Poor People Must Work

Are we all still here? I’m assuming that during the night Trump didn’t get his horrible, stubby, little fingers on the wrong buttons and start a nuclear war and that I’m alive and you’re here reading this. Hopefully that’s not a stupid assumption. We are living in strange times.

This Detroit remix of Berlin dub techno came out in 2006, Carl Craig reshaping Rhythm And Sound, righteous vocals from Bobbo Shanti. It’s pretty intense and could easily be twice the length and not outstay its welcome. This sleek, ultra rhythmic, layered techno is really pushing my buttons at the moment. Coming over Barton Bridge last night to something similar on the stereo the south Manchester sky was astonishing, a broad pink band bleeding into bright blue with a few streaks of white cloud and the disappearing sun a vibrant orangey-pink ball. A wheeling arc of birds rose over the retail park. I couldn’t photograph it (I was driving) and the view only lasted a few seconds but it was something else.

Poor People Must Work (Carl Craig Remix)

Yes Partial

Sifting through my cds the other night I came across this- Rhythm And Sound. I don’t know why it caught my attention because the cardboard digi-sleeve is black and grey, with grey text, not remotely eye-catching. I’m glad it did though because I’d forgotten how good it is. Rhythm And Sound is the name of the dub/reggae output of Berlin’s Basic Channel, who as Basic Channel defined minimal German dub-techno in the 1990s with a series of 12″ records. The Rhythm And Sound reggae and dub oriented stuff was compiled on one cd, released in 2001 with a new track as opener- No Partial. This is high quality modern dub- deep, dark, digital dub, a little unsettling, with plenty of hiss and massive bass. Not much point listening to this on that little cd player or docking bay you keep in the kitchen for doing the washing up to- this needs to be played on the big stereo in the front room, or on headphones where it might keep you awake for a while.

No Partial