POST

A little bit more of the dark stuff. Exploring the crossover point between rumbling industrial style techno and ultra spare, expansive post dubstep. The second part is a selection of classic post punk that mines a seam of heavy funk bass and scratchy guitars with some brainmelting electronics.

Dark sounds for long nights.

POST - Right Click & Save As

Tracklist!

Andy Stott - Dark Details

Regis - Blood Witness (M.J. Harris / Karl O'Connor Live Version, 8.2.11)

Vessel - Wax Dance

Raime - This Foundry (Regis Version)

Louderbach - One Hundred Reasons

Silent Servant - Sampler 2

G.H. - Earth

Frozen Border - Untitled

Dettmann - Motive

Anstam - In The Bull Run

Miles - Primer

Raime - Retread

The Normal - Warm Leatherette

This Heat - 24 Track Loop

The Fall - New Puritan (Peel Session)

Cabaret Voltaire - Nag Nag Nag ('79 original)

The Pop Group - We Are All Prostitutes

Public Image Ltd. - Poptones

Throbbing Gristle - Walkabout

A Certain Ratio - Knife Slits Water

Halloween Mix - Danse Macabre

To celebrate Halloween here's a 2 hour descent into hellish dark ambient, modern classical & OST, screaming noise, & deathly droning metal. Not for the squeemish! Best listened to alone in an abandoned mental asylum at 4 in the morning. Tracklist on request.

Danse Macabre - Right Click & Save As

Blawan Mix

I've had another mix removed thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act so I'm going to have to go back to (that's a lot of to's) tracklists on request which is hella annoying if i'm perfectly honest. I'm fully understanding of the reasoning behind pulling links down and fair play to them, but when there's blogs by the dozen that give away entire records in their hundreds then its frustrating that my little corner of the internet is getting hit.
So just to be extra awkward i'm putting up a mix of tracks by UK producer Blawan because he doesn't have an album out. Blawan is ace by the way, got that proper fresh UK post dubstep/funky/techno/house sound down to perfection and added a drizzle of classic acid. So anyways bollocks to the DMCA and whichever record company lackey thoughtlessly crushed my blogosphere dream, download this fucker, stick the volume up to 11 and get your goddamn bogle on.

BLAWAN MIX - Right Click & Saveas

Spartak Mixtapes Presents Dr Dre & Eminem Vs Blawan - Forgot About Vee

BEAT GENERATION - REMOVED

In an unwelcome first for the Blog I've had a mix removed due to copyright infringement. I presume the infringement in question was Lone's Radiohead remix (as it appears they are hammering any links to the RMX CD) but because the notice was sent to Google and the service they send their notices to is not up to date I can't confirm that its defo them. Its a shame really because the mix was fair solid and I would have thought that it was exactly the type of context that the song worked well in, but due to the way record companies try to keep records offline its been caught in a blanket attack on all leaks of the RMX stuff. Once again I'm presuming its the Radiohead track that has caused the problem as the rest of the mix is by producers/on labels that I have used before with no issues.

Never mind, I'm going to redo the mix without the offending track (maybe live mix it for a change) and Re-up ASAP, we'll see if it stays up this time.
More stuff to follow as well so keep em peeled.
Peace out
Bill

I See A Darkness

Pace change ahoy, this right here is a mix of sadcore songs from the likes of Bonnie Prince Billy & Smog, some post rock & modern classical all mixed together with drones and dark ambient. I've tried to keep an Americana feel running throughout, its the perfect soundtrack for a long midnight drive down route 66.

This has been RE-UPLOADED as of the 12/07/11 due to a botched mix, Its no longer botched!!!

I See A Darkness - Right Click & Saveas

Tracklist -

Thomas Köner - [La Barca #03] 45° 26' N 12° 20' E Hour Three

Low - [The Curtain Hits The Cast #12] Dark

Papa M - [Live From A Shark Cage #11] Arundel

On - [Your Naked Ghost Comes Back at Night #02] Erotique

Smog - [Supper #01] Feather By Feather

Stephan Mathieu - [Radioland #05] Auf der Gasse

Ennio Morricone - [Il Grande Silenzio #03] E L'Amore Verra

Labradford - [Mi Media Naranja #01] S

William Fowler Collins - [Perdition Hill Radio #05] Slow Motion Prayer Circle

Godspeed You Black Emperor! - [F# A# (Infinity) #01] The Dead Flag Blues (Intro)

James Stephen Finn - [Homecoming #09] Subterranean Passages

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - [I See A Darkness CD1 #03] I See A Darkness

Pawn - [A Hum Of The Library #03] The Creak Of The Chair

Mogwai - [EP+6 #07] stanley kubrick

Thomas Köner - [Permafrost #04] Permafrost

Lambchop - [Is A Woman #03] My Blue Wave

On - [Your Naked Ghost Comes Back at Night #04] Oh Run Slowly

Low - [The Curtain Hits The Cast #03] Over The Ocean

Jóhann Jóhannsson - [And in the Endless Pause There Came the Sound of Bees #01] Theme

