Pure Gold

It's been a while since I graced these fair pages with my inane rantings, but I've had plenty of good excuses this time around. Unfortunately you're not going to find out about them until next week or so, but look forward to some exciting Mutant Pop related news. There's also been a bit of a dry spell as far as new radio shows have been concerned (though you can now access two old shows that have been repeated), but this week I've remedied things with another mish-mash of dancefloor sounds, both old and new. Make sure that you listen out for Villalobos's astoundingly oddball hip-minimal remix of Beck's 'Cell Phone's Dead' which I've been caning over the last few weeks and also dropped to great effect at the Family night in Dublin. Many thanks go out to Matagouri who played alongside us, Arveene for supporting us wholeheartedly and actually turning up this time(!), and all of the lovely people that we met along the way. We've tentatively been invited back again, so keep checking these pages for future dates.

Another record that went down a storm in Ireland was Frank Hebly's 'De Tuinslangboogie', a 98bpm wonked out acid-funk banger that takes the tempo down yet makes damn sure that the crowd gets gyrating. Even Matagouri had his reservations when I told him about it, but as soon as I dropped the needle he was peering over to check the bpm count. It's made by the reclusive Hebly using only vintage analogue equipment, and it really shows in the warmth and depth of his sound. Play this one loud and you definitely won't be dissatisfied. We've also got an exclusive edit from Thumbs Aloft on their forthcoming Pointless Edits 12", which should be released sometime in the new few months. No clues to what they've edited, but let's just say that it's so good, I wish that it'd been released 'yesterday'. Ahem. There's loads of other gems in there from World Premiere, Midnight Star, Herb Alpert, and also a melodic minimal masterpiece from Florian Meindl's new 12" on Trapez (if you're in Bristol at the start of May, make sure to come down to Mutant Pop to check the boy's skills). It's already archived as it went out last night, so get clicking!

TAPE Radio - Show #22: 'Pure Gold'
1. World Premiere - Share The Night // Easy Street
2. Midnight Star - Midas Touch (Hell Interface Remix) // Skam
3. Ganymed - Future World // Bellaphon
4. Frank Hebly - De Tuinslangboogie // Magnetron
5. Junior Boys - Double Shadow (Kode 9 Remix) // Domino
6. Beck - Cell Phone's Dead (Villalobos Entlebuch Remix) // Interscope
7. Efdemin - Lohn & Brot // Liebe Detail
8. Sascha Funke - Auf Aix // Bpitch Control
9. Florian Meindl - Moonchild // Trapez
10. Samuel L. Session ft. Paris The Black Fu - Can You Relate? // Klap Klap
11. Gudrun Gut - Move Me (Burger / Voigt Remix) // Monika
12. Barry White - It's Ecstasy When You Lay Next To Me // 20th Century
13. Thumbs Aloft - Stick Around // Pointless Edits
14. Herb Alpert - Rotation // A & M
15. O.R.S. - Body To Body Boogie // Salsoul
16. Midnight Star - Midas Touch // Solar

Listen:
TAPE Radio - Show #22: 'Pure Gold'

This weekend sees the motley TAPE crew head over to Gothenburg in Sweden for Club Mezcla's debut warehouse party which takes place on Saturday night. Joining us on the bill will be Tennishero, who'll be returning to their homeland to kick off Mezcla's opening with one of their live sets. The Swedes (currently residing in Paris) have only had one track out so far, but still managed to blag Get Physical's Chelonis R. Jones into providing the vocals for 'Alone', a bleepy electro-boogie number that recalls lost childhood hours playing Mario Kart. Or something. Anyway, we'll be coming on after them at about 3am for a three hour vinyl only set, so if you're in town, make sure you pop down to the secret location (keep checking the Club Mezcla website for exact info closer to Saturday night or e-mail them here instead). Also, they're hosting my latest mix on their site (it's been a while, hasn't it?) featuring tracks and remixes from Mudd, Vincent Markowski, Efdemin, Mock'n'Toof, Ink & Needle, and Spiritualized amongst others, so there's a reason to head over there even if you're going to be on the other side of the globe this Saturday.

Take care of yourselves, and have a good weekend!

