Test Pressing Podcast

Payfone is Phil Passera alongside Jimmy Day and Chieka Ononye. A few months back they gave a few people the 'International Smark' / 'People' tracks which have slowly turned into big underground records with the potential to do far more. As I said when I put the YouTube videos up if Daft Punk dug DJ Harvey they'd sound like this... So here's a mix from Payfone. It's got that Friday feeling. (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/302-PAYFONE.png) Download (http://testpressing.org/audio/302_Test_Pressing_Payfone_Mix.mp3) For more on Payfone check their Soundcloud page (https://soundcloud.com/payfone) here and if you want to pick up the tracks head to iTunes here (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/2013-single/id717562663).

Jolyon Green has been around since the very start of Test Pressing giving us mixes every now and then of the finest sounds around. Here's his new one with a yacht rock vibe. All aboard the good ship Green. (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/301-JOLYON-GREEN.png) Download (http://testpressing.org/audio/301_Gulls_and_Buoys.mp3) Note: Couple of skips in the mix because the boat wobbled. x.

Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us... Ha. Bit of a landmark number I guess. 300 mixes deep on Test Pressing and we are lucky to have been given much amazing music and hopefully made some of you happy. Here's the 300th. Rohan Bell Towers, straight out of Oz and soon moving to London. It's underground electronic business that makes his world go round. He makes music which some of you may like so check the recent 12" on Public Possession if you're into this. Onwards. (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/300-BELL-TOWERS.png) Download (http://testpressing.org/audio/300_Mix.mp3)

Nice mix in as we near 300 mixes on Test Pressing from Eddie Ruscha a.k.a Secret Circuit. We loved Eddies releases in the last last year from the Psyche-Balearic-Tropical sound of the Emotional Response reissue collection to his own more modern toned album for Beats In Space, 'Tactile Galactics'. Eddie is one of those hands on guys collecting old synths that make odd noises and painting, collaging and just generally living in a world of "create". He clearly likes a collaboration as well as recently there has been the Circuit, Burns & Hawk 12" (check the clips here (http://www.rushhour.nl/store_detailed.php?item=72464)) and then there is the forthcoming Blasé E.P on ESP Institute in collaboration with Suzanne Kraft. We've been lucky enough to hear that one and its sounding mighty fine. Kosmiche disco with melody and a sound that cries out 'make an album please'. Back to the beat, here's Eddie with a mix starting on yacht then taking you down the disco... (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/299-SECRET-CIRCUIT.png) Download (http://testpressing.org/audio/299_Mix.mp3)

Komische Psychedelic Folk. Requiems, Free Jazz and spiritual awakenings. Progressive Pop. Love like a rose in bloom, the colour of hope in a digital darkness. Cocteau-esque ambience at the end of a tunnel. Beach Boys harmonies, Eno`s green world, and Nuggets Funk. All viewed though Connan Mockasin`s kaleidoscope eyes. FM radio sweetness. Fire in the blood. Buffy Sainte-Marie Magick. Bullfighter sketches. Warnings of illumination`s consequences. Lullabies and nightmares. Let the right one in. Hailing from Warsaw, now based in Obez, with a career that encompasses music journalism (including a weekly TV show in the mid-90s called "Techno Life"), Maciek Sienkiewicz has been DJing since 1992. Through Hip Hop, Drum & Bass, and Techno, with gigs in France, Belarus, Sweden, Romania, the US and Mexico, alongside names such as Rune Lindbaek, Tiago, Richard Norris, Al Kent, Daniel Bell, Swayzak, and Superpitcher. As a consequence his “sound” now displays more of an “anything goes" policy, mixing the obscure music of beards, with Disco, modern Balearic and House. He has been holding the Warsaw-based Summer Sunday sessions called "Yacht Rock Disko" for the last 6 years, and he is about to launch a label called "Father and Son, Records and Tapes" which will adopt this "anything goes" attitude, and cover everything from freeform electronics, to cosmic dance, and Progressive Rock. Maciek has also explored the world of experimental music, playing live Improv / Noise with the likes of Zbigniew Karkowski, Ignaz Schick, Anna Zaradny, and collaborating with Polish visual artists, scoring exhibitions, short movies, and documentaries. His set here is somewhere in between those two camps. A dream-like segue of 40 tracks that conveys an early Autumn lost in thought. “Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.” (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/298-MACIEK.png) Download (http://testpressing.org/audio/298_Maciek_Sienkiewicz.mp3) Maciek`s Soundcloud is here (https://soundcloud.com/yacht-rock-disko), and there`s also a more “Disko” mix of his over at Feel My Bicep (http://www.feelmybicep.com/fmb-yacht-rock).

