Author Archives: Jammo

JAMMO’S MUSIC REPORT No.007

Read Time: 4 mins

Another month down, and with winter at the door, it’s time for yet another rip-roaring Music Report. At this point, I’m slowly collating music and samples for a new series of Deejay shows I’m doing, so here’s five tunes that have been floating my boat throughout October!

Brian Eno – Shadow 

I’ve been listening to a lot of ambient stuff this last month and an awful lot of Eno specifically. Taken from Ambient 4: On Land (My favourite of the Ambient series), Shadow is an eerie little piece, which relies heavily on long delay noises and spectral breathy vocals which make me jump out of my skin when I’m running around Templehof.

Soccer 96 (feat Alabaster dePlume) – I was Gonna Fight Fascism

An acerbic spaced-out Krautrock banger from Soccer 96, lamenting the ‘real-life’ struggles of well-intentioned modern anti-fascist wannabe, “I was gonna fight fascism, but honestly, I just had so much on”. 

Mrs Jynx – Dinner Dance

Sumptuous velvety electro from Mrs Jynx on CPU records. Nerdy IDM married to sexxed-up hold music with an awkward pop sensibility. The perfect antidote to these long grey German winters.

Şenay – Honki Ponki

Turk-pop-disco of the highest order. I’ve no idea what Honki Ponki means. In my ignorance, I’d hoped it was similar to Hanki Panki but it isn’t. Wikipedia claims it was released as “a protest song” against what? I haven’t found out yet. If you know, mail me!

Toma Kami – BOH–ee

The opening track to Toma Kami’s latest release Speed Oddity is a solid drum workout for the mad heads out there. If your bum don’t move to this, you might be dead.

—/// Bonus Bits ///—

From lowbrow to highbrow, here’s what else I’ve been consuming this past month

Telly: The Voice of Germany: I’ll be honest, no matter how many abstract jazz albums I listen to, clubs or art galleries I visit, I can’t get enough of the kind of pop slurry offered by this show. I wait with bated breath twice a week to watch Mark Forster take the piss out of his fellow judges or for Nico Santos do yet another Michael Jackson song –He’s sweet and I love him. The music is obviously trash, as it should be, but, every so often I can’t help but get emotionally invested. So far, this series saw me openly weeping at Zeynep Avci’s rendition of Tan Taşçı’s – Yalan.

Podcast: Bass Culture UK (Red Saunders): I’ve just started this great series of interviews about the roots of UK bass culture and the impact of Jamaican culture on the British music scene and wider culture. There’s a few to get through, with guests like Dubplate Pearl, Dennis Bovell and Rodney P all making an appearance. On this particular one, Red Saunders talks to Mykaell Riley about his experience of starting out as a mod and later, as a reaction to Eric Clapton’s suggestion that Enoch Powell should be prime-minister, co-founding ‘Rock Against Racism’. 

https://open.spotify.com/show/7tvsceJtuSh43UuWYGGkFT?si=1203ff28e7f94a4c

Book: George Orwell – Homage to Catalonia: George Orwell’s compelling insight into his life in and around Barcelona during the Spanish civil war. From his time in the trenches, fighting with the Marxist POUM miltia, to his leaving an increasingly borgeois state under threat of arrest. Homage to Catalonia is a portal to a time when a largely Anarcho-syndicalist led Barcelona was at it’s peak and how within months that dream was destroyed.

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Review: Vanishing Twin – Ookii Gekkou

Read Time: 1 min

Just as the year begins to go down the toilet, with the onset of autumn and the inevitable slow plod towards yet another ‘Corona winter’, Vanishing Twin return with a blissed-out interstellar excursion to see us through. 

Ookii Gekkou — The group’s third album — sees the quintet channelling ever-distant worlds and transmitting a spectrum of far-out sounds. Melding the Moog-funk of Roger Roger, the mechanical soul of Can and the spiritual grooves of Leon Thomas and Sun Ra to incredible effect. 

Though references to fellow retro-futurists Stereolab — Laetitia Sadier plays guitar on Wider than Itself — and Broadcast are obvious, Ookii Gekkou is a tribute to the group’s particular ability to paint their sound canvas with a broad brush. Whether it’s the motorik funk of Phase One Million, the Afrocentric-spirit-jazz of In Cucina or the utterly brilliant space pop of Light Vessel, which sounds like Can re-imagined through the lens of ELO, the sound is unmistakably Vanishing Twin.

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Review: Berlin Atonal / Metabolic Rift

Read Time: 4 mins

Last week, ADC and I visited the Atonal / Metabolic rift exhibition at Kraftwerk Berlin. Billed as “Not a festival, not an exhibition, not a tour, not a performance”, it was all of these things and excellent at that. Taking the form of an expedition through the gloom of the former power station, using lights as cues to guide the viewers through its various installations.