We are family

A quick hello and goodbye from TAPE ahead of what promises to be a sterling weekend…

First up, many thanks to Simon Carr, who asked me down to the Lock Tavern to spin with him last night. He played some sick bits, I tell you, including an unreleased Quiet Village mix of Massive Attack, the shatteringly good Burial mix of Jamie Woon's 'Wayfaring Stranger', and Prins Thomas’s as-yet-unfinished remix of Hatchback’s ‘White Diamond’ on Simon’s own Thisisnotanexit label (which is, in all honesty, an early contender for tune of the year). In fact, when he played the aforementioned Burial tune, a girl actually came and asked what it was, going so far as to WRITE IT DOWN. How often does that happen? Not very, that’s how often. Anyway, the singer out of Cajun Dance Party did a little set with his ukulele that was actually pretty pleasant, but Lancashire plodders One More Grain were Mark E Smith-meets-Arab Strap without any of the wit or charm, or indeed any of the positive attributes that those two references connote (how good a word is connote?). Still, they weren’t unbearable…Anyway, hopefully Simon and I will be working on something in London in the near future, and we’ll certainly be inviting him to play for us in Bristol in the next couple of months. Watch this space, or indeed myspace.

Right, to the weekend ahead….TAPE’s true DJ team, Puffin Jack and Richard ‘Ricky’ Carnage (pictured looking hilariously sultry above) will be heading over to Dublin this weekend for Family’s St Patrick’s Day Special, at Wax. Family is hosted by Arveene (Clampdown/Bugged Out!; pictured below), who played at Mutant Pop last year and absolutely spunked it, eliciting some of the best crowd responses we’ve ever seen in our fair club. The boys will be supported by talented disco infiltrator and all-round good egg Matagouri and, quite simply, it’s going to be a big ol' night. If you’re in Dublin for this most of Irishy of weekends, head over to Wax and dance that Guinness out of your system.

Carnage has recorded a new mix and interview (!) for Arveene’s Spin FM radio show to promote the gig; I don’t have the exact link, but have a gander around http://www.spin1038.com/ and, er, you’ll find it.

FAMILY
St Patrick’s Day Special
With special guests
PUFFIN JACK & RICHARD CARNAGE (Tape/Mutant Pop)
+ Arveene & Matagouri
@ Wax/Spy Bar
Powerscourt Centre,
South William Street,
Dublin 2.

Also, it’s now confirmed, Carnage, Puffin and myself will be heading over to Gothenburg at the end of the month to unleash some reet solid grooves on the good Swedish public; more details to follow.

Anyone who can’t be in Dublin this weekend and happens to be in London, there’s plenty to keep you busy – tonight, Dead Wolves at Fluid in Farringdon, peddling warm minimal grooves (in the best possible sense); tomorrow, you’re spoilt for choice – while one dreads to think what kind of punter the Hot Chip-curated Bugged Out! will draw into The End tomorrow, there is the small matter of live sets from Noze and Black Devil Disco Club which will surely make the jostling with gormless, elbows-out Erolites and tarted-up neu-rave jokes a worthwhile endeavour. Realistically though, I’m going to play it beardy and safe and head instead to the LikeThat warehouse party (www.myspace.com/wearelikethat) in Bethnal Green (picture above is of their last do) – residents Pablo Cahn, Soho and Nick Moreno are joined by Michal Ho (formerly of Samim & Michal) and, most appealingly, Perlon/Sieg Uber Die Sonne legend Dandy Jack. Really looking forward to this one.

You want an mp3 don't you? Well, check the slightly dodgy Extrawelt which came out on Traum earlier this month, if you must.

Download:
Extrawelt - Schmedding // Traum Schallpatten


Oh, and it’s Mother’s Day on Sunday, so be a good kid and don’t forget to pick up the phone.

I put a record on

Sorry it's been a while - to say things have been hectic round TAPE's London HQ would be a "'Wombat' is quite good"-sized understatement. Apologies over; behold instead my current top....19.

Soft's Top 19 aka "Go easy on the Kompakt, son"
(14/03)

1. SUBSTANCE & VAINQUEUR - REVERBERATION // HARDWAX
Finely-tuned dub-techno workouts from the people who know

2. LOEFAH - DISKO REKAH // DEEP MEDI MUSIK
This has 'Left Leg Out' crossover potential scrawled over it - techy dubstep, in a good way


3. JURGEN PAAPE - FRUITY LOOPS [SPEICHER 47] // KOMPAKT EXTRA
Storming return from the elusive Kompakt founding father

4. JAMES YORKSTON - WOOZY WITH CIDER (QUIET VILLAGE REMIX) // DOMINO
Yorkston's slightly dodgy spoken-worder gets souped, er, down by QV, in the manner to which we're accustomed....

5. JUNIOR BOYS - LIKE A CHILD (CARL CRAIG MIX) // DOMINO and LAZY FAT PEOPLE - PIXEL GIRL (C2 REMIX) // PLANET E
Can't say either of these hold a candle to 'In The Trees' or any of Craig's unassailable 2006 offerings, but worth your attention all the same

6. JUSTUS KOHNCKE - ADVANCE (PRINS THOMAS REMIX) // KOMPAKT
The string-augmented rework of 'Elan' pales in comparison to the evergreen original, but the rhythmic makeover of 'Advance' is nothing if not interesting - a sort of off-step motorik that you should judge for yourself

7. BECK - CELL PHONE HIT (RICARDO VILLALOBOS REMIX) // INTERSCOPE
Wasn't too impressed to begin with, but at some point I was drawn in and now I can't get out...

