Some tunes for Ste Connor's 40th/PJ's Pick n' Mix/Guest Mixes

One half of celebrated nonentities Cafe del Lar and rabid Evertonian (are there any other type of Evertonian?), Stephen Connor reached his 4th decade on planet earth this week so here are some boss tunes to celebrate his 40th circle around the sun.

Theme One – George Martin (Circle Of Sound)
Danza Mora – Jose Motos (World Record Club)
Can’t Help Myself (Out Front Mix) – Lynx (Chrysalis)
One Love (Dance Mix) – Atlantic Starr (A&M)
Taxi Bamako – Amadou & Mariam (Radio Bemba)
Psychotic Girl - Black Keys (V2)
Listen The Snow Is Falling – Yoko Ono & Plastic Ono Band
I Betray My Friends - OMD
Molde Canticle Pt 4 – Jan Garbarek
Never Say Never – John Martyn
Beauty & The Beast – DJ Taylor
Love Aint An Easy Thing – Neil Sedaka
Call Me (Instru) – Blondie
Livin’ For The City (Bullring Mix) – Cook da Books
TVOD – The Normal
Perfumed Garden – Rah Band
Voila – Francoise Hardy
Ice Cream Van - Glasvegas
Pigs (In There) – Robert Wyatt
Time Becomes/Planet Of The Shapes - Orbital
Hatchback – Comets (Lo)
Dorothy Morrison – Brand New Day (Columbia)
Lou Reed – Street Hassle (RCA)
Bobby Charles – SmallTown Talk (Bearsville)
Van McCoy – African Symphony (T & L)
Ultra Vivid Scene – Mercy Seat (4AD)
The Commodores – Cebu (Motown)
Hugh Masekela – Don’t Go Lose It Baby (Jive Afrika)
Chicago – Saturday In The Park (CBS)
Mahavishnu Orchestra – Dawnin’ (CBS)
Jim Capaldi – Favela Music (Island)
Freddie McGregor – Big Ship (Greensleeves)
Joe Cocker – The Man In Me (Stingray)
Eddie Henderson – Say You Will (Tower)
The Emperor Machine – What’s In The Box? (DC Recordings)
Robert Palmer – Work To Make It Work (Island)
Dazzle – Reaching (Underdog edit) (Underdog)
Give Me Your Love - Curtis Mayfield (Buddah)
Standing In The Shadows Of Love - Barry White (Pye)
Yes, I Am - The Emotions (CBS)
Super-Tuff - XTC (Virgin)
Fifty-Fifty Clown - Cocteau Twins (4AD)
On Tomorrow - Captain Beef heart & His Magic Band (Liberty)
Wonderland – Joe Sample (MCA)
Sister Honey – Stevie Nicks (Modern)
Hey Girl – Jimmy James & The Vagabonds (Pye)
This Is The House (Where Our Love Died) – Three Degrees (White)
Spine Cop – Rock Workshop (CBS)
Scream (Primal Scream ) – Mantronix (10)
Casa Forte – Sergio Mendes (Hamlet)
Does Your Mama Like To Reggae – JJ Cale (Mercury)
Good & Plenty – Carolyn Crawford (Philly Int)
Too Much Attention – Gilbert O’Sullivan (Mam)
Jumping The Gun – Rico (Trojan)
Groove Check (Dub) – That Petrol Emotion (Virgin)
Just To Settle My Nerves – Charles Wright (Warner Bros)
Night Train – Steve Winwood (Island)
(Do The) Instant Mash – Joe Jackson (Hallmark)
He-O – Vangelis (Superstar)
Symphony – Marvin Gaye
Obsession (Nassau Mix) - Guy Cuevas
Loop – Tom Browne
Everything Is Neu - Hatchback
Route 101 - Herb Alpert
Grow Your Hair - Coyote
Love Emergency - Teddy Pendergrass
Clam (Kelpe Remix) - Red Snapper
50,000 Legions - Detroit Grand Pubahs
Anja’s Theme - Petar Dundov
12.01 AM (Reprise) - The Commodores
The Wolves (Act I and II) - Bon Iver
Budapest By Blimp - Thomas Dolby

PJ’s Pick & Mix Mix

Ennio Morricone – Nina Nanna Per Adulti
The Monkees – Someday Man
The Poppy Family – Free From The City
Evie Sands – Take Me For A Little While
Astrud Gilberto – Beginnings
The Left Banke – Pretty Ballerina
Dennis Wilson – Lady
Scott Walker – The World’s Strongest Man
Syd Barrett – Terrapin
Simon & Garfunkel – Punky’s Dilemma
David Crosby – Laughing
Roger Nichols – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart
The Beach Boys – Til I Die
Rotary Connection – Black Gold Of The Sun
Glen Campbell – Guess I’m Dumb
Lee Hazlewood – Hey Cowboy
Bobbie Gentry – Tobacco Road
Tim Hardin – Misty Roses
Laura Nyro – Eli’s Coming
The Free Design – Bubbles
Dillard & Clark – Train Leaves Here This Morning
Marcos Vale – The Face I Love
Roy Budd – Getting Nowhere In A Hurry

