robert owens - 'i'll be your friend'

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One last party favourite before I go out tonight and do some dad dancing alongside the beautiful people half my age. 

Look and learn son. You don't get taught moves like this at school. I learnt this on the mean streets of Worthing.

mad professor - 'radiation ruling the nation'

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I loved the original and I'm deeply, hopelessly head over heels in love with this remix from the dub remix album by Mad Professor. He once played this at a dub reggae night at the Concorde here in my hometown of Brighton. I got as far the pillars by the fire exit facing the sea (for those who know the venue) and could get no further. The bass was so low it was making me feel queasy. He does love a bit of bass! 

The only other time that has happened was a small venue of Portobello Road back in the day when it was the Aba Shanti Sound System. All I could do was watch in awe as these superhumans rocked and rolled a few feet away from the weapons-grade speakers.

As a postscript can I just say that the cover of the album is just about the worst I've ever seen and totally unworthy to grace such a fine collection of remixes.

groove armada - 'raising the stakes'

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I always thought this was a very under-rated track from their 'Goodbye Country...' album. The bassline alone makes this a great track.

fort knox five - 'shift feat. afrika bambaataa and mustafa akbar'

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It's Saturday night and I'm in the mood for some seriously funky tunes. First port of call is Fort Knox Five. Funk guaranteed.

sizzla - 'subterranean homesick blues'

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It seems to me that Bob Dylan songs all sound better sung by other people. The one Dylan song I did prefer him singing is this. It's my favourite too, it's just so brilliantly observed and the video, shot in London behind the Savoy with a cameo part for Allan Ginsberg is iconic. It's as good a music video as you'll ever see. 

I came across this cover by Sizzla on a reggae tribute album to Dylan some time ago and Sizzla has done a wonderful job of making it his own whilst jkeeping the spirit and message of the song. Then I came across the video with Sizzla paying homage to the original too. This is what covering a song is all about. The reality TV driven karaoke pastiches make me want to tear my hair out sometimes. I do wish that just once, that one of those hapless fools would break free from Cowell's formula and go for Sizzla's approach.

 

amorphous androgynous - 'go tell it to the trees egghead'

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If this song doesn't relax you then you need medical help.

rrose - 'waterfall (birth)'

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It's too layered to be minimal, not quite techno, not quite electro, definitely not acid (although I can see why some might say it is). This track gathers weight as it goes along like a snowball rolling in the snow. I like this a lot. 

frankie knuckles presents director's cut feat. jamie principle - 'your love (the remixes)'

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Not one but all 3 remixes of one of the most important House tracks to come out of Chicago. 

boards of canada - 'reach for the dead'

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At last the wait is over. Ambient electronica maestros The Boards of Canada have finally released a full track rather than the little tasters we've been teased with up until now. The new album is out next month and if this is anything to go by it's going to be a seriously good long player.

talking heads - 'psycho killer feat. arthur russell'

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I was delighted to stumble across this rarity on Soundcloud recently. Byrne, Weymouth and the gang team up with experimental composer Arthur Russell for a raw version of the Talking Heads classic.

when saints go machine - 'iodine'

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Fresh off the presses, here's the single from their latest album and a quite stunning yet subtle video to accompany it.

tricky - 'past mistakes'

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I still haven't forgiven him for that abhomination of a gig last year with the live Maxinequaye performance but I still love his music. None more so than this.

the ronettes - 'i can hear music'

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I must have told you of my love for Veronica Bennett, lead singer of the Ronettes. The way she scrunches her nose and smiles...sigh!

lady waks in da mix #229 feat. smash hi-fi

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Everyone's favourite breakbeat DJ is in the house. 

stornoway - 'knock me on the head'

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I haven't listened to their first album in too long but I made up for that on the commute home tonight and now got their second album playing right now. It's a beautiful debut album and flows like a story with harmonies that barbershop quartets would be envious of. The second compliments the first rather well and shows a maturity to their music that makes me wonder where they go for their third album.

Track number 6. Cracking tune.

the aboriginal heavy metal gangs of wadeye

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Here's a rather strange thing. It appears that all is not well with the indigenous people of Waseye in the Northern Territories, Australia. The young men have formed themselves into gangs. Nothing particularly odd about that but they have named themselves after the bands of the golden era of heavy metal: Slayer, Megadeth, Judas Priest....they are all represented.

Don't be fooled either into thinking this is a bit of a laugh. People, property, communities are getting seriously harmed. See for yourself here.

Part 1:

Part 2:

richard villalobos - 'timemorf'

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When I started this blog I thought I'd be playing a lot more minimal techno (hence the name) but not working from home so often has meant that I don't put it on anymore. I find it helps me concentrate with the spreadsheets. No idea why, but it does. I will rectify the absence right now with this beauty from everyone's favourite Chilean party animal DJ/Producer.

biting tongues – 'boss toyota trouble'

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I'd forgotten about this tune. It popped up on a CD I recently bought - 'Factory Records Rare 12" and Remixes.' It's very Splodgenessabounds, Blockheads. Pretty damn cool.

mungo's hi-fi - 'dem no like it (feat omar perry)'

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This has the kind of stomach-churning low bass that reminds me of Mad Professor sound systems.

black grape - 'shake your money'

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The Rolling Stones have been a great source of inspiration for some classic songs, Bittersweet Symphony being (probably) the greatest example but here's another that I love as much. It was a song placed in the graveyard slot of second to last track on their first album and far too rude to release as a single although I recall Chris Evans playing a heavily edited version on his breakfast show once. It also features Sean Ryder quoting the famous Troggs outtake...the one about sprinkling a bit of fairy dust and you've got a hit record. It's a corker and no mistake. 

...and the Rolling Stones song it emulates? 'Fool To Cry'. 

vashti bunyan - 'pink sugar elephants'

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The original working of the song that she changed later to the 'Train Song'.

elvis presley - 'such a night'

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My children have just gone to bed a little bit bemused and embarrassed as their dad danced around the living room to this song....and not missing a single inflection as he sang along, I hasten to add. This is one of my very favourite Elvis tunes too. 

mexican institute of sound - 'escribeme pronto'

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Have I played this before? Ah well, if I have then it hasn't been for a long time. I'm in the mood for some Latin-infused breaks and beats. Saturday morning music!