Quick Eternity

Here's the long awaited Four Tet remix of Daniel Avery's Quick Eternity, one of those moments where two artists who are right on it combine. I was a little underwhelmed on first hearing- Four Tet's recent remix of Bicep was a masterpiece from the first time I heard it- but this one doesn't disappoint once you hit repeat and let it wash over you. It's a definite mix of two halves, with some little repeating synths parts over a lovely chiming melody for the first half, a fade out and a pause at 4.54, some vinyl static, and then the chimes come back and we're off into a more home-listening techno second half with synth whooshes, whirring sounds and percussion and some distorted bass to carry us home.

Persona

This comes recommended by Drew (of sadly recently defunct blog Across The Kitchen Table). Rival Consoles featured here a little while ago remixing The Neil Cowley Trio. Rival Consoles own album came out back in April, an introspective feast of electronic sounds, synths, drum machines, computers creating music you could dance to, and music for sitting in dim light and listening to- ambient, drones, melodies. All infused with very human emotions. You can buy it here.

Can I Draw Your Picture?

                                                       Portrait of Space, Lee Miller, 1937

Back in 2009 Andrew Weatherall remixed Can I Colour In Your Hair? by Lark and apart from appearing on Soundcloud it has been unreleased ever since. The remix is a rocking dub version, bouncing rhythms and echo, a wiry guitar part and repeated chants of 'fire!' It operates in the same space as the pair of remixes Weatherall did of Steve Mason's Boys Outside at around the same time. Top quality stuff. At some point in the next few months it will be released on 7" vinyl by Care In The Community Recordings and it is definitely a case of better late than never.

Shadow Of The Sun

Moon Duo , as mentioned yesterday, have a new album out, handily titled to fit in with the solar eclipse. Two fuzz guitar chords, a motorik drumbeat, drone organ, a wigged out guitar solo, flat and nasal vocals. It's not easy to do something so familiar and still manage to do something so exhilarating with it. This is the song Weatherall played on the radio- seven minutes of your journey to work well spent this morning.

Ice

Two Different Ways

I just discovered this belter of a track by Factory Floor. It sounds a bit like a vocal from a lost Factory Records song circa 1983 played over something you could have danced to circa 1989.

Missing

Vini Reilly has had a rough time recently with health issues and major financial problems. One of his Durutti Column masterpieces LC is currently being re-released with twenty odd extra songs. LC is an lp I already own twice, once on vinyl and once in a 90s re-release version on cd. I don't think I'll buy it for a third time but if anyone from the Manchester scene deserves some cash to go with the talent it's Vini, so maybe we should put our hands in our pockets. This song was written for the missing boy, Ian Curtis. New Order, ACR, Durutti Column and Tony Wilson were all around a pool somewhere in the US in the early 80s and Vini said to Tony 'You know who's missing don't you?' As well as Vini's beautiful guitar this song features some very fragile Vini Reilly vocals..

The Missing Boy

LC stands for Lotta Continua- the struggle goes on.

That's My Story And I'm Sticking To It

I just found this and thought some of you might like it- a re-edit of The Mighty Wah's mighty The Story Of The Blues single, lovingly unwrapped over eight and half minutes, for a true Balearic end of night escapade where you want just one last song to send you on your way before you spill out into the streets to see the dawn. May or may not be the work of Ivan Smagghe.  At Soundcloud here and available for download.

You're my best mate you are.

Holiday

Today is the first day of my summer holiday. Not done too much. My two kids are still at school (until Wednesday). Pottered about the house. Done some household chores. Played some records, including an acapella version of Bring the Noise by Public Enemy which I got at a record stall in Sale's Traders' Outlet on Saturday afternoon and briefly considered playing it over The Magnificent Dance version of The Clash's Magnificent Seven 12" which also happened to be lying around but then decided getting the twin decks out was too much bother. Cycled up to the village to buy pasties for Mrs Swiss and her co-workers at the nursery who were doing their end of year clean up and sort out. Sat on the grass eating pasties. Cycled home. Read about Bradley Wiggins in the paper. Etc etc. Nice to do nothing after all the madness of the last few weeks and the bad news our friends have had at the end of last week. Opened an email from my brother in Germany that I'd missed last week to find a link to a rather good interview from Granada Reports back in 1989 with The Stone Roses and some great rehearsal footage, which I thought I'd share with you to end this rather aimless and boring post. Off now to get the youngest from school.



