Explore every episode of the podcast The Current State of Music

Hey yo! I hope you are doing well, this week we are heading back to November 2020, which, I guess, was after the first lockdown, but with the impending second lockdown on the horizon. What an unusual time and I’m still speaking to people whose businesses, or lives for that matter, changed irrevocably at. that time.

My life feels like it has been in flux since about 2016, when I had a fairly certain idea of what was going to happen, or at least a plan. Since then I’ve been chasing avenues, trying to find my place in an increasingly unstable world. I’ve definitely had some wins, some real big ones and, if 30 year old me had looked at those wins, he’d be blown away. But, I don’t know, it feels like its getting harder and harder to chase those wins.

Maybe it’s the mood of the world right now, maybe it’s a stage in life. Is it a kind of caterpillar/butterfly metamorphosis thing? Where everything must die to be reborn?

Fuck knows.

What I do know is that music remains the constant and the gentle shoulder on which to lean, whether that is time in a quiet place listening to something like The Cinematic Orchestra, or singing along to Wet Leg in the car with my daughter, it is still the thing that can give me peace in the maelstrom of life and the world.

Making new, and revisiting old radio shows is something I am enjoying increasingly, although, as a DJ, and I was explaining this to Mr Scruff back in March, I’m playing less and less music to dance to, and more weaving different things together to create a place to rest a tired brain.

Again, an unusual place to be, but unsurprisingly where my brain is taking me.

It does mean that my record collection is getting increasingly odd. And you’ll have to end up listening to that. I’m sorry in advance in case its rubbish, but I don’t think it will be. I hope you think so too. x

Tracklist:

The Cinematic Orchestra - The Workers of Art (Kelly Moran Remix)

Radiohead - Glass Eyes

Shida Shahabi - Dawning and Wind

La Roux - In for the Kill (Skream’s Lets get Ravey Remix)

Goldie - Angel

LTJ Bukem - Music

Doves - Firesuite

Dmitry Evgrafov - Humble In Heart

Oliver Alary and Johannes Malfatti - Drifting

Gorillaz - Opium feat EARTHGANG

Kamasutra - Kamasutra Express

Avalon Emerson - The Frontier

Simian Mobile Disco - Staring At All This Handle

808 State - Pacific State

Rakim - It’s Been A Long Time

Pretty Lights - Around The Block feat Talib Kweli

Ishmael Ensemble - Search for Peace

RJD2 - Smoke and Mirrors

Gang Starr - Full Clip

London Posse and Rodney P - Future No. 1

De La Soul - The People feat Chuck D

Sun Ra Arkestra - Unmask The Batman

Freddie Hubbard - The 7th Day

Matthew Halsall and The Gondwana Orchestra - Only a Woman feat Josephine Oniyama

Moses Boyd - City Nocturne feat Zara McFarlane

Sault - Free

Hey! I hope you are doing ok this week, more heatwaves, which I think, most of the UK is done with. I’ve been trying to make the most of it by getting in the sea as much as possible, and it has been beautiful.

So, an eventful week in radio show land, I didn’t record a live show for TWR this week because I was gonna be live on 1BTN in my new monthly slot, which we broadcast live yesterday. It was a lot of fun, if a little rusty, getting used to doing it live outside of my studio set up. I had my eldest son in tow, and he took over the last half an hour, it was great to see him step up and quite naturally take to radio, given that he has never really listened to any radio, because of course not, he’s 15 and the channels for entertainment are so plentiful, listening to the radio must seem so old fashioned.

Well, even if it does sound old fashioned, I love live radio and I think it’s as important as ever.

If you want to listen back, you’ll have to go to 1BTN’s Mixcloud page. I know it would be easier for me to send it to your inbox, but they are bit controlling over their archive.

https://www.mixcloud.com/1btn/the-current-state-of-music-w-chris-cracknell-140826/

I thought it might be nice to go back to one of my earliest shows, so here we are in November 2016, man, the world felt like a different place then, I guess it was. Soe cracking music though… just check the tracklist:

The Disposable Heros or Hiphoprisy - Television, the Drug of the Nation

Ebo Taylor and the Pelikans - Enye Nyame Nko

Count Ossie and the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari - Mabrat

Moses Boyd - Rye Lane Shuffle (played at wrong speed!)

Robert Pete Williams - So Much Is Happening in the News

Public Enemy - You’re Gonna Get Yours

DJ Punk Roc - Roc-in-It

Leo Kottke - Cripple Creek

Eric B and Rakim - Know the Ledge

DJ Spinna - Rock

Ahmed Jamal - Misdemeanor

Foster Sylvers - Misdemeanor

Marc Mac - Come and Play in the Milky Night

Air - Modular Mix

Grey Reverend - Regen

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - Distant Sky feat Else Torp

Nils Frahm - Nue

James Blake - Radio Silence

Bonobo - Kerala

Radiohead - Everything In Its Right Place

Chicago - Surfjan Stevens

Kate Simko and The London Electric Orchestra - Schubert:Schwanengesang

London Grammar - Hey Now (Bonobo Remix)

Tune Yards - Hey Life

Holla! I hope this finds you all well and surviving life (and the kids holidays)

I enjoyed last weeks live show, even though I was properly knackered, it seems I always record them at my lowest ebb with the battery light flashing, maybe that’s where I have to go to find the best music, who knows?

So, it’s quite a contrast listening back to this show, which it seems I recorded live at 1BTN, a mere 12 hours after being in the studio recording another show the night before. I think I generally had more energy 8 years ago, I think that’s something we can all recognise?

It could also be the fun of doing live shows, which I am going back to this week. On Friday I’ll be live on 1BTN in a new monthly slot, 10am to Midday and I’m very excited about what that is gonna look and feel like. For those of you who don’t know, I did a weekly show on 1BTN for about 6 years, and I very much enjoyed it. I kinda let internal politics ruin it for me and I eventually moved to Soho Radio and Totally Wired, both stations I love, but I would record shows remotely from the comfort (and isolation) of my own studio, which has it’s many pluses, not least being I have access to 3000 records at any time, but there is something in packing a bag with some tunes, and making a 2 hr show from those limitations. Something I very much enjoy.

Of course I’ll post that show on here too, if you can’t tune in live, but 1BTN has a shoutbox/forum you can find here:

https://www.1btn.fm/#

You need to create an account (of course) but being able to chat with the listeners during a live show definitely has an impact on the direction and the vibe, so if you can tune in and message in, please do!

I’ll also be continuing my show for Totally Wired for now, there will probably some cross pollination along the way, but I’m really looking forward to doing something in my hometown, I’ll probably also use the opportunity to promote my work as a producer and mixing engineer, I mean, why wouldn’t I? I’m pretty rubbish at self promo, something I need to work on.

I find it fascinating listening back to my old shows, they come and go so frequently and I forget what music I have and how I put it together. It feels like familiar territory, so maybe I’ve got stuck in a rut, or shall we call it a style?

More recently I’m trying to evolve that style though, I guess as I work more and more as a producer, I’m finding interest in more and more music of differing styles, and I find that exciting. I also think my kids are having an influence on my musical taste, which is fascinating, how they listen to and absorb what they are finding. I guess I;ve tried to teach the to keep as open a mind with music as possible, because connections and emotions are everywhere, sometimes when you least expect it.

Speaking of which, I found I got quite emtional and Abba Voyage in London last weekend. I took my daughter and it was simply the best thing ever, both of us singing and dancing and smiling. But revisiting (or really visiting for the first time( those songs live, and, in effect, performed by the original members, with their thoughts looking back, hosted by younger, holographic, version of themselves, was both quite weird and quite wonderful.

Even if you aren’t a fan of Abba, you need to see this. The whole thing is insane, and then add the original music, the songwriting, the production, the arrangements, the engineering, the mixing and mastering, there have never been many bands with the legacy that Abba have. Essential.

Back to this show, I’m really enjoying how deep I went, there are some tracks I can’t find or remember, which is always a good thing, and I think that speaks again to having to throw some records in a bag and hot foot it to the studio, something I’m very much looking forward to doing again.

So, please join me on Friday 10am UK time, and I’ll send you another show next week.

Cx

Tracklist:

Lemon Jelly - Soft

St Etienne - Only Love Will Break Your Heart (Richard X Remix)

Sebastian Tellier - La Riournelle

Moses Boyd - Sirens

DJ Shadow - Ashes to Ashes feat Matthew Halsall

Stefano Torossi - Loving Tenderly

The Free Design - Nobody (Mars Volta Remix)

Nils Frahm - Colliderscope

Calibre - Samurai

Ben Lucas Boysen - Golden Times 1 (Max Cooper Remix)

Cotton - Dreaming of Another Place

Anouar Brahem - La Nuit

Bill Evans - Skating in Central Park

Joe Harriott and Amancio D’Silva Quartet - Stephano’s Dance

Marcel Louis Joseph - Priere au Soleil

Bossa Trio - Tema Em Do

Barbosa - Seara De Oxala

Wan Trio - Selvagem

Fruko y Sus Tesos - No Estas en Nada

Juan Pablo Torres y Algo Nuevo - Pastel en Descarga

Luiz Henrique - Mas Que Nada

Khruangbin - Lady and Man

Dorothy Ashby - Heaven and Hell

Rodrigo Tavares - Yangon

Man, this one was a struggle. Too many things to juggle so ended up recording quite late on a hot evening in a hotter studio.

I can’t wait for these heatwaves to subside, I love the sunshine, but it’s another thing sapping my energy, alongside the kids holidays, work, family life etc…

However, due to the lack of new releases coming over the summer, I decided just to comb my vinyl and pull out things that don’t get much airtime but are pretty interesting.

The first salvo hang together quite nicely, sharing the same DNA from the early 70’s, inspired by a record that had disappeared from my collection and I had bought again recently, Mandolin Man is delightfully wigged out and quite unlike anything else I’ve ever heard. The Incredible String Band into Nick Drake seems like an obvious connection, and it is, but the Anne Briggs track isn’t my go to on the album, but I’m glad I swerved my usual move, its quite a thing and I love her voice.

Its hard to give any meaning to the rest of the show, as most things were pulled quite randomly, but I did try to follow some sort of thread, but here are some highlights.

Bonobo has a new album incoming and this is a brand new track from it, so obviously I’m gonna play that. I haven’t played The Might Bop for years, and I love this track, there is an African sung sample in it which I think is so beautiful, it feels like somewhere I’d like to live, if you know what I mean?

Nina Maia is coming to Brighton this autumn, so thats a good reason to revisit this great album I’m only really getting to know.

I remember hearing a Thom Yorke mix on 6Music and he played this track ‘Marhaba’ which I had had on vinyl for some years and thinking how I might be as cool as Thom. I mean, clearly not, but I was hip to this track so that’s a start at least, right?

I really enjoy digging into my collection, I’m lucky to have been at this for such a long time that I have amassed a collection that gives to me as much as I have given to it. I worked out that I’ve had to buy 100 records a year for 30 years to get me where I am, that seems a lot, I guess it is. It holds many secrets which I don’t always know about and I’m looking forward, via this show, to finding more and sharing with you.

X

Tracklist

Mark Fry - Mandolin Man

The Incredible String Band - Little Girl

Nick Drake - Poor Boy

Anne Briggs - Sing a Song For You

The Beacon Sound Choir - Elongated Easter Egg/Fortunate Ones/Watermelon Sugar

The Cinematic Orchestra - To Build a Home

Emil Freis - As Sun I Meet You Now

Jon Hopkins - Open Eye Signal

Bonobo - Fire on the Water

The Mighty Bop - Life is a Gamble

Black Star - Deep Note feat Talib Kweli

Nina Maia - Kaô

Maria Rita - Cantico Brasileiro No3

Maalem Mahmoud Guinia, Floating Points, James Holden - Marhaba

Alfa Mist - In My Defence

Joe Harriott, Amancio D’Silva Quartet - Jaipur

Maki Asakawa - Boro Tu Furutetsu

Dexys Midnight Runners - You’ve Got the Love (David Holmes Remix)

Soul II Soul - Back 2 Life (Masters at Work Remix)

Gabrielle - Forget About the World (Daft Punk Remix)

Cassius - Cassius 99 (A Skillz Remix)

Hey friends, here we are, its the summer holidays. For some its a great time to take the foot off the pedal a little, enjoy the sunshine and maybe get away. For others, it’s a time to juggle work and kids, feeling guilty about not doing enough and letting kids watch far too much TV.

I hope you are leaning towards the former, I’m certainly leaning toward the latter, but being a freelancer doesn’t really come with holidays so much, so we’ll try and snatch some time and prise our kids off their various brain melting devices. To be fair, they aren’t keen on going on holiday. so who knows what’s best? Hopefully there will be some sort of medieval joust on, we all love that…

Anyway, back to this archive show plucked entirely at random, from December 16, so pretty early in my broadcasting career, but sounding like I”m oversharing from the off.

Kicking off with a favourite Drum and Bass roller, the excellent Expressions by Dave Wallace, taking me back to driving around in my Mums red Corsa with my brother, a nice way to start any show. Then some LTJ Bukem and is anyone mixing that into Linus and Lucy by Vince Guaraldi? No, I thought not.

Interesting to hear some Matthew Halsall, if the version of me in 2016 would have known that I’d have worked on music that appeared on his label, I’m not sure I would have believed me. Sometimes it’s good to look back to see how far you have come.

I struggle to listen to M83 these days, I absolutely love the album Hurry Up We’re Dreaming, but it was also playing the car the day I took my dog to be put to sleep, in 2020, and I’ve not been able to listen to it since. Sad times…

Wow, Kuiper from Floating Points. How can it be 10 years old and how fucking epic is it? A masterpiece for sure… sit back and wrap your brain around this one.

I really enjoyed listening to the mix that ends the show, some hip hop and then into the oddities. That is my kind of dancefloor, where you have no idea what’s coming next and the DJ has to be intentive, gaining your trust with every track and pushing it further into the corners. It’s getting harder and harder to find dancefloors that will let you do that, life has become so compartmentalised even though we access to more of everything of every genre. I’ll be waiting for my big comeback…

I hope you are all doing well and I’ll be back with a new live show next week.

Peace x

Tracklist:

Dave Wallace - Expressions Pt 2

LTJ Bukem - Music

Vince Guaraldi - Linus and Lucy

Matthew Halsall and the Gondwana Orchestra - A Far Away Place

Super Furry Animals - Hello Sunshine

Radiohead - Burn the Witch

M83 - Wait

Floating Points - Kuiper

Afrika Bambataa and Time Zone - Zulu War Chant

Tribe Called Quest - Award Tour

Spooks - Things I’ve Seen

Dangerdoom - Space Ho’s

Public Enemy - Don’t Believe The Hype

Bomb The Bass - Bug Powder Dust (La Funk Mob Remix)

DJ Moy - Love To Fly

DJ Shadow - Six Days (Soulwax Remix)

Breakplus - Silver Bangle

Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band - Cissy Strut

Sylvia Vartan and Axelle Red - Son of a Preacher Man

Hot 8 Brass Band - Whats My Name?

Gorillaz - Do Ya Thing feat Andre 3000 and James Murphy

Hey! Its like a furnace in my studio and I”m sure it has an effect on the show, but this one really travels some distance, digging into new (to me) vinyl, some new releases, well, actually only one (which incidentally is the only track not played off vinyl, for all you vinyl snobs out there) but I’m starting to realise I have so much music that I’ve not really dug into that I’m enjoying having an explore, and this show embodies that.

When I started this Substack I promised myself that my shows would reflect my life a little more, and although I’ve been doing that, and enjoying that side of it, it’s maybe felt a little uptight at times, but this one just hit the spot for me. The right amount of ridiculously good music, finding connections but also not over thinking it (I could overthink for England if it was an Olympic discipline)

So I hope you enjoy this one, as much as I did making it.

