Obscure Darkside Mix - DevNull

You can always depend on Pete DevNull to come with something fucking cool around Halloween for lovers of the darkside of the hardcore continuum and this year is no exception. This fabulous mix, that was posted a few days ago, is some of the most shadowy old school jungle you'll ever hear. According to Blog To The Old School some of these tunes are mega rare white labels and unreleased trax from back in the day. I reckon I only recognise 3 or 4 of the platters in this set. You know the score!

If you love the darkside I suggest you go through the BTTO archive of mixes. One year (2012?) Pete did an epic 3 hour set for Halloween which is one of my favorite all time dj mixes. There's a bunch of fantastic darkside sets from DevNull that should keep you going out of your brain for some time.

Don't Touch That Stereo Part I

Millie & Andrea - Drop The Vowels (2014)
This is one of the dudes from Demdike Stare and some other bloke. For some reason I'm really enjoying this record which I didn't really expect to. I don't think anything much new is happening here. There a bit of post dubstep, some gamelan vibes, isolationist type ambience, a dose of Basic Channel, hardcore continuum styles, drum & bass pops its head up, tech-house (that was a thing wasn't it for a minute there in the 90s?) and I dunno it's all a bit zombie rave (that should so be a genre). Not really hands up in the air more like your arms fall off as you try to raise them above your waste. Is it undeconstructed or reconstuctured deconstruction or constructed unreconstruction? More to the point does anyone give a shit at this point? More nails in the coffin for rave in the best possible sense.

Clouds - Ghost System Rave (2013)
A bit late on this one. Ghost System Rave was only hipped to me in early January by Reynolds via Energy Flash. This is far and away the best album I missed last year, the only other contender being Holden's The Inheritors. It most certainly would have made my top 9. As far as album titles that describe their contents go this is perfection. Whilst the ingredients suggest the 90s, something pulls this away from mere retro-activity. Perhaps Future 1 is the only exception to that rule here as it soundz like an obscure 91 grimey 'ardcore gem that Blog To The Old Skool might have dug up. Ghost System Rave is not just techno micro-genres revisited. Its like you're hearing an early 90s rave through a ghost's ears. You feel like you've heard it before but you haven't, not like this. This is a delightfully askew musical experience. It sounds/feels like you've already dropped the drugs and you're occupying an inbetween dimension. This is an incredible musical achievement. Rave from the otherside. We just had Zombie Rave and now this is Ghost Rave.

The 90s Again....

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90s Nostalgia

Am I gonna get swept up in nostalgia for the great 90s 60s nostalgists Mazzy Star and their new LP? Probably. Which is a bit weird considering I never bought their 3rd album. I mean I loved those first two records, She Hangs Brightly & So Tonight That I Might See, played them to death. By the time of the third record it seemed their time was up but 17 years later it seems perfectly acceptable to give Mazzy Star's Seasons Of Your Day a listen. That says more about our relationship to time in 2013 than it does about me. Mark Fisher has some interesting thoughts about time over here.

Now here's some more nostalgia but this time for the future, well when 'ardcore was like the future in the 90s. Manix have a new record out called Living In The Past as pointed out here at Blog To The OldSkool. Pete from said blog is swept up in the nostalgia and has ordered a copy. Now why does Manix's comeback seem more naff than Mazzy Star's? I guess because Mazzy Star were always living in the past and you never thought Manix would ever be. In their time Manix, 4Hero, Reinforced Records et al were the antitheses of nostalgic revivalist culture. Like the Sex Pistols reunion Manix's comeback seems contradictory to their original intent. Living In The Past though is guaranteed to be more modern than Seasons Of Your Day.  We've all gotta eat I suppose.

Stuff On The Interweb

There's been heaps of good stuff over at blog to the oldskool including this mini mix from junglistz Foul Play and this 20 minute documentary on Gabber. This is quite bizarre and a little bit scary. It's a portal into a very specific time and place. Check out some of the most mental dancing from the 90s! It's funny now how tame and normal a lot of gabba now sounds. I'm in the 90s now.

Here's an excellent interview with Julian House the dude from the GhostBox label and man behind The Focus Group over at The Quietus. Here's an old bit on Julian from 2006 at K-Punk. Over at bandcamp there is a 19 minute track from The Children Of Alice, a trio made up of House and 2 members of Broadcast, called The Harbinger Of Spring which is well worth your 3 quid!

I only just discovered this Moon Wiring Club Mix Midnight In Europe over at NightVision here which is a bit different than MWCs usual mixes. This mix is of 90s ambient post rave electronica and includes Woob, Baby Ford, LFO, Biosphere, Luke Slater and many more. I'm in the 90s now in a chill-out room. Do they still have those?

Darkside Mix

Been diggin this Darkside mix from Blog To The Oldskool I Can't Believe How Dark It is. Heaps of great gear here for old and new converts. This genre is fast becoming one of my top 5 eras of music ever. On the evidence here, I also still have much to learn and that excites me. I missed a lot of this stuff first time around, only being aware of the major playerz. More treasure from Blog To The Oldsckool. Onya!

Hang on...... more dark science dropped here for Halloween last year at Blog To The Oldskool.  Two & a half hours, 70 + trax of prime Darkside gold for your pleasure.  With a classic section half way through featuring the panic attack trax Ricky, Scottie & Johnny. Can you handle it?