The Asphodells - Remixed : A review of sorts

The Asphodells album remixed by most of the axis powers is finally upon us (friends and colleagues of messrs Fairplay and Weatherall not the bad ones from world war two) and here is my humblest of opinionated thoughts upon hearing it with my own two ears.

Opening with Another Lonely City by Group Rhoda (one Mara Barenbaum), this easily sets the mood for the rest of what is to come.Ethereal and melancholic as it is the original sound is still present within its new body,short enough to not get boring yet it has enough potential to be one of those good earworms you undoubtedly prefer over Agadoo. Phil Kieran steps up on a remix of Late Flowering Lust, with a swaggering riff accompanying sinister pulsing synths creating a sweeping east end film noir feel sitting atop a tightly structured percussive rhythm section.

Third in the queue is Justin Robertsons Deadstock 33s remix of Beglammered,stripped down and leaving just the ghosts of the original and then forming any remaining components into a sleeker more unforgiving beast. Next up is the mysterious (George Thompson,now less mysterious) Black Merlins take on Skwatch,effortlessly sounding like a John Carpenter track fed steroids by the anti christ. This chugs along with enough menace to make lesser mortal tracks step to one side whilst it cruises by like nobodies business,it certainly has had the most plays from me so far. The singularly plural Hardway Brothers take on Never There,whilst it would have been easy for Sean Johnston to ring this one in you know he made a choice to create a less is more approach and tweaked it to tease us into wanting the dirty bassline to pulsate to a crescendo that never is.

Daniel Avery submits his remix of  We Are The Axis,starting off with the familiar percussion but slowly removing almost every trace of the original and placing layer over layer of harmonic dissonance to create an ecstatic rapturous effect and ending with a rather discombobulating wobble. Danielle Baldelli and DJ Rocca turn in a wonderful version of Another Lonely City, adding their own layers and Mediterranean cosmic motifs to the distinctive guitar of the original version. Beglammered gets sharpened up by Richard Sen,retaining the Arabian sound of the original and upping the tempo to add a sense of focus and drive.You (by you I mean me) can almost envisage The Asphodells themselves mooching around the Soukh and chuffing on a hookah before riding off into the night perched on ships of the desert.

Scott Fraser brings us back to a sweaty night in a distinguished club near you in a remarkably jacking style,keeping the bass bubbling under just enough to give a lead to rimshots, claps and other percussion.The biggest surprise for me on this album and rounding it all off is Ivan Smagghes remix of One Minutes silence,in a good way it is not what I was expecting.A banger is what I would have thought he would produce but it is gloriously freeform and uncaring,well I say freeform however it starts off like the original but mutates from there on in to something like audio Marmite.

Asphodells remixed is currently available on CD and download from Rotters Golf Club here with the vinyl release not far off. The usual physical record stores and online outlets will have this available from Sept 2nd.

Jagwar Ma - Come Save Me ( Weatherall Mix)

 Jagwar Ma have decided to share Andrew Weatherall’s take on Howlin highlight “Come Save Me.” The pairing of Weatherall with Jagwar Ma feels a natural fit, Weatherall takes the upbeat bounce of the album version and gives it a slinky, late-night feel all while keeping the essence of the original intact.

http://www.highsnobiety.com/2013/08/17/jagwar-ma-andrew-weatherall-come-save-me/

via highsnobiety

Adidas Autumn/Winter

Summer is coming to an end (for once we can't complain about it this year as it was good) and autumn is rearing its head,for many this isn't well received news but I love it as it means new collections are not far away. Adidas have a plethora of shoes and apparel launching over the next few months ,they have always been reliable for a mix of sensible sportswear and outlandish creations.Included in the next season are many collaborations with known designers and respected brands who really compliment the mark with the three stripes.

From the garishly popular Jeremy Scott ,think what you will of his creations and takes on established models there is no doubt of his  popularity and his power to divide opinion,to Mark McNairy and established collaborators Ransom.In addition it marks the trefoil brands first foray into partnership with Bedwin and the Heartbreakers,the Tokyo based label with a history of understated style indebted to classic American clothing design. Taking 70s era Adidas clothing and adding their own subtle hints and pallettes they have definitely raised a bar in casual sportswear collaborative design. Not forgetting that Adidas themselves are taking on their own catalogue and giving it a new spin with themed prints and recurring patterns to dazzling effect. Expect to start seeing these new pieces make their way into the shops soon.