8. KATE WAX / MIHOACAN - ST PLOMB & EMPEROR MACHINE REMIXES // TINY STICKS VS MENTAL GROOVE
Two of our favourite labels go head to head, with 'She's Heaven Sent' getting an instrumental treatment from the 'Machine and Kate Wax (whose vocal's I, for one, can't stand...) getting the once over from genius St Plomb

9. KATHY DIAMOND - OVER // PERMANENT VACATION

This ain't quite 'All Woman', but whether you choose the vocal or instrumental, it's an inarguable Fulton disco bomb

10. GUDRUN GUT - I PUT A RECORD ON LP // MONIKA ENTERPRISE
High priestess of the Berlin underground, sometime member of Einsturzende Neubauten and Thomas Fehlmann collaborator comes out with weirdly expressive, difficult to categorize but pretty rewarding LP

11. CARSTEN JOST - ATLANTIS I & II // DIAL
I was a latecomer to Dial; now I simply can't get enough. Give me Atlantis III and IV and V and VI...

12. ALEX UNDER - 1, 2, 3 RESPONDA OTRAPEZ // TRAPEZ
You know where you are with Alex Under on Trapez

13. HEARTTHROB - BABY KATE (REMIXES) // M-NUS
Min2Max's highlight gets a bunch of likeable if deeply unnecessary overhauls - standout versions come courtesy of Konrad Black and...Plastikman



14. STARDIVER / SUPERPITCHER - SPEICHER 48 // KOMPAKT EXTRA
Stardiver, as the name suggests, take us to the warm, trancey climes that Kompakt is known for but all too rarely delivers, while 'Pitch takes calls to mind Matias Aguayo's phenomenal Are You Really Lost LP with a slo-mo, druggy disco chugger

15. THE MISSING LINK - FISHIN' // WAGON REPAIR
Missing Link's '911' EP has a special place in my heart, and while 'Fishin'' isn't of quite the same calibre, the itchy grooves and totally unpredictable synth-work/programming will get right under your skin

16. ANDY STOTT - HANDLE WITH CARE // MODERN LOVE
Dubby, reduced techno a la Basic Channel from Manchester's finest

17. MAX MOHR - PLAY LP // PLAYHOUSE
Carnage and I have long been fans of Mohr's life-affirming ditty 'Old Song', and that track features on this, his 2nd album for Playhouse. Trickmixer's Revenge is no We Are Monster, but its heart's in the right place, and it's diverting enough.


18. REINHARD VOIGT - CHARGE YOUR DREAMS // KOMPAKT
Voigt is back, and he's peddling a nice line in undulating ambient synths and slick, bassy rhythm...This one's killer

19. LUSINE - PODGELISM (LAWRENCE REMIX) // GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL
Oh, Lawrence....


Still hot.....The Field - Here We Go Sublime LP // Kompakt; Pantha Du Prince - This Bliss LP // Dial; Minilogue - Elephant's Parade // Wagon Repair; LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum (Onastic Dub) // EMI; V.A. - Secret Weapons // Innervisions; Findlay Brown - Losing The Will To Survive (Wizard's Sleeve Edit) // White; Will Saul & Tam Cooper - Sequential Circus // Aus; V.A. - Silverbird Casino CD and, quite frankly, many, many more..




Anyway, Londoners among you need to pop down to the Lock Tavern in Camden tomorrow night (Thursday 15th March), where myself and Simon Carr will be at the controls, with a spot of live music from One More Grain and possibly matey from Cajun Dance Party and his...ukelele. Simon runs This Is Not An Exit records, and has put out top-notch gear by They Came From The Stars I Saw Them (their first single 'It's Time' featured a brilliant Optimo remix, and unwieldy new EP 'The Unstoppable Kite' is no less essential listening). Simon also has some sterling releases planned for '07, including a Hatchback 12" b/w ludicrously epic Prins Thomas remix. We'll be spinning disco, techno, kraut, whatever takes our fancy, all the while adhering to Simon's strict 'no neu-rave' policy (which raises some difficult decisions for the selector: Erol's instr. remix of 'Golden Skans' - neu-rave or not neu-rave???). Anyway, come down, get drunk, smoke your crack or whatever you kids do these days and witness me trainwreck The Groundhogs' 'Cherry Red' into the Mystikz, or something. We kick off at 8 and go til close (around midnight) and entry is of course FREE.

