Boxing Day Double

The period between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve (increasingly known as Twixtmas) is the best bit of the festive period for me- the big day has gone and you're into a vague hinterland, not quite sure what day it is. Normal rules regarding eating, drinking and socialising don't apply. Time expands and contracts. It could be Thursday afternoon, it could be Tuesday morning, it doesn't really matter. Things kick in again on 30th December as people begin to ask what you're doing on New Year's Eve but for a couple of days, it's very much a slowed down life. 

A Boxing Day double for you. In 2015 Courtney Barnett had the Boxing Day Blues. She had them pretty bad...

Boxing Day Blues

Two years before that Dark Horses and Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s found an altogether livelier and more acidic way to spend the first day of Twixmas- drones, motorik drums, lysergic synthlines, a bassline to shake you out of your torpor and a numbed out vocal. One to put on when the relatives you haven't seen yet pop round later and you want to raise the Boxing Day intensity levels a little. 

Boxing Day (Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s Vocal Mix)

Boudicca

Justin Robertson's Five Green Moons album Moon 1, out a year ago, was a Bagging Area 2024 favourite. Happily Five Green Moons returns for late 2025, this time with Brix Smith on board with a new track Boudicca- named after the Queen of the Iceni people of South Eastern England who led a major uprising against the conquering imperial forces of ancient Rome. 

Dub is still very much the foundations of Five Green Moons along with some post- punk dread and some weirded out, wired folk. Justin's calling it pastoral dub which definitely fits. There's an album to follow at the end of the month and if it's all as diverting and enjoyable as Boudicca we'll have another Five Green Moons album soundtracking the end of a calendar year. 

Justin and Brix have crossed paths before. In 2022 Justin's Deadstock 33s and Brix collaborated on Brix Goes Tubular, a Bandcamp digital only EP, Brix's vocals on to of a rubbery bassline, post- punk/ dance sound. The dub version stripped it back and added some bleepery to produce Caribbean sounding dub.

Brix Goes Tubular (Dub Version)

Passions

Ride/ GLOK guitarist/ writer/ singer Andy Bell has returned this week with a cover of I'm In Love With A German Film Star, the 1981 single by The Passions (retitled I'm In Love... by Andy). For the single Andy's got Dot Allison in on vocals, a song totally suited to Dot's style, and Michael Rother on guitar. It shimmers and floats, with fuzz guitars drifting in, and does all the things you'd want it to. 

The song comes ahead of an album, Andy's third solo album, out at the end of February- Pinball Wanderer. Andy's solo work outside Ride, two albums (The View From Halfway Down and Flicker) plus his GLOK albums and singles, have been some of my favourite releases of the last five years so I'm looking forward to this one. In his promo blurb to accompany the single Andy said that for the album he went less is more, 'less tracks, more atmosphere, less layers of instrumentation, more vibes.' What's more, if you go to Bandcamp, there is a 12"/ digital release of the single with remixes by Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s and GLOK (Andy as GLOK remixing Andy as Andy). All three remixes are top drawer. 

The Passions original is one of those songs that seems to exist in a world of its own. Released in January 1981, it was written by singer Barbara Gogan about Steve 'Roadent' Connelly, some time Clash and Sex Pistols roadie who had some minor roles in some German films. 

I'm In Love With A German Film Star

This is The Passions on Top Of The Pops, early 1981, singer Barbara the epitome of early 80s front woman cool. 

2024 In Dub

The list making has started. Some of my blogging compadres have already pressed the Best Of 2024 button. At some point before Christmas I will post an end of year review and list. In the meantime, here's some of 2024's highest quality dubwise sounds wrapped up in an hourlong mix- there's much more that could have fitted into this mix too but in the end I wanted to keep it to under sixty minutes. Repetitive, bass heavy, echo- laden and spacious sounds for Sunday. 