Tracklist:

Sault - Fulfil Your Spirit

Sixto Rodriguez — Sugarman

Johnny Jones and the King Casuals - Purple Haze

Ray Bryant - Up Above the Rock

Valentin Mehler’s - Herbstplatte ’69’

Ananda Shankar - Jumpin’ Jack FLash

Dave Pike Set - Mathar

Soyuz feat Asha Puthli and Sven Wunder - Spring Has Sprung

Asha Puthli - I”m Gonna Dance

Mac Mathunjwa - Give Us More Love

Barney Wilen - Zombizar

John Tchicai and Strange Brothers - I En Kaelder

Chris McGregors Brotherhood of Breath - MRA

Malcolm McLaren - Buffalo Girls

Propaganda - The 13th Life (12” Mix)

Burial - Dreamfear

Bonobo - Drift

Scott Grooves - Mothership Reconnection (Daft Punk Remix)

Daft Punk - Alive

The Chemical Brothers - Leave Home (Sabres of Paradise Remix)

Andrea Parker - Some Other Level

The Avalanches vs Andy Votel - Thank You Caroline

The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist (Mario Caldato Mix)

Beastie Boys - Intergalactic (Prisoners of Technology Remix)

Finally! I hear you all shout, a new live show from Chris…

Yep, I’m pretty much over whatever bug decided to kick my ass a couple of weeks ago, loaded with some new vinyl and some brand new music.

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know about my love for Lemon Jelly, how I worked with Nick Franglen for a couple of years. I’ve interviewed Fred for this podcast (you’ll find it if you go back far enough) and I generally love everything they have done, either separately or as Lemon Jelly. So, a reissue of a coveted and highly sought-after album, .KY, is no small news in my world. Of course I own an original copy, and I’m not one for collection for completeness sake, except in this case. The reissue has been lovingly repressed on beautiful coloured vinyl and it might be the only time I play it, but all records in my collection are there to be played, so I’ve started the show with the classic The Staunton Lick and Come.

I’ve been listening to a lot of acoustic music recently, as I’ve been actively looking for new artists to work with in my role as producer and mixing engineer, so, inspired by the new track by Jim, on my friend Damians’ recrd label, I went down a bit of a, rather pleasing, acoustic hole.

However, there has been a few good new releases since we last spoke, so I couldn’t stay in acoustic world too long, so I put the guitars away and headed off into some unknown territory. firstly with Momoko Gill who had a live session with Gilles Peterson recently, the first track from the new Bonobo album, and some more head nodders which all seemed to fit together, although my mixing wasn’t great, apologies…

I stumbled upon a version of Massive Attacks Teardrop I produced for a play a few years ago, so I thought I would give that an airing to see if that has aged, I talk about why I made it, and in classic me style, I totally over delivered on the project. In the reviews it didn’t even get mentioned…

Toward the end we headed into some cuts from the new Mr Bongo Record Club Vol 8, which is an example of a series that didn’t get shit (unlike the Police Academy films) I think that comes from how far the guys and girls at Bongos are willing to dig to find amazing music you’ve never heard before and this album doesn’t disappoint, which led me to finish the show with a recommendation from Lady Jane Bongo, Musclecars remix of Kokoros’ I Just Can’t Wait, which is a fine way to sign off.

I hope you enjoy this one, I’ll be back soon. Cx

Tracklist

Lemon Jelly - The Staunton Lick

Lemon Jelly - Come

Jim - Keeps Me Warm

Blacklands - The Wytchwood

Leo Kottke - Cripple Creek

Simone Tang - Hey Little Love

The White Stripes - We’re Gonna Be Friends

Jim Noir - Eenie Meenie

Meredith Adelaide - What Do I Know

Nick Drake - Road

Herbert and Momoko - Calm Water

Herbert and Momoko - Need To Run (K-Lone Remix)

Bonobo - Me and You

Birthday in Texas - Kneedeep

Marla Kether, Mez - Blessing

Kerrier Collective, Polly Meyrick - Pray For Rain (Winter Sun Remix)

Sault - Don’t Worry About What You Can’t Control

Chris Cracknell - Teardrop (Refrain)

Flash Atkins - Love Is a Cosmic Phenomenon (Dawn at Oak Farm)

The Spellbinder Project - Dark is the Light

The Spellbinder Project - Soul Shot

The Heliocentrics, Marshall Allen - Angels and Demons at Play

Sexwitch - Ha Howa Ha Howa

Urias - Vontade De Voar

As Ganheaseiras De Itapua - Mare Mansa

The Sylvers - Wish That I Could Talk To You (Kenny Dope Edit)

Kokoro - I Just Can’t Wait (Musclecars Remix)

Hey! I always seem to open these missives with an apology, and yes, I usually drop one of these on a Friday or Saturday, so the apology is sorry f you were left adrift without my dolcet tones, or, more like, some wonderful tunes over the weekend.

If you were in the UK last week, you’ll know all plans, work and sanity were off the table as we were gripped by an epic heatwave. Schools were closing early, or not opening at all. Chillers in supermarkets were breaking down, and all anyone could say was ‘I’m so hot’

But, the world didn’t end, although we maybe moving toward that at an increasing rate, so lets jump back to 2018 and a show from 1BTN, which, NEWS FLASH, I am going back to with a monthly show, broadcast live from the bunker and I’m very excited to be doing a ‘live’ show rather than a live prerecord. There is an element of jeopardy involved and also, having a limited selection of tunes, really sharpens the mind and forces me to think ahead of the overall curve of the show, which I enjoy.

Back to this show, a 4hr dive into all sorts, lets go…

Tracklist:

Kamasi Washington - Leroy and Lenesha

The Sons and Daughters of Light - Let The Sun Shine In

Lorez Alexandria - Morning

Copeland Davis - Morning Spring

Gloria Ann Taylor - Love is a Hurtin’ Thing

Visioneers - Ikes Mood I

DJ Shadow - Bergshrund

Radiohead - Present Tense

Rival Consoles - Be Kind

Nils Frahm - Tristana

Rooting For You (Accapella) - London Grammar

Rodney P - Untitles feat Lanre Sulola

Khalab - Chitita

Shabaka Hutchings - Black Skin, Black Masks

Koichi Matsukaze - Under Construction

Clifford Brown, Jeen Bassa and Ella Mae Sueref - Magpie

Khalab and Baba Sissoko - Ko Djodo

Moses Boyd - Ancestors feat Kevin Haynes Grupo Eleggua

Barney Wilen - Zombizar

Pablo Beltran Ruiz y Su Orquesta - Linda

Sergio Mendes - The Fool on the Hill

Ahmed Jamaal - Poinciana

Luiz Arruda Paes - Upa Negrinho

Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66 - Mas Que Nada

Brother Jack McDuff - Let My People Go

Ruth Price - Shadrack

Moses Boyd - Rye Lane Shuffle

Jennifer - Park

Nature Zone - Porcupine

Bulljun - Daddys Sex Beat

DJ Shadow - The Number Song (Cut Chemist Remix)

Beastie Boys - Hey Ladies

Gang Starr - Just To Get A Rep

The Meters - Same Old Thing

Young Disciples - Apparently Nothin’

Ashley Beedle, Gang Nairobi an Ross Allen - Murderer Style

Mr Scruff - Spandex Man

Wareika Hilll Sounds - No More War

The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds

Four Tet - Evening Side

Gold Panda - Autumn Fall

Kiasmos - Looped

The XX - A Violent Noise

Olafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm - 00.26

Michael Price - The Attachment

Masayoshi Fujita - Moonlight

Nouvelle Vague - Love Will Tear Us Apart Again

Lou Donaldson - Pot Belly

Cutee B - Jazz Ob Piano

Chaka Khan and De La Soul - All Good?

Hey, how are you doing? I apologise firstly, for no new show this week. I’ve been knocked flat out by gastric flu and I’m still in a bit of a fever and have to be within running distance of a toilet, but I’m getting better, alas, I didn’t feel up to a show, , maybe I’ll do you lovely subscribers and special one just for you next week…

So, here’s a show from a few years ago, opening with the incredible Melanie De Biasio, whom, when I ordered the album, a few days later she sent me a postcard to say thanks for the support over the years. I don’t have big expensive hobbies (my wife would say my record collection is big and expensive)and I’m not one for trinkets, but little things like this are my treasured possessions.

It’s quite a thoughtful start to the show, I’m guessing it was recorded late and I was recalibrating my brain from the day, regular listeners will know that I usually record my shows quite late at night and you can tell what sort of day I’ve had by how space I need at the start, to gather my thoughts and energy. Must have been a tough day…

As usual, music does it’s thing and will return me to an inspired state, reading to share music with you. Starting with the prolific Sault, whose output is quite astounding, with a new album just recently.

Asha Puthli is an amazing human being, I was lucky to grab a few words with her at We Out Here a couple of years ago, and she will be in Brighton next Friday at Mr Bongos, which will be epic, it will be great to say hi to her.

If you missed DJ Formats’ The Devils Workshop from a few years ago, I’d say you missed his masterpiece. Another lovely soul who makes the world a better place. If you see him DJ live, you are in for a lesson. Its funny that Cut Chemist pops up in this show too, there was a podcast out this week where Cut Chemist was shouting out DJ Format…

I quite enjoyed listening to the hip hop in this show, I don’t go back to hip hop very often these days and it’s a treat when I do.

Well, I haven’t got much chat in the back and am having a full on hot flush, so I need to bail and get some water.

I hope you enjoy this one, and I’ll see you next week, fighting fit with some new/old music for you. x

Tracklist:

Melanie De Biasio - We Never Kneel to Pray

Nils Frahm - Harmonium in the Well

Sault - Still Waters

Chene Noir - Musique De La Nuit

Chene Noir - Chemin d’ou l’on ne revient pas

Asha Puthli and the Surfers - Sound of Silence

Madlib - Road of the Lonely Ones

DJ Format - Strange Sensations

The Gaslamp Killer - Seven Years of Bad Luck

Amon Tobin - At The End of the Day

Joana Queiroz - Dois Litorais

Servica - Sistema en Tick Tack

Caballo - Hilo Del Destino

Fybe:one and Katey Brooks - Sensetory Space

Scrimshire - Eyes Shut

Dangermouse and Murs - To a Black Boy

Khalab and Baba Sissoko - Nana

DJ Shadow and Danny Brown - Horror Show

Palm Skin Productions - We Stand, Divided

Pretty Lights - Vibe Vendetta

Roots Manuva - The Lynch

Soul Position - Run

The Pharcyde - Yo Mama

Black Sheep - Similak Child

Cut Chemist - A Peak in Time

Gawd Status - Destroyed

J Dilla - NO One Knows

RJD2 - 2 More Dead

Swollen Members - Lady Venom

Hey, how are you doing? Another week has flown by, I’m not sure I’ve achieved anything this week, apart from staying alive, and for some, that is enough.

This archive show is from 1BTN and I must have been standing in for someone as it was broadcast live on a Sunday evening, so it will be interesting to see how the vibe of this one plays out. I was standing in for a reggae/roots show, I wonder if I venture down that way? I mean, I don’t really play that sort of thing, so it was probably a disappointment to anyone tuning in to hear that genre.

Kicking off with Alice Coltrane would certainly send the message that it’s probably not going to be what they wanted to hear, ah well, hopefully I bought a few new listeners over my way.

What I love about doing shows live, is the commitment, you have a limited selection of music, and you have to make sense of it, and make it work. I miss that. To blow my own trumpet, I think I am pretty good at that aspect in particular, building a narrative with what I have to hand and committing to tunes even though they might be a stretch for the casual listener, but by committing, you lead the listener to believe in the tune and to find something in it too.

With that in mind, this track by Moses Boyd is hard, but totally brilliant. I should play this more. I’d like a regular night where I can play this stuff out to a crowd…

I’m really enjoying the jazz selection here, in particular The Madison Time, a track I first heard on on of Lemon Jelly’s Breezeblock mixes for Mary Anne Hobbs on Radio 1 (at the time) which are some of the most mental dj mixes you’ll ever hear, once you’re done here, then go check at least one out here: Lemon Jelly Breezeblock May 2000

This track by Khalab is an all time favourite and what led me to getting Tenesha The Wordsmith on an, as yet, unreleased track with Chip Wickham. I hope that sees the light of day some time, its rather great.

What is interesting (I’ll be the judge of that) is that I’ve been playing new releases by a few of the artists I’ve played on this show, so either something is happening in cycles, or I’m slowly drifting into nostalgia and not doing enough work to find new artists. Or maybe both things are true?

Roots Manuva is still, in my opnion, the best MC of all time, and this track Crying from the album Bleeds is as heavy as it comes, definitely Grime inspired. Which leads me to a great doc on Grime on the iplayer, which is worth a watch

It’s also worth noting how I”m taking the chance to play some hip hop, because the show went out after 9pm so swearing is OK. My usual show used to go out on a Tuesday morning, so I either edited out swearing, or I didn’t bother playing any.

You’ll recognise the drums from the Skull Snaps track, which has been sampled hundreds of times, but this is the OG track.

Do you want to smash shit up every time you listen to Sabotage by the Beastie Boys? Me too…

I have no idea how I got from Nightmares on Wax to Blondie , but fair play to me for trying, if I was out at a bar and the DJ pulled this I would have bought him/her a pint, then ending with Superkat, well, thats a show. I hope you’ve enjoyed this one. See you soon. Love x

Tracklist:

Alice Coltrane - Improvisation

Elysian Quartet and Kae Tempest - Where The Heart Is

Moses Boyd - After Tomorrow

Luke Vibert - Doozit

Gogo Penguin - Ocean in a Drop

Adele Sebastian - Day Dream

Ray Bryant Combo - The Madison Time Pt1

Khalab - Blacknoise 2084 feat Tenesha the Wordsmith

Radiohead - Daydreaming

Rival Consoles - Be Kind

Four Tet - You are Loved

Melanie De Biasio - Your Freedom is the End of Me

Roots Manuva - Crying

DJ Shadow - Systematic feat Nas

Audio Two - Top Billin (Dangermouse re-edit)

Rube - Another Gone Record

Gang Starr - The Militia

Skull Snaps - Its a New Day

Visioneers - Ike Mood I

Helmet - Biscuits for Smut (Mutts Mix)

Beastie Boys - Sabotage

NWA - Express Yourself

Mark B and Blade - The Unknown

Nuts One - Disgrace

Nightmares on Wax - Les Nuits

Blondie - The Tide is High

Cutty Ranks - Wede Man

Kenny Dope - Superkat

Hey. how are you doing? I’m OK thanks for asking, well, I’m a bit frazzled. I think the whole world is right now. I look at my records and I don’t know where to start, or what direction to go in. Luckily, I have built up some muscle memory (and an awesome record collection) and I really leaned on that whilst recording this one.

To start with, Fred Deakin of Lemon Jelly fame dropped me a message to let me know that my prediction of LJ never reissuing any of their vinyl was wrong and that Rough Trade were putting out a new coloured vinyl version of their first album .KY. Now I have an original copy, and they go for an eye watering amount on Discogs, but that didn’t stop me from ordering the new version. Its an investment right? Or so I tell my wife…

So that inspired me to play ‘Page One’. I almost can’t listen to those albums, I worked with Nick Franglen in his studio for a couple of years and I don’t think I was ever happier. Although I wasn’t there when those records were made, I can hear Nicks workflow and studio in them, plus the songs remind me of a more carefree time, which is great, but also sad in a way. I guess that’s nostalgia for you.

The rest of the show is a bit of a wander round various places, a little homage to Mike D of Beastie Boys fame, not playing his new release, but playing a couple of things he has done, an edit of a track that came out on Mr Bongo, and a Beasties classic, with him on drums.

Speaking of Mr Bongo, a few tracks off their Cuban box set in collab with DJ Koco are in the mix, a lesser known track by Massive Attack featuring Roots Manuva, the greatest MC of all time (in my opinion, but I’m willing to fight anyone who disagrees) which took me to some Cinematic Orchestra, then to a great track by Tawiah.

