Optimo - Hogmanay End of the Decade Poptimo Mix

Originally available as a 90 minute mix for all Hogmanay ticket holders who went to the Fruitmarket extravaganza exactly one month ago.

I didn't make it along this time but managed to get a copy of the mix, which as you would expect is outstanding. Check out the tracklisting - an excellent selection, with a few wee exclusive mixes chucked in for good measure.

Didn't want to step on anyone's toes by putting this up earlier but this seems like a suitable time to make it more public.

For all the bizarre styles that they have slipped into mixes over the years, this is a very good example of straight-up party music (very Hogmanay!) which has been played round these parts on quite a few occasions ever since.

Here's to an other 11(!) years...



Optimo - Hogmanay End of the Decade Poptimo Mix
1 - Delkom - Superjack Infusion One
2 - James Curd - We Just Won't Stop
3 - Gyratory System - Yowser Yowser Yowser (An Optimo (Espacio) mix)
4 - Roni Griffith - Spys
5 - Roni Griffith - Desire
6 - Situation - Bulletproof Heart
7 - Retro Grade - Zoid
8 - Fuck Buttons - Sweet Love For Planet Earth (Andrew Weatherall mix)
9 - Ralphi Rosario - You Used To Hold Me (Accapella)
10 - Rebolledo - Guerrero
11 - Levon Vincent - Late Night Jam
12 - Mike Dehnert - Umlaut 2 (Levon Vincent mix)
13 - Ragtyme - I Can't Stay Away (Ron Hardy Mix)
14 - Manicured Noise - Metronome (Cousin Cole mix)
15 - Faze Action - Good Loving
16 - Empire Of The Sun - We Are The People
17 - Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill (Late Night Tuff Guy HMC version)
18 - The Beat Club - Security
19 - OMD - Messages (Greg Wilson edit)
20 - Williams - I Feel The Shivering
21 - Cold Cave - Life Magazine (An Optimo (Espacio) mix)
22 - Yam Who - Go Bang!
23 - Elias Rahbani And His Orchestra - Liza (Twitch pitched down version)
24 - Amadou & Mariam - Sabali

Check out the Optimo website here

Essential Mixes - All Of Them

Phew! Just stumbled across this link on the Echatio forum. Fuck me - it's nearly every Essential Mix from when it kicked off in 1993.

The first one I got really excited about back in the day was the first Weatherall one (go figure!), always used to check Mixmag for the tracklistings in the pre-internet days. All the tracklistings are here as well for your delectation.

We are fucking spoiled here. I dunno how long this will be up for, so I'd get in there quick if I was you.

Go knock yourselves out, and put any recommendations in the comments box below...



Essential Mixes - All Of Them!

HEALTH - Die Slow (Market Yourself For Blood)

... and here is 7" #2 that I bought at that HEALTH gig last year.

Almost a hit single last year, thanks to the astonishing video that accompanied it. Like I said below, this was one of the best gigs of all time and I can't wait to see them in May at the Primavera festival.

If you've not got their two albums you should rectify this immediately. There's a remix album out as well, which completes the set. Pure sonic attack.

We were right down the front at the gig and the amount of pedals and gadgetry was insane. Some stupid drunken fud of a girl thought it would be a good idea to pull the plugs out of some of the pedals but security soon got her to fuck. As for the drummer, fuck knows how he had the energy to pull off a full set - incredible stuff.

Aye, recommended stuff if you've not heard them...



HEALTH - Die Slow (Market Yourself For Blood)
A - Die Slow
B - Die Slow (Pictureplane Remix)

Buy it here

Pictureplane - Trance Doll / New Mind

7" single from 2009 on Lovepump United records.

The first of two 7" singles that I'll fire up which I bought at the HEALTH gig at Optimo last year. One of the gigs of the year.

This is the first record that I've put up which isn't on Discogs! Mental.

Pictureplane is Travis Egedy to his mum, and he did a remix of the Die Slow single which I'll put up in a bit, and I'm guessing that he maybe supported them at some point hence the sales at the gig and the thanks in this nice insert (front and back).