Needle Exchange 6 : Intense in ten cities

http://www.mixcloud.com/Tourist/mark-algar-needle-exchange-6-intense-in-ten-cities/
Contains rude words,play it at work loud and see how long you can get away with it for.......

Reebok Inferno

Reebok are joining the late eighties/early nineties retro runner revival in a big way this year by adding to an already well loved number of models with the Inferno. Not one to be shy this wears its history loudly with bright bold colours in a number of colourways that certainly evoke that 90s feel with flashes of neon and base shades of teal and white respectively.

They have all the styling and technical constituents of the originals making them a definite head turner , in the current age of endless air max 1's and "new technological advances in trainer design" its a definite plus.
Originally these made their debut in 1991 and incorporated Reeboks Hexalite cell cushioning into the sole, the first runner from them to do so. Materials used on these releases are the classic runner make ups of mesh on the white and premium suede on the teal and black models. 

 Available in the colours you see here and soon in black from Hanon and End .

Adidas City Marathon PT

As I have mentioned previously,several sportswear brands are pulling some amazing old models out of the back catalogues and putting them in to  production again. Adidas have done good with this marathon reissue, available in shops now along with their own webstore,evoking an era when it was all about the big two brands in a cold (trainer) war kind of way. Utilising two classic Adidas applications,the Dellinger webbing on the midsole and the ghilly lacing system (the plastic loop bits in case you were about to ask) along with a simple yet effective colourway (there are 3 initially) making this a definite winner in my book.

 Other little touches make this an intriguing number,from the perforated toebox to the velcro label on the tongue ,perfect for carrying er.....keys...yes keys,in addition to the clearly defined outline (something Adidas seem to excel at with recent retros is maintaining the original shape,a process Nike clearly have issues with) making this a trainer everyone can appreciate.

Club Preview - Clubsterben at Islington Mill

Preview - Clubsterben at Islington Mill

Unreal City by Michael Smith

"Strolling through this wide sweep, gazing across the fleet of trains bound for Paris or Brussels, the powder blue steel vaulting soaring above them, the inside of a giant whale's ribcage, a hymn to the infrastructure of our hyper-connected age; like Jonah swallowed up by it all, by the hum of the giant extractor fans, the deep hum at the heart of it all - back here, home again, lost in London..."
 
With a property portfolio consisting of a beach hut in Kent, and a career as evanescent as it is unprofitable, the narrator of Unreal City is a flaneur fallen on hard times, a creative bewildered by the slick speed of the digital age, watching as the sculptors and painters and bon viveurs begin to slip away and the advertising hipsters take over old stomping grounds.

Sounding to me like something akin to a Sabres of Paradise song come to life, this forthcoming novel from Michael Smith seems to offer an interesting story of dark streets and old characters lurking behind wooden doorways and under arches losing ground to gentrification and beigeifying , (yes,a new word I just made up) brought on a new age of capital city dwellers claiming more land as their own.

 From the nights in old Soho, where an anonymous green door was the gateway to a decadently dingy paradise, to the days amid the shabby post-industrial elegance of Hackney's canalside warehouses, this is a nostalgic love song to the drifters, the artists, the glamorous misfits, the degenerate waifs and the barmaid-enchantresses of the capital's backstreets and shadowy corners.

Funnily enough  *cough cough* the perfect soundtrack to this tale (which is unbound in a sleeve folder) is to be provided by Mr Weatherall, the special edition comes with a 10 track cd of songs by the artist in residence at Faber as well as a remix 10" vinyl of one of the aforementioned tracks. Also available on iBooks Author and ebooks at £7.99 as well as Amazon.

Link innit...

(Thanks Amba)

From the nights in old Soho, where an anonymous green door was the gateway to a decadently dingy paradise, to the days amid the shabby post-industrial elegance of Hackney's canalside warehouses, this is a nostalgic love song to the drifters, the artists, the glamorous misfits, the degenerate waifs and the barmaid-enchantresses of the capital's backstreets and shadowy corners. - See more at: http://www.faber.co.uk/catalog/unreal-city/9780571235803#sthash.j15W7b5x.dpuf

From the nights in old Soho, where an anonymous green door was the gateway to a decadently dingy paradise, to the days amid the shabby post-industrial elegance of Hackney's canalside warehouses, this is a nostalgic love song to the drifters, the artists, the glamorous misfits, the degenerate waifs and the barmaid-enchantresses of the capital's backstreets and shadowy corners. - See more at: http://www.faber.co.uk/catalog/unreal-city/9780571235803#sthash.j15W7b5x.dpuf