So, the muscle memory served me well, this show ended up being. a little less influenced by my life over the last few weeks and more instinctual, very much led by the music, which I hope you enjoy. x

Tracklist:

Lemon Jelly - Page One

Kiasmos - Told

Massive Attack - Protection

Massive Attack - Dead Editors feat Roots Manuva

Dizzy K - Konga Mama

The Cinematic Orchestra - Wait for Now feat Tawiah (Mary Lattimore Remix)

Tawiah - Borders

Sault - Love Does Not Equal Pain

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell - You’re All I Need To Get By

The New Seekers - Dance Dance/I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing

Willis Jackson - Headed and Gutted

The Menahan Street Band - The Starchaser

Cees Slinger - Waltonia

Ricardo Martinez Y Expreso Ritmico - LA 132

Grupo Los Yoyi - Paco La Calle

Farah Maria - Amame Y No Pienses Mas

Khalab and Baba Sissoku - Hame

Nissodia - Mike D Edit

Beastie Boys - Futtermans Rule

Gil Scott Heron x Jamie XX - We’re New Here

Meredith Adelaide - Guard Dog

London Grammar - Hey Now (Bonobo Remix)

KH - Only Human (MPH Remix)

Floating Points - Vocoder (Club Mix)

Climate change is very real then? I’ve been toiling under the heat this week, and trying not to think too much about the fact that we seem to not be dealing with the incoming climate crisis (or any other fucking crisis for that matter)

So this show starts off with what I feel is a fairly futuristic and slightly claustraphobic track by Dizraeli, fully dystopian-ed up by Danalogue (whom you might now from the Comet is Coming) it makes a change to start with a banger, rather than a more slower introspective start, so lets see where this goes…

Oooo, this track by Bonobo and TEEDS is a heater, its good to hear this. I need some big outdoor gig this summer to flex some of this stuff, if anyone is tuned in.

I will apologise for some wonky mixing at this point, I rarely practice mixing any of these tunes, and a rarely plan what I’m gonna play, so its all mixes I’ve never done before and some sound better in my head than in reality, but I don’t go back and fix anything either, so if it’s shit, well, that’s what happened, like life right?

One of the sections of my records that is the biggest by a single artist, is Mr Scruff, whom I’m lucky to consider a friend. As well as being musically across so much stuff, creates (not often enough) bangers like this, he’s an awesomely nice person and a joy to hang out with. I had the honour of warming up for him on my 50th birthday, not something I took lightly, and I hope I have earned that spot again sometime.

I hope you enjoy this one, I finish off with some jazz, before going big with Ezra Collective, JME and Swindle…

Tracklist:

Dizraeli - Ketamine Honey (Danalogue Remix)

TEEDS and Bonobo - Heartbreak

Nikitch and Kuna Maze - The Leak (Domu Remix)

187 Lockdown - Gunman

Zed Bias - Neighbourhood

Magic Drum Orchestra - Original Nutter (DJ Madd Remix)

Wheel Up - Sun Up

Mr Scruff - Sweetsmoke

DJ Spoony - Gabrielle

Goldie - Inner City Life (Baby Boy Mix)

Her Space Holiday - Keystroke

Deadly Avenger - In Search of the Pimpmobile

Jorja Smith - Rose Rouge

Sault - Strong

Shirley Scott - Keep On Movin’ On

Petter Eldh and Koma Saxo - Koma Mate

Ajate - Sowah

Roland Hayes - Africa the Beautiful

Morton and the Uptights - Montego

Paradise Cinema - Possible Futures

Gorillaz - Désolé feat Fatoumata Diawara

Ezra Collective, JME and Swindle - Quest for Coin II

Hey! Hope you are enjoying this bank holiday weekend (if you are in the UK) which, if you aren’t from the UK is a strange holiday every so often where you get a Monday off work, unless of course you are freelance, or a parent, or work in hospitality.

If that is case, it isn’t so much of a day off, just an inconvenience and a reason to be annoyed by all the people who do get the day off. Tyically in the UK, it meant you had three nights to get fucking wasted, with the Monday to recover or face your demons. Blur did a song called Bank Holiday, which sums it up.

I’ve randomly picked a show from September 22 for this weeks archive show, starting with pretty mellow vibes from Annabel Lee and Nils Frahm. I think I used to give my Soho Radio shows a little more seriousness, and would typically start with some mellow, left field stuff, a nod to my friend from Fat Cat Records, Alex, who did the same and I always liked that start.

I would normally take a little longer to build some pace, and possibly digging a little deeper that I do normally. I’m not sure that last statement is true, but I kind of assumed the audience could handle less music that they might have encountered before.

Whether I was right or not, I never found out.

Listening back to this show, I think I may have been a little too challenging and not rewarding enough. But again, maybe thats bullshit. Maybe the audience likes the journeys into the unknown? I mean, listening back, this is a lot of music I probably hadn’t heard before, or have listened to since, guessing that it dropped into my inbox as digital promos’ as oppposed to on vinyl.

Vinyl still gets a play, gets an association with the cover art and all the usual cues one mentions when talking about vinyl, but there is a lot here I don’t have a connecting with, so it must have been digital. But saying that, building a flow with music you haven’t heard before is a fairly unique skill, so I’m pleased with how this show is moving along, especially into this track by Soyuz, a great soundtrack to a beautiful sunny day, like it is today in Brighton.

So, I hope the sun is shining on you wherever you are in the world, and that life is smiling on you.

Feel free to share my shows, new and old, with anyone you might think will dig them

See you soon.

Love Cx

Tracklist:

Annabel Lee - My Homeland

Nils Frahm - Lemon Day

Clarice Jensen - Sadness

Rival Consoles - Echoes

Linda Frederickson - Clea

Dorian Concept - Let It All Go

UNKLE - The Way Back Home (Ronin/Original)

Zero DB - Sunshine Lazy (Raphael Sebbag Remix)

Kyle Lovett - Secret Place

Hatis Noit - Thor

Matthias Lindermayr & Masako Ohta - Trudelutt

Soyuz & Kate NV - I Knew It

Sven Wunder - Sun Kissed

Sly5thAve - Watching Me

Sharky - Sad Songs

Karoline - Ready for Juju

Crafty 893 - Easy Nuh

Beth Orton - Friday Night

WheelUp and Kaidi Taitham - More Love (feat Brint Story)

Carl Stone - Coraloense

Rival Consoles - Now Is

Nils Frahm - Briefly

Here is a new live show for you, I do apologise for the lack of regular live shows recently. Life really does serve up some curveballs sometimes and its been either untimely or just impossible to get some space behind the decks and organise my thoughts into a show. In the meantime, I hope you’ve been enjoying the archive shows.

However, I did carve some space this week, and this show will be broadcast on Totally Wired Radio at 2pm this Saturday, right up against Jamz Supernova and Gilles Peterson, so I guess I’m aiming at the listen again crew. Shout out to you guys listening again, love ya x

I’ve been sat surrounded my music making equipment in my studio, but recently I’ve been mostly working for clients, mixing their tracks, which I love BTW, helping other realise the music in their heads is what drives me forward and is so rewarding, but I do occasionallly like to indulge myself in some of my own self initiated creativity. Its almost impossible at the moment to find the space to do so, so I thought I’d start this show with a piece of my own, to remind me (and maybe you) that I do create music myself. Its a track called Exhale, and I hope it acts as a sort of auditory ‘amuse bouche’ before we head off on musical adventures.

I kick off with some new music, my inbox has been lsowly filling up with new music, so I thought it mught be nice to get into some of that, Alina and Tulsi getting a remix of their latest work, then the Heliocentrics and Marshall Allen bringing some heat with Nuclear War.

I feel confident to get into places that are maybe outside where many dj’s go, and I sometimes wonder what all this music means. I’ve done a bit of DJing out and about, at sea level and above 3000m, and I can’t quite balance all this different music I am into, but I think I’m getting there, knowing when to lean into the fringes and when to go all in on some bangers. The set I did for Chip Wickhams warm up that I put out a few weeks ago felt like a good example of that.

So we go some places, Ganavya, Anoushka (whom I love) Dorothy Ashby and into some DJ Khalab, both new and old sitting together nicely.

I upped the energy with some D’n’B and then a couple of stompers, which I’ll be taking in my bag for any gigs this summer, but then I fancied heading to the fringes again, new music from Sault, Mr Bongos incoming Record Club Vol 8 and Momoko Gill.

I”ve been thinking about doing a Nick Drake and related music show for a while, I’m still not sure if I”m going to do it, but I wanted to play a few bits from vinyl I”ve bought over the last few months, so there is a track by his mother, Molly, some of his own rare home recordings and a version of a Burt Jansch track. Black Eyed Dog is a powerfully sad track that appeared toward the end of his recording career and, in retrospect, could be seen as a sign he was struggling. Then I found a version of that by Self Esteem, whom I just listened to on the Adam Buxton podcast and really rate. Before a version of Pink Moon and then Andy Beys’ seminal version of Riverman, which I might like even more than the orginal.

I’ve been listening to a lot of artists work recently as I’m actively looking for more artists to mix tracks for, and came across this song by Simone Tang which stopped me in my tracks. Its an unusual album which is a little eccentric and sweet and this track does it for me, hoping you dig it too…

Finishing with a little Fairport Convention with their version of Chelsea Morning, which I hadn’t heard before, always going for the Joni or Jennifer versions, so it was a nice suprise to find this in a box set of Nick Drake adjacent (Joe Boyd worked with them too) music I picked up at King Bee in Manchester and couple of months ago.

Making these shows is a lifeline for me at the moment and I hope you enjoy listening to them as much as I do sharing this music with you. Feel free to send to friends.

See you soon

Cx

Tracklist:

Chris Cracknell - Exhale

Alina Bzhezhinska and Tulsi - Journey Home (Cosmic Analog Ensemble)

The Heliocenrics and Marshall Allen - Nuclear War

Ganavya and Jahnavi Harrison - The Bee

Anoushka Shankar - In This Mouth

Dorothy Ashby - For Some We Loved

Khalab and Baba - Nana

Khalab and Baba - Denifurula

DJ Khalab - Yaka Muziek

KH - Looking At Your Pager (Clipz Remix)

Suburban Architecture - Focus

Swell Sessions vs Seiji - Prepared To Go feat Ernesto

Dizzy K - I’ll Never Love Again (M.A Dizzy Mix)

Sault - Good Things Will Come After The Pressure

The Sylvers - Wish I Could Talk To You Baby (Kenny Dope Remix)

Momoko Gill - Ineffably (BBC Maida Vale Session)

Jo Mango - The Windowpane

Molly Drake - Poor Mum

Nick Drake - Way To Blue

Nick Drake - Strolling Down The Highway

Molly Drake - Do You Remember?

Nick Drake - Black Eyed Dog

Craig Armstrong and Self Esteem - Black eyed Dog

Aurora - Pink Moon

Andy Bey - Riverman

The Incredible String Band - Little Girl

Simone Tang - Hey Little Love

Fairport Convention - Chelsea Morning

Happy Sunday (or whatever day you are on when you receive this) but for me its a Sunday. I’ve got a few jobs to do and I’m gonna cook a roast, it’s that sort of day. And this show has started very much in that vein with a track from Nils Frahm then into his old label mate, Ben Lucas Boysen. This start is very much in the tradition of how I used to start shows, easing slowly in, a reset if you will, before heading into musical adventures to who knows where.

Quite the ethereal start, traversing many worlds, which I hope gave your brain a place to unwind, then into some Dee C Lee and Tara Lily and heading towards the mighty Ezra Collective and The Ballistic Brothers, tunes I’m gonna make a note of for any summer dancefloor action I might be in charge of…

Its quite funny hearing Amanda Whiting’s ‘Nomad’ a tune (and album) I produced. I haven’t revisited this for a while for various reasons, but it still sounds epic and I’m very much not getting that thing that producers get a few years after working on something where you can kinda hear where you were and how far you’ve come since. So, either I did a good job, or I haven’t progressed, lets hope its the former.

Whats quite mad about this show is how quickly digital promos come in and out of my conciousness. I’m listening back to this hearing music I can’t remember every hearing, but give me the vinyl and it sticks in my brain. So, it feels like some of this stuff is new, even though it’s now a few years old.

Heading into Hip Hop world, coincidentally playing the A Side to the Q Tip track in last weeks archive show, Breathe and Stop, then heading homewards with some feel good funk, which I normally don’t go near because of Craig Charles, but every now and again, some slips out.

I enjoyed hearing this show again, so hopefully you’ll like it. I’ll have some new music and a new show for you next week, keep it locked xxx

Tracklist:

Nils Frahm - ?

Ben Lucas Boysen - Dance

Kiasmos - Told

Shards - Facta est Deserta

Jon Hopkins - Falling into Place

Amirtha Kidambi and Elder Ones - The Great Lie

Nick Marks - Dedication

Dee C Lee - Every Day Summer

Tara Lily - No Way Out

Ezra Collective - Life Goes On feat Sampa the Great

Sly5thAve - Liberation

The Ballistic Brothers - Come On

Basil ‘Mennenberg’ Coetzee and Lionel Pillay - Plum

Amanda Whiting - Nomad

Goran Kajfes Tropiques - Unity in Diversity

Chip Wickham - La Sombra

Janek Van Laak - Here to Stay

Ill Brothers - Funkneck

Gang Starr - Check The Technique

Tye Tribbett and GA - No Way

Q Tip - Breathe and Stop

? - La Da Da

The O’Jays - For The Love of Money

James Last - Here Comes The Sun

? - Oh Happy Day

The 5th Dimension - Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In

No new live show from me this week. Many apologies, I was away DJing at over 3000m in Austria last week, plus some heavy life stuff didn’t leave any room for a new one. So we are taking a trip back to feb 2017, remember when life seemed a little easier all those years ago?

But a random pick seems pretty relevant, The Prodigy open this show, and they have been on a UK tour this week, doing Prodigy business and looking and sounding incredible. Jack White also seems to be everywhere, so moving into one of his side projects seems apt, this is The Dead Weather.

When I worked at HMV back in the day, I used tro rinse this track by Bomb The Bass, there is a heavier remix of it I must play soon, someone remind me yeah?

Q-Tip sounding good on a solo track and I have no recollection of ever doing this Eric B and Skee Lo mash up, I obviously didn’t like it and haven’t done it since. I must have felt bad for such a train wreck, so I‘ve played the full version of I Wish, a banger for sure.

I actually played this track by Her Space Holiday at over 3000m last week, and this is such a tune, a classic from a snowboard movie.

Another timely play for cLOUDDEAD as this track is remixed by the Boards of Canada who also have some new music incoming. Exciting.

I know I’ve said it before, but I’m totally besotted with Melanie De Biasio and her music. When I ordered her last record direct, a few days after it arrived I received a handwritten postcard from her, saying thanks for all the support over the years, which is one of my treasured possessions. This track No Deal, is fucking incredible.

Following that is another incredible track from an incredible album, Matador. Detroit by Gaz Coombes, whom I’m also besotted by. I’ve seen him play at Glastonbury and been in tears, I’ve seen him play about 2 feet away from me in Brighton, he’s so good, either on his own, with a full band or with the ‘Grass. This tune is heavyweight and he didn’t shy away from a chugging outro which I love.

Heidi Vogels track is turned into a stomper by The Cinematic Orchestra, and I played this at Alphabet whilst warming the crowd up for Chip Wickham a fortnight ago. Its funny that it has popped up here too.. Either I play a lot of the same music, or I knew what I was doing then and bought fucking good records.

I’ve also just introduced my daughter to this track from Courtney Barnett and this is one for the car. I’ve screamed along to this countless times and I really recommmend her album ‘Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit’ it still hits hard.

Another incredible album is ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’ by Radiohead. Not as lauded as Kid A or OK Computer, but I think its another masterpiece, this track really lights me up.

Then we head weird and a bit phsycadelic with Vibration Black Finger, Silver Apples and touching back down with Sarathy Korwar, whom you can go into my archive and listen to a full interview with him.

Closing out the show with a remix of Kelly Watch The Stars by Air, into David Axelrods ‘Holy Thursday’ which, in my mind, leaves you a good spot.

I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did, I’ve got a few tracks I had forgotten about to revisit. x

Tracklist:

The Prodigy, Manfred Mann and Public Enemy - Shut ‘Em Up (feat Jaguar Skills)

The Dead Weather - Act Like a Buffalo

Bomb The Badd - Bug Powder Dust

Q-Tip - Vivrant Thing

Eric B and Rakim/Coldcut/Skee Lo - Paid in Full mash up

Skee Lo - I Wish

Her Space Holiday - Key Stroke

Zero 7 - Light Blue Movers

Matthew Halsall - Sailing Out To Sea

cLOUDDEAD - Dead Dogs Two (Boards of Canada Remix)

Olafur Arnalds and Nanna - Particles

Riven - Infinity’s Edge

Nils Frahm - La (Sebastien Freij Rework)

Melanie De Biasio - No Deal

Gaz Coombes - Detroit

Heidi Vogel - Turn Up The Quiet (Cinematic Orchestra Remix)

Little Miss Sunshine OST - First Push

Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian At Best

Radiohead - Decks Dark

Vibration. Black FInger - Black Pearl

Silver Apples - Misty Mountain

Sarathy Korwar - Eyes Closed

John Swing - Touch

Strange Cargo - Montok Point

Air - Kelly Watch The Stars (Moog Cookbook Remix)

David Axelrod - Holy Thursday

You may have seen, the other day, I posted the view from the DJ booth as I warmed up for Chip Wickhams’ gig at Alphabet in Brighton.