The tracks? Distorted kick drums with distorted synth and snatches of vocals, Stereogum described his sound as "90s house, dreamy '80s synth-pop, poppy darkwave, tripped and colorful Black Dice-style noise, bottomed-out hiss, weirdo Sublime Frequencies drum circles, and a surprisingly ready-for-the-club semi-sheen", so there you go.

I think Lovepump United is rapidly becoming one of my favourite labels...



Pictureplane - Trance Doll / New Mind
A - Trance Doll (Post World Edit)
B - New Mind

Buy it here

Andrew Weatherall - Roundtable on 6 Music - 21 January 2010

Guess who was a guest reviewer on Steve Lamacq's Roundtable show this evening?

Alongside Lamacq, Bernard Butler and Kid Harpoon, Audrey gives us his tuppence-worth on the week's new releases. He's turning into quite the radio personality these days, and I'll take plenty more where that came from.

As well as the reviews (which I've quoted a bit of below), he reveals that a new album should be ready for the end of spring/early summer. Grand. Also, a tracklisting has finally appeared for his Hogmanay Mix, which they must have got off him today I reckon.

Be sure to listen out for some cunt asking for a Weatherall remix of the Gorillaz tune at about the 36 min mark...



Andrew Weatherall - Roundtable on 6 Music - 21 January 2010
1 - Richard Ashcroft - Are You Ready - "Can I steal the strings?"
2 - The Kissaway Trail - SDP - "I'm a sucker for the ringing bells"
3 - Cerys Matthews - Into The Blue - "she's my guilty pleasure, like Pot Noodles and Denise Van Outen"
4 - Two Door Cinema Club - Undercover Martyn - "Top Shop Music for Hollyoaks people"
5 - Gorillaz - Stylo - "I'll take Damon minus the Bobby Womack"
6 - Bomb The Bass - The Infinite - "sounds like a song that didn't quite make the cut on a Depeche Mode album"
7 - Eels - End Times - "I want to take the acoustic guitar off him, clip him on the ear and send him on his way."

Buy Weatherall stuff here

Exquisite Corpse - Dream Night Dance Music

Debut album released in 1992 on KK Records.

This was one of a bunch that I got sent just before Xmas from official friend of Ripped In Glasgow, Tim Freeman.

It reminds me of some of the stuff which featured on the first PWOG album (which I no longer seem to have), which isn't surprising seeing as how this album was Tim and Robbert Heynen. He also included their first ever single, X-Out, which I've included here as a pair of bonus tracks. Tim wasn't involved at that point so you can get a good idea of what he added to their sound when you compare it to the main album. After Tim left, Robbert was joined by Debbie Jones, who sadly died a number of years ago. Robert's still producing stuff as Enkidada and Tim's doing the odd bit as well, which I'll put up in due course.

I've just sat and listened to the whole thing again and it is a beautiful collection of tracks. Just the thing for when you get sent home from your work due to a power cut (which hopefully won't get sorted anytime soon). Check out these reviews on Discogs which um it up very nicely. Contrasts well with the later EC stuff, like Chalice/Kupuri which was one of my first ever posts (and one of my first ever fuck-ups).

Aye, anyone with an interest in the spooked-out sounds of Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia should definitely check this out...



Exquisite Corpse - Dream Night Dance Music
1 - Etoiles
2 - Sitting In A Tree (Time Flies)
3 - B.K.S.
4 - Sacrifice
5 - Strange Attractor
6 - Elevator
7 - Bonus Track - X-Out
8 - Bonus Track - Strange Attractor - Original Mix

Buy it here

Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution (DVD rip)

While we're on the topic of videos, here's a DVD rip of a great 3hr documentary that my pal Bill gave me for my birthday recently (cheers Bill - I haven't forgotten it's your 40th soon, ya cunt).

The title's a bit misleading as I'd say at most only about half of it focuses on the 'Werk. The rest is a great, more in-depth companion to the BBC4 Krautrock documentary which was on a few months back (which is available here if you missed it).