Cosmic Boogie Mix - No Notion Disco

A lickle disco/Balearic/baleario mix we knocked out for the good chaps in Cosmic Boogie wonderland.

http://www.cosmicboogie.co.uk/2008/07/guest-mix-6-no-notion-disco/

Kiki Dee - Chicago (Rocket)
Space - Carry On Turn Me On (Obsessive)
Glass Candy - Miss Broadway (After Dark) (Italians Do It Better)/Cheech & Chong - Lard Ass (WB)
Otis Clay - The Only Way Is Up (Harmless)
Herbie Mann - Superman (Atlantic)
Walter Muphy - Uptown Serenade (Private Stock)
Santa Esmerelda - House of the Rising /Quasimodo SuIte(Philips/Fauves Puma)
Evelyn King - I Don't Know (Popular Peoples Front re-edit) (PPF)
L.T.D - Back In Love Again (A & M)
The Gap Band - Outstanding (Total Experience)
Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes - Wake Up Everybody (Pt's 1 & 2) (PIR)(with the merest sliver of
Funkadelic to bridge it)

6millionsteps guest mix - Curva Nord/Fried Icecream

Here's another disco/funk mix we did for the good folks at 6MS

http://www.sixmillionsteps.com/drupal/node/72

The Guttersnipe - the worst fanzine of all time

We started The Guttersnipe back in 95(ish - can't really remember the exact date) and by the time we finished doing it circa 99/2000 and began Partizan's on-line zine, we'd done 10 or so issues all of which were massively unsuccesful (do you detect a running theme here?) - however, although some of the content is pretty embarassing to look at over a decade later, there are bits worth digging out for posterity. Issue # 1 featured amongst other things :

*why we hate the british fashion mafia - an attack on the W1 fashionistas that became the blueprint for my book 'Casuals'

*fashion pieces on Kangol & Raggy

* why cosa nostra suck

* why goatees rule

* Dr John's The Night Tripper sleeve notes

* top 10 proper wenches

* retro fashion

* Jazz v rock

* style icons - dizzy gillespie

but there wer elong bits and i cant be arsed typing em out so here are a few bits n' bobs from that issue

New Mod? Old Hat! Old wave of new mod memories

* Swapping your 999 and UK Subs 45s for the Merton Parkas and The Lambrettas

* Wearing your grandad's trilby

* legging sad divvies on Yammy 150s whilst shouting 'get the rockers!'

* wishing you'd never sold your northern soul collection

* pretending to have been at Scarborough when it kicked off

* doing the 'Green Onions' dance

* trying to do a 'Jimmy' up an alley and failing miserably

* the Jam are punks/mods arguments

* talking in a ropey Cockney accent

* pretending to be on 'blues'

* robbing thousands of wing mirrors

* not knowing who The Who were

SOAP UPDATE

Backside - creepy Satanist, Edgar D. Evil continues to brainwash the Close's youth into painting occult symbols onto the sides of Farmer McMoron's sheep. Jimmy Video has taken his estranged wife hostage and is demanding three million pounds, a quid's worth of Red Leicester, two Cadbury's Cream Eggs and a plane to Douglas, Isle Of Man as a ransome. Militant black muslim community leader, Mustafa Al-Anhansen is planning a protest march to complain about the opening of a non Halal butchers on the parade. Aristocratic couple, Piers and Melinda Forbes-Cholmondeley have returned from their ski-ing holiday to find a tribe of new age travellers squatting in their palatial three bedroom semi. Union leader and All England Gay Paragliding champion, Dave Anus has been ostracised by the Residents Association after refusing chairman, Major Crabtree's advances. Quiet newcomer, Gordon Evans is secretly turning his garage into a DIY sulphate factory. The ghosts of Roman Legionnaires are still appearing at No 15.

Bellenders - Pickled turnip stall proprieter, Ernie Mash has gone gone to the toilet. Doreen Eel is minding his stall till he comes back. Alfie Pie has nipped to the bookies. Irene Whelk's laundry has gone missing. Elsie and Ronny Sausage have been arrested following a raid on their lock up. 30,000 quid's worth of counterfeit Queen Mothers have been seized. Bert Saveloy has been elected Grimford's first deaf, diabetic Communist mayor.

