Random fandom

Yes yes, it's been a while since I last put finger to keyboard so here I am to rectify that very situation. Hold on to your hats as this is an assemblage of many bits and pieces that I have noticed and liked lately ( so not quite on the ball as I pretend to be).

Floating Points recently released an amazing tune on a 12" called Montparnasse, I had forgotten how gorgeous the sounds created by Mr Shepherd can be so it was a nice surprise to be reminded (the last few minutes are Reichesque in the best possible way). There is a do on at Soup Kitchen in August to celebrate their 4th birthday and amongst those djing is mr Points himself so get yourselves down if you can, it's free before 12 but I can imagine it being busy early.

 I also came across this album Hello World by Khotin last week, I love this sort of sound as it takes me back to my youth I suppose. Mainly I would spend hours dicking about with my 707 before it was cool (it was a cheap entry to the Roland 0 series of drum machines) and I think some tracks have a Warp Artificial Intelligence sound to them. As Boomkat say "Louche yet strident daydream house music from Edmonton, Canada's Dylan Khotin-Foote, or just Khotin to you and us. Operating in proximity of 100% Silk, Mathematics and Opal Tapes spheres, Khotin's sound is a light, melodic and gauzy take on classic house memes, with highlights in the hypnotic warehouse jack of 'Infinity Jam', the jazzy wooze of 'Flight Theme' and the Vibert-esque charms of 'Why Don't We Talk'."

Andrew Weatherall has a residency at NTS radio this month doing his Music's Not For Everyone thang every Tuesday at 2pm, when most of us are at work. However what with the marvel of modern technology we can listen again at any time, HUZZAH! Last Tuesdays (the 8th of July) was his second show and we still have 3 shows to go.

 Don't expect techno or chug though, well the odd one or two maybe but it's everything in between much like his 6mix shows. I love listening to these shows as it's a good way of discovering new music and learned of this Italian duo after listening to last weeks show amongst all other new sounds.

Here is a link to the latest show http://www.mixcloud.com/NTSRadio/andrew-weatherall-8th-july-2014/ enjoy!

Right I must go as I need to feed my friends cat whilst they're away at some Croatian festival or other, laterz.

Mark Barrott - Sketches From An Island

Out today on the ever quality International Feel label is this album from Mark Barrott, formerly of Future Loop Foundation and other guises such as Rocha, Young Gentlemen’s Adventure Society, Boys from Patagonia, Flights of Fancy and Bepu N’Gali. Rather good it is too, eight tracks of audio warmth evoking mental images sunsets and sunrises in the Med or even the Adriatic with hazy synths and simple rhythms recalling production work of late 70s and early 80s ambient (yes) pioneers.

In an effort to encapsulate the island of Ibiza and all the balearicness from over the years in sound form ,this obviously being the polar opposite of the current reign of the superclubs and the super egos of its residents, this was recorded on the North of the Island since mark moved there. I genuinely urge you to give this a listen as words fail to do it justice.
You can check out the website and the album is available digitally and on cd.

Young Marco - Biology

From Amsterdam comes Young Marco and his first album on ESP Institute is out now. Making waves for a while now with a number  releases on the afore mentioned ESP and also Hand Of God and Studio Soulrock (check out Darwin in Bahia if you can), this album deftly sums up his varied sounds into one package and is well worth checking out.

 Boomkat say it better than I - Young Marco pays up on the promise of his early singles and tracks with a sparkling suite of mid-tempo boogie house cruisers for ESP Institute. His 3rd release for the label and first since 2012 is a wonderfully optimistic thing, beaming with naive delight in the shimmering rhythmelodies of 'Sea World', drifting away with iridescent DX7-style chimes in 'Out Of Wind', raising the heartrate with Italo romance on 'Suzaku' and lathering saccharine melody on the uplifting jack of 'Can You Really Feel it?

Available from all good music retailers now.