2024 In Dub

• Coyote: Living In Heaven
• BTCOP: Sabre 540 (Rude Audio Remix)
• Five Green Moons: Garbage Van Exhaust
• Uj Pa Gaz: Roxy (Hardway Bros Meets Monkton Uptown)
• David Harrow and Little Annie: End Of Times (Rude Audio's Immutable Remix)
• Hugo Nicolson and David Harrow: Revolvalution (Dan Wainwright and Rude Audio VIP Remix)
• Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s: In Minus Shadows
• The Woodentops: Dream On (Rolo's Dub)
• Richard Norris: Fever Dub
• Coyote: OMG

In early December Coyote released a dub 12", two huge dub tracks,Living In Heaven and OMG,  that are in their own description 'light as a feather- heavy as lead'. 

Living in Heaven sounds like it be from side six of Sandinista!, a massive compliment in this household- it also has a touch of the Sabres Of Paradise Ysaebud single. Rattling bassline, echo and vocal sample. Coyote add some strings. Lovely deep stuff

Rude Audio's remix of BTCOP's Sabres 540 came out on Tici Taci in February, a remix that Rude Audio's Mark Ratcliff thinks his among his best work. He's right. 

Five Green Moons is Justin Robertson's latest venture, a post- punk/ pagan dub excursion, an eleven track album that continues to reveal new depths with each play. Justin appears later on too, with a track from the EP he released on the excellent Pamela label in April, four tracks all to some extent infused with dub. 

Uj Pa Gaz is from Tirana, Albania, a Tici Taci recording artist, producer and DJ. Roxy came out in late July and appears here in Hardway Bros Meets Monkton Uptown remix , heavy duty dub action from Sean Johnston and Duncan Gray. There is a very beguiling Middle Eastern melody line that plays out from the start, tumbling percussion, rimshots, delay and the deep hit of dub bass.

David Harrow has turned sixty this year and has celebrated with a release every month, a treasure trove of music emanating from his LA studio. His EP with On U legend Little Annie, the New York post- punk/ dub poet, had the original version of End Of Times, an instrumental, an acapella, and six remixes, two by Rude Audio- the Immutable and Protean Remixes. The Immutable is the dubbier of the two, a dubbed out rhythm underpinning Little Annie's poetry, 'this is not a happy hour'.

And Rude Audio turn up again, their third appearance here, now with the assistance of the wonderful Dan Wainwright. They took a track recorded by two former Andrew Weatherall cohorts- David Harrow and Hugo Nicolson and spun out into psychedelic dub complete with a brain melting ukulele solo. There are Sabres Of Paradise sounds scattered throughout it.

The Woodentops released a new album in April this year, Fruits From The Deep, a deep and rewarding trip under the sea. Dream On was one of the highlights, remixed in dub style by main Woodentop Rolo McGinty. Dream On (Rolo's Dub) starts and ends with an airplane taking off. Flying off to somewhere warm seems like a dream right now. 

Richard Norris' Bandcamp subscription service rewards on a monthly basis, a project that started with his Music For Healing ambient project but has blossomed into other areas, not least his Oracle Sound series of albums. Oracle Sound is (currently) three albums of superb, home grown dub. Fever Dub is from 2024's Oracle Sound Volume Three. 

Fifty Minutes Of Deadstock 33s

Last May I did a Sunday mix of Justin Robertson remixes from the 90s, forty minutes of trumpets and acid house/ indie- dance. It's here. I always intended to come back and do a more recent mix of Justin's music and having struggled with a completely different Sunday mix for a couple of days- it just wan't coming together and the segues were difficult to get right- I thought today would do for a return to Mr. Robertson and specifically his music and remixes as his Deadstock 33s. There are eight tracks in today's mix coming in at around fifty minutes, plenty of dub influence, lots of chuggy drum machine rhythms, a few New Order- esque moments, some cosmic motorik grooves and some lovely wired and weird synth and FX flying around. On top of all that Justin is always faultlessly turned out, has a fine array of headwear and always comes across as a thoroughly good chap. 

