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 .

A handy guide to shopping in small,independent shops.

I have decided to write up a handy guide to shopping in small,independent and boutique style shops as in my many years of retail experience I am still constantly surprised by such twatty behaviour from customers that boils my piss no end. Many of these situations can also apply to major retailers too and yes I am aware that sometimes, as a customer you can get surly and snotty staff so it's not all one sided.Anyway,let me begin...

1. The door.
If the door is closed when you walk in then close it behind you,do not leave it open or leave it slightly open in some failed attempt to look considerate.Just close it,this applies just as much when leaving the shop.

2.The door sensor.
If it beeps as you enter do not mimic it, unless you are of an age that requires you to be accompanied by adults, this will instantly make any staff regard you as a twat and rightly so.

3.Phones,ipods and walkmen.
Do not enter a store whilst having conversation on a phone or at least end any conversation as you enter.
Take off your Beats By Dre headphones or yank out your earphones and turn the music down or off,do not have them blaring out music if you wish to engage any member of staff in conversation. Why should the staff engage with you if you can't be bothered to make an effort?

4.Kids.
Yes they're adorable I am sure but unless you're in a toy shop they do not care and are probably bored stupid,so will try and entertain themselves by playing with a sibling if present or just annoying the fuck out of the staff. Do not browse, amble or dither. Do not forget you are in a work enviroment do please don't let them play hide and seek or run around like they've had 2 litres of undiluted Kia Ora or there will be tears.

5.Trying on/Handling goods.
Treat it as your own,i.e don't force the shoes on or kick them off, do not roughly manhandle a jacket to "check" how strong it is. More than likely if you are in an independent shop that item has to be sold too,so take care when trying things on
please. Try and limit the number of items you are trying on to as few as possible,especially if busy and the shop does not have many staff.

6.Listen to the staff.
Simple and obvious but when a member of staff makes a suggestion it is usually for your benefit,for example "do you want to try these on?" is a question you may be asked,now just because you bought something in the same size it is advisable to always try something on. Even products from the same brand can vary in size and it will save a return journey if you need to exchange anything.

7.Food & drink.
Eating and drinking on the go,quite simply don't do it in any shop. If you are in such a rush that you have to eat on the move then you certainly haven't got time for shopping.

8.Farting,snotting and littering.
Sadly quite common. Snotting refers to those situations when someone draws the snot back up their nose to avoid blowing said nose, again this is only acceptable from small children, farting is akin to expelling millions of tiny poo particles. Littering is obvious.

8a. Fully grown men who wear tracksuit bottoms and put their hands down the front of said clothing, please don't.

9.socks.
If you are shopping for footwear then for the love of god wear socks or tights (as appropriate).

10.Inane and stupid questions.
"Have you got these in my size?" - Shop staff are not clairvoyant.
"Have you got these in X colour?" - Yes of course ,we just don't bother putting a lot of stock out......
If you can't see it the chances are it isn't in stock.
"You didn't tell me I couldn't get a refund" - Not legally obliged to verbally but there is a big sign at the till and it states the terms and conditions on your receipt,you did read that yes?
"I saw this blue hat a year ago ..." or "I saw a picture on the internet..."- Well do you have a picture or a brand name we can work from?
Most shops are highly unlikely to carry stock for over a year so a bit of common sense and research beforehand is a wonderful thing.

11.Being greeted by staff.
I hate being jumped on by staff as soon as you enter a shop but in smaller independent shops the shopfloor isn't that big so most of the time staff ARE just being polite when saying hello or some variant. A response along the lines of "just looking" or "yes,just having a look if that's alright" whilst having an expression like you've been caught in the underwear section of M&S isn't required. A hello will do.

12.Discounts.
Don't ask for a discount, end of. It is not uncommon to be told at the till "i'll knock some off for you" or something similar,this is usually because the preamble leading up to the purchase was humorous,well mannered on both sides and the member of staff enjoyed serving you as a customer. Asking for money off because you're buying two items is not reason enough for a discount,I doubt you ask for a multiple item discount in Tesco do you? No and they can afford it.

Another classic line is "I know the owner",while this makes us happy for you in millions of ways it doesn't mean you will get a discount. Besides, if you know the owner so well maybe you should have asked them for the discount eh?

13.Chip & pin machines.
When a chip & pin machine says,do not remove card (you're ahead of me here) DO NOT REMOVE THE BLOODY CARD! Onscreen instructions are there for a reason unsurprisingly.

Please do not assume all staff are on commission,believe it or not retail staff do get satisfaction from providing decent customer service and helping people when possible to the best standard they can.
I am sure I have missed some bits that I will think of in the future but this covers a lot of areas,so please bear these points in mind next time and thanks for reading.