Check out a review here, which highlights the lack of actual music on it, but the chat is great and you cannae beat a good rockumentary - I'll watch any old shite if it's music-related (same goes for books but that's another story).

In terms of the content, aye I fuckin loved it. Was saving it for a suitable moment over the festive season and it eventually went on about 6am at some point between Xmas and new year but me and the missus were both gripped for the full 3 hrs.

Don't be put off by the 21(!) RAR files to download. My RAR-making program only does it in 100Mb files so it shouldn't take you too long to grab - certainly less time than it took me to get it up there. Just double-click on the first RAR file and away you go.

If anyone hasn't read Julian Cope's indispensable guide to the scene, and you probably haven't as it only got one print run and is currently rare-as-fuck, someone's kindly made a PDF file that you can get here.

So, there you have it. One BBC4 documentary, one 3hr DVD rip and bit of bedtime reading. You'll be getting tested on this next month so make sure you get busy, class, and none of your shitey excuses - I've heard them all before...



Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution (DVD rip)
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21

Buy it here

Conemelt - Splinter Group (video)

Excellent Super-8 video shot in Iceland of non-album track Splinter Group, which appeared on the bumper compilation Fresh Emissions.

In my pre-Xmas chatter with Ashley and Nat from Conemelt, Ashley dropped this bombshell:

"...just tried phoning a friend who shot footage of us and Andrew on tour in Iceland looking at sulphurous geysers and bubbling mud baths etc (how very Pink Floyd In Pompeii) and then set this footage to Splinter Group (his choice). It's really lovely. If he uploaded it would you be able to host that on your site..?"

Hmm, let me think about that one... He said he'd have a look for it then I got an email on the evening of Xmas eve with the link to it. Mental...

Anyway, I got in touch with the director, Camille, who gave an interesting insight into the production of said vid:

"...I shot it myself on Super-8, it sat around for ten years and I rediscovered it (under a pile of detritus, there's a pattern forming here d'you see?) and stuck it together. I shot a load of new footage and took out the shots of Conemelt, the finished item doesn't have them in at all, except a split second of Grant falling over that was too good to get rid of. I sent it to a load of short film festivals but nobody wanted it, I'm happy to turn it back into a music video again. Hopefully it will find a home on your blog.

We did have a hoot, the 'Melt was mighty then. I wish everyone could have seen it. That bloke from the Sugarcubes took us to a bar and showed us the internet, I'd never seen it before. A couple of years ago they uprooted the entire bar from Reykjavik and installed it in the Frieze arts fair in London, I drank a gin and tonic in there. One of the most surreal moments in my life..."

This is actually the second version of the video that I got, and it features a certain Mr Weatherall as well as the Conemelt trio and a couple of others. You should check the nick of them, especially Ashley in his Pigface t-shirt (insert your own "dodgy geysers" joke here). It actually reminds me of the video that appeared for Laughing Boy by Julian Cope on the Copeulation VHS back in the day.

I can't actually lay my hands on my Fresh Emissions albums (flat is currently a bombsite) but I've ripped the audio from the video for you to download. *EDIT* Camille, video director extrordinaire has supplied me with a high-quality mp3 version *EDIT* The Vimeo link also includes an mp4 download link for the video so that you can take it with on on the go if you're that way inclined.

Once again, many thanks to Conemelt and Camille for this wee gem. Much appreciated...



Conemelt - Splinter Group (download mp3)

Buy Conemelt stuff here

Andrew Weatherall - OST, Resonance FM - 9 January 2010

Yesterday Audrey popped in for a natter with Jonny Trunk on his OST show on Resonance FM, bring a plethora of weird and wonderful sounds with him.

"Today on the OST we are joined by producer, collector, artist and general all round world wide super person Andy Weatherall. For years this man of fine taste has collected film music and library music from all corners of the globe. And here he is slightly showing off about it, we hope..."

Fuck me - this is seriously weird shit to be going out on a Saturday afternoon. I really enjoyed listening to it before heading over to the mystic east yesterday, you London folks are lucky to have a station like that broadcasting - I'd never really dipped into its schedule before having a look into it yesterday.