Hybernation - [E2 & E8 #01] Lock 7

The Kills - [Keep On Your Mean Side #11] Monkey 23

Thomas Köner - [Teimo #05] Nieve Penitentes 2

Earth - [The Bees Made Honey In The Lions Skull #06] Hung From The Moon

Papa M - [Hole Of Burning Alms #03] Vol De Nuit

Mountains - [Choral CD1 #06] Sheets Two

E and I - [An Inch Of Air #07] balloonman

Zelienople - [Give It Up #07] Flurry

Thomas Köner - [La Barca #06] 33° 31' N 36° 19' E Hour Six

Slint - [Spiderland #06] Good Morning Captain

Thomas Köner - [Permafrost #06] ...

Smog - [Supper #05] Vessel in Vain.

Ø - [Metri #13] Kentta

Disco Sucks

Disco most definitely does not suck. This is some cheeky disco style house, with loads of stuff from the new king of the disco edit, The Revenge, who rules. Loving his stuff and the new Tiger & Woods record as well. Download the mix, stick on your white suit & strut your stuff on down to the ground!!

Disco Sucks - Right Click & Saveas

6th Borough Project - Deep C

1000 Names - Before sunrise

Kassem Mosse - 2d

De La Soul - Keepin' The Faith (12" UK Mix)

Boards Of Canada - Nlogax

Q-Tip - Breath & Stop (The Revenge Redd Version)

Mark E - Quatro

Isley Brothers - Between The Sheets (The Revenge Rework)

Chicken Lips - Right On Up For Love

White Light Circus - Rocket Ride

Fudge Fingas - Gettin' Together

Tiger & Woods - Curb My Heart (Radio Edit)

Sister Sledge - Lost In Music (The Revenge Rework)

Hackney Colliery Band - Africa

The 2 Bears - Church (Midlands Sunday Service Dub)

Double Hill - Wanna Get

6th Borough Project - B.U.R.T. (The Journey)

Hot Natured - Leectric Feel

Tiger & Woods - Don't Hesitate

Chicken Lips - Move Groove (Album Edit)

Crazy P - Omega Man (Yam Who Edit)

Matthew Dear - Elementary Lover (DJ Koze Rmx)

Crazy P - Drop Your Weapon (Faze Action Edit)

Tiger & Woods - Time

Mark E - Deny This

Matias Aguayo - Minimal (DJ Koze Radio Edit)

6th Borough Project - If The Feelings Right

Roman Fluegel - Pianopiano

Spartak Mixtapes - Moombahcore

Moombahton rocks. Its the sound of the Summer, get involved before it gets ruined. Did I mention it rocks? I'll add a tracklist ASAP.

Go Moombah crazy.

Big shout out to Big T for putting me onto the Moombah bandwagon.

Moombahcore - Right Click & Saveas

DANCE DANCE DANCE

Speaks for itself, check the tracklist in the comments bit, if you like classic dance music you should find something to enjoy. Lots of layering going on, a song playing by itself is rare, 80 odd tracks in just over an hour. Hope you like it! DANCE DANCE DANCE - Right Click & Saveas

Spartak Mixtapes Presents - Panda Bear - Panda-tape

Panda Bear (Noah Lennox to his mother) is great. He makes classy pop music. His tracks are always wildly experimental recalling a swathe of influences from 60's pop to minimal techno, but they're always catchy and his voice, reminiscent of Brian & Carl Wilson on the harmonies, always adds to any song he applies it to. He's own tracks are where it truly shines though.

In celebration of the imminent release of the new Panda Bear album here's a mix of old and new Panda tracks (nothing pre Person Pitch though) some Animal Collective tracks and some notable guest appearances.

Panda-tape Right Click & Saveas

Panda Bear - Comfy In Nautica

Atlas Sound - Walkabout

Ducktails - Killin the Vibe

Animal Collective - My Girls

Panda Bear - Take Pills

Panda Bear - Slow Motion

Pantha Du Prince - Stick To My Side

Animal Collective - Also Frightened

Panda Bear - I'm Not

Panda Bear - You Can Count On Me

Panda Bear - Surfers Hymn (Actress Remix)

Animal Collective - Derek

Panda Bear - Last Night At The Jetty

Panda Bear - Ponytail

Spartak Mixtapes Present Usher Vs Mr Oizo - OMG Flat Beat!

Spartak Mixtapes Presents - Biggie Vs BBC Snooker Theme - Hypnotised & S...

Ice Cube - It Was A Good Day - Spartak Mixtapes Remix

Spartak Mixtapes presents Jay Z Vs Dave Allen - 99 Problems At Large

Radiohead - The King Of Limbs review

Everyone else seemed to go Radiohead mad at the weekend so I thought I'd put my oar in.