Fifty Minutes Of Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s

• Mercury Project
• Magnetic
• The Confidence Man (Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s Remix)
• Dark Endless
• Brix Goes Tubular
• Lone Raver In Dub
• The Circular Path (Asphodells Remix)
• One Lone Rider

Mercury Project came out on a  2013 compilation titled Treasure Hunting, released by Astrolab, and a rather good round up of chuggy cosmic disco/ house from a decade ago with Hardway Bros. Tim Fairplay, Toby Tobias, Scott Fraser, Daniel Avery, Mugwump, Marc Pinol and Ana Helder in the list of artists included. Something of a forerunner in that sound/ scene. 

Magnetic was from an EP with Daniel Avery and sounds like early 80s New Order wired up to the nearest electricity pylon, a very smart piece of 2012 motorik psychedelia, released on Optimo.

The Confidence Man  was a stand out song on Andrew Weatherall's solo album Convenanza. The remix album that followed it, Consolamentum, saw Andrew remixed by Justin along with Unloved, Heretic, Duncan Gray, The Emperor Machine, Red Axes, Tim Fairplay and Scott Fraser. On the sleeve there was a very Weatherall quote- 'delights are stronger the longer they remain secret' (by Joseph Roth).

Dark Endless was on a digital only compilation released by Spun Out Agency in 2022, a tribute to Mr. Weatherall, that went under the title More Of That Frightful Oompty Boompty Music. Justin gets on the cosmische tip on Dark Endless, a throbbing bassline and swirling sounds setting the controls for the outer limits. 

Brix Goes Tubular was a Bandcamp only single from 2022, three tracks recorded by Justin and Brix Smith (with a dub mix). I'd forgotten about it until pulling this mix together and really like it, Brix and Justin finding a musical sweet spot in the space somewhere between dub, Tom Tom Club and surf. 

Lone Raver In Dub is a bouncing, rocking dub- flecked tune from September last year, part of the ongoing Deadstock 33s Unreleased series at Bandcamp, a goldmine of music. 

The Asphodells (Andrew Weatherall and Timothy J Fairplay) remixed Deadstock 33s' The Circular Path in 2013. The remix is ticking, clanging, metallic space motorik with a spluttering topline and acres of echo and wobbling synth oscillations. 

One Lone Rider came out in summer 2023, a massively distorted bass drum and frequency test synth line, six minutes of hypnotic sci fi dub/ acid house.

An Hour For Tak Tent Radio

Last Sunday Tak Tent Radio hosted an hour long mix of mine, my tenth for the radio station. You can listen to it at Mixcloud and or at Tak Tent. It's mainly made up of music from 2023 with a couple of older (but still fairly recent) ones, almost all having featured at this blog at some point in the past. The Jezebell track is unavailable elsewhere and was sent out to people who pre- ordered the double vinyl edition of Jezebellearic Beats Vol 1(and although Jesse and Darren said the track would never be made available from them they were happy for other people to share it- I thought this mix was a good place for it and luckily Jesse and Darren agree). The Khidja track has become a minor Bagging Area obsession- this is the third mix its appeared on, previously making it onto my end of 2023 mix and the David Holmes at The Golden Lion one a few weeks ago.  

• CLAIR: Body Blossom (Extended Mix)
• Psychederek: Test Card Girl
• Andy Bell and Masal: Tidal Love Conversation In That Familiar Golden Orchard (Edit)
• Coyote: We Got Lost
• Justin Robertson’s Deadstock 33s: Golden Twilight 23
• Cole Odin: Dawn’s Approaching (Psychemagik Remix)
• Jezebell: A Dangerous Side
• C.A.R.: Anzu
• Khidja: Do You Know This Record Marius?
• Bedford Falls Players: Marmite Marimba
• Four Tet: Bubbles At Overlook 25th March 2019

 

Monday's Long Song

Today is the first day proper of my summer holiday, six weeks off work. To celebrate, some rocking dub from Justin Robertson. He's recently made several EPs of music available at his Bandcamp page including a new EP titled Sticky Web. The lead track is this one, Sticky Web Of Happy Spiders, seven minutes and forty seconds of bouncing bass, skanking rhythms, splinters of guitar and organ bouncing in and out of the mix and voices talking about spiders, webs and forests. Chugging and deeply dubby stuff from Mr Robertson and his Deadstock 33s. The three track Sticky Web EP is here. 

