Isolation Mix Ten

I started compiling this one in my head when the sun was shining and it was hot enough to sit in the garden at night until it went dark without the need for a coat or sweatshirt. Since I started actually putting it together the sun has vanished and the temperature has halved but I’ve ploughed on anyway. It’s a ten song mix with sunshine and balmy nights in mind from the political/ absurdist post- punk/ dub of Meatraffle, the finger picked acoustic guitar and Mellotron magic of Steve Cobby, some chuggy Scandi- disco/house, 80s heroes The Woodentops, a blissed out re- edit of Brian Eno, Andrew Weatherall spinning Toy into a chilled krautrock groove, some Belgian New Beat from 1989 and Grace Jones backed by Sly and Robbie.

Meatraffle: Meatraffle On The Moon

Steve Cobby: As Good As Gold

The Woodentops: Give It Time (Adrian Sherwood Mix)

Brian Eno: Another Green World (The Blue Realm) Mojo Filter Edit

Fjordfunk: Exile (Hardway Bros Remix)

LAARS: None (Full Pupp)

Paresse: Rosarita

Chayell: Don’t Even Think About It

Toy: Dead And Gone (Andrew Weatherall Remix)

Grace Jones: Walking In The Rain

A Star… In The Sky

The International Space Station has been passing overhead recently, clearly visible in the clear night sky. There’s something very serene and quite moving about seeing it the last few nights, 408 kilometres up above the earth, circling the planet every ninety two minutes, round and round, unaffected by what’s going on down here at the moment. I tried and failed to get a decent picture f the ISS passing overhead but last night, sticking my head out of our attic window, I got this shot of the moon and Venus which turned out alright.

This came my way a couple of days ago and fits the stargazing vibe perfectly. The original track is by Aimes and is called A Star… In The Sky. The Hardway Brothers remix is more than a little bit spine tingling, adorned with squelchy bass, moody synths and sci fi vibes. It soundtracks the non- stop revolutions of the I.S.S. very well indeed.

Aimes’ rework of his own track throws in a massive acidic bass part via Detroit and pushes the track further towards a black hole, somewhere out in deep space.

 

Totem

This is Manchester viewed from Werneth Low near Stockport. A low is a hill, confusingly, for those of you who don’t live in northern England. From the top of the Werneth Low you can see right across the bowl Manchester sits in, the Pennines to the south and east and Winter Hill and Rivington Pike near Bolton to the north. We drove up there the other day. Isaac, our eldest is in twelve weeks isolation- shielding the vulnerable from Covid 19- and the things he likes to do such as going out to cafes and shops or meeting people are now strictly prohibited. We didn’t get out of the car. We parked up, ate our sandwiches and drank our flask of tea and then drove home again.

This is some swampy, rock meets dance grooves courtesy of Ess O Ess and Saul Richards and remixed by Hardway Bros. Crashing piano chords play off against throbbing bass and guitars. The original and Swamp Crawl versions are tasty too, Swamp Crawl especially, a dusty trek across the mid- west. Heavy tunes for heavy times.

Chateau Comtal

New from Sean Johnston’s Hardway Bros and the perfect way to pick yourself up on Saturday, Chateau Comtal is nine minutes of kickdrum, fuzzy bass, tom toms, feelgood chords, wiggy synths and driving electrical impulses. Impossible not to enjoy. Takes you away. Uplifting. New favourite track. And so on.

Life Can Be Cruel

Would you like to start your Sunday with a hot off the press Hardway Bros re-edit of Japan’s Life In Tokyo? Of course you would, why wouldn’t you? Sean Johnston has given the 1979 David Sylvian- Giorgio Moroder co-write a sultry update, setting the controls for a nine minute voyage to the heart of the chug. It all gets a bit wiggy and spun out too. Get it here or below.

Life In Tokyo (Hardway Bros Re-edit)

Monday’s Long Song

I don’t know if we are in the midst of a Balearic revival or if it’s just that I’m just finding a lot of it at the moment. This new track from Fjordfunk is a Balearic beauty, a slow motion eight minute epic with ripples of warm synth sounds, descending keyboard parts, a funky bassline and a guitar solo that stays just the right side of going over the top.

There is also a Hardway Bros remix that strips things back and heads into slightly darker territory although the twinkling synth and strings definitely keep things centred around the Mediterranean. Fjordfunk is producer Jann Marius Dahle from Norway.

 

Midweek Mix

This has just gone up at Test Pressing, your one stop shop for all things dubby and Balearic. Test Pressing asked Sean Johnston to put together a mix, specifically two hours of trippy and wigged out tunes from Sean’s record box. You can find it here (and download for free) and you won’t regret it. I can’t get the player to embed.

A couple of years ago Sean put out an e.p. in his Hardway Bros guise, the Pleasure e.p. This song is stunningly effective piano house, guaranteed to spread joy.

You Don’t Really Need Me

This is from a new e.p. by Dan Wainwright, a resident of these parts apparently, a slice of cosmic, Eastern tinged, progressive chug which at some point in the fourth minute when the soft multi-tracked vocal comes in reveals itself to be a cover of The Supremes classic Keep Me Hangin’ On.

The e.p. then takes a turn into darker territory with a Hardway Bros remix, a moody, low slung groover, the appropriately titled Swamp Dub, which sounds just like a sweaty basement after hours. In a good way.

There’s a third track too, The Endless Process Of Release, starting out with synths and coo’d breathy backing vox, some lovely sequenced bass and then a mid-tempo beat gently pushing things forward, various percussive sounds reverberating round the mix, more roof terrace in the sun than cellar rave, until it all starts to build for the last few minutes, twinkling arpeggios and rushing bleeps.

A/B Music

Back in 2013 Hardway Bros put out this monumental piece of dance music, A/B Music, a dramatic collision of  cavernous acidic squiggles, metallic guitar and a driving, lurching rhythm track. A dark, propulsive dancefloor gem.

A/B Music is also Sean Johnston’s tribute to the sounds of Belgium in the mid-to-late 1980s and the Antwerp club that the track is named after (AB, Ancienne Belgique). Belgian New Beat was centred around slow, downtempo club music, DJs spinning dark European industrial music, Eurobeat pitched down from 45 rpm to 33, early house from Chicago, a minimalist precursor to house, acid and techno, played to full houses as the youth of Ghent packed into the Boccaccio club. A record label in Ghent have recently put out two compilations, each one a four CD box set, packed full of new beat. Volume One is here and Volume Two is here.

Gadji Beri Bimba Clandridi

June 2018 is a gift that keeps on giving in terms of images. In the picture at the top Diego Maradona celebrates Argentina finding some form of redemption against Nigeria (who didn’t deserve to lose to be honest). Diego danced with a Nigerian fan, celebrated Messi’s goal in ecstatic style, flipped double birds at fans below on the 86th minute winner and then had a health scare in the concourse. He is disappearing in a blizzard of coke. I love Diego in many ways but I fear for his health. In the picture below a resident of Mossley, in the Pennines east of Manchester, returns from the Co-op in a gas mask to protect from the moorland fires which have been out of control most of the week. The smell of burning peat hangs over the city.

Recently I have been a little bit obsessed with this song from Talking Heads in 1979. Byrne’s lyrics were adapted from a poem by the Dadaist writer Hugo Ball. The groundbreaking Afro-funk is the product of the band.

I Zimbra (12″ version)

It works well with this, out earlier this year from Sean Johnston’s Hardway Bros, a 2018 slice of Afro-funkiness.