Disclaimer - the whole review is IN MY OPINION, please add those 3 words before every sentence to save me the bother of writing them. Also there is a reference to geeky fans. This isn’t meant to be disparaging, I am a geeky fan too, just not a geeky Radiohead fan.

First off the packaging and release of the album seems highly exploitative. To position themselves as against/outside the profit driven nature of the major labels is fine, to then make the 1st physical release of the record (the normal CD edition won't be available till March) £30 in a package they must know their quite geeky fans will buy in droves is slightly hypocritical. They know their fan base are the box set generation, a mate of mine bought the In Rainbows "discbox" edition containing the CD & double vinyl despite not having a record player. Is this a ploy to cover costs or a sincere attempt to create a memorable package? My slightly cynical guess is that it covers both bases, Thom having his cake and eating it (or throwing it against the wall and sampling the splat sounds for a drum break).

Also The King Of Limbs website claims the physical release is (perhaps) the world’s first 'Newspaper Album' which suggests none of the band are very familiar with the work of progressive rock titans Jethro Tull whose classic 1972 concept album 'Thick As A Brick' came wrapped in a full scale 12 page newspaper, complete with written articles with allusions to the music contained within (I've got my dad's original copy of 'Thick...' and it's great, although he has filled in the dot to dot, which, it transpires, is a picture of duck salivating at the sight of a topless lady!).

Phil Selway - Missing, if anyone has seen Phil please contact the band.

Onto the music!! First question to ask is has Phil Selway been sacked? Has he died and been replaced with a lookalike, McCartney style?? If you play 'Feral' backwards does it say "Phil is dead, and his replacement can't play drums" All of the drums sound programmed or quantized, leaving none of the space or feeling of live drums. It’s obvious from the first track 'Bloom' that Flying Lotus, whose record 'Cosmogramma' Thom guested on in 2010, is a massive influence on the rhythm of the record. But where Flylo's J-Dilla influenced beats have a messy swing, the beats on TKOL sound too intricate and clean, programmed to within an inch of their life, particularly on 'Morning Mr Magpie' a jazzy loop groping for a tune. The first 5 tracks all follow the same basic template to varying degrees of success, 'Little By Little' with its looser funkier percussion and intertwining guitars probably being the pick of the bunch, even if it appears to be a riff on 'While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks'!

The record starts to step forward and open up during the last third, 'Codex' with its plaintive piano and simple unfussy arrangement harks back to 'How To Disappear Completely' or even 'The Tourist' for atmosphere and feel. 'Give Up The Ghost' opens with field recorded birdsong (which I admit I am a sucker for) with multitracked vocals and a lovely folky guitar line, building stealthily before Thom's lead vocal soars above the tune for a moment. Often when the band do this type of track they can sound quite whiney, 'Give Up...' manages to avoid this, sounding resigned and melancholic rather than morose. Final track 'Separator' is back to sound of the first half of the record, but midway through a cheeky soul lick is introduced to save the day, the whole track raises from that point and could almost be called funky (almost).

Oh happy Thom.

Overall though, the record is a disappointment, and feels like part of a holding pattern. I can't help but compare it to 'OK Computer' and, like everything else they've done since, it comes up short. The range of experimentation aligned with beautifully written, catchy and exciting music on 'OK...' is staggering and I sympathise with anyone trying to follow it. 'Kid A' was an interesting side step but I can't help but feel it diverted the band into a narrow alley approaching a dead end. Following 'OK...' in 1999 its reported that Ed O'Brian wanted to strip the band’s sound back and do an album of 3 minute guitar pop songs, maybe this is still a direction the band could take. I for one would love to hear that record and I doubt I’m alone in that sentiment. They could release it in tasteful, minimal packaging and price it as cheaply as possible, make a killing without selling out and really stick two fingers up at the major labels. If they want they could get a bunch of top name underground producers to remix it and you'll have the best of both worlds. If only life was so simple!

Chemistry

First post for a while, sorry about that, I've been busy I promise. Not sure what to classify this as other than melodic house, although I have seen a couple of the tracks described horribly as "progressive house" but don't let that put you off. As you can tell I've been loving this stuff lately particulary Midlands stuff, I'm really looking forward to what he does in 2011. All the tracks are tuneful, soulful & funky, but never cheesy, enjoy!


Chemistry - right click & saveas


caribou - hannibal
nicolas jaar - keep me there
david's lyre - in arms (pearson sound remix)
lone - the birds don't fly this high
james blake - i mind
nicolas jaar - time for us
pantha du prunce - a nomads retreat
midland & furiku - leitmotif (midland remix)
superpitcher - friday night
gold panda - vanilla minus
julio bashmore - ask yourself (midland remix)
caribou - sun (midland re-edit)
roman fluegal - how to spread lies
lone - once in a while (midland remix)
the field - foals xIII remix
dj dom - plastic people
moderat - out of sight
mount kimbie - maybes
james blake - the wilhelm scream