AW60 The Golden Lion

Today is the final leg of the AW60 events, the month of celebrations of what would have been Andrew Weatherall’s 60^th birthday. Following nights in London, Glasgow and Belfast the fourth event is at The Golden Lion in Todmorden. The Golden Lion is a special place, ‘a portal’, as a man standing at the bar told me last time I was there, ‘outside it’s Tod, in here it’s another world’. The Golden Lion is a pub in the hills, on the Lancashire/ West Yorkshire border that hosts gigs, events and DJ nights, hosted by Richard and Gig. Andrew played there regularly. In 2018 he hosted a weekend of events in West Yorkshire, Weatherall in the Calder Valley, playing a gig in Hebden Bridge with A Certain Ratio and DJ events at the Lion. His travelling cosmic disco, A Love From Outer Space, with Sean Johnston often appeared at the Lion.

The turn of events that has led to me and four friends actually being part of the celebrations and DJing in the Lion today, from 1pm through until Justin Robertson taking over as headliner at 10pm is as baffling to me as it is to others. We started out administering the Flightpath Estate Facebook group (a place for Andrew’s fans to share music and news). It grew slowly and then when Andrew died in February 2020 became a place for people to be, to share stories and enjoy the music. At some point Richard asked us if we’d like to DJ at the Lion and in what I can only describe as a sudden escalation of events, towards the end of last year we were asked to be part of AW60. Much of this is due to the internet and the way it has brought people together, made connections and turned online friendships into real life ones. My involvement comes ultimately because of this blog, the hundreds of posts I've written about Andrew and his music and the connections made through it, something I started back in 2010 with no real idea what I was doing and ending up here. 

Today’s celebrations have us playing in turn and back-to-back throughout the afternoon and evening, handing over to Justin Robertson around 10. At 9, in the upstairs room Timothy J. Fairplay will play live with a battery of synths and drum machines. Across the road old friends of Andrew’s Dave Beer and Bernie Connor will play records. Tomorrow, Andrew’s friends Curley and Sherman are both DJing at the Golden Lion (admission is free if you’re in the area) with a live set by Chris Rotter and Andy Bell in the evening where they will play the songs Chris played guitar on and helped create on Andrew's Pox On The Pioneers solo album. Later on, as bank holiday Monday beckons, Heidi Lawden and Lovefingers will be on.

Back in October we were invited to play with David Holmes, warming up for him. The afternoon was fairly quiet and were more or less playing songs for ourselves and each other plus a few afternoon drinkers. As the evening drew on the pub filled up a little and then in a way that still causes me to pinch myself, I was in the booth at 8.45 as David Holmes turned up, said hello and told me to keep playing. A few records later I handed over to him, the sort of thing that I never really expected to happen- why would I end up DJing with David Holmes? I can’t even mix very well. Today we have a long slot, will be taking it in turns with an hour each and then as the pub turns to a ticketed (and sold out) event, we’ll switch on and off with each other, three tracks each back to back, no doubt with someone putting on a record that is unfollowable or unmixable, with a knowing smile. I have become more nervous about this gig as the week has gone on, playing a DJ set in a pub filled with Andrew Weatherall’s friends, family and fans. I’ve woken up every morning fretting about track selection, technical details, general performance anxiety. And I’ve told myself too to relax and enjoy it- the room will be full of lovely people who just want to socialise, hear good music and have a good time.

‘Just what is it that you want to do?’

