LISTEN AGAIN – Crucial & Fresh w/ BELL TOWERS

We’ve gone enough now but here’s your chance to listen to our last show where we were joined by BELL TOWERS. thx

Pentland & Pierross – Project C

“The hills glowed like purple amethyst;
the sky glowed topaz and vermillion colours.
I never saw a finer screen than Pentland.”         

A few post’s ago we put up a TPA mix by Chris Raeburn aka Pentland. We mentioned circuit bending and taste: here are the results. The first track to go up with an enigmatic Pieross, this is:

 ‘Varied, deadly, minimalist to contemplative, slower House.’  

We’re not into this because he’s an associate, we’re into it because its actually good. Smoked out, swirling pads and gentle arps that will tickle your fancy. As usual follow and like Pentland’s new facebook page for more of the same and be sure to check Moskalus‘ youtube channel for more LoFi visual gold.

Crucial & Fresh w/ Bell Towers

Friday night was a ripper. Thanks to all that came down danced and talked shite to each other. Follow the links and check the quality gear that Rohan has out there already. He also mixed with us on our radio show prior to the party, this will be available shortly. More events in the pipeline.

“Having recently made the jump from Melbourne to London, Rohan Bell Towers hasn’t wasted anytime making an impression. After releasing two records on Munich imprint Public Possession, delivering an impeccable Juno Plus Podcast and just partaking in the mandatory Boiler Room mix we are in no doubt that Bell Towers is more than qualified to bring the heat.” 

and our daft promo…

 

LISTEN AGAIN: Crucial & Fresh Radio w/ Saul Wilks (Boogie Cartel)

In his own words “I’ll be hitting L Town’s airwaves tomorrow night playing backto back with Edinburgh’s finest and one half of Crucial and Fresh Tom Russell. Tune in and get a meaty fix of sleazery that’ll see you right for the weekend ahead.”

That was just over a week ago and now is your opportunity to listen again. Watch out for him playing the Downlow Radio Tent at Glastonbury this week.

Carib Zine Launch

We are doing the music all afternoon at a secret location for the Carib zine launch tomorrow afternoon. Artists Liam Richardson and Ruairi McCance have been pouring over this for over a year now and has finally come to see the light of day. The printing is done, the bar has been built, the chicken has been jerked and the Carib beer is being chilled.

“Expect to see; Jelly and AK47s glistening in a rum sunset, an LA raiders Homer carved out of wood, Jesus in space playing with effervescent globules of sludge with his scythe, Old Monk with his see-through head and floating emblems on pyscho camouflage. All under spangly lights with cold beverages.”

Check the preview pages below. Get in touch if you’d like to order on of these very limited Carib zines!

LISTEN AGAIN: Crucial & Fresh w/ Farm Fest DJs

Last week climbing up dangerous non compliant ladder of death and into the studio with us were Joe & Si (Farmfest DJs)

So Farmfest Dj’s you may be wondering? Their name comes from the intimate festival they created in the heart of Somerset, showcasing new and old musical talent, spanning a variety of genres. We went last year and we can assure you its well worth a visit if you haven’t already. 

“FARMFESTIVAL STARTED AS A PARTY FOR FRIENDS AND HAS STAYED THAT WAY 9 YEARS ON.” You can buy tickets here

The boys played a top notch selection of disco/boogie, freestyle and house. Included in our set were the likes of Hi & Saberhagen, Atlus (see previous posts) and Guised. Make sure you check them all. This friday joining us for a special mix is dear friend Saul Wilkes of the Boogie Cartel. Promises to be good wan.

 

Atlus – ‘Teem’

‘If you’re not squad, team, or troops then i’m afraid you’ll have to get out,’ the words I hear on my first ‘4am on a Saturday-Atlus’ encounter. It’s safe to say you’ll want to be part of the Atlus squad. When not working in Rubadub, Glasgow’s young gun Hector Barbour has been making tunes / waves / faces melt in his cupboard (and the club) for 2 years and his ascendancy to a Deadmaus\Avicii type supremacy seems almost set in stone.

His latest offering ‘Midweekend,’ is a 3 track ep conjuring up images of an endless weekend, never going to bed and nervously waiting for the off license to open as you realise you have written off your weekend and your mum probably hates you. With titles such as ‘Sunday Morning’ and ‘You’ve Got To Let This Thing Go’ you get the idea..