Cosynation Street - Teddy Boys have been causing trouble in the Ranger's Rover again. Brassy landlady, Maggie Front is having an affair with handsome cellar man, Sid Stout but there's competition from Miss Muckdale 1963, Debby Cleavage. Harold Wilson is due to pay a visit to the area and a street party to celbrate VE Day has been organised by old soldier, Bill Shrapnel. The General Strike has brought chaos to Muckdale but the locals are cheerily doing their utmost to carry on regardless. Queen Victoria's jubilee celebrations are being planned and Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentary army has been spotted five miles away.

Ozmates - Bobby's surfboard has held up the local Post Office. Noelene and Clive have eloped to New Zealand. Bowser has been pining for then, keeping shift worker Ray awake all night. Teresa's trombone lessons are causing big headaches for Don and Babs. Frank's business venture has come unstuck and Jamie's bike has appendicitis.

Playlist

Speed Up - Betty Moorer
Home Of The Whale - Massive Attack
Agony Of Defeet - Parliament
Jacob St 7am - Sabres Of Paradise
Yahoo - Happy Mondays
See The Day - Ann Consuelo
Persons Unknown - Poison Girls
Genetix - The Stranglers
Baby Sinister - Slave
For Your Love - Yardbirds
Black Spade - Jason Ryder Sound
Bunker Soldiers - OMD
Mr Moon - Jamiroquai
Securicor - Crass
Wheel Me Out - Was Not Was
Vibe Da Joint - Kaliphz
Ivo - Cocteau Twins
Ten Feet Tall - XTC
Seen & Not Seen - Talking Heads
q-Mart - 808 State
Going For The One - Yes
USSR - Mr Fingers
Hellbent On Rockin' - The Shakin Pyramids

And The Beat Goes Off!

Note : 'it takes a real man to admit he's wrong' (James Brown) I've deleted the offending opening note from this piece as it appears I have caused grief for people who only trying to give my obnoxious opinions an unwarranted platform - from now on I'll keep my obnoxious personal attacks on this site only......who's up for the Harvey Is Shite campaign?

And The Beats Goes Off

There is a myth, a myth it must be said among many others, that Liverpool has always been a progressive home to dance music, that its clubs have been somehow instrumental in bringing about a vibrant dance scene both locally and nationally. As someone who's clubbed in Liverpool and Manchester for the past 25 years or so, I must admit that I've always found Liverpool's music scene to be very insular, conservative and well, just not very good. The reasons for this cannot be reduced to any one single cause, yet in part I think it can be traced all the way back to Merseybeat.

The Beatles themselves of course were infatuated with black American music and yet the music they made owed far more to the Everleys than the Isleys. That raw strain of black R&B that fused with southern hillbilly folk to produce rock n' roll largely bypassed the Fab Four yet found its way into the music of The Stones, The Animals, The Who, The Faces; bands whose singers desperately affected a 'black' voice to give their music credence. Think of those great white 'soul' singers of the 60s; Van Morrison, Eric Burdon, Chris Farlowe, Stevie Winwood and even the likes of Tom Jones and Jagger at his best on say 'Get Off My Cloud' - they were all singers who wanted to sound black whereas Lennon and McCartney never did. This isn't a criticism by the way because too often these wannabe Otis's and Smokeys and Levi's mistook gravelly for sincerity and patronised the very people they attempted to impress. The Beatles wanted to be Bob Dylan far more than Bo Diddley and that early rock n' roll rawness soon disappeared by the time of Rubber Soul and Revolver.

In the wake of the Beatles success ofcourse, all the other Merseybeat bands traded on familiarity and so the open-minded fusion of source material open to young scousers in the 50s became reduced to a formulaic BeatlesBeat. This was the case in other cities not only Liverpool but the success of the Beatles elevated the city into a centre of musical importance, a city on a par with Detroit, New York or Nashville. Once a city achieves that kind of international status then the shutters come down and a cultural siege mentality sets in, often resulting in a smug complacency and an inflated sense of civic pride. I think this is what happened in Liverpool during the 60s and 70s and even into the 80s and 90s. There were exceptions ofcourse; the post-punk scene that spawned Echo, Wah, Teardrop etc was perhaps the only other golden era for Liverpool music and that was inspired once again mostly by white American acts such as The Doors, Springsteen, the Velvets. That too soon fizzled out by the mid-80s with only bands such as The Farm flying the flag for contemporary scouse pop.