Non- related picture- Lee Miller taken by Man Ray.

Heaven Help Us All

There's some particularly bad shit going on in the lives of people we know at the moment. It's not my place to put this stuff in the public domain but things ain't good.

Heaven Help Us All

The picture shows American photographer, model and journalist Lee Miller who has popped up here before, looking both very 1930s and oddly contemporary. I've been reading a biography of her by Carolyn Burke, worth reading if you ever see a copy.

Ganger

On a similar tip to yesterday's Meek 12" this is Two Lone Swordsmen's remix of Ganger's Trilogy. Dusty, slow-mo, lo-fi, electronic post-something stuff by Mr Weatherall and Mr Tenniswood. This came out in 1998 on a one-sided 12" single with an etched B-side.

Trilogy (Two Lone Swordsmen Remix)

Up top, another Man Ray photo of Lee Miller, looking ready for some 1930s sci-fi disco action.

Tomorrow Night

Tomorrow night I will be facing the return to work after a week off. But for now, hey, it's Saturday morning, cheer up.

This is a superb jazzy blues from 1948 by Alfonso 'Lonnie' Johnson, who had hits before and after the Second World War, and is widely recognised as the first person to play single string guitar solos. Not a bad first.

Tomorrow Night

Lee Miller photographed (again) by Man Ray. He photographed her a lot. Who can blame him? It doesn't look like a photo from the late 20s/early 30s. Could've been taken yesterday.

Distractions

Dan from Occultation Records has been in touch with news of reunited ex-Factory band Distractions, who will release their second album The End Of the Pier in August, a mere 32 years after their first album. Makes Dexys look prolific. The press release highlights the challenges of putting a band back together in middle age, with the band members spread around the world.

Mike Finney “I rather like the idea of a world tour but it'd interfere with watching my son's football practice. Besides taking time off work is a bit tricky, so we've had to forego six weeks traversing North America in a bus and settle for two shows in Salford”.

The gigs will be at the end of the summer, supported by Factory Star (Martin Bramah) and 80s indieists The June Brides.

I've not got any Distractions on the hard-drive that I haven't posted before at the moment, so this post's song is by fellow 80s Factory signings Abecedarians, post-punk from LA.

Smiling Monarchs

As a further distraction the picture shows Lee Miller photographed by Man Ray. I don't know if anyone's getting bored of these shots of 20s life but I like them. I may run out soon though.

Repetitive Beats (And Man Ray)

In 1994 the Conservative government attempted to crack down on rave culture by bringing in a piece of legislation making it illegal to hold a gathering of a people listening to music characterised by repetitive beats. That's right- they were looking to outlaw drum patterns when played in public. This led to various protests including a pair of e.p.s by a collective called Retribution (The Drum Club and Steve Hillage mainly, with Sabrettes' Nina Walsh). The track- called Repetitive Beats obviously, released on Sabrettes - was then remixed by a variety of repetitive beat offenders, including Andrew Weatherall, Adrian Sherwood and On U Sound, Secret Knowledge, and Primal Scream (who turned in a somewhat lazy, drug-rock cover version of The Clash's Know Your Rights). Adrian Sherwood's dubbed up remix here features the talents of vocalists Little Axe and Bim Sherman and is probably the pick of the bunch.

Repetitive Beats (Mind And Movement On U Sound)

Man Ray picture- Lee Miller, photographed here in 1930s Paris, who led an extraordinary life. Lee moved from the US to Paris, having modelled for Vogue in the early 20s, becoming a photographer after inventing solarisation with Man Ray (by accident), leaving him to become a fine art and fashion photographer and then becoming Vogue's European war correspondent during World War II, accompanying the US army across France and into Germany after D-Day. She was the only female photographer at the liberation of Dachau and Buchenwald. She also found time before the war to hang about with Picasso and Jean Cocteau. Not your average CV.

Boxnet bandwidth was at 95% last night so will shortly be exceeded I reckon. Get you d/ls quick if you want them.