Ride The Hardway

Been a bit quiet on the blog front recently, but things have been fairly busy chez Carnage. Pick up this month's iDJ magazine and you'll find a piece that I've written on mad French jazzy techno popsters Noze and their forthcoming 'Songs On The Rocks' LP, and there's also a really insightful main feature on Andy Butler from Hercules & Love Affair done by my best before: compadre Sell By Dave. Check the poster below for details of our party featuring a DJ set from the man himself if you're around Bristol over the bank holiday weekend.

Also I've started doing a bit of writing for Resident Advisor - you can find links to the reviews I've done below:

EQD - Equalized #001 // Equalized

Badawi ft. Kode9 & Juakali - Den Of Drumz/Crows // ROIR

Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts - Le Crew Normand EP // Karat

I'm generally reviewing stuff that they've got on vinyl as it lightens my basket, as it were, so if you think that I might be interested in reviewing your release then send your black crack over to RA or you could even send it to me directly - the address is on the sidebar.

I've just done a short e-mail interview with 2562 concerning his forthcoming LP 'Aerial' (which is absolutely cracking, by the way) for next month's iDJ, so I'll post the transcript up here sometime soon.

On the audio front, here's a mix done by longtime friend of TAPE, Sean Johnston (aka Hardway Bros). He was charged with warming up for Weatherall at his 'Watch The Ride' mix launch down at new London venue East Village, and this is what he came up with. Quite excellent, I think you'll agree. He'll also be playing the warm up party for the new Pointless Edits 12" down at The Bank next Friday, so pop on down for muchos pint and pickled egg action. Plus some quality tuneage, of course!

The Fitzcarraldo Variations - Gamma Model // History Clock
Tiger Stripes - Black Beach (Original Mix) // Dialect Recordings
Rodion - Electric Soca (Cosmo Vitelli Remix) // Gomma
Sly Mongoose - Bad Pulse (Padded Cell Remix) // Mule Musiq
Quiet Village - Desperate Hours // Lo Recordings
Jay Shepheard - The Last Days (Of Cou Cou D) // Compost Black Label
Jaz - See Me On The Doll // 65
Ben Mono - Beatbox feat. Capitol A (Jacob London Remix) // Compost
Force Of Nature - Sequencer // Mule Musiq
John Daly - Do It // Wave Music
Hatchback - Jetlag (Faze Action Remix) // Thisisnotanexit Records
In Flagranti - Effective Placebo Affect // Speak Recordings
Hedford Vachal - Alan vs Gary // Tirk
Lullabies In The Dark - Code 7429 // Permanent Vacation
Williams - Love On A Real Train (Williams Odyssey Mix) // Love Triangle
Headman - Hostage // Gomma
Altz - Unknown (Mungolian Jetset Mix) // CD-R
Human League - The Things That Dreams Are Made Of (Ilya Santana Dub Mix) // Hooj Choons
Kano - It's A War - SS Uk Re-Edit // Full Time
Marcello Giordani - I'm Not Blade Runner // Mule Musiq
Solomun - Black Rose (Vinyl Version) // Sonar Kollektiv
Sascha Funke - Chemin Des Figons // Bpitch Control
Radio Slave - Tantakatan // Rekids
Riley Reinhold - Sunset Sound // MBF
Par Grindvik - Do Us Part (Len Faki Remix) // Drumcode

Download:
Sean Johnston - Live at East Village

Also, I'll be in NYC next month from the 7th to the 14th visiting friends and recording a DJ set for the guys at Viva Radio, so if you're putting on a party at a club or even back at your gaff and need someone to spin some tunes then give me a shout and I'll pack my bag accordingly. Enquiries about getting a gig have so far been fruitless, but it'd be nice to meet some new people and get some people dancing whilst I'm over. Record shop, party and general New York recommendations are also very welcome, though I'm already pretty certain that I'll be heading to Cielo for Francois K's Deep Space night on Monday, and 215 on Tuesday for Jacques Renault's night where Low Motion Disco will be spinning some tunes. Anyway, take care and I hope you all have a good weekend!

Two dates for your diary...

Record Shop Solidarity

This Saturday is National Record Store Day in the US, and here in Bristol Rooted Records is joining in the celebration. There will be FREE beer and chicken served instore from 2pm for purchases over £20. We believe it is right to celebrate the role that record stores play in the cultural life of local communities, especially here in Bristol, now that we have so few. As you know this blog is very fond of vinyl, so get out there and support the stores!