Funk, soul, disco, jazz, reggae? Forget it! Liverpool was a musical ghetto by this time, with little or no cross-pollination. Driving through Liverpool in the 70s and early 80s the contrast between black and white was almost like travelling through Jim Crow era Mississippi. Segregation whether politically or socially enforced or for self-preservation and defence, created an inward looking and isolationist culture that disregarded the rest of Britain, indeed the rest of the world. The legacy of the Beatles, the success of Liverpool FC during the 70s and the cliched 'scouse comedy' antics of Carla Lane, Jimmy Tarbuck and co lead to a sense of supremacy and a romanticised and selective mythology that bands in the 80s bought into lock stock, John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Only in Liverpool could bands such as Up & Running and Groundpig immunize themselves from the wider cultural shifts in musical taste and remain popular with little or no traditional record industry resourcing or promotion. Only in Liverpool could unapologetically retro groups such as The Las and Shack claim to be flame keepers for good old fashioned trad scouse musical integrity. Only in Liverpool could long forgotten prog and psychedelic bands and artists such as Floyd, Genesis, Beefheart, Zappa and Hawkwind assume a revisionist importance. And whilst now I can appreciate that this deliberate anti-fashion stance was entirely genuine and indeed an example of scouse contrariness quite in keeping with the times (see ‘Stoner Scal Tapes’ in the archive section of http://www.swinemagazine.co.uk/), at the time it felt like a betrayal of sorts, as if Liverpool was happy enough to listen to the likes of Ian McNabb’s ropey Neil Young impression or Umma Gumma for the rest of time.

The first Liverpool club I went to was The State in 1984 and to be honest, I was immensely disappointed not only by the music but the general attitude of the clientele. My own small-town club where I collected glasses, The Cherry Tree had a more adventurous musical policy, mixing the best scouse pop anthems (Echo's 'Rescue' China Crisis's 'African & White') with electronic synth-pop and hip hop (Human League’s 'Hard Times', Whodini's 'Magic's Wand' Kurtis Blow’s ‘The Breaks’) classic funk and disco (Rick James's 'Give It To Me Baby', Funkadelic's 'Not Just Knee Deep' Gino Soccio's 'Try It Out' The Gap Band's 'Burn Rubber On Me’) with crossover monsters (The Clash's 'Rock The Casbah' The Jam's 'Town Called Malice' etc) - nowt too startling there and we certainly didn't think it was anything to write home about but once those opening riffs of say Rescue or Try It Out blasted out, the dancefloor was crammed with 400 or so young scals and scalettes. What The Cherry lacked in cutting edge music it more than made up for in atmosphere. It was both fashion catwalk and fighting arena, the girls were impossibly glamorous and unattainable. The lads were impossibly tough and aggressive. The convoluted fashions and attitudes of the ‘hip set’ who frequented those clubs that the likes of The Face and i-D celebrated meant less than zero to the way we dressed and the way we danced.

Ironically it was two scouse girls who taught me the latest moves to 'Try It Out' and by us it was definitely the scousers who were unashamed disco heads, in part because that was the music the girls danced to and therefore the music you had to listen and dance to in order to cop off, yet there was also a sincere love of disco, funk and soul with the Average White Band and Earth Wind & Fire LPs far more common in LP collections than say U2 or Big Country. I vividly remember an ex-punk mate of mine proudly showing off his Rick James ‘Streetlife’ LP to me and how I got laughed at by older ‘Simple Minds’ teds at work when they spotted Imagination’s 'Nightdubbing' LP in my bag. Disco still sucked by and large, not only in mainstream ‘Hitman & Her’ style clubs but also supposedly cutting edge venues too.

My first visits to both the Hacienda and the State in that winter of 83/84 were therefore both massive let-downs in comparison to the Cherry; the big city scenes we'd heard so much about and had expected to be blown away by were relatively timid and retrogressive to what we'd been used to. Ofcourse there were 'specialist' clubs and bars but young soulboys were limited to a few alldayers and allnighters that tended to be overwhelmingly dominated by northern soul, itself a self-contained and closed scene living on past glories and sentiments. Although I loved northern I knew that the scene was a cul-de-sac, a culture that relished not only obscurity for its own sake but cherished a musical and political purism that forever kept black American music shackled to the past. We wanted to break free from that self-imposed rigidity of thought and yet, with both the northern and southern jazz funk scenes, conservatism held sway and there was very little progression.

The Hacienda was physically and musically cold, the space too antiseptic and clinical. Post-Warhol NY industrial chic that aped Danceteria’s aesthetic with one big difference; Downtown Manhattan and downtown Manchester were thousands of miles apart both culturally and geographically. It wasn’t until the summer of 88 and the ecstatic rush of acid house that the Hacienda briefly fulfilled its promise. And this was more by accident than design. Meanwhile back in Liverpool The State was a more opulent, old fashioned dance parlour still relying too heavily on accepted musical orthodoxies. Resident DJ, Steve Proctor tried to push things forward but after requesting one song, I remember him telling me that he loved the tune but wouldn’t play it as it wouldn’t go down well in there. That was his predicament as a DJ, to keep the floor moving you had to play it safe and play to the crowd. Breaking new songs, new scenes in this climate is always difficult and reliant on the crowd entirely trusting the DJ, which is what happened in Manchester with Mike Pickering, in Nottingham with Graeme Park and in London with Danny Rampling.

