Less regular than a Northern Rail Sunday service...
Up yer fanny
ADDED: 03/01/2006
The Web can get stuck quite far up its own arse at times, what with all this Web 2.0 vlogging podcast netlabel nonsense. In the interest of keeping it low-brow, Bam In Your Cunt is a new netlabel which accepts submissions via e-mail and releases them, generally on the grounds of cock size. In my opinion this is a display of democracy which George "also a cunt" Bush Jr would be proud of. Their website is also wonderfully horrible to look at, which stupendous press releases to accompany each dose of aural slough. Some of the music is quite good. I think it's Jesus.
Miniature hold-up!
ADDED: 01/09/2005
Due to bandwidth / server space / free time / disillusionment / werewolf / alien abduction problems, the Foruminiatures project is currently on hold. Repeat, it is on hold - it is NOT dead! It's just pretending. You can still send in stuff if you want to. Stay tuned for an update some time in 2006...
Merry XXXmas
ADDED: 24/12/2005
As has been well documented in the past, usually by stern cross-examination in a court of law, I am TOTALLY into ladies, especially the "not real" type who live semi-naked inside my computer and populate a good portion of my hard drive (fnarrr). I also have absolutely NO new tracks to put online, mainly because I've been busy being TOTALLY into ladies. In light of this and because - hey - it's Christmas, I might as well pass on this not exactly worksafe link from among my scantily-clad favourites section. Pass the cheesecake... yum!
Music + Thing = Great blog
ADDED: 23/06/2005
There's already millions of music blogs out there spouting crap much the same as you will read on here, but I simply must share this one as it is so consistently brilliant that it puts much of the rest to shame. Wittily written by Tom Whitwell, he trawls up some incredibly music gear-related stuff and slaps it online with irresistable titles like "What's inside a Moog?", "A cat costume for your theremin" and "Build your own laser harp!" - Jean-Michel Jarre fans like myself may spontaneously ejaculate at this point. Hopefully there will be someone out there who hasn't experienced this yet!
Fitting tribute
ADDED: 05/04/2005
John Peel's tragic and ridiculously premature demise last year really knocked the wind out of the global music community, not just online but everywhere. I wont go on because a lot has been written (and more eloquently) on the subject, but since then people have clearly been searching for an appropriate way to fill the space he vacated. Tribute to John Peel is a fantastic, understated and elegant attempt to recognize the great bloke and also do something which he would be in favour of - give exposure to new, unknown acts who would otherwise disappear on the gigantic world stage. Mad respect!
A miniature project
ADDED: 08/02/2005
In a moment of madness, I've started a new project. Foruminiatures is a new project for users of the Ninjatune forum to get involved with and generally be distracted by. The project is inspired by (stolen from) an original idea instigated by Morgan Fisher. He basically got a bunch of cool people to record 1 minute pieces and edited them onto an album (See morgan-fisher.com for more info). This is the first thing I've done where I get to swan around calling myself the "project curator". To get into the role, I've started wearing a scarf thrown carelessly over one shoulder and striding round the house in a manner which suggests I'm incredibly self-important. It's fun!
And now, the bad news
ADDED: 31/10/2004
I was away in North Wales when the unbelievable news came - "John Peel has died on holiday in Peru..." Listening to Radio 1 late that night was very surreal; the presenters all in shock, a distraught Mary-Anne Hobbes trying to keep it together, a constant stream of disbelief and impassioned messages from seemingly all corners of the world. John was not a DJ, because you actually cared what happened to him when he went home every night. You laughed with him at his own bad jokes. You got as angry as he did about the injustices in the world. Then, without fail, every night he would play a record drawn from some uncharted corner of the musical landscape that would make you leap up and say "What the hell...?!" We've been robbed of a legend. Rest in peace or noise, John Peel (1939 - 2004).
Breaks "not dead yet" say experts
ADDED: 14/09/2004
Well, It turns out I'm getting support on the Australian breaks scene. Respect to the Oz breaks massive! Breaks are still big down there apparently, which makes sense to me as some of the finest breaks I've ever heard have originated in Australia. Labels like Thunk and artists like Outfission spring to mind. I intend to come down and check it out (eventually!), but for now antipodean folks can hear my track "Whetherman" on DJ Hyper's latest mix CD, Wired, which is released by Ministry of Sound in Australia. Cheers for the props Hyper. Maybe I should write more breaks...?
Micro-mixes are the new Tenaglia
ADDED: 04/08/2004
Some months ago I partook in a little mix collaboration challenge thing set up by a couple of ne'er do well Ninja Forumites. Twenty "contestants" had to choose an artist to mix and then had seven minute each in which to cram some choice cuts. Yours truly chose Plaid and only just managed to mix four tracks within the allotted time, but they were good ones! There were some really terrific entries, in particular from Bobby Corridor (Public Enemy) and Strepsil (Tipper). The event was so successful that we did it again - this time with more people! 808 State were my mix victims and (to be perfectly honest) I almost gave up at one point, but perseverance won the day and I managed to mangle 6 of their tracks into one glorious mash-up! Cue cheering and tickertape...
Solid Steel jingle
ADDED: 10/07/2004
In response to an online competition, I've composed a jingle for the excellent Solid Steel radio show, as broadcast on the internet and also a number of commercial stations (you know, the olde wireless). You could sample any Ninja Tune tracks which you felt appropriate, but they also provided the famous "Solid Steel bleeps" which had to feature in the final ident. For my efforts I received a little praise (which was nice!) and also the pleasure of hearing my jingle used in one of Strictly Kev's mixes. To hear the jingle click here!
Headlock Holiday
ADDED: 29/05/2004
The ratio of guff-to-inspiring websites can be a little depressing at times, but every now and then you find a real gem. I found the Quiet American's One minute vacations page a few months ago and was inspired enough to send in a clip. Much to my surprise (and delight), project curator Aaron Ximm decided to use it. My recording was added on May 24th 2004, but I highly recommend you peruse this rich sound resource in its entirety. Unique soundscapes for aural traveling.
Releases
ADDED: 08/09/2003
![Plank [024]](plank_024.gif)
DJ Flywheel: Sundae Night / Whetherman
Plank Records [plank 024]
My first (and possibly last!) foray into "real" records was the result of a slew of demo's which I sent out in early 2003. The only reply I got was from Plank, and after some deliberation they signed these two tracks. It was a good eight months before it hit the racks, and it didn't do amazingly well either - but never mind, it was a good experience and one track ended up getting licensed to a Will Saul mix called Simple Sounds 2. It's kind of deep moody breaks on one side and slightly more upbeat frisky weird breaks on the other. Click the track titles for a sample.