Ok, before I go, a couple of mp3s.

First up, a fine cut from Max Mohr's forthcoming Trickmixer's Revenge LP on Playhouse. The album is available from www.boomkat.com and www.phonicarecords.com , or check www.playhouse.de

Download: Max Mohr - Diamenten // Playhouse

And, to see you off, an edit of Cat Stevens' spectacularly uncharacteristic and frankly immortal electro jam 'Was Dog A Doughnut', by Pilooski. Get your mitts on Vol. 5 of Dark & Lovely, wherein Pilooski sets to work on Amon Duul, Jackson Jones and People - limited to 1000 copies, no represses, so make it sharpish.

Download:
Cat Stevens - Was Dog A Doughnut (PLSKI Edit) // Dark & Lovely

Check: www.d-i-r-t-y.com
and their awesome blog at: http://alainfinkielkrautrock.blogspot.com

If House Was A Nation, I Wanna Be President

Here's this week's radio instalment, starting off with the debut release from Bristol's technoid pride and joy, Emptyset (buy the new 12" on Future Days as soon as you can - it's out of stock at Boomkat but can still be obtained from Phonica and Juno... or Hardwax if you fancy paying the postage). Expect taut, streamlined, reductionist beats with maximal dancefloor impact that's already won them fans at the aforementioned Hardwax store, and also over at Warp records HQ. They'll be playing Mutant Pop's 1st birthday party next month as well, but more details on that will come in good time. There's other techno from Synclair (an Ada and Basteroid collaboration), Efdemin on Lawrence's Dial label, the best track from Donnacha Costello's 6x6 series, and loads of other housey/italo/disco/techy gubbins to get your teeth around. It goes out at the usual time tonight (1am GMT) so if you plan to listen live head to the main Viva page here instead. Enjoy, and make sure to keep your ears pricked for one of Mock'n'Toof's forthcoming edits on RVNG and Prins Thomas' reworking of Justus Kohncke's classic 'Elan'.

TAPE Radio - Show #21: 'If House Was A Nation, I Wanna Be President'
1. Emptyset - Acuphase // Future Days
2. Synclair - Run Johnny Run // Areal
3. Donnacha Costello - 6.6 // Minimise
4. Blaze - Lovelee Dae // Classic
5. M83 - Teen Angst (Luciano Remix) // Gooom
6. Efdemin - Just A Track // Dial
7. Bang The Party - Release Your Body (Mayday Mix) // Transmat
8. Akabu - I'm Not Afraid Of The Future (Joey Negro Medusa Mix) // Z
9. Patrick Cowley - Mind Warp // Megatone
10. Laserdance - Humanoid Invasion (Original Mix) // ZYX
11. Nitzer Ebb - Warsaw Ghetto (Original 12" Mix) // Rush
12. Haroumi Hosono - Platonic // Alfa
13. Mock & Toof - Digit 1 // RVNG
14. Giorgio Moroder - Baby Blue // Durium
15. Justus Kohncke - Elan (Prins Thomas Version) // Kompakt
16. Odyssey - Native New Yorker (12" Mix) // RCA Victor

Listen:
TAPE Radio - Show #21: 'If House Was A Nation, I Wanna Be President'

Once you pop, you just can't stop...

In case you've forgotten, it's our monthly Mutant Pop bash at the Arc Bar tonight with the Halo boys upstairs and iDJ editor Sell By Dave. For a taster of what to expect from us and Sell By, here's his set from his New Year's gig at the Buoyancy/NRK party. Orange Juice's 'Rip It Up' for the first tune of '07 - a fine selection indeed!

Sell by Dave - Live At The Cosmic Lounge (NYE 06/07)
1) L. Pierre – Gullsong // Melodic Records
2) Chris Carter – Moonlight (Tonic Re-Edit) // Mindless Boogie
3) Anders Weiderwoller – Belladonna (Tangoterje Re-Edit) // Balearic Biscuits
4) Felix Laband – Whistling In Tongues (Todd Terje Remix) // Compost Records
5) Earth, Wind & Fire – Drum Song (Edit) // White
6) Paul Simon – Can’t Run But // WEA
7) The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu – Burn The Bastards (Excerpt) // KLF Communications
8) Orange Juice – Rip It Up (Long Version) // Polydor
9) Chris Rea – On The Beach (Tangoterje Megamix) // Balearic Biscuits
10) Mudd – 54B // Rong
11) LSB – Original Highway Delight // Eskimo Recordings
12) The Osmonds – I,.I, I (Quiet Village No Edit) // Eskimo Recordings
13) Weirdo Police – Full Moon & Thunder (Floor Mix) // Redux
14) Roxy Music – Same Old Scene (Glimmers Remix) // Virgin/EMI
15) The Turtles – Happy Together (Wade Nichols Edit) // Mindless Boogie

Download:
Sell by Dave - Live At The Cosmic Lounge (NYE 06/07)

Yes, there's a lot of Todd Terje stuff on there, but when has that ever been a bad thing? Also, if everything goes to plan we should be recording the discoid delights downstairs, so keep a look out for the audio on here later this month.

