Lindstrom & Solale – Baby I Can’t Stop (Aeroplane Remix)

As the previous 8 month old post attests to, everything has been changing in 2009. Mark is making a name for himself selling fancy gingham from Sri Lanka, Chris is about to embark on the next chapter of whatever the hell he’s planning, and I’ve been doing the rounds in London Town (or sitting in and watching US TV boxsets).

Hence the blog has been lying here, bewildered and alone like a goth at a wedding. But on a recent work trip up to Leeds, I was listening to a few tracks that I’d picked up on via the wonderful new We Are Hunted site, and this track just fucking blew my socks off.  Insomuch that one or two people in the train carriage were giving me very strange looks due to my involuntary seat dancing – and I felt something I hadn’t for a while: the need to shout from the rooftops of my love for a track, and let a load of strangers on the internet know how I feel about it.

One of my top musical memories from this year was watching Mancunian bretheren Crazy P rip up the Red Bull Tent at Bestival this year. Great vocals coupled with booty-rumping bassline that just brought everyone up (if you know what I’m saying). This track captures that vibe beautifully, mixing in a little of Sterling Void’s “Alright” and Chaz Jankel’s “Glad To Know You” (A Best Foot Forward classic, for those of you paying attention).

With a sexy little arpeggio breakdown that the Aeroplane boys are quickly calling their own, this is a bass-led wig out which compels your feet to move and your ass to shake. Which is what BFF was always about.

So we’re back (well, I can’t talk for Chris and Mark, but here I am).

Thanks for all of the encouragement, if it wasn’t for the fact I knew other people missed this thing as much as I do then I wouldn’t be here.

This is simply fantastic. Make sure to hang around till the end for a wonderful twist.

We’re not normally the embedded video posting types here, but given our mad DFA love thought it right to break with tradition for this. Enjoy.

Black Star Disco – Life In More Motion Mix (MP3)

If you’re in Manchester this weekend you’d be a fool to miss the opening night of Black Star Disco, from our good stablemates who run Stop Making Sense. They’ve cooked a mix up for us to let us know what to expect, but I’ll let Ben take over, whose penchant for talking meaningless bollocks is in league with that of my own …

“Black Star Disco is a brief history of time and space comprehended through our favoured mediums of Disco / Post Punk / Techno / Cosmic & Krautrock. We convene on the last Saturday of the month at Joshua Brooks, 106 Princess Street, Manchester, to dance, get weird and freak out. To converse with like minded denizens of the night. To comprehend, transcend and truly experience our transient existence.”

Check the mix, and be blown into the outer atmosphere. And if you wanna bite their style, just copy and paste these into Hype Machine …

Brian Eno & David Byrne – Strange Overtones [Todomundo]
Vangelis – Multi-Track Suggestion [Cloud]
The Detachments – Fear No Fear [This Is Not An Exit]
Tiedye – Nothing Else Matters [Italians Do It Better]
YACHT – The Summer Song [DFA]
Padded Cell – Word of Mouth [DC Recordings]
Michoacan – She’s Sent (Heaven) (The Emperor Machine remix) [Tiny Sticks]
Michele – Disco Dance (Patrick Cowley remix) [West End Recordings]
Chaz Jankel – Get Myself Together (Hercules & Love Affair House remix) [Tirk]
??? – Beyond Jupiter [Moxie]
Mogg & Naudascher – Moon Unit Pt.2 [Supersoul]
Animal Collective – Peacebone (Pantha du Prince remix) [Domino]
Odd Machine – To Learn More [Non-Standard Productions]

Vangelis – He-O (Leo Zero re-work) (MP3)

Leo Elstob Cosmodelica Mix (September 2008) (MP3)

Here at BFF head quarters, it’s no secret that we are big fans of all things AMO1/Leo Elstob – we certainly mention them/him enough (I think Kev even has posters on his wall).  Anyway, being the good egg that he is, he has fired another couple of (semi) exclusives at us. First up is a top notch re-work of BFF hero, Vangelis. Lifted from the seminal “Earth” album, “He-O” is one of my favourite tracks off the album, that and the behemoth that is “Let it Happen”. Fantastic stuff.

