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The Mire

Adventures In Modern Music 5 March 09

Judging by the arcane, scrawled notes I've got in front of me from Chris Bohn's Adventures In Modern Music show on Resonance FM last night, his head is stuck out in the East, as per usual – there were tracks from the recent release from the late Fushitsusha bassist Yasushi Ozawa entitled Some Fragments Of Bass Performance , plus a new duo of Keiji Haino and Masataka Fujikake. There's also yet Korean stuff after his recent Resonance FM show: Kim Changwan Band are veteran garage rockers with roots in the group San Ul Lim. However, Chris's heart resides in the Midlands, judging by a cover of Slade's "Gudbuy T'Jane" by Condo Fucks (the alter-ego of Yo La Tengo). There's also stuff from Dziga Vertov's early experimental Soviet film soundtracks and Henry Cow. You can download here .

The Mire

sampledelia and reggaeton cut-ups

Interesting, flashback inducing, idea-gestating piece by Simon Reynolds on sample epiphanies . My most recent sample epiphany was finally finding something which, cut-up wise, finally measures up to classic period 'ardkore for sheer dirty, use and abuse sample genius. Wayne Marshall indirectly pointed me in their direction, by bigging them up in a forthcoming Duke University book about reggeaton. These reggaeton mixes by DJ Playero are the missing link between DJ Muggs and DJ Crystl: DJ Playero 37 (Side A) DJ Playero 37 (Side B) DJ Playero 38 Postscript: it seems Wayne Marshall has handily just put a mix up on his site of versions of the Dem Bow rhythm, the foundational track of all reggaeton. Not since the Amen break has one track (originally by Shabba Ranks) been so responsible for so much music...

The Mire

Sonic Youth Mashup

Check out the following short SY cut up... It's from their new album, The Eternal which will be out June 9 on Matador... Click here to link to the MP3 mashup

The Mire

Master class

The long-promised interview by Robert Henke of Monolake with Rashad Becker, the mastering engineer at Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin, is finally online . Becker's name is ubiquitous from run-out grooves and mastering credits, but as far as I know this is the first lengthy interview he's done.

The Mire

Wire Mire Linkage 25/02/2009

Simon Reynolds on the Hardcore Continuum at FACT Liverpool (via Fact Magazine): http://www.factmagazine.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task;=view&id;=2028&Itemid;=28 Dumbing Down or Dumbing Up?: http://simple.wikipedia.org From the simple entry on Capitalism "Most people agree that capitalism can only work if the government keeps people from stealing other people's things. If people could steal anything, then nobody would want to buy anything." Oh yes. The Savage Pencil on automatic at the Atlantis Bookshop in London: http://www.theatlantisbookshop.com/ A very flashy, arty and colourful web stalking project. Sick and dirty: http://www.mrscoryarcangel.com/ Source: Music Of The Avant Garde, 1968 – 1971 : http://www.pogus.com/21050.html Allan Moore on superheroes, adaptations and the Watchmen: http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/magazine/17-03/ff_moore_qa?currentPage=all

The Mire

the elliptical thought cycle of hearing a familiar reggae rhythm

1. that bassline, that's familiar... yeah, this is one of the true foundation tracks of reggae. Now, what the hell is it? 2. [hint of melody comes in] OK, yeah, that's how the verse goes... so, if I can just remember the chorus, I'll be able to figure out the track... 3. [hums vocal line to self] Ah yes, this is the one.... so the chorus goes something like... 4. "Jah is the light and foundation...." / "Down here in Babylon... " / "Africa... here I come...." Argh that doesn't narrow it down at all! 5. Return to step 1.

The Mire

Adventures In Modern Music 12 February 09

My Adventures In Modern Music show from the other week is available for download at the On Air section of the site. There's a great mix from the Mississippi Record Label on there. Or rather, the mix might not be great, but the music – raw gospel, blues, African and East Asian stuff – certainly is.

The Mire

Sample sale

For those who, like us, have been cold rockin' the Beastie Boys' reissued Paul's Boutique – a big influence on The Bomb Squad, I believe – it's worth checking out this sample resource for the album. I haven't looked into it deeply yet, but the sheer density of the samples, and breadth of the styles referenced, is fantastic.

The Mire

Lost And Found Dept

Great to see Steve Beresford and John Butcher last night at my local pub, The Birdcage in Stoke Newington. They were playing with percussionist Will Connor for new monthly art/music night, The Lost And Found Department. After a short trio set, which I missed through tardiness, each performer played solo. Butcher was on jazzy form, inflecting lilting melodic phrases with flutters and overtones before pelting the crowd violently with jagged squawks. Glad to see the cosiness of his surroundings did nothing to dilute his performance. Beresford was hyperactive behind his table laden with gadgets. Using a variety of sound sources, incl. Walkman, sampler and a little touch-pad synth he controlled with a pen, he cycled through ideas quickly. The three then took it in turns to play in duos: Connor & Beresford, Beresford & Butcher, Connor and Butcher. Connor took the everything-but-the kitchen-sink approach to percussion, playing a CD rack, a BBQ...