Liverpool missed the boat by a good few years and although there were places such as The Underground, The Twilight Zone and later Smile and G-Love, it took a good two or three years for most venues to properly latch onto what was happening. Then of course The Quad came and later Cream and whilst both venues secured their place in popular folklore and legend, neither were exactly cutting edge, moving into the gap that other, earlier clubs had vacated. That’s not to say they weren’t good clubs in their own right, at least initially but that they achieved success and notoriety once other people had done all the hard work.

Cream especially came to symbolise the shift away from clubbing as a musical to an entertainment experience. It also ushered in a form of conservatism that eschewed radical dance and electronic progression in favour of lowest common denominator formulaic grooves. Smile had been the ‘balearic’ night in Liverpool and although it had a loyal and committed bunch of regulars, it soon became obvious that the real money and power was being invested away from niche scenes into would would become so-called ‘superclubs.’ During the 90s, clubbing became big business and everyone, the dealers, the promoters, the DJs and yes, the clubbers too wanted a part of it. This was the ‘lifestyle’ people aspired to; it was a fallacy for 99% of the punters ofcourse but the coke n’ champagne n’ Ibiza n’ Miami Utopian dream was what made DJs such as Oakenfold and Judge Jules such big names. They traded on this superstar DJ myth and in the process destroyed any credibility they once had in order to serve a demand for what became laughably known as ‘trance.’

Whether it was because Liverpool’s nightlife venues have always been largely controlled by people whose first love is not music but money and showing off, the fact that other cities of similar sizes could sustain several inter-connected or even unrelated scenes whereas Liverpool became a wasteground of cheesy chart rave and 'look-at-me' 'funky' house. OK so No Fakin and Fukd Up Ravers atleast attempted to do something different during the 90s but the crowd wasn’t there, or not in big enough numbers to sustain themselves anyway.

Chibuku and Circus followed the Cream model; they bought in big and no-one can fault their programming yet they’re not and never will be ‘underground’ no matter how hard they try. DJs and promoters who made their money in the 90s bear some responsibility for the conservatism of today’s scene. There is a fear of risk taking, a short-term profit incentive that refuses to allow nights to build and establish themselves. As a result diversity and experimentation suffer as everyone chases the easy buck. Manchester seems to be able to cope with self-sufficient specialist club nights and scenes be they hip hop, techno, drum n’ bass or ahem, ‘cosmic disco’ and at the same time provide the funky house crowd with more than enough venues to live out their Fierce Angels fantasies, why can’t Liverpool?

Gold In The Shade, Hive Collective and the forthcoming Pigeonhole Disco and Archive nights are attempting to narrow that chasm between Liverpool’s ‘underground’ and mainstream. For too many years those of us who’ve tried to put on different nights have complained about the lack of venues willing to support underground nights and about punters who go for the easy option, relying on big names who more than often take the easy buck and rest on their laurels. Yet, when it comes down to it, we all want our own slice of the pie too, we compete against each other or else we don’t bother at all. I’m as guilty as anyone in this respect, disillusion and cynicism took a hold long ago yet over the past few months, I’ve decided that maybe there is common ground between the more imaginative elements of Merseyside’s dance and electronic community, networks that can be built to bring us out of this lethargy and despondency. Liverpool’s lack of an alternative cultural infrastructure has allowed the mainstream to call the shots. A so-called ‘capital of culture’ needs to nurture and support diversity and forward-thinking strategies so that Liverpool doesn’t rely on past glories, forever re-living and regurgitating the past, a theme park karaoke parade of Mop Tops, Erics Punks, Cream Ravers and The fucking Wombats!

We don’t really want to end up Quadrant Park On Ice in five years time do we?

Original Pirate Material

Original Pirate Material
Originals - Compiled by Moonboots & Balearic Mike (Claremont 56)

Described as ‘twelve rare and exclusive tracks selected by Moonboots and Balearic Mike,’ ‘Originals’ is a new series from Paul ’Mudd’ Murphy’s fantastic ‘Claremont 56’ imprint.

In those rarified ‘Balearic Network’ circles Mick n’ Moon (as no-one calls em) have achieved, if not the financial security that their taste deserves, then at least the critical acclaim of self-appointed Movers & Shakers and even Mookers n’ Shavers.