TAPEd Conversation: Jeremy P Caulfield (Dumb-Unit, Berlin)

The serious fans (is there another kind?) of new-wave minimal among you will almost certainly own a record or two issued by the Berlin-based Dumb-Unit imprint. Founded by Exercise One's Ingo Gansera and Canadian Jeremy P Caulfield, Dumb-Unit is home to Butane, Sweet-N-Candy and Alejandro Vivanco, among others. This month sees the release of Detached Works, a 2XCD compilation celebrating nearly 5 years of Dumb-Unit business. The first disc is a handy, unmixed collection of concertedly dry, reductionist Dumb-Unit bangers (including Exercise One's blistering version of Sweet-N-Candy's 'Unbreakable'); the second disc is a 73-minuted mix by Caulfield himself which goes beyond Dumb-Unit's percussive, amelodic aesthetic to take in tasty numbers by the likes of Axel Bartsch, 3 Channels and Shonky.

We caught up with Jeremy C to talk midgets, fishing and the dark fantastic...

It’s TAPE’s round. What are you drinking?

Aiight...If it’s just us lads then I’d go for for a nice pint of something wheaty, maybe with a slice of lemon...If we’re out on the town .. a gin and tonic with Bombay...


Do you go back to Toronto much?

About twice a year...I always play for my buddy Ian from Fukhouse...For some reason he’s the only guy there that throws a techno night that isn’t a penis party ..


How has the techno scene developed/changed there over the years?

It hasn’t...that’s why I moved...


"City-wise, Berlin hasn't even hit its stride..."


Do you think the electronic artist ‘émigré’ thing is reaching saturation point in Berlin? Is it still an exciting place to work/live/party?

The same way that L.A. is for film, New York is for writers or Milan is for fashion...Berlin is for electronic music. It’s a hub and a launchpad. So the hype that surrounds it will always be in flux - some years it will be hip, others not. But the city is too diverse and complex musically to really fall off the edge. The minimal “thing" can be considered burnt out. But then again there are so many layers to minimal that it’s too easy to just say it’s a fad (not that I think you’re saying this )...Dumb-Unit is minimal, M-nus is minimal , Areal is minimal.. and all are techno too...There’s just too much energy right now for Berlin to be slowed down. Musicians get bored quickly and I think Berlin’s sound will only continue to evolve...City-wise, it hasn’t even hits its stride...There’s still no international airport etc, I can’t find a good diner or real bacon . So you know, there’s still a long way to go...


How do you find the German language?

Difficult, that’s why I speak English...But really it’s now time for me to learn and I start a new course next week. It’s taken me a few years to get Dumb-Unit to where I wanted. Now I can focus a bit more on the cultural aspects of living here. I just never took the time to learn German because I don’t need it for work. It’s all been about work up until now...So now that I’m more settled I’m hoping to pick up the nuances of living here that I'm missing.


Geek question. You used Serato Scratch to mix CD2 of ‘Detached Works’. What do you like about this particular piece of equipment?

I was sitting on new music for months...So I wanted to play it before the rest of the world. I wanted to keep the same energy as with vinyl. So Serato was the answer...It’s better than CDs...I think playing CDs is a far bigger insult to vinyl...It’s like playing a cheap silver made-in-Taiwan midget version of vinyl. Serato is still tactile. I touch it and work it the same way. I organize records the same way, front to back, in a crate...Also I think not being in my home town made it harder for me to appreciate having loads of vinyl kicking around. I think when I settle down into a little Scottish farmhouse with my studio out back in the old coach house I’ll start collecting vinyl again (as well as old copper milk jugs and horseshoes).


Will we ever know what the ‘P’ in Jeremy P Caulfield stands for? Should we already know? My current two favourite guesses are ‘Peregrine’ and ‘Percy’.

Phencyclidine hydrochloride


What makes Detached Works different to other “similar” DJ comps knocking around at the moment?

To the people on it and to myself we know it’s a much more personal project. Almost everyone is a friend or part of a close knit group. So I think there was a good positive feeling about the CD floating around long before it came out. We worked hard to make it a more subtle type of thing. It is not chock full of hits etc...


How would you describe the Dumb-Unit sound? What do you think unites all the records you put out on the imprint?