Our favourite has to be ‘Teem,’ a big old anxiety inducing shuffler of track that purveys a ‘we’ve got the whole weekend ahead of us’ type excitement. (We will be playing this on our ‘Crucial & Fresh’ radio show tomorrow night)

When asked about the e.p he says ‘it’s based primarily on when I moved back to Glasgow, I kinda got shown that there are so many ways to look day to day life… and the weekend hasn’t really ended for me yet…’

We highly recommend that you but this 3 track weekend journey from his bandcamp HERE. You name your price. Check his Soundcloud here.

Be sure to check out the artist responsible for the art! Elliot Mcintosh

LISTEN AGAIN: Crucial & Fresh w/ Steve Lee

Steve Lee is a busy man, a very busy man. Heading up his label (Above Machine Records), fronting his band (The Project Club), remixing for the likes of U KA on Groovitron, under the alias S L O, running parties east of London and Beyond… oh, and he’s a serious vinyl head. With all that its a wonder he found time to come on the show. However, he has and we’re honored to have him as this weeks guest.

Hear what Steve’s been up to, here, Read all about Steve, here on Test Pressing. 

Doge 001

The record shops are saying ‘easily the best thing to come out this month.’ Don’t bother mentioning the Doge thing, this is a formidable four track EP and like everything now its mysterious and limited.. For those still partial to a panic buy, Kristina still have a handful of copies.

Doge Records – ‘A Way With Her’

 

Doge Records – ‘Cold Summers Night’

Listen Again – Crucial & Fresh w/ Belch (notsosilent) 02/05/14

On the night of Friday the 2nd May, whilst you were busy trying to forget about your jobs, we were stood in a confined space, pushing Lynx Africa to its technical limit and furiously mixing our bi monthly radio show – ‘Crucial & Fresh.’ (bi monthly actually means twice a month and every second month?)

Climbing the ladder and into the studio with us was Belch of the Notsosilent party purveyor crew. Having recently added Leon Vynehall to their roster of residents and throwing parties in three major cities it would seem these chaps have set their sites on nationwide rooftop/club supremacy. For those of you who are in London and have a  penchant for an all day affair, you should  purchase tickets for their roof top parties HERE. 

“notsosilent started throwing parties in Edinburgh in 2012 bringing guests like Midland, Joy Orbison, Roman Flügel and Gerd to the Scottish capital.

 

2013 saw the three-man crew add a monthly Glasgow party to their programming securing Scottish debuts for the likes of FunkinEvil, Moomin and Marquis Hawkes alongside other guests such as Move D, Prosumer, and Tama Sumo.

 

With one third of the crew now in London the party prepares to set up shop in the capital for 2014 with a series of rooftop parties over summer and regular monthly events alongside it’s Scottish program thereafter.”

 

As for the show, (these are his own words) Belch says he enjoys “employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles,” in other words, he has eclectic taste. His mix does well to show off the extent of his musical knowledge. Apart from that, Belch genuinely looks like hes enjoying himself when he is behind a pair of decks, an aspiration that should always be high on disc jockeys list of priorities regardless of skill or genre.

Expect to weave in out of jazz funk, soul, disco, hip hop and house as Belch takes the reins for the first half with myself taking the second hour playing some Chicago tracks recently picked up in Berlin’s Record Loft and some new chin stroking house cutzzzz from the wall at Kristina. Cheers!

This Friday we will be joined by Steve Lee. Check his recent interview on TEST PRESSING.

 

John Barera and Paul Morse – ‘Broken Land’

A new cut straight from the wall. Plenty of hi-hat swing and chopped up strang. Please BUY this record. Every track on it is ‘beezer.’

Untzz – White Label?

Picked this white label up in Kristina yesterday and all I know is that it’s Untzz! and it’s good. Lots of swinging hi hats.

Legowelt – ‘Source of Menace’

A relatively new Legowelt record out on Spanish label Riverette. Vinyl only. Every track is a winner on this one.

Roman Rauch – ‘Too Many Things’

Philpot is a Stuttgart-based label, run by Soulphiction and Tobi Ettle since 2000 ad. Uptempo Music with an edge, we wouldn´t call it House, Techno, Jazz or Soul…but they all come close and definetly are strong influences..’

Well I’d call this house. Either way, it’s a belter. Always buy the Philpot records.