Enchante is part of the Top Nice gang. A DJ, producer and artist. He has a band called Special Occasion, whose 'Confusion E.P' is coming on 7" on Top Nice in November, which will be preceded by the Rolling Helix 12" o the same label next month. It is the sound of people being serious, though with a rye smile, with electronics. Top Nice know how to party. (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/297-ENCHANTE.png) Download (http://testpressing.org/audio/297_Enchante_Broadcasting_From_Italia.mp3)

Paisley Park Art Of Noise Cotton Club glamour. Somewhere down Viktor Lazlo`s crazy river. A camouflaged Casio high noon movie screen kiss. Gothic gymnopedies from Depeche Mode. Working Week paranoia. The Style Council`s modern Soul take on the guitar-driven Boogie of Jazzy Dee`s “Get On Up” and Index`s “Starlight”. The Jan-Hammer-snatched-by-Bedouins-and-bewitched-by-belly-dancers of Code 061`s “Drop The Deal”. Gary Clail`s bare knuckle Electro pugilism. The Cabs referencing William S. Burroughs. Mick Jones and a track that was also big in Goa. Hep cats and bongo Jazz a specialty. We are here to go. Something has struck me now that we are about 18 hours into these Amnesia mixes of Leo`s. At least 90% of the music was new when Leo was playing it. Records brought back from a Winter in Milan for a Summer in Ibiza. Would it be possible to play a 2 hour warm-up set in 2013, that consists solely of new releases? Pop b-sides and LP tracks? Where are today`s Cabaret Voltaires, David Sylvians, Isabelle Antenas, Tackheads, Big Audio Dynamites, making challenging, articulate, popular music? Who would be the Francois Kevorkian, turning everything to dancefloor gold? Lizzy Mercier Descloux? The Blow Monkeys? It`s Immaterial? Blue Nile? Grace Jones? Anna Domino? Everything But The Girl? The The? The Smiths? The Woodentops? The Art Of Noise? Where are their like now? London Grammar for Carmel? Hot Chip for Yello? The Horrors for The Cure? Django Django? Blludd Relations? Golden Teacher? Factory Floor? Sbtrkt? Rhye? Steve Mason? The Invisible for AR Kane? Would Jessie Ware be Sade or Viktor Lazlo? Who would be today`s Talking Heads? Who would be Prince? Please tell me. I wanna know. (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/296-LEO-MAS.png) Download (http://testpressing.org/audio/296_Leo_Mas_Amnesia_1987_Pt3.mp3) (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/joes-bakery.jpg) The legendary Leo Mas will be playing at Joe`s Bakery`s First Anniversary celebrations, alongside the equally legendary resident, Moonboots, this Saturday (September 28th) at the Outlaws Yacht Club (http://outlawsyachtclub.com/) in Leeds. Leo will also be bringing a second bag of vinyl for the after party at The Kitchen (https://www.facebook.com/events/436152793166657). I think you might have to drop them a line to sort out a ticket. Apiento, Phil Mison, and Nancy Noise will be in attendance, and I will be there in spirit, if not body (unless somebody can organize a last minute whip round for air fare, and more importantly child care).