We’ve gone through stages. Our sound has evolved but also always stayed rooted in crisp dry percussion, not too many hooks , smart drumming and good energy...I like nice cuts and edits and some digital FX too, but it has to be honest...I like to think of Dumb-Unit as a good honest sound. As Nirvana or the Ramones or Tom Waits or Neil Young is to rock. Where things are there because they should be not because they ought to be...


Any plans for artist albums on Dumb-Unit in the future?

Well, if I stopped running the label, I might get some time..but um then that would kind of not be a Dumb-Unit album then...But no, not right now...it’s a singles market anyhow...


"I always like being at someone's house and smelling cat pee covered up by Fabreeze..."

I’m pleased to hear you're playing Stink in London on Apr 9. What’s your favourite smell?

I always like being at someone’s house and smelling cat pee covered up by Febreeze...It’s pungent but fruity with an unmistakable heaviness way down below... My favourite word for smell is 'dank'...How can a four letter word convey so much depth..?


How did you hook up with Ingo Gansera?

We met at a singles bar, he bought me a drink...


Is vinyl your preferred DJing format?

No I’m a SERATO type of guy now...Call me old...


I may be wrong on this, but there’s a kind of Miami/Hollywood gangster/hustler theme going on with the Dumb-Unit artwork, all palm trees and burly men carrying briefcases - is there a reason you chose that particular aesthetic?

I wanted to create a look for the label that was as ambiguous as the name...A kind of weird world of faceless suit type guys...It’s hard to do on a 4 inch label but “the men” as we call them have a nice subtle impact and can be a bit disturbing. It was also in retaliation to this “future” look that was so prevalent when I started the label. All these labels with little circles and lines etc, they remind me of those rave pants with all the
pockets and unnecessary accessories...Anyhow. I wish I could follow the Men theme a bit more. It was my goal at the start to have something more akin to graphic novel etc...Perhaps a bit later...

Which of your own productions/remixes are you most proud of and why?

I’m not really proud of any “specifically”. I find as a label owner I’m constantly surrounded by music that sounds so much more professional then my own .. but I think what I am proud of is the honesty and directness that my music displays. It’s not technically perfect nor does it fit into the canon of minimal, but it does have a theme to it and I think this will allow it to last a lot longer than most things out there ..


‘Ripped Backsides’. ‘Grotbox’. ‘Scar City’. ‘Wreck Room’. ‘Haunted Days’. A lot of darkness (and, it seems, occasional humour) in your titles. Do you see your music as dark? Is there an emotional slant to what you do, or at least an emotional slant/content that you are trying to achieve beyond dancefloor functionality?

My music and DJing are dark...I’m a visual person and so I’m inspired more from sights , images, films, etc than I am by other music . I try to convey this inspiration into what I make, to create a sonic space of what inspires me visually. Whether I succeed is a different story...From JG Ballard books, to Terry Giliam to Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Brutilism etc. I’m inspired by the dark fantastic that many of these people and countless others create. Most of these people also take a bit of a humorous approach to the darkness they portray...Because dark without a bit of humour is gothic...and we all know just how bad that can be...


Why did the minimally-inclined DJ/producer cross the road?

Because Ricardo lived there...


"He's half ferret with rabies, half hummingbird..."


Plans for Dumb-Unit in 2007? Forthcoming releases your excited about?

I don’t want to blow sunshine up my own ass but I think we have one of the best years coming up..We’ve really connected with some strong artists...Geoph Serge , which is Seph and Jorge Savoretti, and Lee Curtiss - who in my opinion is the most talented artist right now. He’s half ferret with rabies, half hummingbird and so fits just fine with our concept. Also we have more records from our man Butane who is now my neighbour, of course a new EP from Sweet n Candy soon (who is also my neighbour)...And then a slew of EPs from Sarah Goldfarb, Tesh club etc...


If you weren’t a musician/working with music, what do you imagine you’d be
doing?

I’d like to get back into more visual arts...Maybe a bit of writing...or a mix of both...Also get back skiing , do all these things that I did before Techno ate my life (that’s actually stolen from Butane...he wanted to name a track for everybody...techno ate my girlfriend...)


On your myspace you say you’d “rather be fishing”. Do you fish? Have you ever fished? Have you ever caught one?

As the old proverb goes: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you can get rid of him for the weekend.