TPA MIX 007 – DJ Yves

This mix has been cued up for a while now. Now seems appropriate to post it. Continuing on where last weeks mix left off is Big DJ Yves (Andy Danet who previously contributed to our SNACK TRAX! portion of the site) has provided a  masterful selection of ambient, synth and soul. Expect very little in the way of any 4/4. Which is exactly what we want. I had another listen to it this morning on the bus, post ‘big weekend‘ it had me near enough in tears. Keep your ear out for the Womack Womack / Frankie Knuckles remix. It’s completely mind blowing and might be my favourite record of the year. ‘Big Ups’ DJ Yves n’ that!

 

DOWNLOAD – TPA MIX 007 – DJ  YVES

Guillamino – Tegami (bankrobber)
Eric Serra – Sailing to death (virgin)
John Hughes Day Dream – Ebony eyes (cut mistake)
Placid Angles – Everything under the sun (peacefrog)
The New Year – My Bleeding wound (chocolate industries)
Womack & Womack – MPB (Frankie Knuckles paradise ballroom mix) (island)
Hommage – Output (cdr)
Sunny Day In Glasgow – Slaughter killing carnage (the meaning of words) (mis ojos discos)
G.E.S. – Helmut Schmidt plays Bach (dub) (faitiche)
Charles Bradley – Through the storm (dunham)
Iasos – Rainbow canyon (unity records)
Oneohtrix Point Never – Chrome country (warp)
Eric Serra – For Enzo (virgin)
Eric Serra – Such a family (virgin)
Cortex – I heard a sigh (underdog) OOFT! – Overjammin’ (cdr)

The Carter Bros – ‘Loving You Is Easy’

Some Adelaidian disco nonsense here form the Carter Bros. Really shouldn’t like this. Catch us on air tonight from 8 – 10pm with guest ‘Best Intentions’ on MEATtransMISSION Radio.

Giovanni Damico – ‘Fella On A Cloud’ and ‘Atypical Noise’

This arrived in the post today. Having completely forgotten, it turns out the track I bought it for is far eclipsed by the recording on the flip. Maybe it’s the Eden Cottage, ;2 for 2′ that clouds my judgement. More than a pinch of Keni Burke’s ‘Rising to The Top’ here. ‘Atypical Noise’ does something that closely resembles something on the boogie spectrum…etc. Either way, ideal late night Thursday listening.

Giovanni Damico – ‘Fella On A Cloud’

Giovanni Damico  – ‘Atypical Noise’

TPA MIX 006 – Floatingboy ‘Catching a Vibe’

It’s Monday and you’ve heard/had enough club music. Doing the honors on the mixing front this week is Scotland’s own Floatingboy (resident at Juice, member of the Gastric Band and general explorer of sound.) Self effacing he is,  loquacious he is not. Cameron Cullen and egotism are words that dont go together, this boy’s got talent but doesn’t feel the need to shout about it. Have a listen to this brand new piece ‘So We Our Best Should Give.’ It contains emotion.

As for the mix, its as broad ranging as you can get, opening with the eccentric jazz of Sun Ra, moving on to the Huerco S (outsider house?) and beyond. I’m really not joking here, this mix defies all convention. I have listened to it six times now and it sounds completely different every time. Either way it’s an incredible accompaniment to start the start of the week.

Download Link

Sun Ra – ‘Demon’s Lullaby’
Huerco S – ‘Prinzif’
Quasimoto – ‘Catching a Vibe’
Nujabes – ‘Haiku’
Steve Spacek – ‘Dollar’
Floating Points – ‘For You’
John Coltrane – ‘Ascension’
Theo Parrish – ‘ Love Is War For Miles’
Takuya Matsumoto – ‘Drafting Under The Stairs’
James Mason – ‘Nightgruv’
Efdemin – ‘Revenge’
Pepe Bradock – ‘Right Way’
Cities Aviv – ‘Don’t Ever Look Back’
Steven Tang – ‘Some Solace’
Huerco S – ‘Elma’ (Ruff Rub)
Gala Drop – ‘Rauze’

Wesley Matsell – ‘Future Beacon’ (Original Mix)

‘Born in the semi-rural and deprived ex-mining town Merthyr Tydfil in the South Wales valley’s, Wesley has an unlikely interest in the more experimental end of the music spectrum.’

Shadow – ‘Let’s Stay Together’ (Whiskey Barons Edit)

This track came to me by the will of God. I’d heard it in a a recent BIS mix, had that moment of excitement when you go to check for its ID in the track list and then sadness at the fact it’s been listed as ‘Unkown.’ Which is fair enough I suppose, a DJ has to protect his assets.