In the shop all afternoon will be King Tubby's Box (pictured above) from Downbeat Melody Soundsystem booming out some essential selections with sets from Peverelist, Puffin Jack & Steve Rice.

www.recordstoreday.com

www.rootedrecords.co.uk

In The Box - March

Bit late on this, but better late than never as they say...

1) Mixworks – Persistence EP // Mixworks
Ridiculously good 12” from the previous unknown Mixworks outfit with three tracks of solid grooves and mindblowing melodies. ‘Berlin Dub’ is a boompty dub houser that's guaranteed to rock any floor to its foundations, whilst ‘Believer’ is a trippy minor chord skipper (those hats!) to get the heads wiggling in the early morning. It closes with ’50 Degrees’, a warehouse banger which reveals its heart melding melody two thirds of the way though without losing any of the jack. I know I’m a bit late on this one but I only just managed to find myself a copy – pick one up if you still can.

Listen:
Mixworks – Persistence EP // Mixworks

2) Peverelist – Infinity Is Now / Junktion // Tectonic
Once again, local boy Tom pisses all over the competition with two massive tracks for Pinch’s Tectonic label. The futurist stepping techno of ‘Infinity Is Now’ is one thing, but the bassline on ‘Junktion’ is some seriously heavy shit that has to be heard to be believed. Make sure to check out the trippy lock groove at the end.

Listen:
Peverelist – Infinity Is Now // Tectonic
Peverelist – Junktion // Tectonic

3) The Mole – As High As The Sky // Wagon Repair
I was expecting this to be good before I’d even heard it, but once I started listening I was absolutely blown away. From spooky techno groovers that make you bump in the night, through to jazzy house groovers in a Theo vein, it’s a great ride from start to finish and it’ll be getting a lot of play round my gaff this year.

4) Kode 9 vs Badawi – Den Of Drumz // Roir
Banger alert! The Kode 9 remix on this one is a pulsating ethnic pumpfest that will be staying in my box for a fair while, I reckon.

Listen:
Kode 9 vs Badawi – Den Of Drumz // Roir

5) Equalized – 001 // Equalized
It’s all about the B on this mysterious Hardwax affiliated 12”, marrying all that’s great about Detroit techno and Detroit house into one clinically produced whole. Flip over for an austere minimal house swinger that’s most definitely both minimal, and house.

Listen:
Equalized – 001 A // Equalized
Equalized – 001 B // Equalized

6) V/A – 4th Bouquet // Styrax Leaves
As ever with Styrax, the quality is high on this one with cuts from both Quantec and Leftover from the Statik camp taking up one side, and Dial boss Lawrence sharing the A with newcomer Haventepe. The latter has only had his stuff released on mp3 labels previous to this point, but if he’s going to keep churning out smooth synth swellers as good as ‘Air’, we’re in for a treat. I heard it played by Cle near the end of Sunday evening’s proceedings in Panorama and it was like having an aural bath. As is the usual with the decent Styrax stuff, this’ll probably turn up on Discogs in a few months at double the price, so I’d pick it up sooner rather than later if I was you.

Listen:
V/A – 4th Bouquet // Styrax Leaves

7) Noze – Songs On The Rocks LP // Get Physical
Noze go pop, in their own inimitable way. The result is a wildly adventurous and entertaining romp that encompasses skippily jaunty techno-pop, eerie cinematic epics, yearning Waitsian (Tom, that is) bar room rants, and much more over its nine song duration.

8) V/A – Computer Incarnations For World Peace II sampler // Sonar Kollektiv
Four great tracks on here, but my favourite is Project Sandro’s ‘Blazer’ - a laid back groover with beautifully intertwined synths and a hypnotically deep bassline.

Listen:
V/A – Computer Incarnations For World Peace II sampler // Sonar Kollektiv

9) Claro Intelecto – Rise // Modern Love
Also well worth checking is his latest full length ‘Metanarrative’, but this one sider is simple but devastatingly effective late night techno for when everything’s gone a bit too wrong...

Listen:
Claro Intelecto – Rise // Modern Love

10) Marlinspike – Bongo Rocka / Climate Control // Marlinspike
Skull Disco meets Blade Runner on ‘Bongo Rocka’, and Detroit synths float over the low key stepping vibes of ‘Climate Control’ (which you can hear on the Trackwerk mix below). I’ve already heard the next two twelves, and trust me – they’re as good as this one.