Cheers to Jeremy for taking the time to spill the beans for us. 'Detached Works' is out now, and Londoners can catch Mr Caulfield playing at the End this Sunday March 4, or at T-Bar for Stink next month (Apr 9). The same days sees the release of his new Dumb-Unit 12" 'Lacewing Puff' . Check his myspace for worldwide tourdates...

www.myspace.com/jpcaulfield
www.dumb-unit.com

Weekly Disco

Here's yet another lazy post with this week's Viva show tracklisting. As with most of the current shows, it's another excursion taking you from techno to disco and back with a few curveballs on the way. Sometimes I get the feeling that I'm alienating some of the more die-hard monogenre fans with shows like this, but to hell with it. Open your minds and ears, I say! We start with some deep, dark grooving business from Matt Edwards and the Dettmann/Klock collaboration on the so-on-the-money-it-hurts Ostgut Ton label, before taking things into the territory of wonk that I adore so much with Andy Freer's 'Super Galaxo'. Unfortunately, this track (featured on AI's 'New Town' label sampler) was his one and only released production, as I hear that he unfortunately passed away on his travels when a tsunami hit. This comes from the mouth of Puffin, and he's still not sure if this is actually true, but it makes perfect sense as someone this ridiculously talented would surely be cherished in today's techno scene.

There's more techno to follow from a mysterious Frenchman who goes by the name of Sarah Goldfarb (Selby Jr fans take note) which has an engaging stop-start structure that makes it stand out as one of the more innovative records from the tail end last year. Add to that the buried percussion and the 'Polar Shift'-esque drop and you've got a dancefloor winner. It wouldn't, however, send a certain Mr Soft into the level of manic whooping as the track that follows it. Unfairly looked over due to the excellent Radio Slave reworking on the flipside, Hell's mammoth chunky chugger deserves as much of a reappraisal as the aforementioned Edwards version. Now I'm sure that Und's cheeky cowboy stomper 'Rodeo' got quite a lot of play over on the continent (maybe I'm romanticising here, but I imagine a few of the European DJs have much more of a sense of humour than the ones over here) but got unfairly overlooked here in the UK simply due to its sheer silliness. Get jigging to those galloping hoofs and duelling guitars and remind yourself what having fun on the floor's all about.

Going away from all the 4s4 business, we've got a track from two of the Can members and bass guitar legend Jah Wobble (pictured above - read a fantastic interview with him from 2004 here). I don't really have to tell you how good this is, do? That bassline, the delayed piano stab... I could gush more, but I'll restrain myself. Ditto with Gang Of Four. Just pick up Entertainment! if you haven't already and let it wash all those mediocre indie bands from two years back from your memory. Yello's 'Daily Disco' is probably one of the saner tracks from their stupendously off the wall 'Claro Que Si' LP, and I have to say that it reminds me a little of classic Ian Dury in places. Ian Dury on crack, that is. Exclusive new stuff from LSB (yes, another Pete Herbert track on the radio show, but why complain when he's producing such quality at the moment?) follows the early 80s menta-pop, where Petey boy sets out to reinvent the rave whistle as the new cowbell. Chirpy chanting, feelgood horns, and distorted guitar chords come together to make a perfect anthem for those summer strolls down to the local shops.

I've been digging Lexx quite a bit over the past year what with his 'Sirocco' release, edits on Mindless Boogie, and a fantastic remix for Antena, but this remix of Compost's Zwicker (pick up his excellent Scratch'n'Sniff EP if you see it kicking about) really takes the biscuit. With arpeggiated synths akin to the ones on DFA's Soulwax remix (they sound so alike I even wonder if it's a sample), down and dirty low slung live bass, and all sorts of spangly cosmic effects, it's a total winner in my book. Lee Douglas is someone else who I've been loving ever since his 'Same Changes' dropped on Rong. Here he returns on the same label to drop his first ever remix for Simon James' Woolfy project. Kick out the cosmic jams and get ready to be sent into orbit. Lee'll also be doing a mix for Beats In Space in the coming weeks, so make sure to look out for that. After that comes a remix of Grace Jones from Ashley Beedle which is surprisingly louche for the X-Press 2 man's usual fare, but a feelgood anthem all the same. Just check that minimal percussion though - magic!

Avid readers will probably already be aware of my unquenchable passion for XTC (insert generic drug addict joke here), and here's one of their more experimental cuts from their vaguely electronic phase. Still, it's as poppily madcap as you'd expect from the boys and that's never a bad thing in my book. Things drop down a bit with Morgan Geist's bliss-tronic 'Lullaby' from 2001's Super EP. Boompty disco excellence as you'd expect from the man (who's been surprisingly quiet of late, no?). I've been giving the Gui Boratto album a good few spins lately, and even though I'm a huge fan of his first two releases on K2 and an even bigger fan of the Kompakt Pop ethos and sound, I'm struggling to enjoy this as a fully realised artist album. It's got moments of absolute genius (like the swirlingly beautiful micro-house of Mala' Starna which is featured here), but the dancefloor tracks on there (with Mr Decay being the notable exception) generally fail to excite. I've have, however, found much more favour with the shorter melodic pieces toward the end of the LP (Xilo and Acrostico being my other favourites).

