the cultural explosion that followed.

In their original versions, songs such as Howlin’ Wolfs Moanin at Midnight or Little Walters ‘Out Go The lights’ crackle with heartfelt blues and bad ass rhythmic power.

The original Blues were a direct and authentic link to the plight of the African people, so why chose to litter them seemingly randomly with meandering wah-wah guitar and the non legendary sound of studio trickery?

Le Blanc has proved himself as a virtuoso musician with his enviable legacy of work; however he does little here apart from add random doodling and compression effects to render these mythical tracks irrelevant.

TH

FUNKY NASSAU - The Compass Point Story

Published In Notion Magazine- March 08

FUNKY NASSAU
THE COMPASS POINT STORY
STRUT

REGGAE/DISCO/FUNK/SOUL

Of the many musical legacies bestowed upon the world by Chris Blackwell; founder of Island records and commonly known as the man who bought Bob Marley to the world; the opening of a recording studio in the Bahaman hills is one of the lesser known.

Founded in 1977 by Blackwell as a chic retreat amongst the cool Caribbean vibes; Compass point became not only a state of the art recording facility, but also a musical reference point amongst the widening musical influences of post punk pop.

At this time the bass pulse of reggae was emerging as a worldwide phenomenon. Compass, armed with reggae legends Sly & Robbie, engineers Steven Stanley, Alex Sadkin, and the Compass Point All-Stars house band, became a focal point for bands willing to display a little vision in production and embrace the groove.

Issued by rejuvenated Strutt records, renowned for their impeccable attention to detail, Funk Nassau documents the influential period where the pulse of reggae invigorated the popular music of the time, whilst challenging the very nature of what pop should be.

Kicking off with Jamaican born, NY raised Grace Jones’ Jamaican guy, a maelstrom of dark grooves and sparse bass. This signature sound developed with Jones became a house sound that ultimately bought Compass Point to the world’s attention.

NY art rockers Talking Heads had already experimented with what we now know as ‘world music’ but their classic ‘Born Under The Punches’ showcased here, treads a darker more rhythm orientated direction that pointed to the groups fusion future. Whilst TH side project Tom Tom club, included here with the bewitching ‘Genius of Love’, dispensed with rock altogether and incorporated the All Stars into their defining disco smash.

Whilst in the UK we embraced the truth and rights political fervour of Reggae, in the US it was all about the bottom end. One man who particularly felt this rhythm was legendary Paradise Garage DJ Larry Levan, one of those responsible for the mutation of disco into what became House.

Levan was principally influenced by the spacey dynamics of dub and the atmosphere created as much by the gaps in the sounds as the beat itself. This post disco sound is represented here by Levan’s own mix of Gwen Guthrie’s Padlock, as well as the thundering bass work out of Set The Tone Dance Sucker, reworked by NY dance floor contemporary Francis K.
It wasn’t all New Yorkers feeling the vibe however as, Ian Dury showed with his superb, and subsequently banned, riff led groover ‘Spasticus Autisticus’.

Add to these gems workouts from more obscure acts such as French DJ Guy Cuevas, Slits-offshoot band Set The Tone and the queen of exploitation disco, Cristina and what you have is a varied but ultimately cohesive document of the time.

This admirable compilation however is not merely a museum piece; what is most striking its relevance to the dominant music that has shaped the last two decades. From the house explosion through to the bass led domination of R&B and the experimental indie sounds of today’s post punk revivalists; these grooves laid down at Compass led the way for much of the sonic ingenuity we hear today. And for that we should salute Mr Blackwell and his Island retreat.



TH

Originally Published in One Week To Live June 07

808 State: 90
ZTT

It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when decent dance music was relatively hard to get hold of without buying expensive 12 inches from obscure record shops. Before DJ mixed comps and tri-annual superstar DJ radio show cash ins, those of us living outside of London had to survive on fourth hand pirate radio tapes or dodgy chart pop house hits.

Enter then 808 State with Ninety, the breakthrough album that saw the previously obscure Manchester four piece rise from northern acid house heroes to Top of The Pops and fifteen minutes of fame.

Since the acid house wave broke on English shores in 87/88 British techno had a proud and distinctive history of innovation. One man with his ear to the techno ground was Gerald Simpson working in a virtual vacuum to produce maybe the first genuine UK acid and techno sounds. Long before the London fashion press jumped on the band wagon, ‘A Guy called Gerald’ was already fashioning his own version of the crazy computer music drifting from across the pond.

Looking for an outlet for this burst of creativity Gerald hooked up with experienced electronic experimentalist Graham Massey and Eastern Bloc records boss Martin Price, to form 808 State. Named after iconic Roland 808 drum machine, the group scored local hits with the albums Newbuild and Quadrastate; slabs of drawing inspiration both from classic American house mixed with UK industrial pioneers.

