Happy Chrimbo and a little Grace Slick (well quite a lot actually!)

So I'm lounging around here down in Landaaan with the family and actually have 5 minutes to post something!

Firstly, may I wish everyone a very merry Christmas. Normally it's seasonal to look back at the past 12 months and do some kind of review and top 10/20/50/100 tunes/films/books/reality tv shows/idiots (delete as appropriate) of the year.

But I'd rather look forward, particularly as we will be moving house in January, and consider 2012. So in the UK we have the Olympics to look forward to, rising unemployment, huge debt, exclusion from Europe(?), the Hobbit on film and the Gadabouts actually officially releasing their album (remixed and way, way better sounding! More on that in 2012).

As a little christmas pressie I've also attached a link to one of my all time favourite tracks by Grace Slick somewhat disingenuously referred to as psychedelic rock on Wikipedia. More like spanish/latin american rock to me but woteva!!!!

Diet


Grace Slick - Theme from the movie Manhole

Scuba - Essential Mix - Live @ Sonar (June 2011)

Sorry haven't posted for a while - a necessary radio silence I'm afraid. Too many babies on the scene at the moment.

Anyhow, had to big-up Paul at Hotflush who used to play the second room at a couple of our Payload nights that we put on down in Landaan in the early naughties.

This is from his set at Sonar this year and I have to say I take my hat off to Paul. He's managed to stick to his principles and build an essential label where all the music has that key ingredient of coolness. I believe that he lives in Berlin now although I might be wrong - I've been soooooo out of touch lately.

Diet


PS Get well soon Col xx   Scuba - Essential Mix - Live @ Sonar (June 2011) by Hotflush

A simple digital life

I miss my vinyl records. However, I have been thinking about space recently and how things have changed since the most popular medium of purchasing art has been sitting on your arse and sucking it out the ether through your laptop. I am torn between having that something to touch and admire in its physical form and the active ceremony of discovering it in a real shop with real people, and saving time and space by taking the easy digital option. I am also considering buying a boat to live on which is far smaller than my already small space that I can't fit my vinyl records in anyway. (They are stored in a studio in Manchester along with everything else exciting that I own). To be digital is also to be environmentally conscious and if you are educated in the issues that the world faces today and in the near future, it is to be a responsible global citizen. I love the idea of a simple life with little space consuming possessions that did not use much needed natural resources to produce, but I think there will always be a part of me that loves the clutter of vinyl, tapes, analogue hardware and artwork that filled my childhood and nothing will ever quite match its character. What do you think?

Thought I ought to big-up an old friend from dan saf, Nicky Spesh who seems to be making a bit of a comeback with his home brewed hip hop and spoken word.

Always good to hear music with a bit of wit and warmth.

D

Radiohead - Lotus Flower (SBTRKT RMX)

This one is for Ste! SBTRKT - awful name, but damnation, that man can produce with the best of them.

Enjoy,

T.

Lotus Flower - SBTRKT RMX by Radiohead

Friday feeling

Need a Friday boost chaps? Try this on, shamelessly cheddar, but you can beat that o.t.t. hat loop when it drops. Can't help but feel it's probably 2dB too loud, but it wouldn't be the same otherwise! And what about those awful needle scratches? I love them, Col hates them!




L-Vis 1990 Lost In Love (Neon Dreams Club Dub) 192

Instra:mental - Watching You

My tune of the day is this absolute cracker by the Instra:mental chaps. A little 'older' (released in 2009), it made me think - when does a piece of music become 'old'? Because of the glut of music available from the plethora of platforms we have today, people tend to consume music rather than stopping to enjoy it as art. I'm guilty of this from time to time: as a resident DJ, you have to keep the bag fresh, not just recycle the same tunes week in week out, and this involves 'sifting' through hours of music like someone might sort through a pile of crappy Primark clothing!
Anyways.. Listen to this beauty from all those many, many years ago, and remember good music is good music, regardless of how much it might have been played, or when it was made.

