Mini Cooper

Swapping Christmas for chug, with 56 minutes of Bedford Falls Players aka Mark Cooper.

 

A trio of top notch releases from this year, remixes, re-edits and rarities from 2016 to 2022, all guaranteed to get you from a stumble to a shuffle, maybe even a shimmy.

I was a latecomer to Bedford Falls Players (I say that about a lot of artists, don't I?) but I was a swift convert, a big fan of the insistent rhythm, well-placed samples, melancholy chords and dub effects that characterise Cooper's work. 

 

I'm just about keeping up with Mark's current endeavours, whilst diving further back into the BFP catalogue, unearthing more gems along the way.

1) Chudley's Chemical Chug (Single Version): Bedford Falls Players (2016)

2) Railton Ruckus (Bedford Falls Players Remix): Rude Audio (2021)

3) Electric Loop: Bedford Falls Players (2022)

4) Simulated Emotions (Bedford Falls Players Emotive Remix): From Beyond (2021)

5) Fallen Off The Sample (Re-visited): Bedford Falls Players (2024)

6) Beautiful Chaos (Dub Mix): Bedford Falls Players (2024)

7) Face à La Mer (Bedford Falls Players Acid Re-Rub): Les Negresses Vertes (2022)

8) Agent Cooper Coffee Dreams: Bedford Falls Players (2024)

 

Mini Cooper (56:56) (KF) (Mega)

Nothing But The Chances

More beat-laden beauties to banish your mid-week blues, three quarters of an hour (give or take a minute) of music from the 2020s to enhance your day. 

I was encouraged to check out the Rough Diamond EP by TR20 aka Joshua Tobin and Jack Rutherford after they contributed to Hyena Hopscotch Remixes by Pete Bones & The Stones Of Convention. Pete returns the favour on the EP, as do Bedford Falls Players on the title track. The original version of Rough Diamond is described as an "ALFOS aligned chugger" and they're not wrong.

Yes Father are also a duo - Dino Lenny and Francesco Farfa - and I originally picked up Everything You Say last year via Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s Remix. I went back this summer to get their own remix of the track, described as "modern dance music meets new wave disco jam that’s upbeat without compromising style". A banger, in other words.

 

I've dipped into Versions: Remixed by Archive, which is packed with goodies by Andy Bell/GLOK and Richard Norris. Lights was originally the eighteen and a half minute title track from their 2006 album, recreated as a seven minute opener for Archive's 2020 Versions album and remixed here by Darkstar aka Aiden Whalley and James Young as a three and a half minute ambient interlude, dovetailing nicely into...

...Jezebell's dub reimagining of Elle Et Moi by Max Berlin's as Jezebelle Et Moi. I'm a big fan of this track and I think I have now featured all but one of the four versions on this blog. Jezebell aka Jesse Fahnestock and Darren Bell have pulled out all the stops, delivering so many great new songs and remixes in recent months that it;s easy to forget that Jezebelle Et Moi came out in 2022. All highly recommended.

 

Walking In The Sun by Andres Y Xavi (Glenn Fallows and Steve Ellis to their family and friends) is another track that's featured here multiple times in various versions since the remix EP was released last April. Alongside remixes from Coyote and James Bright, there are are a couple of remixes by Xavi/Steve, including this lovely sunset dub.

 

From there, Sydney Minsky-Sargeant of Working Men's Club teams up with Russ Orton (ex-Fat Truckers) as Minsky Rock to take on Baxter Dury. Say Nothing is grabbed by the lapels and dragged back to the 1980s, this vocal-free version described by Dury as taking "the basic cells of a sleepy spoken word number and [turning] it into a bastard 80s electro animal". An apt description.

 

Sticking with the 1980s and Rude Boy's cover of M|A|R|R|S 1987 one-off single and global smash hit. Rude Boy is Lee Groves and Kardi Tivali, with Pump Up The Volume remixed by Robo Bass Hifi aka Markus Kamma as a dub-inflected electro chugger. 

 

Rounding things off is the mysterious (to me, at least) From Beyond with Simulated Emotions, released on the excellent Paisley Dark Records in August 2021. The EP includes a braces of remixes by Bedford Falls Players (him again) and label boss John Paynter, delivering "A Space Age Freak Out Dark Paisley" version. I've gone for the original version of the title track, a low-BPM thing of beauty, all pulsing beats, bouncing keys and synth washes. 

 

Just over forty five minutes later and you have arrived at your destination. I hope you enjoyed the ride.

 

1) Rough Diamond (Original Version): TR20 (2022)

2) Everything You Say (Dino Lenny & Francesco Farfa Mix): Yes Father (2020)

3) Lights (Darkstar Remix): Archive ft. Pollard Berrier (2020)

4) Jezebelle Et Moi (Le Dub Et Moi) (Cover of Max Berlin's): Jezebell (2022)

5) Walking In The Sun (Xavi's Dub): Andres Y Xavi ft. Rolo McGinty (2021)

6) Say Nothing (Minsky Rock Remix - Instrumental): Baxter Dury (2020)

7) Pump Up The Volume (Robo Bass Hifi Remix) (Cover of M|A|R|R|S): Rude Boy ft. Kardi Tivali (2021)

8) Simulated Emotions (Single Version): From Beyond (2021)

2020: Everything You Say EP: 2

2020: Say Nothing EP: 6

2020: Versions: Remixed: 3

2021: Pump Up The Volume / Superstylin' EP: 7

2021: Simulated Emotions EP: 8

2021: Walking In The Sun EP: 5

2022: Jezebelle Et Moi EP: 4

2022: Rough Diamond EP: 1

Nothing But The Chances (45:57) (Box) (Mega)

Holding Out For Something Greater

A final dip this week into my recent Bandcamp Friday shopping bag, with another 10-track selection, split into two sides for your listening pleasure.

 

The selection starts off with two legends, Winston Reedy and Dennis Bovell, performing an acapella version of Lovers Rock classic After Tonight by Bovell's former band Matumbi. Dennis Bovell returns for the finale on Side 2, this time with Roots United and Skarra Mucci.

 

In between, there's a fair bit of globe trotting, taking in artists from or based in France, Germany, England, Norway, Australia, Mexico, Chile, Jamaica and the USA.

 

I've included two artists on the ever-excellent Paisley Dark Records and a couple more extracts from the EarthPercent x Earth Day Compilation Album, featured yesterday. 

 

An eclectic but fun selection, I think.

Side One

1) After Tonight (Cover of Matumbi): Reedy & db (2022)

2) Summer Lovin' (Edit): Cerrone & Purple Disco Machine (2022)

3) Tacrolimus: UFO Club (2021)

4) Deep Time Exploration: From Beyond (2021)

Side Two

1) Somethinggreater (Gaspard Augé & Victor Le Masne Remix): Parcels (2022)

2) Silk Sea: Blancmange (2015)

3) You're Not God: Anna Calvi (2022)

4) Closed World (Single Version): Roswell Brothers ft. Nyx (2022)

5) Distance Mover: Orlando Weeks (2022)

6) Fall Babylon (Version): Dennis Bovell & Roots United ft. Skarra Mucci (2020)

2020: Fall Babylon EP: B6

2021: Repeat Prescription EP: A3

2021: Semi Detached (Extended Version): B2

2021: Simulated Emotions EP: A4

2022: After Tonight EP: A1

2022: Closed World EP: B4

2022: Day/Night Remixed EP: B1 

2022: EarthPercent x Earth Day Compilation Album: B3, B5

2022: Peaky Blinders: Season 5 OST: B3

2022: Summer Lovin' EP: A2

Side One (21:11)

Side Two (20:20)