It was a great honour to play the warm up slot, I’ve had a few outings behind the turntables recently and I’m enjoying playing to people. As much as I love my radio show, getting some instant feedback from the dancefloor is really fun, plus the jeopardy of it, really lights me up.

The previous night in Manchester, Andy Votel, a name that appears on many records I’ve owned for years, was on warm up duties, with Graham Massey from 808 State and Badly Drawn Boy in attendance, and I knew some of the Brighton luminaries would be out in force, so I worked hard to play a set that not only represented where I am, but also what Chip is about.

Having worked with him on his last album, we’ve talked alot about music, so I felt like I was armed with the knowledge, and as a result, I felt I did his blistering live show a good service, getting the crowd nice and loose for what was to come.

Alphabet themselves were lovely, they put me all over the socials for it and the main room was packed out an hour before Chip was on, so that too was a good start…

Here is what I played, imagine a very warm club, anticipation in the air and maybe a few beers deep and this is what you’d have been listening to, finishing with Rae and Christians ‘Spellbound’ (you can go back into my archive and listen to Mark Rae talk about this track) which although Chip didn’t play on the recording, tells a lovely tale of playing it at Rae and Christians big reunion gig and getting a proper moment when he plays the flute intro. Fantastic. Enjoy. x

Hey, I hope you are well. Happy Record Store Day! Well, its actually tomorrow (18th April) but this will be broadcast on the actual day on Totally Wired Radio, so we may as well celebrate. For me, any day can be Record Store Day, and I”ve been digging in crates a fair bit of late, so todays show, although doffing a cap to RSD, is mostly about some of the dusty old records I’ve been picking up.

I love record shops, the allure of finding the best song you’ve ever heard and that maybe no-one else knows about is very much what drives me, so heading to the more obscure shops is where you’ll find me.

The best two shops ever, were Disque on Chapel Street Market in Islington, and If Music in Soho. Sadly Disque closed it’s doors many years ago, but If Music survives online after a greedy landlord fucked them over during lockdown. I miss those places so badly. I used to arrange my work to be in London on a Friday morning, so I could then skive off and spend hours with Jean Claude on a Friday afternoon, coming out a few hundred pounds lighter in my pocket, but a few pounds heavier in my record bag.

I saw a video recently of a guy talking about online record shopping, and I guess this might be a generational thing, but I like digging through crates, not scrolling on a screen. The connection and excitement isn’t there, and I also know where most of my records come from, what the day was like, what else I bought at the same time, all that esoteric stuff that I do beleive makes you a better DJ as a result.

Of course, these are the ramblings of a 50 something vinyl addict, and I appreciate the world is changing. I love Bandcamp and what it does, but lets support our record shops throughout the year, not just on this one day. This one day doesn’t really represent what a record shop does day in and day out, which is to help you discover your new favourite music. Amen.

So, here is this shows tracklist:

Miles Mosley - No Love Lost

Naveed - Day Come Through

Jhelisa - Oxygen

Jhelisa - Friendly Pressure (Amalgamation of Soundz Remix)

Suburban Architecture - Purpose EP

Moses Yoofee Trio -. Nothing to Lose feat Mulay

Swell Session, Mr Scruff and Elsa Esmerelda - No No

Lionrock - Fire Up The Shoesaw (Discotheque Remix)

Combustible Edison - Bluebeard (Space Patrol 2000 Mix)

Hector Live - Mi Gente

Fania All Stars - Estrellas De Fania

Ricardo Eddy Martinez - La 132

Rembert Egues - Tema Para Un Amanecer

Juan Pablo Torres y Algo Nuevo - Rompe Cocorioco

Arp Frique and The Perpetual Singers - Alpha and Omega

Play It Like Francis - L’Aventure Crest la venture (remix Alex Revox Jr)

Beck - Venom Confection (E-Pro Remix)

Treva Whateva - Singalong

Young MC - Bust a Move

Only Child - Rain feat Buffy Brox

Niko - Sound Off

The Belle Stars - The Clapping Song

Money Mark - Maybe I’m Dead (Dust Brothers Remix)

The Dirty Beatniks - Getting’ Stupid

Wotcha, sorry (not sorry) for taking a couple of weeks off the radio shows, I’ve been in the French Alps iving a former life, then a family holiday, both of which were very life affirming, and now I’m back to the studio and full of verve ready to work on clients music and share some music with you.

I’ve had quite a few people jump on board since we last spoke, so I’d like to say hi and welcome, as well a brief outline of what you are in for.

Every couple of weeks I make a new radio show for Totally Wired Radio, which I usually post here a day before for you lucky listeners. Then in between I post an archive show, randomly picking something from my 10 plus years of broadcasting. Sometimes the universe chooses something that seems strangely relevant, other times, its so random but throws up some songs or mixes I had completely forgotten about.

Either way, I hope you find something you can get into and becomes some of your favourite music.

This show starts with a Record Store Day release from Gorillaz (new album is fucking great btw) featuring James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and Andre 3000 and is pretty epic, and one of my favourite things ever. Maybe don’t listen with kids around though…

I’ve loved Beth Orton since she appeared on early Chemical Brothers records, so it was nice to hear this again. Heroes of Limbo are a Worthing based outfit, helmed by a mate of mine, Glen. I haven’t seen him for ages so nice to hear this too.

It feels like I was trying to find a groove, jumping around a little, to find a common thread, which sometimes comes easier than other times, I can almost hear myself digging around to find that thread, I’m sure it’ll arrive soon.

If in doubt, go latin, which is what I’ve done here, there is the thread…

There is a solid selection of latin grooves, perfect for a spring day like we’ve had today. See? Sometimes it just fits…

Heading out of latin and into some other grooves, courtesy of Marc Mac (4Hero) who is the man, then into some low key bangers to take us home. Hope ya dig! x

Gorillaz, James Murphy, Adre 3000 - Do Ya Thing!

Beth Orton - Forever Young

Crafty 893 - XxXxXxX

Heroes of Limbo - T.R.O.Y

? - ?

Somaji - Isamichan (feat Stance)

Papo Vasquez - The Last Dynasty

Bobby Matos - Philadelphia

Inner Sense - Bahiana/Batucada

Afro Cuban Jazz Project - Baila mi Conga Vacilala

Joyce - Feijao Com Arroz

Miguel De Deus - Black Soul Brothers

Antoniio Adolfo and A Brazuca - Voo Da Apolo

? - ?

Victor Vera - Pressure (Daniel Sbert Remix)

Marc Mac - Kingston Hot

Floating Points - Grammar

KH - Looking at your Pager

Gold Panda - Metal Bird

Moses Boyd Exodus - After Tomorrow

Sault - Air

Hello, how are you doing? I’m putting this one out a little earlier than usual. I’m gonna be away for the next week or two and I didn’t want to leave you bereft, so here is another dip into my archive, this time going back to 2016, which would have been one of my earlier radio shows.

Its funny looking back to see how I was finding my groove at the time and these were recorded live, so I was definitely winging it, pulling tunes out from wherever. I wonder what my thought process was like at the time. I think my voice also sounds a little less haggered than it does now, I guess I may have had less worries at the time.

I open up with Adam F and into Bonobo, his album was incoming and is one of his finest, I should revisit that at some point. Both artists are Brighton locals, or at least were, so an accidental link there.

If you haven’t seen Victoria, which this Nils Frahm track is from, it’s a tale of a girl that goes on a night out and ends up involved with some gangsters. Its shot in a single take and is quite remarkable, as well as Nils Frahm creating the soundtrack, which obvioulsy makes it special.

I weave from Blur and their album The Magic Whip to DJ Shadow, I winder what I was thinking, but it kinds works and that Shadow track is mental… I sometimes wonder if anyone can actually listen to my show, especially The Cavern of Any Matter, bought as one of Resident Musics albums of the year, this might be the only time I’ve played it…

I’ve been working a bit with an artist who lives in Iceland (regular listeners will know her as Ea Akilat) and I think I’d like it there, thats also where this track by Olafur Arnalds was recorded. I like it.

The track by Robert Pete Williams os from an album of songs recorded at Angola Prison, which is delightful but also deeply sad. Inmates singing songs that keep them sane. I also give a shout out to my mate Pete Williams, who I incendenatlly saw this week.

Moses Boyd is fucking brilliant.

I’ve talked about Adriano Celentano recently and I did a post about Applewood Road as well, whichis brilliant.

We should talk about Mark Fry. I first heard of him when I went to spend a day with Nick Franglen of Lemon Jelly. He was working on his new album, but told me that the record ‘Dreaming With Alice’ (which had a part to play in naming my daughter Alice) was one fo the rarest, most expensive records you can find. Nick built a band to recreate this album in part for a show in London which I was stoked to be at, and, when, the album got reissued, I grabbed two copies, one for me and one for Nick. Annoyingly, my copy has vanished, I really should get another copy because this track, Mandolin Man is wild and brilliant.

I guess if this show has a theme, is ‘Out There’ because there is some pretty wigged out tracks here. This LUke Vibert track shares a DNA with Mark Fry, in the sense they both end somewhere different to where they start.

I need to listen to more Romare, his records are great, but I keep forgetting. Like a modern DJ Shadow, he is all over samples but not in the more traditional sense, he builds bangers and modern sounding records. I love it.

I can’t find any reference to the Daft Punk/Robin Scott mash up, which is a shame, but then straight into Bomb The Bass from the album Enter The Dragon, which is awesome. Then into Tuff Crew, track which appeared on Rae and Christians Blazing the Crop mix album, then got a 7” reissue on Mr Bongo as part of their hip hop 7 series. Total banger.

I was definitely a bit looser back then, happy to smash some tunes together. I think that has something to do with the show being live and the jeopardy element. Most of my shows post covid have been made in my studio where I can (but don’t often) stop and start, which is good too, but the live thing definitely drives me in a different way.

Its always nice to leave show on a positive, and this track by Kamasi had me in tears at Glastonbury the same year. Patrices’ vocal is sublime and when she was singing ‘I’m Here’ I couldn’t hold back. OK, it was Sunday afternoon and it might have also had something to do with three days of raving beforehand and I might have felt a little vulnerable by that point, but that show was something else, a real highlight and nice to sit here and relive it whilst I type.

I did manage to tell Kamasi and Patrice about that when I met them on Brighton beach (of all places) and they were lovely and invited me to hang out with them, another treasured memory. Their keys player Brandon did suggest I sack everything off and go on tour with them which seemed like a marvellous idea, but, thats another story…

x

Adam F - Circles (Nixon vs Toby One remix)

Bonobo - Kerala

Nils Frahm and DJ Koze - Victoria

Blur - My Terracotta Heart

DJ Shadow - Ashes to Oceans (feat Matthew Halsall)

Cavern of Anti Matter - Planetary Folklore

Olafur Arnaulds and South Iceland Chamber Choir (Raddir)

Robert Pete Williams - I’m Goin’ BAck with Him When He Comes

Moses Boyd - Drum Dance

Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinensinainciusol

Applewood Road - Honey Won’t You?

Mark Fry - Mandolin Man

Friar Tuck - Louis Louis

49th Blue Streak - Foxy Lady

Luke Vibert - Doozit

Romare - Je T’aime

Robin Scott/Daft Punk - Around the World/Pop Muzik

Bomb The Bass - Beat Dis

Tuff Crew - My Part of Town

William Orbit - Montok Point

Royksopp - Eple (Boris and Michi’s eplistic skratch attack)

The Kiki Dee Band - I’ve Got the Music In Me

Kamasi Washington - The Rhythm Changes

Well, hello. Its been a busy week and spring gave us a little glimpse behind the curtain which I think has lifted everyones spirits a little. I went to Manchester for a day to catch up with good friends (and buy some records obvs) and it was even sunny up there! It felt good to get out of the daily run of things and go see friends, I highly recommend it and something I don’t do enough of.

Thursday evening I had a pair of tickets to a screening of the new Gorillaz mini doc and animation, ahead of the release of their new record ‘The Mountain’. I found the doc incredibly insightful and has made me want to go to India and the animation is funny and moving in equal parts. Its online now so you can check it out here:

Back to this archive show, picked entirely at random, opening as I often did, with a track from Four Tets 2017 album, Two Thousand and Seventeen. I follow that with a track by Derek Dripper, which entirely blows my mind, and hopefully yours too.

Funnily enough, whilst in Manchester, I picked up an album by Barney Wilen and I couldn’t remember the name of the records I had from him, so for this to pop up randomly is quite weird, its glorious though. Zara McFarlanes’ album from that time is an awesome work, and Fisherman is as beautiful as it comes, I don’t listen to this enough, as I don’t listen to Sister Rosie by Abdullah Ibrahim enough, it’s literally the happiest song I think I own.

I played a bit of funk, which is quite unusual for me to do these days, but trying to avoid the Owen Cutts easy finds and heading deeper, which is quite satisfying before heading another direction with the Malcolm Catto produced The Spellbinder Project and into the, frankly, mesmerizing remix of Melanie De Biasios’ ‘The Flow’ by Hex. I’ve had to stop typing to listen this and its blasting out of my studio.

Four Tet’s Lion with Jamie XX on the remix still rumbles like something from Middle Earth, with DJ Shadow’s Pitter Patter erupting out of it like somethign possesed. Plenty of bassline to trouble your neightbours with. I was also talking about Death In Vegas this week, so the unverse is finally tuning in to my thoughts, about fucking time and beware!

Rising like a pheonix from Dirge is David Holmes’ ‘69 Police’ which offers the light to the previous dark and nicely ends that section, allowing me to head to the fringes with the Free Design and ‘Where Do I Go’ and its almost like I’m asking myself that question to see how I get into the next section of the show.

If you don’t know The Free Design, they are wonderful and better still are the couple of remix albums which I dig into next, these keep on giving depending how you are feeling. I get into a retro groove for a little while, which always feels good, but I think I need to deepen my bag here, I’ve played these tracks a few times, you’ll know them by now…

The Schubert remix is from an album that Mr Scruff did a remix for, sadly its a little too Clean Bandit for my liking, but when I did these showws I had to turn up with a bag of records and play pretty everything during a three hour show, so it made it.

There is a couple of tracks I couldn’t ID, one of which I think is a Daniel Avery remix, but we head towward Rival Consoles and Slow Song and getting toward the end of the show. One thing I used to do, depending on who was following me that day, was to play massive bangers so whoever was following me would have zero energy to start with, I thought it was funny but maybe I was a bit of a dick. This wasn’t one of those shows though, winding down the energy to leave my listener feeling refreshed and placing them back on solid ground and ready to attack the day.

Nothing does this better than Nils Frahm followed by Kiasmos and with that we are done.

Hope you enjoy this one. Peace x

Tracklisting

Four Tet - Two Thousand and Seventeen

Derek Gripper - Konkobaa (Earth)

Okay Temiz and Johnny Dyani - The Night (Gece)

Barney Wilen - Zombizar

Nilamayé - Les Negritos

Zara McFarlane - Fisherman

The Dixie Cups - Iko Iko

Abdullah Ibrahim - Sister Rosie

Rasputins Stash - Whats On Your Mind?

