Bagging Area/ Ban Ban Ton Ton Mix

For some time now Dr Rob, the man who runs the standard setting blog Ban Ban Ton Ton, a one stop shop for all things Balearic and otherwise, has been asking me to write reviews for him. Since the new year I’ve written some album reviews which I don’t think I’ve linked here, so today’s Sunday mix post pulls those reviews from the first half of 2023 together for those who might be interested in them, and provides a sampler in the form of a forty three minute long mix below. 

Ban Ban Ton Ton/ Bagging Area Guest Review Mix

• Jon Hassell: Neon Nights
• Konformer: Konformer
• Tolga Boyuk and Kenneth Bager: Betrayal
• TECWAA: I Terra Dub
• Roe Deers: Can’t Remember
• Yargo: Marimba
• Sorcerer: Zero Return
• Eloah: Logan Ede

Jon Hassell was a pioneering New York based trumpeter/ composer. His Fourth World music fused primitivism and futurism in the late 70s and 80s and led him to work with Talking Heads, David Sylvian and Carl Craig among others. Psychogeography is a compilation of late 80s recordings combining avant- jazz, soundtracks, psychogeography, ambient music and Situationism, which sounds off- putting but is great fun. My review is here. 

Konformer are a three piece from Nuremburg, signed to Manchester’s Jason Boardman’s new label Before I Die. Five lovely synth- led cosmische instrumentals. Reviewed by me here and highly recommended (the album I mean not the review). 

Tolga Boyuk and Kenneth Bager wrote and recorded a soundtrack to a film that hasn’t been shot yet, East Is North, in two days. Tangerine Dream, Vangelis and John Carpenter all feature as reference points. Read my review here. 

TECWAA is from York and has released an EP on New York’s Throne Of Blood, a label on something of a hot streak. My review said something like ‘sci fi, deep house, cinematic psychedelic dub’. Here. 

Roe Deers were one artist on a compilation put out by Parisienne label Lumiere Noir, twelve previously unreleased slices of ‘deep and dark electronics’. Read my review here if you’ve got this far down.  

Yargo were a Manchester blues/ funk/ dub group who missed the boat in the late 80s Manchester boom but are fondly remembered. Their proto- house/ Latin B-side features on the new compilation from DJ Luke Una, E- cultura soul Vol. 2, a multi- artist tribute to late nights, dancing and the widest spread of music you can imagine. Eloah’s Logan Ede comes from the same album, Brazilian soul from the late 1970s. My review is here. 

Sorcerer is from Califronia and his second album Bubble Funk is a blast of short, funky instrumentals celebrating skateboarding, cassette culture, home studios, 70s funk and Balearic pop. Reviewed here. 

I also reviewed Reinhard Vanbergen’s Meditation On Modern Modes, an hour long ambient tour de force from Belgium’s multi- instrumentalist but couldn’t work any of the ten minute pieces onto the mix above. Read and listen here. 

Forty Minutes Of Justin Robertson Remixes

A few of Justin Robertson’s early 90s remixes today, chunky beats and tempos, samples and trumpets- lots of trumpets- and indie bands transformed into dancefloor monsters. Ideal for the spring sunshine that has finally arrived this weekend in this part of the world. 

Forty Minutes Of Justin Robertson Remixes

• The Sugarcubes: Birthday (Justin Robertson 12″ Mix)
• The Stone Roses: Waterfall (Justin Robertson’s Mix)
• Bjork: Big Time Sensuality (Justin Robertson Lionrock Wigout) 
• Lionrock: Packet Of Peace (No More Fucking Trumpets)
• Yargo: The Love Revolution (Justin Robertson’s Scream Team Remix)
• Inspiral Carpets: Caravan (No Windscreen Mix)

Justin’s remix of Birthday by The Sugarcubes turns singular Icelandic post- punk oddness into seven minutes of dub loveliness. Released on vinyl in 1992 along with remixes from Jim and William Reid and Tommy D.

I was of the opinion once that remixes of songs by The Stone Roses were totally unnecessary. I’ve come round to some of them, not least this remix of Waterfall, Reni’s drums replaced by a skippy drumbeat, some echo- laden cymbal splashes and Ian’s voice sitting above the music with John’s guitar drizzled on top.

Big Time Sensuality was inescapable in 1993, not least in Manchester’s clubs and bars, and enjoyed every time. I met my wife on the dancefloor at Paradise Factory dancing to it. Justin’s remix, in his Lionrock guise, was a big hitter too, a slo- mo groove, with those massive trumpets and Bjork’s barely contained sense of gleeful abandon.

Justin, Mark Stagg and rapper MC Buzz B were Lionrock. Packet Of Peace was their 1993 12″. The remix here is Justin’s own Lionrock remix of Lionrock and clearly by the title,  he’d had enough of his signature trumpet sound by this point. I can keep enjoying those trumpets ad infinitum.

Yargo were Manchester’s best kept secret, an urban funk/ soul/ blues group graced by the honeyed voice of Basil Clarke who are probably best known for their song of the same name being the title music to Tony Wilson’s Other Side Of Midnight, a semi- legendary music programme from the late 80s (which The Stone Roses appeared on, playing Waterfall- see above). The Love Revolution came out as a 12″ in 1990 with co- vocals by guest singer Zoe Griffin and samples the drums from Fool’s Gold. Yargo’s 1987 album Bodybeat is something of a lost classic. The follow up, 1989’s Communicate, didn’t manage to crossover outside Manchester but is (again,) one of the period’s lost gems. As is this remix

I posted this Justin Robertson remix of Inspiral Carpets a couple of weeks ago, a 1991 acid house banger complete with the ‘you play consciousness expanding material’ vocal sample and general ’91 madness. A numbered 12″ vinyl release in a run of 10, 000. 10, 000!