‘We want to be free to do what we wanna do… and we wanna get loaded and we wanna have a good time.’

What Andrew would have made of all of this, I have no idea. A chuckle, a shake of the head, a grimace at a messed up transition between one record and the next as his fans try to emulate him. 

Andrew and Justin remixed each other several times. In 2013 Andrew along with Timothy J. Fairplay as The Asphodells remixed Justin's Deadstock 33s track The Circular Path- crunchy sci fi electronic house music for the future. 

The Circular Path (Asphodells Remix)

Three years later Justin remixed The Confidence Man, a song from Andrew's solo album Convenanza (the original version I plan to play at some point today). Justin's remix goes full on with the squelchy bass and slo- mo space action.

The Confidence Man (Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s Remix)

Anyway, wish us luck, we're going in. 

Forty Minutes Of The Asphodells

The Asphodells formed when Andrew Weatherall and Timothy J. Fairplay realised that they had recorded enough material for an album, songs that eventually became Ruled By Passion, Destroyed By Lust (named after a poster for a shlocky 50s gay gladiators film). The album came out in 2012, a fully realised collection of tracks with a typically diverse and eclectic set of Weatherall interests- dubby leftfield disco with New Order- esque basslines, John Betjeman, Tony Wilson quotes and AR Kane. Around the time of the album there were a slew of remixes by The Asphodells, alongside other ones from the same period but credited to Andrew Weatherall with Tim co- producing and engineering (the difference between a Weatherall remix and an Asphodells remix largely depending on who was paying and how big the cheque was apparently). 

Ruled By Passion, Destroyed By Lust took up semi- permanent possession of my turntable for a while, an album that still rewards a decade later. It was followed by a remix album with members of the Scrutton Street Axis and wider Weatherall network on remix manoeuvres- Scott Fraser, Phil Kieran, Black Merlin, Hardway Bros, Justin Robertson, Richard Sen, Ivan Smagghe, Daniel Avery, Daniele Baldelli and DJ Rocco and Group Rhoda plus Wooden Shjips for a Record Shop Day 12". There was way too much material to cover all of this in one Sunday mix so this is a just a selection for today. 

Forty Minutes Of The Asphodells

• 200 (Asphodells Dub)
• Glock'd (The Asphodells Remix)
• Beglammered (Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s Remix)
• Another Lonely City
• Needed You (The Asphodells Remix)
• Songs Of Pressure (The Asphodells remix)

200 a single by Baris K, a DJ and producer from Istanbul with an interest in disco and 60s Turkish psyche. The 12" came out in 2013. The remix and dub are trippy, Middle Eastern chug of the highest order with a huge synth arpeggio and whooshes riding on top of a particularly gnarly bassline. 

Glock'd is by C.A.R., Chloe Raunet's musical outlet. Chloe was previously in Battant with Tim. Andrew and Tim's remix is one of the highlights of the entire period, a slow motion, glam rock/ sci fi stomp with Chloe's French accented vocal on top. Retro but utterly modern too. 

Beglammered was the opening track from Ruled By Passion, Destroyed By Lust, remixed by Justin and released on the remix album. Another Lonely City with its Power, Corruption And Lies bassline (played by Andy Baxter) came from the album too. 

Needed You was a remix of Berlin based band She Lies, post- punk/ dark disco. There are some lovely wobbly, throbbing sequencers and synths on this one. 

Songs Of Pressure was by Richard Sen whose links with Andrew went back to Sabres Of Paradise (he painted the sleeve art for Theme). For the dubbed out splendour of the remix Andrew added a vocal part- Andrew's vocals were a distinctive part of The Asphodells, and it seemed right that they should finish this mix off. 