Groove Holmes - No Trouble on the Mountain

Bernie Worrell - Woo Together

Ernie K-Doe - Here Come The Girls

Gloria Ann Taylor - Love is a Hurtin’ Thing

Mike James Kirkland - Hang on in There

The Lyman Woodard Organization - Saturday Night Special

The Spellbinder Project - Dark is the Light

Don Sebesky - Guru Vin

Scorpios - Saparna

Melanie De Biasio - The Flow (Hex Remix)

Four Tet - Lion (Jamie XX Remix)

DJ Shadow - Pitter Patter (feat G.Jones and Bleep Bloop)

Death in Vegas - Dirge

The Free Design - Where Do I Go

The Free Design - Kites are Fun

The Free Design - Kites are Fun (Mellow Remix)

Super Furry Animals - The Proper Ornaments

Chris Geddes and Hush Puppies - 2002 A Song

Belle and Sebastian - Legal Man

Jean Jaques Perry - E.V.A

Brigitt - Da Beisst Ein Goldfisch An

Susan Cadogan - Fever

Jennifer - Chelsea Morning

Visioneers - The World is Yours

Schubert - Schwanengesang (Kate Simko Remix)

Rival Consoles - Slow Song

Nils Frahm - You (Bug Lover Rework)

Kiasmos - Looped

Well, that first show playing only 7”s was so fun and random, bringing back so many memories from my childhood, that I had to go again. Sure, I had rinsed the 80’s dry, but I have plenty more randomness and oddments lined up.

For as much as I absolutely love Lemon Jelly, having worked with Nick Franglen and catch up with Fred Deakin every so often, I hardly ever play their tunes. So to remedy that, I kick off with a few cuts from various 7’s (all with beautiful artwork no less)

Its fun finding things I’ve forgotten, as it's an area of my collection I don’t often dwell in, so that Beastie Boys track I don’t think I’ve ever heard before. It's the B Side to Intergalactic, so why would you ever get to it? The Method Man/Redman/Stevie Wonder mash up is clearly a bootleg, and the Heroes of Limbo is bordering on Craig Charles territory, so a swift turn into Andre 3000’s All Together Now, which is totally bonkers and all the better for it.

The next section seems to hang together well, James Last, The 5th Dimension leading us to Adriano Celentano, whose lyrics are utter gibberish, and glorious for it and it has a great video which is worth 3.40 of your life (and I”m pretty sure the band OK GO must have studied this)

Belle and Sebastien are here with Legal Man, a ridiculously uplifting track, into Jim Noirs' tale of playing football in his back garden and having a grumpy neighbour, the story of every childhood.

That brings us to Honor Blackman and Patrick MacNee.

If you owned a copy of Kinky Boots, would you not play it all the time? Well, it was a charity shop find and I don’t think I’ve ever played it, so I’m remedying that right now.

The last half an hour or so, is such a wild ride through different things, its hard to really talk about the why? I mean, the majestic Hannah from London Grammar and her acapella of ‘Rooting for You’ is stunning, Blacklands is a rare charity shop find, most of which ended up in a skip, but I found a copy having never heard of it, and it is the most beautiful thing. Jon Pertwee and the kids nursury ryhme/nightmare material ‘I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly’ makes an appearance, followed for the first time ever in the world, MC5 and ‘Kick Out The Jams’

I’ve not listened to Lenny Kravitz in over 30 years, but when he was relatively unknown I listened to him quite a lot, courtesy of my brother. Mr Cab Driver still drips with cool, despite Lenny himself not dripping in cool anymore, there was a funny clip of his daughter roasting him about never wearing a shirt, classic.

I hope you enjoy this show, I’ve potentially got one more 7’s show in the bank, then onto the 10’s, then back to normal business, my stack of new music is getting unwealdy…

See you then x

Tracklist

Lemon Jelly - Soft

Lemon Jelly - Only Want To Make Things Right

Lemon Jelly - A Personal Message from our Chairman

Lemon Jelly - The Shouty Track

The Go Team - Ladyflash

Beastie Boys - Peanut Butter and Jelly

Eric B and Rakim - Paid In Full (Coldcut Remix)

Redman/Method Man vs Stevie Wonder - How Superstitious

Heroes of Limbo - Madchester Woman

Andre 3000 - All Together Now

The New Freedom Singers - He’s Got The Whole World In HIs Hands

James Last - Everyday People

The 5th Dimension - Medley/Aquarius-Let The Sun Shine In

Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinansinainclusol

Ruth Price - Shadrach

Johnny Jones and The King Casuals - Purple Haze

Techniques All Stars - Stalag 13

Rasputins Stash - What’s on your Mind?

Belle and Sebastian - Legal Man

Jim Noir - Eanie Meanie

Honor Blackman and Patrick MacNee - Kinky Boots

Allen Toussaint - Working in the Coalmine

Jennifer - Chelsea Morning

Dwight Tribble - What The World Needs Now

Erykah Badu and James Poyser - Tempted

Blacklands - The Wytchwood

London Grammar - Rooting For You (Acapella)

Nils Frahm and Olafur Arnalds - Life Story

Air - Playground Love

Jon Pertwee - I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

MC5 - Kick Out The Jams

Lenny Kravitz - Mr Cab Driver

ZZ Top - Give Me All Your Lovin’

Diana Ross - Love Hangover

Gloria Ann Taylor - Love is a Hurtin’ Thing

Young Holt Unlimited - Yes We Can

Welcome to another dive into my archive going back to 2017, which I think, universally, is accepted as a corker of a year for music, and possibly also the year my spending on records broke all previous, ahem, records.

Its been a tough few weeks here, winter dragging its arse, rain literally every fucking day. However, it feels like Spring is starting to make its presence felt, I even went out for a few drinks this week, to a new ‘listening’ bar in Hove which is called On Air, and also functions as the home of 1BTN. So whilst thinking about the many hours I put in the bunker recording shows, I thought I’d pull out one of my early 1BTN shows, when it was still called 1 Brighton FM.

You’ll need to excuse my mic level for some of the show, there isn’t a way of monitoring your levels, so I’m a bit muffled in some links.

There are a few highlights on this show, it was obviously around the time Gorillaz had dropped the album Humanz, because I open with Saturnz Bars, which isn’t my favourite track off that album, but it does set their sound for the whole record.

The Monday Michiru is quite a ground breaking track, introducing a drum and bass sound to jazz before anyone was really doing that, worth the rice of admission alone.

We hit jazz full steam, with Wojtek Mazolewski into the Creative Arts Ensemble then an absolutely uplifting tune called Sister Rose by Abdullah Ibrahim. This tune could make the cloudiest sky blue, its just so damn happy and I definitely need to hear this tune more often, as do you.

Pastor TL Barrett has become a staple of 6Music in recent years, but really, this should be the preserve of those who have the vinyl. One of those tracks a tasteful dj’s drops at the end of a night and sends everyone home (or to the afterparty) on a wave of love.

I’ve never seen a pictire of Elza Soares, even though I’ve been playing. her music for years, but it turns out she looks uncannily like Tina Turner. This version of Mas Que Nada is one of many I own, maybe I’ll do a show just of thse one day.

I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of listening to Jimmy Smiths’ ‘Whose Afraid of Virginia Wolff Pt 2’ its just so infectious. Follow the drummer and how he builds it up and by the end he must resemble one of those guys at an airport waving down planes, but about ten all at the same time.

I also need Pickled Spider by Mr Scruff and Kirsty Almeida in my life more often. I also feature the first interview of The Current State of Music Podcast with Mr Scruff in this show, definitely a highlight for me, the first time I’d ever interviewed anyone and a door opened, which I have kicked all the way open since. The results of which you can hear if you go back to the archive on Substack. There is some gold medal motivation in there, and more soon hopefully.

As we head into the third hour, and I loved doing three hour shows, I think it shows the mark of a DJ/Selector to be able to swerve and change and highlight incredible music for that long, but for it still to make sense. Not many people can do that on their own.

The Applewood Road album is a stunning work, recorded live round a single mic, yet it sounds so good! The Goldberg track is another piece that takes you somewhere else in space and time. I wish I could go there.

The show finishes with quite a run of soul, fuck, disco and all the good stuff which should leave you feeling ready for spring and a sense of optimism, at least that what its done for me.

Music really is the answer to most questions. Enjoy x

Tracklist:

Gorillaz - Saturnz Bars

Monday Michiru - Yellow Bird (Incognito Capoeira Mix)

Wojteck Mazolewski - London

Creative Arts Ensemble - Uhuru

Abdullah Ibrahim - Sister Rose

Pastor TL Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir - Like a Ship

Marcos Valle - Democustico

Luiz Arruda Paes - Upa Negrinho

Elza Soares - Mas Que Nada

Jimmy Smith - Whose Afraid of Virginia Wolff Pt 2

The Tony Hatch Orchestra - Up, Up and Away

Amrals Trinidad Cavaliers - It Sure Is Funky

Anderson Paak - Celebrate

Dangermouse - Tob BIlling (Bootleg)

Skull Snaps - Its a New Day

Mr Scruff and Kirsty Almeida - Pickled Spider

Mr Scruff Interview

Rae and Christian - Bacalau

Bonobo - Flashlight

Ben Lucas Boysen - Golden Times 1

Elizabeth Cotton - Time to Stop Your Idling

Applewood Road - Home Fires feat Amber Rubarth and Amy Spence)

Goldberg - Never Come to Stay

The Mexican - Babe Ruth

The Doors - Soul Kitchen

The Eight Minutes - I Can’t Get No Higher

Diana Ross - Love Hangover

Banbarra - Shack Up

De La Soul - Say No Go

Seventh Wonder - Daisy Lady

The Reflex - Play That Funky Music

Grace Jones - Feel Up

William Orbit - Montok Point

I hit upon the idea to create a mix to celebrate the 25th Anniversay of Endtroducing, Shadows seminal debut album, to coincide with a special reissue of the record. Lets be clear, no-one, least of all Shadow himself, asked for this, but I’ve been a fan since seeing him spin tunes at the Blue Note in Hoxton all those years ago and I thought it could be interesting to see if I could bring anything to his canon of work.

After spending a long time going through all the various vinyl I have of his, ripping anything I didn’t have already, finding weird B sides and white labels until I knew I had everything I could possibly have amongst my collection.

In typical form, I had an idea of where I wanted to start, but no real plan after that, hoping the DJ gods and the 10,000 hours I’ve amassed behind the turntables, turn up and guide my way.

This is a mix I am genuinely proud of, it feels like culmination of everything I have learned about DJing, both technical and musical, trusting my instincts to tell his story. There are moments where, imagining its a mix I’m hearing on the radio, I have a smile on my face because I know something good has just happened.

I’m not generally one to consider anything I’ve done is good enough, so this is a nice rare moment for me, where I actually think I’ve created something that I am proud of and stands up against anything my heroes might have done.

Obviously, you might want to be a DJ Shadow fan to listen to this, or maybe you’ve never heard of DJ Shadow, in which case, I implore you to give this is a listen, he is an artist that doesn’t rest on his past successes and continually strives for new sounds amongst an ever changing landscape.

Enjoy

Tracklisting:

Midnight in a Perfect World

Midnight in a Perfect World (Hudson Mohawk Remix)

In/Flux

Suicide Pact

Swimming Upstream (Gab Demo)

The Mountain Will Fall

DDMFSOB (Unkle Uncensored feat Roots Manuva)

Just The Right Thing

High Noon

Mystical with Solo (Original Mix)

Slingblade

What Does Your Soul Look Like Pt4

Sad and Lonely

Blood on the Motorway

Atmospheric Disturbances (Original Mix)

Organ Donor (extended Overhaul)

Giving Up The Ghost

The Number Song

Drone Warfare (feat Nas and Pharoahe Monch)

Six Days (Soulwax Mix)

Bergshrund (feat Nils Frahm)

Systematic (feat Nas)

Six Days

My Lonely Room

Stem/Long Stem (Clams Casino Remix)

Right Thing (Z Trip Get The Party Off Mix in three parts)

Stem/Long Stem (Medley)

Building Steam with a Grain of Salt

Midnight in a Pefect World

Nobody Speak (feat Run The Jewels)

I enter the festive season with the best intentions, I’m gonna make a lot of beef stew, have mulled wine with friends everyday, wear a scarf and generally be as festive as fuck.

As with most people, I guess, those good intentions fall foul of real life and all its time sapping things… so I don’t do as much festive-ing as I’d like.

Nils Frahm used to do these beautiful Christmas mixes and Fred Deakin always drops a banging mix at this time, and I wish I had the prior planning abilities, or the headspace to be as regular as my heroes.

So, it seems, at best, I start this old show from 2017 with these intentions, dropping Frank Eddies’ version of East 17s’ Stay Another Day, and how glorious is it? However, as it was a show that went out on boxing day, and possibly live, I wasn’t so prepared as to carry on in that vein.

However, it is a round up of 2017 with some incredible music.

2017 was the year I think I spent the most of vinyl, and it was quite the year for music, so it seems at least I was in the right place at the right time with enough money to expand my record collection.

So this goes back to when I used to do regular three hour shows, which is quite some work, but I kinda liked digging in for that extra hour, it really gave me time to breathe and play a ranging show, I guess I could do it again, if I wanted to?

I did a round up of 2025 last week on my main show, which you can go back to check out, but I hope you enjoy this one, from 8 (jeez) years ago, which only feels like yesterday.

I hope you all had a good Christmas and wishing you a great start to 2026.

Love, as always.

Cx

Tracklist:

Frank Eddie - Stay Another Day

Ben Lucas Boysen - Good Times Vol 1

Radiohead - I Promise

Eabs - Waltzing Beyond

Giorgio Gaslini - V Movimento

Sly5thAve - Still D.R.E.

Rodney P - Untitled feat Lanre Sulola

London Grammar - Rooting For You (Accapella)

Floating Points - Kelso Dunes

Phil France. and Mr Scruff - Joy of Brass (Mr Scruff Remix)

Gorillaz - Strobelite (feat Peven Everett)

Quantic and Nidia Gongora - Ojos Vicheros

Fruko y Sus Tesos - Botando Corriente

Nebula - Silent Journeys

Nicola Cruz - Puente Roto (Quantic Remix)

Sampa The Great - Healing

Girma Beyene - Yebeqagnal

Nautilus - Root Down (feat Fleur Earth)

Wojtek Mazolweski Quintet - London

Moses Boyd - After Tomorrow

Rava String Band - Verde Que Eu te Quero Ver

Ruby Rushton - Where Are You Now? Pt2

Danger Mouse - Chase Me (feat Run the Jewels and Big Boi)

Jordan Rakei - Eye To Eye

Abtract Orchestra - Dilla Mix 2

Meeka Kates - Fault Line (Ambassadeurs remix)

Avalon Emerson - 2000 Species of Cacti

Four Tet - Planet

Four Tet - Two Thousand and Seventeen

Zara McFarlane - Allies or Enemies

Melanie De Biasio - Your Freedom is the End of Me

Melanie De Biasio - Gold Junkies

Kamasi Washington - Truth

I hope 2025 has been kind to you.

There has been lots of great music set against the increasing insanity of the world.

Personally, I’ve been working on a diverstiy of projects, I’m not sure my feet hit the ground that much, when they do it’s usually to fall into bed exhausted by the days, or at least thats how it feels.

One thing is for sure, I’ve bought, been sent and listened to a tonne of new music this year.

My shows are usually made up of about 50% new stuff and the rest (OK, 50%) is a wander into my vinyl collection, increasingly trying to find records I’ve forgotten, or only played the ‘big’ track from and digging a little deeper. Sometimes it’s inspired by whats happened between shows, and, if I wasn’t doing a round up, I’ve fallen back in love with Madonnas ‘Like a Prayer’ and found a copy on 12” (which is going to my daughter for Christmas, shhhh, don’t tell her)

I’ve found, after years of going about things, that unashamedly using real life to inspire selections, whether its a new record, a new to me record, something I’ve heard on the radio or blasting out of someones window, really satisfying. I hope you are getting to know me a little more through the show, and I’d be delighted if anything sparks your interest or reminds you of something else, or you have something you think I’ll dig, then please do get in touch.

If I had to recommend two records from 2025, I’d point you to Chip Wickhams’ ‘The Eternal Now’, on Gondwana Records, which, I was lucky enough to help bring into the world. It is Chips’ finest work to date and worth the two years spent making it.

The other record, which seems to have come about just at the right time for me, is William Tyler and Kieran Hebdens ‘41 Longfield Street Late 80’s’. A beautiful mix of acoustic guitar and electronics, chords and melodies which evoke Nick Drake (yep, I’m still in that groove) and its just a wondrous thing, and an odd thing, and I”m pleased that records like this are being pressed onto vinyl for the small amount of people who will fall head over heels with it, as I have.

I hope you enjoy this show and I wish you all a merry, peaceful Christmas, and I’ll be back with you in the New Year, looking forward to all it brings.

