Half An Hour Of Kids

A bit of a diversion from my Sunday mix series of (roughly) thirty minute mixes of tracks and songs by a single artist- today's mix is themed around the sound of children's voices/ children's choirs. Do not fear though, there are no St Winifred's School Choirs here, no Primary School end of year shows. This is I hope a bit further left of there. Sometimes the use of children's voices in songs can be quite unsettling, that combination of sweetly sung innocence and the feeling of something being lost. Sometimes they provide a higher register counterpoint. Sometimes they add to a sense of trippiness and dislocation. Sometimes they just sound good, a contrast to adult voices and instruments. Sometimes, as The Clash and Mickey Gallagher's kids prove, they're a joke to ensure that Sandinista! had six songs on each side, making thirty six songs in total. 

Thirty Minute Kids Mix

• Family Of God: Family Of God
• Frank Ocean, Mick Jones and Paul Simonon: Hero
• The Children Of Sunshine: It's A Long Way To Heaven
• The Avalanches Ft Jamie Xx, Neneh Cherry and Calypso: Wherever You Go
• Gorillaz: Dirty Harry
• Soul II Soul: Get A Life
• Poly High: Midnight Cowboy
• The Clash: Career Opportunities

It's only right I should give a nod of the head to David Holmes whose crate digging inspired some of this mix. He played the Poly High song on his Desert Island Disco on Lauren Laverne's 6 Mix show earlier this year, included the Family Of God track on a free CD that was given away with the NME in 2000 and put the Children Of Sunshine song on his superb Late Night Tales compilation from 2016. The Frank Ocean, Paul Simonon and Mick Jones song was a one off done with/ for Converse in 2014, produced by Diplo, with the West Los Angeles Children's Choir providing backup. The Avalanches song also has Mick Jones playing on it but this time piano not guitar, and samples The Voyager, NASA's tape for aliens, currently somewhere out there way further than any of us have ever been. The album We Will Always Love You came out in 2020. Gorillaz, Damon with Dangermouse, was released in 2005.  Soul II Soul's Get A Life was a huge hit in 1989 and includes Jazzy B's still excellent advice- 'Be selective, be objective, be an asset to the collective/ As you know, you got to get a life'. Something in that for all of us perhaps. 

God's Children

Here's an oddity.

Back in 2000 the NME and Xfm put a cd out, free with the NME, with mixes by Andrew Weatherall and David Holmes. I know that the idea of either NME or Xfm being associated with the distribution of good music may seem strange today, but stick with me.

The cd was called London Xpress. You can pick it up on ebay for a few quid. Weatherall contributed a mix of seven mainly minimal tech-house tracks. Holmes put in a brief alternative version of his legendary Essential Mix, opening with this track- Family Of God by Family Of God. It's laid back and trippy, has bah-bah-bah backing vocals and American children talking about their idea of what God is like. Listening to it, it seems to be recorded with a kind of Super 8 film quality (if that makes any sense), and actually would work really well with the Go! Team track I posted the other day now I think about it. Discogs says Family Of God were Adam Peters and Chris Brick who recorded a few albums and singles in the late 90s. That's the sum of knowledge I have about the them.

The rest of Holmes mix was equally druggy, electic and inspired, with an early Joy Zipper track (Check Out The Patches On My New Jeans), a couple of solo tracks from Bow Down To The Exit Sign, some Keith Mansfield, some Fred Neil, some Hot Butter and Ella Fitzgerald doing Sunshine Of Your Love. I'll stick some of it up here over the next week or so.

12 Family Of God.wma