Just A Disco

More new music, part of the never ending flow of new sounds and songs that come our way via the internet- today's is courtesy of BTCOP, a London based musician and producer. His latest release is a four track EP called Just A Disco, a tribute to Andrew Weatherall whose voice comes is present throughout the track, talking about the similarities between ancient gnostic ceremonies and acid house, a room filled with smoke, coloured lights and music, four thousand years of people looking to achieving transcendence through dancing. There are four versions on the EP, the six minute original mix, the ten minute Lights On The Hill Mix and two remixes. You can listen and buy at Bandcamp with any proceeds going to Andrew's charities of choice (Motor Neurone Disease and Amnesty International).

The ten minute Lights On The Hill Mix is the one to reach for first, a slow chuggy start, long synth chords and twinkles, and gradually the gathering of a head of steam before breaking down as Weatherall appears to dispense his wisdom- 'there are depths in it but also many shallows'- and then piano chords come in to carry us into the second half. Lovely stuff, the sound of sunsets and sunrises, waves on beaches, tranquil and blissed out. 

Also on the EP are a pair of remixes, one from Blavatsky and Tolley and the other from Justin Robertson and his Deadstock 33s. Justin's remix is a dub techno acid mangler, squiggles, distorted bass, rimshots, bleeps and lots of dark delights. 

Blavatsky and Tolley take an in your face approach too, sticking a massive kick drum underneath, stripping things back and bringing the bassline to the fore. The string stabs add drama and a deeper voice intones, 'just a fucking disco', while a piano line dances away on top. 

Forty Five Minutes Of Justin Robertson

Justin Robertson is a DJ, producer, artist, writer and natty dresser and hat wearer who started out behind the counter at  Manchester's Eastern Bloc records shop while studying at the university and in Spice and Most Excellent was at the centre of two of the city's late 80s/ early 90s Balearic clubs. The mix below is based around his recent musical adventures, in his Deadstock 33s guise (which he adopted circa 2009) and his Formerlover project with his wife Sofia Hedblum (a trawl through his 90s back catalogue as Lionrock and his remixes for everyone who was anyone in the 90s would be a very different mix). Some of the tracks in this Sunday mix are among my favourites of the last few years, Justin finding a sound that pulls in dub, acid house, Nigerian house, post punk and dark pop. 

Forty Five Minutes Of Justin Robertson

• Formerlover: Correction Dub
• Formerlover: Discomfort (Dub)
• Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s and Brix Smith: Brix Goes Tubular (Dub Version)
• The Deadstock 33s: The Circular Path (Asphodells Remix)
• Daniel Avery and The Deadstock 33s: Magnetic
• Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s Feat. Formerlover: Dark Endless
• Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s: Numerical Discord Swap

Formerlover is a lockdown born project, Justin and his wife Sofia Hedblom, marrying Lagos beats, dub and a sleazy underbelly. Correction Dub came out on a Galactic Service Broadcasting compilation and Discomfort on Bandcamp in 2020. The Deadstock 33s and Brix Smith single is from only a few weeks ago, a 2022 treasure. The Asphodells remix of The Circular Path came out in 2013. The Daniel Avery and Deadstocks collaboration was a four track EP on Optimo in 2012. Dark Endless is from a compilation from earlier this year, put together by the Spun Out Agency called More Of That Frightful Oompty Boompty Music, the stand out track to these ears, nine minutes of dubby/ cosmic Balearica. Numerical Discord Swap was the A- side of a 7" on Paradise Palms in 2017, a fantastic slice of upfront acid disco. 

Brix Goes Tubular

Brix Goes Tubular, a collaboration between Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s and Brix Smith, came out in the sweltering heat of August, a low slung and infectious slice of groovy acid/ indie disco, Brix surfing on top of Deadstock beats and bleeps. A joy.

Last week a dub version came out, prompting me to go back to it having played it non-stop for a few days and then forgotten about it. That seems to happen a lot. I'm not sure of that's my current concentration span issues or the nature of the seemingly constant torrent of music that floods out of the computer. The dub is lovely, laid back and warm, unwinding at its own pace and in no hurry to be anywhere at all sooner than it needs to be. 