Peace

Cx

Tracklist:

Fred Again - Actual Life 2 Piano Live 20th March 2022

Burial - Untrue

William Tyler and Kieron Hebdon - Secret City

Sault - T.H.

Cedric “IM” Brooks and the Divine Light - Third World (Afro Beat)

John Tchicai and Strange Brothers - I en Kaeldaer

Sebastiano Tapages and Pedro Dos Santos - Despedida de Mangueira

Naire - Um Dia Azul De Abril

Nina Maia - Kao

Majken - Nearly There

Ea Akilat - Run IV (Midas 104 Remix)

Everything is Recorded - Goodbye (Hell of a Ride) feat Nourished By Time

Wet Leg - Mangetout

Nick Drake - Northern Sky

Litis Viljanen - El Retiro

Gomez - 78 Stone Wobble

Deanna Wiggs - Growing Pains

Chip Wickham - Nara Back feat Peach

Nukhet Ruacan - Golge

Quantc - Theme From Salva (remix)

Chip Wickham - No Turning Back

William Tyler and Kieran Hebden - If I Had a Boat

As is quite often the case, I’ll hear a track and won’t be able to get past it for a while. I’ll bore friends endlessly, I’ll play it on the radio insessantly, I’ll shoehorn it into live sets and it was definitely the case with a particular track by Anna Meredith.

Nautilus is an incredible piece of music, it almost so doesn’t work, but yet it does. It was pretty much the only piece of work I had listened to of Anna’s when I tracked her down ahead of her appearance at Brightons Mutations Festival and I’m afraid to admit this wasa. tough interview. Not because Anna wasn’t generous and lovely, she was and is, but I think I nearly pulled it because I hadn’t had a chance to prepare, and was possibly in the middle of some sort of famiy crisis.

But, you only live once, as Del Boy said, so I decided to jump in anyway and hopefully it isn’t too bad, and I was in the middle of obsessing over this one track.

I have since gone back and dug into her back catalogue and she has gone on to do many great things, so it didn’t ruin either of our careers.

So, this show was built around the interview and her work, giving me full range to lean into the corners of my world, inspired by her work.

Hope you enjoy it. x

Tracklist:

Matthew Halsall - Tropical Landcapes

Sarathy Korwar - Intimate Enemy feat Upaj Collective

Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids - An Angel Fell

Monday Michiru - Double Image

Dilemma - Aim Low

Natural Born Chillers - Rock the Funky Beats

187 Lockdown - Gunman (Drum and Bass Mix)

Dr Octogon - Blue Flowers

*Anna Meredith Interview *

DJ Shadow - Bergschrund

MOP - Ante Up

Nas and the Bravehearts - Oochie Wally

RJD2 - Ghostwriter

Marlena Shaw - California Soul

Desmond Chambers - Haly Gully

Moe Turk - Find My Way to U

So, my friend and colleague, Sinah, also known as Ea Akilat sent over the latest episode of her podcast and asked me if I wanted to include it in my show.

Of course I do! I love her taste in music and I am helping her with her own music, with, hopefully, some collaborations between us coming in 2026.

I played a little B2B set a a local record shop on Saturday and the theme was the best of the year, so the first hour is all vinyl tracks I’ve bought this year, most of which has been released this year. Nick Drake being the exception, but regular listeners know I am in a NIck Drake groove at the moment and I can’t see myself coming out of anytime soon.

Sinahs mix is all about Airwaves Festival and she has discovered some amazing stuff, so stay tuned for that. I don’t have a tracklist so get shazamming!

This is what I played:

William Tyler and Kieron Hebden - If I Had a Boat/Spider Ballad

Four Tet - And Then Patterns

Sault - HTTR

Everything is Recorded - Never Felt Better feat Sampha and Florence Welch

Fred Again - Actual Life Piano Live

Majken - Nearly There

Nick Drake - Northern Sky

Iiris Viljanen - You’ll Meet Him

Nils Frahm and FS Blumm - Leuchter 2

*Ea Akilat Guest Mix*

Ah man, I’m in a terrible rush today. Getting through a long list of jobs before I travel to France tomorrow for some work related things (and some fun hopefully) and I wanted to send out a show from the archives.

So I just listened to one of my early shows from 1BTN or 1 Brighton FM as it was known and, not to blow my own trumpet, the music is simply incredible!

I used to do my show live, and it was recorded off the broadcast feed, no-one really knew what they were doing, so the sound isn’t amazing, and I used to throw records in a bag and trundle off into Hove and see what happens. I’m pretty certain this show is 100% vinyl, although there may be a couple of tracks in there that never got a pressing, so maybe I had some digital stuff with me, but I’m quite astounded by the breadth of music I had taken along.

There is some stuff in there you’ll definitely know, like the opener Will Powers (which is a also a good psotove affirmation if you need it) Lemon Jelly, one of my all time favourites from Sebastien Tellier, even Van Halen and the Beach Boys!

But then there are some deeper cuts which I hope you love as much as me. I love Derek Gripper and his amazing guitar playing, Treva Whatevas’ Bouncing Bomb always brings a smile, and I think this is the first time I ever thoguht about mixing the Transglobal Underground into the Ewok Theme from Star Wars, a move I usually reserve for any show broadcast on May the 4th. I wonder what led me there?

So this ia three hour show with plenty of twists and turns, and I’m rather proud of myself from 2017 for being bold enough to go to all these places.

Most DJ’s have a style. or a genre and I’ve always hated that and, if I’m honest, its always worked against me as a DJ because its hard to know where to put me, I get that.

However, looking back as a proof of being someone who is deeply motivated by music and has a sizeable bag to delve into for inspiration and references when working with artists, I think I’m doing OK.

I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did relistening to it.

See you soon

Cx

Will Powers - Adventures in Success

Lemon Jelly - Soft

Sebastian Tellier - La Ritournelle

Tony Allen and Africa 70 - No Accommodation For Lagos

Cara Stacey - Theta Waves

Tinariwen - Afours Afours

Derek Gripper - Elyne Road

Finnegan and Finlan - Seasons of Doubt

Matt and Boog - Radio Sunday

Matt and Boog - Night and Day

Bonobo - Second Sun

Floating Points - Kelso Dunes

Van Halen - Ain’t Talking ‘Bout Love

Eden Ahbez - Full Moon

Nancy Wilson - Son of a Preacher Man

Donald Byrd - The Weasil

Blue Mitchell - Good Humour Man

Jimmy McGriff - Blue Juice

Gand Starr - Check The Technique

Marlena Shaw - California Soul

RJ D2 - Ghostwriter

Treva Whateva - Bouncing Bomb

Transglobal Underground - Temple Head

John Williams - Ewok Theme from Star Wars

Jon Hopkins - Open Eye Signal

Jamie XX - The Rest is Noise

Theo Parrish - Footwork

Surfjan Stevens - Chicago

Vitamin String Quartet - Get Lucky

Kings of Convenience - Failure

Jeb Loy Nicholls - Going Where The Lonely Go

Mary Wells - Satisfaction

Pastor TL Barrett and The Youth for Christ Choir - Joyful Noise

Killer Joe Piro - Hang on Sloopy

Lea DeLaria - People Are Strange

The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations

Wotcha, this is my latest show for Totally WIred and for you Substackers, man, its been a hectic couple of weeks and my brain has been not storing the inspiration it usually does, so when it came to putting this show together, I had to lean back on my vinyl collection and my musical instincts to slowly creep through this one.

Saying that though, Melanie Be Biasio looks like she has done a couple of gigs recently, sadly, for me, in her homeland of France, but that did remind me of her last album, which I love and you should too. In fact,, you should go listen to everything Melanie has done, she is incredible. She did send me a postcard for all the love and support I’ve shown her over the years, it’s a much treasured possesion.

I then played a bit more of that William and Kieran (Four Tet) record which is doing it for me, I like the acoustic guitar matched with electronica, its got my brain whirring…

So I can do a little self promotion, I played Nara Back by Chip Wickham, which I co produced. Its sounds so good on vinyl and the vocals are out of this world. My poor tired brain can’t handle the fact they were recorded right by where I am typing this, they sound otherworldy.

The new Sault record has been largely unlistened to by me, so a track had to be played.

Then a little journey into XL recordings Richard Russell’s Everything is Recorded, which is a stunning record with some heavy colabs, then into the Jamie XX/Gil Scott Heron colab from a few years back, again on XL.

Into a little mix (but not Little Mix) with an old Scruff remix, nicely into brand new Oliver Night feat Roots Manuva, into Cabin Dance and then Jazzanova. That led me to a tune from Gilles Petersons ‘INCredible Sound of’ album for the track by Incognito. I’m generally not a fan of Brit Funk or whatever its called, but this remix is top notch.

Briefly into some orchestral moves with Godtet and then London Symphony doing the Star Wars end theme, then a massive swerve into Crooked Mans remix of Jarvis Cockers ‘Cunts are stilll Running the World’ which seems as apt as ever.

Then a bunch of new bits (apart from Ezra Collective)to finish up and there we go, another two hours of music, which I hope will prick your ears, make your head nod, give you a little solace and make your world a little better.

Tracklist:

Melanie De Biasio - The Chaos Azure

William Tyler and Kieran Hebden - Loretta Guides My Hands Through The Radio/Secret City

Chip Wickham - Nara Black feat Peach

Sault - H.T.T.R

Everything is Recorded - My and Me

Jamie XX Gil Scott Heron - My Cloud

Omni Trio - Byte Sized Life (Mr Scruff Remix)

Oliver Night - Boss Feat Roots Manuva

Cabin Dance - Octo Octa

Jazzanova - Coffee Talk (Yukihiro Fukatomi Remix)

Incognito - I Can See The Future (Ski’sa Main Mix)

Godtet -

The London Philharmonic Orchestra - Star Wars End Theme

Crooked Man - Cunts

Lia Kuri - Cyclone (Ryan Hemsworth Mix)

Brian Jackson and Masters At Work - Lady Gray and John Coltrane

Gerardo Batiz - Aguamarina (A Elis Regina)

Ezra Collective - Dark Side Riddim

Nubian Twist feat Fatoumata Diowara - Chasing Shadows

Dina Ogen - Mergeretas Sang

Digging into my archive of radio shows, I decided to go as far back as I could, and, as it happened, it threw up this show from 2016, which I still remember recording down in the 1 Brighton FM (now 1BTN) bunker.

As I mentioned on an archive show from a couple of weeks ago, I recreated the soundtrack to a snowboard movie that was very influential, and I got to do that because of a mix I had put together for the premiere of a movie. Well, this is that mix, which I performed live on the radio, then unplanned, I carried in the same vein to close out the 2 hour show.

I remember being carried away by the enthusiam on the chat box, and where I normally finished the set on the classic ‘Once in a Lifetime’ I dug deep for some of my favourite tracks from snowboard movies that hadn’t made the planned mix for one reason or another…

The 90’s and 2000’s were a golden era for snowboard (and skate) movies, technology had made it easier for anyone to make something half decent and that unlocked a lot of creative individuals to make seminal movies without much outside help.

And the sound tracks to those movies, sought after on VHS or DVD and watched on repeat, because the soundtracks to our lives, and rightly so, I mean, look at this tracklist, and it only really scratches the surface and they are all legit bangers.

So, I hope you enjoy this one and much as I remember putting it together, please share with your friends who might appreciate this one, and don’t forget, thats winter is on its way… x

Tracklist:

Doves - Firesuite

Nathaniel Merriweather - Stroker Ace

Primus - Over the Electric Grapevine

Gang Starr - Above the Clouds

NTM feat Busta Flex and Lord Kossity - IV My People

Neil Young - Heart Of Gold

The Knife - Heartbeats

Weezer - My Name is Jonas

Helmet - Biscuits for Smut (Mutt Mix)

Hammerbox - When 3 is 2

Beastie Boys - Sneaking Out of the Hospital

Luscious Jackson - Lady Fingers

Modest Mouse - FLoat On

The Steve Miller Band - Fly Like an Eagle

Her Space Holiday - Key Stroke

The Cadillac Tramps - Don’t Go

Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime

Norman Greenbaum - Spirit in the Sky

The Cars - Just What I Needed

Should have Mischief - 93. ’Til Infinity

De la Soul - Keepin’ The Faith

The Saturday Knights -

RJD2 - 1973

The Go Team - Ladyflash

Donovan - Season of the Witch

Molokai - Fun For Me

Billy Idol - Dancing With Myself

Supersuckers - Creepy Jackalope Eye

Firehose - Bad Lieutenant

All - She’s My Ex

Carpe Wade - Elvis

Well, its been a few weeks, OK, six weeks since you’ve had a live show from me. I’ve been busy OK? Actually, there has been loads of family stuff going on and its eaten up all my time and energy, apologies, but life can do that sometimes.

However, I dragged my sorry arse out of bed early, got into the studio and rather enjoyed putting this episode together, and I think there is a breadth to the music that is rather pleasing.

I kick off with Weekender by Flowered Up, which popped into my head because the guy who runs Green ISP who provided our internet (and I’d recommend) has been on the phone whulst I’ve been sorting the internet connection for an elderly relative. We got talking about music because he saw my email footer and he ended up sending me some stuff to listen to, which, I thought, sounded quite like this, in a very raw form.

I recently picked up Gomez’ ‘Bring It On’ as it was reissued, and given how I’ve ended up being friends with a couple of the guys from Gomez, I felt I should support the cause. Its a great album, it was at the time, winning a Mercury Music Prize, and it still sounds as good as ever.

I’ve been reading the official Nick Drake biog recently, so I’ll be playing songs by him for a while, Saturday Sun is one of my favourites. It leads on nicely to Kieran Hebdon (Four Tet) and his side project with William Tyler, which I have been loving since it dropped.

Nils and FS record is still in my listening pile an I’m grateful to Lieter for sending me a copy from Germany.

Jumping forward to the Sault track, which I heard whilst listening to 1BTN last week, they have dropped so many records in recent years that I’m not overly famiiar with them, and this track is the closer to the album ‘Unititled - God’ and its a little different, with a slight whimsy about it, which I love. That made me think of the Jim Noir track ‘Eeanie Meanie’ whcih I also adore. I first heard this in a sound track to a snowboard movie, and as winter is coming (and I have an alter ego as a snowboard culturalist and somewhat historian dontchaknow) it felt like the right time to play it.

That then led me down a 7” sized avenue, finishing up with a repressing of Joy Divisions ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ which is numbered 497 of 500. I don’t know the story behind this, or why it is a limited run, any ideas?

From there, a classic slab of Simple Minds and then I was just trying to work my way out towards the end of the show in some sort of way, so into the mix for some Andrea Parker on Mo Wax, two versions of Radioheads’ Everything In Its RIght Place, and finishing with some Boards of Canada.

Phew, we certainly covered some distance and I hope you enjoy(ed) listening.

Please feel free to share with fellow music lovers, and don’t forget, I’m in my studio everyday, helping people with their records, so if you or anyone you know needs a Producer or Mixing Engineer and you like the cut of my job, then get in touch.

x

Tracklist:

Flowered Up - Weekender

Gomez - Get Miles

The Spellbinder Project - Switchblade

Nick Drake - Saturday Sun

William Tyler and Kieran Hebden - When it Rains

FS Blumm and Nils Frahm - Leuchter 2

Liris Viljanen - Gianni

Sultan Stevenson - Afterword

Jorja Smith - Rose Rouge

St Germain - Rose Rouge

Godet - Always Bright

Colin Wilkie, Shirley Hart, Albert Mangelsdorff and Joki Freund - Ich Armes Maidlein Klag Mich Sehr

Dave Pike Set - Raga Jeeva Swara

The Joachim Kuhn Group - Depression and Illusion

Everything is Recorded - No More Rehearsals

Sault - Life We Rent but Love is Rent Free

Jim Noir - Eenie Meany

Belle and Sebastian - Legal Man

Rodrigo and Gruff - Gold Medal Winner

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart

Simple Minds - Theme for Great Cities

Andrea Parker - Melodious Thunk

Radiohead - Everything in Its Right Place

Boards of Canada - Telephonic Workshop

A few years ago, I was asked to DJ at a premiere of a snowboard movie. As always, I massively overthought it, buying loads of tunes from classic snowboard movies on vinyl (because it matters, yeah) and then making a mix which I would then perform at the night… All well and good.