Now, with my brain, wired the way it is, it’s a risk going to contemporary art exhibitions. Flashbacks and anxiety attacks tend to rear up — the last one ended with me paper bagging it through an audio installation of ping-pong balls falling down an uncomfortably tight and bright staircase. So, obviously, while being led into the belly of Kraftwerk through a pitch-black corridor to a sound-bed of spectral “oohs” and “ahhs”, I had my reservations. “This is how cows feel before they’re slaughtered” was a recurring thought. But, to my surprise, the fear lifted quickly as the yellow bulbs guided us through a series of beautiful albeit dark experiences.

The first installation was partially obscured by our fellow travellers photographing the tiny video screens which made up this part of the experience. I have no idea what was on those screens but ADC says she saw a naked man through one of the smartphone displays*. We followed the yellow glow. The sound grew louder and clearer as a series of repeated half-sung mantras filled the air, leading us on to a larger, smoke-filled room. I haven’t been able to find out more about this specific piece, but a slowly melting block of ice sticks in my mind. Juxtaposed against the dark and dirty environment, it took on a life of its own: sweating, reducing, animated but not alive.

Into another larger area, where the fittings rattled along with a growling industrial drone. A soundtrack befitting the monstrous sculpture that lay at the end of the room. Bicycle parts, welded and clamped together to form a behemoth enlarged by the shadows it created. Throughout the exhibition, the building was used to accentuate the connection to the music, giving it a raw ‘rave-like’ feel. Large metal doors left partially open rattled against their hinges while lighting fixtures and metal panels vibrated in turn.

A video installation of Lillian F. Schwartz’s pencil and conté crayon drawings was one of my favourite pieces. Drawn between the ages of 93 and 94, and completed with only 20% vision, these vibrant faces, angular and mask-like are compiled and spliced at speed alongside an incredible soundtrack of bass and glitches by Hyph11E.

At the top of the building, after many flights of stairs, our guide leading us upward with hand movements and machine-like vocalisations, we entered the cavernous room which housed Cyprien Gaillard’s kinetic sculpture. Brought to life by Hieroglyphic Being’s fuzzed-out sound piece and amplified by the Killasan sound system, this was probably the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in an exhibition to date. I won’t lie, I shed a tear watching the colossal air dancer twist and turn way above my head. A homage to the fluidity of movement and those moments which the ongoing pandemic has taken away from us.

At this point, the ‘tour-not-tour’ portion of the exhibition ended and we were led to a larger part of the building in order to take in the rest of the pieces at our own pace.

James Richards and Leslie Thorntons ‘Sheep Machine II’ was a highlight for me: Small housed screens, in sets of two, displayed circular images of sheep alongside kaleidoscopic images, bringing the outside in and offsetting the industrial surroundings. Congolese sculptor Rigobert Nimi’s retro-futuristic cities were a real joy to look at: Employing a retro-futurism aesthetic and brimming with all the light and movement of a city in flux. Finally, MFO’s piece was centred around four car wrecks, in cross formation, their open boots facing each other with large speakers protruding from each of them. Strobes, smoke and detailed flourishes were deployed to create an audiovisual experience evocative of a misspent youth in and around the illegal rave scene.

*I have posted photos here, but only from the larger, lighter rooms

Credit (top to bottom): James Richards, Cyprien Gaillard & Hieroglyphic Being, MFO, Rigobert Nimi

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Jammo’s Music Report No.006

Read Time: 2 mins

Hiya! it’s been a while. Have you missed me? I’m sorry for the radio silence but I’ve been tired as fuck and genuinely not really feeling a lot of music. Over the summer I found myself existing solely on a diet of ’70s and ’80s punk and Hardcore. Was this a cry for help, a desperate grab at my lost youth? Who knows, but nothing else seemed to spark my interest. New music and especially electronic music began to feel like a never-ending slew of watered-down copies of styles and scenes that I’m unfortunately old enough to claim first-hand knowledge of. But, there’s always more music to find, so let’s not wallow in the mire, the slump seems to be over and I’ve been finding loads of weird lovely bits here and there. I’m even planning a new Radio show! So, with that in mind, here’s 5 tasty nuggets I’ve been enjoying greatly this month…

Répéter – We Became Snakes

Cracking dystopian surf-inspired dub mutations on the mighty Bokeh Versions. What more could you want?