Correction Discomfort Discord

Last year Justin Robertson and Sofia Hedblom released two songs as Formerlover, self styled 'sleaze dub enthusiasts'. The first Correction Dub came out on a compilation for Viscera- rattling percussion, dub bass, some phased guitar chords and Sofia in dominatrix mode on vocals, giving instructions and making threats and promises, 'tell me all about your inner feelings... write to me about your mama... tell me how you wanna sing my name... would you like to know me better? I said, would you like to know me better?... I'd like to lick your soul'

The follow up, Discomfort, came out last September. If anything Discomfort was even better than Correction, a perfect fusion of bass from Jamaica, rhythms from Nigeria, guitar from 60s surfers in California and slide guitar from the Deep South, all seemingly inspired by late evening strolls down Venice Beach. More psychodrama/ longing and unrequited sexual stuff from Sofia's subconscious spoken on top. Get Discomfort and the dub version at Bandcamp. 

Justin Robertson has made a ton of music as Deadstock 33s, two albums and plenty of singles and remixes. Numerical Discord Swap came out in 2017, a limited 7" single with buckets of acid house energy, juddering bass and bleeps and loads of bounce.

Numerical Discord Swap

Magnetic

I pulled this out at the weekend- a collaboration between Daniel Avery and Justin Robertson, in his Deadstock 33s guise, together on a 12" single that came out on Optimo back in 2012. The four track e.p. was kicked off by Magnetic, a kraut-disco jam with a Hooky-esque bassline that still hits the spot in 2019. Music to eat up the miles on the autobahn.

Magnetic

Numerical Discord Swap

A friend posted this picture on social media recently, a magazine photoshoot from 1995. Richard Whiteley at the controls. My best effort on the letters was 'scores', 6 letters, not too bad I thought. But, according to the Countdown episode guide (yes, it exists) you could get an 8 letter word- 'scowlers'. 

This is a new one from Justin Robertson (in his Deadstock 33s guise), about to come out on 7", a chugging, funky piece of acid goodness, equal parts Detroit and Manchester with bleeps straight out of Yorkshire. It really hits the spot for Saturday.  

For One Touch

Just before Christmas, bringing glad tidings to all, a new Weatherall remix. This time it's Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s project getting the reworking, ahead of an album of remixes of tracks from his 2015 Everything Is Turbulence lp. This has a vintage drum machine rhythm, is pretty industrial and has Sofia (Mrs Robertson) on vocals.



A little while back JC at The Vinyl Villain posted my Andrew Weatherall Imaginary Compilation Album, a twenty track rummage through Weatherall's back catalogue. Inspired by my post (!) Andy Hickford has put together an hour long mix in tribute to the early years, remixes of Saint Etienne through to My Bloody Valentine with Primal Scream, One Dove, New Order, Happy Mondays and The Grid in between.

The Circular Path

This came out back in 2013 to little fanfare which is a shame as it's a rather good remix job done by Weatherall and Fairplay on Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s, a sort of hypnotic, space age, techno remix. Some lovely melodies reveal themselves set off against the breakbeat. Best description I can manage right now.


The Circular Path (Asphodells remix)

Everything Is Turbulence

Justin Robertson in his Deadstock 33s guise has a new album out- my first listen has been very rewarding and there's lots here to get your ears into. Some of it is very much dancefloor oriented (including a Daniel Avery collaboration) but there are many other things going on too, what Justin has called 'lysergic soul and atomic machine boogie'. This track features his wife Sofia on vocals and has bags of atmosphere.

Spots With Stripes

Two new tracks for your Saturday enjoyment. This new ep, Confluence Of Torrents, from Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s is a deep and dark delight, full of acidic squiggles, throbbing bass and the smell of dry ice.



Acid Ted posted this the other day and I love it- a new one from Radioactive Man (former Swordsman Keith Tenniswood). Simple drum machine rhythm, a driving bassline, some bleeps and bloops, a mournful synth line and an air that sounds like it was recorded live.

