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Tournesol Tournesol (R&S: 1993) Tournesol were just one among dozens of artists pushed out into the wider world by the towering edifice that was R&S Records in the early nineties, an era when the various strands of eighties-derived dance music wove together in a vibrant tapestry of sound under the aegis of a post-ecstasy dance … Continue reading Tournesol – Tournesol
I'd nearly forgotten this mini-feature I'd started on the sidewalk art that cropped up over the course of the spring and summer during the protracted Covid lockdown. Suddenly, the pavement seemed to come alive with color as I walked my usual routes, no doubt the result of a lot of folk coming to terms with … Continue reading Sidewalk Auteurs
Peter Green: Acid Blues Visionary In the annals of the British blues explosion — the fertile sonic laboratory of the 1960s that yielded myriad storied practitioners spanning from The Yardbirds to Led Zeppelin — there's many figures that spring to mind. Everyone knows Cream and Eric Clapton, while more abstract heads might mention the likes of Tony McPhee and … Continue reading Peter Green
Tony Allen with Afrobeat 2000 N.E.P.A (Never Expect Power Always) Mercury: 1984 In the course of writing last week's tribute to Tony Allen, I was purposefully brief when discussing this record because I knew I'd have to return to it for a full-length feature in its own right. After all, it comes in at a … Continue reading Tony Allen – N.E.P.A.
Cresting into the dawning days of springtime, the last frost retreats into the shadows and the culling of the winter weeds. A towering stack of records nestled under the marquee, waiting in the cool of the morning shade, ready to accompany the landscape/ing as the lingering cold slowly recedes beneath the warm rays of the … Continue reading Garden Grooves 007
Polly said today, she'd find another way... tomorrow. Time is tight, tasks and projects coming down with a quickness. Posts less frequent, but underneath the surface the wheels are turning. Building out the framework, piece by piece in the remains of the day, while the mass production loop just rolls out into the perpetuity. Sometimes … Continue reading Polyesterday
The year of the album I'd already been working on this little list for awhile now, the concept swirling around in the back of my mind for years (much like the Metal Beat 15 had been). In fact, I was originally planning to post this last weekend, but various real world concerns only pushed it … Continue reading 1988
Motion 004: Infoworld Motion 004 happens at the axis of electronics and rhythm. Taking its name from Juan Atkins' key track in the transition from the Model 500 eighties to the Infiniti nineties, this mix draws its inspiration from the lost highway sound of Infoworld (Magic Juan's R-Theme?). Conceived just as the heaviest rainstorm of … Continue reading Motion 004
In a similar spirit to last year, the list crew decided to put together a chart around a specific year. Last year was my call, so I chose 1997 for its pivotal significance in my own musical life (after all, it's the year I tripped and fell into the wonderful world of beats in the … Continue reading 25 From 91
Genaside II Narra Mine/Sirens Of Acre Lane Hardcore Urban Music 1991 Genocide makes me nervous, genocide makes me nervous, genocide makes me..." So begins the record, with a snatch of wordplay from Guru — taken from Gang Starr's Beyond Comprehension — retooled here as a rallying cry for the hardest crew in jungle. That this play of signifiers makes … Continue reading Genaside II – Narra Mine