With ’Originals’ it’s easy to see why they’ve managed to achieve this level of esteem, for make no mistake, these twelve ‘jams’ (as me ma calls em) underline just how deep some DJs are prepared to dig in order to extract Balearic nuggets of rare quality. Knowing just how jealously these lads guard their sources, the first thing that amazed me was that there was a, no doubt contractually binding, playlist included, not that any normal human being would have either the time or inclination to track down most of these uberbalearobscurities.

‘Originals’ begins with Moon’s choice of Sth Notional’s ’Yawn Yawn Yawn,’ a perfect start for such a compilation. Waves wash gently against the shore as a cello and piano combine to take you on a methadone meltdown before aching spoken word vocal oozes cosmic serenity and somnambulant charm. Yawn? I almost came!

Next up is Mike’s cut; Byron’s ’Too Much’ a bouncy boogie-ish belter that gets the foot a-tapping and the chin a-stroking kidda.

Band Aid’s ’A Tour In Italy (dub)’ is another Moon sleckshun and perhaps a contender for The Most Balearic Record Ever! Glockenspiel opening riff? Check! Tinny trumpet? Check! Oozy woozy synth? Check! Bubbly wubbly bass? Check! Funky Chic riff? Check! Irritatingly catchy chorus? Check! Ludicrous foreign vocals? Checkafuckinroony! ‘By the sea, right by the sea! A big un on the Anny Road in 86 this un.

Next up Tony Esposito’s ‘Je Na’ a Mike favourite both for the man’s sartorial elegance - think Doobies era Michael McDonald meets Bob Latchford circa 76 - and the man’s undoubted way with a Euro-pop piece of Dada-ist nonsense. This is pure Alfredo era aceness with a boss break to boot.

Radio Band’s ‘Radio Rap’ is another of Mike’s selections, an Italo-rap masterpiece that provides a clue why there aren’t more Italo-Rap masterpieces out there. Put simply, Italians were not put on God’s green earth to rap and yet there is an undeniable charm in this ultra 80s sounding mock hop which was apparently tracked down via an ancient Ron Hardy mix.

Two Moon grafts next: The Night S-Press’s ‘Dance’ is a poppy gem that fuses the piano riff from The Thrashing Doves proto-Balearic stomper, ‘Jesus On The Payroll’ with a Madonna style vocal and is followed by the Midnight Express sampling dub hop of B:Dum B:Dum’s ‘Instanbul.’ Think The Scream’s ‘Loaded’ meets the Fry’s Turkish Delight advert with Adrian Sherwood producing.

For Mike’s next slab; Fist Of Fact’s ’First Strike’ the man provides copious notes regarding the track’s provenance, informing we amateur diggers that the tune is a ’lesser known gem that appeared on the b-side of a Swiss only release back in 98‘. Sounds like Sal Principato doing PIL to me, but that can only be good.

The next two tracks belong to Moon. Balearic Godfather Phil Mison’s ‘Cantoma’ alter-ego gets the nod with his usual sun-drenched compositions for string and oboe on ‘Maja (Dub)‘ bringing the compilation back down a notch or two back to the sun n’ sea n’ saucy senoritas vibe….. aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh, get the petherdine out Harold! Come on, Primrose, sup up, it’s time to put on Mountaineer’s ’A Town Called Ivanhoe’ and get the treasure chest out. Described by Moon as ‘Lovely, modern German bossa’ he could be referring to Jurgen Klinsmann but somehow I doubt it.

Mike then provide’s Flayer’s gorgeous ‘Wanna Get Back Your Love’ which he imagines as 10cc’s I’m Not In Love if recorded in Ibiza instead of Stockport. I kinda know where he’s coming from but to many people Stockport IS San Antonio. Whatever, it’s a suitably warm and cosy note to end on….but then as a bonus track we get Smith & Mudd’s ‘Wem’ perhaps the only down tempo funkalearic track to name check a small Shrospshire town (apart from the Wooden tops ‘Church Stretton Blues’ that is!)

All in all, ‘Originals’ is what we at Café del Lar would term ’proper old skool Balearic’ that fits together like a plate of squid and a bottle of Cava sangria with a poncho on, playing the castanets…..on a donkey…..in Ardwick! And it doesn’t get better than that!

Virus Syndicate - Sick Pay (Planet Mu)

Virus Syndicate are a Manchester grime crew yet chat like they’re from Hackney not Hulme. This isn’t a criticism, just an observation. Back in the day, if British MCs adopted or imitated a style then it was almost certainly that cod New York accent associated with the best American rappers. Remember Derek B, Monie Love and all those other plazzy Bronx pretenders? Cringe worthy wasn’t in it. With the emergence of a unique British MC style allied to ragga, jungle and later UK Garage and now Grime, it appears that all regional accents and styles have mutated into a pan-British Black (Cockney) Twang. If you didn’t know that Virus Syndicate came from Manchester you’d swear they were from the same yard as Roll Deep. One line on ‘Won’t Give Up’ goes ; ‘I’m a Manchester man not a Cockney’ yet the MC sounds as Cockney as pie and mash (up).