During this period the rave scene had hit big in the UK and Manchester in particular was surfing the wave of the so called second summer of Love and the newly emerging ecstasy scene. The loved up and laid back vibe of the E scene, changed the direction of 808 State, and in the summer of 88 Gerald laid down the haunting sax melody of Pacific State.

However was all my have been peace and love in the clubs, the band were growing further apart, causing Gerald to leave in late 89 to pursue a solo groove, whilst the remaining members drafted in local upstart DJ’s the Spinmasters. Despite this, the energy and enthusiasm of the Manchester club scene could not be contained any longer resulting in the ‘Madchester’ scene of 89/90. Swept along on this tide of enthusiasm were 808 State who saw the re-released Pacific State climb to number 10 in the charts.

On the back of this success and at the height of the Manchester Scene, 808 State released 90, an album that had little in common with the rest of the genre, but was snapped up by ravers all over the country, eager to buy into the energy of the E fuelled revolution.

In many ways 90 is inconsistent with the scene of the time, the pulsing industrial rhythms foresaw the boom in electronic listening music from the likes of Warp that was around the corner, more than the sweaty hedonism of the times. Alongside the sublime Pacific, tracks such as ‘Magical Dream’ combine a superb combination of melodic bass & synth with crisp breakbeats and polished vocals, adding to the ethereal vibe of the record. More traditional dancefloor moments such as Donkey Doctor with its liberal use of Cybotron’s ‘Techno City’ and Anacodia with its Hip Hop influence, point more into the experimental direction 808 State took into the nineties. The album ends with ravers comedown delight Sunrise, a sinister but compelling mixture of tone and rhythm that preceded the bubble of rave bursting in the early 1990’s.

808:90 was not as flawless musically as many later British electronic albums, but its timing was impeccable. To all those who saw acid house as their time and the moment that changed their lives forever, the record managed to bridge the gap between the full on laser and strobe environment of the club and the back to mine chill out session.

To many, like me though it was a chance to get our hands on a long player of this new music that was actually ours, hailing from rainy Manchester and not Middle America gave 808 State a homegrown resonance we could identify with, along with a collection of killer grooves. Whilst some of it feels a bit dated today, if you have any interest in the evolution of British music 90 is a must, if only to experience the comedown bliss of Pacific State at least once.

If you like this try

LFO: Frequencies. Warp
Various: Retro Techno. Network
DJ: Pierre: Phuture and Other Classics. Trax
Nightmares on wax: A World of Science. Warp
Baby Ford: Ford Trax. Rhythm King
Various: Pioneers of the Warped Groove. Warp
Various: The Hacienda Classics. Virgin

The Klaxons and New Rave

Of course it was just a joke, but with the Klaxons actually releasing records that bother the charts and glowstick makers turning a profit for the first time this millennium, New Rave somehow stuck.

Neatly disowned by its instigators, (stand forward Shit Disco and the before mentioned Klaxons) new (or nu) rave has like every scene ‘discovered’ by the NME before it , filtered down from the slightly ironic London trendies to suburban kids looking for something to piss their parents off with. And for this reason and the factual evidence of teenagers sporting yellow plastic fila boots and smiley badges it’s worth at least a cursory glance.

Supposedly the newest incarnation of disco and punk, new rave has unlike its predecessors (punk funk, indie dance, big beat, electro-clash etc…) the acclaim of not actually having any connection whatsoever with its readily quotable title. The Klaxons derivative student rock, vaguely backed up by a mis-firing drum machine has little relation to any form of ‘repetitive beats’.

Their often quoted love of nineties dance music actually boils down to piss poor interpretations of Graces ‘Not over Yet’, not actually a rave tune, but a pop handbag crossover remixed by the nemesis of underground dance music Paul Oakenfold, and ‘The Bouncer’ by Kicks like a Mule, one of many novelty hardcore tracks that helped to kill the original scene.

The indifference to any original rave scene was highlighted by the NME who famously described original ravers as “twats in baggy trousers” All very clever but actually a round up of NME’s pop picks from the early nineties uncovers such gems as Carter USM and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, in light of this I wonder in which context the word twat was actually used.

Whilst there is no benefit to be had by reminiscing about 25,000 people watching the sun rise in a field etc. etc. but what is worth noting is that Acid house and its offspring rave is the only genuine post punk youth culture to actually make a difference. Its year zero made it alright for white people to dance, show some emotions and successfully for a few years at least managed to sidestep the last twenty years of guitar led hegemony, notably somewhere punk failed.