Bagging Area End Of Year List

This is my list, based on what has been played the most this year in the Bagging Area bunker, that was released this year. Judging by many of the names it looks like it could have been put together in 1991 and probably won't have too many surprises for those that read this blog regularly. I really don't seem to have stuck with new stuff by new artists this year. Two of my most played pieces of vinyl in 2013 have been Kolch's Der Alte and Glass Candy's Warm In The Winter, but both came out last year. I have gone for a dozen records (albums, singles, eps, 'internet teasers'), plus a book.

Thirteen. Morrissey 'Autobiography'
As Davy said, his best work for ages. Too much on the court case but the first half is superb. Far better than it could have been and full of music. And people he's fallen out with.

Twelve. David Bowie 'The Next Day'
But especially Where Are We Now, just as it was so unexpected. And so good.

Eleven. Two re-issues (cheating I know but it's my list)- The Clash 'Sound System' and Bob Dylan 'Another Self Portrait'.
Once you strip away the lovely ephemera and trinkets from The Clash box set you are left with the best re-mastering job I've heard. And the Dylan thing was a brand new look at some previously unreleased or unloved songs, beautifully played and sung.

Ten. Peter Gordon and Factory Floor 'Beachcombing'.
Fifteen minutes of sound waves, rippling synths and Balearic loveliness.

Nine. Steve Mason 'Monkey Minds In The Devil's Time'. If only because in Come To Me and Fight Them Back Steve Mason released two of the year's most affecting, emotion-laden songs, but in two very different ways.

Eight. Johnny Marr 'Upstarts'.
A glorious upbeat guitar pop single from Mr Marr. The rest of the lp's pretty good too.



Seven. Primal Scream 'More Light'.
The more I lived with it, the better it got. Their best lp in a decade and though sprawling and heavy, it's got depth, soul and invention, and they sound like they care again. Well done to David Holmes for the production job. It's Alright It's OK- the festival song it's OK to love.



Six. Warpaint 'Love Is To Die'.
New album in January. This is the best kind of advance warning- slinky, groovy dance rock from four girls who know exactly what they're doing.

Five. Jeremy Deller 'English Magic' ep,
I love this- Voodoo Ray remixed by JD Twitch and Optimo. Steel drums, house piano, oh ooh ooh oh oh a ha yeah.

Four. A bagful of Andrew Weatherall remixes.
Emeliana Torrini's Speed Of Dark, Jagwar Ma's Come Save Me and Baris K's 200. Spaced out dance pop, with dub basslines, indie -dance, eastern dance house. Taken together almost thirty minutes of far out bliss. But most of all the stupendous remix of Moby and Wayne Coyne's Another Perfect Life. Still not out on vinyl. Why? Write to your MP now, start a petition, call the Omsbudsman. It's a disgrace.



Three. Daniel Avery 'Drone Logic'
Electronic music, techno and ambient and acid and all the rest, aimed the dance floor and the headspace. The last few songs are close to perfection, the first few will make you move your feet.

Two. my bloody valentine 'mbv'.
What still gets me about this record is the sound- the way that some things sound dead close and some sound dead far away and how much thought has gone into this. How no one else sounds anything like mbv do. new you is beautiful. And wonder 2 is the sound of a helicopter taking off at a drum and bass night,  twenty years ago and today, simultaneously. Don't know why he's abandoned capital letters but with this record he can do what he likes.

One. The Asphodells 'Ruled By Passion, Destroyed By Lust'.
Simply my most played album of the year- twelve tracks mixing up dub, early 80s punk-funk, John Betjeman, and acid house. Easy to lose yourself in, full of invention and the joy of repetitive music, I played it nonstop at the start of the year and I've been coming back to it ever since. Lovely packaging with the vinyl. As a companion piece the remix album was a beauty as well. It's about time Weatherall and Fairplay took it out on the road.

Beglammered (Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s remix)