This aside, ‘Sick Pay’ is a fantastic demonstration of just how far British MCing has evolved and improved over those two decades since Derek B and co. Instead of pretending to be something they’re not, our MCs have finally fused the best elements of their Jamaican toasting culture with the inventive rhyme schemes of US rap. What separates Grime from most US ‘urban’ styles however, is the inventive use of beats and samples. Most mainstream Hip hop and R&B remains rooted in tired grooves and familiar lyrical and musical clichés, whilst grime has carved out its own soundscapes from UK genres such as drum n’ bass and dubstep as well as hip hop and dancehall. Infact I’d go as far as saying that, at their best, our MCs offer a superior alternative to most US rappers.

And make no mistake, Virus MCs Goldfinger, JSD and Nika-D are amongst the best in the UK. The intricate, complex flows of their lyrics and the inventive backdrops provided by DJ/producer MRK1 give ‘Sick Pay’ a playfulness sadly lacking in too many so-called ‘urban’ genres. ‘Taxman Returns’ ‘Dippin’ ‘Neva Argue’ and ‘Kane n’ Abel’ meld Eastern bhangra and Arabic sounds to Spartan drum patterns and whilst this is hardly original, it suits the frenetic lyrical flow far better than all those Timbaland-lite cut n’ paste jobs. ‘Vibrator’ has a bubbling electro feel and ‘Live At The Apollo’ uses a ‘My Sharona-esque’ guitar loop to detail how the crew have evolved over the past decade. This track and ‘Neva Argue’ also get remixes from Various Production and the whole LP hangs together as a truly accurate document of modern British inner city life both lyrically and sonically. There is sex and drug dealing and getting paid and crime and boasting and all the usual stuff of rap and a life of grime but it never feels overplayed, never feels too fantastical and clichéd just VS being honest and passionate about their own skills and experiences.

As they say on ‘Infected’ “call the nurse, cos my verses are so sick, no-one can cure me, I’m honestly poorly.” Grime has indeed infected British culture and has spawned some of the most skilfull and dexterous spit merchants this country has ever produced. Many like the Virus boys matching the turbo-flow theatrics and abstract stream of consciousness of Busta or Doom. It’s good to see labels like Planet Mu who have supported the band for four years now broadening their appeal to cover grime as well as avant-electronica. More UK labels should follow their example and offer these MCs and producers the opportunity to break out of the music industry’s self-imposed ghetto.

Release date 6-10-08

Windsurf's Coastlines/Bent's Art Of Chill/CDL Jukey

Windsurf – Coastlines (Internasjonal)

Nu-balearic LPs are like shite jokes about busses, you wait ages for one to come along and then two come together; hot on the heels of Hatchback’s ‘Colors Of The Sun,’ Sam Graw and Dan Judd’s respective Hatchback and Sorcerer aliases have fused for the first Windsurf longplayer. As with Lindstrom and Prins Thomas’s joint efforts, it’s difficult to see where Sorcerer ends and the Hatchback begins. To help us, each co-surfer has listed his own influences in the shape of a ‘cosmic ven diagram’; Sorcerer gives us the likes of Arthur Russell, Ned Doheney, Gabor Szabo, Hawaii, kung fu, dolphins, old drum machines, Todd Rundgren, Fleetwood Mac and Xanadu. Hatchback provides Vangelis, David Axelrod, Brains Eno, Conny Plank, ELO, white blazers, Fender Rhodes, Steely Dan, flea markets and Cluster.

Together, they are Windsurf and they make the kind of epic electronic AOR, some (OK, me!) have christened ‘Callyearic.’ As the title suggests, this records evokes languorous, hazy evenings with the waves lapping gently against the shoreline. With tracks called Moonlight Sun, Light As Daylight, Bird Of Paradise and The Big Island, you pretty know much what to expect. Returning home from a weekend in Wales with the September sunlight shining off the lakes and mountains of Snowdonia, it all made perfect sense (although the missus classed it as ‘boring’). It’s no coincidence that this LP is being released on Prins Thomas’s ‘Internasjonal’ imprint. If you’re tired of the cosmic-nu-balearic-scando-cally-earic hype, then I’d swerve this but if, like me, you find another wet and windy summer is only made bearable by music this warm and optimistic, then seek it out.