It was Puffin Jack that first drew my attention to the Wighnomy's remix of Gustav from their Okkasion EP (well worth purchasing as the A-side 'Hankkofloppe' is a reverb-soaked dancefloor killer with a bass synth reminiscent of a K'd out Yello). I said sometime last year that Robag and Monkey really seem to excel when presented with a melodic song-based track to remix, and this is another shining example of that. Keep a look out for their forthcoming remix compilation, due out next month. We return to the discoid stylings with a song from 1984 by The Voyagers that, like the Andy Freer track, was the only one ever produced by the group. Multiple synths slowly duel and develop together throughout, whilst it's all brought together by the steady loping beat and longing female vocal. I've also really been enjoying A Mountain of One's debut EP on their own AMO imprint (expect the second one to drop in the next few months) since I managed to get a copy of the repress. Nobody's doing the psych-disco style quite like them at the moment, and it was fairly difficult to pick just one track from it to highlight it's brilliance. On another day I'd have probably picked their re-version of Ginny's 'Can't Be Serious', but I've plumped for 'Ride' with its virtuoso Spanish guitar, booming drums, and tense monotonal bass. Make sure you pick up a copy before the repress sells out! Lastly we've got a slice of silky (or should that be sickly?) smooth soul from Samson & Delilah, again from '84, Anyone for a slow dance?

TAPE Radio - Show #20: 'Weekly Disco'
1) Force Of Nature - Sequencer (Rekid Remix) // Mule Musiq
2) Dettmann & Klock - Dawning // Ostgut Ton
3) Andy Freer - Super Galaxo // AI
4) Sarah Goldfarb - Homodiskotekus // Treibstoff
5) Chelonis R Jones - Deer In The Headlights (DJ Hell Remix) // Get Physical
6) Und - Rodeo // Trapez Ltd
7) Jah Wobble, Jaki Liebezeit & Holger Czukay - How Much Are They? // Island
8) Gang Of Four - To Hell With Poverty // EMI
9) Yello - Daily Disco // Do It
10) LSB - Fog // CD-R
11) Zwicker - I Get My Kicks At Nighttime (Lexx Dub) // Compost Black Label
12) Woolfy - The Warehouse (Lee Douglas Remix) // Rong
13) Grace Jones - Feel Up (Ashley Beedle Remix) // Strut
14) XTC - A Dictionary Of Modern Marriage // Virgin
15) Morgan Geist - Lullaby // Environ
16) Gui Boratto - Mala' Strana // Kompakt
17) Gustav - We Shall Overcome (Wighnomy's Okkasion Re(h)end) // Freude Am Tanzen
18) The Voyagers - Distant Planet // Discomagic
19) A Mountain Of One - Ride // AMO
20) Samson & Delilah - I Can Feel Your Love Slipping Away // Saturn

Listen:
TAPE Radio - Show #20: 'Weekly Disco'

Ok, so I haven't been so lazy this week, so I hope this makes up for me posting the tracklisting a bit late. It's ready for streaming at the above link, so get clicking!

I've also had a mail from long time reader Jewster asking where he can get the Caspa track that I played on the show a few weeks back. He wanted it as a paid digital download, but I was quick to explain the reason why you don't see dubstep available to buy digitally, this being the importance of the low end in the music (especially when played out) and the problems that there are with mp3 clipping as it affects the low frequencies a lot more than the high. In this modern day where laptop sets and CD-Js are now commonplace, its almost refreshing to have a scene with such strict analogue ideologies laid upon it - even playing tracks off CDs is frowned on, and that's from the wav files! Anyway, here's the Caspa track (yousendit again so don't hang around) for your mp3 leeching needs and I've copied in what I had to say about it last time around.

"Last year, if someone had told you that they'd heard a killer dubstep track that sampled Willy Wonka, you'd probably tell them to stop smoking so much crack. This is, however, exactly what Caspa has done as he marries the sample to a huge monotonal bassline and superbly rasping beats. One for the psychedelic bass freaks, methinks."

Download:
Caspa - For The Kids // Dub Police

But remember - buy the vinyl if you get the chance! I know that this is hard if you live somewhere where this music is difficult to buy, but drop Rooted a nice e-mail and they may even put some records aside for you until it makes it worth the shipping cost. Also, remember that it's Mutant Pop this Friday. Bit of a local tip this time around with sets from iDJ editor Sell By Dave (who'll be rocking the downstairs with me and Puffin), and Halo's James Hurley and Dan Reilly (who'll be upstairs with minimal magicians Mike and Gaz) who've been making waves in Bristol's after hours scene. Hopefully we'll see you down there!