Monday's Long Song

A remix from the end of October that I should have posted then but something else always nudged it a few days back and then suddenly it's Monday and, hey presto, it finds a home in the Monday long song slot. Max Essa and David Harks are The Clean Trip. Max has been making electronic music since the 90s, releasing on Warp and Manchester's Paper Recordings, plus the D.I.Y. Sound System. In July this year the duo released an EP as The Clean Trip, four chuggy, summer sounding tracks, dreamy/ blissed out Balearic sunset pop. You can find it here.  Two of the tracks got the remix treatment and this one has been getting repeat plays round the Bagging Area way, memories of summer and the warmth of the sun- Lobster Boys remixed by Hifi Sean, seven minutes and fifteen seconds of dubbed out, spaced out, end of the night, Italo cosmic disco splendour, with a gently sighing vocal.

Wasn't that a lovely way to spend some of your Monday in the dull, misty, murk of November? It's what Dr Rob at Ban Ban Ton Ton would call a chocolate milk and brandy kind of track. You can buy it plus a Takovoi remix of Magic Eyes at Bandcamp. 

Monday's Long Song

I wrote a piece for Ban Ban Ton Ton, the number one blog for all things electronic. Dr Rob, said blog's author, is a veteran of the scene, someone who was there at the heart of things in the late 80s and early 90s. He's been resident in Japan for some time and our blogs have grown closer, musically and spiritually, and a while back Rob suggested a blog to blog tie in or collaboration. A few days ago I wrote a piece for him about the most recent long form Richard Norris release, Chrome, a long form ambient piece where Richard's Music For Healing series has entered its third year. You can find it here. I've been a big advocate of Richard's ambient work and its therapeutic properties over the last few years, even moreso in the last few months. 

One of Rob's recent recommendations was Max Essa's work. This led me to Panorama Suite, a twenty minute long Balearic beauty, a very lengthy track where the entirety is one seamless piece of music but also made up of different musical sections, making a whole- synths and keys followed by pads and toplines, guitar lines taking over, basslines coming in and out, and then percussion and more, through to the end. Panorama Suite was re- released this month by Japanese label Jansen Jardin and you can buy it for a couple of quid here. Press play, let it go and then press play again.