Release date – 27th October

The Art Of Chill – Bent (Platypus)

Would you buy a compilation called The Art Of Chill? No neither would I, so it’s lucky I got sent this from the good folks at epm. Bent are one of those bands who always appear on the zillions of ‘Now That’s What I Call The Very Best Of Ibiza Sunset Chill Bar Grooves 5’ CDs in Asda but that’s not their fault. Along with Boards Of Canada, Lamb, Groove Armada et al, Bent have become a Chill-By-Numbers outfit which is a shame because their music is often sublime and beautiful in its arrangement. This compilation provides a stunning insight into Simon Mills and Neil ‘Nail’ Tolliday’s tastes. Each Bent-ster (as we at Swine call em) ‘curates’ his own compilation and whilst the tone is similar on both, Nail’s is the more avant-garde and the more interesting. Make no mistake; there is music on this compilation that will amaze and surprise you, whether that’s minimal abstract classical, spooky disjointed electronica or perhaps one of the most remarkable singing performances I’ve ever heard; The Bulgarian Female Vocal Choir’s ‘Kalimankou Denkou.’ No shit! As the man says himself in his notes;

‘My old friend Katty played this to me about 14 years ago and I was sceptical at first. I’m glad she insisted because after about five seconds I was in floods of tears, I’d never heard anything before quite as beautiful.’

So, ignore The Art Of Chill as a brand name and seek this magnificent compilation out, you won’t be disappointed.

Release date – 13th October

Café del Lar Jukebox

Listen The Snow Is Falling – Yoko Ono & Plastic Ono Band
I Betray My Friends - OMD
Molde Canticle Pt 4 – Jan Garbarek
Never Say Never – John Martyn
Beauty & The Beast – DJ Taylor
Love Aint An Easy Thing – Neil Sedaka
Call Me (Instru) – Blondie
Livin’ For The City (Bullring Mix) – Cook da Books
TVOD – The Normal
Perfumed Garden – Rah Band
Voila – Francoise Hardy
Ice Cream Van - Glasvegas
Pigs (In There) – Robert Wyatt
Time Becomes/Planet Of The Shapes - Orbital

All Good - Runcorn's very own Sanctuary.

The brief was simple - classic disco, funk n' soul - the DFS approach. The venue; my local' the Traveller's Rest (aka The Tup) in Runcorn, where unbelievably I had one of my best New Year's Eve's last year with local northern DJs cooking up a storm. Always a bit of a backwater, Runcorn's 'dance scene' such as it is, never really recovered from the closure of Gaz Crilly's brilliant 'Stoned Soul Picnic' nights at the Panorama and later The View if Frodsham.

Runcorn, like Widnes and Warrington has always had a strong allegiance to northern and at one point Halton (the joint borough of Widnes and Runcorn) had it's own Soul Club which basically meant local DJ and 'character' Harry Dennett persuading Edwin Starr and the like to (rumour has it) stay over at his terraced house on the Grange council estate (where I grew up) before appearing at the Queen's Hall in Widnes at various alldayers. Some of these events were great but the northern scene has always been a strange, closed world and as we realised that anything that deviated slightly from the Detroit/60s template would NEVER be accepted in such purist circles, we moved onto clubs in Liverpool and Manchester (and even places like Blackburn's Peppermint Place) where 'progressive' dance music was played.

This was the mid-80s before house totally took over and our little crew were regulars at most events in the surrounding area, especially the first Upnorth weekenders in Blackpool and Southport. And now we're all getting older and some of us have grown up kids and some of have young kids and most of us can't be arsed driving out to Manchester or Liverpool, so we make do with life in a (very boring) northern town.

Ofcourse we could've played the latest Terje remixes and deep Estonian space-disco 12s from 1978 but instead began with Barry White's version of 'Standing In The Shadows Of Love' and ended with Shalamar's 'Night To Remember.'

Inbetween there was Philly, Stax, Gamble, Atlantic, Motown, RAK (Mickey Most - Britain's Tom Moulton? We think so!), West End, Casablanca, Solar, Tamla, Jay Boy, Buddha, Fourth & Broadway, King, Ze, Verve, Direction, Salsoul, Whitfield, TSOP and Prelude; nothing too obscure (although the Eddie Kendricks instrumental version of I Am A Cider Drinker got the trainspotters pestering me for the identity of my cover-up), nothing too pretentious or conceptual, not the kind of stuff we'd really play for ourselves given a totally free reign, but hey, this is fucking RUNCORN!!

We enjoyed it, so did the crowd and even the bouncers joined in for the finale 'get ready, baaaby, tonight, darrrrlin' gonna make this a niiiiight to remeeeeemberrrr!' Now fuck off, the milkman's here!