With a property portfolio consisting of a beach hut in Kent, and a career as evanescent as it is unprofitable, the narrator of Unreal City is a flaneur fallen on hard times, a creative bewildered by the slick speed of the digital age, watching as the sculptors and painters and bon viveurs begin to slip away and the advertising hipsters take over old stomping grounds.
Unreal City is a nostalgic love song to the drifters, the artists, the glamorous misfits, the degenerate waifs and the barmaid-enchantresses of the capital’s backstreets and shadowy corners.
- See more at: http://fabersocial.co.uk/2013/07/faber-give-dbc-pierre-michael-smith-andrew-weatherall-the-special-treatment/#sthash.04tBy4ke.dpuf

With a property portfolio consisting of a beach hut in Kent, and a career as evanescent as it is unprofitable, the narrator of Unreal City is a flaneur fallen on hard times, a creative bewildered by the slick speed of the digital age, watching as the sculptors and painters and bon viveurs begin to slip away and the advertising hipsters take over old stomping grounds.
Unreal City is a nostalgic love song to the drifters, the artists, the glamorous misfits, the degenerate waifs and the barmaid-enchantresses of the capital’s backstreets and shadowy corners.
- See more at: http://fabersocial.co.uk/2013/07/faber-give-dbc-pierre-michael-smith-andrew-weatherall-the-special-treatment/#sthash.04tBy4ke.dpuf

With a property portfolio consisting of a beach hut in Kent, and a career as evanescent as it is unprofitable, the narrator of Unreal City is a flaneur fallen on hard times, a creative bewildered by the slick speed of the digital age, watching as the sculptors and painters and bon viveurs begin to slip away and the advertising hipsters take over old stomping grounds.
Unreal City is a nostalgic love song to the drifters, the artists, the glamorous misfits, the degenerate waifs and the barmaid-enchantresses of the capital’s backstreets and shadowy corners.
- See more at: http://fabersocial.co.uk/2013/07/faber-give-dbc-pierre-michael-smith-andrew-weatherall-the-special-treatment/#sthash.04tBy4ke.dpuf

With a property portfolio consisting of a beach hut in Kent, and a career as evanescent as it is unprofitable, the narrator of Unreal City is a flaneur fallen on hard times, a creative bewildered by the slick speed of the digital age, watching as the sculptors and painters and bon viveurs begin to slip away and the advertising hipsters take over old stomping grounds.
Unreal City is a nostalgic love song to the drifters, the artists, the glamorous misfits, the degenerate waifs and the barmaid-enchantresses of the capital’s backstreets and shadowy corners.
- See more at: http://fabersocial.co.uk/2013/07/faber-give-dbc-pierre-michael-smith-andrew-weatherall-the-special-treatment/#sthash.04tBy4ke.dpuf

Gold Panda - Trust

 This has been around for a while but I thought i'd give it an airing here as this is after all, a blog about things that I like. London producer Gold Panda has been releasing music since around 2009,to describe his sound as woozy electronica would be doing him a disservice as his sound encompasses many styles of the music spectrum. This track ,off the EP of the same name on the Ghostly International label, is perfect for the more reflective moments in your day be it in the garden soaking up the sun or late at night in bed.

This is still available from Boomkat   
Also it is well worth checking out his recent album Half Of Where You Live.

Last Waltz on Test Pressing

Test Pressing #265 - Last Waltz

Garbstore x Reebok Pump Fury

Now I must confess from the off that this is a shoe I have a love hate affair with,no doubt about it this has come in some outlandish colours in the past and this is what makes or breaks it most times. However this collaboration with the UK based Garbstore has a natural and muted look even with pink detailing , making it one I decided to take a proper look at. It is part of a collection by the store and Reebok themed around "outside in" ,Ian Paley from the Garbstore explains " While trends may change and time will expectedly shift the colorway executions and exterior material choices of certain footwear models, there are core and foundational construction tenants of a shoe model that will always stay the same. Pulling upon these static interior elements of the shoe, we flipped vintage Reebok elements by placing them on the exterior upper of the shoe."

So in effect turning the fabrication of a trainer inside out,not unlike the experimental primate in The Fly however these are much less messy. The colours are spot on,with the main blocking not being too dominant and allowing highlights and smaller points to shine through like the white pump tabs and speckled sole  detailing.There is no set date as yet but keep an eye out on the Garbstore website for information on the collection.