What new rave has done is simply added a fluorescent paint job to the tedium of four lads on stage being worshipped by many. Pop music in 2007 bears a distinct relationship to the sound of the mid eighties where blandness and a total lack of danger were celebrated above all else. New rave is actually only a sub genre of something that, if possible is even more dreary, i.e. the back end of what was once termed ‘indie’

If it’s possible in hindsight to learn from history, surely the acclaim given this substandard rock is the obvious signal of a last stand by the current cultural shift. Hopefully there is something genuinely new and exciting being brewed up in a teenager’s bedroom somewhere in suburbia. What ever is it cannot come too soon, and I hope to god its more interesting than a bass/drums/guitar band trying desperately to reference a deceased musical legacy in order to court controversy.

Classic Album- League Unlimited Orchestra- Love and Dancing

Originally published in 'One Week To Live' Magazine - May 2007

Classic Albums

League Unlimited Orchestra -Love and Dancing

The Human League? Don’t you want me Baby? Dancing round handbags in backstreet suburban nightclubs?

Well, actually yes and no; before The Human League descended into a haircut induced parody of themselves they started life as a credible and experimental electronic dance outfit that owed as much to electro-funk and disco as Top of The Pops.

Created from the ashes of punk, the Human League rejected the standard three chord chaos of punk’s year zero and instead utilised emerging synthesiser technology, funded by mundane day jobs as computer programmers. These electronic experiments were a world away from the new wave of punk bands then sweeping Britain, making The League not only unpopular, but also hugely controversial in their native Sheffield.

Flying in the face of their detractors, the group began flogging their experimental demos around record companies to near total indifference. The only spark of interest came from Island records supremo Chris Blackwell who suggested the group try a more pop orientated direction.

Armed with this new inspiration they returned to Yorkshire and enlisted the talents of Phil Oakey, a local ‘face’ whose only real credentials for the role was his asymmetric haircut and his pop star bravado. This new line up comprised a different Human League and resulted in the breakthrough album ‘Dare’ a pop smash that went on to break the group worldwide and seal their reputation at the vanguard of the emerging new romantic scene. However the bands success was not totally down to foppish hairstyles and catchy chart friendly compositions, an instrumental part of their success lay with their producer Martin Rushent.

Rushent, a veteran UK producer who had worked with artists as diverse as T Rex and The Buzzcocks, fed the groups elements of pop hooks and synthesiser experimentation into his desk, and came out with the classic Human League sound of Dare. Featuring the hit singles Don’t You Want Me and Love Action. The rest of course is history.

However Rushent was more than a journeyman producer, his innovative and futuristic production style led him to take the bare bones of Dare and remodel it in his studio to create something quite different and in many ways much more significant.

Released under the name "The League Unlimited Orchestra" as a tribute to Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rushent crafted an instrumental dub version of the album aimed squarely at the dancefloor. This new ‘version’ contained songs from Dare along with a version of the track "Hard Times", which was originally the B-side of Love Action.

Finally released in 1982 “Love and Dancing” is one of the most underrated and influential British albums of the decade. Listening to it now it’s hard to believe it is not a modern creation. The rock hard beats and mammoth synth sounds of tracks like Hard Times or Love action sound more like tracks created in a sweaty Berlin basement in 2007, than the product of a suburban British record producer in 1981. As the tracks effortlessly glide into one another with a funk fuelled groove and pulse, snatches of the pop hits we all know and love slide in and out of the mix to create genuine moments of brilliance. Its safe to say that this is not only the best dancefloor album by a White British band in the 1980’s but the best dancefloor album created in the eighties full stop.

Take a listen to the album, and it’s easy to see the connection between German Krautrock, New York Electro and ultimately the house and Techno sounds that captivated British Youth in the late 80’s. The reason that house and rave culture overtook the country so comprehensively was that the funky electronic sound was already familiar to many. Love and Dancing is one of the reasons behind this recognition, and for that it truly deserves the ‘classic’ status; in addition it sounds bloody great today and genuinely stands up against today’s electro house soundtrack.

If you need any further proof of how ahead of its time this album was Richard X's saw no harm in sampling 'Things That Dreams Are Made Of' in it's entirety for his 'Finest Dreams' single. Also George Michael's 'Shoot the Dog' samples large chunks of 'Love Action' to brilliant effect.


If you like this try:


Soft Cell- Non Stop Ecstatic Dancing

A Certain Ratio- Early

Cyberton -Clear

Georgio Moroder – Best of

Blondie- Parallel Lines

New Order Substance

Yello - 1980-1985 The New Mix in One Go

Kano- Kano

April Update

So this is my blog- new to all this stuff, but wholeheartedly expect that no one will ever read it !

I have been asked by One Week To Live Magazine to write some classic album reviews so I thought I would archive them here. Who knows, could be the start of the book one day........