Because that went so well, I then wanted to carry on in the same vein, and there had been a snow/skate movie come out of Canada called The Burning. It was nowhere to found online, not even a mention of it. But I was sure it hadn’t been a dream and many UK riders cited it as one of their favourite of all time, and it had a killer soundtrack.

So, I tracked down the producer/director, a guy called Murray Siple and told him about my plan to recreate the soundtrack, he was pretty suprised to find a DJ and snowboarder from the UK of all places, asking after his film which he had pretty much forgotten about. A conversation ensued and he promised he would put a version up on Vimeo so I could work out what tracks were played…

Hearing the soundtrack after all those years immediately transported me back to a flat in Bourg Saint Maurice, where a bunch of scruffy snowboarders would sit and devour movies like these, before tryng to emulate them the next day, although emulating the soundtrack proved to be as difficult.

Some tracks were listed, some were listed wrong, Shazam proved to find some tracks difficult, but in the end, I had most of the tracks, bar one I think, on vinyl and I put the soundtrack together.

And here it is, even if you have no interest in skate or snowboarding, these are some killer tunes put together by the best named DJ in the planet, DJ Vinyl Ritchie, and lovingly recreated by me many years later…

You might also noticed that I was DJing under the moniker 6ft Stereo at the time… the joy of youth!

Enjoy x

I’ve known Mr Scruff for quite a while now, I’d say we were friends. He was the first person I’ve ever interviewed, and it is suprising that he didn’t think I was a total cock when I first met him, maybe he did actually, but I think I redeemed myself.

Ok, lets tell that story briefly… Scruff was booked to play the Arcadia Spider at Glastonbury, I was working for Arcadia at the time. I hoped I might bump into him, and after a triumphant set on The Bug (which, incidentally was the only music at Glastonbury for a couple of hours due to a massive thunderstorm) finishing with the Hot 8 Brass and their version of Sexual Healing, I did indeed see him wandering down the backstage area.

It might be worth mentioning that I had just taken a ittle MDMA for the first time (late to the party at about 41) and was having quite the day. I seized my hazy opportunity and approached saying Hi and saying how much of a fan I was, then I asked him to record a mix for the podcast I was doing at the time. he was generous, but cleary not interested, but I had a CD of my podcast in my pocket (that even seems weird typing it) and gave it to him.

Fast forward a few days and truly back on earth and I felt like a bit of dick, so I messaged him on socials and apologised for asking a little too much, but he was cool and said he and his mates had listened to the CD on the way home and really enjoyed it, he mentioned one of the tracks on it, so he must have checked it out. Phew.

A while later he was playing in Brighton and I’d had an idea for a (another) podcast called The Current State of Music and how I’d love to interview him, again, being the generous, lovely guy he is, he obliged and I spent a couple of hours with him at Concorde 2 talking about his journey in music.

You can hear the podcast in the archive on my Substack.

Fast forward quite a few years and I was chatting to him at We Out Here, we talked about when he was next playing Brighton and it turned out to be near to my 50th and I asked him if he wanted someone to warm up. He did and invited me to open for him, and what an honour…

So here is that warm up set, nearly a year later, I tried to cover a lot of bases, without being too obvious, without going too hard, just some headnodding to get in the mood for the man and a 5 hour set (which, btw, was awesome)

Enjoy x

I think I’ve mentioned before that life has a habit of getting in the way when I go to record these shows? Well, life came at me this week and I haven’t been able to get organised to bring you the usual mix of new music, new to me music and digging in my crates music, so instead we are going back a couple of years to my first show on Totally Wired Radio (where this show gets broadcast)

Funnily enough, it starts with my remix of Amanda Whitings’ Where Would We Be, which is the track that got me my first major radio play, so it’s nice to hear that again.

Looking at the tracklist, its quite staggering how fast music comes and goes these days. Digital releases just don’t get the same amount of attention as vinyl releases, and I don’t think just think thats the case with me. Its is obviously easier to release a digital track, a few mouse clicks and your track is all around the world, but I think that ease has created a ‘fast music’ culture where music is literally being thrown out and forgotten almost instantly.

Gilles Peterson was quoted as saying that if someone gives him a track on vinyl, he’ll listen to it, and I’d concur. If an artist or label go as far as putting music on vinyl, I’ll respect that and give it more gravitas than something that falls into my inbox. That isn’t to say that I disgregard digital promos, its just the number I get. Can you imagine what Gilles’ inbox looks like? Jeez.

However, there is some gold in this show. Flock, whom I sadly missed at WOH, but its almost a jazz super group (if there is such a thing) featuring two Current State of Music Podcast guests Sarathy Korwar and Tamar Osbourne. Comet is Coming. whom I totally love, Jamie XX (obvs), Marc Mac, Gorillaz and Sault all firing out new music.

Finishing with a great version of Tempted, penned by the worst interview guest I’ve had, Chris Difford, so bad in fact I’ve not really wanted to go back and see whether I could put it out. As bad an interviewee he was that day, he does write great songs, and this version reworked by Erykah Badu and James Poyser really is a great track to stick around for…

Hoping I’ll be back in control for a new show in a couple of weeks, and hoping you guys are well too… x

As you all know, I have a co-production credit on the new Chip WIckham album and we have become firm friends since, which is a joy in itself.

He was in town to record an interview with Capsule Records for their radio show and he also had the first copies of the new record (he gave me #1) which again was a joy in itself.

He mentioned he was doing a release day signing in Capsule, so I suggested that whilst he is signing, I play some tracks from the new record, alongside some other spiritual jazz tunes and a plan was formed.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and we had a joyous afternoon in Capsule (shout out to Lawrence and Sarah) Chip was signing records and chatting to his fans, I was spinning tunes, and the joy with long jazz tracks is that could also talk to people about my involvement in the record, what tunes I was playing and,generally, chat about music.

Someone plugged in a little recorder into the mixer so my set was recorded and here it is for you now… Its a bit of a journey and some cuts are deeper than others, but I hope you find something in there you dig. x

Tracklist:

Chip Wickham - Nara Black

Takeo Moriyama - East Plants

Chip Wickham - Falling Deep

Yusef Lateef - Love Song from Spartacus

Sons and Daughters of Light - Let The Sun Shine In

Chip Wickham - The Eternal Now

Rene McLean - Aida

Chip Wickham - Astral Travelling

Sarathy Korwar and the Upas Collective - Intimate Enemy

Mysterium and Ursula Rucker - Lonely Can Be Sweet

Ahmed Jamaal - Poinciana

Koop - Waltz for Koop

Chip Wickham - Outside

Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda (feat Pharaoh Sanders)

Chip Wickham - No Turning Back

Sathima Bea Benjamin - Africa

Pharaoh Sanders - You’ve Got to Have Freedom

Sonny Red - The Mode

Pharaoh Sanders - Rejoice

Lopez Alexandria - Morning

Grady Tate - Moondance

Chip Wickham - Shamal Wind

The Cosmic Range - Palms To Heaven

Swarthy Korwar - Utopia and Visions

Well, I thought the last couple of weeks would be a bit easier with the kids back to school.

Things don’t always pan out how you hope and I came into this show with very little plans about what I was going to play.

I played Saturday Sun by Nick Drake to my daughter in the car the other day, and I think no-one comes close to Nicks ability to write such beautifully melancholic songs. I am in awe of what he acheived in three albums and sad that he didn’t survive this world long enough to hear how beloved he has become. I’d love to go back in time and tell him how much people will think of his songs, maybe that would be enough for him to go through another day, then another one…

The second track weighs in at 19 minutes long and is the B side to the new FS Blumm and Nils Frahm record ‘Handling’ I’m going to do a seperate post of my Substack about this record, so tune in for that…

I picked up the Jamie XX Gil Scott Heron record whilst I was DJing at Capsule Records for Chip Wickhams album signing session. I saw the distinctive cut out and jumped on it, I love Jamie XX and was happy to find this.

After a brief sidequest with The Avalanches and a couple of brand new tunes, I worked my way to Stardust ‘Music Sounds Better with You’ which was the first record I learned to DJ with. Two copies, back and forth, learning the rudimentaries. I wrote a post about this on my Substack this week if you want to check that out. I dont know where my original copy went (or another track I had on Roulé called Spinal Scratch) so I bought this one on Discogs recently.

I know Get Lucky got played to death, but I can’t resist the full 9 minute Daft Punk remix, its so good…

As I talk about, Diana Ross, Sister Sledge and Abba aren’t normally staples on my show, but maybe they should be, all great tracks and fine examples of exquiste production. All found at charity shops recently and hapy to blow the dust off.

I finished with a little run of new Jazz bits which have landed recently and leave you, in light of Trumps visit to the UK and all the bullshit surrounding it, a rather spicy track I couldn’t resist…

Hope you enjoy this one, its definitely a journey and I’m happy to have you with me…x

Tracklist:

Nick Drake - Saturday Sun

Nils Frahm and FS Blumm - Leuchter 3

Gil Scott Heron - The On/Off Switch (interlude)

Gil Scott Heron - Blue Collar

Jamie XX x Gil Scott Heron - Running

Jamie XX feat The Avalanches - All U Children

The Avalanches - Frontier Physiatrist (Mario Caldato Remix)

Till Bronner - Il Trucido E Lo Sbirro

Rabbath Electric Orchestra - Samares feat Raphael Imbert and Minino Garay

Chip Wickham - The Eternal Now

La Chooma - Cozumel

One Inch Punch - Yin Yin

Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You

Daft Punk feat Pharrell and Nile Rogers - Get Lucky (Daft Punk Remix)

Diana Ross - Love Hangover

Sister Sledge - Lost In Music

Abba - Dancing Queen

Don Phillipe - Displacement

Ami Taf Ra - Speak To Us

Ami Taf Ra - Love feat Ryan Porter

Charles Stepney - Step on Step

Ahmed Jamal - Poinciana

Anita O Day - Rock and Roll Blues

Donald Trump is a Cunt - The Kunts

This week, Gorillaz launched new music, a great track featuring Sparks, and album and a tour.

This is following the brilliant House of Kong exhibition that has been running throughout August at the Copperbox Arena in London’s Olympic Park, which, in itself hinted at new work in the pipeline.

But this reminded me of a show I did back in 2017, I’m guessing around the time the Plastic Beach Tour was touching down in Brighton. I nearly got a pass to go and do the sound whilst the 1BTN, or 1 Brighton FM as it was then, head guy Mickey interviewed Damon Albarn. That didn’t happen sadly, but the missus and I did have tickets to the show anyway, so all good.

So I put together a show, featuring their big hits but also trying to unlock some deeper album cuts and rareties the casual listener might not know about.

The sound quality isn’t great, this was the broadcast feed and had limiters etc on it, which back then, no-one really knew what they were doing at the station, so forgive that please.

Obvioulsy, Gorillaz, have dropped loads of good music since then as well, so it is only a screenshot of where they were at that time, just in case you wonder where some of their newer stuff has gone…

I hope you enjoy this, I do sometimes like to deep dive on an artist, there was that time I played a whole Nils Frahm album from start to finish. Maybe I lost a listener or two on that one, but then I did get messages saying they loved it, so I’ll continue to do things like this.

Putting a show out on Substack means I can do that. Which I love.

See you next week for the usual radio show, stay safe, sane and as always, fuck facism. x

Well, time seems to be flying, the seasons have done an abrupt handbrake into Autumn and We Out Here already feels like a distant memory. This is my first show since that weekend, so I’m gonna take you back to the set I did at midnight on the Tomorrows Warriors stage. I wrote a bit about the experience of that a couple of weeks ago, so you don’t need me to go into that again, so instead I’ll talk about the selections for this show.

Starting with Chip Wickham… it was my absolute pleasure to work with Chip on his new album, which, is out today, and in particular this track Nara Black. I’ll be doing a longer post about what happened this week, but I listened to the vinyl version of this track as I recorded the show, and it sounds insane. A lot of love went into his album, two years in the making and I hope you love it.

Jeremiah and Ashars’ tracks are from an album curated by Gilles Peterson and given the stellar line up at We Out Here, when I saw this down at Capsule Records in Hove, it immediately caught my eye. As a collection of songs, its not instant, but slow moving, sometimes quite abstract pieces, which I love, an album that you keep discovering new things on.

Nina Maias’ album is something I’ve had for a few weeks on promo, but I heard a track that instantly piqued my interest on 6Music. The label, Mr Bongo, is based in Brighton and I’m good friends with them, as they release music of mine on their publishing label, so I popped in to get this on vinyl. Another record that will take some time to uncover all its gems, which I’m looking forward to.

I seem to have found a few Nicola Conte 10” records recently, so it seemed apt and in the flow of the show to play this, followed by the 4Hero version of Minnie Rippertons’ Les Fleurs, in homage to Rotary Connection, who headlined WOH on the Saturday night, playing tracks I thought I would never hear live, and performed so well.

The new Sault record is another grower, it didn’t grab me on first listen, but consecutive plays have revealed greatness, this is a great track.

The last few tracks are all from recent Mr Bongo releases, including a version of Dancing Drums by Anandar Shankar, which isn’t what I was expecting, but good to hear nonetheless.

Then we get into my set from We Out Here.

I wanted to play the 4Hero version of Black Gold of the Sun, as a nod to anyone who had been watching the Rotary Connection an hour previously, followed by WIllis Jackson and Jimmy Smith as a nod to Gilles. Then it was all about making the dancefloor jump, mostly with fairly new tracks I’ve been keeping an ear open for, as I knew I had this coming up, but I wanted to play things which wouldn’t be too predictable and in the same style, it is, after all, a festival with a certain aesthetic which I wanted to stick by. Floating Points was a nod to last years headliner (which was fucking epic btw) and I finished with a crazy track I heard recently that would give whoever following me free reign to go where ever.

So I hope you enjoy this show, its been crazy recently with kids heading back to school, work commitments lining up, new releases to talk about. Life, generally…

I hope also you are all doing ok, if you can please share this with someone you thnk might dig it too and I’ll see you again soon.

Love Cx

Tracklist:

Chip Wickham - Nara Black

Nils Frahm - You Name It

Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer - Snacko

Ashar Gamedze - Meloncholia

Nina Maia - Mar Adentro

Nicola Conte - Jet Sounds (Nuspirit Helsinki Remix)

Minnie Riperton - les Fleurs (4Hero Remix)

Sault - R.I

Nukhet Ruacan - Golge

Nana Benz du Togo - Danser

Ananda Shankar - Dancing Drums

**We Out Here Set**

Nuyorican Soul - Black Gold Of The Sun (4Hero Remix)

Willis Jackson - Nuthern Like Thuthern

Jimmy Smith - Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf Pt 2

Sault - I Just Wanna Dance

James heather - Invisible Forces (Ishmael Ensemble Remix)

Quantic - Run (Sofia Kourtesies Remix)

Raz and Afla - Shikor Shikor (Jamz Supernova and Sam Interface Remix)

Nubian Twist and Sean Kuti - Carry Me (UKG Version)

Weval - Open Up That Door

Floating Points - Birth4000

London Grammar - Hey Now (Bonobo Remix)

Voices of Fire - Joy

Firstly, I’ve left this show until the last minute and I should also be preparing for a festival gig this weekend, so I’m sort of combining the last couple of weeks of my life, and thinking about what I might play out.

Phew, glad I got that out the way. I guess its the thing I always do of setting your expectations low, and then you can only blame yourself if you think it’s shit. I did warn you.

Enough of that though, far too deep for a simple 2 hours of music.

The overwhelming theme, looking at the tracklisting, is that I’m thinking about this festival and trying to work out, in my head, what I think is the best pitch. The problem is, the stage I’m playing has a noise reduction curfew at 11pm, my set is at midnight. Don’t overthink it, is what I get told, but you don’t inhabit my brain, which has turned overthinking into an art form (did you not listen to my first mixtape, starting with a rather grandiose opner from Dylan Thomas?) So, is it going to be empty, with ravers all heading to the noisier parts? Is it going to be mellow, so I play a set accordingly? Do I go esoteric and play weird stuff that no-one knows to try and be ‘that guy’? Do I try and represent what I’m all about, get a few people interested and hoopefully follow me on Substack? Fucking hell, I’m really overtinking this.

Back to the show.

I’m really enjoying sharing music with my kids, my eldest is really engaged and likes electronica, so I played him the opener Chem Bros track to gauge his reaction. He was into it. Perfect. So that spawned a few tracks which seem to fit together. I particularly love the Sexwitch track, the repetitive build makes me want to dance on a clifftop at sunrise.