What I thought had been lost to the ether has now found its way into my possession through pure luck. Re-issued on Cultures of Soul, Mighty Shadow’s ‘Lets Stay Together’ is a mid tempo tropical disco brute. The Trinidad & Tobagonian’s desperate canticle has been given the Whiskey Baron’s treatment on  the flip, rendering it club friendly. Much to like here.

George Astroturf – ‘SNACK TRAX! Promo Mix’

George Astroturf has whipped up this delicious tasting mix in preparation for our Sunday afternoon/evening  of ‘SNACK TRAX!‘ We have been asked by the ‘Gravy Train’ to  take over the space below the Showmen’s Guild on Stoke Newington Road. They are hosting a three day pop up fried chicken shop. Sunday is the last day. See you there from 4pm.

Gravy Train – This Sunday

The chaps over at Gravy Train have kindly invited us to take over the space below their latest pop up outing at Tipsy (the Showmen’s Guild) on Stoke Newington Road. For those who are well versed in the art of going straight out after work on a Friday, not eating dinner, drinking ten pints of over priced continental lager, queuing for the Dance Tunnel, invariably not having sex and retreating to your over priced ex-local authority rental accommodation. You will know that the last vestiges of hope lie in Dixy’s/Kennedy’s/Perfect Fried Chicken’s pressure fried hen and a can of Mirinda.

But every things going to be alright. This weekend you will have the chance to repent your sins and taste what real fried chicken is actually about. Have a look at their ‘fresh’ new site and if you had any doubt over the popularity of this food just check the facebook page. Come down and fill your boots this Sunday afternoon. We will be playing records all afternoon/evening in the space underneath, pop down, say hello, have a beer and prolong the start of the week.

More details on the SNACK TRAX!  event page. 

Put this recording by Nigerian royalty, Joni Hastruup in your politcally minded peace pipe and smoke it. ‘Free My People’ is a belter.

SNACK TRAX 003 – Telfort

“Big Ups” (as they say in London) to Big Sam Telfort for providing us with a first rate run down of his optimal Snack Trax day. For those that know Telfort you’ll know he’s got some exciting projects in the pipeline, for those that don’t you’ll have to wait and see.

2013 saw Telfort release ‘Outskirts’ on the Witness EP 02 which featured on XLR8R. If you need any further confirmation of the DJ (who also performs live sets)/Producer’s ability then look no further than hisSoundcloud. Keep your ear out for the recent ‘Are We There Yet’ which he informs me will be available for download sometime this week, if not already.

He assures me that what he has transcribed below is a factual account of his day. Telfort, never one to mince his words and always shrouded in mystery has set the bar high for our new Snack Trax series. One track for breakfast. One track for lunch. One track for dinner. As the french say, ‘There it is!’

Follow the big chap on Facebake and Twitter.

Lord Of The Isles – ‘C20 Symphony’ & ‘C020’

“The designation Lord of the Isles (Scottish Gaelic: Triath nan Eilean or Rìgh Innse Gall) is today a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It emerged from a series of hybrid Viking/Gaelic rulers of the west coast and islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages, who wielded sea-power with fleets of galleys.”

Very much delighted that this music comes from Edinburgh. If you need any confirmation of just how good this chap is listen to his Beats in Space podcast from last year. Released on German label ‘Permanent Vacation’ every tracks a keeper, this record is well worth your dance floor and your pocket money. Buy the vinyl and check the other side.

Lord Of The Isles – ‘C20 Symphony’

Lord Of The Isles – ‘C020′

TPA MIX 004 – BEN//LA//DASH (Aslan Inst)

TPA Mix 004 arrived this morning courtesy of none other than BEN//LA//DASH who just recently kicked off our new ‘SNACK TRAX’ feature. Compiled in his yurt, all on vinyl, this has Ben’s signature italo disco seasoning sprinkled all over it. Have a taste.

Sevendeaths – ‘Sinking Relief’

‘Sevendeaths is the solitary work of original ‘Americanmen’ member; the Edinburgh-based Steven Shade. His forthcoming album,Concreté Misery is a dark, fluctuating work of human and programme-automated writing where modern classical, electronic and black metal all war in tumult. Sevendeaths – Conreté Misery coming soon on LuckyMe Records.’  

We are always happy to support any new music coming out of Edinburgh and I’m pretty much in love with this track. It would make an incredible opening to a set or show and near enough brings me to tears. We implore you to go and buy this from the Sevendeaths Bandcamp.