As well as various film-related choice cuts, there's some great banter which occasionally strays off topic, including a nice wee analysis of The Littlest Hobo at one point. Listen out for the competition entries flooding in (to win CDs of 'Pox' and 'Boardroom 2') which attempt to insert weather-related puns into movie titles.

Aye, good stuff all round, allow yourself two hours to check this one out...



Andrew Weatherall - OST, Resonance FM - 9 January 2010

Buy Weatherall stuff here

Andrew Weatherall - Hogmanay 6 Mix

An internet radio double-header for you this weekend from Andrew Weatherall.

First up here's his hour long mix that went out on hogmanay last week. I've been sitting on it for a while waiting for the BBC cunts to get their fingers out their arses and post a tracklisting for it but none has appeared. Give them their due, they're usually quite good at getting them up but they were probably up to no good instead seeing as how it was new year and all that. I posted a message on the 6 Mix Facebook page and got this response (on Tuesday): "Yes, rather embarrassingly i forgot to type it upbefore NYE :-( I'm post it on the 6 Music website on Wednesday then post the link here" ... aye will you fuck! (not the sharpest tool in the box either going by that piece of text)

*EDIT* give 'em their due, a tracklisting has now appeared (21 Jan!), coincidentally when Audrey is in the 6Music studio...

Anyway - it's a belter as I'm sure you'll agree, and also features much less shitey jingles than usual, they must have been on a skeleton staff or something.

Stay tuned for another one which should pop up either tomorrow or Sunday...



Andrew Weatherall - Hogmanay 6 Mix
1 - Crimea X - Varvara (Bjorn Torske mix)
2 - Magical Horses - Unicorn In The Garden
3 - Material Feat. Nona Hendryx - Bustin' Out (Rub n Tug edit)
4 - Linkwood - Falling
5 - The Mover - Motorcycle
6 - Kasper Bjorke - Young Again (Serge Santiago mix)
7 - Lindstrøm & Christabelle - Baby Can't Stop (Aeroplane Dub)
8 - Groove Armada - I Won't Kneel (Mock And Toof mix)
9 - Luca Baldini - Hooked

Buy Weatherall stuff here

Detachments - Circles

7" single on THISISNOTANEXIT, released at the tail end of 2009.

So like I said - not dead, only sleeping. Many thanks for all of the comments below, and the various emails that I've managed to not reply to. I've basically been on a bit of a bender since Xmas and it has been fucking brilliant fun, but that's us back on the straight and narrow now...

Something a bit different here, a NEW(ish) record. I got this 7" and Weatherall remix 12" recently, and you're getting the 7" here. The B-side's produced by Mr Weatherall and I'll be playing it out on Saturday night at the Bang Bang Club at the Electric Circus in Edinburgh - check the flyer here - come along and buy me a pint. It's a great venue with a shit hot sound system and I'm sure you'll have to fight your way to the bar as the crowd will be HUGE the weekend after new year.

For those of you unfamiliar with the band, here's the blurb from their website:

"Their eclectic, futurstic, dark pop music encompasses traces of the cold sound of early '80s Factory Records, a hint of Dubstep Electronica and nods to DFA’s consistently varied output, early House and Techno, as well as pioneering electronic pop from the '80s - everything from Kraftwerk to The Cure to The Pet Shop Boys. Contemporary comparisons loosely include The Big Pink, The Knife, These New Puritans."

... in other words, right up my street. There's a media player on their website that's got various other bits'n'bobs, including the aforementioned Weatherall 12" remix, and a free download of another track. Definitely one to watch in 2010 methinks.

I see that Ivan Smagghe and Andrew Weatherall are playing together at the Sub Club as part of some Smirnoff thing that actually looks quite good, so 2010's shaping up to be no bad.

See you at some point soon for more Weatherall-related antics...



Detachments - Circles
A - Circles
B - H.A.L.

Buy the Weatherall remix 12" here