Blackwater – Siem Reap

Heads down shoegaze meets ghost dub for those autumn nights. Taken from the ‘Navigation’ album on Ethbo records. I’m waiting with bated breath for my record to arrive. Shout out to Tom Dubwise for putting me on to this!

Kali Uchis Feat Sza – Fue Mejor

Admittedly I’m a proper Kali Uchis fanboy but this particular version of ‘Fue Mejor’ is stunning! Sultry Latin R&B over a soundscape that filters the iciness of Timbaland productions through spiralling harmonies and operatic flourishes. Future sex music of the highest order!

AKA AFK and Toncali – Brasa No Mapa

Wicked Brazillian Grime on Club Yeke. Fusing Funk Brasileiro rhythms with golden age UK grime to devastating effect. My jaw’s well sore!

Vanishing Twin – Cryonic Suspension May Save Your Life

Gorgeous spaced out krauty funk from the ever amazing Vanishing Twin

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Jammo’s Music Report No.005

Read Time: 4 mins

Eye eye chicken pie! It’s been a few months since I’ve written one of these posts. Usually, this would be down to laziness on my part but, to be honest, I’ve had to take a wee break from music listening in general of late. I’m not sure why: A pandemic depression-related slump? Insta-deejay-wankstains vexing me daily? Or, perhaps just the fact that I’m turning 40 this year! Who knows?

Long story short, I’ve fucked off my social media accounts and will only be updating this blog from now on. I may write a longer post about the reasons for this at some point, but needless to say, it’s bad for my mental health, creativity and the rest — yadda-yadda-yadda. If you want updates, I’ll be doing a little newsletter every so often. It’s very Y2k. I hear that’s in now.

Anyways, here’s a little run down of what I’ve been listening to over the last few…

Brooklyn Funk Essentials – I Got Cash

“Fuck your fencing and screw your squash, Piss on your Paulo and your Pavarotti, Fuck all that shit you call music and pretend to enjoy! I got cash, Mega cash, I’m happy with that!”

Ana recently reminded me of this gentrification-bashing belter from Brooklyn Funk Essentials’ 2000 ‘Make ’em Like it’ album and I’ve had it on loop for days. Put it in your ears immediately!

Suicidal Tendencies – Institutionalized

Recently, my 12-year-old has been getting into 90’s Hip Hop and Punk. So, being the sad, desperate-to-be-relevant dad that I am, I’ve taken to crafting expansive Spotify playlists for him to explore and enjoy. I know, I know, we’ve got that on vinyl haven’t we? But, like it or not, this is how the young folk consume music. Anyway, devoted father that I am, I made him a cracking Punk and 80’s Hardcore playlist. Featuring all the usual stop-offs: Buzzcocks, Dead Kennedys, Ramones, Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers and of course this ranty, guitar-shredding, bandana sporting tale of shit parents, mental health and Pepsi.

“I go: There’s nothing wrong mom, And she goes: Don’t tell me that, you’re on drugs!, And I go: No mom I’m not on drugs I’m okay, I was just thinking you know, Why don’t you get me a Pepsi?”

He loved it obviously!

I:Cube – Cubo Live Sessions Volume 2

The first of two ‘Versatile’ records I’ve been ragging of late. Featuring four tracks of masterful live acid from the legend that is I:Cube. Funky, weird, spacious and dubbed out. Just how I likes it! Stick it on and tell your mates.

Gilb’r – On Danse Comme Des Fous

Beautiful all-embracing electronic excursions from Gilb’r on ‘Versatile’. From the monophonic Moogy noodling of ‘Plantlife’ to the sputtering percussive dreamscape of ‘Mr Knockbottom’, ‘On Danse Comme Des Fous’ is a reet ‘new agey’ journey of a record. Highly Recommended.

—/// Bonus Bits ///—

It’s not all music, is it? I’m well cultured me, so here’s a little list of other bits I’ve been enjoying of late…

Podcast: Thinking Allowed: ‘Lad Culture’ in Higher Education – Fugitives from the Law in Philadelphia (2014): Laurie Taylor talks to Alison Phillips about ‘Lad Culture’ and gender performance among men in British higher education and Alice Goffman about her study ‘On the Run’, which focuses on the Criminalisation of entire African American communities in Philadelphia.

Telly: This is Pop! (Netflix, 2021): A nice little series of documentaries about various subjects surrounding pop music and culture (you know I loves me some pop). The first few were great and really well researched, for example, drawing parallels between T-Pain’s use of autotune and Suzanne Ciani’s early adoption of the modular synth, but it seemed to change the format around the fourth episode, opting instead for a very basic historical narrative. Covid related break in the chain? who knows, still, it’s worth a peek.