That album was produced by Dan Carey, so that led me onto a little DC tip, with Kae Tempest (I’ll be posting an interview I did with them from a few years back soon) and onto new music from Wet Leg.

Swerving from that into some Gorillaz. I took the family to their House of Kong exhibition last week, which is fucking brilliant and well worth the trip. I love how things like that now have to have a bit more about them, immersive and well put together. I’d love to get involved in those sort of projects, it fascinates me. It reminded me how good and how consistent Gorillaz have been, so I tried, in three tracks, to cover that. I might do an episode solely devoted to them soon too.

I locked into some bangers, testing them out for the weekend, was happy wuth that arc, so pulled the rip cord on that and dived into some oddments from second hand shops and random 7”s taking in James Last, Andy Williams, Art Garfunkel doing the saddest song from the saddest movie, before another second hand find, the ong version of White Lines (Don’t Do It) which took me down a bit of an electro(ic) avenue.

Phew (again)

So, thats the story of this weeks show, I hope you enjoy it. If you can, please share to your mates and I’ll see you soon. Cx

Tracklist:

The Chemical Brothers - The Sunshine Underground

The Gaslamp Killer - Listen for my Whistle

The Spellbinder Project - Dark Is The Light

Sexwitch -

Kae Tempest - Tunnel Vision

Wet Leg - Mange Tout

Gorillaz - Momentary Bliss feat Slowthai and Slaves

Gorillaz - Don’t Get Lost in Heaven/Demon Days

Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood (Refix)

Malcolm Mclaren - Double Dutch

Raz and Afla - Voodoo Eze (Esa Remix)

Jamie XX - All You Children

Sofia Kourtesis - Nitzah and Aminaa

Weval - Open Up The Door

Floating Points - Birth4000

Andy Williams - Up, Up and Away

James Last - Here Comes The Sun

5th Dimension - Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In

The New Freedom Singers - The Whole World In HIs Hands

Art Garfunkel - Bright Eyes

Adrian Celetano - Prisencolinensinainclusol

Grandmaster Flash and Belle Mel - White Lines (US Remix)

Le Fox - French Kiss

Janet Jackson - When I Think Of You

The Rocksteady Crew - She’s Fresh

Since we last spoke, I’ve been away. My wife’s elderly Auntie had to go into sheltered accommodation and it fell to me to go there and empty her house and make it fit to be rented out, all in a short space of time, whilst the kids are on holidays… great timing yeah.

The house is about two and a half hours from home, so I stayed up there, on a mattress on the floor, surrounded by paint and other detritus, however, I think it is always fascinating and depressing to see what one persons life accumlates and what, when it comes down to it, is considered surplus.

How does this relate to the show this week, I hear you cry! Well, I listened to a lot of radio, and one track in particular stood out, The Voices of Fire - Joy, was a treat late on the Friday night when energy was flagging. I found two records worth keeping, Sgt Peppers and a Monty Python album, and through finding these, I had a conversation with the house clearance guy (who was an angel sent from above) and he bought down some records from his warehouse for me to look at, which included The Beatles ‘Get Back’ on 7”. Nothing valuable, but nice to save from landfill and a few oddities to play on the show.

Since we last spoke, I also saw Fred Deakin do his Club Life show, and one of his club nights was an attempt to not be cool, to play whatever feels right, to bring a smile, or whatever, and I’ve been mulling over that. So, as well as my continuing search to find great new music, great old music, I”m gonna be a little more open to playing oddments, such as ‘Duelling Banjos’ which I found in a charity shop recently, because these tracks can steer my show into totally different spaces, whcih is exciting, right?

These last two weeks have been absolutley draining, from the motional rollercoaster of the kids leaving school (and a secret Fatboy Slim gig to finish proceedings) to being on my own for ten days, working all the hours. However, I did get to have a couple of pints n the Sunday afternoon with an old friend and his wife, whom I haven’t seen for years but live in the same town, and it was a conversation with them that led me to playing the opening track this week, James’ ‘Say Say Something’ from the album Wah Wah, which we talked about… on that note, go listen…x

Tracklist

James - Say Say Something

Sarathy Korwar - There Is Beauty There Already

Bicep - Sikorsuit

Hi Tek/The 2 Bears - Come Get It (Tekstrumental)/Modern Family

William Shatner - It Hasn’t Happened Yet

Voices of Fire - Joy

The Beatles - Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

The Beatles - A Little Help From My Friends

The Beatles - Get Back

The Kinks - Louie Louie

Rubettes - When You Are Falling In Love

Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell - Duelling Banjos

Leo Kottke - Cripple Creek

Henry Mancini - The Magnificent Seven

Naire - Um Dia Azul De Abril

Som/3 - Um Minuto

Sebastian Tapajos and Pedro Dos Santos - Despedida De Mangueira

Luli Lucinha e o Bando - Flor Lilas

Hidden Orchestra - Dawn Chorus

Nick Drake - My Thoughts of Mary Jane

Famous Blue Cable feat Feist - Riverman

Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet - We Love You

Wojtek Mazolewski Experience - Paris

Perera Elsewhere and Andy S - Fuck Le System

Modeselektor - Mega Mega Mega

Kiasmos - Burst (ANNA Remix)

Raz and Afia - Shikoor Shikor (jazz Supernova and Sam Interface Remix)

Sly5thAve - Liberty (Sam Interface and Jazz Supernova Remix)

Amy Dabbs - First Love

Alina Bhazinska and Tulshi - Nomads Nocturne

This show starts with a couple of tracks that are about 20 mins each in length, and there is a reason for that.

My daughter has just finished primary school and it has thrown up a lot of emotions, both for her at a time of big change, and for me as a parent. The school has become part of our routine and I feel I am very much part of the community, one which we are now leaving.

The emotional drain has been palpable and when I started recording the show, I just didn’t have it in the tank to really dive in as I usually do. So I thought I’d let some music do its restorative thing, a couple of amazing, long tracks, so I could sit, listen, gather my thoughts and energy.

So, from Melanie De Biasio’s ‘Blackened Cities’ and Four Tets ‘Morning’ to where we end up, via some charity shop finds, I hope this show does for you what it did for me.

If you are a parent in similar circumstances then I hope you can find some time to sit still and let some music do its thing for you too.

Cx

Tracklist:

Melanie De Biasio - Blackened Cities

Four Tet - Morning

Molly Joyce - 15 April 2000

Nils Frahm and FS Blumm - Leuchter

Slawomir Zubrzycki - Carillon

Crayon - Home Safe

Lemon Jelly - Come Down On Me

Lemon Jelly - Go

Wendy Craig - Say Goodnight

The New Seekers - I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing

John Hammond - I Can Tell

Merry Clayton - Gimme Shelter

Anandar Shankar - Jumpin’ Jack Flash

Johnny Harris - Paint It Black

Jeb Loy Nichols - Coming Home Love

Moodorama - Breathe In Breath Out

Laura Vane - Face

Raz and Afia - Shikor Shikor (jazz Supernova and Sam Interface Remix)

Amy Dabbs - Up In My Frills

A few years ago I had an idea for a show because sometimes I play some heavy jazz on my regular show and I feel I might be pushing it a little too far.

That got me thinking about whether people actually like jazz or just pretend they do, and for people who don’t, or who say they don’t, how can you break down what it is and help people find their way into it?

Does that even make sense?

Well, it did to me, and my idea was find some of my favourite musicians and DJ’s, all passionate about lots of forms of music, but who are, how could I put it, Jazz sensitive? Get those people to talk to me about how they got into jazz and if there was a specific tune that spoke to them, a gateway drug if you like, then I’d play that tune and maybe that could be your gateway into jazz too.

There is also an event called International Jazz Day that happens in the spring every year, with the legend Herbie Hancock being its most notable patron, and this show earned me a letter from him, which blew my mind a bit…

I did have plans to do another one, and my first port of call was Herbie himself, but that conversation with his agent faltered and other thigns came along, but I’m really proud of this show, the line up I managed to get on it (trying not to fan boy with Shabaka too much)

Maybe I’ll do another one, one day. I’d be keen to know what you think, and if there is any tunes you particularly like (or don’t like) Let me know. Cx

This is my first show solely for Totally Wired Radio and Substack, which is where all my shows are going from now on.

In that spirit, I’m talking more about why I’m playing what I’m playing, a little more about the world around us and how thats impacting music, as well as playing interesting music, both new and old, brand new releases and new to me old records, and a few gems that mean something to me, or have popped into my brain for some reason.

Let me know what you think and if you know of music you think I’ll dig, then please let me know.

Heres the tracklist:

Lemon Jelly - Ramblin’ Man

Breaks Co Op - The Otherside

Mr Scruff - Shanty Town

Grey Reverend - Regen

Rival Consoles - Known Shape

Raz and Alfa - Shikor Shikor (Jamz Supernova and Sam Interface remix)

Eight in the Room - Bought and Sold

Burial - Near Dark

Floating Points - Del Oro

Air - Kelly Watch The Stars (Demo)

Mouth 2 Mouth - Deep In The Pocket

Gorillaz - 12D3

Alfa Mist - In My Defence

Radiohead - Kid A

Howard Stern vs The Dust Brothers - Tortured Man

The Dust Brothers - X Files Theme

Beck - Dark and Lovely/Devils Haircut (Dust Brothers Mix)

Apeman - At Random

Mugen - In The Morning

Tycoon Tosh - Who Police the Police?

Tycoon Tosh - China Syndrome Pt 2

Andrea Parker - Melodius Thunk

Back last year, possibly November, Chip came to Brighton to play a show, we'd had a few online conversations before then, he was a guest on my show "Jazz For People Who Think They Don't Like Jazz (listen here) which was a real pleasure, and Chip was really enthusiastic. So fast forward back to this gig, I'd told Chip I was going to be there, and was nearish the stage to the side, and I was pretty surprised when he clocked me and gave me a nod...

After the show, he came into the bar where I was hanging out and we got chatting, really just to say thanks for a great show, and it was a great show, the music just blew my mind and took me away to that place you hope you'll find when listening to live music... anyway, we got chatting and he told me he was a big fan of my radio show and thanked me for the support, which wasn't really what I was expecting to hear! I'm his fan, not the other way around! So yeah, that was a bit of a moment. but suffice to say, Chip is a lovely, talented beyond belief, down to earth guy, making his way in music, who has done a few laps of the park so to speak, so I knew he'd be a good guest.

We also have a couple of other random connections, one being my good friend Fred who lives in Manchester and the second being Chips nephew who taught my son in Primary school!,

Small world innit?

So, yeah, a real pleasure to chat to Chip, which nearly went off the rails due to a power cut on his road in Madrid where he currently lives, but in spite of this, we managed to chat for a long while and it was a real pleasure.

If you want to find out more you can find his work here:

https://www.gondwanarecords.com/artists/chip-wickham

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So stoked to have had the opportunity to talk to a proper legend in the game and find out more about his journey. one of the original DIYers and still hustling, putting out his best work yet (IMHO) with a new album incoming on Strut Records.

Idris did a piece for a me a couple of years back, after chatting to him online a little bit. He is a warm, welcoming, generous person and obviulsy has such a unique voice, both musically and in the music business, he has seen most trends come and go and is still on it, partnering with Bandcamp on his latest album launch, which, sadly I don't have the details of just yet, so I can't post them here for you.

Please do take the time to listen to his work, its not quite like anything else out there, his 2018 album An Angel Fell is what drew me in, and I would say a masterpiece, but early listens to the new album show that Idris is not resting on his considerable laurels, pushing forward all the time, developing new skills and keeping the Pyramids hard at it.

I could have listened to Idris' stories for hours, we did talk for over two, and I keep thinking of things we could have gone into, but I hope you find this conversation as interesting as I did, from diving back in time to talking about the industry today, and some sage advice at the end.

Enjoy

https://idrisackamoor.bandcamp.com/

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This was one of my favourite conversations so far, and I know I probably say that about all my guests, but really, I get so much out of the connections I'm having with my guests, and it feels like something meaningful to my life. I wonder how you, the listener, are feeling about them?

Adam is a kind soul, you can tell that he is compelled to be in music, in many different forms, maybe to his detriment, or maybe not. he certainly feels the weight of looking after others, whether that is band mates or artists on his label, I imagine he is a good friend because he genuinely cares and feels it. He has been part of the industry for a long time now and I feel our paths may have met, had I gone to Alchemea (a music school in London) because it was probably around the same time that I looked round it, but decided it wasn't for me, which to be honest, was probably imposter syndrome and low self asteem kicking in more than anything (and maybe money!)

Adams label has come on my radar through working with Amanda Whiting on a remix of one of her tracks and its Adams label Alberts Favourites that is putting it out, so its funny how these connections have come around and then yoou look back and see the threads running through your life, but it seems to make sense to me now and I don't feel like a complete outsider or imposter, which is a good thing...

So, yeah, I hope you enjoy this episode, we cover a fair bit of ground, from shit haircuts to mental health (all the same thing to me) so hold tight... Cx

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Tom Gray is someone you probably don't know, but you may well know the band he is in, Gomez, who lit up things with music that seemed to be on the verge of falling apart and won a Mercury Music Prize for their debut album Bring it On in 1998. and we talk about what that means to Tom, then and now. Which kind of sums up Toms character, always looking forward and relishing the chance to be creative in whatever guise he happens to find himself, of which, he has many guises, but really it is all the same to Tom.

So you may know Toms music, but you probably don't know how he is changing the landscape for the better for millions of musicians and songwriters around the world, starting a movement called #brokenrecord which has already seen most major record labels write off atists historic debt, which means artists might now stand a chance of making some money from their back catalogue. I am clearly not knowledgeable enough about the music industry, but I've spent quite a bit of time with Tom this year (helping him build his new studio) and I"ve learned so many tings I wasn't aware of, and most of it isn't good, but Tom is working tirelessly for change and, its no surprise given his outlook, and the fact he is very hard to argue against, that he is making real progress.

Tom has also recently been diagnosed as ADHD, which we didn't have time to go into, but mirrors my own mental health journey and currentlly being diagnosed with autism, maybe we'll get a chance in the future to revisit this subject, There was a load of things we could have got into, but didn't have the time for, hsi work for The Ivors, his work with the PRS, UK Music, as well as his songwriting and his work with the Roald Dahl Foundation.

Tom is a really fascinating person and I enjoy being in his company, he is funny, intelligent and engaged, often absolutely knackered, but a genuinely warm and caring person who gets it done...

Here are some links you might look at if you want to find out more about Tom:

Gomez: https://www.gomeztheband.com/

Ivors Academy: https://ivorsacademy.com/news/tom-gray-is-the-new-chair-of-the-ivors-academy/

Broken Reocrd: https://mixmag.net/feature/brokenrecord-music-industry-streaming-labels-artists-exploitation-equitable-renumeration

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So, i fucked up... I talk about it in this episode. I forgot to press record on the second half of this interview with one of the most talented musicians I have had the fortune to chat to. Proper podcast error 101, however, through that failure we ended up going in again a couple of weeks later and chatting about all sorts we didn't get to in the 'lost episode'.

So there is a joy in that failure, and I learned quite a bit from it...

I hope you enjoy this episode, Tamar is quite the indivicual and I'm glad I got to spend s much time with her, as well as seeing her on stage with Sarathy Korwar (S3 E1) here in Brighton.

Enjoy

Cx

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I've known Rob for a little while, bumping into each other at various things around Brighton. He is a partner in Tru Thoughts, a record label which has been going strong for 20+ years, launching the talents of people like Bonobo, Quantic and Alice Russell. But they don't rest of their laurels, Rob is an amazing DJ and always has his ear to the ground of new music they can help introduce to the world.

So although we've said hi loads of times, and Rob contrbuted to a show I made for World Jazz Day a few years ago https://soundcloud.com/chriscracknelldj/jazz-for-people-who-think-they-dont-like-jazz we've never really had a chance to sit and chat, so it was a pleasure to invite him over to my studio (Gold Tone Studio) and sit for a while and talk about running a label, the place of a DJ and just chat about music in general.

If you want to find out mre about Rob, you could head to https://tru-thoughts.co.uk/ and find out more about his label, his radio show and, of course, by some music! Enjoy x

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