Second up is a mix due to be aired on Cosmo’s Ministry Of Sound show tonight (Thurs 4th). To quote Leo himself, “it’s a 35 minute mix, featuring a dub-disco cut up of The Congo’s “Congaman Chant” and the acapella of Circuits “Shelter”, and a new Rush re-edit. Enjoy”. Just had a listen to this now at work, and it’s pretty ace…

Kev’s already made his apology and so here’s mine, in the form of a light-on-words 40 song clear-out of everything I’ve been going to post but just haven’t been able to come up with a suitable tenuous sexually ambiguous rant and pun post title for. And even with a 40 song post I still can’t manage any sort of real variety. Sorry.

Prints – Me & Ms Archer (MP3)

Not sure what to call this other than electronic indie pop. Anyway, it’s new and good and was apparently originally recorded with three others as b-sides to potential singles from their album from last year. It was decided that they were too good for that and so were released as the ‘Just Thoughts’ EP the other week.

David Byrne & Brian Eno – Strange Overtones (MP3)

The beats might be twenty years old but they’ve not lost it have they (and I’d say they’re very much IN fashion at the moment). I hope they take their tour outside the U.S.

Deerhunter – Nothing Ever Happened (MP3)

Deerhunter’s ‘Microcastle’ is officially the first album I’ve ever *ahem* “acquired” before its proper release. Much tighter than ‘Cryptograms’ but just as much of a grower (ever wondered if ‘growers’ are just albums you’ve just forced yourself to not dislike after repeated listens?) and check out the so-simple but so-ace guitar riffage at four minutes and five seconds through my current favourite song on the album: suh-weeet.

Eels – Mr E’s Beautiful Blues (MP3)

Hidden track stuffed on the end of ‘Daisies Of The Galaxy’. “Worst Eels album” my arse Rob Bailey.

Erlend Øye & Morgan Geist – Ghost Trains (MP3)

Yeah so I love Erlend Øye, what are you gonna do about it eh? This is what happens when two chaps who can do no wrong get together and, well, do no wrong in a seriously impressive fashion.

Heart – Magic Man (MP3)

My friend Ash makes me listen to stuff like this all the time in the office we share; and I love him for it. Check out the breakdown at around four minutes which heralds the arrival of some pretty fine keyboard work.

Jean-Fran̤ois Coen РLa Tour De Pise (MP3)

I discovered this on a DVD of Michel Gondry music videos and it took me damn ages to track down even a naughty MP3 of it let-alone a legit copy of the EP. Nice twee French pop music.

Jim Ford – I’m Gonna Make You Love Me (MP3)

Awesome 1970-ish country/psyche/soul foot-stomper with some mighty fine bass guitar work.

Julian Cope – World Shut Your Mouth (MP3)

Thanks to BBC 6 Music I wake up to gems like this every morning. God bless DAB radio.

Kate Bush – Watching You Without Me (MP3)

I think I speak for everyone here at beef towers in saying that each and every one of you should own a copy of ‘Hounds Of Love’. But ‘Hounds Of Love’ is actually only the name of the party-hit filled first side. The other side is called ‘The Ninth Wave’ and doesn’t really have anything you could play out on a Saturday night. It’s still good though as ‘Watching You Without Me’ attests.

Kelley Polar – Entropy Reigns (In The Celestial City) (MP3)

I meant to post this a good few months ago when I got the album from Dotshop but I forgot. It’s since had a 12″ release so you may well have heard it but it doesn’t stop it being awesome. You can just tell Mr Geist’s had his sticky fingers all over this.

Kylie – Breathe (MP3)

Always a sucker for a bit of Kylie.

Martha & The Muffins – Women Around The World At Work (MP3)

Nice Post Punk/New Wave complete with sax solo. Who knew feminism could sound so good?

Matthew Dear – Pom Pom (MP3)

If you haven’t already given Matthew Dear’s ‘Asa Breed’ album from last year a listen then you really should.