Designer, promoter, DJ, and producer, a Sheffield native with a nickname taken from Run DMC`s “Peter Piper”, and a career that could be considered parallel to Trevor Jackson`s, Pipes is one of the residents, alongside Toddla T and Winston Hazel, at Kabal, a legendary night in the steel city that has been running for 12 years. A party that takes place sporadically and in unusual locations, such as chapels, morgues, disused factories, and railway arches. Pipes was inspired to start DJing when hearing local heroes, Parrot, Winston and Graeme Park in the mid 1980s, who would play everything from Soul and Hip Hop though to House and Techno. An inclusive mix of music that seemed to reflect the breaking down of racial barriers and provide a battle hymn of possibility for the then general feeling of what could be. It is this openness that Pipes brings to his sets and Kabal. Gospel & Blues & Jazz with a House filter on it. Love`s message looped over machines. Prince gone Dubstep. Where is the what if the what is in why? Sexy subs segue in to 303s. Lone reprising the syncopated Detroit Garage of Underground Resistance`s Happy Records. Hardy influenced edits. Love & Happiness. Rough, stripped bare and soulful. Canadian Bigshots. Cajmere. Cajual. I need a freak. Basic Channel. Old and new alike, cut up, energized, agitated (http://ninjatune.net/release/toddla-t/watch-me-dance-agitated-by-ross-orton-and-pipes). Crooked all night long. (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/295-PIPES.png) Download (http://testpressing.org/audio/295_Pipes_Crookedness.mp3) Big thank you to Parrot (http://testpressing.org/2013/08/20-questions-richard-barratt-parrot-crooked-man) for the introduction. Expect an interview and something in a more eclectic vein from Pipes in the very near future.

When the Bobby Biege mix (http://testpressing.org/2013/09/290-bobby-beige-live-at-the-garden/) went up recently it reminded me of how great the Pork label (http://www.discogs.com/label/Pork%20Recordings) was that he was involved with and the next day Steve Cobby another Pork artist (bit of an understatement there) got in touch asking if we were up for a mix. Course was the answer and here it is. Steve Cobby works across the boards. Musician, composer, label owner and DJ. He is a member of a number of groups such as The Cutler, Fila Brazillia, Hey, Rube! (with Stephen Mallinder of Cabaret Voltaire), Chieftain, J*S*T*A*R*S and all of The Solid Doctor. He is also one of the people behind the Steel Tiger (http://www.steeltiger.co.uk/) label. Not sure when he sleeps but he does. I think. Pork and associates were always very proudly (Kingston Upon) Hull - a city in Yorkshire on the coast of the UK - which is trying to become the City of Culture 2017. If you enjoy this mix and want to do Steve a favour then please pay him back by clicking here (https://www.facebook.com/HullCityofCulture?fref=ts) and giving Hull a like. If you want to hear more from Steve then head to his Soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/steve-cobby) and his Mixcloud (http://www.mixcloud.com/stevecobby/). Back to the music... (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/293-STEVE-COBBY.png) Download (http://testpressing.org/audio/293_Test_Pressing_MIx.mp3)

It starts with the roar of “Trumpets”. That was the river, this is the sea. The Waterboys out on a beatific edge. The most beautiful man in the world stares down from posters on a bedroom wall. Geniuses of love and Minneapolis. A few things cribbed from Alfie and Leo`s Milan shopping trips. Sinead sings a quintessential Future tune. MC Lyte like Run DMC on E as London makes its transition from Hip Hop to Acid House. 808s sound loudly, echo and shake dark corners. You know it`s gonna happen, it`s just a question of when. A Bowie wannabe and a dub from Bowie in a fright-wig. Post-Punk electrica Salsa. Flamenco breath. Rob Smith`s Disney Jazz. A rush, push. Everybody be somebody. Hearts like a church with wide open doors. It could be argued that Future was responsible for Acid House gripping the nation, London at the very least. There was a Christmas reunion, for a group of friends who had spent the summer of `87 in Ibiza, with Alfredo flown over to DJ, afterhours at Ziggy`s in Streatham. Future was the continuation of that reunion, a second party held on a Thursday in January `88 at the small Soundshaft, next to the vast Heaven, under Charing Cross Station. Since nobody wanted to stop, Future continued, every Thursday for three months, at which point Paul Oakenfold and Ian St. Paul convinced the owners of the club to let them have a shot at filling its considerably larger neighbour, on a Monday night(!?). By the end of April there were queues around the block. The Monday night at Heaven, called Spectrum, brought Acid House, and ecstasy, which had previously been the property of a very select few, to the masses. It wasn`t The Fitness Centre, whose size dictated its elitism, it was a huge 2000 capacity venue. Future and Spectrum ran side by side through `88 to `90. Three fast moving years of weeklong weekends. They said "Dance You Fuckers!" and dance we did. (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/292-NANCY-NOISE.png) Download (http://testpressing.org/audio/292_Nancy_Noise_Future_Mix.mp3)