Instra:mental - Watching You by FuckYeahEMusic02

Tom

Julio Bashmore - Battle for middle you

Can't get enough of this track at the moment. Love the deep house/Garage vibes. Nuff Sed. Went off like milk behind a warm radiator on Friday at Forum! Enjoy chaps, Tom x

Julio Bashmore - BATTLE FOR MIDDLE YOU by abeano

Nigel Hall RA Interviewed in his studio

I had to put this up as I worked for Nigel about 5 years ago when I was brassic and needed cash urgently.

He needed someone to help him clean his studio and tidy up and I was available. I remember his studio being beautiful - an old church building I believe - and it was full of his sculptures and large framed monochrome drawings. The ceiling must have been about 30 feet above my head and there was a massive abstract steel sculpture dominating the hall with plenty of smaller steel and wooden sculptures in various stages of completion dotted about. He also had a classic car (Mercedes I think) parked in it.

I think he's got to that stage in his career that we all dream about - paid handsomely to do something that he loves doing.

The piece that he talks about in the film, Like Thunder, is one that I might have helped him with by sanding down the surfaces prior to the polish being applied. Or it might not be. I remember there being about 10-15 similar pieces with slight variations with this being the biggest. It looked like the physical embodiment of a train of thought.

What you don't get from the film is the smell - and it's a smell that I love. It's paint, wood, metal, polish and dust. It's the smell of a lifetime of making things. It's probably the sweet smell of success.

Link here: Nigel Hall interview

Ten snake Talk Talk live edit!

Yes Diet! Remember Tom and I use to smash this one out at 80's night at Space. We were always tryin to mash up classic tunes live. Ten Snake does a superb job here! We should cover a Talk Talk tune - bring back some of the early stuff. Oh yes!

Talk Talk 'It's My Life' (Tensnake live edit) Source Festival

One of my all time favourite bands given some live remix treatment by Tensnake including a nice African chant at t'beginning.

This is from their set at the Source Festival that, unfortunately, I didn't have the pleasure of attending. I quite fancy going somewhere other than the UK to see live music but, sadly, I don't get out much these days. Unless it's to Tesco's to spend an ever increasing proportion of my money on groceries.

Still, it's my life (boom boom!).

Diet

  TALK TALK "It's My Life" (Tensnake live Edit) Source Festival by Tensnake

Fat Freddys Drop - Bohannon Dub

Free download from one of our favourites!

Fat Freddys Drop hail from New Zealand although their music appears to come from the Caribbean and 1970's USA where dub sounds clash with sophisticated electronica and a funk sensibility. This instrumental kind of reminds me of Big Fun era Miles Davis meets early 70's Stones. Or maybe I've just picked some random shit out of my head? Who the hell knows...

Anyhow, this freebie is a warm summer night that has made the miserable bank holiday weekend in Manchester seem much more bearable. Enjoy!

Diet

  FAT FREDDYS DROP BOHANNON DUB by Fat Freddy's Drop

Joe Goddard (featuring Valentina) - Gabriel

We at Gadabout towers have always had a soft spot for DFA records and I thought that I had to recommend this track:
a. because it's lovely with a really unusual vocal treatment and 
b. because it's named after my eldest boy. How did they know??? 


Diet


  Joe Goddard (featuring Valentina) - Gabriel by DFA Records

The phoenix rises....

From the ashes of Dieter and the Gadabouts rises....... well.... The Gadabouts.


'Not so different!' you cry but that's the point. We at Gadabouts Towers have decided that, although a change is as good as a rest, too much change leaves you dazed and confused. That's correct - I'm attempting to shoehorn as many popular phrases and sayings into a single blog entry.


Anyhow, this is a place where Diet, Tom, Ste and Col, kings of the single syllable, will meet to discuss music, philosophy and laughter - the founding principles of The Gadabouts.


So some music from some guys in Mexico via New York, Moon Runner with the best minimal throbbing groove thang of the year so far, Cultural Track One. It's so good that I can't wait for Cultural Track Two and beyond! Diet

Moon Runner - Cultural Track One by moon runner