Mogwai – C.O.D.Y. (MP3)

From their ‘Come On Die Young’ album, even though it’s got singing on it I think this is probably my favourite Mogwai song.

Phil Cordell- Red Lady (MP3)

I heard this lovely 1969 psych pop song when I was round at a friend of a friend’s house for tea last year. Look out for it coming to the soundtrack to a Wes Anderson film near you soon. Probably.

R.E.M. – Me In Honey (MP3)

Let’s face it; their new album’s pretty rubbish. They did used to be pretty awesome though.

Rebelski – Little White Lines (MP3)

Martin Rebelski not only plays keyboards for Doves but also makes his own records. They’re nice.

Secos E Molhados – Amor (MP3)

The opener on the follow-up to the ubiquitous ‘Tropicalia’ compilation. And I’m sorry but she definitely sings “balls-up… magic magic balls-up”.

Speck Mountain – Summer Above (MP3)

“You’ll be in sun-drenched Indie bliss” Danny Webb told me when I asked him if Speck Mountain’s ‘Summer Above’ was any good. And he was right.

Televison – Glory (MP3)

My musical ignorance never fails to amuse me. Thanks to four 22 year old gents for introducing me to Television. Especially good of them considering the crap I subject them to.

The Real Ones – Theme From Mikal Telle – The Movie (MP3)

I don’t really know much about these other than their ‘Outlaw’ EP was mis-pressed by the naughty people at Tellé which sent this particular track on an endless, seamless loop which was great for doing the washing-up to.

The Blow – Pardon Me (MP3)

The Blow – Parentheses (MP3)

My two favourite songs from The Blow’s excellent ‘Paper Television’ album from 2006. ‘Pardon Me’ is all spiky and danceable and ‘Parenthesis’ has to be one of the geekiest love songs ever written.

TV-Resistori – Kontraposto (MP3)

Uusi Fantasia – Lattialla Taas (MP3)

Two little pieces of Finnish pop stupidity. And yes, the Uusi Fantasia track is the one on Erlend Øye’s DJ Kicks with him singing Shocking Blue/Bananarama’s ‘Venus‘ over the top of it.

Valerie Dore – The Night (MP3)

This is on some mix somewhere (ring any bells Mark?) but it’s begging for one of them trendy re-edits. If it just lost the chorus, the bit that goes “all my friends are talking to me… ” and then a bit of re-jigging. Just have a listen and you’ll know what I mean.

Chapterhouse – She’s A Vision(MP3)

Slowdive – Alison (MP3)

Some proper classic Shoegaze from Chapterhouse and Slowdive: all distorted guitars, metronomic drumming and pop hooks.

Paul Simon – All Around The World Or The Myth Of Fingerprints (MP3)

Sugarcubes – Hit (MP3)

Two from the Official Best Foot Forward Party Hits canon.

The Faces – Ooh La La (MP3)

The Kinks – Powerman (MP3)

Devo – Gut Feeling (MP3)

The Greenhornes Featuring Holly Golightly – There Is an End (MP3)

All songs from films with Bill Murray in. Three excellent selections by Wes Anderson (from ‘Rushmore’, ‘Darjeeling Limited’ and ‘The Life Aquatic’ respectively) and the magnificent ‘There Is An End’ opens Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Broken Flowers’.

Explorer – Enjaw J (MP3)

Fallout – Morning After (Sunrise Mix) (MP3)

Aphex Twin – Analogue Bubblebath (MP3)

Air РLe Soleil Est Pr̬s De Moi (Dopplereffekt Remix) (MP3)

Death In Vegas – Reigen (MP3)

A quintet of electronic treats in roughly chronological order.

There’s Tony Carey on his 1982 Explorer album (if you happen upon a copy at a car boot sale then by all means send it my why. Noooo, it’s not stupidly rare and worth a fortune at all).