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Jammo’s Music Report No.004

Read Time: 3 mins

It’s been a heavy week of Peng Valley work so here’s what I’ve been ragging through the ear holes whilst noodling away on the wacom.

Metro Area – Metro Area

Good things come to those who wait, and oh, how I’ve waited. Around the time this album was released — in 2002 — being skint and that, I’d made a solemn oath to only buy old sample records and never new music. Especially not electronic music! Loads of drunken rants full of lines like “If it’s made on a computer, why can’t it stay on one?” ensued. Of course, I was wrong. Long story short, I didn’t buy this then and spent the best part of the last 15 years kicking myself for it. The MP3s have worn the fuck out! Thankfully they’ve only gone and re-released it for a ’15 year anniversary triple vinyl package’ simultaneously making me rush out to buy it and feel old in the process. I won’t bang on, It’s pure disco wonderment and I’m a happier old man for it!

Super Rhythm Trax – Super Rhythm Trax Compilation

A stellar collection of wall to wall bangers housed in a tidy package designed by street artist Run. Hard to pick a favourite to be honest, it’s reet good!

Missy Elliot – Miss ‘E’ So Addictive

An absolute classic from Missy including one of my all time favourite horizontal R&B wobblers ‘X-tacy’ I can’t tell you how many times I left an early noughties rave, off my pickle, to sit in the bath listening to this.

FFSYTHO Ask About me (Jabru Mix)

Absolutely bananas glockenspiel led, bass-heavy UK Hip Hop. Serious flow, excellent lyrics and heavy drum rolls. What more could you want?

Cyberdine Systems Corp – Program State

Glitched out, heavy static electro brilliance of the highest order. Pure machine music!

—/// Bonus Bits ///—

It’s not all music is it? I’m well cultured me, so heres a little list of other bits I’ve been enjoying of late…

Podcast: How to Burn a Million Quid / BBC 4 Extra Podcast

Wicked little six piece podcast based on the life and times of the KLF

Film: Quincy / Netflix

Co-directed by Rashida Jones, this lush little portrait of Quincy Jones, paints a tidy picture of the Jazz legend as a loving, caring person, who could possibly do with easing up on the workload. It’s funny, charming, and tragic in equal measure and packed to the gills with wicked footage.

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Jammo’s Music Report No.003

Read Time: 1 min

Tell’s you what, this lockdown is really starting to grip my shit. No end in sight, kindergartens open, kindergartens close. School opens, school closes. The house is full, the house is quiet. You know how it is. But, just like Albert Ayler said ‘Music is the Healing Force of the Universe’, so here’s what’s keeping the ship afloat this month.

Ginuwine – The Bachelor

A work of genius, as far as I’m concerned. Timbaland at his level best, odd, cold and full of soul. An all time fave that never fails to please. much needed at the moment.

Dogpatrol – SNKRX06

Mannheim vibe merchant Dogpatrol returns to the wonderful Sneaker Social, for another bass dripping tour de force through Bruk, 2Step and Hardcore. All I want is a warehouse and a bunch of sweaty bodies.

Anne Müller – Heliopause

I bought this record by Berlin cellist Anne Müller for Ana’s birthday (she loves her Ambient/Neoclassical zeug) and it’s just jaw droppingly beautiful. Get it in you!

Don Armando – I’m an Indian, Too

A reet biketastic Disco banger! Fonda Rae on Vocals. Nothing beats ragging it round the streets to this!

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Jammo’s Music Report No.002

Read Time: 2 mins

Aye aye, chicken pie. It’s raining a lot, I feel, at times, detached from my body. Wading through treacle. Lockdown biting harder. Here’s what’s getting me through…

Thundercat – Dragon Ball Durag – Brainfeeder

Joy igniting brilliance taken from the recent ‘It is what it is’ on Brainfeeder and on loop in our house for days now. Thundercat is the only person on earth who could deliver the line “I may be covered in cat hair, but I still smell good”

Outsiders w. Duckett guest Grimes Adhesif [12.03.2021] – Mutant Radio

Duckett’s radio shows on Tbilisi’s Mutant Radio have been staple listening for a while and this ones a belter, featuring a tasty 1hr mix from me old mate Grimes Adhesif, playing a reet heads down selection of his own productions from Ambient wobblers to dubbed out Techno bliss.

A Man Called Adam – CPI (Andrew Weatherall’s Godiva Mix)

Just fucking lovely! Wild sample heavy excellence from the guvnor RIP

Mark Pritchard – MP Productions EP1 – Warp

As far as my tastes go this tickles em all: from Darncehall iterations on Bleep bangers, to zen dubstep, and dystopian Musique Concrète inspired library excursions. Big Mark never fails to take extract funds from my dwindling account.