 

pic - residentadvisor

 

Nike iD Air Max 90 “Zebra” VIP – Hong Kong

A Few years ago, Hong Kong’s Nike iD studio allowed VIP members to add Faux Animal material onto their Air Max 90′s and one of the most sought after in the collection, was the Air Max 90 Zebra. The Nike iD features the two tone Zebra Print on the Uppers, While a black and white midsole was added for color balance. You couldn’t find these babies if you paid top dollar. The Air Max 90′s are very rare and you’ll be very lucky to catch a glimpse in person. I'm not one for showboating these days but these are absolutely amazing ,in my humble opinion of course!

Via Modern Notoriety

Grimm Up North presents: JOHN CARPENTER SEASON

Grimm Up North are putting on a run of classic John Carpenter films over a two month period at The Dancehouse on Oxford Road in Manchester from May 23rd. Such news makes me extremely happy as a number of these films are amongst my favourites and the opportunity to see them on the big screen is one not to be missed. Three of these films feature John Carpenters muse in the eighties, Kurt Russell who plays each role with the relevant swagger be it The Thing,Big Trouble In Little China or Escape from New York. The first film to be screened is They Live,starring Rowdy Roddy Piper in a satirical look at the way we (as humans) are governed by forces we are not fully aware of or probably even care about so long as we are given our daily dose of mindless media guff. I can recall ,as a kid, seeing a trailer for an ITV screening of The Thing during an ad break in Auf Wiedersehen Pet and that alone was enough to give me nightmares for weeks!

Not one to miss you can find more info and tickets here .

Kosmischer Läufer

Hello again,time to dust the cobwebs off this shambling mess I write on,so back with a spacey whoosh I bring to your attention Kosmischer Läufer - The Secret Cosmic Music Of The East German Olympic Program 1972 to 1983. This is actually volume two I present to you,volume one released in June last year, I am only recently aware of this project and after finally getting around to listening to it I cannot recommend it enough (thanks to Apllywarch and his Tumblr for making me aware of this). I will let you read on with the biography of one Martin Zeichnete and the ideas which helped create this music.

 In East Germany in the early 1970’s Martin Zeichnete worked as a sound editor for DEFA, (Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft), the state-owned film studio. Like many young East Germans of the time he would listen furtively to West German radio at night and became infatuated with the Kosmische Musik or ‘Krautrock’ epitomised by the likes of Kraftwerk, Neu! and Cluster emerging from his neighbouring country. Martin, a keen runner, hit upon the idea of using the repetitive, motorik beats of this new music as a training aid for athletes.
After sharing his concept with colleagues Martin was taken from his studio to East Berlin, quizzed by the authorities about his ideas and, fearing the worst, was surprised to find himself put to work by the Nationales Olympisches Komitee immediately. Installed in a cold Berlin studio with the few electronic instruments the state could supply, (Martin asked for a Moog but was refused), he began one of the strangest journeys in music. Know to the government as State Plan 14.84L, Martin and his fellow musicians informally called it ‘Projekt Kosmischer Läufer’ (Cosmic Runner).
For the next 11 years Martin would be spirited to Berlin to work on tracks with little notice. He created hours of music fusing traditional rock instruments with synthesizers, early drum computers, tape slicing and looping techniques he and his engineer formulated themselves. His output included tracks for running at various paces, warm up pieces, ‘ambient’ music to play in gyms during training and pieces for artistic gymnastic routines.

Suffice to say you should get a hold of these two volumes if Kosmische Musik is right up your strasse (sorry), much more can be found on the website,including an interview with  Martin Zeichnete himself and details of how to get a hold of the music.

New Balance 996 , Black/Brown

The 996 has had a good run in the past few months,with there being a decent selection making their way over to our side of "the pond" as well as many (some say too many) revlite versions easily in reach. This model shows no sign of stopping in terms of quality, it being a US made silhouette that is something never in doubt and in terms of colour application. A choice of  a black and white colourway is supplemented with leather detailing,speckling on the midsole and laces in a similar fashion to the recent national parks offerings.
If you've never even tried on a US made air of New Balance you are missing out,the superb build quality is noticable as soon as you put a pair on your feet.

Read more over at Sneaker Freaker .