Electronic music old and new
Inspired by Laurence's recent blog post showcasing some recent favourites, here are just a few of the records, plucked from the pile next to the turntable, that have been floating my boat over the past few months. I took a breather from doing mixes this summer, but picked up the baton again in November and… Continue reading Winter Warmers 2020
I've had a policy of saying 'yes' to everyone who's asked me for a mix so far this year, which means I've produced a steady stream of them while on lockdown, so here are the latest four. I'll be slowing down for the remainder of 2020 and focusing a bit more on production. (The next… Continue reading Yet more mixes
Whatever the downsides, lockdown has certainly been good for rediscovering the joy of recording mixes. I've managed eight since March, and there are another couple in the pipeline, which is more than I managed in total during the previous decade. Here are the most recent additions. Down The Stairs mix for 2Sox I was delighted… Continue reading Four more mixes
The current lockdown has given me the opportunity not only to work on some new music and record some mixes, but also to sift through my archive of tunes. I quietly set up a Bandcamp page last year to make some of my old music available, and over the past few weeks I've added a… Continue reading Reissues & Bandcamp bits
Lush, dreamy breakbeat house from Vancouver, by an artist I’ve been digging for a while and who put out three solid EPs this year. Urth Man is my pick of the bunch, with a perfectly weighted bassline, sharp breaks, deep chords, twanging melodies and a touch of acid. It stays just the right side of… Continue reading 18 for 2018, #15: Ex-Terrestrial – Urth Born
Shades of Ultramarine and Jan Jelinek run through this ace EP from yet another artist and label that were new to me in 2018. The most DJ-friendly cut is probably Daniel Chavez’s remix of Stiv Heks, on side A, but it’s all about the two B-side cuts for my ears. Twilight is a gorgeous slice… Continue reading 18 for 2018, #14: Wasserfall – HESP005
This excellent four-tracker from Glasgow, on Peckham’s always-interesting Rhythm Section label, dropped out of nowhere in April. Opening track Dirty High is the instant winner, channelling early Floating Points-style swung house drums with analogue arpeggios, live bass and light-fingered Rhodes keys, but the one I’ve returned to most is the closing cut, Lucidity, which pushes… Continue reading 18 for 2018, #12: String Theory – Modularity
Going Good has become a ‘buy on sight’ label for me, and this wonderful LP from Detroit duo Cosmic Handshakes, released at the start of the year, is one of the reasons why. It works perfectly as a home-listening experience, segueing from beatless interludes to hazy Balearic jams and jazz-inflected beatdown house, with a loose,… Continue reading 18 for 2018, #10: Cosmic Handshakes – In the Mist
Another belter from the mighty Firecracker crew was this four-track EP by Edinburgh’s all-round good egg Gavin Sutherland. It includes a vintage from-the-vaults house gem in the shape of Late Feeling Yourself - which I’ve been desperate to own ever since hearing it dropped on a DJ mix a few years back - alongside three new… Continue reading 18 for 2018, #5: Other Lands – Pattern Transform
Let's go back to 2002 for a superb slab of premier league deep house from Lars Bartkuhn for Anthony Nicholson's Clairaudience label. By the time this was released the Frankfurt producer had already been making waves with the Needs crew, honing a brand of sumptuously produced and lavishly musical house that could go toe to… Continue reading Needs present Laurentius – Reminiscence
Nothin' But Magic 