Shintaro Sakamoto – Love If Possible – Mesh Key

Beautiful, slide heavy, Japanese Psyche Pop from the master.

Cheers then xoxo

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Writing about music

Read Time: 5 mins

A subject which I’ve been considering a lot lately is ‘writing about music’. It’s an odd thing, I’m shit at grammar, I grew up between Germany, Wales, and England, and have no noteworthy GCSEs to my name. But, for reasons beyond my comprehension, I’ve always felt the need to write about the music I’m listening to. And so, for many years and under various guises* I have tried, as best I can, to put into words and sometimes pictures, how I feel about it.

It always ends up the same. Years, or sometimes just months into it, a shadow descends and sucks all of the fun out of the thing. Am I repeating myself? How many times can I get away with writing ‘Bangin”, ‘Floaty’ or ‘Dubbed-out’? The answer, sadly, is FOREVER! The interweb has a short memory and most people don’t read more than a couple of lines of text (Obviously, if you read this far, I don’t mean you. You’re great!). Why am I wasting my time with this? Who cares about my opinion? Why do I waste my time supporting artists who rarely return the favour? All valid questions, which I largely ignore. The fact is, I don’t get out much. I don’t like groups in general and, for the most part, am anti-social. Networking isn’t really my bag, either, yet I still wonder why I never get any DJ gigs — funny that!

So, this is it. In the absence of a stronger desire for social interaction and in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, the interweb is the place where I do my music chat, and, although I seem doomed to repeat this cycle, there are probably some rules I can put in place to stop the shadow from taking over. A deeper analysis as to what I dislike and how best to avoid it.

The main thing that irks me is writing about new music, by which I mostly mean new electronic music. I get a bunch of promos and, if truth be told, a lot of stuff is decent, but writing about it on the interweb seems, to me, to be an utter waste of time, when I could just whack in an audio clip, a YouTube embed or, better still, post a link and you could make up your own mind. It really doesn’t matter if I like it does it? For me, personally, the interweb-based ‘new release’ review is a bit of a dead-end and can largely be replaced with a link or an embed. The popularity of recommenders like Definite Party Material (38.400 subscribers at the time of writing) goes some way to proving my point. These services are, in my opinion, excellent and as far as I’m concerned, do exactly what is required, i.e.

Here’s the track > Listen to it > Buy it (if you like). Job done! Instant gratification.

Dancefloor music, for want of a better description, is especially complicated to write about. “HOUSE IS A FEELING” and all that. After all, it’s supposed to be progressive. Meshing samples of disparate musical worlds with mad synthetic sounds to create some kind of bastard child of music. The ultimate punk music, at least, I think that was the point? But all too often, when describing it, the same tropes rear their head: ‘Amen break’ this, ‘Acid line’ that, you know the sort of thing. And then there are the platitudes. Sometimes when reading reviews, I wonder if the writer has actually heard the music, or whether they are literally regurgitating the press release. If I hear another basic techno-by-numbers record compared to Yasuaki Shimizu, Tom Moulton, or Philip Glass again, I swear I’ll go full Rambo!

Without the context of a dance floor, it’s just weird. It’s no good banging on about mind-melting techno-zeug if you haven’t heard it LOUD in a room full of sweaty mentalists, and let’s face it, in relation to anything released between 2020 and 2021, none of us have! It kind of misses the point. It’s come to be a bit like pulling teeth for me, like a job. How I’d imagine it is to be an advertising copywriter. Plugging products and trotting out a cavalcade of SEO-friendly buzzwords in the hope that something sticks. This, in my opinion, is the antithesis of what underground culture is supposed to be. I know, I know, this all sounds dead negative, but it’s not really. It’s just an exercise in cutting the fat. It’s one of the bigger reasons I stopped working on Cambrian Line. It started to feel detached from me. At the risk of repeating myself… like a job!

I’ve been really inspired of late, reading Jerome Hill’s ‘Record Picks’ posts on Instagram (see @djjeromehill #jeromesrecordpicks). It’s been so refreshing reading about music within its context, with heart, and with a real backstory. In that spirit, I’d rather concentrate on writing about music that has really made me turn my head: life-changers, mind-melters, things I’ll carry with me forever. Music that I can weave a story out of. Something personal, something lived in. Of course, as this is just a personal blog, I’ll continue to post current tunes and charts, but as short recommendations. Maybe this way I can keep the shadow at bay and enjoy it!

  • RIP Fat Pigeon† 2002-2004, Quantum Bleep† 2008-2011, Cambrian Line† 2012-2021

2026 Update: I’ve largely broken every promise here…

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