So we`re back in the “Balearic shed”, a designer shack at the top of a garden in Croydon, to which my decks and records had been banished (and where I sometimes had recourse to seek exile / asylum), me & Mr Hayter, at least eight years ago. The conversation has moved on from “Balearic Soul” ( http://testpressing.org/2013/04/249-dr-rob/) to “Balearic Reggae”, and once again I`m asked to justify such classification. “Balearic Reggae is Reggae I`ve heard played when pilled-up” was my facetious reply. Me hearing something when pilled-up is obviously no one`s definition of Balearic, if it were then my next collection could be “Balearic Supermarket BGM” (some might argue that everything I do is supermarket BGM), or “Balearic Songs I Have Sung In The Bath” (you`ll probably need to wait for the book for that one), since I did spend some time searching for that evasive palace of wisdom, down Blake`s well-trodden road to excess. Most of the tunes here accompanied the Soul of the previous compilation, as part of the soundtrack to the warm-up, bar room respite / hand-shaking / flirting, and wind-down of an Acid House evening in London. A fair percentage of them, including the Prince Lincoln, which I take with me everywhere, coming from the box of Terry Farley. Some are personal favourites, like the Te Track, that I might have heard addled, but only safely locked indoors, and a few are recent discoveries that I thought fit. Good vibes is what we be about. (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/291-DR-ROB.png) Download (http://testpressing.org/audio/291_Dr_Rob_Balearic_Reggae.mp3)

Bobby Beige is resident DJ at The Garden in Zadar (http://www.watchthegardengrow.eu/the-garden-zadar). Though we've never been we hear very very good things from friends. I was trying to think how it would look but just decided instead to ask Bobby to send me some photos. As you can see below its heaven as a DJ or the perfect place to sip a cocktail as a punter. (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/31340_129323080412393_141574_n.jpg)(http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/207082_215331888478178_7383835_n.jpg)(http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/376963_610878178923545_57185513_n.jpg)(http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/379740_620710037940359_1818585025_n.jpg) Bobby has been resident at the bar from day one which was back in 2004. He plays from the end of May until the end of August and you can hear for yourself that he has that sound in his music that only residents get the time to find. As you can see the bar overlooks the Adriatic Sea and the walls of Zadar with, as Bobby says, "the mountains in the distance and yachts and ferry's sailing past". This was the bar that got the festivals out there started basically and is run by Nick and Charlotte Colgan (who run the festival alongside Eddie and Gail O'Callaghan). Bobby has been in the downtempo / eclectic scene for a number of years now, starting off DJing and producing for the genius Pork label (do check their releases (http://www.discogs.com/label/Pork%20Recordings) if you've never heard them) out of Hull in the UK. You can check more modern sounds from Bobby on his Soundcloud page (https://soundcloud.com/bobby-beige-amsterdam) and his Mixcloud page (http://www.mixcloud.com/bobbybeige/). He has delivered a live hour of music direct from the bar this weekend so we thought we'd get it up ASAP as it sounds like the perfect way to ease into the week. (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/290-BOBBY-BIEGE.png) Download (http://testpressing.org/audio/290_At_The_Garden.MP3)

A selection for Spring from one of a mini-van load of irate Belvedere DJs. From back when Gilles was on Jazz FM, Saturdays 3 til 4, before he stood up and was counted and spoke out against the First Gulf War. Scuds live on CNN sponsored by Operation Desert Storm & Oil In Persia. Radio tried to make Massive Attack just Massive. San Fran Fusion that still finds favour with Moonboots. Tuff City Rap from Trenton Hills, New Jersey.　What happened to the Hip Hop in Balearic set lists? Did it disappear with “Peace”? A landmark Warehouse jam powered by Paulinho Da Costa. A Hi-Fidelity awakening that got versioned by Ariel and remixed by Justin Robertson. Mmm…Spicey. Stoned Chicago sleaze, much loved at Moist. Roy`s South Central vibes and a Dingwalls Classic. From Chattanooga, Tennessee to Philadelphia. PA. Pablo blows some Funk towards the East. Heartbreak from the family Bey. A Jazz Warrior covers Stevie. Where Hate`s a dream and Love stands. A Hard-Bop drummer pitches his baritone somewhere between Jons Lucien and Hendricks and tackles Van Morrison. Astral Signals and Popcorn. Studio One vibes from Alpha. Just beads and things and flowers. Everybody loves the sunshine. (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BOYS-OWN-GILES-VIBRAZONE2.jpg) Download (http://testpressing.org/audio/289_Boys_Own_Vibrazone_Spring_1990.mp3) “Boy`s Own. The Complete Fanzines 1986-92” is published by DJhistory.com and can be purchased directly here (http://www.djhistory.com/books). For Lucy & Rich.