It’s not that much of what’s on the ‘Warp+10 Influences’ hasn’t aged well, it’s just that I can’t listen to them without seeing stock footage of the halcyon days of the Hacienda in my head. I don’t find that a pleasant thing. 1987’s ‘Morning after(Sunrise Mix)’ by not-done-much-else Fallout doesn’t, and is also rather good. File alongside this.

Just some classic Aphex Twin.

Gerald Donald, choosing Dopplereffekt from his many pseudonyms, pretends to remix this early Air song by playing a filtered vocal sample from the original song and then he just does a whole new song that sounds like classic Drexciya.

This Death In Vegas track is from their otherwise pretty rubbish fourth album the name of which I can’t remember (or even be arsed to look up). I have to admit to being a bit of a sucker for their other three though, especially ‘Scorpio Rising’.

And that’s it. I hope there’s something in here for you. If not, well that’s what Mark’s here for.

Rheingold – Dreiklangsdimensionen (MP3)

 Chicago – I’m A Man (Rub ‘n’ Tug Edit) (MP3)

A night so good it takes you a week to get over it? Last Thursday saw The Glimmers (née Twins) take over a dank Manchester basement to give us a taste of the music they love to eat. It was all part of San Miguel’s “Hidden Depths” tour, and The Glimmers invited hip-hop luminary GrandMaster Flash to open up his bag of tricks.

It must be said that a rather fantastic night was had by all in attendance (I especially like the picture above, the dude in the middle is quite reminisent of one of Banksy’s greats) and I seriously hope said Twins weren’t too annoyed by a “mystery blogger” chewing their ear off with tales of a long lost love of  Eskimo compilations, and how many of his wasted years in retail were soundtracked by their eclectic selections. As a little tribute, I thought I’d pick two of my favourite tracks from their compilations past and present – an chuggy cosmic Rheingold number from Serie Noire Vol 2, and the Rub ‘n’ Tug edit from their DJ Kicks, previously only available on a super limited Rong 12″. This should hopefully go some way to helping make up for the fact that you probably weren’t at one of the greatest nights to hit Manchester for a while. Hmmm, at least I think it was – now if only I can remember what actually happened …

Rat Salad – Cannibalized (MP3)

Friend of Beef and all-round fantastic bloke Leo Elstob (Balearic stalwart and he of A Mountain Of One fame) has just thrown us an exclusive teaser from his new re-edit project.  Coming under the alias Rat Salad (a more than slight nod to Black Sabbath) this is Leo and his old mucker Rupert from Grand National cutting and splicing up a version of I Eat Cannibals, that ode to to the positives of prandial flesh-munching. This is a real piece of floor filling greatness, and should be on their debut ep about to hit your local record shops any time soon …

Vastkustska Ryggdunkarsallskape – Town Out Of Order (MP3)

As I’m writing this post, I’m wondering whether such a huge artist title will break our fresh and so far untested blog template. We can only hope it can withstand the constant constanant onslaught from a mystery swede. This is a stomping balearock track, and the bearded brainboxes over at DJ History inform us that it’s a re-edit of “Stockholm” from 60s Swedish popstar Pugh Rogefeldt.

Also, I must take this chance to publicly thank a lovely chap named Mike who helped us migrate all our old BFF comments over to the new site. Cheers!

most of our manchester based readers should know that it’s the wonderful d-percussion festival over the weekend – the last one ever apparently…

anyway, our good friend and occasional bff contributor, mr ryan hunn, has invited the bff dj team (me and kev) to play down on the sketch city stage. so from 16.10 – 16.55 (bizarre time slot i know – it’s that ryan character, he’s a bit zany) we shall be digging deep into into our musical vaults, for what will hopefully be a very sunny and enjoyable saturday…

to give you an indicator of which way i’m going to be going, i have had a rummage this morning and decided that ‘love to fly’ by venus gang could well be my first record of the day (it’s all about sub 5 minute tracks, seeing as though kev has put a strict ruling on me playing no 15 minute cosmic jams). for you more observant readers, you will probably recognise said track from a previous venus gang related post. released on the galactic soul album in 1978, ‘come to fly’ is a deadly weapon, a total cosmic funk bomb…

hope to see y’all down there…