I heard Ken Cloud play this last Saturday at Lost Baggage - the first time I had heard in it a club environment, the sort of track that’s even better when you’re watching the dancefloor jack to this monster. It’s a dirty, dirty, get your freak on kind of record, and what you’d be expecting from Mike Dunn. Could easily slide in to my top ten for 2008.

Another quality promo video for Minimal Fuss, featuring Alex Smoke this Thursday night at the Civic Underground, Sydney. See you there. Don’t forget Abe Duque on the Friday night, same location.

Photo by Nicola Kuperus (one half of ADULT.)

ADULT. – Kick in the Shin
Theo Parrish – Falling Up (Carl Craig Remix)
Theo Parrish – Falling Up
Alex Smoke – Persona
Phylyps – Untitled B
Alex Smoke – Never Want To See You Again
ADULT. – We Know How to Have Fun
ADULT. – Nervous (Wreck)
Ultramarine – Hooter (Carl Craig Remix)
Cesária Évora – Angola (Carl Craig remix)

Chrysanthemum - Kelley Polar (Check the beautiful video above!)
MK – Decay
Pegz – Two Sides of the Map (feat. Debaser)
Conrad Black – Greyscale for Slow Building
Spank Rock – Rick Rubin
Roisin Murphy – Sinking Feeling
Deep Chord – 5:58.60
Ricardo Villalobos & Jay Haze – Prefer Summer (Cabanne Remix)
Marc Houle – Has to Do
Farben – Alpin (Formatted)

The Southern Outpost crew have dropped their latest release - a limited edition 4 track audio cassette (yes, casette) by San Franciscan, bvdub, entitled ‘Monuments To Oblivion’. Limited to 100 copies, you can get yours from Clone.

Check it out. Soundbytes available on Southern Outpost.

Clara Hill at Sydney Festival 2007

Clara Hill - Morning Star (feat. Thief)
Sylvester - I Need Somebody To Love Tonight
Brommage Dub - Trinidub
Cobblestone Jazz - PBD
Joris Voorn - Flow
Cobblestone Jazz - Lime In Da Coconut
Foo Fighters - The Pretender
King Tubby - Roots Dub
Brian Briggs - Aeo (Pt. 1 & 2)
Briskeby - A Song To Whisper

Mike Banks and Jeff Mills, the “genesis of Underground Resistance” - reunite to perform as X-102 at Sonar in Barcelona this year.

<72pt>Gobsmacked!</72pt>

In 1989, “Mad” Mike Banks and Jeff Mills laid the first stone of Underground Resistance, and by doing so changed the face of techno forever. Few people have had an impact as intense as UR, a label that has always been linked to ideas like “militant”, “pioneering” and “advanced”. Fifteen years later, Banks and Mills return to their X-102 project to take a new version of an absolutely legendary piece from the UR catalogue and part of electronic history to the stage: “X-102 - Discovers The Rings Of Saturn”, created with Robert Hood and published in 1992. A soundtrack created live to accompany the latest images (never seen) of Saturn, obtained by the unmanned Cassini-Huygens space mission. It is a conceptual tour de force which explores all the aspects of this mysterious planet, including its rings and moons, at the classic co-ordinates of UR: with echoes of science fiction, the best Detroit techno imaginable and a pure underground spirit.

If only I could start my Euro trip this year, one week earlier.

The members of Kraftwerk get spelled out. Buy at Redbubble.

Ok, so I’ve been slack. This gig was at the end of January. Ages ago. I know.

He played some fun records. He played some curious ones. He rambled on the microphone. He wished us a happy new year. He wished us a happy Australia Day. He put his “hand on the muthafuckin’ record”. He drank some vodka. He had a light-hearted approach to his music. He didn’t play any of his own solo productions. He talked about rollerskating jams.

Respect.

Riders on the storm

He played Tyree Coopers “Video Crash” - an old house favourite of mine, to J Dilla and The Doors (yes, you read that correctly!) featuring the The Coach House Rhythm Section - it was eclectic, yet entertaining music. Old school funk james and more minimally influenced techno also pervaded the air - a melange of sounds that kept everyone wiggling on the floor. Yet, as I mentioned - he didn’t play any of his solo works.

I had so much fun, I went back the second time to see him at the “unofficial” Mad Racket gig at the Mandarin Club. It was darker and had less people who had been given corporate promo free tickets, which meant more headz and thankfully, less wank.

View the photo set.

Amanda Blank with Spank Rock

Spank Rock - Touch Me
Cobblestone Jazz - Lime In Da Coconut
Cobblestone Jazz - Hired Touch
Model 500 - Pick Up The Flow
Jazzanova - Another Fine Day (Doctor Rockit’s Vocal Itch featuring Ovasoul7)
Astronomy Class - Vibe Won’t Stop
DJ Yoda - Bargain Hunters
Hot Chip - Over and Over
John Gaiser - And Answer
The Sentinel - Watch Your Back full track
Billy Dalessandro - Come With Me (Jon Gaiser Remix)