I like Ollie and Will from Bahamian Moor. Hardcore record collectors and part of the new wave of young balearic heads. They throw great parties - we collaborated on one together not far back with Alexis Le-Tan playing - and have a good crowd of twenty-somethings into good music and dancing. They also have a monthly show (http://ntslive.co.uk/shows/bahamian-moor/) on NTS radio that is well worth tuning into. This mix is pretty much all Spanish records they found when spending time in Valencia so it's all brand new to me. You can keep up to date with the chaps and find out more here (http://www.bahamianmoor.com/). Salud! (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/288-BAHAMIAN-MOOR.png) Download (http://testpressing.org/audio/288_Torre_Mirador.mp3)

There`s not so much information out there about Boston-born DJ and remixer / producer John Luongo. Despite being instrumental in organizing the local record pool he doesn`t get a mention in the “dance music researcher`s” fall-back / starting point / Bible, “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life” (http://www.djhistory.com/books), and on Discogs there`s just short a paragraph. There is however, a long on-line interview here at Disco Disco (http://www.disco-disco.com/djs/john-l.shtml) from which I cribbed. Everything else I`m about to write is based on pulling records off shelves. We`d been talking about “doing Luongo” for a while at Test Pressing, but Apiento and I eternally bounce this question of “Producer or Remixer?” around. When Leo played us Luongo`s mix of Aerosmith`s “Rag Doll”, we decided to just do it. “Bongo Luongo” got his break at Epic by overdubbing percussion from salt shakers and spoons onto a promo and then passing them back the tape. This resulted in him being flown to New York, and put in a studio (of his choice) to mix and produce Melba Moore`s “You Stepped Into My Life”. From there he went onto Disco classics by Jackie Moore(This Time Baby), Dan Hartman (Vertigo / Relight My Fire), The Jacksons (Shake Your Body), and Patti Labelle (Music Is My Way Of Life). He did Santana, and pissed off Bryan Adams by pitching him up. Luongo`s credits went from “mixed by” to “additional production by”, I guess as his work received wider recognition and he subsequently gained more clout with his employers.　By the early `80s he seems to have been sought out by UK electronic artists (or their record labels), such as Visage, Blancmange and Cabaret Voltaire, to translate their music for the dancefloor. Mixing for Luongo consisted of overdubbing sax, vibes, & percussion (hence the “Bongo” nickname), and re-recording drum tracks, with the assistance of engineers Michael Barbiero, at Media sound, then Jay Mark, Michael Hutchinson, & Carla Bandini at Sigma and Gary Hellman at Electric Lady Land. CBS got him to work on pretty much everything for Columbia, Epic, Portrait and associated labels Blue Sky and Nemperor, and gave him his own off-shoot Pavillion, which almost signed Madonna. He also freelanced for majors like Atlantic, Warner’s, Polygram, London, Sire, EMI, and Elektra. This meant that he worked with a huge range of differing musics, right across the board from underground to Pop. As well as the aforementioned Amnesia warm up classic from Aerosmith, in this compilation there are records from the sets Baldelli, Rock crossovers from Greg Kihn, Visage providing a seminal Hip Hop break (my life was changed hearing DJ Streetsahead cut between two copies of “Pleasure Boys” at Spatz), Rusty Egan covering T-Connection, and Yoko Ono doing an angular interpretation of Disco (perhaps inspired by Harry Thumann`s “Underwater”). There is also one of the more obscure tracks from Harvey`s Moist top 51. (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/287-JOHN-LUONGO.png) (http://testpressing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/287-JOHN-LUONGO-BACK.png) Download (http://testpressing.org/audio/287_Producers_Series_26_John_Luongo.mp3) Big thank you to Matt of Hong Kong`s Otaku Sound System for The Quick and the Cori Josias.