Shelter Me

Out today on Paisley Dark is this eighteen track compilation Shelter Me- In Crisis, an album released to raise funds for the charity of the same name that aims to tackle the problem of homelessness. Paisley Dark is based in Leeds- if Leeds is anything like Manchester homelessness is an issue that seems to have reached crisis proportions. We live four miles south of the city centre in a residential, fairly leafy suburb- there are people living in tents in the corner of a site that has been cleared for renovation, for a while someone was living on a roundabout and there have been living out of tents in the woodlands down by the Mersey. In the city centre there is a community of scores of men living in the arcade by the town hall. This seems to be an issue that people just accept, yet another aspect of modern life where we seem to have reversed and where our politicians shrug and make excuses. The current government don't seem to care at all and have pursued policies that have made the situation worse and worse. 

There are eighteen different artists on the album, many of whom have been featured here in recent years- John Paynter has pulled in an all star cast and an A grade track selection for Shelter Me- In Crisis. Tronik Youth, Duncan Gray, Al Mackenzie, Cosmikuro, Hogt I Tak, Hunterbrau, James Rod, Ian Vale, Jezebell, Mr BC, Tecwaa, Warriors Of The Dystotheque and Joe Duggan (an Ed Mahon remix of their wonderful 2023 single Fitzroy Avenue), Shunt Voltage, Stylic and Keith Forrester and Mindbender have all graced these pages before and will do so again. All proceeds from the sales of the album will go directly to Shelter Me. You can buy it here. Not just good music but a purchase that will do some social good. 

Tronik Youth's Dance With Me is five and a half minutes of urgent, propulsive, cowbell laden acid house with a massively distorted vocal shouting, 'dance with me!' 

Al Mackenzie's A Morning On The Chase and Tecwaa's Whippy are at Soundcloud. Al Mackenzie's is a slinky slow burning chug. Tecwaa's Whippy is faster and darker, with rattling rim shots and a distant female vocal in the breakdown before everything goes strobe lit at three minutes. 

Duncan Gray's The Remote Control Thief is yet another top class Duncan Gray track, a buzzing synth bassline, dark house groove and acidic topline coming together beautifully. 

Bagging Area/ Ban Ban Ton Ton Mix

For some time now Dr Rob, the man who runs the standard setting blog Ban Ban Ton Ton, a one stop shop for all things Balearic and otherwise, has been asking me to write reviews for him. Since the new year I've written some album reviews which I don't think I've linked here, so today's Sunday mix post pulls those reviews from the first half of 2023 together for those who might be interested in them, and provides a sampler in the form of a forty three minute long mix below. 

Ban Ban Ton Ton/ Bagging Area Guest Review Mix

• Jon Hassell: Neon Nights
• Konformer: Konformer
• Tolga Boyuk and Kenneth Bager: Betrayal
• TECWAA: I Terra Dub
• Roe Deers: Can't Remember
• Yargo: Marimba
• Sorcerer: Zero Return
• Eloah: Logan Ede

Jon Hassell was a pioneering New York based trumpeter/ composer. His Fourth World music fused primitivism and futurism in the late 70s and 80s and led him to work with Talking Heads, David Sylvian and Carl Craig among others. Psychogeography is a compilation of late 80s recordings combining avant- jazz, soundtracks, psychogeography, ambient music and Situationism, which sounds off- putting but is great fun. My review is here. 

Konformer are a three piece from Nuremburg, signed to Manchester's Jason Boardman's new label Before I Die. Five lovely synth- led cosmische instrumentals. Reviewed by me here and highly recommended (the album I mean not the review). 

Tolga Boyuk and Kenneth Bager wrote and recorded a soundtrack to a film that hasn't been shot yet, East Is North, in two days. Tangerine Dream, Vangelis and John Carpenter all feature as reference points. Read my review here. 

TECWAA is from York and has released an EP on New York's Throne Of Blood, a label on something of a hot streak. My review said something like 'sci fi, deep house, cinematic psychedelic dub'. Here. 

Roe Deers were one artist on a compilation put out by Parisienne label Lumiere Noir, twelve previously unreleased slices of 'deep and dark electronics'. Read my review here if you've got this far down.  

Yargo were a Manchester blues/ funk/ dub group who missed the boat in the late 80s Manchester boom but are fondly remembered. Their proto- house/ Latin B-side features on the new compilation from DJ Luke Una, E- cultura soul Vol. 2, a multi- artist tribute to late nights, dancing and the widest spread of music you can imagine. Eloah's Logan Ede comes from the same album, Brazilian soul from the late 1970s. My review is here. 

Sorcerer is from Califronia and his second album Bubble Funk is a blast of short, funky instrumentals celebrating skateboarding, cassette culture, home studios, 70s funk and Balearic pop. Reviewed here. 

I also reviewed Reinhard Vanbergen's Meditation On Modern Modes, an hour long ambient tour de force from Belgium's multi- instrumentalist but couldn't work any of the ten minute pieces onto the mix above. Read and listen here.